SIHH 2015: Watches Are The New Jewellery!

Cartier took jewellery a step further this year with their newest addition to the Ballon Bleu collection: the Ballon Bleu 42 mm Vibrating Setting Watch. Using the Serti Vibrant, an advanced creative technique which allows the stones on the dial to shimmer and shiver, the watch creates a pleasant and unexpected surprise to the viewer. The brilliant-cut diamonds on the 18-carat white gold dial seem to pulsate like the beats of an excited heart, protected by a rhodium-finished 42mm case and crowned with a blue sapphire. This “crazy dial” watch as we call it is limited to 20 individually numbered timepieces, and we have a feeling it will sell out pretty fast!

 

 

 

 

On a less eccentric note, Cartier presented a revolutionary new crown to the jewellery watch world, with the Clé de Cartier: a new indexed winding mechanism allows changing date and time with the simple click of a key (clé) shaped crown, instantly bringing it out. The process was inspired by the turning of a key to wind up a clock. Turning the crown and pushing it back thus becomes easier and faster (and much more nail-friendly for the ladies!). The case shape is also perfectly round, which was one of the brand’s objectives behind the design and proved to be more difficult than it might sound. The most bedazzled piece is the 18k white gold set with brilliant-cut diamonds Clé watch.  The collection extends to both men and women, with various models in white or pink gold with same material bracelets, as well as a hot pink strap for the more daring female wearers.

 

 

Just when we thought we had gotten used to Richard Mille‘s tonneau shaped watches, the brand introduced a new highly jewelled piece that can be worn by women and men who have a knack for bedazzled wrists. The RM 51-02 Tourbillon Diamond Twister takes its twisting spiral a shape from the various organic forms found in nature, reminding us that luxury sometimes borrows from the basics. The manual winding tourbillon’s baseplate is moulded from Black Onyx, with the free sprung balance and skeletonized bridges composed of PVD treated grade 5 titanium. Accidental overwinding is prevented by an additional security system. The spiral rays are set with single rows of diamonds and the case with white diamonds accentuated with black sapphires. In typical Richard Mille fashion, the crown shines through 3 rows of diamonds, adding to the piece’s overall shimmer. 

This year, Piaget brings back the vintage icon fashion of the free and non-conformist spirit of the 60s and 70s with re-editions of the Black Tie “vintage inspiration” and the “traditional oval” watches, both sculpted in gold and fitted with a hard-stone dial.

The Black Tie “vintage inspiration” , with its atypical round/square/rectangular case design graced with polished black onyx, stands out as a clean, crisp, masculine yet gentle watch. The enhancements reveal a slightly slimmer profile supported by the use of the automatic Piaget 534P movement and have replaced yellow gold by white gold, highlighting a strong contrast with the dark shade of the onyx on the case.

Piaget’s traditional oval watch and its bracelet, both part of the the brand’s heritage, have become an authentic brand signature. Reinforcing the line’s jewellery dimension, the new model’s elegant, hand-engraved “palace” finish on the bracelet illuminates the wrist with an almost iridescent effect. A gathering of assembled links, each precisely crafted to form a smooth light gold “fabric”, creates a soft and refined overall feel to the bracelet which is fitted directly to the case, forming a continuation between the case and bracelet.

The silver toned dial, undoubtedly and unmistakably oval in shape to remain true to the essence of the line, is complemented by a diamond studded bezel. Extremely feminine, the white or rose gold versions make for a perfect final touch to complete any outfit.

An institution of high jewellery, Van Cleef & Arpels drew on the identity of some of its existing successful jewellery pieces to create new, lavish jewel watches.

The Abstraction watch, spawn from the ring of the same name, pays homage to the 1966 Black & White Ball held by Truman Capote in New York. Resembling a wide black and wide cuff divided by geometric lines, the transformable piece turns into 3 separate magnetic bracelets: the side parts elegantly hold a DIF type 2A diamond at the center, the top one cushion-cut while the bottom one is emerald-cut. The middle bracelet forms the basis of a watch: lodged under a portrait-cut diamond, a white mother-of-pearl dial is powered by the smallest mechanical watch movement. The black spinels, a historic batch dating from 1925, intensify the radiance of the diamonds and reinforce the high end feel of the piece. Worn alone or combined in different styles, the Abstraction watch and bracelets are a unique creation that bring the abstract straight to life.

We went in to discover new jewellery and ended up having twice the pleasure: watches in jewels! From a vibrant heartbeat to a transformable wrist cuff, the SIHH 2015 jewellery pieces left us in awe. With such novel creations, is there still room for more creative innovation?