When Christian Dior started his eponymous maison in 1947, the world was still reeling from World War II. But Dior made it his goal to bring beauty and luxury to women’s closets so he focused on creating richly decorated and elaborate haute couture ball gowns. It is exactly his fondness of formal dresses that inspired the creation of Dior’s Grand Bal line of watches that debuted 64 years after his first collection.
The French Maison just introduced its exquisite 2020 line of Grand Bal timepieces and they are something to behold. Featuring precious and natural materials that the brand’s artisans often use to create Dior’s haute couture gowns—feathers, gold threads, mother-of-pearl, silk, and diamonds—the company has also added two new 36mm watches to the lineup, inspired, of course, by its haute couture universe.
The Dior Grand Bal Plume, created in a limited edition of 88 pieces, has a mother-pearl dial decorated with wild feathers and a bezel set with round-cut diamonds and pink gold. The watch, just like any other from the collection, runs via the company’s proprietary “Dior Inversé 11 1/2” caliber that features a functioning oscillating weight—that in this case is also set with diamonds—on the dial side imitating the swirl of a ball gown. The Grand Bal Plume comes fitted with an alligator strap and a steel prong buckle set with round-cut diamonds.
The other newcomer is the Dior Grand Bal Ruban that features a beautiful bow on its dial adorned with round-cut, baguette-cut, and snow-set diamonds. The dial is decorated either with gold threads or covered with white and pink feathers depending on the model. The velvet strap is lined with calfskin leather and its buckle is set with diamonds.
Another show-stopping timepiece from the 2020 collection is the La D Dior Précieuse à Secret watch which doubles as a jewelry piece. The 21mm case is crafted from pink gold set with diamonds and has a swiveling cap that features a gorgeous blue Burmese sapphire. The pink gold dial is paved with snow-set diamonds and has polished Dauphine hands. The bracelet is set with even more diamonds for a total of 350 for the entire timepiece or approximately 7.02 carats.
