Romancing The Stone: Elizabeth Doerr On The Haute Horlogerie That Needs To Be Part Of Your Collection

Bazaar’s watch columnist highlights the work of Beauregard, an independent haute horlogerie brand that has made its stone-faced dials a signature delight

Alexandre Beauregard’s eponymous little firm invites us to fall in love with its creations at first sight, so enchanting are these wonderfully crafted horological objects that also happen to be highly sophisticated yet wholly unpretentious pieces of jewellery art.

A bilingual French-Canadian with a charming accent to his passionate words, Alexandre hails from Montreal and works with a small team that got its start in 2011 when he met Yves Saint-Pierre, an acclaimed lapidary artist and an instructor at the École de Joaillerie de Montréal who has been working with gemstones for more than 40 years. The creative little company is completed by François Ruel, who is skilled in both jewellery and 3D design drawing. “The three of us do all the stonework. Yves’ shop is in Saint Boniface, I have one in Montreal, and we each do part of the work: we cut, we slice, we select, we carve, and we just have so much fun,” says Alex, taking plenty of time to describe how his young company with its creative ideas came about.

This boutique brand’s young career began on the serious side of the watch industry when it burst onto the haute horlogerie scene in 2018 with the Dahlia model. This floral-themed timepiece is more than just a pretty face: it features not only a specially made central flying tourbillon movement, but also 48 invisibly set, hand-carved and hand-set stone petals full of layers, volumes, colours, and textures. These gorgeous petals surround the sophisticated movement, framing the technical superiority of it with a spectacularly visual display of gemstone mastery. It is a tactile watch that invites the observer to touch it, to feel it, and ultimately to wear it with enthusiasm. The entire watch is made in Switzerland except the stones adorning the dial, which are “made” in Montreal. “I designed everything, of course, I’m very hands on,” Alex confirms. “And the stones – that’s a love story. I’m just in love with fine stones,” he adds. Once the stones are ready, they are sent to Geneva to be placed on the timepiece by the Swiss horology team.

The rectangular Lili followed in 2020. Though this watch is a different shape, it retains a few of the highly aesthetic characteristics fans of the brand have gotten to know and love from the Dahlia: hand-carved and hand set petals surrounding the time display (33 in this case); snow-set diamonds filling in the space between the petals and the flange (if desired); an 18-karat gold case; and a quick-change strap system.

However, it is not powered by the same dazzling mechanics as the Dahlia, but rather a high-precision quartz movement, which makes it both more wearable in a daily sense and more affordable in any sense. And the use of the quartz movement gives Beauregard the ability to move the crown to the case back, which means there is no longer any protruding element disturbing the unique design of the case. And setting the time is just as easy with the case back crown, though thanks to the quartz movement it won’t be necessary very often. Each Dahlia and each Lili is a unique creation that is made to order. Beauregard’s latest oeuvre is called Lili Candy and it takes its shape from the Lili Bouton model that followed the rectangular creation. It was officially introduced at Dubai Watch Week 2021. Instead of petals, the Lili Candy model’s most prominent feature is the set of stones including white opal, carnelian, Fanta opal, yellow opal, chrysoprase, topaz, and amethyst fashioned to resemble an old-fashioned lollipop. Knowing Alex Beauregard as I do, it’s obvious this watch would in no way be as “simple” as it might look from the outside.

“Indeed,” answers Alex. “The very challenging part of this Candy watch, other than having all of the components sourced before we put them together, is the round shape, which we do on lathes. The thing is that all of those stones react differently to being cut on a lathe; they have different degrees of hardness.”

Alex and his team precision-cut the seven stones into the desired shape. Then they are put together using an adhesive developed specifically for the watch and jewellery industry. Finally, they are carefully lapped and polished by hand all together to reach the final shape, which resembles something akin to a precious doughnut, before being tension-set into the final position enveloping the time display.

The petite 33 mm case with crown on the back is available in a choice of 18-karat white gold or platinum and crafted only upon order. It is set with 116 flawless VVS DEF diamonds forming two rows encircling the precious lollipop and comes on a satin strap.

Elizabeth Doerr is the editor-in-chief of QuillAndPad.com, a digital publication that keeps a watch on time.

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s July-August 2022 Issue