These Watches Embody The Wonders Of Nature | Verve Magazine
India's premier luxury lifestyle women's magazine
Luxury & Brands
July 09, 2019

These Watches Embody The Wonders Of Nature

Text by Zaral Shah

Celebrate the beauty and variety of the ecosystem that envelops us….

Jaquet Droz

The beautifully-understated off-centre hour display at 2 o’clock leaves ample room for the star — the vivid life-like tiger — to shine on this Petite Heure Minute Smalta Clara timepiece. A work of art aptly comparable to a stained glass window, this creation marks the brand’s first use of the plique-à-jour enamelling technique. It has no case back and this allows the light to shine through and illuminate every colour and hue. A bezel set with 100 diamonds and a hand-finished wraparound satin strap ensure that this 35 mm stunner is sure to be a sought-after piece.

Jaeger-LeCoultre

The refined craftsmanship atop the dial of this Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater visually encapsulates the first winter frost that covers trees and shrubs. The house has brought ivy leaves to life by using the snow setting technique. Here, diamonds of varied sizes are huddled together next to each other and the lustrous gems dot the dainty plant motif. Additionally, two rows of diamonds line the bezel and pushpiece, and the gem-setting continues on the lugs and the sides of the case too.

Cartier

The emerald eye on its monochrome face might be the first thing to catch your attention, but there’s a lot more to love about this Panthère Dentelle watch. Set with a black lacquer dial and sword-shaped hands, the elegant timepiece encloses a quartz movement within its 36 mm casing. Water resistant to 30 metres, the shiny, black alligator-leather strap is effectively juxtaposed with the 480 diamonds that embellish the wristwatch.

Chopard

An additional jewel has been added to the maison’s precious collection of L.U.C XP Urushi timepieces, in the form of this L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Pig. It has been crafted to mark the start of the traditional new year according to the Chinese calendar. The hand-crafted dial uses Urushi, the traditional Japanese lacquer technique, to represent a golden pig with a protruding stomach within a multicoloured forest background.

Bvlgari

Boasting an exquisite metiers d’art peinture miniature motifs dial that sports a bird of paradise, leaves and flowers, this ticker is held together by a blue alligator strap and an 18-carat white gold ardillon buckle. The showstopper atop this LVCEA watch’s 18-carat white gold casing, set with brilliant-cut and transparent diamonds, is its crown — itself set with a pink cabochon-cut stone and diamond.

Rado

Each timepiece from the True Thinline Nature collection delicately conjures up eye-catching details of the natural world. The three versions represent earth, water and leaves. The True Thinline Water made with deep midnight-blue ceramic and a blue mother-of-pearl dial brings to mind the ebbs and flows of the open seas. The only other adornment atop the dial of this wrist candy for anyone with a penchant for the hue, are the rhodium-coloured hands and indexes, and the Rado logo. Equally beautiful are the other two versions — True Thinline Earth and True Thinline Leaf and you can pick your favourite from the trio!

MB&F

One of the most compelling creatures of the sea is depicted in this dual-configuration clock, housed in hand-blown Murano glass. Medusa, crafted in limited edition sets of 50 pieces each of blue, green and pink, in the shape of a jellyfish, tells the time by means of two rotating rings, one displaying the hours and the other, the minutes. The time, visible through the dome, is read off a single fixed indicator that extends over the rings of the clock.

Brands and Sustainability

Several luxury brands are working towards a sustainable revolution. In tandem with their deep-rooted values and heritage, these houses are laying great emphasis on giving back to nature

It isn’t just in the dials and designs of the watches of these maisons that planet Earth finds a pride of place. Their philanthropic ventures, too, reflect respect and admiration for the environment. Chopard for one has, since July 2018, pledged to the using of ethical gold — gold acquired from responsible sources, and verified as having met international best practice environmental and social standards. In Cartier’s commitments towards the environment, the brand aims to minimise the use of toxic materials in their operations, manage their waste in a responsible manner and reduce their consumption of water and energy.

Breguet and the Race for Water Foundation embarked on a unique partnership last year — to support the Odyssey 2017-2021 and its crucial mission for the oceans. Their objective is to raise awareness of ocean preservation and plastic pollution. The vessel is slated to make around 35 stopovers around the world and offer a platform for scientists and decision-makers to come together and share their learnings on the need to preserve, humanity’s most precious resource — water.

LVMH Group’s — whose houses include Hublot, Zenith and Bvlgari amongst many others — entrusted Environment Academy has implemented specific measures intended for architects, who are the key contact persons when it comes to reducing the group’s greenhouse gas emissions through the development of eco-construction. Their LIFE (LVMH Initiatives For the Environment) programme makes environmental imperatives a vital part of management processes and enables the creation of new eco-friendly organisation tools while encouraging pioneering practices at the different maisons.

For Bvlgari, sustainable development and CSR indicate — through a proactive approach to ethical behaviour, social and economic development and environmental principles — a commitment towards improving society’s quality of life. The brand is dedicated to addressing global challenges, for which they have set out a plan inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — which was signed by 193 member countries of the United Nations in September 2015 — SDG aims to tackle global challenges like poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice.

Today, major maisons are taking tangible initiatives towards safeguarding the natural world, and their practices largely support major sustainability commitments and CSR initiatives.

Judith Borowski
Chief Branding Officer, Nomos Glashütte, on the brand and haute horology

On the Indian and Asian markets
We are still new and fresh in India. So to us it’s very nice to talk to people here and get a sense of things. I think that the ‘Made in Germany’ tag is admired by people in Asia, as it is a promise of reliable quality. Also, we have built a name for ourselves in terms of quality and design and for calibre production as well.

On the trends in watchmaking
The watches being introduced currently in the market are not that large-sized anymore. They are getting smaller and more sophisticated.

On what she enjoys most about the process of watchmaking
Personally, I love being involved in the design stage of the overall work. That’s my favourite!

On the ideal Nomos Glashütte patron
Someone who doesn’t want to flaunt what he or she earns, but has an innate sense of quality above all else.

Walter von Känel
President, Longines, on the art of perfectly keeping time

On his first timepiece
Till I turned 17, I lived in a farmhouse, and we had no watches there. The wake-up service was the animals, and like in all Swiss villages, there was a big church where they had a clock for villagers to check the time. Before I went to the army, my then girlfriend (now my wife) was working at Longines, and she gave me my first watch in 1961 when I was 20 years old.

On his formula for being successful in the market
At the outset, you have to know which price segment you want to battle in, because in this industry, you cannot be everywhere…. So you establish what your battlefield is, and then you have to have a consistent continuation policy. For me the most important thing is focussing and staying in your price segment, and knowing that you cannot do it alone, you need people. And I believe that we can’t change every day. You have to have evolution, not revolution.

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