While Tiffany & Co. will always be known for their jewellery rather than horology, watches have been a key part of their business for over 100 years in terms of both sales and production. In more recent years that has expressed itself in the mainstream via the Patek Philippe Nautilus Tiffany, but on the watchmaking side of things, they produced their first pocket watch chronograph 160 years ago this year – an anniversary worth celebrating. That’s exactly what they’ve done with the creation of the new Tiffany Timer chronograph.
At its core, the new watch is a thoroughbred chronograph with all the hallmarks of Tiffany. For example, the case measures 40mm in diameter with an oversize crown and wide pushers along with flowing lines that lead into the lugs giving it a sleek, sporty appearance – but then you realise that it’s made from 950 Platinum, making it incredibly precious. It’s the same story when you look at the dial.
At first glance, it’s a very ordinary chronograph display. It has a tricompax layout with small seconds, a 12-hour timer and 30-minute timer, there’s also a peripheral scale around the edge of the dial for the central chronograph seconds. However, it’s presented in that instantly recognisable shade of Tiffany blue and the hour markers are baguette cut diamonds, immediately increasing the luxurious appearance of the piece. It almost feels like it’s disguising how much luxury is piled into the watch with the relatively understated quality of it all – it’s trying very hard not to be a fashion watch.
The element that convinces me that this is not a fashion watch is the movement housed inside. It’s about as serious of a chronograph movement as you can find, sourced from a partnership with fellow LVMH brand Zenith. It’s the El Primero 400 automatic with 5Hz frequency, 50-hour power reserve and integrated column wheel chronograph mechanism. The El Primero family of calibres is arguably the most famous hi-beat chronograph movement in history as it’s what was used in the first automatic Rolex Daytona. To mark this one as Tiffany, it has a custom rotor with Bird on a Rock motif.
For availability, the Tiffany Timer is limited to 60 pieces and with its platinum and diamond construction it’s £49,100, which frankly is about half of what I expected. It’s always cool to see brands from slightly different spheres make serious attempts at horology, even though Tiffany has always been in and around the watchmaking sphere for, well, 160 years, it’s only the last few years they’ve re-entered it more seriously. Another example that comes to mind is Gucci, though Gucci have gone a bit more wild with it whereas Tiffany are playing things largely safe at the moment.
Price and Specs:
More details at Tiffany & Co.
