The 2017 Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) took place recently, from January 16-20 in Geneva. A premier event for the fine watch community, SIHH is a platform for the world’s leading luxury watch brands from the Richemont Group to showcase their newest timepieces. This week we’ll be showcasing some of the standout watches this year.
Audemars Piguet presented the over-the-top, aptly named Diamond Outrage—the final part of a one-of-a-kind Haute Joaillerie trilogy of timepieces. Made from hundreds of brilliant cut diamonds arranged in peaks and valleys of sculptural spikes, the watch found its inspiration in the winters of the brand’s home, the Vallée de Joux.
Cartier put forth a variety of exceptional timepieces, including the Papyrus watch in white gold with 32 cushion-shaped emeralds, onyx, diamonds, and a manual-winding calibre 846 mechanical movement. Bright emeralds fan out over three widening rows to form a lush-inspired cuff, meant to mimic the sway of papyrus in the wind.
Piaget continued the legacy of its Art and Excellence collection with pieces like the High Jewellery Gold Lacework Cuff watch. The brand employed a highly skilled lacemaker to create engraved leaf motifs, provide settings for a cascade of marquise- and brilliant-cut diamonds, and frame the oval opal dial at the center.
Van Cleef & Arpels‘ Heure Marine timepiece is part of the brand’s Seven Seas collection. The brilliant watch features two sugar loaf sapphires totaling just under 28 carats, alongside onyx, diamonds, mother-of-pearl, and emeralds, all set in 18K white and yellow gold. Finding inspiration in the ocean, the unique piece can play two parts—that of a brilliant bracelet, and that of a technically savvy hidden watch.