AFA Autumn 2019

or set stones. Therefore the best engineers in both industries collaborated to solve their toughest obstacles and make revolutionary design concepts together, where technology was innovated for movements to be re-designed to fit into case designs. at the same time, case designs were also being re-designed and innovated to use state of the art gem setting & cutting technology. Through the examination of the 4 examples illustrated above, some of the most famous examples of demanding external design concepts are exemplified, which required internal innovation as a result of the revolutionary gemstone design concepts being attempted. From the external innovations invented by Van Cleef & Arpels of invisibly set stones to make a concealed timepiece look like a bracelet to the miniaturization of a movement as small as a match stick head to fit into a tennis bracelet design by Jaeger-LeCoultre, one can see how far some of these collaborative efforts went to push the envelope well into the 1940s. From there, the need to innovate continued well into the 1960s and1970s, as new designs were innovated externally to incorporate the use of extremely difficult to work with materials, even potentially lethal materials as with malachite dials of Piaget and skeletonized dials of Patek Philippe which demanded the innovation of the internal movement yet again to become thinner and thinner so that these revolutionary design concepts could be introduced. In conclusion, emerging interest to collect Gemstone and Diamond set timepieces has been on the rise as the middle eastern markets are further maturing to appreciate the vintage space of the 60s & 70s, indirectly driving the value up internationally. Additionally interesting to note, Asian markets continue to seek out concealed bracelet watches produced as a result of collaborations by Van Cleef, Vacheron Constantin, Cartier and gemstone Patek Philippe wristwatches. JASON NICHINSON is an accredited art hisotrian from UCLA, CEO OF YE OLDE TIMEKEEPERS,INC & specializes in Gemstone timepieces circa 1880–1970 1 (888) 616 - 3330 •  www.yeoldetimekeepers.com In Stock @ Yeoldetimekeepers,inc. Figure 3 Vacheron Constantin for Van Cleef Platinum Invisibly Set Sapphire & Diamond Set Concealed Bracelet watch, circa 1941 Concealed Bracelet watches used state of the art Gem Setting Technology to Invisibly Set stones so close to one another no setting would be visible as well as technology to miniaturize a movement small enough to be placed into a case design that looks like a bracelet only. In Stock @ Yeoldetimekeepers,inc. figure 2 Piaget 1968 malahicte bangle watch Malachite hard stone dials such as the present example had to be cut extremely cautiously as the high copper (57%) content makes it dangerous to mine, cut or hand polish since breathing fumes could kill the artisan. Additionally, ultra thin movement technology innovation was applied to produce such a design concept. In Stock @ Yeoldetimekeepers,inc. figure 1 Patek Philippe 1978 Prototype Skeletonized Enamel Diamond Set Bracelet Watch Skeletonized Dials such as on the present example required ultra thin movement technology to allow for them to be visible from front and reverse side. the present example is completely hand engraved and took approximately two years to produce and is the largest known example as one of the first. In Stock @ Yeoldetimekeepers,inc. figure 4 1929-51 Jaeger LeCoultre 101 Platinum Diamond Set Tennis Line Bracelet Watch The mythical Jaeger LeCoultre Calibre 101 made in 1929 still To this day remains the smallest mechanical movement ever to have been created @14 x 4.8 x 3.4mm Weighing just one gram, with the original having 74 parts. Jaeger pushed the miniaturization of a mechanical movement to the smallest possible set of dimensions with a revolutionary architecture of the movement that essentially flipped a standard movement Escapement & gear train upside down in alignment. As a result, of its ability to fit into a tennis bracelet, Queen Elizabeth II of The United Kingdom and Great Britain wore the 101on her coronation to become Queen in 1953.