Couture For the Wrist: 15 Years of the Dior Grand Bal Watch

The Grand Bal watch, Dior’s homage to haute horlogerie and haute couture, is currently celebrating its 15th anniversary. It therefore seems only fitting to dive into the rich history of the timepiece, from the lavish balls that shaped its design to the ingenious inverted movement at its heart and the precious gemstones and artistry that have kept it evolving ever since.

It takes a special kind of watch to take a hidden mechanism and transform it into something magical, but that’s just what the Dior Grand Bal achieved upon its launch in 2011. By reworking the architecture of the movement, Dior brought the oscillating weight (the weighted component that moves with the wrist to wind the watch) to the front of the dial, where it spins beneath the hands and is decorated with the same sense of fantasy and craftsmanship found in the maison’s haute couture creations.