LVMH Watch Week: Tiffany & Co. Debuts Heritage-Inspired Watches

This year, Tiffany & Co. makes its inaugural appearance at LVMH Watch Week, joining many of the esteemed watch and jewelry houses under the LVMH umbrella. The newest Tiffany & Co. watches unveiled in New York represent the brand’s dedication to the art of watchmaking, a legacy interwoven with its identity as a great jeweler.

By deftly blending its jewelry and watch roots, Tiffany continues to elevate its works of wearable art through its commitment to design, innovation, and exceptional craftsmanship. The three distinctive new watch lines (comprised of five watches in total), demonstrate the brand’s ability to merge both jewelry elements and technical precision with modern aesthetics and with respect to its history.

The Bird on a Rock watch, inspired by the legacy of the brand’s most creative designer Jean Schlumberger, brings the exceptional 1965 brooch design to the wrist. The timepiece exemplifies the creativity of Tiffany’s top artisans and designers today and their ability to interpret a significant jewelry piece as a watch.
 

For decades, Tiffany & Co. has reimagined the iconic design, but now, the brand focuses on the watch. Here, the esteemed Maison has developed an outer ring that rotates freely on a ball-bearing system so that the bird, perched on that outer ring of the dial, moves with each gesture of the wrist. The bird is sculpted by hand from gold, set with gems, and then put into place.

The new Bird on a Rock watch series includes two stunning models that bring Schlumberger’s whimsical artistry to life in horology.

First, the Bird on a Rock Full Pavé Diamond Watch features a 36mm, 18-karat white gold case. The piece is magnificently set with 1,362 round brilliant diamonds weighing 8.4 carats, including a case set with 366 diamonds (2.94 carats), and a snow-set dial with 204 diamonds (0.72 carats). Last but not least, an 18-karat white gold bracelet with five rows of links is set with another 628 diamonds (4.4 carats).
 

The signature bird, set with 120 diamonds and a pink sapphire eye, enhances the design’s dynamic look, especially since it sits on a rotating ring of 30 baguette-cut aquamarines (more than 3.0 carats) that underscore the interplay of movement and light.
 

Alternatively, the Bird on a Rock Tsavorite Watch is larger at 39mm. Rendered in white gold, it features a total of 742 round diamonds weighing just about 6.0 carats. Among them are 413 brilliants on the case, 166 round brilliants on the dial, and 99 round brilliants on the bird.
 

This iteration also features 36 baguette-cut tsavorites (weighing 5.4 carats) on its rotating ring. Both versions are powered by Swiss self-winding movements offering 38 hours of power reserve.

Easily one of the most remarkable new watches is the Eternity Wisteria watch. Here, the intricate enamel dial is designed to resemble the floral motif of the famed Tiffany Wisteria lamp. The lamps were one of the most sought-after Tiffany objects d’art and continue to be in high demand on the auction circuit. Created at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, the Art Nouveau lamp shades were made in multi-colored glass.
 

The new watch, inspired by the wisteria blooms on the lamps, brings together these motifs with accents from the Eternity by Tiffany collection. This includes vivid colors created in the watch using a plique-a-jour technique as well as diamond hour markers – each in a different cut – including round brilliant, baguette, cushion marquis, Asscher, heart, pear, oval, emerald, triangle, princess, and the beloved Tiffany True cut.
 

In total, the watch is set with 709 diamonds weighing more than 5.0 carats. While the dazzling stone setting is mesmerizing, the dial, with cutouts and enamel wisteria-like petals steals the limelight. Altogether, crafting, setting, and assembling this watch (exclusive of the movement) requires 150 hours of meticulous labor, including 80 hours for the hand enameling and 70 hours for the snow-set diamonds.
 

All of the five new Tiffany & Co. watches are available today. Each is produced in a limited run with pricing available upon request. For more information, visit the Tiffany & Co. website.