Duality of Time: A Tale of Two High-Jewelry Watches

Creating high-jeweled watches is a masterful blend of art and precision, demanding exceptional craftsmanship and keen attention to detail. These shimmering masterpieces – adorned with various combinations of diamonds and a painter’s palette of colored gemstones – are feats of technical ingenuity that can take one or several artisans hundreds of hours to perfect.

Here, we explore how these incredible creations are made at the hands of some of the most skilled craftsmen in the business through the lens of two exceptional models from two brands inextricably linked to a history of beautiful high-jewelry creations. Let’s take a closer look at the Cartier Animal High Jewelry and Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso One Duetto.

The journey to haute Joaillerie watches begins with the selection of stones, where color, clarity, and size must be meticulously matched. Achieving perfect harmony in a watch’s design requires the eye of a seasoned gemologist and the skill of a master setter. Some watch brands employ their in-house gem setters, while others collaborate with specialized artisans for the labor-intensive and exacting process.

Each gemstone requires its own carefully prepared setting and depending on the type of setting (or settings) selected for the piece, preparing the metal watch bezel or case is just as demanding as the setting itself. Typically, in watches, the methods include invisible, prong, and snow settings, and each comes with unique challenges.
 

Invisible settings, for instance, involve creating channels in the metal where stones fit seamlessly, leaving no metal visible – a testament to the setter’s precision. Alternatively, prong settings require the metal to be meticulously carved, with tiny claws bent back over the stone once it is set to secure it in place.

Lastly, snow settings – which use a mix of differently sized diamonds – yield a seemingly random but deliberate pattern. Some brands have even developed their own signature stone-setting methods in a further effort to achieve distinction.

Adding to the complexity of creating high-jeweled watches is the use of various stone cuts. While brilliant-cut diamonds dominate, baguette, pear, marquise, and other fancy cuts are often employed to create intricate designs, such as floral motifs or geometric patterns. Each cut also brings unique challenges in setting and alignment.
 

Once the stones are set, the watch undergoes meticulous polishing to ensure a flawless finish. The result is a dazzling timepiece that represents an untiring commitment to pushing the boundaries of craftsmanship to create these wearable works of art.

While some watch brands opt for classically elegant timepieces to represent their ethos, others turn to sculpture and three-dimensional forms to bring the stones to life. Let’s explore further with two outstanding examples.

You may have seen this particular watch online multiple times and places since its debut in April at Watches and Wonders 2024. That’s because it’s an extraordinary execution of precision, beauty, sculpture, and art.

It wasn’t enough that Cartier called upon its legendary history of embracing the wild in its jewelry and watches. The brand had to take the concept to new heights by turning the case into a work of art and the dial into a masterful backdrop for the – dare I say – exceptional crocodile. I mean, who falls in love with a giant reptile that’s known to haunt the marshes?
 

Yet that’s exactly the result that Cartier’s master craftsmen achieved here – an awe and respect for nature and beauty. First, the brand’s artisans had to determine exactly how to hand-sculpt the three-dimensional crocodile – wrapping it around the case and swinging its tail back onto the dial in one fluid move.
 

The 18-karat gold crocodile then had to be carved further not only to depict details of the nose, jaw, and eye but also to prepare the metal for the gemstones that represent the scales. Two cabochon-cut emeralds complement the shimmering beast, yielding eyes that never wander. The rest of the case and the entire dial is a masterful background of mother-of-pearl and sapphire marquetry – all designed to reflect the blue waters the crocodile calls home.
 

Fantastically – although we should expect nothing less – the diamond crocodile sculpture is so perfectly set that you can run your fingers, or a piece of silk, across the “scales” without even a snag. Art at its finest.

In a truly classic rendition of time, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso One Duetto jewelry watch is a vision of history, elegance, and dazzle all at once. The Reverso itself dates back nearly 100 years to when the brand created a watch that rested on an inner base and whose entire dial pulled out, swiveled, reversed on itself, and slid back into the base.

The invention was first intended for Polo players seeking a way to protect their watch dial. With a decidedly Art Deco design, the Reverso was an instant hit and has since become an icon not only for Jaeger-LeCoultre but also within the entire watch industry.
 

The invention was first intended for Polo players seeking a way to protect their watch dial. With a decidedly Art Deco design, the Reverso was an instant hit and has since become an icon not only for Jaeger-LeCoultre but also within the entire watch industry.

That may well be why Jaeger-LeCoultre continually reinvents the Reverso – turning to artistic crafts such as métiers d’art and gem setting – to further enhance the classic elegance of this beloved model.
 

In the Reverso One Duetto jewelry watch, the stunning 18-karat gold case is meticulously set with 335 diamond brilliants paving the entire case – the front, back, sides, and lugs. The case is carved by master goldsmiths, and the diamonds are individually set – all in the brand’s atelier in Le Sentier, Switzerland. Even the crown is set with a single diamond for a total diamond weight of 2.46 carats.

The Reverso One Duetto jewelry watch measures 40mm x 20mm and is powered by a manual movement, the calibre 844. It offers two sets of hands – one on each side – that turn in opposite directions to indicate the time on each side.
 

On one side, a sunray silver dial with guilloche accents shines brightly. While on the reverse side, a deep black dial with gold accents adds mysterious delight. It’s sold with an interchangeable strap so the wearer can invest in different colors that make this classically elegant timepiece equally as daring.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso One Duetto is priced at $49,900, while the Cartier Animal High Jewelry is priced at $152,000. For more information and to purchase, visit either the Jaeger-LeCoultre website or the Cartier website respectively.