A stand-out cocktail watch is just what we need to get into the festive spirit – and makes for a dazzling future family heirloom too. How’s that for an investment piece?
‘Tis the season for adorning ourselves with the most decadent of jewels, even in a year like no other. Whilst you may not feel like dressing in sequins from top-to-toe, a cocktail watch is a sleek way to up the sartorial ante over the festive period. Often known as jewellery watches, a cocktail watch goes beyond the design requirements of your everyday watch: often consisting of a generous smattering of diamonds and delicious wrist details, blurring the lines between a bracelet and a timepiece.
Don yours as the perfect accompaniment to a 5PM Martini pick-me-up at your favourite watering hole, or simply, your living room.
Chanel's floral house emblem, the camélia, is lovingly crushed and distilled into their potent face creams, the motif adorns tweed blazers and chic handbags, and it's also immortalised in white gold and diamonds upon this watch. The satin band is a sleek alternative to a chain strap too.
Chanel’s floral house emblem, the camélia, is lovingly crushed and distilled into their potent face creams, the motif adorns tweed blazers and chic handbag, and it’s also immortalised in white gold and diamonds upon this watch.
The La Mini de Dior Satine is an instant classic. It comes in myriad iterations: whether you are a fan of mixed metals, bold-coloured lacquer dials, or the understated glamour of mother-of-pearl. The Milanese mesh bracelet is a masterful stroke, elevating the timepiece for extra sparkle.
Chaumet's Hortensia watches are infused with all the haute couture glamour of the house's lustrous jewellery. Yet there's still a watch to satisfy every horological collector, from minimalists to maximalists. Opt for a leather strap and brushed metal dial for a daytime staple. Either that or the full diamond encrusted iteration – a piece so mesmerising, no one will be looking at what else you are wearing. Or simply meet in the middle, like this one, with a striking malachite dial and dusting of diamonds.
Chaumet’s Hortensia watches are infused with all the haute couture glamour of the house’s lustrous jewellery.
Fans of Gucci’s whimsical designs will adore this timepiece from the Italian fashion house. With a thin yellow gold bangle, and diamond dotted dial, topped off with a diamond-encrusted snake curled surreptitiously around the crown. This timepiece is something of a conversation starter.
Fans of Boucheron’s Serpent Bohémé jewellery collection will love this watch to complement their growing array of pendants and cocktail rings. With delicately sculpted gold, pavé diamonds and a glossy onyx dial, this watch really adds finesse to a black-tie outfit.
Fans of Boucheron’s Serpent Bohémé jewellery collection will love this watch to complement their growing arsenal of pendants and cocktail rings.
Who said cocktails watches couldn't be colourful too? This watch is the exquisite result of two heavyweights colliding. For the past few years Bucherer has been partnering with globally renowned watch makers to create exclusive iterations of iconic timepieces. Here Bucherer collaborated with Piaget on the Possession model – it's lavishly set with diamonds, a blue sapphire and a chic alligator strap.
This Buccellati watch has been hand-finished using the house's century-old Rigato engraving technique that makes a Buccellati piece so distinguishable. With a pleasingly chunky gold bracelet, generously dotted with diamonds, it is made for stacking with other bangles for maximum effect.
This Buccellati watch has been hand-finished using the house’s century-old Rigato engraving technique, that makes a Buccellati piece so distinguishable.
If you are a fan of a charm bracelet, but find it's sometimes a bit too fussy, we have a watch for you. This watch from Van Cleef & Arpels is a classic, thanks to a face and bezel consisting of white gold, diamonds, and mother-of-pearl, as well as a black satin strap, but with the added playfulness of a charm that dances to the movement of your wrist. The Alhambra charm, one of the house codes, makes the timepiece subtly identifiable as Van Cleef & Arpels, and will incite impressed glances from those in the know.
*Feature image by Jean-Marie Binet.
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