Elizabeth Taylor had an eye for beautiful jewels and over the years amassed some amazing pieces, once declaring “a girl can always have more diamonds.” In 2011, her finest jewels were sold by Christie’s at an evening auction that brought in $115.9 million, setting the tone for a four-day series of sales devoted to the movie icon that achieved record prices for many of the lots.
Amongst her most prized possessions sold during the
evening sale was a 1961 bejeweled timepiece by Bulgari. Designed as a serpent
to coil around the wrist, with its head and tail paved with diamonds and having
two hypnotic emerald eyes, a discreet mechanism opens its fierce jaws to reveal
a tiny quartz watch. Estimated at $12,000‑15,000, the “secret watch,” so called
because the dial is hidden behind a cover, sold for $974,500.
There is a long tradition of secret watches which were
first conceived in the 1920s, primarily as a protection for the dial but also
as a more discrete way to keep track of the time in society, explains Jonathan
Darracott, global head of watches at auction house Bonhams: “Having a dial on
view was not to everybody’s taste, especially if you were wearing fine
jewelries, and hiding the piece under some diamonds, was a very decent way of
having a watch without being perceived of having a watch. The best pieces are
first and foremost beautiful pieces of jewelry that happened to have a
timepiece inside.”
“All the brands did some, Cartier, Omega, Vacheron
Constantin, and of course Jaeger-LeCoultre and the Reverso [first launched in
1931] which is practically a secret watch. I think some of the best ones were
made in the 1960s-70s, because they’re very much jewelry pieces with the finest
examples being the Bulgari snake watches,” Darracott adds.
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| Chanel |
Because of the complexity involved with creating a
delicate hinged cover, secret watches offer an opportunity for today’s luxury watchmakers
to showcase not only their design creativity but the breadth of their technical
savoir-faire in gem-setting and high-end jewelry expertise, while also answering
the current demand for multi-functionality.
Of late, bejeweled secret watches have regularly grabbed
headlines, enjoying a renaissance of sorts, though Chadi Nouri Gruber, head of product
management at Audemars Piguet argues they had never really gone out of style.
“Many brands have been producing those for years, but very discreetly for
specific clients. I just think that brands are now communicating much more
about them,” she says.
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| Chaumet |
“Most of our competitors focus really on the romantic and
poetic side of high-jewelry creation, which is great because that fits their
identity. We wanted to create something that fits ours: we are a rule breaker so
we wanted to show we could do high-jewelry creations, that we have the know-how
and the craftsmanship, but we can do it in a different way,” Gruber explains.
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| Giampiero Bodino |
For its latest creation, unveiled at SIHH 2017, the brand
pushed the envelope further with the Diamond Outrage Secret Watch, which has
multi-height diamond spikes recalling the Alpine peaks of the Le Brassus region
where Audemars Piguet watches are made. For added difficulties, one version of
the design uses six different colors of blue sapphire to create a painterly dégradé.
More brands are entering that niche market. During
Couture week in Paris in January, the jeweler Giampiero Bodino unveiled for
the first time three timepieces, all elaborately embellished secret watches,
while Dior Joaillerie also presented its first secret watches, which had been
created as part of a jewelry collection dedicated to the opal, a favorite
gemstone of its artistic director Victoire de Castellane. The designer used
large, beautifully shaped oval opals to hide the dials, which are only revealed
when the stone is pivoted. “It just so happens that the bracelets tell time,”
the designer commented.
Secret watches appeal to clients who enjoy the intrigue
and element of surprise, says Anne-Eva Geffroy, Graff Diamonds’ design director.
“By the very nature of their design, the gemstones incorporated and the way in
which they are set, each watch is a masterpiece, an extremely special and
unique piece,” she says.
As first written for CNN STYLE (published April 12, 2017)
As first written for CNN STYLE (published April 12, 2017)