The competition
In fact, there seems to be an unspoken competition between the watch brands to produce the largest, most expensive, carat-crammed diamond watch possible. One of the first watches to really draw our attention to the craze was Hublot’s Million Dollar Big Bang with its 493 baguette diamonds and its one million dollar price tag, but it was far from alone, Piaget launched its Emperador Toubillon this year with a staggering 1,144 diamonds totalling 106.52 carats and then there was Harry Winston’s dazzling Duchesse and Blancpain’s Tourbillon Diamants whose tourbillon is the only visible part of the watch that isn’t covered with diamonds. But are these incredible watches commercially successful, or are they just designed for the media to attract the limelight?
“Absolutely not,” says Maryline De Cesare Communications Director of Harry Winston. “In many cases our clients even insist that a timepiece has not been published in the press.” And she had photos of watches to prove it! During a recent visit to Harry Winston, I was privileged to see some of the creations that never made it to the pages of Europa Star – timepieces that just disappeared into private collections – it brought tears to my eyes.
“We are making nine pieces of the Million Dollar Big Bang,” shares Hublot’s CEO, Jean-Claude Biver, “so it's not just a talking piece. There are clients out there looking for something unique. We sold one in London, one in Vegas, one in Dubai, one in Istanbul and one in Singapore. The watch is the first time this 'invisible setting' has been done on a shape with angles. When I was presented with the concept for the project, I knew it would be a world first. I knew it would be a talking piece but it was also a piece that we could repeat, so it would be a commercial watch as well, and something you could not buy from any other company. Commercially, however, the margin is, percentage-wise, less than an All Black Big Bang."




TOURBILLON DIAMANTS by Blancpain, RIVIERA XXL HIGH JEWELERY by Baume & Mercier and AVENUE by Harry Winston


The appeal
So what is it about diamonds that is so universally appealing? The Greeks thought that they were the tears of the Gods, the Indians believed that they were lucky charms warding of illness and the forces of evil and the Romans were convinced that they were fragments from fallen stars. Whatever your beliefs, the main attraction is probably what the experts call the ‘fire’, those flashes of rainbow colours and the ‘brilliancy’, the sparkle, which capture the light like no other matter on earth. Add to this the status attached to being able to afford a big beautiful diamond watch and anyone who says they prefer crystals is a liar!




NO.3 by BÉdat & Co., OUNI NOTTE BIANCA by Bertolucci and DIOR CHRYSTAL by Christian Dior


The choices
The selection of fully-paved diamond watches on the market has never been more eclectic: Baume & Mercier’s Riviera XXL High Jewelry Jumping Hour, BÉdat’s No. 388 Neige Eternelle, Bertolucci’s Ouni Notte Bianca, Chanel’s J12 Haute Joaillerie timepiece, De Beers’ Riviera and Talisman timepieces, Ebel’s Moon Chic Zebra, Piaget’s Limelight and Vacheron Constantin’s 1972 CambrÉe Large Haute Joaillerie are just a few that I have space to mention. And the good news doesn’t stop there - diamond watches are not only for the girls, brands are now catering to men too with a growing number of men’s watches now adorned with precious stones.

Diamonds for men
Believe it or not, men were wearing diamonds before women got hold of them. Diamond jewellery for men was first recorded in Roman times and became a symbol of wealth and power in the Middle Ages. In the seventeenth century men wore diamond shoe buckles and diamond buttons on their shirts. Then, little by little, diamonds started to be used for women’s adornments and men gradually stopped wearing them.
It wasn’t until the disco era that jewellery for men started making a come-back - remember the 1970s and all those medallions and hairy chests? This was mainly gold, however, and diamonds didn’t make their reappearance until the 1990s. Like many trends, it started on the street; the first ‘all-out’ diamond watches were part of the hip-hop culture that became to be know as ‘bling’. Twenty years later, a few watch brands slowly started to experiment with baguette-set bezels that were discrete and not too feminine. Today, men are no longer shy about wearing diamonds and are even adventuring into the fully-paved pieces. “To my surprise men are becoming interested in diamond watches,” explains Robin Levinson of Levinson Jewelers. “The sport players are always buying them, but more and more of the mainstream guys are stepping up too.”
There are some great watches on offer for men - Audemars Piguet’s Millenary Baguette-Cut Diamonds Collection is an elegant example with its men’s and women’s versions. Wyler GenÈve’s Chronograph with diamonds and Villemont’s Night Hawk couldn’t be more masculine and Baume & Mercier’s Riviera XXL High Jewelry Jumping Hour would look as good on a man’s wrist as it would on a women’s wrist.




MILLENARY BAGUETTE by Audemars Piguet, 1972 by Vacheron Constantin and MOON CHIC ZEBRA by Ebel


Challenges for the retailer
However, with all these choices, how are the retailers coping with this new trend?
Put a diamond watch on the counter next to its non-jewellery version and rare is the client who can’t decide which one she (or he) likes best – the only question is whether it is going to mean selling the house! Even a few diamonds can greatly increase the price and once diamonds go beyond the bezel, the price of a watch can go into orbit.
These special pieces create a challenge for retailers. Firstly, the pieces can take a long time to make and there are usually only a handful of them available worldwide. Retailers may be in competition with each other to get their hands on them. But that is just the first problem, the next question is, will they be able to sell them? Diamond watches of this calibre are expensive, really expensive, and demand a huge investment for a retailer. So it’s a risk if they don’t sell through fast.
But maybe it isn’t a problem, as Robin Levinson explains, “I don’t find it a challenge selling these pieces. We mostly sell large diamond pieces, it is a large investment, but they do turn.”




RIVIERA XXL HIGH JEWELERY by Breguet, LEELA STELLA by Century and CHRONOGRAPH by Wyler GenÈve


The future
Diamonds will remain a girl’s best friend, but they can be best friends with retailers too. As women feel more comfortable wearing diamonds in the daytime and men become bolder, it is a good time to take the plunge, especially with the incredible choice on offer. And if they don’t sell, well you could just put them in the store’s window and all that twink-ling will surely draw customers into your store like a 90 percent off sale!


Source: Europa Star February-March 2008 Magazine Issue