What does Audemars Piguet’s new high jewellery creation have in common with the tennis champion?
In the past two years, Audemars Piguet has made it a point to create stunning diamond-encrusted high jewellery watches that show off its prowess as a design house. It also does so, presumably, to court the female customers whose husbands are fervent fans of its more technical offerings—diamonds are, after all, allegedly a girl’s best friend.
In line with the brand’s daring DNA, the designs have gotten increasingly audacious with every passing year. The Diamond Punk and Diamond Fury both garnered gasps upon their debut in 2015 and 2016, respectively, and we are sure this year’s third and final offering will do the same—the spiky, prickly cuff watch that the brand calls the Diamond Outrage most definitely lives up to its name.
At first glance, the Diamond Outrage’s glittering spires inspire shock—then awe. The stalactites on the watch appear to explode out in sharp points from the wearer’s wrist, each glistening spike a mesmerising ode to bejewelled architecture. The white gold lattice frame is virtually buried under a mountain of brilliant snow-set diamonds, save for the three baguette-set spears whose clear glitter contrasts beautifully against their neighbours. The invisibility of the setting alone is a testament to the skill of the diamond setter, who had to set some 65.91 carats worth of diamonds on this one-ofa-kind treasure (well, two-of-a-kind, perhaps, since there is another version in existence that is encrusted with blue sapphires).
“Who would dare wear this watch?” one may ask. Well, the answer has to be the one woman who inspires a similar sense of shock and awe—tennis champion Serena Williams. Williams has regularly made the news for her achievements on the court throughout her 22year career, topping the tennis ranking charts a total of eight times, and winning a record 39 Grand Slam titles. But nobody could have been prepared for her latest headline-making act—winning the Australian Open while eight weeks pregnant. Now that is one powerful woman.
We speak to Williams about her drive, her success and her relationship with Audemars Piguet.
You have achieved so much and broken so many barriers in the world of sports. What drives you and keeps you going? And do you have anything to say to your detractors?
Serena Williams (SW) I’ve always wanted to be an athlete. What drives me daily is my love for what I do. I don’t feel that I need to be inspired by anything else: I wake up and I want to be an athlete, the greatest athlete. That’s more than enough. But if we talk about life in general, there are people whom I look up to and who inspire me in different ways: Nelson Mandela for instance. He achieved so much; he was so positive and forgiving. I feel like I can learn from that and I’m inspired by people who I can learn from. In this context, forgiving is a sign of strength, he was a very strong person to forgive so much. I feel that if he can do it at such a level, I can do it at my own level. If I manage that then I can love more, be more generous, which is what I want to do in the end.