Would you pay US$486,000 for Backes & Strauss’ Piccadilly 45 King Tourbillon?
WHAT: PICCADILLY 45 KING TOURBILLON
HOW MUCH: HK$3.81 MILLION
Stress no more if you have been kept awake by the burning horological question about whether the mechanism or the diamond matters more. The Backes & Strauss Piccadilly 45 King Tourbillon is a watch which gives equal weight to both.
The oldest diamond house in the world, Backes & Strauss knows its gems, from sourcing to cutting and polishing to setting. Surrounding the white gold case are 48 baguette diamonds, and on the mother-of-pearl dial seven baguette emeralds mark the hours and 138 ideal-cut diamonds form concentric semi-circles.
The dial is cut to reveal the tourbillon, the third generation from the London house, after the Beau Brummel and the Emperor. Backes & Strauss matches the quality of its gems by forming a liaison with Franck Muller to ensure top-flight movements. The rotor view of the automatic tourbillon is seen through the open back.
Refined touches include the caseback engraving of the London skyline and the inclusion of the maison’s signature arrow motif indicative of the Hearts & Arrows of the Iideal-cut diamonds of which there are another 204 set in the movement’s bridge.
Backes & Strauss rightly calls its latest creation a Meeting of Masters – master diamond polisher/setter meets master watchmaker.
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The white gold case is surrounded by 48 baguette diamonds, and seven baguette emeralds mark the hours on the mother-of-pearl dial