The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2020 - Issue 27

bite watches nessman Vartkess Knadijan took over as the CEO. The son of a watchmaker, Knadijan joined the company in London as a trainee and was sent to Belgium to learn the trade - to polish, sort, value, and price diamonds. “That took me all of five years to learn. I went on to stay in Belgium for 30 years - and I am still learning!” A pioneer in Backes & Strauss’ continuing success as a leader in the industry, Knadi- jan was instrumental in the decision to enter the luxury diamond watch market in 2006. “We wanted to com- bine mastery in diamond-cutting with mastery in watchmaking; two crafts requiring a high amount of skill, precision, and atten- tion-to-detail,” the CEO said. “While searching for a part- ner watchmaker, we chose to work with the Franck Muller Group because of its revo- lutionary creative philoso- phy of combining tradition with modernity, an attribute Backes & Strauss shares.” This partnership has created some exquisite and remark- able diamond timepieces such as the Piccadilly Lucky Mystery with a 40 mm case, 18-karat white gold and 106 white diamonds set into the crown, also known as The Jewel in the Crown. The dial consists of 653 white dia- monds and 244 red rubies set displaying hours, min- utes, and seconds. The strap is made from alligator leath- er with the buckle encrusted in 30 diamonds, while the movement is automatic with a Platinum Rotor. Within this watch, you’ll see a spe- cial pavé setting that allows the dis- cerning eye to perceive two different images in the dial depending on the angle of observance. This Chinese New Year, the dial on this one-of-a- kind timepiece shows the signature white Ideal Cut diamonds from one angle and reveals the Chinese character 福 meaning ‘Fu’ illustrated with red rubies from the other angle. In Chinese culture, both the character and the red colour symbolises ‘good fortune’ or ‘blessing’. Staying with the mystery theme, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ is the motto for the exclusive Pic- cadilly Mystery Red Heart which was unveiled for Val- entine’s Day. Created in a series of white gold timepieces, the dials are set with 583 white Ideal Cut diamonds and 195 red rubies. It also has a two angle reflection - from one