That sparkle though!

Chopard Opal Secret

This one looks straight out of a French renaissance queen’s jewellery box. Chopard’s creative director Caroline Scheufele has designed the Opal Secret watch for the upcoming Cannes international film festival’s red carpet collection. Wrapped around the wrist like a wave of coral reef, the watch is made with a combination of blue and green precious gems, mineral quartz and lacquer work. The dial has an unusual strap. Rows of Tanzanite beads on thread grasp every corner of the watchcase and steady its weight. A large black opal stone hides the watch beneath it. The hidden dial is made of Chalcedony mineral modelled with pink mother-of-pearl cuttings.

Gyro Graff

Gyro Graff

At 48mm diameter, the Gyro Graff watch is not exactly made for the timid collector. A concoction of three dimensional complications, this Graff watch is a stellar wonder. Diamonds represent an astral universe with a double-axis tourbillon rotating as though it were a spinning satellite in the starry sky. A tourbillon complication is added to the watch for enhanced precision. It counters the effect of gravity on the watch machine. A grey-white ball placed between seven and eight represents the moon. Made of white gold, it contains impressions of craters realised from a map of the moon. Like any other moon-phase complication, it reveals the actual position of moon in the sky and works like a lunar calendar. The Gyro watch by Graff adorns 317 diamonds weighing 19.5 carats. It runs on a hand-wound movement with 72 hours of power reserve.

Rolex Daytona Rainbow

Rolex Daytona Rainbow

Do you remember the Paul Newman Rolex watch from the Daytona series that was auctioned for a US$17.7 million last year? Rolex introduced another stunner in the same series at Baselworld this year. It is bejewelled with colourful precious stones on a rose-gold dial. Thirty six baguette-cut rainbow gradation sapphires embedded on the bezel with corresponding stones represent hour markers. Fifty six brilliant cut diamonds decorate the polished sides of its dial case. The watch is an heirloom-grade timepiece that runs on a precise in-house 4130 calibre housed in a sturdy gold case, and is water-resistant to 100 meters.

Harry Winston Marble Marquetry

Harry Winston Marble Marquetry

This haute jewellery watch is an illustration of the star shaped marble-flooring pattern found at the Harry Winston’s flagship store in New York. The original star-burst motif is an eight-pronged star with beams of grey-and-white marble radiating from its centre. A similar star pattern can be found on the delicate watch bracelet. All precious stones on the watch face are inserted using the invisible setting technique. Forty eight baguette-cut diamonds and 28 blue sapphires cover the inner watch dial, showing little traces of metal. A total of about 9.5 carats of diamonds and 3.8 carats of sapphires radiate shimmering light throughout the length of the Harry Winston Marble Marquetry watch. The jewellery watch indicates hours and minutes, and runs on a battery-powered engine.

Shilpa Dhamija is the editor of LuxuryVolt.com