At the high and misty ends of the industry, the line between watchmaking and jewellery has never particularly been rigid. Since forever, several watch maisons have developed jewellery collections alongside their timepieces, while others have built gem-setting, high jewellery and jewellery watches into their core creative language. With some of the top picks along those lines, we have collated five names where the two disciplines are closely connected.
Audemars Piguet’s jewellery work dates back to the late 19th century, with the manufacture developing an in-house jewellery workshop in the 1980s. Its latest expression is the Royal Oak Joaillerie collection, which reworks the Royal Oak’s octagonal geometry as high jewellery. The collection comprises three lines: Frosted Gold, Risoud Eclipse and Dream of Joux. Frosted Gold uses a technique developed with jewellery designer Carolina Bucci, based on an old Florentine goldsmithing method that creates a textured, diamond-dust-like surface. Risoud Eclipse combines blackened titanium and 18-carat white gold with emeralds and diamonds. One necklace uses five sugarloaf-cut emeralds totalling approximately 16.5 carats, surrounded by brilliant-cut diamonds. Dream of Joux includes gem-set cuffs, necklaces and earrings inspired by the landscape of the Vallée de Joux.
Cartier’s jewellery expertise has directly informed its watchmaking for more than a century. The maison says it has used baguette-cut diamonds since 1908, while its current high-jewellery watch offering includes pieces from the Panthère, Baignoire, Tank, Reflection, Coussin and Animalière families. Current examples include the Panthère Jewelry Watch, the Baignoire jewellery watch and the Métiers d’Art jewellery watch, which combines a manual movement with yellow gold, lacquer, mother-of-pearl, emeralds and diamonds. Cartier also produces high jewellery independently of its watches, with its Indian website currently listing more than 200 high-jewellery creations. Its approach treats gem-setting, case design and watchmaking as connected disciplines rather than separate categories.
Bvlgari operates as both a watchmaker and a jeweller, with its Serpenti collection providing one of the clearest links between the two. Its high-jewellery watch portfolio currently includes Serpenti Secret, Serpenti Tubogas, Serpenti Jewellery Watch, Monete and Divas’ Dream models. The Serpenti Seduttori, meanwhile, uses the serpent motif in a watch with a drop-shaped case and flexible bracelet, including versions set with diamonds and coloured gemstones. Bvlgari’s Aeterna high-jewellery collection, created for the maison’s 140th anniversary, comprised more than 140 pieces and included both jewellery and watches. One of its central creations used seven D-flawless diamond drops totalling 140 carats, cut from the same rough stone.
Piaget has long treated jewellery watches as part of its design vocabulary, and its current high-jewellery portfolio includes both conventional jewellery and timepieces. The maison’s Swinging Sautoirs and Cuff Watches collection draws on its jewellery-watch designs of the 1960s and 1970s. Its current Colours of Extraleganza collection combines high jewellery with the period’s emphasis on colour and sculptural forms, using diamonds alongside pink and blue sapphires, rubies, emeralds, opal, carnelian, tourmaline and other stones. Piaget also maintains dedicated jewellery collections including Piaget Rose, Possession, Sunlight, Glow and Limelight Gala. The maison’s high-jewellery offering therefore extends beyond gem-set watches to necklaces, rings, bracelets and other pieces designed within the same aesthetic vocabulary.
Chopard’s jewellery and watchmaking divisions are closely connected, with the maison producing high jewellery, jewellery watches and conventional timepieces. Its current high-jewellery offering includes collections such as Precious Lace, Happy Diamonds and Ice Cube alongside its annual Red Carpet collection. For 2026, Red Carpet is titled Miracles and comprises 79 Haute Joaillerie creations, including diamond-set watches, cuffs, necklaces and brooches. One of the collection’s jewellery watches is made in ethically sourced white gold and carries diamonds totalling 46 carats. Chopard also continues to develop its Happy Diamonds and L’Heure du Diamant watch lines, while its broader jewellery portfolio includes pieces in the Ice Cube and Happy Hearts collections. The maison has been an official partner of the Cannes Film Festival since 1998, and its Red Carpet collection is produced in connection with that relationship.