Other recent fans of a statement watch include Michelle Yeoh, a long-time ambassador for Richard Mille, who wore a striking diamond “snow set” watch on a black strap to this year’s Met Gala, and singer The Weeknd, who paired his Loewe tuxedo with a Piaget Limelight high jewellery “ladies” watch to the premiere of his controversial series The Idol at Cannes earlier this year.
The latter timepiece was a twinkling reminder that fancy watches are for everybody. One of the best things about the extravagant watch resurgence is the way it dissipates any stubbornly held ideas around gender “rules” in watches.
One brand to continue to evolve this, and ideas of haute horology and razzle dazzle, is Hublot. This year the maison might have shrunk some of its sizes and made an impact with the sporty chic reimagining of the Classic Fusion Original watch first launched in 1980, but it went big on bling.
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Among a slew of launches, Hublot introduced two new iterations of the Big Bang Integrated Rainbow, each crafted in“King Gold” and set with colourful gemstones, plus other gem-set pieces such as the Square Bang Unico Diamonds.
“There is a very strong demand for gem-set pieces mostly coming from Asian clients who are looking for stand-out unique pieces,” says Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe. “Our diamond set and rainbow watches are very popular with our clients as they are genderless and can be worn by all. The rainbow watches in particular sell out very quickly.”
As Guadalupe notes, Hublot has long been experimenting with gem-set timepieces. In 2012 the brand launched the Big Bang $5 Million, which at the time was highly innovative in the way the stones shaped the design of the watch. What people might not realise, he says, is how much work goes into gem-set timepieces.
“What makes rainbow [setting] at Hublot so distinct is that we use a variety of styles: brilliant-cut and baguette-cut gemstones and apply it to the iconic codes of our watches,” he says. “One of the most challenging parts of rainbow setting is finding the proper quality and colour of gemstones. It’s a complicated process and sourcing the right gemstones can take a long time.
“The rising popularity in these types of watches shows that most clients want something unique that can also represent their success – clients are looking for watches that stand out, that have a unique look and of course that have value.”
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Extravagant watches – be they gem-set high jewellery timepieces or incredible feats of creativity and haute horology (in some cases, all of these things at once) – fit with a broader shift in the watch world toward less watches being sold, but at higher price points than before. Some of them eye-wateringly so, such as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Spider-Man, limited to 250 pieces, which fetched US$6.2 million at auction in Dubai, UAE, in July. Meanwhile at Watches and Wonders this year jewellery that told the time was a key trend with the likes of Piaget, Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari and Gucci showcasing seriously dazzling timepieces.When a personality like Rihanna comes to us with an idea, we know it’s going to be a pleasure to explore and collaborate in a direction that is whimsical, exuberant and ultimately without limits
One brand at the unapologetically flashy end of the watch world is the relative newcomer Jacob & Co. Launched in New York by jeweller Jacob Arabo in 1986, its extravagant watches have been worn by the likes of Jay-Z, Cristiano Ronaldo, boxer Floyd Mayweather and of course, Rihanna.
Jacob & Co CEO Benjamin Arabov says creating pieces for Rihanna has been a potent source of inspiration for the brand, which has created several watches in its Billionaire range, the most recent with a US$20 million price tag – trumping even the US$18 million piece Mayweather rocked from the brand in 2018.
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“Letting our imagination run wild when it comes to designing a piece is without a doubt one of our favourite exercises at Jacob & Co. When a personality like Rihanna – who also happens to be a friend – comes to us with an idea, we know it’s going to be a pleasure to explore and collaborate in a direction that is whimsical, exuberant and ultimately without limits,” he says.
“Our creativity and our craftsmanship find themselves both challenged and highlighted by a personality who dares to push boundaries. So the way ahead is always into unknown territory and that is golden for us.”
It’s not only Rihanna that’s buying in. By the end of 2023, the brand will have opened 13 new boutiques and shop-in-shops around the world, including in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Austria, Australia, Kuwait, Albania, Bahrain, Andorra, Vietnam and Egypt. This is on top of the 94 boutiques and shop-in-shops already present in 34 countries worldwide, including the flagship in New York.
According to a recent report in The Australian Financial Review, sales for Jacob & Co’s watches are up 135 per cent over the last two years.
It would seem, to borrow from Rihanna, the patron saint of statement watches, that plenty of people want to shine bright like a diamond.
