Venerable jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. has rebooted its timepiece business with the launch of a new watch called the CT60. Inspired by a Tiffany style from the 1940s that was a birthday gift to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (and which he apparently wore while attending the Yalta Conference), it’s a clean, round, Swiss-made watch that manages to feel both a tiny bit retro and timeless all at once.
The CT in the style name comes from the initials of founder Charles Tiffany, and the 60 is a nod to the number of seconds in a minute (the marketing campaign links the clock Charles Tiffany erected outside his first store in 1853 to the phrase “a New York minute.”)
Although jeweler Tiffany & Co. has been in the time-keeping business since 1847, it partnered with Swatch Group in 2007 to have the Swiss watchmaking conglomerate make its timepieces. That partnership ended in 2011, and the watch business was brought back in-house. The CT60 collection, which hit retail in April, marks the brand’s first big timepiece launch since then. The movements, though, are still Swiss-made, since that’s the gold standard for luxury timepieces.
The CT60 collection for men and women features three styles: the Three-Hand, which in addition to hours, minutes and seconds includes a small date window above the 6:00 position; the Calendar, which indicates date on the outermost ring of the dial and the month in a subdial above the 6:00 position; and the Chronograph, with two subdials that perform stopwatch functions. The collection includes 34-millimeter, 40-millimeter and 42-millimeter watch cases in stainless steel or 18k rose gold. Prices range from $4,250 to $15,500 at Tiffany boutiques and at www.tiffany.com.
