Backes & Strauss’ Royal Agenda
Watches fit for Royalty
Royal mania is currently at fever pitch, what with the birth of Prince Louis in April and, most of all, the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex. For the house of Backes & Strauss, British royal heritage has long played muse to its extraordinary watches, and to mark this year of stately celebrations, we’ll be taking a closer look at some of the most inspiring watches that are fit for a Queen…or King.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding had all the makings of a true-life fairy tale – it’s no wonder their romance has captured the world’s imagination. We all love a princess and especially at Backes & Strauss, which in 2010 created a dedicated luxury Princess collection that truly mixes tradition and modernity (sound familiar?) - the range fusing Victorian jewellery styles with chic, modern design.
The crowning feature of this Swiss-made watch is the bracelet, a medley of over 130 diamonds, neatly set across four strands, with each stone lovingly touched by the human hand: every link is hand-made and every diamond hand-set, and that’s after each diamond – cut in a fire-enhancing Ideal Cut – has been hand selected. The result is a brilliantly engineered luxury bracelet that’s supple yet strong, dazzlingly bright and beautiful.
Several timepieces grace Backes & Strauss’s Princess collection, including the elegant Regent Princess with a vintage-like 32x38 elliptical dial, and which takes its namesake from the eye-catching, classical proportions of the work of the 19th-century’s John Nash, the beloved architect of the Prince Regent. But the diamond watches that really wow – and which are fit for a modern-day princess – are the bespoke coloured diamond Regent Princess watches. The Piccadilly Princess Royal Red Rose and Royal Blue - named after the sumptuous drawing rooms at the Prince Regent’s palatial London home. And a sumptuous homage these watches are: the Red Rose for example is warmly set in 18k rose gold, which pairs nicely with the 80 rubies and 233 diamonds, and is further topped with a diamond and ruby trimmed mother-of-pearl dial with petite ruby indexes. Or, if icier is slightly more your style, the white gold Royal Blue is a striking juxtaposition of sapphires and diamonds. The Duchess of Sussex would certainly approve…
His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent
Aristocratic links course through the DNA of the House of Backes & Strauss, and its latest royal chapter is a newly announced partnership with His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent. A keen horologist – plus lover of motorsport and aviation - Prince Michael in November 2018 was in Geneva, receiving a crash course on Backes & Strauss’s unique savoir faire and Swiss-made watches, and what a course it is: next year he will debut a limited-edition collection of co-designed Backes & Strauss watches. Details are being tightly kept under wraps, but until then, Prince Michael can be seen sporting the extraordinary rose gold Renaissance Regent 4047, featuring an eye-catching white dial complemented by rose gold Roman numerals.
Prince Michael, a patron of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce, has led delegations of British businessmen to the likes of Russia, China and India, moving effortlessly in all manner of circles as a qualified Russian interpreter. He can also speak French, German and Italian. As Backes & Strauss’ Royal Ambassador, other than co-designing a limited edition collection with the jewellery watch house, he will be hosting events around the globe; a familiar role, which he will undoubtedly fulfil with utmost finesse.
