Backes & Strauss—renowned for creating high-end luxury timepieces and jewelry and the world’s oldest diamond company established in the 18th century—has since been mesmerising the influential. Adding to its collection, the company has now designed a master timepiece, called the Princess Elizabeth, to pay a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II on her 90th birthday. The longest-reigning monarch of UK, Queen Elizabeth will be celebrating her 90th birthday on April 21 this year. The diamond-studded timepiece dedicated to the Queen features a striking gold dial that boasts of a younger profile image of the Queen. It is skilfully hand-engraved and enamelled by the brand’s master engraver using the Grand Feu technique with ‘XC’ at the 12 o’clock point. Interestingly, the English Blythe enamel was applied over many layers at a temperature of 900 degrees Celsius. The makers had to control the temperature continuously to give the timepiece a royal purple hue. The 37mm-sized watch’s case features 28 stunning diamonds each weighing 3.95 carats, and sword-shaped hands made using superwhite luminova. Its movement is automatic and the dial shows hours, minutes and seconds. Last but not the least, the strap of the watch is more of a bracelet that comprises 136 diamonds that weigh around 18.57 carats. But there’s more to come yet: another timepiece by Backes & Strauss, as a mark of honour to the Queen, called the Queen Elizabeth, will be revealed in Japan this October.
