Bertolucci Stria Luce Watch With Fossil Shaped Jewels

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed)
Jan 28th 2009 at 12:01PM

Last year's Bertolucci Stria watch amazed me with its ability to recreate the essence of barnacles, in a woman's luxury watch. It was about as nice as a barnacle could ever hope to be. Admittedly, watchmaker Bertolucci took influence from Mediterranean sea shells as inspiration for the precious metal and jewel formed timepieces.

This year's follow up to the Stria is the limited edition of five pieces Bertolucci Stria Luce. Using the same case shape and design, the theme behind the watch has been adjusted. This is the first time that I have seen fossil-shaped jewels on any watch. Actually, it is the first time I have seen a trilobite formed out of a peridot, or any gem for that matter. To form the look of ancient sea creatures, the gems are carved on the bottom side to resemble various carapaces and creature shells. Stones used include peridots, topazes, citrines, and amethysts (total of 14.45 carats). In between the colorful stones, 331 diamonds are set, which are used on the bezel as well (total of 1.47 carats). The 29.7mm wide case, hands, and strap buckle are crafted from 18k rose gold, while an ETA quartz movement powers the watch.

The dial is guilloche engraved mother of pearl, which apparently is tricky to do without damaging a mother of pearl based dial plate. The result is a fine sunburst pattern on the dial. One thing you can do with the watch is turn the cover on top of the dial to revolve where the porthole to the face is. This way you can view the time better as well as admire various decorations located on the face. Another unique beauty from Bertolucci.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: bertolucci, fossil jewelry, FossilJewelry, stria, stria luce, StriaLuce, timepiece