Keep time in style with this year’s latest sautoir watches

Watchmakers are still playing catchup when it comes to complicated watches for women, but if there’s something the feminine market has that men don’t, it’s the variety of ways we can wear the time. Pendant watches originated around the 16th century as a way to let the well-heeled check the time in a more discreet manner, but have quickly become elaborate expressions of jewellery artistry. Today, the necklace watch is making a comeback with long, elegant chains culminating in beautiful dials, showcasing the harmony of horological craftsmanship and fashion-forward thinking. 

After unveiling the most complicated watch in the world, Vacheron Constantin doubled down on delivering magnificence with the release of the Grand Lady Kalla.

The Kalla jewellery watch line was descended from the one-of-a-kind Kallista watch created 45 years ago for a private client. With “Kallista” meaning “the most beautiful” in Greek, the brand sought to live up to that name by having French abstract painter Raymond Moretti create a design upon which 130 carats of diamonds could be set on a 18k yellow gold base. Sold for US$5 million ($6.7 million), it was the most expensive watch of its time. 

Subsequent Kalla watches followed the Art Deco form in less opulent but more wearable iterations. 2024’s Grand Lady Kalla was further inspired by Vacheron Constantin’s first transformable watch from 1924, which was a pendant model that could be turned into a brooch. Thus, the Grand Lady Kalla is presented with a bracelet and a sautoir, with the watch component easily interchangeable with a jewel element. The centre piece boasts a total of 268 diamonds (about 46.65 carats), and includes Akoya pearls and onyx beads on the necklace. 

Not long after Piaget decided to make jewellery to go with its watches in the 1960s, the company combined both competencies by releasing its first sautoir watches in 1969 for its 21st Century Collection. The ultra-thin 9P hand-wound movement found new homes in delicate pendants that would swish from side to side as their wearers sauntered, giving rise to the name “Swinging Sautoir”.  

This year, on the brand’s 150th anniversary, three new unique pieces join the collection, two of which are transformable. The first highlights Piaget’s superior gold craftsmanship, with a necklace made of hand-twisted gold chains with detailing so fine it gives the metal an illusion of soft pliability.

The second piece explodes with shades of blue and green, where malachite and turquoise beads radiate from diamond-set gold chains interspersed with yellow sapphires. Above the turquoise dial hangs a 29.24 carat Sri Lankan yellow sapphire and a 6.11 carat aquamarine. This watch can be unclasped and worn on a green satin strap. 
The final model has a double chain of twisted gold — one of them set with diamonds — and are anchored by an 11.68 carat white opal cabochon. Under the emerald-cut yellow sapphire is a shower of diamonds, gold, and chalcedony. This watch case, too, can be removed from the sautoir and clipped onto an alligator strap. 

Last year, the house of Chanel paid tribute to its founder’s astrological sign, Leo, with a series of lion-themed jewellery watches. For 2024, Coco’s spirit permeates a new capsule collection inspired by her seamstress tools. 

In addition to the wrist-, ring-, and cuff-watches, the Couture O’Clock collection also includes four long necklace watches with tiny dials concealed within a diamond-set, 18k yellow gold safety pin, thimble, bust and pincushion respectively. All are limited editions of 20, except the Mademoiselle Prive Pincushion, which is limited to just five pieces.