Diamond Timing

RAPAPORT… Any time is right for diamond watches, as styles adapt for day, night, men and women.

Gone are the days when diamond watches were strictly for cocktail hour. Today, thanks to a myriad of factors, diamond watches are all the rage — for daytime, nighttime and for women and men alike. Indeed, the proliferation of diamond watches on the market around the world has become so prevalent that sometimes watch manufacturers are clamoring to buy diamonds.

A stroll through the watch halls of any recent jewelry show reveals just how prominent diamond watches have become. One could scarcely get by without needing to don a pair of sunglasses. Diamonds — white, cognac, black and a few hues in between — bedecked steel, gold and platinum timepieces in all retail price ranges. What’s more, retailers were buying these watches like they were, well, diamonds!

“Our diamond watch business is doing superbly. If it has diamonds on it, it sells,” says Sunil Khiatani of Tajmahal’s Duty Free Stores in Montego Bay, Jamaica, which sells gold and diamond watches. He notes that their business in steel and diamond watches has definitely been on the rise.

In fact, in the luxury end of the market, diamond watches encased in platinum and gold and retailing for anywhere from $25,000 and up have always been great sellers. In this arena, strong sales continue, as watchmakers are ever more ingenious with settings, designs and use of color. Cases have become shapelier and watchmakers have been able to adorn these shapes with more creative diamond designs.

Some brands, such as Piaget, have unveiled diamond secret watches, with covers bedecked in diamonds that swing aside to reveal the watch dial. Last year, Piaget even released a stunning sphere-shaped watch that was totally ensconced in diamonds. Other brands in the luxury field have even turned to colored diamonds for their timepieces. Utilizing both black and cognac diamonds to draw attention to its shapely timepieces, de Grisogono recently released its stunning Be Eight watch, which is shaped in the hourglass figure eight. It is adorned with champagne-colored diamonds on its “Browny Brown” gold for ultimate appeal.

The list goes on and on in the luxury world. Harry Winston, Cartier, Bulgari, Tiffany all continue to use the best-quality, finest colors, or Top Wesselton diamonds in superb cuts to scintillate customers.

“With creative genius coming through in watch shapes or diamond settings, this end of the market — it seems — won’t see a lull,” says Larry Boland, head of Piaget in North America. “Customers continue to want diamonds.”

STEELY WORLD

It is in the world of steel watches where diamonds really have made an impact on sales at retail levels, especially in the past decade and a half since the technology of how to set diamonds into steel was perfected. This realm of the business has exploded, as it opened a whole new price category for brands and retailers and offered new opportunity for customers to own diamond watches.

Depending on the brand producing the steel watch adorned with diamonds, this category runs the gamut from several hundred to several thousand dollars — based on the quality of the stones, as well as the quality of the watch and its movement. Generally, the better of these watches start at about $800 and range to just under $2,000 retail. This is the true growth area.

Here, too, creativity reigns supreme, with many watchmakers going over and above the simple concept of a diamond dial or bezel. Often, today, diamonds are spilling over onto the watch bracelet with fun, whimsical patterns such as ribbons, flowers or random designs. Additionally, it has become acceptable for women to wear diamonds during the day as well as at night — making diamond watches with these fun patterns more in demand. What’s more, diamonds are not just for women anymore.

“More and more, we are seeing men wearing watches with diamond dials or diamond bezels,” says Daniel Govberg of Govberg Jewelers in Pennsylvania. “It’s not just a women’s thing anymore. It’s perfectly fine for a man to wear diamonds — they complement the mechanics inside the watch.”

With all the brands trying to buy diamonds for bezels and cases, there is an issue of supply and demand. Often the stones needed for these steel and diamond watches are the same size, 1 point to 2.2 points; same shape, round and same clarity, SI. Usually 30 to 60 are needed per watch, and a brand that does a significant business in diamond and steel watches can buy a million stones a year. Several suppliers in the diamond industry are stepping up their production of these stones to try to accommodate what is an ongoing anticipated need so that consumers aren’t left diamond-less when it comes to timing.