Feature: A buyer’s guide to gem-set watches
From the Rolex “Rainbow” Daytona to the Bulgari Serpenti, gem-set watches combine functional craft with exquisite artistry to create some of the industry’s most alluring timepieces. Our essential buyer’s guide helps you navigate the dazzling world of gem-set watches, covering everything from the meaning of “bust-down” to baguette-cut diamonds—plus we highlight some of the most iconic jewel-clad models right now.
Gem-set watches—a brief history
It didn’t take long for the earliest watches to be adorned with precious gemstones. Portable watches, essentially a larger forerunner of the pocket watch, were commissioned by wealthy patrons in the 16th century and were often embellished with jewels, not to mention fine enamelling and engraving.
As early as 1571, Queen Elizabeth I was known to have received a watch on a chain bracelet, a gift from her reputed lover, the Earl of Leicester. Aptly for a reigning monarch it was said to be dripping in diamonds—or “iced out”, in today’s parlance.
Queen Elizabeth I owned one of the earliest known gem-set wristwatches
Two of the earliest versions of a gem-set wristwatch still in existence were made in 1811 by Marie-Etienne Nitot, founder of the renowned Parisian jewellery house Chaumet. Created for a daughter-in-law of Napoleon, they comprised an almost identical pair of matching gold, pearl and emerald bracelets, one of which displayed the time and the other a calendar.
By the early 20th century men began adopting ladies’ “wristlets”—as wristwatches were then called—and they were soon vastly outselling pocket watches. They tended to be unfussy and utilitarian, leaving gem-set watches the preserve of ladies’ “cocktail” models. Many of these made by the likes of Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Boucheron during the 1930s and 1940s stood out for their superb craftsmanship and design.
A 1930s-era Cartier platinum and diamonds cocktail watch. Image courtesy of Bonhams
The 1970s was a particularly fruitful era for gem-set watches. Luxury brands, suddenly forced to compete with cheaper and more accurate quartz watches, responded to this existential threat by upping the luxury ante. And to a certain degree it worked. When it came to high-end luxurious timepieces, the mass-produced watches made in the Far East were no match for established Swiss maisons like Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet.
An exceptionally rare Vacheron Constantin Lord Kalla model with baguette diamond-set bracelet and dial. Image courtesy of Phillips
The most extreme example of this was Vacheron Constantin’s famous Kallista from 1979, a one-of-a-kind bracelet-style piece that proved a milestone for gem-set watches. The Kallista was carved from a single gold ingot and covered in 118 emerald-cut diamonds selected for identical colour and clarity.
Although the Kallista was a unique watch made for a private commission, the brand made a number of similar watches available to the public in the 1980s, including the King Kalla and Lord Kalla, made specifically for men. These, too, were bracelet-style watches made from gold and covered in diamonds.
It paved the way for Swiss rivals Rolex to go full “bling”, and soon we were seeing special editions of its most prized model, the Day-Date, festooned in diamonds, rubies and sapphires. Other members of the Rolex family, particularly its sports watch models which had until then been made primarily from stainless steel, were to follow in time (more below).
A highly unusual yellow-gold Day-Date Oysterquartz from the late 1980s with rainbow multi-gem bezel. Image courtesy of Phillips
These days the cutting and setting of precious gemstones—known as “haute joaillerie”—is one of several prestigious watchmaking skills that come under the banner of “Métiers d’art” (“art professions”). These also include enamel and lacquer work, engraving, and other decorative techniques carried out by highly trained artisans who have painstakingly honed their craft over many years.
And it’s no longer confined to the big-hitters of Switzerland, with brands like Germany’s A.Lange & Sohne, and Japan’s Grand Seiko and Credor fully capable of creating incredible gem-set watches.
Japan's Grand Seiko now creates stunning gem-set watches too
The Four Cs
Countless different gemstones have been used to decorate watches over the years, from topaz to tourmaline. But the four most widely used by the luxury watch industry are rubies, emeralds, sapphires and, of course, diamonds.
Rolex alone is thought to have purchased over 20 million diamonds in its history, with an entire gemology department at its Chêne-Bourg factory—one of four Rolex locations in and around Geneva—dedicated to gemstones.
Round Brilliant-cut diamonds are often used in watches. Image: Edgar Soto on Unsplash
When it comes to selecting the gems, whether you’re Rolex or Richard Mille, it’s all about the “Four Cs”—the grading qualities established in the 1940s by the Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) and now the globally accepted standard for assessing precious gems.
The Four Cs are:
Cut — Arguably the most important as the way a gem has been faceted will affect the way it sparkles.
Colour — With diamonds, the less colour the better.
Clarity — How many flaws it has.
Carat — The size.
This last point is of little relevance, however, when it comes to watches as they are generally set with many small stones rather than one or two large ones. With watches, it’s the accumulative carat that counts.
It’s also worth noting that in recent years, synthetic—or lab-grown—diamonds have been preferred by some luxury watch brands, whether due to accessibility or ethical reasons.
TAG Heuer's Carrera Plasma Diamant d'Avant-Garde with synthetic diamonds
TAG Heuer has used synthetic diamonds in models such as the Carrera Plasma Diamant D’Avant-Garde while Breitling has pledged to phase out the use of mined—as in natural—gemstones by the end of 2024 and use lab-grown versions exclusively. It remains to be seen whether more watch brands will join them in the coming years.
Popular cuts used for watches
Gemstones can be incorporated into luxury watches in myriad ways, from small diamonds replacing the hour markers to ruby-covered bezels surrounding the dial like a blazing ring of fire. Sometimes every square millimetre of the watch—bracelet and case included—are encrusted in gems for the so-called “iced-out” look.
A pink-gold Nautilus with Tiffany & Co dial and baguette-cut ruby bezel. Image courtesy of Phillips
For these different purposes, gemstones are cut into different shapes.
Perhaps best-known is the Baguette cut. These are relatively thin and rectangular with a flat top—ideal for when the stones need to be placed adjacent to each other, as in watch bezels and cases. They are also used for hour indices, as with Rolex’s “Serti” dials where they are used for the 6 and 9 o’clock markers, just like this model below.
Prefer subtle to sensational? Choose a Rolex "Serti" dial
For "iced-out" watches, pavé settings are usually used to embellish the entire dial the way a road is covered in cobblestones (“pavé” means pavement in French).
Here, tiny gems are tightly packed next to each other to form a coruscating surface that glitters like crushed glass in the sunlight.
An early 90s Piaget with pavé dial and sapphire indices. Image courtesy of Bonhams
Probably the most frequently used cut in horological gem-setting, however, is the Round Brilliant cut, which is circular when viewed from above but whose lower half forms a pointed pavilion. It’s probably what you have in mind when you think of the classic diamond shape found in engagement or wedding rings. The angle of every facet of a Round Brilliant is precisely calculated to reflect maximum light.
Bust-down and after-market
If you’ve been glued to your screens watching YouTube watch content for the past few years, you’ll have heard the term “bust down”. These watches have been encrusted with gemstones—usually diamonds—for that “iced-out” look once popular with billionaire hip-hop moguls.
But these watches tend to send shivers down the spines of most brand’s in-house watchmakers, having been taken apart (i.e., busted down), customised with jewels and re-assembled—all by an independent company or individual that has nothing to do with the original manufacturer.
Luxury watch brands do not look favourably on their precious creations being "bust down". Image: Alan King on Unsplash
Some undoubtedly do a good job and there’s no lack of skill involved in this practice, but by doing this you’ll invalidate any warranty that comes with your watch. Worse than that, some brands, including Rolex, will not touch the watch for any repair whatsoever. The way they see it, you've mutilated one of their precious creations and that watch is effectively dead to them.
And regardless of how many diamonds it’s been embellished with, you’re also probably going to put a dent in its re-sale value.
Furthermore, some pre-owned luxury watch retailers won’t even entertain the idea of buying such a watch. And the same applies to other after-market customisations, whether you’re adding a diamond bezel, getting a steel case coated with PVD or even swapping out the dial for one that’s been hand-painted and signed by Banksy himself (actually, that's a watch most people would crawl over molten-hot razor blades to get hold off).
Oh, and by removing metal from the case to fit the stones, it often means there is next to no chance of the watch retaining its waterproofness—assuming it had any in the first place. Bust down that Rolex Sea-Dweller and go swimming at your peril!
Iconic gem-set models
Rolex’s most sought-after gem-set watches are widely known to watch aficionados. Unfortunately, you won’t find them on the brand’s website as they are off-catalogue. In other words, available only to special clients. But if you’re not among the anointed few and your name’s not Harry Kane or John Mayer, you can always source them on the pre-owned market.
Inevitably, these rare watches have been bestowed with affectionate nicknames, such as the “Leopard” and the “Eye of the Tiger” both head-turning Daytona models that are worthy of the flamboyant A-list rock stars that wear them (Elton John’s “Leopard” model sold at auction recently for $176,400).
The Daytona "Leopard" is one of the most flamboyant Rolex models ever made
The GMT-Master II SARU, meanwhile, features a “Pepsi” bezel that swaps out the usual aluminium or ceramic insert for one with baguette-cut diamonds, sapphires and rubies, as well as diamonds clustered on the lugs and crown guards.
The aforementioned “Rainbow” Daytona is so-called due to its multicoloured bezel, with 36 baguette-cut sapphires that cascade in a perfectly graduated rainbow. If its six-figure price tag is a little off-putting, consider other “Rainbow” gemstone watches from the likes of Hublot and H. Moser & Cie.
The "Rainbow" Daytona boasts 36 baguette-cut sapphires on a graduated bezel
Rolex Submariners with “Serti” dials (“sertissage” means “gem-setting in French) are also part of the gem-set family, although they are far less showy timepieces, with nothing more ostentatious than small gems replacing the hour markers.
Over at the hallowed Patek Philippe, you’ll find that its hottest property of the past twenty years, the Nautilus, is the model that gets dressed up in gemstones more than any other. But the reference 5073P in platinum is a favourite among Patek lovers as it not only features a magnificent baguette-cut diamond bezel but boasts a perpetual calendar AND minute repeater. Two of horology’s trickiest complications combined with jewels fit for an empress—that’s a watch that’s hard to beat.
The Patek Philippe reference 5073P in platinum is sought-after among serious collectors of the brand. Image courtesy of Phillips
Audemars Piguet, meanwhile, has produced a number of gem-set Royal Oak models that are stunning to behold, but for a real show-stopper look no further than the watch tennis legend Serena Williams wore to the Met Gala in 2017.
The $1.25 million Haute Joaillerie Diamond Outrage model is meticulously set with 9,923 brilliant-cut diamonds and 354 baguette-cut diamonds set on a chunky 18k-gold cuff, a blow from which could knock out any street mugger chancing their luck.
$1.25m gets you an Audemars Piguet cuff watch with over 10,000 diamonds
And Cartier, from its Belle Epoque period to the present day, has consistently created haute joaillerie masterpieces, many of which have incorporated exotic creatures such as panthers, tigers and parrots—often in ingenious ways. For example, the oscillating weight of its Promenade d’une Panthère model comes in the form of a diamond-paved panther on the dial. Alternatively there are more ostentatious models like this one below.
Panthers are a recurring motif in Cartier's incredible gem-set watches. Image courtesy of Bonhams
Special mentions must also go to Piaget, whose to-die-for 1970s creations in gem-clad precious metals continue to perform impressively at auction, and Bulgari for its many interpretations of the wrist-coiling Serpenti timepiece, something of a canvas for the brand’s creative expression since it debuted in 1948.
Conclusion
To conclude, gem-set luxury watches offer a captivating blend of horological mastery and metier d’art craftsmanship, appealing to a broad spectrum of watch lovers.
Whether you’re looking for a dazzling statement piece or a subtle accent of elegance, there's a gem-set watch waiting to elevate your style and enhance your collection with something truly special.
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Shop pre-owned Vacheron Constantin watches
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