Well, from out of Switzerland, actually, and destined for that rarified segment of the market that hasn’t really noticed these recessionary times.

Ether watch; image copyright by Céphée SA

The watch is called ‘Ether’, named for the fifth element in Greek mythology which “fills the void in the universe and gives the sky its shine”.

The ladies watch is being introduced to the US market by ultra-luxurious Swiss watch brand Céphée of Geneva, with a downturn-defying retail price tag of $350,000 (about £210,000).

The specification is impressive: the watch features 282 invisible set baguette diamonds of high clarity (VVS1 to ‘pure’) and D,E, & F colour totalling 17.60 carats in diamond weight.

The colour of the diamonds is also referred to as ‘Top Wesselton’ – a quaint and rather old-fashioned description which refers to the Wesselton mine in Kimberley, South Africa, which typically produced diamonds of the colour range F-G, i.e. not quite as white as ‘River’ diamonds (D-E colour) which were typically mined in rivers and alluvial deposits of Southern Africa.

It’s quite unusual to find traditional terms such as Wesselton in use today, but they do seem to live on in the rarified world of expensive diamond-encrusted watches.

Another indulgence of the Ether watch is its hands: they are fashioned from blue tinted sapphire, also called spinel. This material is extremely delicate: Céphée claim that 9 out of 10 hands are destroyed in the manufacturing process during the drilling of the pinion hole in the hands.

Launching a $350,000 watch such as this at this time does provoke some questions about the market for these ultra-luxury products.

The company’s press release (via PR Newswire) states that a London-based market research firm, Ledbury Research, recently examined the changing demands of the high-net-worth customer. It found out that wealthy consumers will continue to spend, but that their purchasing decisions will be based more on exclusivity as well as quality and dependability. A published article noted that instead of novelty, the wealthy will be seeking out authenticity.

So despite these tough times, it seems that there’s still a market for this sort of thing: luxury is not disappearing.