Fine jewellery and watches report: the highlights from Paris Couture Week and SIHH 2014

Watches & jewellery | 31 Jan 2014 | By Caragh McKay

The start of the year is a crucial time in the luxury world, as fine jewellery and watch brands unveil their preview collections. The SIHH (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie) in Geneva is the first major watch fair of the year, with a focus on brands owned by the Richemont group, such as Cartier, IWC and Ralph Lauren. Meanwhile, the haute Paris (a necklace by Chanel is pictured here) use Couture Week as a launch pad for a selection of fine jewellery collections. The demand for diamond-set and coloured gemstone designs is undoubtedly driving a new wave of creativity in watch and jewellery design. Here are our highlights from this year's previews...

Chanel

The Chanel name is as synonymous with a classic strand of pearls as it is with the little black jacket. This year, its fine jewellery maison offered a new take on pearls with its abstracted classicism. The result is big, baroque strands, gradated colour palettes, giant tassels and cool, precious metal elements

Cartier

The 1970s was a particularly creative period in watch design, not least because fine jewellers and watchmakers collaborated on dazzling, glamorous pieces that appealed to the disco-obsessed jetset crowd. This spectacular one-of-a-kind high jewellery wristwatch by Cartier pays homage to that intensely creative era with an octagonal morganite of 143.99 carats – the undoubted star of this horological show

Boucheron

The Boucheron Quatre ring is ten years old this year. This four-in-one ring, designed for men and women, is Boucheron's homage to its home city: the narrow double rings on one rim represent togetherness and love; the diamonds reflect the City of Light tag; the ring of square 'nails' directly references the Clous de Paris street paving, while the grosgrain pattern on the other rim symbolises Paris' couture heritage. Two 'Radiant' editions, in yellow and white gold, have been added this year

Boucheron

Boucheron creative director Claire Choisne's playful approach to jewellery is similarly summed up in the house's new Quatre cuff, which was presented in plain gold and pavé versions. The light, geometric frame shows an increasingly fashionable take on high jewellery

Dior Joaillerie

Victoire de Castellane's La Mini D de Dior design is a contemporary classic, presented this year as the perfect accessory to this season's gauzy metallics: white gold, yellow gold and rose gold wrist straps

Bulgari

Despite showing a set of fully paved pieces, the Roman fine jeweller is in its element when toying with the graphic possibilities of coloured gemstones, as its new high jewellery necklaces show. Bulgari's take for Winter is a light-filled one; here, turquoise, aquamarine, sapphire beads, amethysts and diamonds have the effect of prisms of colour refracting through an iceberg

Bulgari

Carved gemstones are a Mughal tradition but in Bulagri's leafen necklace (pictured left), the sunny combinations gives it a Mediterranean feel. This pink-gold necklace contains turquoise, peridots, citrine quartz, rubellites, amethysts, aquamarine, mandarin garnet and diamonds. Right: The four seasons inspired this piece, composed from pink gold, tourmalines, amethysts and spessartite, which together offer an autumnal feel

Audemars Piguet

Some watchmakers have a tendency to create high jewellery pieces in dainty little shapes with a pretty aesthetic. But that's not the Audemars Piguet way. This timepiece, with its abstracted forms and impressively sizeable dial (28.5mm), is perfect proof. The design is determined by two diamond ribbons, forming a classic Greek key motif, while the inspiration is the movement of the stars at night and, in particular, the stars as they move across the Vallée de Joux – the home of Audemars Piguet and the natural habitat of Swiss watchmaking

Chaumet

There's a real emphasis on high watchmaking at No. 12 Place Vendôme and, each year, Chaumet presents twelve exquisitely coloured decorative timepieces. So. here we have a garden scene depicted in opalescent mother-of-pearl, peachy orange and blue enamel, pink opal, turquoise and blue sapphire

Louis Vuitton

High fashion's steady march into haute joaillerie and horlogerie gathers pace - and confidence - in the hands of Louis Vuitton. The Emprise collection reflects the design codes and materials of the traditional Louis Vuitton trunk - composed of beech wood, brass hardware and canvas

Louis Vuitton

And so, this season practical becomes precious as amethysts, smoky quartz and diamonds are fashioned into watches, octagonal pendants rings and bracelets, all precisely studded with tiny, fine-gold nails

Ralph Lauren

Art Deco lines are a regular design tick in Ralph Lauren's watches. This year's high jewellery offering makes no bones about it and is all the better for its literal 1920s take

Piaget

Swiss jeweller Piaget is changing track: colour is the new focus, while a bolder narrative determines stronger shapes

Piaget

There's a new modernity to these pieces, with various glossy cuts, sweet-like hues and satin ribbon adding a casual feel. This necklace features brilliant-cut diamonds, round-cut green tourmalines and various cushion-cut stones, including purple and lavender spinel, pink, green and blue tourmalines, oval-cut pink spinel and pink sapphire

Hermès

Watchmaking is an increasingly important strand of the Hermès business and the French luxury maison has a century's worth of watch design in the bag. One of the big Montres Hermès stories this year is The Faubourg. This tiny little gem of a timepiece looks set to start a new trend for small watches, last seen in the 1980s

JEWELLERY HAUTE COUTURE

Fine jewellery and watches report: the highlights from Paris Couture Week and SIHH 2014

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