Tiffany Timer Platinum Chronograph

Description

Tiffany & Co. celebrates 160 years since creating one of the first American stopwatches by reinventing the Tiffany Timer in a limited-edition of 60 timepieces. The new Tiffany Timer unites the House’s celebrated legacy in jewelry and design with its distinguished history in watchmaking. Refined details give direct expression to the House’s legendary diamond expertise, and its platinum case is equipped with an exclusive, customized El Primero 400 chronograph movement featuring the legendary Bird on a Rock.

Tiffany & Co.’s watchmaking heritage dates back to 1847. In 1866, the House introduced the Timing Watch, a pocket watch designed for scientific and sporting use and recognized today as Tiffany’s first stopwatch. Two years later, it was renamed the “Tiffany & Co. Timer,” coinciding with the opening of the House’s first watch assembly workshop in Switzerland. In 1874, Tiffany & Co. inaugurated a watchmaking manufacture in the heart of Geneva, producing timepieces with a range of complications, including chronographs and calendar watches.

The 40 mm polished platinum case of the Tiffany Timer is an elegant composition of sinuous lines and rounded surfaces, with the chronograph pushers curved to follow the profile of the case and serving as crown protectors. The cool luster of the polished platinum is complemented by a dial in Tiffany Blue® lacquer. The hours are marked by baguette-cut diamonds—a nod to the House’s gemstone-setting expertise and deep legacy in precious stones. Maintaining the tonal harmony, the hour, minute and sub-dial hands are crafted in white gold.

The making of the dial is a complex and lengthy process requiring over 50 hours of high-precision work. First, using a tiny, hand-operated tool, the surface of the dial base is spray-painted with a layer of matte varnish in Tiffany Blue®—an operation repeated eight times to achieve the desired depth of color. The dial is then kiln-dried for two hours at a precisely controlled temperature. Next, an artisan applies 15 layers of transparent lacquer, with each layer needing to be completely air-dried under carefully controlled conditions of humidity and temperature. Over 12 hours of baking in a kiln completes the process, bringing the total time required for the first stage of the process to 40 hours. Then, once the artisan applies the transfer-printed details, the gem-setter sets the baguette-diamond indexes on the dial.

Turning the watch over, the sapphire crystal case-back reveals an unexpected detail that perfectly encapsulates Tiffany & Co.’s whimsical sense of joy: a recreation of the bird motif from the House’s iconic Bird on a Rock brooch, perched on the open-worked winding rotor. Faithful in every detail to Schlumberger’s original design, the tiny bird, measuring just 1.4 cm in width is sculpted by hand from a solid piece of 18k yellow gold. It is then polished by hand in the traditional way, using various tools including diamond abrasives and sticks of gentian wood to create different degrees of shine that bring out the contours, before taking its perch on the oscillating weight.

Five decades ago, the El Primero marked a major technical breakthrough, and today it remains one of the world’s most celebrated chronograph movements. The dial features the iconic three-register layout of the Zenith El Primero caliber, complemented by a date display at 6 o’clock. For enhanced legibility, all indications are transfer-printed in dark gray on the Tiffany Blue® background.

Tiffany & Co.’s signature touch is expressed through the 18k yellow gold Bird on a Rock set onto the oscillating weight, which required a recalibration of its mass to accommodate the motif. Tiffany & Co. will offer the Tiffany Timer in a limited edition of 60 pieces.

Supplied by the brand to the GPHG for its entry.