Beauregard Lili Candy: A Lollipop Spiral Of Precious Goodness

Credits: Article and images by Elizabeth Doerr @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/06/21/beauregard-lili-candy-a-lollipop-spiral-of-precious-goodness-reprise/

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And, interestingly, most of the clear stones have mother-of-pearl underneath them so that when the light hits, the mother-of-pearl reflects upwards and the color comes out the right way. “The yellow opal I think it’s the most spectacular: you see the play of light because of the mother-of-pearl underneath it,” Beauregard added.

After first cutting the semiprecious gemstones to the approximate shape needed, they are cemented together using a special adhesive for the watch and jewelry industry and then very, very carefully cut as a whole to the exact shape needed to complete the precise spiral.

Beauregard Lili Candy

“It’s very challenging to make,” agreed Beauregard, “and it’s very different from what I’ve been doing in the past, which are all separate components. This one is like a little jigsaw puzzle. In the Dahlia and Lili collections, and now the Lili Bouton, we have many components that are individual, so if one breaks then you just replace it. It’s a lot of work, but it’s still manageable.”

But the Lili Candy’s spiral is one piece made of many. “So if you break it, you have like one week of work that goes into repairing it,” Beauregard continued. “So it was super delicate doing this one.”

Once the hardest part is finally over – getting the spiral perfect – the whole “donut” is tension set onto the dial using a gold ring.

Beauregard Lili Candy: availability

“I think life is about moments,” Beauregard mused as we kept talking about his upwardly mobile career in the watch industry. And as good as things have gotten for him, like for all independent creators working through the pandemic, there is one issue that has become increasingly difficult: availability. The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have caused a run on hard-to-get, handmade watches, and this situation has also begun to touch Beauregard’s production. Almost all of his timepieces are made to order, which means that they are unique pieces reflecting his clients desires for specific gemstones.

But the difficulty in manufacturing the spiral for the Lili Candy made Beauregard realize that he needed to make a small series of them, so there will be ten pieces in the first production run.

Beauregard Lili Candy

And all told, he will probably end up with around 30-40 pieces made this year for the whole collection, which also includes the rectangular Lili, the round Lili Bouton, and the complicated Dahlia tourbillon watch – though he says he is only going to be able to make about six of that amazing and sophisticated timepiece. And at the end 2021, Beauregard’s order books was already almost full for 2022.

It’s a labor of love for Beauregard, and one hopes that his clientele appreciates that. At the moment, his order book seems to confirm that they do.

For more information, please visit beauregard.ch/en/collection/lili-candy.

Quick Facts Beauregard Lili Candy
Case: 33 x 9.5 mm, pink gold, white gold, or platinum set with 116 VVS DEF brilliant-cut diamonds
Dial: hand-carved and hand-set spiral comprising white opal, carnelian, Fanta opal, yellow opal, chrysoprase, topaz, amethyst, and mother-of-pearl
Movement: ETA E01.701 quartz
Functions: hours, minutes
Limitation: 10 pieces in the first production
Price: CHF 26,500 (pink gold), CHF 29,000 (white gold)
Remark: interchangeable satin strap and clasp

* This article was first published 16 June 2022 at Beauregard Lili Candy: A Lollipop Spiral Of Precious Goodness