An ode to modernity in fashion

Image
An ode to modernity in fashion - Dior
3 minutes read
The Dior VIII Montaigne Saisonnière and Dior Grand Soir Kaléidiorscope pay tribute to Dior’s modernity and savoir-faire.

With timepieces that capture the free spirit of its prêt-à-porter collections and the neon-bright kaleidoscope of its couture embroideries, the House of Dior is showing off its heritage as a progressive couture house with a thoroughly avant-garde attitude.

While the couture ribbon and the twirling ball gown remain uncontested icons of the house, there is a distinct modernity in Dior’s new lineup of watches. That modernity is most visible in the pop colors of Dior’s lacquered dials or the speckled jewels of its precious marquetry daringly paired with muted denim or bright patent leather bracelets.

The Dior VIII Montaigne Saisonnière returns to the runway

Last year, Dior had tested the concept of the “seasonal” watch with its first Dior VIII Montaigne Saisonnière timepieces, designed to be in sync with the Maison’s prêt-à-porter collections.  Seasonal implies limited in time, and rather than limit the number of timepieces in the collection, Dior had experimented with the idea of making its seasonal watches available only for a limited time, much like its seasonal clothing lines.

Under the artistic direction of Raf Simmons, Dior’s prêt-à-porter lines had lent themselves beautifully to the “seasonal” exercise, given the unconventional color combinations of Mr. Simmons’ collections.  They provided a baseline of basic colors for the Dior VIII Montaigne Saisonnière line, capturing Mr. Simmons’ ability to inject a clean, streamlined freshness into Dior’s runway collections.  

This year, despite the seat of artistic director left vacant with the departure of Mr. Simmons, Dior has added two new watches to its seasonal lineup, still taking inspiration from the Maison’s prêt-à-porter collections. 

Dior VIII Montaigne Saisonnière Baselworld

 “The Saisonnière line is designed by the horlogerie studio, independent of the Maison’s artistic director,” explains the Maison Dior.  “The studio picks up on trends that are in the ‘air du temps.’  They are not specifically tied to a particular runway show, mainly because production times in watchmaking are longer than a fashion season.”

Unlike the D de Dior line created by Victoire de Castellane, the Dior VIII Montaigne series are designed by the Dior watchmaking studios on the Avenue Montaigne and then produced in Dior’s ateliers at La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Still, a very of-the-moment spirit animates the two offerings in this year’s Saisonnière lineup.  Candy-apple green and pomegranate are the colors of choice.  Proposed in a steely grey and 32mm dial, two versions of the Saisonnière are offered in a translucent blue-green or a rose-red lacquer.  In each model, the silver-tone sun-brushed dial with hand-applied diamond-shaped indexes features a central ring set with diamonds, and a metallic leather strap.  In pink gold with sky-blue rubber lining for the blue-green dial, or a sky-blue with purple rubber piping for the red lacquer dial, both have a steel pin buckle.

The Dior Grand Soir Kaléidiorscope line captures the magic of precious embroideries

This year, the Dior Grand Soir Kaléidiorscope collection makes a show-stopping ode to the delicate embroidery of Monsieur Dior’s evening dresses with jeweled timepieces that are both precious and surprisingly wearable.

“The studio chose to look at embroidery through a kaleidoscope,” explained the Maison Dior.  “Production of these pieces took over two years, the main challenge being the setting of the stones exactly as designed by the studio.”

DIOR GRAND SOIR KALEIDiorscope N1 N3 Baselworld

The Kaléidiorscope timepieces combine white and yellow gold, onyx or mother-of-pearl dials, a precious stone-set bezel, each in a different shade and design, combining a selection from over 180 metals and precious stones from delicate opals to pink sapphires, diamonds, tsavorites and rich malachite, just to name a few.

“The idea here was to be modern and precious, by adhering to the codes of the house,” added the Maison Dior.

Limited to an edition of eight, 36mm, unique pieces with an automatic Elite calibre by Zenith, the Dior Grand Soir Kaléidiorscope comes with both a denim strap and a black satin bracelet for a more classic finish.  

Not surprisingly, five of the eight spectacular Kaléidiorscope timepieces were sold by the time the collection was previewed at Baselworld.

DIOR GRAND SOIR KALEIDiorscope N5 baselworld

 

Featured brand