Introducing: The El Primero-Equipped Tiffany & Co. Tiffany Timer
The platinum Tiffany Timer commemorates 160 years of chronographic heritage. This 40mm platinum chronograph, featuring a dial color that has a special effect on many people, is available in a limited run of 60 pieces. The watch is an exclusive homage to one of America’s first stopwatches made by the famous jeweler. The new chronograph couples Swiss watchmaking with Tiffany & Co.’s expertise in design and craftsmanship.
The new Tiffany Timer combines Tiffany & Co.’s jewelry savoir-faire with its lesser-known historical expertise in watchmaking. The chronograph features a 40mm polished platinum case, and within it lies a Tiffany Blue lacquer dial accented by baguette-cut diamond indexes and white gold hands. The faceted crown, inspired by the iconic six-prong Tiffany setting, is a nice touch. This limited edition of 60 pieces honors an American past, but it does so with a fast-beating Swiss heart. Yes, the high-beat Zenith El Primero movement powers the Tiffany Timer.
The El Primero-equipped Tiffany & Co. Tiffany Timer
Let’s start with the Swiss part of the American heritage chronograph. A bespoke version of Zenith’s El Primero 400, an integrated automatic chronograph movement with a column wheel, powers the Tiffany Timer. This customized caliber is visible through the case back’s sapphire display. The immediate attention grabber is the open-worked rotor adorned with a miniature Bird on a Rock motif hand-sculpted from 18K yellow gold. This little bird is faithful to Jean Schlumberger’s famous, original 1965 brooch design. It is traditionally polished by hand using various tools, including diamond powders and gentian wood sticks. Different tools create different levels of shine that accentuate the contours.
Also visible on the case back is the engraving “Limited Edition of 60,” which emphasizes the watch’s exclusivity. Well, it’s an engraving on a platinum case, and the watch has a price on request. What more do you need to know about exclusivity?
The charismatic dial in robin’s-egg blue
A total of 160 years of chronographic heritage that started with pocket watches culminates in a wristwatch with a dial that makes the heart race. You can’t deny that the color has a special attraction. Tiffany Blue is the signature light robin’s-egg blue hue synonymous with the New York-based jeweler founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young in 1837.
The distinctive color was first introduced on the cover of Tiffany & Co.’s Blue Book, the House’s annual catalog, published in 1845. Like it or not, it’s iconic, and you also know the effect it has on people.
You need to know that this highly recognizable blue dial doesn’t come easy. Manufacturing it requires more than 50 hours of work. Using a small tool, the surface of the dial base is sprayed eight times with a matte Tiffany Blue lacquer. After drying it for two hours in an oven at the exact right temperature, it receives 15 layers of clearcoat. Each layer needs to dry completely in the air under controlled conditions. A final baking process of 12 hours is the last step in this production phase of the dial.
Diamonds for indexes
The Tiffany Blue dial of the Tiffany Timer shows a three-register chronograph layout. It ensures clear legibility, with chronograph seconds on the outer track, elapsed minutes at 3 o’clock, elapsed hours and the date at 6 o’clock, and running seconds at 9 o’clock. Dark gray markings provide optimal contrast against the light-colored dial. Still, the 12 baguette-cut diamond indexes take center stage.
Another handsome detail is the taupe-colored alligator strap. Taupe and Tiffany Blue sure are a delicate color combination. The strap closes with a butterfly clasp in 18K white gold, the same material used for the crown and chronograph pushers.
Now, what do you think of this 40mm platinum Tiffany & Co. chronograph with its one-of-a-kind-color dial? Do you see it as a jewel with a watch-like soul or a watch with a jewel-like spirit? Please let me know in the comments section below.
