| WATCH YOUR TIME
FOCUS
51
| WATCH YOUR TIME
FOCUS
F O C U S
Winning comeback
Tiffany watchmaking is back. Since
LVMH’s 2020 acquisition, the watch side of
America’s pre-eminent jeweller has devel-
oped a new vision that fuses the spirit and
panache of its most iconic jewels with the
finest horological expertise.
Tiffany has horological history. Watches first appeared
in its catalogue in 1847, and the brand became a dominant
US watch and clock retailer, with workshops in Geneva
and New York. John Loring’s Tiffany Timepieces opens
with Mark Twain admiring a for $25,000 Tiffany clock
at the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition.
Initially importing European watches, Tiffany became
the exclusive US agent for Patek Philippe and opened its
own watch manufacture in Geneva in 1874 after Charles
Lewis Tiffany had been impressed by seeing Waltham’s
advanced production and thought the techniques could
be used to improve Swiss production. The result was a
potent mix of fine Swiss movement and Tiffany craft
excellence that saw the brand create growing numbers
of jewelled timepieces from the 1880s onwards.
By the turn of the century, Tiffany & Co. was the
first stop for America’s social elite so when the wives
of three of New York’s wealthiest businessmen; John
Jacob Astor, John B. Thayer and George D. Widener were
looking to reward Captain Arthur H. Rostron of RMS
Carpathia for saving their lives following the sinking of
the RMS Titanic, a Tiffany & Co. pocket watch was the
only possible choice.
From the mid-1930s, Tiffany diversified its suppliers,
working with Waltham, Hamilton, and Swiss makers,
becoming the most significant watch retailer and pro-
ducer in the US. And with Jean Schlumberger’s arrival
in the 1950s Tiffany forged its most distinctive watch
design identity yet.
Tiffany’s Blue book catalogues featured a stream of
innovative designs through the following decades, even
including one of the first digital watches, the Tiffany
Pulsar. The 1980s–2000s saw a stream of successful
designs from names like Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso,
John Loring, and Jorg Hysek (of Vacheron Constantin’s
222 fame).
Today, that creativity is returning. Heritage is central
to this revival – a “back to the future” ethos drawing from
archival designs, Tiffany’s star designers, and New York
architecture. It’s a fusion approach to watchmaking that
draws the panache and style from those heritage sources,
so the Schlumberger “Bird on a Rock” brooch inspired
the Bird on a Flying Tourbillon (see p. 67) both in detail
and in spirit. The watch has a champlevé enamel dial,
appliqué flowers and diamond-set sub-dial framing the
flying tourbillon. The bespoke movement, developed
by Artime, is matched with artisanal craft – 80 hours
of enamelling, 40 hours of diamond setting for the bird
– all done with Schlumberger’s hallmark whimsy.
While high jewellery leads the charge, Tiffany have
also looked to bring a new energy to its core ranges using
the same heritage inspiration approach – the Rope is
one of Jean Schlumberger’s most recognisable motifs
and is given new life as a watch design that perfectly
expresses Tiffany’s direction of travel. Concentric cir-
cles of the twisted gold design are interspersed with a
circle of diamonds to form a wide bezel around the dial
(whether mother-of-pearl or black) in which are hidden
the solar cells that charge the watch.
There’s a similar rationale behind the HardWear col-
lection, which takes inspiration from a jewellery collec-
tion launched in 1962 and matches industrial chic to a
jeweller’s sensibility, the result being distinctive cush-
ion shaped watches (the sapphire glass over the dial
and the caseback are faceted in the style of the Tiffany
Diamond) fitted to fourteen link bracelets that have a
fluid, organic feel that belie the design. The star of the
first three models in the collection features a lacquered
Tiffany Blue ‘crush’ dial that is stamped with a pattern
resembling shattered diamonds and is surrounded by a
diamond-set bezel and diamond-set lugs creating a dar-
ing contrast against the steel case and silver HardWear
bracelet.
This, you sense, is just the beginning as that Loring
book is a treasure trove in itself, let alone the rest of the
archive. With such rich resources to draw on and a team
that’s clearly able to supply wit and character to the pro-
cess of updating heritage designs, Tiffany’s future looks
assured. ■ James Gurney
1. TIFFANY & CO. Schlumberger by Tiffany & Co. Bird on a Rock.
Inspired by Jean Schlumberger’s iconic 1965 brooch of the same
name, the Schlumberger by Tiffany & Co. Bird on a Rock watch
collection spans several high jewellery pieces. The white gold
model shown here measures 36 mm in diameter and features
36 coloured stones, including sapphires, topazes and emeralds
along with over 700 diamonds. Thanks to a clever mechanism,
the perched bird rotates around the periphery of the dial as the
wrist moves. Quartz movement.
2. TIFFANY & CO. HardWear. The HardWear collection takes
its cue from a 1962 bracelet. Signature chain links frame a 24 x
24 mm cushion-shaped case. The most precious model pairs a
diamond-set steel case (54 brilliant-cut diamonds) with a 925-sil-
ver bracelet, available in various lengths. The Tiffany Blue® dial
is topped with a faceted sapphire crystal reminiscent of the cut
of the legendary Tiffany Diamond. Quartz movement.