April 23, 2019
Every luxury watch is special. Every diamond-set necklace is special. But some are more special than others – as it should be. If, after all, you can’t wear the world’s most beautiful watch and the world’s most beautiful necklace on your wedding day, when can you?
Here, Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons walks you up the aisle to meet the watches and necklaces of your dreams.
Chopard the master watchmaker and Chopard the master jeweller collide in spectacular fashion in this fully diamond-set masterpiece, one of the most awe-inspiring gem-set watches ever made. Every diamond bar the briolette-cut – or pear-shaped – stone set into the crown is brilliant-cut (round): there are 123 of them on the mother-of-pearl dial, a further 22 set around the bezel and 192 into the bracelet. More than 19 carats in total. Secreted elegantly beneath these is a hand-wound mechanical movement. In case that’s not sufficiently glittering, Chopard’s Heart necklace, a cascade of heart-shaped diamonds would be the perfect companion. The hour of the diamond, indeed.
Piaget’s svelte, curvaceous Limelight Gala is an art deco-inspired beauty, seen here with 62 brilliant-cut diamonds set into the 18-carat white gold case. Note the diamonds are graduated by size so that they appear to flow through the watch’s pristine silhouette. Just as detailed is the magnificent beading of the slinky 18-carat white gold Milanese bracelet, a work of art that appears just as jewel-like as it catches the light.
The 17th century French satirist Jean de la Bruyère quipped that ‘next to sound judgement, diamonds and pearls are the rarest things in the world.’ The two can of course come together, as when Audemars Piguet pairs its totemic Royal Oak sports watch with more than 1,000 diamonds. The watch you see here has 280 pavé-set brilliant-cut diamonds on its dial, while a further 896 coat its 33mm white gold case and bracelet. A sound choice of wedding-day wrist decoration if ever there was.
Rolex’s effortlessly superior day-wear watches trump most competitors for longevity of style and functionality, but when invigorated with twinkling diamonds they have no problem wowing in the moment, too. This 39mm white gold model has a mother-of-pearl dial, hence the model name, with diamond hour markers, and diamonds set into the bezel and white gold bracelet. It is, for the record, also equipped with Rolex’s new-generation automatic movement, as robust a mechanical unit as you’ll find, and therefore the perfect symbol of a lasting union.
A blend of Italian style and grace, Roman symbolism and Swiss watchmaking know-how make Bulgari’s Lucea a paean to modern elegance and tradition. ‘Luce’ means ‘light’ in Italian, and this is certainly a watch that knows how to capture it. The dial is inspired by a Roman sundial, and both it and the watch’s bezel are set with brilliant-cut diamonds, as are the leading edges of the white gold bracelet, which appears to climb powerfully towards the watch’s case as it wraps around the wrist.
While a diamond necklace and matching earrings may prove the coup de grâce of your wedding day attire, both must take their cues from your dress. A high-necked or intricately embroidered design lends itself to a more modest necklace arrangement, but if it’s simple and strapless, or has a v-shaped neckline, then a shower of diamonds hanging delicately around your neck will prove the show-stopping finishing touch. For those occasions, there is the Parisian house of Messika’s Casati diamond necklace, a piece that shimmers like the sun’s rays with approximately 22.90 carats of diamonds.
