Why have flowers always exercised such strong seductive powers over women? Times change, but certain tastes remain unaltered, and women are as keenly sensitive as ever to the appeal of floral motifs. In the garden of ladies’ watches, summer is the dream season to witness the blooming of new watch flowers that displaying the passing of time in a delightfully refined manner.
Chanel Mademoiselle Privé with Embroidered Camellia Decoration
Chanel opts for the camellia. A brand icon because it was one of Coco Chanel’s favourite blooms, this flowering plant also made famous by Alexandre Dumas continues to make its delicate mark on the jewellery and watches from the great Parisian House. The Mademoiselle Privé Embroidered Camellia Decoration watch, issued in an 18-piece limited edition, places the flower in the very centre of the dial. What’s more, it does so in an entirely original way using the needlepoint-painting technique. The dial is embroidered by the House of Lesage using colourful silk threads. Like a jewel case surrounding the flower in a halo of light, the white gold case is set with 562 brilliant-cut diamonds.
Chaumet Hortensia Secret watch
Chaumet cannot resist the charm of the hydrangea. Its dainty case composed of dainty floral bouquet plays hide and seek with time. Alternating between twin roles as timepiece and jewellery adornment, the Hortensia Secret watch appears clothed in pink gold that vanishes beneath a precious cluster of diamonds, sapphires, tourmalines and opals. When the jewellery model is transformed into a watch, the shimmering white mother-of-pearl of the dial adds its own tuneful note to this precious floral composition.
Christophe Claret Margot red gold, baguette-set
This is a watch that one cannot help loving un peu, beaucoup, passionnément… à la folie… (a little, a lot, passionately, madly). Christophe Claret turns the age-old practice of plucking daisy petals to answer the universal romantic question – “He loves me?”, “He loves me not?” – into a totally addictive game with the Margot watch. After a first white gold version revealed in early 2014, it now appears robed in red gold. The principle of this first ladies’ complication model by Claret is perfectly simple: pressing a pushpiece randomly picks off the daisy petals, framed by a pink-tinged mother-of-pearl dial swept over by pink gold-tipped hands, while a scintillating halo of baguette-cut diamonds adorning the case sets the perfect crowning touch.
Hermès Arceau Millefiori
Hermès offers a chance to immerse the gaze in a field of flowers. In an unusual encounter between mechanical watchmaking and the art of crystal ware, the Arceau Millefiori is graced with a dial inspired by the 19th century paperweights made by the Cristalleries royales de Saint-Louis. By means of a complex and particularly delicate technique, superimposed layers of crystal and enamel compose an extraordinary carpet of flowers. Rimmed by a 34 mm white gold case set with 60 diamonds, this raspberry pink version evokes the colourful blooming of a flowerbed – a joyful and enchanting sight.
