CHARM Revival

Boldly reinventing the sautoir or necklace watch as the de rigueur jewellery of choice.

- TAN SIOK HOON

The 2023 Watches and Wonders unveiled a plethora of jewellery timepieces, including the seemingly archaic necklace or sautoir watches. Even with the advent of wristwatches a century ago, the prevailing social etiquette deemed it inappropriate for women to wear a watch. Hence, the introduction of secret watches, masquerading as bracelets, necklaces and brooches, was to subvert that restriction by allowing a female to check the time with decorum. By moving the gem-set cover that sat above and concealed the dial of the timepiece, she could discreetly read the time. More a novelty than a necessity today, the recent redux of the tradition of secret watches and jewellery timepieces allows the regeneration of innovation, creativity and savoir-faire in the shared domain of jewellery arts, rare handcrafts and fine watchmaking.

VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

In the quest to enrich its legacy of jewels that tell time, Van Cleef & Arpels combined the best of its jewellery and watchmaking traditions to present a spectacular trove of jewellery watches at the 2023 Watches and Wonders. Among these, six creations are inspired by the pocket watches popularised in 17th-century Europe. Borrowing the scheme of curved and colourful pendants, these jewellery secret watches are worn on a long necklace, making a fetching statement as they gracefully embrace the wearer’s silhouette. One only needs to rotate the bejewelled motif to reveal the dial and gracefully check the time.