It has been said of Stefan Hafner that he loves precious stones in the same way that a gourmet savours the pleasures of the table.

With almost hedonistic abandon and a hungry passion for beauty, this jeweller-watchmaker relishes the challenges of his 'table' in very personal collections that evoke a myriad of eclectic influences and pay tribute to the world's most stylish women.

Perhaps a Grecian armlet of the type Helen of Troy might have worn - the beaten precious metals neatly encircling a delicate wrist, but belying its purely aesthetic purpose is a small watch face, embedded in the clasp. It, like the precious metal and diamond detail surrounding it, is priceless and the only allusion to the functional is the fact that it keeps time, saving the piece entirely from indulgence.

Row upon row of cultured pearls creep elegantly up the wrist, held together by a frieze of glittering diamonds and coloured gems that surround a perfect pear-shaped watch face. Audacious, extravagant, opulent and always romatic. These descriptions and the phrase enfant terrible potentiate both the product and the designer's creative raison d'etre.

Swiss born but an Italophile who makes his home and work base in the nation he calls the 'country of creation', Hafner's passion for creative prowess exceeds far and away the stringent protocols bestowed on traditional Swiss watch design. His work is imaginative, rich and opulent, borne of a passion to give women who love haute couture and obvious personal styles demands innovative and unique timepieces.