In a poetic fusion of past and future, Tiffany & Co. unveils a luminous innovation: the Rope Watch. Drawing its heartbeat from the sun and its silhouette from Jean Schlumberger’s timeless design archives, this new timepiece captures both the golden elegance of mid-century haute joaillerie and the ecological foresight of contemporary watchmaking.
Schlumberger, the legendary artist-jeweler whose gilded imagination helped define Tiffany’s aesthetic identity, often looked to the natural world and his Alsatian textile upbringing for inspiration. His Rope motif—characterized by richly coiled gold strands echoing braids, tassels, and ceremonial cords—once adorned everything from brooches to bracelets. Now, in a stroke of brilliance, that very motif has found a new rhythm in timekeeping.
Tiffany’s Rope Watch Flaunts the Ultimate Power
But unlike Schlumberger’s mid-century jewels, this Rope doesn’t rely on ticking quartz or winding mechanics. Instead, it draws life from the sun. Hidden beneath either a luminous white mother-of-pearl dial or a lacquered black one lies a semi-translucent surface that allows sunlight to charge the high-precision solar movement. The mechanism, developed in collaboration with Switzerland’s La Joux-Perret, can store enough energy to run for eight months on a full charge. Even two fleeting minutes of sunlight can spark 24 hours of motion, making it not just an adornment, but a marvel of technical grace.
Every detail of the Rope Watch echoes Tiffany’s reverence for precision. Offered in two refined sizes—27mm and 33mm—the watches are cast in radiant 18k yellow gold. Around the bezel, dual twisted rope bands frame a ring of pavé-set diamonds, each one like a glinting knot along time’s eternal thread. Even the minute hand is shaped in a miniature spiral, a whisper of Schlumberger’s handiwork, as if time itself were braided.
Case & Design
The back of the case doesn’t shy from poetry either: an engraved sun motif surrounds a singular diamond, both a tribute to its solar soul and a subtle wink to the elegance worn against the wrist.
Depending on one’s preference for light or shadow, the Rope Watch comes fitted with either a midnight-black alligator strap (paired with the black dial) or a cheerful Tiffany Blue® strap that pairs effortlessly with the mother-of-pearl version. The smaller 27mm iteration sparkles with 38 diamonds totaling 0.52 carats and is priced at $16,000. The more generously sized 33mm version boasts 39 diamonds weighing 0.9 carats and retails for $22,000.
In an era where sustainability often comes at the cost of aesthetic pleasure, Tiffany & Co.’s Rope Watch stands in quiet defiance. Here is a jewel that honors the sun, salutes its artistic past, and celebrates the enduring craft of beauty with purpose.
Featured image: Tiffany & Co.
Amanda Akalonu is dedicated to weaving together the worlds of jewelry, watches, and objects through a lens of literary storytelling.
