SKORPYO LUXURY CLUB

The name Arabella “Belle” Huntington might not ring any bells for most people, but in the house of Harry Winston, it is one that lies at the heart of its legacy.

Even before the brand had been established in 1932, its eponymous founder was assembling his own collection of precious gemstones by purchasing some of the most prominent American jewellery estates of the time. The industrious Winston sought to fully express the beauty of the diamonds that he found, removing them from the ornate settings typical of the era, refashioning them in more contemporary, delicate styles that showed off their brilliant fire.

The estate of Arabella “Belle” Huntington, known for its impressive array of pearls and diamonds, was particularly significant in in this story – Winston purchased the entire headline-making collection in 1926 for $1.2milion, marking the beginning of the Harry Winston legacy.

The new Belle bridal collection pays tribute to this love affair with brilliant jewels through engagement rings, wedding bands, pendants, and earrings

For the bride with a penchant for the classics or even vintage charm, the geometric bezel lends elegance of a bygone era, and is hand-set with diamond micropavé to frame each round brilliant centre stone. Every diamond used is selected and graded to meet the same quality standards (D-E-F in colour, and VS2 or higher in clarity), expressing the same passion that drove its founder so many years ago.

www.harrywinston.com

Originally inspired by the refined geometric forms of Art Deco, the Avenue collection is an ode to New York City – its long thoroughfares stretching their slender silhouettes off into the distance, its soaring, vertiginous aerial architecture. The teeming city has always fed Harry Winston’s creativity.

Newcomer in this iconic collection, Avenue C Large varies its geometry by playing with straight lines and curves, asymmetry and contrasts.

Harry Winston Avenue C Large uses the mirror effects of skyscrapers, with its dial set with 156 baguette-cut diamonds (7.5 carats).

As a frame of light, the 7.8 carats case reflects the beauty and the brilliance of each diamond.

Unrivaled, the glittering bracelet in white gold, set with 260 baguette-cut diamonds (19.5 carats), extends the brightness of the watch to infinity.

A total of 34.8 carats embodies a unique style, which is the culmination of efforts and skills between gemologists, designers and craftsmen, working together to create incredibly beautiful timepieces.

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On September 22nd 2011 in Monaco, Harry Winston is taking part in the Only Watch charity auction organized by the Monaco Association against Muscular Dystrophy (AMM), under the Patronage of HSH Prince Albert II. Keenly aware of the gravity of this pathology and eager to affirm its commitment to children, Harry Winston has developed and produced for this exceptional event an exclusive Grande Complication model: the Harry Winston’s Only Watch 2011 Midnight GMT Tourbillon.
Topped by a bezel discreetly bearing the three distinctive arches of the Harry Winston’s New York Salon, the case is crafted in platinum exclusively for Only Watch. Its 45 mm diameter magnificently frames a mechanical bidirectional automatic movement. Endowed with a 110-hour power reserve, the mechanism drives the horological complications appearing on en eminently masculine ruthenium dial. The tourbillon positioned at 6 o’clock carries the small seconds display, while the GMT display at 9 o’clock is enriched with a day/night indication. The 11 o’clock aperture indicates the cities representing the second timezone, including Monaco in tribute to the Only Watch event.
The alternating finishes accentuate the urban and sophisticated spirit of a model brilliantly combining horological tradition with the legendary Harry Winston creativity.

The icy sparkler shown above was the top lot at Sotheby's Important Jewels auction in New York earlier this week. The auction brought in $8,897,278 tipping it toward the high range of the pre-sale estimate of $6.8 million to $9.4 million. The ring above, a 15.98-carat platinum and emerald-cut diamond (I color, VS1 clarity) ring from Harry Winston, sold for $662,500, beating its pre-sale estimate of $300,000-400,000. Other highlights included a 3.52-carat platinum and round diamond ring, which sold for $290,500 and a Harry Winston 5.7-carat platinum and emerald-cut diamond ring, which sold for $242,500.

"We are delighted with the success of today's sale, which demonstrated the continued strength of the market for jewelry," said Gary Schuler, Senior Vice President and Head of Sotheby's Jewelry department in New York. "We saw bidding from a truly international audience, with many clients embracing participation through our online BidNow program, adding an exciting new element to our salesroom."

[via Luxist - Diamonds.net]

Finally the year ends with a positive stoke in time. And by that I mean, Harry Winston has decided to bid adieu to the first decade of the millennium with two versions from their Ocean Collection. The first of these beautiful watches come encased in 18kt white or rose gold 44mm cases with a sapphire crystal. Featuring a Swiss automatic HW movement, the watch offers a 40-hour power reserve and 100-meter water resistance (it is the “Ocean” collection).

The second version features an aeronautical engineering twist thanks to the zirconium-aluminum based alloy Zalium polished 36mm casing with crystal sapphire and a 40-hour power reserve and 100-meter water resistance. Not only is it is hypo-allergenic, but also offers very high corrosive resistance. Moreover it is extremely lightweight and spots a gunmetal finish. The crystal is sapphire and it is water resistant to 100 meters.

[ via Timezone ]

Harry Winston (the watch arm) makes a living on high-end women's watches with a healthy amount of diamonds and quartz movements. Here however they are retaining the diamond part of the equation, but offering women a mechanical timepiece. The Premier Lady Chronograph is of the same design vein as the also new Harry Winston Midnight Chrono Tourbillon, but this women's watch pulls the design aesthetic off much (much) better. The mannerisms of the dial are new to Harry Winston. They actually remind me a lot of Boucheron.

Each watch comes in an 18k gold case that is 39mm wide with diamond set cases and dials. Large diamonds line the bezel and lugs, while diamonds are set around the periphery of the dial, as well as in the chronograph subdials. Probably the most "blinged out" chrono I've seen. While the subdials have their hands in the normal position, the dials are of different sizes for a faux asymmetrical look. The subdials also have mother-of-pearl elements.

Coming in three dial colors (silver, blue, and anthracite), the watch has a total of 317 (4.4 carats) of diamonds all over it. While I am not sure what the movement inside the watch is, it has the same layout as a Swiss ETA 2894 automatic movement - which might be what is inside. A good looking - sort of sporty feeling - lady's watch make ultra lux by all the diamonds.

[ via Luxist ]

In the season finale of CW's Gossip Girl, billionaire Chuck Bass (played by Ed Westwick) pleads with his attackers to let him keep an eye-popping engagement ring, presumably one that he is planning to give to Blair Waldorf (played by Leighton Meester). The attackers take the ring anyway, and shoot Bass, leaving him to bleed to death in an alleyway somewhere in Europe.

Bass has excellent taste. The cushion cut diamond in a tapered baguette setting was designed by Harry Winston. The signature cut is classic Winston---and it embodies timeless elegance.

The ring, as seen above, is 8 carats in size and set in platinum. It is available for purchase at the Harry Winston store on Fifth Avenue in New York. The price is available upon request.

[via Luxist ]