The Art Of Gem Setting In Luxury Watches: High Jewellery Complications Explained
7 min read
As Diwali illuminates homes with the warm glow of diyas, another form of light artistry captivates the world of haute horlogerie—the brilliant sparkle of expertly set gemstones dancing across intricate mechanical movements. Much like the festival celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, gem-set timepieces represent the perfect union of luminous beauty with technical brilliance, where the craft of light enhancement elevates mechanical mastery to its most dazzling expression.
In the fiercely contested hierarchy of horological crafts, the skills required for creating a gem-set timepiece have often been relegated to lower grades. Many times, it comes as a natural tendency, even for purist enthusiasts, to dismiss gem-set watches as being purely decorative. Some of it comes from the legacy fact that the primary intent to integrate gemstones with watches was solely to yield a glamour incentive, notably among the aristocracy of the early ages. As early portable watches were usually commissioned by wealthy patrons of the 16th century, there wasn't any legitimate intent to be subtle in an ostentatious exhibit.
However, with democratization of portable timekeepers and their subsequent metamorphosis into wristwatches, the trade of gem setting found a presiding lodging among the finest forms of horological metiers d'art.
Gem Setting Is A Complication
There's no wrong in exhibiting horological discernment by means of timepieces with high finishing and high complications. But a skill-amalgam of a watch with say, an equation of time complication, and a pavé set diamond dial is levels above one that serves a solo supremacy in either. Such is a very special timepiece that occupies the upper echelons of ultra haute horlogerie excellence.
While small-minded-perspectives narrow the craft of horological gem setting as being exclusive for women, ideal for pop-culture celebs, and as brag-tools for "new money" sorts, those in the know-how equate and appreciate it as an art form requiring equal skill-levels as creating and hand-decorating a tourbillon.
Contrary to what many might think, setting constitutes only about 15-20% of the entire process, which involves, in executional order, procurement, conception, planning the set, milling or groove-making, stone cutting, faceting, securing the stone and final polishing.
Thus, gem setting is a complication in its own right.
Tastefulness Of The Complication
In more ways than one, a high-quality gem-set timepiece is a definite elevation of an already sophisticated work of mechanical art. In horology, the most impressive artisanal crafts are reserved for movement-finishing techniques. Executing decorative handwork on microscopic metal parts requires an unparalleled skill level. Apart from this intrinsic means of horological embellishment, very special horological metiers d'art are adopted for gem-set timepieces.
When superlative mechanical complexity is showcased as an ornate instrument of high artisanal value, form and function reign in unique equilibrium. The realized opus is nothing short of a mechanical work of art. In many creations, haute horlogerie and haute joaillerie intersect to yield a dazzling watchmaking marvel. In the examples that follow, that art of light enhances the mechanical wizardry at thriving proportions and blends functional complexity with artisanal exception in mind-numbing stakes.
Audemars Piguet's High Jewelry Inventiveness
Since its establishment in 1875, Audemars Piguet has been a true purveyor of high jewelry crafts within horological circles. Evolving from its early collaborative nature in haute joaillerie inventiveness, the Maison has matured into an in-house prowess in this discipline. Gem setting remains a central craft in the brand's haute joaillerie endeavors and has been practiced at level maxima both in its one-off jewelry creations as well as in many of the regular production model collections. From an 1884 pocket watch with a diamond paved Shah of Iran's coat of arms to the very contemporary Sapphire Orb from 2019 set with over 12,000 precious stones, the high jewelry ingenuity brewing at Audemars Piguet has been realized through diverse creative executions.
The brand's one-of-a-kind Haute Joaillerie timepieces have been materialized as a trilogy of creations - the Diamond Punk of 2015, the Diamond Fury of 2016 and the Diamond Outrage of 2017. While these are one-off exclusive creations, timepieces inspired by the ancient Florentine jewelry technique, the frosted gold finish, making prominent reservations in the Royal Oak collection, democratize the Maison's Haute Joaillerie artistry. As horological creations of high ornamental and mechanical legitimacy, the Royal Oak Frosted Gold Double Balance Wheel Openworked models, featuring rainbow bezel set with multicoloured gemstones or colored sapphires, yield a wonderful intersection of artistry and micro-mechanics.
Richard Mille's Ornate Mechanical Marvels
The sporty aesthetic nuances and mechanical mastery paired with high jewelry integration find a dazzling habitat in Richard Mille's creations. While the major heft of its yield is reserved for "lightweight luxury," the adherence to mechanical art isn't only confined to future-ready tech and materials. It also displays legitimacy in haute joaillerie craft with gem-set timepieces.
The RM 17-01 Manual Winding Tourbillon integrates the passion for mechanical innovation with an exacting illustration of gem-setting on its case. The sentiment thrives at finest standards in the RM 07-01 Automatic Winding Intergalactic, RM 037 Automatic Winding, and RM 07-02 Automatic Winding Sapphire, each exhibiting a sparkling take on micro-mechanic complexity. Synonymous with the brand, the art of redundancy, achieved through meticulous skeletonization of mechanical movements, hallmarks a significant technical novelty in all these creations of high jewelry genesis.
Vacheron Constantin's Art Of The Mechanical Ornament
The prolific creativity of high jewelry crafts lends a dazzling display in many of Vacheron Constantin's haute horlogerie creations. Here high watchmaking occurs in a close practice with the "craft of light" realized through expert gem setting. Mechanical exception being a consistent theme in amalgam with aesthetic beauty becomes a hallmark in Vacheron Constantin's Égérie collection dedicated to women. Complex micro-mechanic wonders reside within these ornate cases and power an accurate moon phase complication.
The Maison's Métiers d'Art collection symbolizes the highest echelon in terms of melding decorative artisanal techniques and high horology complications. Here, Tribute to traditional symbols - Moonlight slivers and Tribute to The Celestial showcase the delicacy of artisanal gem setting atop self-winding ultra-thin calibers with a power reserve and a tourbillon complication feature in the former. Horology jewelry crafts however attain infinite aura in the Heures Créatives collection. Inspired by the women's watches developed by Vacheron Constantin during the 1920s, 1930s and 1970s, this collection depicts peak hallmarks of horological gem setting while harboring a mechanical heart at core. The Heure Romantique and Grand lady Kalla reflect the Maison's long and rich history of jewelry crafts practiced on what are essentially competent mechanical timekeepers, marking a perfect illustration of technicality in its most beautiful expression.
Bvlgari's Mechanical Miniaturization For Serpentine Adornments
Very few Maisons can claim equal stakes of prowess in watchmaking exception and high jewelry inventiveness. Bvlgari undoubtedly leads the charge with its jewelled timekeepers that are of highest order in each craft. The Serpenti high jewelry watches with ultra-small Piccolissimo mechanical movements marry Bvlgari's resplendent facets as a master of high jewelry creations and a distinguished contemporary watchmaker. Bvlgari's mechanical marvel of miniaturization, the hand-wound BVL 100 calibre, also known as the Piccolissimo, proves to be an enabler of immense inventiveness for a brand already topping one record after another in ultra-slim movement manufacturing. With the Piccolissimo, the Maison leverages ultra-small caliber construction to explore novel territories of expression in feminine jewelled timekeepers, in particular, the iconic Serpenti Collection. This is peak mechanical miniaturization with an haute joaillerie intent.
The Bvlgari Piccolissimo caliber BVL 100, which weighs a dainty 1.3 grams, debuted in the iconic Serpenti Misteriosi high jewellery collection in 2022. It has progressed in its role across the Serpenti Seduttori, Serpenti Tubogas, Aeterna, and the Mediterranea high jewelry collections as well. The sensuous coils of these serpentine collections have been charming women since the 1940s and with the fitting reward of a miniature mechanical movement, these creations, expertly sheathed in gemstones and enamel craft, attain high prowess as micro-mechanic marvels.
Bvlgari further elevated its mechanical miniaturization with the introduction of an all-new in-house caliber BVS 100 Lady Solotempo automatic movement. This enables the Serpenti Seduttori and the Serpenti Tubogas, for the first time, to be self-wound creations. To Bvlgari's credit, they manufactured a manual-winding tourbillon caliber for the Serpenti Seduttori in 2020 as an ornate haute joaillerie inception. This caliber BVL 150 is a shaped movement exclusively developed for the Serpenti Seduttori. In this very organic yield of biomimicry superlativeness, Bvlgari attains the highest echelons of gem setting mastery as well as mechanical miniaturization.
Girard-Perregaux's Iced-Out Iconic Movement Architecture
The triple gold bridge construction is a signature aesthetic for Girard-Perregaux. Inspired by one of Girard-Perregaux's most famous pocket watches from 1889, the Tourbillon with Three Golden Bridges is realized in a number of aesthetic variations by the Manufacture. While technical complexity and artisanal movement decoration define its true hallmarks, with gem setting integration, the timepiece attains the legitimacy of a bona fide haute joaillerie marvel. The Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges Lady, Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges Ruby Heart, and the Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges Diamond-Set are seminal executions showcasing the Maison's extensive prowess in artisanal high horology and gem setting skills.
Combining Functional Craft With Superlative Artistry
When horological mastery and metier d'art craftsmanship intersect, the resulting yield attracts a broader spectrum of enthusiasts. Such creations transcend functional creativity and attain artisanal legitimacy of the highest echelons. When done as well as in the former examples, the realized opus becomes an undisputed micro-mechanic artwork and an instrument of ultra haute horlogerie excellence.
