Monday, February 14, 2011

Damoiselle D Jewelry Watches

Rosa in white gold and diamond pavé

It’s been ten years since I visited the Doubs region in eastern France, the country’s watchmaking center. the region shares a border with Switzerland and French watchmakers said at the time that they use the same people, technologies and techniques as their more famous watchmaking neighbor. But to the average consumer in the U.S., and in many other places in the world, French watches are largely unknown. Ten years later this perception hasn’t changed.

However, one company from the region is making a foray into the U.S. market, Damoiselle D, with two lines of women fashion watches that get their inspiration from flowers. The company—based in Besançon, the largest and most important city in Doubs—is led by the husband and wife team of Véronique and Jean Muller. They call their creations jewelry watches. Their watches feature elaborate, circular shapes that start at the dial and work their way outward and a liberal use of precious materials, particularly diamonds. Both lines are adorned with eight petals that are meant to symbolize happiness, luck and prosperity

Camille Wiart, fashion director of the French Embassy Trade Office, introduced the company to attendees of the Centurion 2011 luxury jewelry trade show.

The Damoiselle Rosa (rose), is a white gold watch decorated with linked open petals (four large and four small) that can either be paved in diamonds, or fitted with agate, coral, onyx and turquoise, creating a range of colors that include white, blue, red and black.

Meanwhile, the Damoiselle Capucine (Nasturtium) is a white gold watch in which its eight pedals are solid, defined and paved with diamonds.

Capucine in white gold and diamond pavé

All of the watches are attached with a bracelet that is black on the outside and red inside. While designed in France by the Mullers, the watches are assembled and tested in Switzerland for precision and water resistance.

“These jewelry watches are intended for passionate, seductive, contemporary, independent, daring, demanding and loving women with a zest for living and a definite sense of the precious nature of time,” the company said. Now what woman couldn’t identify with this statement?