Golden Bridge strikes back

Corum unveils five of its most opulent interpretations from the Golden Bridge Round series in various gemstone hues.

It is the season for haute horlogerie, as demonstrated by Swiss watchmaker Corum’s latest and most dazzling edition of its signature Golden Bridge series.

Inspired by San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the baguette-shaped Golden Bridge movement first came under the spotlight in the 1980s. Recent models in the Golden Bridge Round series have adopted the resilience and aesthetic beauty of clear sapphire in a tonneau-shaped case.

But for the first time, five new timepieces will sport the unconventional combination of the vertical movement with a round shape, marrying angles and curves, micro and macro and watchmaking and architecture, all in the multi-faceted universe of high jewellery.

Each white-gold or rose-gold watch is studded with nearly seven carats of baguette-cut jewels, with the dial featuring an 18-carat gold structure of the iconic suspension bridge adorned with 108 diamonds. These provide a glittering backdrop for the elegantly faceted hour and minute hands and fine appliqué indexes centred by the heart: a sapphire crystal bridge and a gold mainplate with fern motif engravings.

Housed in a round case that is water-resistant up to 30m and measures 43mm in diameter, the manually wound CO213 calibre features a variable inertial balance wheel that beats at a frequency of 19,200 vibrations per hour to lend the wearer 40 hours of autonomy. As the finishing touch, every timepiece comes with an alligator leather strap secured with a gold triple-blade folding clasp.

Classic combination
One can never go wrong with the timeless combination of gold and diamonds. There is a choice of a rose-gold case with gold-toned hands and rich brown leather strap or a white-gold case with rhodium-plated hands, complemented by a jet-black leather strap. Both watch cases are set with 96 baguette diamonds that total about 6.56 carats.

Rainbow connection
Those who want it all will not be disappointed by the full spectrum of multi-coloured baguette gemstones in this timepiece. The 18-carat white-gold case is encircled by 68 sapphires, 15 peridots, eight tsavorites and five rubies (4.50, 0.99, 1.04 and 0.65 carats respectively), resulting in a delicate yet striking gradation of hues.

Life in technicolour
Nothing commands attention more than a pop of colour. Opt for either cornflower-blue sapphires or blood-red rubies totalling about 6.38 and 7.50 carats respectively set around an 18-carat white-gold case. The 96 gemstones create a stunning halo around the tourbillion escapement.

 This article appeared in the Options of Issue 759 (Dec 19) of The Edge Singapore.