There is simply nowhere on earth like Harrods, and this rings particularly true when it comes to Harrods watches, because the sheer number and quality of the Maisons selling their sparkling wares is second to none.
All neatly compressed into the Hans Road and Basil Street corner of this vast emporium is a selection of luxury houses that not even Bond Street can compete with. With every big name present and each vying to offer a more tempting array of magnificence, a stroll around this range of Harrods watches is a carat-packed extravaganza. So if limited edition and one-of-a-kind jewellery watches are on your shopping list, you know where to head.
For knock-out glamour, the wide range of Chopard watches includes this one-of-a-kind, high jewellery model set with marquise-cut diamonds, which will set you back a cool £325,000. But if it is the latest you are after, make a beeline for Harry Winston, where the brand-new Premier Shinde watches have landed - the sketches of the famous jewellery designer Ambaji Shinde have inspired three different watch dials. Remembered for his cluster and wreath designs, today Shinde’s Star of the Desert necklace and tiara are recreated using gold filigree and diamonds on a dramatic backdrop of black enamel.
Harrods is the perfect showcase for the rarest of the rare, such as Chanel’s eye-catching ruby-set Chanel J12 watch, which is one-of-a-kind and comes with a price tag of £621,000. Fans of Chanel watches might also consider purchasing the Mademoiselle Privé Coromandel with its delicately engraved mother-of-pearl dial for a more modest £157,000, or a Chanel J12 Flying Tourbillon resplendent in all-white with a generous dusting of diamonds for £225,000.
Boucheron’s Cypris watch at £567,000, in the shape of a swan covered in diamonds and sapphires, is as much a masterwork of horology as a jewellery masterpiece with its three gold bridges tourbillon movement.
Nature-inspired timepieces include the Summer in Provence Fabergé watch at £215,00, which features carved mother-of-pearl petals and garlands of diamonds and is as pretty as a summer day.
And Van Cleef & Arpels will be happy to show you a trio of Extraordinaire Charms Désir watches - from £38,700 - brimming with wild flowers painted in exquisitely executed enamels, complemented by rings of diamonds and precious stones on the bezel and a little charm that swivels around the outside of the case.