Mothers’ Day is observed across the world; different countries may choose different days to honour mothers, but it is always done. Over here in Switzerland, it was the Sunday just past. Now that most of us are spending way more time at home than we normally would, it’s becoming abundantly clear what an enormous burden of labour it is that mothers take on. The word “labour” is used to refer to the process of birthing children, but it’s pretty much inclusive of an entire lifetime of caring for others. If you only ever buy a watch for one person in your life, make it your mother — or whoever it is that occupies that maternal role in your life. We tend to praise and admire the people who lead the world. Mothers’ Day is about celebrating the people who make the world worth living in.
Chopard Happy Sport
It was 27 years ago that the watchmaker-jeweller Chopard combined diamonds with a steel watch for the first time, spawning a collection that has since become an icon for the brand. Previously, only watches that were made in precious metals were deemed prestigious enough to be paired with diamonds. If your mother manages to make the unruliest members of your family play nice together, if she’s nothing short of a living, breathing icon, she deserves a Happy Sport. She’s the one making sure that even though you’re all stuck in the same confined space, you’re still able to bounce around like the brightest, sparkliest, most energetic diamonds that human eyes have seen.
De Bethune DB25 Moon Phase Starry Sky
Those who know me will realise that I talk about De Bethune a lot. It’s true — I have a tremendous amount of affection for this brand. But that wasn’t always the case. When I first started out as a watch journalist, I was intimidated by De Bethune, with their super technical watches, and I didn’t comprehend their avant-garde and experimental approach to design and horology. Now that I’ve matured as a writer and also in my appreciation of watches, I can say that I really dig De Bethune. I love their mastery of heat-blued components (despite my general abhorrence for that colour), their three-dimensional ultra-accurate moon phase display, their insistent perfectionism. Hands up, if you ever felt distant from your mother as a child but now, as an adult, you understand every decision she made. To me, De Bethune represents that difficult, but ultimately worthwhile, love.
Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Smalta Clara Tigre
This might sound like a masculine timepiece to you. Tigers, symbol of power and virility, right? Housed in a classic round dress watch? But what about the delicacy of that plique-à-jour enamelling? What about the asymmetrically placed mother-of-pearl dial and the slim diamond-set bezel? What about the fact that female tigers are renowned for their exceptional fierceness when their cubs are threatened — so much so that society has dubbed the archetypal overprotective and ferocious mother (revered in households, feared by teachers) the Tiger Mom? Make no mistake; the Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Smalta Clara Tigre is the mistress of your castle and she will be obeyed.
