The late Harry Winston once said, “People will stare. Make it worth their while.” The world’s most famous and expensive gems, like the Hope Diamond, once passed through the hands of the famed jeweler, so it’s no wonder that Harry Winston built its legacy on fine jewelry. But such a legendary figure couldn’t have gotten to where he was without risk. There is a famous anecdote about Winston: in 1935, he bought the famous 726-carat Jonker diamond from De Beers for $700,000 and intended to cut it into smaller diamonds. Nobody believed it could be done. He then hired expert diamond cutter Lazare Kaplan, who successfully cut 12 diamonds from the Jonker. Not only did Winston prove his doubters wrong, he also sold each diamond for $12 million apiece.
But when Winston passed away in 1978 and his son Ronald took over, the company decided to take a similar risk by going into luxury watchmaking. Prior to that, Harry Winston had been associated with diamonds and jewelry — not watches — for more than 60 years. And considering the exacting demands of horologists, along with the craftsmanship, heritage and expertise of the watch industry, this appeared to be a difficult endeavor to take on. The only way to achieve success was to “remain true to the spirit of the brand,” which is the company’s credo. Applying the same careful attention to detail to watches as they do with their jewelry, there would be no compromising on technical innovation or aesthetic quality.
Though the idea to go into watchmaking was conceived in 1989, the company took its time to do things well. When it finally launched its first watch, aptly called the Premier, in 1995, it became clear why they took their time. The Premier revolutionized the world of mechanical watchmaking with its bi-retrograde perpetual calendar, a world first at the time. Needless to say, this innovative wonder made the watch industry take notice and see that Harry Winston was to be a formidable contender.
Today, some of the most exquisite and sought-after timepieces by Harry Winston can be found in their salons, including Harry Winston Manila in Greenbelt 5. For instance, there is Project Z, which was developed in 2004 as a limited-edition series bridging high technological innovation and fine watchmaking tradition. Instrumental in revolutionizing Harry Winston timepieces, the series introduced an exclusive new material called Zalium, an ultra-light metal that is exclusive to the brand. Project Z6 also introduced a new complication developed specially for it: a hand-wound, 24-hour alarm clock movement. Composed of 18 layered parts, the complex dial uses five different finishes to create a highly dimensional design: Côtes de Genève, silver vertically brushed, slated brushed, blued steel and satin finished. A small shuriken-shaped disk indicates the seconds rotation. Borrowed from martial arts, a shuriken is the traditional ninja throwing star — a signature in Project Z designs. The Project Z6 is a limited edition of 300 pieces: 250 with anthracite dial and 50 with silver dial.
Another is the Midnight Minute Repeater, which is limited to 40 pieces in rose gold and 40 pieces in white gold with the option of a silver or dark dial. Sleek and sophisticated, the round 42mm case is fitted with a self-winding mechanical movement. An open dial design allows for a unique view of the minute repeater mechanism that can be activated by pressing the push piece situated at eight o’clock. Surrounded by a gold ring, a hollowed window — at the top left corner — emphasizes the technical innovation: two hammers gracefully engraved with Harry Winston’s initials, located on the exterior of the movement. Created to audibly indicate time on demand — chiming distinct tones: low pitch for hours, altering low and high pitch for quarter hours, and high pitch for minutes — minute repeaters require both extreme technical and musical precision. Perhaps one of the most challenging complications to craft, the minute repeater remains a testament to excellence in fine watchmaking.
Then there is the extremely rare Histoire de Tourbillon 2. The first Histoire de Tourbillon launched in 2009, which combined technical sophistication and fine design in a daring and distinctive manner. In 2011 for its second edition, Harry Winston issued a 20-piece limited series. Featuring an ingenious construction that includes a bi-axial flying tourbillon, Histoire de Tourbillon 2 offers its own interpretation of time measurement. Powered by a mechanical hand-wound movement exclusively developed for Harry Winston, the bi-axial flying tourbillon combines two concentric carriages and gains added precision by enabling the regulating organ to perform multi- dimensional rotations. The striking visual effect is created by an outer carriage completing one full turn in 120 seconds and housing an internal carriage.
The Premier Feathers collection was launched last year. Marrying the aesthetic codes of the Premier Collection, while observing watchmaking and feather art’s shared passion for careful work and manual dexterity, the result is beauty expressed in its purest form. For this, Harry Winston entrusted the project to Nelly Saunier, one of the few craftspeople who still practices the technique of feather art. The feathers, sourced with a respect for the environment, are obtained from species raised specifically for this purpose. Each dial takes approximately seven hours of work to make and like the 16th-century feather mosaic pictures so prized in Europe, each dial is unique. The feather dials fit perfectly with the setting of the timepiece. The collection also pays tribute to Cluster, the three-dimensional setting technique invented by Harry Winston himself, which enables a spontaneously asymmetrical association of brilliant, pear and marquise-cut stones. Delicately cut, the precious stones are nestled against each other to form a sparkling composition.
In as little as 20 years, Harry Winston accomplished feats, such as winning the Design Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genéve for the Opus 9 in 2009 and being inducted into the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie as a partner-brand in 2011, that have taken other watch companies as long as 200 years to achieve. Today, watch enthusiasts highly anticipate the latest horological innovations by Harry Winston annually at Baselworld, considered the most important watch and jewelry trade show, in Basel, Switzerland. And as they wait each year for the next unveiling, Harry Winston has always made it worth their while, just as the late jeweler might have hoped.
source: philstar.com
