Gifting a lover of jewels and watches can be a challenging pursuit (taste is so personal and the stakes may be high), but choosing a jewellery or watch book is a savvy alternative. A book is an inspiring archive, as well as a beautiful object in its own right. Here are six volumes we’d be delighted to receive this season.
Publishing a book to celebrate an anniversary has become a tradition among luxury brands, but to mark the 150th year of its founding, Audemars Piguet goes beyond the classic monograph waxing lyrical about the maison’s milestones and achievements. The Le Brassus-based watchmaker has penned, instead, a 600-page love letter to watchmaking in encyclopaedic form, filled with anecdotes, interviews and curious facts, and which has the ambition to become a reference in the field.
Curated by jewellery authority Melanie Grant, The Jewellery Book presents a sweeping exploration of the designers, maisons and collectors who have shaped the discipline. The 328-page compendium brings together 300 influential figures, spanning historic houses including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Boucheron as well as leading contemporary talents. Arranged alphabetically, it pairs striking imagery with succinct profiles to chart jewellery’s evolving aesthetics and its continual dialogue with art, fashion and wider culture.
Worn by Winston Churchill, Paul Newman, and Princess Diana, the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust is a watch that has made history – and merits a book of its own to acknowledge its place in watchmaking and popular culture. Written by historian Nicholas Foulkes and created in collaboration with Rolex, Oyster Perpetual Datejust – A Watch that Made History charts the evolution of this modern classic, pairing newly commissioned photography with archival material to show how the Datejust grew from Hans Wilsdorf’s early ideas into an enduring emblem of personal success.
From provocative cock rings to punk-inflected, inherently androgynous pieces, jewellery designer Hannah Martin has long shocked and enthralled the decorative-arts world, proving jewellery can move beyond adornment to become an extension of the body. This first monograph follows the evolution of a Central Saint Martins alumna and Cartier-trained jeweller over two decades, celebrating a fiercely individual aesthetic that continues to defy convention and redefine the expressive potential of contemporary jewellery.
This book, dedicated to a defining figure of watchmaking, traces the unlikely meeting of two horological worlds: that of Enlightenment-era master-clockmaker Ferdinand Berthoud and modern-day custodian Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard. The book explores Berthoud’s pioneering marine chronometers and the revival of his legacy through Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud, relaunched in 2015 and now renowned for its award-winning, technically audacious calibres. Rich photography and detailed commentary reveal a house devoted to uncompromising craftsmanship and the pursuit of absolute chronometric accuracy.
Accompanying the eponymous landmark exhibition at the Capitoline Museums in Rome (until 15 March 2026), Cartier & Myths chronicles how the maison has reinterpreted the visual language of ancient Greece and Rome from the 19th century to today. The book explores Cartier’s dialogue with classical sculpture and myth – from deities and metamorphoses to neoclassical and art deco motifs – revealing how timeless symbols inform its contemporary creations.