Backes & Strauss never cease to amaze us, the latest creation from the world’s oldest diamond merchants is the extraordinary 225 diamond, 38.69 carats Princess Royal Colours timepiece.
How the Royal Colours timepiece is constructed
The process starts with a simple 18k white gold case, the gem setters then set the diamonds by hand consisting of no fewer than 66 different colour hues and 10 different cuts on the dial, case and bracelet. It’s the combination of the various cuts (Baguette, Cushion, Marquise, Oval, Pear, Princess, Ascher, Emerald, Heart and Round Brilliant Cut) that creates an impression that the piece has been formed by nature, almost as if diamonds had been casually scattered across the watch.
If you take a closer look at the timepiece, you’ll see that each of the 225 jewels (marking every one of the years since Backes & Strauss was founded) has been deliberately set in place. This process alone takes the Backes & Strauss craftsmen hundreds of hours to ensure the most aesthetic and beautiful combination of colours.
Even more remarkable, is the sheer rarity of the diamonds that have been used by Backes & Strauss in the creation of the Princess Royal Colours pieces. To get just a single one carat diamond, it is necessary to blast, crush, process and X-ray more than 250 tons of rock; each year, more than 120 million carats are mined, but just a quarter of this quantity is of sufficient quality to be used in the making of jewellery – and, of this, only one in 10 thousand carats is a natural coloured diamond.
It’s these high standards and the attention to detail that gives Backes & Strauss their status as the leading manufacturer of jewelled timepieces in the world.
Princess Royal Colours Technical Details:
- Size: PC37
- Case: 18 carat White Gold case set with Natural Coloured Diamonds
- 22 diamonds – 9.04 carats
- Dial: Set with White and Natural Coloured diamonds
- 65 diamonds – 3.37 carats
- Hands: Sword-shaped hands
- Movement: Quartz
- Display: Hours and minutes
- Bracelet: Jewellery Bracelet in White Gold set with White and Natural Coloured Diamonds
- 138 diamonds – 26.28 carats
- Total carats: 225 diamonds – 38.69 carats