When is a watch not just a watch? When it's also a piece of high jewellery
Felix Bischof selects his favourite timepieces from this year's Watches and Wonders that also double as beautifully pieces of jewellery.
The most memorable jewellery watches unveiled at Watches & Wonders 2026 were the coming together of two heritage skills: haute horlogerie and jewellery-making. The hallmarks included rarely seen raw materials — in the case of Piaget: a hardstone nicknamed Storm Stone because of its swirling, stormy sky like pattern — diamonds and new shapes that celebrate both design and artisanal prowess.
What? Ludo Secret watch
Who? Van Cleef & Arpels
At its ateliers and design studios on Paris’ Place Vendôme, Van Cleef & Arpels dreams up timepieces that capture ‘the poetry of time’. What does this mean, you ask? Creative themes that span topics from love and midnight rendezvous to florals and the night sky, and animated dials. Then, there are the maison’s contemporary takes on its archival models. Among them is a new Ludo Secret watch — a high jewellery marvel in yellow gold and dusky sky-blue sapphires, set in a rounded moon shape. The heritage model was first unveiled in 1949; it is also a timepiece take on the 1934 Ludo bracelet. Its design interpretation is quintessentially Parisian: the Ludo nods to haute couture ateliers with gold links assembled to form a supple, mesh-like ribbon. A white guilloché mother-of-pearl dial with a baguette-cut sapphire to mark 12 o’clock is revealed when both sides of the buckle are pressed.
What? Myst de Cartier
Who? Cartier
The Myst de Cartier pays tribute to one of the Paris maisons most revered collaborators. ‘The watch is all about volume and movement,’ says Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s director of image, style and heritage. ‘Its design follows in the footsteps of the jewellery watches created under the direction of Jeanne Toussaint in the early 1930s, pieces that were both sculptural and flamboyant.’ Toussaint, a Belgian-born French designer, joined Cartier Paris in 1913. In 1933, she was appointed creative director of high jewellery. It was during Toussaint’s highly successful tenure that Cartier further embraced the panther as a house mascot. Sculpturally striking jewellery was another of Toussaint’s fortes. And so this year’s Myst de Cartier watch doubles as a bracelet with winding, alternating curves, expressed in yellow gold, white diamonds and black lacquer. Each iteration requires 112 hours of gem-setting — a task that is carried out in the Cartier Maison des Métiers d'Art in Switzerland. Ingeniously, the watch’s strap does not require a clasp, as all components have been strung on a piece of elastic.
What? Baignoire Clou de Paris
Who? Cartier
Also from Cartier comes a new version of the Baignoire watch. This is a model that was first devised in 1912 by Louis Cartier, and then revisited in 1958. Romy Schneider sported a Cartier Baignoire, as has Catherine Deneuve and, more recently, Lana del Rey. Diana, Princess of Wales also owned a version of the oval case watch. Gently updated versions include monochrome yellow gold models detailed with the Clou de Paris, a motif that Cartier first embraced in the 1920s and which is made up of many pyramid-shaped hobnail studs.
What? Noeud de Camélia Embroidered Cuff
Who? Chanel
At this year’s Watches and Wonders, Chanel and its Watchmaking Creation Studio led by Arnaud Chastaingt presented new takes on its totemic J12 wristwatch. Elsewhere, there were monochrome timepieces that embraced a joyful gaming theme, from chess-inspired creations, to pixelated portrait dials (of Coco Chanel).
The Noeud de Camélia line of watches sits somewhere between haute horologerie, high jewellery and haute couture. A quintet of precious watches inspired by Coco Chanel's favourite bloom, Noeud de Camélia follows the shape of a bow which in itself is a house insignia. The Cuff version is limited to just 20 pieces and features a white gold case and a grosgrain-effect, black leather bracelet, artfully finessed in the workshop of Maison d’art Lesage, a legendary haute couture embroidery atelier.
Sixty baguette-cut diamonds and one central, brilliant-cut diamond adorn the camellia flower — which keeps a lacquer dial hidden from view.
What? Swinging Pebbles Pietersite
Who? Piaget
Piaget has long worked with ornamental hard stones, and to great effect. This year, the Swiss brand presented several timepieces studded with vibrant gems, such as blue quartz and reddish-brown bull’s eye (both make up dials of 2026 iterations of the Piaget Warhol watch), and, in the case of an iridescent diamond cuff watch, turquoise.
Piaget’s expertise is best demonstrated by Swinging Pebbles, a line of precious sautoire-style watches. One of these uses pietersite, a rare stone from Namibia.
What? Tubogas Studs Capsule 104301 / 104347
Who? Bvlgari
One is a precious metal; the other, less so. A newly-launched capsule collection by Roman maison Bvlgari has been crafted from gold… and steel. The latter is more readily found in industrial design; at Bvlgari, supple bands of steel now clash with five yellow gold studs and shape the house’s famous Tubogas. The metals frame a white mother-of-pearl dial.
What? Spirit of Big Bang Impact
Who? Hublot
And so for something a little different: the Spirit of Big Bang Impact, by disruptor brand Hublot. The 42mm, tonneau-shaped watch comes in three iterations, including a limited-edition design crafted out of clear white sapphire and white diamonds. Technically, this presents a world first, as the diamonds have been set directly into the sapphire, a daunting task considering that sapphire ranks among the world’s hardest materials.
What? Cape Cod mini
Who? Hermès
How best to describe the famous geometric case of Hermès’s Cape Cod watch? Well, a square within a rectangle is perhaps the easiest, and most apt, answer.
The Cape Cod was first released in 1991, follows the design of Henri d'Origny — his track record includes the brand’s seminal silk scarves and ties — and reinterprets the brand’s signature, maritime Chain d’Ancre motif.
It was in 1998 that Belgian fashion designer Martin Margiela, then the house’s creative director of womenswear, added a long strap to the Cape Cod’s industrial design inspired case, creating the much referenced double tour.
This year, new bejewelled versions of the Cape Cod include a lilliputian mini version in yellow gold, set with diamonds and worn with a golden leather strap. Double tour, of course.
