Celebrity Life

As Chaumet's CEO Jean-Marc Mansvelt tells us, bringing the house's 240-year heritage into the modern era is an immense task that amounts to a "daily obsession". But if the new pieces in the Chaumet Joséphine collection are anything to go by, the Place Vendôme stalwart is heading in the right direction.

What kind of woman today does the Joséphine collection appeal to?

First, it’s about a woman with a certain character. Because when you choose to wear a tiara on your finger, you’re making a choice of distinction, a choice of character. You’re sending a message to say you’re not like everyone else and you have a certain strength and a certain personality. But also a sense of virtuosity, grace and beauty, because it’s not for women who want to be too provocative.

It’s a way to set your personality. And then of course, there are two major reasons to become a client of Joséphine. On one side, it remains one of the favourite pieces chosen for a bridal purpose. It’s connected to the initial history of Chaumet, the history of the power and love between Napoleon and Joséphine. And Napoleon is known everywhere, that’s incredible. There’s another type of client on the other side of the connection with the pearls, the coloured stones, something a bit easier and more accessible.

This year, Chaumet's creations have also incorporated sleeker, more modern takes on the tiara. Can you tell us a bit about the new high jewellery?

After many creations that were a bit more tiara-like, a bit more decorative, more visible, more baroque in a certain way, we wanted to enrich the collection with new ways to mix and match, and to go for designs that were slicker, with a more minimalist approach, because that’s also the style of today. We have a feeling that clients today are a little more understated, and we have the capacity to create beauty through a fine line, rather than an accumulation. So one of our high- jewellery pieces, which is sort of a V with a stone in suspension, doesn’t shout about its design. It’s all about balance.

This year is the 10th anniversary of the Joséphine collection...

But we don’t mark it that way for two reasons. I always feel that if you start doing anniversaries for everything, then at the end, what’s the meaning in it? Last year, when we did the 240 years of Chaumet, that was slightly different. For Chaumet, our heritage is much longer than a decade, it’s about centuries. Instead, this year, we’re celebrating our connection with the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon, which is significant in Europe and in France. We’ve done an exhibition at 12 Place Vendôme that was open to the public which tells the love story of Napoleon and Josephine through 150 different objects, beautiful loans from museums and private owners.

Which piece proved to be the most challenging piece in the collection?

The most discussed and the most debated one was the watch. Because we’re clearly a jeweller, and we’ve focused all our efforts and attention on jewellery. But since a few years ago, we’ve reassessed and repositioned what watches mean for Chaumet. It’s true that with the business of watches within Chaumet, we’ve really tried to be coherent with what the story of watchmaking for Chaumet is as a jeweller. One of our challenges was to look at the market – in the market, 90 percent of watches are round – and nobody’s waiting for Chaumet to create a round watch, because we already have thousands of beautiful options on the market.

We decided on a shaped watch, and it wasn’t very difficult to settle on the pear shape, like an illusion of a diamond. We also faceted the watch’s dial.

How do you balance 240 years of heritage behind a brand and stay relevant at the same time?

That’s really the obsession every single day. How do we continue the narrative, the link to the story? Since the pandemic, we’ve seen clients choose Chaumet because there’s longevity. And so it becomes a daily obsession of ours to convey this message to our clients through different means, including the digital approach, so we can speak to the needs of our audience today. We also go through the traditional channels and have books and exhibitions. I regularly write down on paper in two columns: on one side, how much do we tell the story of Chaumet, and on the other, how do we take a contemporary approach, either through the narrative or through using different tools? I take a step back and ask myself is there a balance? If we’re going too much in one direction, maybe it’s time to rebalance. It’s in everything we do.

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From sea-inspired colourways to quartz-powered timepieces and more, here are ten of our favourite new watches to wear this September.

Richard Mille

For a purported “racing machine on the wrist”, Richard Mille’s latest novelty, the RM 07-01 Coloured Ceramics, is unusually playful. Although the ladies’ capsule boasts the hi-tech materials and construction methods you’d expect from the Maison — you’ll have fun telling friends the skeletonised movement is in micro-blasted grade 5 titanium, while the front and back bezels are made from Tetragonal Zirconia Polycrystal — the Pastel Blue, Pastel Pink and Pastel Lavendar colour schemes, and the “part-botanical, part-sunburst and part-Art Deco” dials are delightfully whimsical. This late summer stunner comes in a limited run of 50 pieces each.

Breguet

Breguet’s feminine Reine de Naples 8938 comes in two new versions. Especially flamboyant is this model in rose gold, with 3 carats of diamonds on the snow-set dial, bezel, lug and crown, an offset hours chapter in mother-of-pearl and self-winding rotor in — what else? — platinum.

Baume & Mercier

Inspired by the Côte d’Azur and first created in the early 1970s, Baume & Mercier’s Riviera has been re-interpreted for 2021 in radiant greens, a darker hue for men (in a 42mm case and automatic movement) and a lighter shade for women (in a more petite 36mm size with quartz calibre). Both feature a satin-finished wave pattern dial, as well as easily interchangeable rubber straps that match just about any summery mood.

Harry Winston

Harry Winston’s Emerald ladies’ watch collection has been enlivened by four new models, each in a vibrant colour: turquoise, orange, champagne or, shown here, violet. Each quartz-powered timepiece comes in a white-gold case set with 53 diamonds and all feature a coloured dial and matching cabochons in mother-of-pearl, set with a further 20 diamonds. A matching satin double-tour strap completes the ensemble.

Hublot

Although a 42mm case is on the large side, we can still see the ladies queueing up to get their hands on Hublot’s Big Bang Unico Summer. No, it’s not in ceramic as you might have suspected but anodised aluminium, which is not only lightweight but also gives a gorgeously metallic glint to a shade that’s said to be inspired by the colours of a Pacific lagoon. As just 200 are being made — and are available only at eboutique@hublot.com — if you want this seasonal stunner on your wrist you’d better move fast.

Bell & Ross x Patrouille de France

Earlier this year we brought you news of the tie-up between Bell & Ross and the Patrouille de France display team of the French air and space force. Well, here’s the first fruit of the collaboration, in the form of the new BR 03-94 chronograph, which bears the squadron insignia on its handsome blue dial. Available in just 500 pieces, the watch is powered by an ETA-based automatic calibre, though interestingly the team’s pilots will receive an otherwise identical quartz edition.

Tag Heuer

Tag Heuer’s Aquaracer has been a default dive watch choice for some four decades. The latest 43mm professional 300 iteration brings the watch bang up to date with new materials — including grade 2 titanium and ceramic rotating bezels — dial colours and ergonomic features.

Bovet 1822 x Rolls-Royce

Until now, the ultra-exclusive British car-maker Rolls-Royce has resisted collaborations with watch brands, but its recently announced tie-up with Bovet 1822 could hardly be more logical. The first result is a pair of astounding his-and-hers tourbillon timepieces, which are designed either to be worn on the wrist or slotted into a dashboard housing on the one-off Rolls-Royce Boat Tail — one for the owner and the other for his wife.

Bremont

Cool and relatively understated for what is, after all, a 43mm watch, the new MB Savanna is the latest offspring of Bremont’s long-term association with aircraft-ejection-seat manufacturer Martin-Baker. Designed to withstand the extreme G-forces generated when ejecting, the Savanna is a classic pilot’s watch featuring twin crowns, an internally rotating bezel, a black and yellow loop device on the central second's hand and a desert-inspired sand colour for both dial and case.

Breitling x Triumph

With Breitling wrapping up its partnership with Bentley after almost 20 years, the Swiss watch brand is striking up a relationship with another British automotive brand — and this time it’s moving from four wheels to two. In a tie-up that’s described by both parties as “long-term” Breitling will now be working closely with motorcycle manufacturer Triumph, whose products will feature prominently in the watch brand’s showrooms — and doubtless vice versa. Although the two sides have nothing concrete to show quite yet, both say they’re working hard on cross-branded watches and bikes, with first reveals scheduled for early next year.

The post 10 New Watches to Wear This September 2021 appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.