Top women’s watches, from Cartier to Jaeger-LeCoultre and Chanel
It’s been an incredible Spring for wristwear and women have been catered for impressively by the giants of horology. Here are some of our favourite women’s watches hitting stores now.
CARTIER BAIGNOIRE ALLONGÉE
This latest Baignoire looks simple (the Francophone among you are correct: it really is named after its bath-like shape) but its creation is anything but. In order to impose angular geometry onto its signature oval, the case had to be in two parts – one white gold, the other yellow.
The gold segments have been either hand guillochéed, covered in black enamel or coated with a translucent lacquer luminated with suspended mica. A full 212 brilliant diamonds adorn the case, while an extra 23 are on the buckle. And all that only takes two years.
- £POA, cartier.co.uk
JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO ONE PRECIOUS COLOURS
This Reverso is probably more suited to the Polo Bar than the polo pitch. Flip over the mother of pearl dial and rather than a ball-deflecting steel rear side (as originally conceived on the sidelines of the British Raj’s fields in Jaipur), the back of this Reverso is set with an Escheresque crosshatch of contrasting blue and black enamel interspersed with insets of diamonds.
More stones top and tail the dial and trail onto the lugs, all set into warm rose gold. Of course, you could take to the pitch in it – at treading-in time.
- £128,000, jaeger-lecoultre.com
CHANEL MADEMOISELLE PRIVÉ LION CUFF
For Coco Chanel, the lion was a symbol of strength, among so many other leitmotifs dear to the fashion powerhouse, from camellias to ears of wheat. Now this powerful icon has been transformed into a cuff as part of a new collection for its métiers d’art showcase, Mademoiselle Privé.
Leo’s yellow-gold head, which conceals the dial, is set with 252 brilliant-cut diamonds, plus onyx eyes, black-lacquered nose and ears. Another 32 are on the bezel, while the cuff itself is made from titanium in the brand’s signature black. It’s power-dressing, the Chanel way.
- £POA, chanel.com