Springtime of Desires

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Springtime of Desires - Baselworld Jewelry Watches
4 minutes read
Our selection of some new bejeweled watches dressed in springtime colors and brimming with feminine charm.

This year’s edition of Baselworld got underway on the day of the vernal equinox under sunny blue skies as winter gave way to spring in what has been a year of seismic transitions for the annual watch and jewelry trade show.  

Starting last summer when the Swatch group announced its exit, the fair has seen its roster of exhibitors steadily melt away – like snow on the distant peaks – and tumble down to about 500, a third of what it once boasted in its glory days a decade ago.    

Thankfully, despite the troubling erosion, there was no scarcity in the category of high jewelry timepieces as some of the show’s most storied brands, having answered present to the rollcall, turned out some stunning new bejeweled watches dressed in springtime colors and brimming with feminine charm.

At Jacob & Co., the power of flowers in bloom

Since it first debuted at Baselworld in 2014, the Astronomia Tourbillon has helped to propel Jacob & Co.’s ambitions into higher spheres, including the outer edges of space when the New York-based jeweler launched its Solar Planets model in 2017.   

This spring, the high-flying timepiece has returned to earth to spawn a new version of the Astronomia, in a charming flowering garden where it has blossomed into Fleurs de Jardin.   

“This is a feminine version of the Solar that had the sun on the center and the planets going around,” said Jacob & Co. at the launch of the timepiece.   “We have transformed it into a flower garden with new details that make it ultra-feminine.”

Springtime of Desires

Notwithstanding its vertically stacked movement, Fleurs de Jardin is unmistakably “ultra-feminine” thanks to 11 different flowers in varied cuts of citrine, tsavorite, amethyst, orange garnet and ruby, all blooming gloriously under the high sapphire-glass dome of the watch that doubles as greenhouse.  A “Jacob-cut” citrine globe with 288 facets, firmly planted in the center, observes the seductive languor of the movement that turns around a central axis and completes a full revolution every 10 minutes.  A gem-set, butterfly-shaped folding buckle adds a final pretty touch to Fleurs de Jardin and completes its girlish looks.

Still, like the woman you think you know, she is never quite the same.  “The watch is constantly changing its look because the elements on the dial turn nonstop,” Jacob & Co. said. 

Available in an edition of 18 in blue and rose, it is an Eden in full bloom, priced 360,000 Swiss francs.

At Kerbedanz, hope springs eternal

Kerbedanz’s timepieces are ripe with symbolism, and this year, the promise of spring was illustrated by “Hope,” one of the three virtues right alongside “Faith” and “Charity.”  

With those good words, Kerbedanz, based in Neuchâtel, introduced its new version of hope in pink sapphires, in the form of an Esperanza Classique, presented as symbolizing an “attitude of the mind,” but also flinging much attitude from the wrist.

“Hope is an attitude of the mind to consider the possibility, the belief or the faith in a better future,” Kerbedanz said. 

The backstory of the Kerbedanz’s Esperanza timepieces relates to Greek mythology, and the tale of Pandora and her jar from which all the evils of humanity escaped while hope was kept safely unboxed.

Springtime of Desires

The new Esperanza Classique, expression of a hope for a bright future, boasts an 18-carat yellow gold case, decorated with nearly 10 carats of pink sapphires.  The crown is set between 1 and 2 o’clock and the lugs made to bear 0.37 carats of diamonds.

Limited to 41 pieces priced 65,000 Swiss francs, with this pink Esperanza Classique “the light of hope continues to shine, thus ensuring the future salvation of humanity,” even with the lights dimmed.

At Bulgari, the art of serpentine seduction 

The new Serpenti Seduttori collection, the highlight of this year’s women’s watches at Bulgari, builds on the Roman jeweler’s love affair with snakes which started in the 1940s when the coiled “Serpenti” motif first appeared in its watch repertoire.  

Since then, the motif has been revisited many times, but this year, the snake appears to have shed its old skin, morphing into an ardent instrument of reptilian seduction. 

Le printemps des désirs

In the fully-pavé rose gold version, Serpenti Seduttori is particularly well-poised to redefine the tenets of desirability.  Its “drop-shaped” case is thinner than that of the Serpenti Tubogas, its predecessor, despite the 50 brilliant-cut diamonds set on its bezel and the additional 166 snow-set diamonds on the case itself.  With a scale-like pattern, its slinky, articulated bracelet - a more figurative design than seen at Bulgari in previous versions - now slides smoothly on the wrist.  Its crown is topped with a cabochon-cut ruby, a nod to Bulgari’s jewelry heritage. 

Priced at €88,200, Serpenti Seduttori exudes the confidence of a snake slithering with charm.

At Chanel, the illuminations of a ruby 

On this year of Chanel’s revival of the J12, new versions of the Code Coco were serious competition to what became two decades ago an instant bestseller for the fashion house.

Since 2017, Chanel’s Code Coco watch, as the name suggests, has captured some of the Maison’s signature design codes, from the quilting on the watch strap to the clasp of the 2.55 handbag that has become the face of the watch.  

This year, Chanel has added five new versions to its Code Coco lineup, all with diamond-set dials on a choice of bracelet in stainless steel or ceramic and, for the first time, a beige-gold option.

Springtime of Desires

Among those, the most stunning spring-hued iteration is a ruby-set pièce unique Code Coco displayed under a glass dome.  Its case and bezel, both in 18-carat white gold, stand out against a wrap-around bracelet, a bright pigeon-blood red, set with 315 baguette-cut rubies from Burma and Mozambique weighing at 62.81 carats, all invisible-set from end-to-end.  Its two dials are set with 60 brilliant-cut diamonds, while a single princess-cut diamond sits in the center of the top dial.  

This crimson Code Coco, with a unique €1.75 million price tag to match, will not be going gently into the night.

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