Another of Harry Winston’s incursions into the domain of masculine timekeeping is embodied by the line of watches named ‘Z’ for ‘zalium’, an extremely resistant alloy developed by Ronald Winston, himself, a specialist in materials.
The adventure of the ‘Z’ timekeepers began in 2004 with the Z1, a tri-retrograde chronograph. It was succeeded by the Z2, a chronograph with a rotating bezel that passed under the hinges of the case, the Z3, a tourbillon, and the Z4, a dual time watch with a large vertical date. This year, Harry Winston is presenting the Z5, an automatic tourbillon adorned with a GMT (Europa Star will return to this in the next issue).





Inventing a new feminine technical language
In parallel with these limited series concept watches (adapted later in the Ocean collection), Harry Winston reflected on the best way to create a feminine version of the complicated timepiece without merely reducing or adapting the men’s versions. The idea was to come up with a ‘new feminine technical language’.
The first question that Harry Winston asked was: which watch complication seemed to be essentially feminine in nature? All of the women polled by the brand had the same answer: the lunar phase function.
This response was understandable since, in our collective imagination, the moon is the lunar body that is considered essentially feminine. Multiple, complex, changing with the lunar cycles, in close relationship with ma-ternity and birth, the moon symbolizes the most sensitive aspects of a woman. Eluding the light of day while reflecting it, the moon represents imagination and dreams, but, as part of its dual nature, it also has a sombre, unstable, and indolent side.

Lunar duality
This duality seemed to be an essential element to be considered when creating the moon phase display. Traditionally in watchmaking, only the visible part of the lunar cycle, the increase and then decrease in the moon’s size, is represented since the lunar disc gradually appears and then disappears behind a window. Contrary to tradition, the watchmakers at Harry Winston, in their research on feminizing this complication, chose to offer a complete viewing of the two ‘faces’ of the moon—the white moon and the black moon.
In this manner, the Lady Z has a face like no other. The moon phase display occupies nearly half of the dial. In the form of a large elliptical opening carved in aventurine—a subtle natural mix of deep starry and sparkling blue—it reproduces the celestial canopy.
At the centre is a disc decorated with a Shuriken in the form of a star (a sign used by Harry Winston in all the watches in its zalium range), around which a double moon travels its orbit. One white and one black, each of these two moons is enhanced by a trail similar to the tail of a comet (or of the mark left by the chariot of the Goddess Luna). The trail is composed of a subtle gradation of sixteen diamonds for the white moon and nine diamonds and seven sapphires for the black moon. Very feminine, the Lady Z is one of the only moon phase watches to display the total lunar cycle, visible and invisible.





Two faces
This rather magical ambiance is reinforced even more by the watch’s two dials—one light and the other dark. The first is a silvered dial whose bright and lustrous surface radiates all around the hour and minute counter. With its dancing Arabic numerals, it contrasts sharply with the black of the lunar eclipse.
The dark second dial, on the other hand, prolongs the nocturnal atmosphere of the lunar eclipse, further enhanced by the elliptical hour zone that is set with diamond pavÉ, like a scintillating second moon. Using the play of the white against the black, this highlights the duality of the luminous and somber aspects of a woman.
Another premiere: the Lady Z is the first watch for women carved in zalium, a material extremely difficult to work in. This is even more impressive since the zalium bezel and horns are set with 56 diamonds, representing a true exploit in stone setting. Equipped with an automatic mechanical movement, providing a power reserve of 42 hours, the Lady Z comes mounted on an alligator leather strap with a zalium clasp set with 33 diamonds.


Source: Europa Star April-May 2008 Magazine Issue