Two years ago, watches became the diamond’s best friend. This was not a simple love story, but a story about lots of money. The sudden passion for the stone – to the point of overdosing on the sparkles – came at the worst time, at a period totally out of sync with the morose political-economic situation of 2003, when everything seemed to be in excess in this domain.
This year, things have calmed down a bit, although not for everyone, not in the ‘bling’ for example. We are noticing that the classic watch is making a return to decorations that are more intrinsically horological in nature. The wealth of a piece is no longer measured solely on carats but also on creativity.
Having reached full maturity, the mechanical watch is now leaning towards the traditional arts such as engraving, enamel, lacquer, mother-of-pearl, and guilloché for its ‘return to decoration’.
The result is a watchmaking that is a little wiser and more attentive to certain fundamentals such as comfort on the wrist, readability and ergonomics.
The new directions taken by Ebel, an emblematic brand in the realm of ‘haute couture’ watches (not to be confused with fashion), are leading back to its original designs, but with an added touch, namely great attention to comfort and discreetly worked materials. In a way, it’s a new classicism,.
The same evolution can be seen at a brand like Hublot, for example. In this case, it is not so much a question of returning to its basics, which were never lost, as it is to rework the brand’s designs, taking them even farther in terms of colour, making them more alive, more ‘fusional’.
This ‘new classicism’ – a refreshed classicism – is accompanied by ‘research studios’ where brands can experiment with new ways of looking at the jewellery watch. If their research often involves diamonds, then new ways of setting the stones create the surprise. Flowing patterns, mixing types and sizes, creating ‘paths’ of light, playing with materials and unusual transparent matter (as with Milus, for example), the brands are showing, in their own way, the vitality of current decorative creativity.




SECRET by Van Cleef & Arpels
18 carat rhodium-plated white gold watch pavé with princesss-cut and round full-cut diamonds (3.10 carats) and equipped with an ETA Swiss quartz movement. White mother-of-pearl dial, sacratchproof sapphire crystal, time-setting by pusher set into the crown, satin strap with a
diamond-set gold buckle. Water-resistant to 30 metres.



Source: April-May 2005 Issue

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