In this coronation year, let us revel in both the marvels of Swiss-watchmaking as well as post-war chic and glamour–but from the last coronation. On that day in 1953, HM Queen Elizabeth II’s watch–gifted by the French president–featured the same Calibre 101 movement as ...
In this coronation year, let us revel in both the marvels of Swiss-watchmaking as well as post-war chic and glamour–but from the last coronation. On that day in 1953, HM Queen Elizabeth II’s watch–gifted by the French president–featured the same Calibre 101 movement as this Jaeger-Le-Coultre Snowdrop; evening watches having appeared over a century ago and hidden within a bracelet, since a lady only wore a watch during the day.
Taking its name and inspiration from the white bell-shaped flowers that pierce through a thin layer of snow in neighbouring Vaud’s Vallée de Joux–epicentre of this nation’s centuries-old horological expertise–this translucent design beams resplendent with a supple bracelet.
A circle of pear-shaped diamonds surrounds the dial to form a flower, and waves of diamonds repeat the petal pattern in perfect symmetry. Composed of pink gold with diamonds exclusively IF to VVS, this setting minimises the metal’s presence and allows light to pass through the stones from all angles as though floating on the surface of the bracelet. This is most certainly both a jewel as well as a watch of extraordinary quality and craftsmanship.
BY ALAN NAZAR IPEKIAN
Case size: 18.35×5.98 mm
Movement: Calibre 101 – manually wound, with 33 hours of power reserve
Dial: Silvered opaline
Bracelet: Pink gold set with 904 IF to VVS diamonds, including brilliant-cut and 204 pearshaped stones totalling 20.9 carats
Price: CHF 373 000
