While major watchmakers have historically focused their creative energies entirely on the wrist, the boundaries separating high watchmaking from elite jewelry and bespoke accessories are increasingly porous. Major manufacturers regularly translate familiar design cues into complementary adornments, yet the latest releases from Audemars Piguet and independent watchmaker Konstantin Chaykin demonstrate two vastly different philosophies in this expanding genre.
Audemars Piguet has introduced an extensive, highly elaborate range of fine jewelry under its Royal Oak Joaillerie collection, leaning heavily into gem-setting and artistic metalwork. Conversely, Konstantin Chaykin has taken a deeply mechanical path with his Master of Days cufflinks, embedding a tiny, functional movement with a day-of-the-week display inside an 18mm titanium frame. While both creations draw directly on the core design languages and manufacturing specialties of their respective makers, they occupy opposite ends of the pricing spectrum and target distinct segments of luxury consumers. Nevertheless, their near-simultaneous arrivals highlight a shared recognition of the gifting market, arriving strategically in the lead-up to the lucrative holiday season.
Initial thoughts
The pivot toward secondary luxury accessories is hardly unprecedented among major horological houses. Some of the most prominent names in series watchmaking have long maintained a quiet or explicit presence in the accessories market. Rolex captured considerable attention late last year when it formally launched a dedicated line of cufflinks alongside a line of desk clocks modeled after its iconic Submariner date displays. Similarly, Patek Philippe boasts a rich, historical tradition of crafting fine jewelry and coordinating accessories. Today, the Geneva-based giant offers cufflinks designed to match its Golden Ellipse, Nautilus, and Cubitus lines, alongside jewelry collections that echo the distinct geometric aesthetics of the Aquanaut and the Twenty-4.
Independent watchmakers, despite operating at a vastly smaller scale, also see immense value in this category. F.P. Journe offers a refined selection of cufflinks crafted in platinum or 18k pink gold to deliberately mirror the tones of its timepieces. Independent titan Biver has followed a similar path, while Franck Muller has pushed the concept further than most, maintaining a comprehensive catalog of necklaces and rings directly inspired by its whimsical Crazy Hours complication.
The commercial rationale behind these ventures is straightforward. At the retail counter, a pair of matching cufflinks or a high-end pendant represents an ideal up-sell opportunity for clients already investing in a five- or six-figure timepiece. Ownership of these accessories naturally reinforces brand loyalty and frequently incentivizes the everyday wear of the matching watch.
From a manufacturing perspective, small accessories provide a practical outlet for excess production capacity, allowing brands to utilize the precise tooling, micro-machining, and finishing techniques already required for watchmaking. Commercially, accessories generate vital secondary revenue streams without straining the delicate resources of after-sales service and maintenance networks, which are notoriously overburdened across the Swiss watch industry.
The timeless Royal Oak
Within this broader industry context, Audemars Piguet’s deeper expansion into high jewelry is a calculated strategic move. Under the leadership of CEO Ilaria Resta, who has stated publicly that the brand aims to increase its female customer base from 20% in 2025 to an estimated 45% by 2030, product diversification is paramount.
While a substantial number of female collectors are deeply passionate about traditional mechanical watchmaking, the extensive new jewelry line offers a powerful vehicle to introduce Audemars Piguet to a broader demographic of luxury buyers who may not yet collect mechanical watches. At the same time, it provides existing female clientele with new avenues to engage with the brand outside of standard watch allocations.
Audemars Piguet has spared no expense in developing the Royal Oak jewelry collection, applying a watchmaker’s obsessive eye for detail even to hidden surfaces that go unseen during normal wear. The diamond settings on the collection’s drop earrings, for instance, are meticulously fashioned into miniature octagonal Royal Oak bezels—a subtle touch likely noticeable only to the wearer.
A similar level of ingenuity defines the collection’s zipper-style necklace, which cleverly pairs a classic Royal Oak integrated bracelet motif on one half with an asymmetrical string of pear-shaped diamonds on the other. The expansive range encompasses a wide variety of cuff bracelets and necklaces that reinterpret iconic brand motifs and decorative treatments, ranging from shimmering frosted gold finishes to austere all-black executions.
The collection itself is divided into distinct thematic pillars. The Royal Oak Risoud Eclipse series, available as a necklace and cuff, utilizes blackened titanium and 18k white gold accented by sugarloaf emeralds and diamonds. The expansive Royal Oak Dream of Joux line features various iterations of tie necklaces, drop earrings, and cuffs incorporating white, pink, or yellow gold, as well as blue titanium. These pieces are lavishly set with an array of precious stones, including diamonds, sapphires, tsavorites, topazes, tourmalines, amethysts, tanzanites, spessartites, and black spinels. Finally, the Royal Oak Frosted Gold series offers chokers and cuffs crafted entirely in 18k pink, white, or yellow gold, showcasing the brand’s signature hammered-gold finish across large sculptural surfaces. All pieces in the collection are produced as part of the permanent catalog rather than limited editions, available exclusively through authorized boutiques and AP Houses with pricing provided strictly upon request.
A ThinKing man’s cufflinks
While luxury jewelry naturally appeals to a wide demographic, traditional accessories like cufflinks have long catered to a specific subset of menswear enthusiasts. Yet, even among those with an affinity for French cuffs and bespoke tailoring, few accessories incorporate actual mechanical complications. Konstantin Chaykin’s Master of Days cufflinks push the boundaries of micro-engineering in this category significantly further.
Measuring 18 mm in diameter and 5.7 mm in height, each cufflink is meticulously machined from lightweight titanium. The housings are decorated with the same rigorous level of finishing applied to Chaykin’s avant-garde wristwatches, featuring contrasting brushed and polished surfaces, crisp laser-engraved text, and an intuitive corrector mechanism discreetly integrated into the pivoting whaleback fastening.
Inside each cufflink beats a proprietary mechanical movement, designated the Calibre A.01-1. Featuring a two-jewel architecture, the movement utilizes an elegant jumper system to drive a day-of-the-week indicator. The mechanism is cleverly engineered so that the physical act of fastening the cufflink through a shirt cuff automatically advances the day display by one step. This functional micro-movement is fully visible beneath a protective sapphire crystal, revealing a sandblasted mainplate and a blued day-indicator pointer. Curiously, despite sharing an intellectual kinship with Chaykin’s record-shattering ThinKing Mystery wristwatch released earlier in the year, the Master of Days cufflinks are substantially thicker than the ultra-thin timepiece they would otherwise naturally accompany.
The Konstantin Chaykin Master of Days cufflinks are produced as a standard production offering rather than a limited edition, available directly from the maker. They are priced at CHF 4,500 excluding local taxes, representing a distinctly mechanical counterpoint to the ornamental opulence dominating the broader luxury accessories market this season.
