With their recent Ultimate Adornments collection, it was always going to be exciting to see what Harry Winston were going to unveil in the way of watches at this year's Baselworld show, and with their Premier Feathers collection of timepieces they certainly didn't disappoint.
From first glances it's immediately obvious that these are absolutely charming creations quite different from many other watches that were on show in Basel, with the combination of fine marquetry and feather art combining to create colourfully luxurious pieces imbued with a particularly feminine allure. Harry Winston enlisted the talented hands of Nelly Saunier to make the uniquely feathered dials and ensure that the feathers themselves were ethically sourced from species raised specifically for this purpose, with great care taken to choose the perfect feathers. The feather dials then are combined with the Cluster, the three-dimensional technique invented by Harry Winston himself which allows for the asymmetrical setting of pear, brilliant, and marquise-cut stones.
This dazzling combination of precious stones and premier feather artistry was on show in four different 36mm watches, all with quartz movements, cases of 18k white or rose gold set with 66 brilliant cut diamonds at 1.45ct and brilliant-cut diamond crown; the feather dials are available as silver pheasant feathers, Lady Amherst pheasant feathers, peacock feathers, or delicate ring-necked pheasant feathers. The wonder doesn't stop there though, with each watch also having a satin strap with 18k white or rose gold buckle set with 29 brilliant-cut diamonds.
This is genuinely a collection befitting of its name, with the Premier Feathers timepieces truly impressive in both artistry and execution.
