Swiss watchmaker Christophe Claret has unveiled two limited edition timepieces - Mecca and Layla - dedicated to the Middle East.

In the Mecca watch, a micro-engraving of the Kaaba is highlighted by a mirascope - which takes small objects and uses an optical illusion to create a 3D holographic projection - offering a 360-degree view of the building at the centre of the Grand Mosque in the Holy City of Makkah.

The Mecca timepiece features a wealth of elements and references to the Muslim faith. The dial is decorated with an oriental-inspired engraved motif lacquered in gray and green. The Arabic hour numerals are replaced at 5 o’clock by a natural diamond and at 7 o’clock by a black spinel. The latter symbolises the black stone located at the South-East angle of the Kaaba through which Muslims start the seven rounds of the Tawaf in a counterclockwise direction. The diamond represents this same stone, as described in the Koran before it became black due to repeated touching by pilgrims.

At the back of the timepiece, the ball-bearing cover is adorned with a transfer depicting the Kaaba, with the movement’s self-winding oscillating weight rotating around it. Crafted in sapphire so as to reveal the meticulous movement finishing, the oscillating weight bears a transferred world map featuring white dots symbolising Muslims turning around the Kaaba.

Three Arabic expressions set the final touch. At 12 o’clock, Masjid al-Haram means ‘The sacred mosque’. At 4 o’clock, the word ‘Tawaf’ evokes the seven turns that the pilgrims must perform around the Kaaba. Finally, at 8 o’clock, Makkah al-Mukarramah means ‘The Holy City of Mecca’.

The watch is limited to 63 pieces.

Meanwhile, the Layla watch for women features a whimsical mechanism that helps to ‘predict’ an oft-asked question by women: “Does he love me?” 

A press of the pusher at 2 o’clock brings the watch to life. With each press, a petal or a pair of petals subtly disappears, perfectly depicting the delicate undressing of the flower. The answer appears at random in calligraphic letters in Arabic on the dial at 8 o’clock: a little –a lot – passionately – madly –not at all?

At each press of the pusher, a crystalline chime resonates, signalling the pace of the game. The striking mechanism is one of Claret’s signature complications and here its hammer is adorned with a prong-set ruby. A caseband window at 8 o’clock allows clear views of it striking the gong. Pressing the reset pusher at 4 o’clock instantly makes all petals reappear around the pistil and turns the ‘sentiment’ display at 8 o’clock to an ellipsis shown by three little dots (…).

A pink mother-of-pearl dial reveals engraved verses penned by Arab poet Qays Al Mulawwah. The poem from which these excerpts are taken tells the story of Qays, a young poet and son of an illustrious family of Bedouins, who falls in love with his cousin Layla. In Bedouin culture, fathers generally arrange marriages and the young woman’s family refuses this match. Layla weds another suitor, leaves the region and Qays’s lifeless body is discovered several days later, protecting an ultimate poem dedicated to his love.

On the dial, three emeralds at 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock poetically punctuate the scene. A pair of gold-tipped, steel hands glides over the 12 white, satin-lacquered titanium petals that tightly embrace the central emerald pistil, its multi-level corolla intensifying the three-dimensionality of the dial’s landscape.

The feminine gold case has a curved profile to suit even the slimmest wrist. Furthering softening the silhouette of this model, the crown is hidden from view, placed on the back next to the upper lugs.  These subtle gem-set lugs feature different designs that play with the esthetics of the gems. The centre of the space between the lugs is adorned with an emerald, while baguette-cut diamonds also create a scintillating play of light around the bezel.

The caseback reveals the self-winding rotor, a flower-shaped carousel of colours symbolising sentiments of love, with a central cabochon concealing the rotor’s ball bearings. Each one of the eight precious stones denote a feeling – hope, passion, tenderness – also translated into Arabic. Which one will line up with the red-lacquered heart when the flower halts its waltz? 

The Layla watch blossoms in a 20-piece limited edition.