Cuff watches are back: channel Elizabeth Taylor with opulent pieces from Bulgari, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget and Dior as well as Cartier’s Watches and Wonders drop

Oct 2 , 2024

Piaget’s Essence of Extraleganza high jewellery watch. Photos: Handout

Taylor wore Bulgari’s Serpenti bracelet-watch on the set of 1963’s Cleopatra while Wallis Simpson favoured a Cadenas watch by French jeweller Van Cleef & Arpels

At this year’s Watches and Wonders event in Geneva, Cartier debuted a watch in its Reflection de Cartier collection while Dior has a 2021 creation by artistic director Victoire de Castellane

Cuffs are back in the world of luxury watchmaking as brands update the classic watch bangle for a new generation. The cuff watch – or “power” cuff as it is also known – sits at the intersection of jewellery and watchmaking, often in the form of a rigid bracelet encrusted with stones and the dial of a traditional timepiece, and typically concealed beneath a hidden mechanism or clasp.

Liya Tong wearing the Bulgari Serpenti Misteriosi Cleopatra high jewellery watch

Opulent takes on the cuff watch have long adorned the wrists of influential figures. Elizabeth Taylor was famously pictured on the set of the 1963’s Cleopatra wearing a coiled Serpenti bracelet-watch from Roman jeweller Bulgari, while Wallis Simpson favoured a ruby-embellished version of the Cadenas watch by French jeweller Van Cleef & Arpels.

Reflection de Cartier watch in yellow gold

At this year’s Watches and Wonders event in Geneva, Cartier debuted an elegant reworking of the cuff watch in the shape of the new Reflection de Cartier collection. Rendered in rose gold, as well as three gem-set white gold variations, and a plain yellow gold model, the new timepiece is quite the technical marvel, concealing a dial within the opening of an open-worked bracelet. As the cuff snakes around the wrist, a reflection is made on the opposite side of the watch’s opening on to a polished gold surface, creating an ingenious backwards time-telling illusion.

Piaget Essence of Extraleganza high jewellery watch

Piaget debuted its latest collection of high jewellery and watches, Essence of Extraleganza, to mark its 150th anniversary. The star of the collection is a magnificent cuff watch set with 40 Colombian baguette-cut emeralds, totalling 26.11 carats.

Mounted in a coil of yellow gold, the one-of-a-kind piece drips with a mosaic of baguette-cut emeralds and diamonds. Centred with a dial of green enamel, the piece is part of a wider suite that includes a matching emerald ring of 2.53 carats.

For a fine jewellery take on the cuff watch, look to Victoire de Castellane, artistic director of Dior Joaillerie. The Gem Dior watch, dreamed up by de Castellane in 2021, draws jewellery and watchmaking together in a highly graphic cuff, with layers of gemstones and colour-coordinated jewels mixing nature and couture.

Take style to a new level with a cuff watch – the ultimate power accessory.