Harry Winston show off their new Premier Feather watches at Baselworld 2012
With their recent Ultimate Adornments collection, it was always
going to be exciting to see what Harry
Winston were going to unveil in the way of watches at this
year's Baselworld show, and with their Premier Feathers collection
of timepieces they certainly didn't disappoint.
From first glances it's immediately obvious that these are
absolutely charming creations quite different from many other
watches that were on show in Basel, with the combination of fine
marquetry and feather art combining to create colourfully luxurious
pieces imbued with a particularly feminine allure. Harry
Winston enlisted the talented hands of Nelly Saunier to make
the uniquely feathered dials and ensure that the feathers
themselves were ethically sourced from species raised specifically
for this purpose, with great care taken to choose the perfect
feathers. The feather dials then are combined with the Cluster, the
three-dimensional technique invented by Harry
Winston himself which allows for the asymmetrical setting of
pear, brilliant, and marquise-cut stones.
This dazzling combination of precious stones and premier feather
artistry was on show in four different 36mm watches, all with
quartz movements, cases of 18k white or rose gold set with 66
brilliant cut diamonds at 1.45ct and brilliant-cut diamond crown;
the feather dials are available as silver pheasant feathers, Lady
Amherst pheasant feathers, peacock feathers, or delicate
ring-necked pheasant feathers. The wonder doesn't stop there
though, with each watch also having a satin strap with 18k white or
rose gold buckle set with 29 brilliant-cut diamonds.
This is genuinely a collection befitting of its name, with the
Premier Feathers timepieces truly impressive in both artistry and
execution.