The Queen’s Watch Range

On the 8th of September 2022, we lost our beloved Queen, an undeniably great woman, mother and advocator but most of all she leaves us her legacy. For most of us she has been there throughout our lives, so moving forward almost seems impossible. However, we must strive to move forward from this unfortunate day in history, so in our way to honour her we’d like to go through her beautiful watch range, to shed some light on the wonderful woman that is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor.

(Image Credit Perpetual Passion)

The Queen had a vast amount of jewellery in her possession, so you knew whenever she wore a piece it was particularly special to her or had some meaning behind it. During the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen possessed an elegant wristwatch striking for its slender proportions. The timepiece was a recent gift from the President of France at the time, Vincent Auriol, a diamond set Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 101 bracelet watch. The slim-designed watch was chosen to give the queen the ability to discreetly check the time, as back in those days it was unseemly to do so from women. Overall, it's a masterpiece of a watch and has remained the smallest mechanical movement worldwide since inception and ranks among the oldest movements still in production today.

A personal favourite of the Queens, is the Omega Ladymatic, a watch which represents and symbolises the very essence of royalty, a powerful design, strong presence, expert engineering and timeless aesthetic. Showcased on her wrist in 1992, the 20mm vintage 14k yellow gold Omega ‘Ladymatic’ with cream white-coloured dial is a beautiful piece in anyone's collection, the small exquisite strap with an almost bubble-like watch case, is perfectly proportioned and perfect for a queen.

(Image Credit Perpetual Passion)

Now the queen has quite a modest collection of Patek Philippe’s, however, one that stands over the rest is her Patek Philippe ref 4975/1G, a watch of true craftsmanship (as with most of her collection), the watch’s face is encrusted with baguette-cut diamonds, and it sits on convolution strands of pearls. This watch screams excellence, with so much attention to detail that on the watch, just like the crown is made out of diamonds. Some lucky visitors were presented with the rare opportunity to get a closer glimpse of the watch at a Grand Exhibition in London when she loaned the piece back to Patek Philippe in the spring of 2015.

One of the more unique watches in the Queen's collection, notably for its double watch face, is the Cartier Tank Cintrèe Dual Time, possessing the ability to show two time zones simultaneously. The light brown leather strap perfectly pairs with the 18k yellow gold case of the watch, and the beautiful design dial features unique faces with the upper part of the dial (first-time zone) having the classic Tank configuration, while the lower part of the dial (second-time zone) has black painted indexes and Roman quarters.

Now, for the last of the Queen's watches, we will be discussing a timepiece known for its practicality and understated appeal, the gold Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars watch. Perfect under a sleeve or above her famous white gloves, the Jules Audemars is the most classic collection of Audemars Piguet with it being most noticeably featured in April 2020 while addressing the UK during the fight against the spread of Covid-19, it is one of the understated, yet elegant, timepieces in the Queen’s collection. As it’s reported, the Queen wore this beautiful watch almost daily.

Unfortunately, we will never see these beautiful timepieces on her majesty’s wrist again but fortunately, she lived a full life and left us her legacy, her pursuit of freedom and her heart for the country. May she rest in peace and forever be in our memory.