Women are different on the east and west coast of the US – I think on the east coast, particularly New York, they are more sophisticated, style conscious, caught up in the energy of the city. All designs from the last two and a half years were inspired by the energy of New York women.
When we thought about creating a new collection of women's watches, the brief was to create something that went from day to night and, unsurprisingly, we took inspiration from our past. The very unusual bracelet design came from our jewellery archives and was inspired by a design found in a Blue Book catalogue, while the asymmetrical case was from an old watch. The dial is from a 19th-century Patek Tiffany, from which the idea of a seconds counter at six o'clock also comes. For the Tiffany Metro we wanted to combine heritage with an extensive use of diamonds, because we're an authority on precious stones.
Every watch in the collection has diamonds on it and the one on the crown is even serialised, which means that every woman has a unique, certified stone on her watch. For that detail, we were inspired by a Japanese trend for people using a watch to propose instead of a ring and, if you notice, that engagement ring echo is there in the rotated three-pronged setting around the diamond; it is also a setting that allows more light in so the stone has more fire.
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The quartz movements are from Ronda, and the automatics are made by Soprod. There actually wasn't a movement available with the counter at six o'clock so we approached our partners and asked them to design something that fitted the brief. I wanted to include an automatic in the new Metro collection because I do think there is an emotional value in watches and that's something women appreciate as well as men. Mechanical watches live with you, to the extent that same exact watch will work differently on different people.
Having that personal connection to your watch is something that is really important to us at Tiffany. We've recently launched a programme with our workshop where you can personalise your CT60. You can choose the strap, dial colour, colour of the indices and can even engrave the dial side of the case or caseback. It is also something that isn't available online because we want to encourage more people to come into our stores. With Tiffany, people have been learning about it their whole lives. They might start by coming in for a $200 bracelet and keep going up. It's about dreaming, almost. Entering a Tiffany store should feel like a different world.
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But it is also about reemphasising our history. It's a very aggressive market out there and things are slowing down for Swiss watches so we have to make sure we resonate with customers and that they understand what we are doing. It's about having timeless creations and we're doing that now with jewellery as well as watches. Taking small details and shapes from the past but adapting the design for modern tastes and needs.
And, realising that our main customer is women, this year is all about women for us at Tiffany. They are an integral part of our DNA, and I happen to believe that anyone who deviates from their DNA is making a huge mistake.
NICOLA ANDREATTA is the vice president and general manager of Tiffany & Co Swiss Watches; tiffany.co.uk
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