Elite Traveler January-February 2016

DISCOVER

elite traveler JAN/FEB 2016 40

We love… These fancy intense yellow diamond drop earrings from The One and Only One, with 14.39 carats of diamonds. Read Roberta Naas’s expert view on colored diamonds on page 59.

Jewelry

Time on her hands Once upon a time it was considered uncouth for a woman to wear a watch. Thankfully those days are behind us but finding a dressy watch for a special occasion often remains a dilemma. Many turn to high jewelry watches. Van Cleef & Arpels designed one of the first in the 1930s. The Cadenas looked like a bracelet and, cleverly, only the wearer could see the hidden dial. Today jewelry watches can be separated into two groups: watches with jewelry details or jewelry with watch functions. In the first category, we find pieces such as Graff’s bracelets, where the diamonds appear to float on the wrist; Harry Winston’s Art Deco timepiece with a delicate diamond pattern; and de Grisogono’s Grappoli framed by 70 diamonds. On the other hand, we have Van Cleef & Arpels’ Sertie and Cartier’s high jewelry watch that could pass for a diamond bangle. Yet the piece that most resembles jewelry comes from one of watchmaking’s oldest manufacturers, Vacheron Constantin, with a watch face hidden behind a diamond cover, which opens like a locket to reveal the time.

Graff Diamonds’ Lace Watch is limited to 10 pieces and set with 44 carats of fancy-cut diamonds

Vacheron Constantin’s Kalla Haute Couture à Secret has 31.9 carats of round- and flame-cut diamonds

Each de Grisogono Grappoli takes 120 hours to create by hand

Van Cleef & Arpels’ classic jewelry watch, the Cadenas Sertie with white gold bracelet and snow-set diamond bezel

Art Deco by Harry Winston, set with 253 baguette- and brilliant-cut diamonds with mother-of-pearl dial

145 square- and rectangular- shaped princess-cut diamonds cover this Cartier high jewelry watch

Words: Kristen Shirley. Photo: Katel Riou©Cartier