May 1, 2015 | Watches & Jewelry
Tiffany & Co. unveils an all-new timepiece collection for men and women, inspired by a celebrated watch worn by FDR.
The CT60 limited edition rose-gold Calendar watch ($19,000) is based on the timepiece belonging to FDR; it houses a Dubois-Depraz self-winding mechanical movement.
Tiffany & Co. has unveiled a new watch collection—made in Switzerland under its own ever-vigilant standards—aimed at paying tribute to the glory of its founding father and the early years of this celebrated American brand. The collection honors icons of the New York-based company, including the famous Fifth Avenue Atlas clock that continues to crown Tiffany & Co.’s doorways around the world, as well as a timepiece owned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Charles Lewis Tiffany established Tiffany & Co. in 1837, opening his first store on Lower Broadway in New York. Ten years later, Tiffany began producing watches, and in 1853, the company founder installed one of the city’s first public clocks—the famous nine-foot-tall Atlas clock—above his store’s entryway. “We like to think of ourselves as the creator of the New York minute,” says Jon King, executive vice president of Tiffany & Co. “We put up one of the first public clocks [in] the 1800s. People set their watches to match. It became a reliable timekeeper and was the true embodiment of the New York minute.”
Timepieces in the CT60 collection house mechanical Swiss movements that are further hand-finished by artisans.
To honor that cultural heritage, and the brand’s legacy of building innovative, quality timepieces, Tiffany & Co. has released the all-new CT60 collection. The line, named in tribute to Charles Tiffany and the 60-second minute, is inspired by a Tiffany & Co. gold watch that was given to FDR on his birthday in 1945. The case-back was inscribed with the words FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, with loyalty, respect and affection. The watch recently found its way to the Christie’s auction house and was reacquired by Tiffany & Co. just in time to lend inspiration to the new line.
The CT60 collection, which retails between $4,250 and $19,000, consists of 23 styles, each with the Tiffany & Co. New York logo on the dial, and all housing mechanical Swiss movements that are further hand-finished by individual artisans to achieve exquisite pearlage and Cotes de Genève motifs. At the high end of the collection is the stunning calendar watch, based on the FDR watch, which is created in a limited, numbered edition of just 60 pieces in 18k rose gold. Other timepieces include chronographs in stainless steel, and three-hands in stainless steel and in 18k rose gold. Dials are finished with a “soleil” sun-ray pattern and come in blue, slate gray, chocolate, black, and white. Miami Design District, 114 NE 39th St., 305-428-1390
Photography by Tiffany & Co.
