Text: Lisa Epifanova ROSES, LILIES, ORCHIDS, DARGETS, CAMELIES - A FLOWER TREND THIS YEAR CONFIDENTLY FLOWERS ON THE MODELS OF LEADING HOUR BRANDS.
What is customary to give to the fair sex? Of course, flowers and jewelry. And I would like the flowers not to fade, and the owner parted with her favorite jewelry as little as possible. The answer seems simple: combining the theme of flora and jewelry in a wrist accessory, you can get the right gift.
In an effort to win a female audience, almost all the leading watch manufacturers include floral models in their collections. Moreover, both Jewelry houses with a long tradition of landscape gardening romance, as well as manufactures of high mechanics, which have found their approach to the topic.
It is important to understand that the very idea of a flower is closely intertwined with the philosophy of time. The eternal, renewed flowering cycle, the very shape of most plants with symmetrical petals - all this is very much in line with the concept of a clockwork (after all, there is even such a thing as a "flower clock" that opens in a circle during the day). In addition, since ancient times, flowers have their own secret language, their particular combination not only looks beautiful, but also has a certain meaning.
It is this characteristic of colors that Van Cleef & Arpels used in the new Langage des Fleurs ("language of flowers") collection from the Charms Extraordinaire series. A pearl dial of a 25 mm miniature case is decorated with a bouquet that carries a certain message. For example, buttercup, daffodil and asterisk, which mean beauty, hope of meeting, expectation of a loved one. And what could be better than finally admitting your feelings? The watch house Arnold & Son also offers to reveal the nuances of feelings in the language of the special HM Flower series in the Royal collection. The dials of the 40 mm gold case are decorated with enamel miniatures depicting tiger lilies (prosperity), orchids (worship) and iris (admiration).
Another way of romantic recognition is to invite the chosen one on a trip, for example, to the Cote d'Azur gardens, which Piaget captured this summer in the Mediterranean Garden jewelry-watch collection. In the models you can find motifs of a blooming rose (Yves Piaget's favorite flower), Mediterranean palm trees, overflow of sea waves and an olive branch created with inlaid 52 diamonds of the rare marquise cut, encircling a case made of white gold.
Many historic houses have their favorite flower. If Paiget is a rose, then for sure - camellia. Every year, her motif is reflected in watch collections, and in unique, unexpected interpretations. For example, this year on the Mademoiselle Prive Decor Camelia Nacre dial, completely covered with 330 diamonds, a sculpted camellia flower blossomed, filigree cut from a single piece of mother of pearl. By the way, white camellia in the language of flowers means "You are delicious!".The theme of the declaration of love was developed this year by the famous watchmaker Christoph Clare, introducing his second ladies model Marguerite in the summer. If the dial of the previous Margot watch was decorated with chamomile, with the help of which one could guess about the feelings of the narrowed one, then the “daisy” leaves no room for doubt. Pressing the button at the 2 o’clock position causes the numbers on the dial around the flower to disappear and the phrase “Il m'aime passionnement” appears (“He passionately loves me”).
But perhaps the most delightful version of floral mechanics this year was presented by Jaquet Droz in the Lady 8 Flower model, where in the upper part of the case in the form of the figure "eight" there is an automatic mechanism in the form of a blossoming flower of gold and colored enamel, in the center of which there is a huge diamond.
In a more traditional way for watch mechanics, the Graff flower “revived”, presenting this year its first ladies' tourbillon. In the Floral Tourbillon with a white gold case, the tourbillon carriage is made in the shape of petals, and three more flowers from rubies, sapphires and emeralds of the Marquise cut adorn the dial at 8, 9 and 12 o'clock.
Of course, the combination of diamonds and fragile petals creates an aesthetic paradox. Like Breguet’s B Crazy, which completed the Crazy Flower and Petite Fleur diamond models this year. In the new masterpiece of jewelry, a case made of white gold 33x24 mm adorns 1000 swaying petals, each of which is a diamond on a movable mount. This is a real "flower of eternity."
