"Most gem-set watches treat stones as decoration. F.P. Journe's Tourbillon Souverain Vertical Joaillerie Rubis treats them as the entire point. This unique piece took eight years to build because finding 93 rubies that match perfectly in color, then cutting 61 carats of material away to achieve that uniformity, requires a timeline most manufacturers would never approve. The result is 25 carats of baguette rubies wrapped around a platinum case that was engineered specifically to hold them."
"The arithmetic tells you everything. Eighty-six carats of rough ruby entered the workshop. Twenty-five carats survived. The remaining 61 carats were ground away in pursuit of identical size, clarity, and saturation across every stone. That ratio of loss would kill most projects before they started. F.P. Journe spent nearly a decade sourcing and recutting until the math worked. The Case as Canvas Every exterior metal surface carries rubies."
"Forty baguette-cut stones sit channel-set in the bezel, forming an unbroken red circuit around the dial. The lug hoods hold another 16 baguettes arranged in a fanned configuration that draws the eye outward and exaggerates the watch's footprint on the wrist. The case band wraps the mid-section with 37 stones, the largest in the entire build. F.P. Journe describes those 37 case-band rubies as the largest baguette-cut stones ever set in a watch."
F.P. Journe's Tourbillon Souverain Vertical Joaillerie Rubis required eight years to source and recut 93 rubies until 25 carats remained with matching color, size, clarity, and saturation. Eighty-six carats of rough ruby entered the workshop and 61 carats were ground away to achieve uniformity. The watch uses 25 carats of baguette rubies set around a platinum case engineered to hold them. Forty baguette stones form an unbroken bezel circuit, 16 baguettes decorate the lug hoods in a fan, and 37 larger case-band rubies wrap the mid-section. The result reads as a wearable ruby sculpture rather than a typical gem-set watch.
Read at Yanko Design - Modern Industrial Design News
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