Jeweler's Eye-popping Watch is Love Letter to Albania

The timepiece, worth roughly $1.4 million, is set to face off against the best watches from across the world at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in November. ADNAN BECI / AFP
The timepiece, worth roughly $1.4 million, is set to face off against the best watches from across the world at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in November. ADNAN BECI / AFP
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Jeweler's Eye-popping Watch is Love Letter to Albania

The timepiece, worth roughly $1.4 million, is set to face off against the best watches from across the world at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in November. ADNAN BECI / AFP
The timepiece, worth roughly $1.4 million, is set to face off against the best watches from across the world at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in November. ADNAN BECI / AFP

Albanian jeweler Pirro Ruco labored day and night for five years to capture the essence of his country in a spectacular luxury watch.
Now the timepiece, worth roughly $1.4 million, is set to face off against the best watches from across the world at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in November, AFP said.
Set under a sapphire dome, the hours are marked by 12 golden folk dancers -- each in different regional dress -- set on Murano glass, the minute and hour hands adorned with eagle talons in homage to Albania's national symbol.
Ruco's rollercoaster rise mirrors that of Albania, from poverty and isolation as the most closed communist regime in Europe, to rollicking capitalism.
Along the way the jeweler overcame jealousy, the secret police and being sent into internal exile to rise to the pinnacle of his profession.
It all began for Pirro -- as he is known in his homeland -- in 1985 when he was asked to make a medal in red and gold bearing the head of Enver Hoxha, the paranoid dictator who ruled the small Balkan nation with an iron fist for more than four decades.
"That saved me," he told AFP from his workshop tucked away in an alley in the capital Tirana.
The medals were awarded to the regime's most loyal supporters and later caught the eye of Hoxha's wife.
The turn of fortune saw thousands more produced and worn by communist cadres across Albania.
"All the congressional delegates had to wear it. I made a name for myself with it," he said. It also saved him from the textile mills where he had been sent because his family had been deemed "rebellious".
'Priceless'
All this, however, was nearly derailed by an anonymous letter sent to authorities accusing Pirro of working with foreign agents.
He was questioned by intelligence agents and his workshop raided.
Down but not out, he was able to bounce back after crafting a ring bearing the image of the late husband of a member of the communist politburo and in July 1990 won a prize for a piece featuring Albania's 15th-century national hero Skanderberg.
But the very next day history intervened. The regime began to crumble and the collapse of Albania's communist rule in 1991 was followed by years of violent tumult as the country transitioned to a free-market economy.
Amid the ups and downs, Pirro stayed busy designing pieces for officials and celebrities.
During a trip to Basel in Switzerland in 2016, something new caught his eye.
"I wanted to make a watch. It was my new dream," he told AFP.
For the next five years, Pirro said he focused on "doing something special, Albanian, and at the same time completely new and never before seen in the watch industry."
The new timepiece which he calls Primordial Passion was designed in collaboration with the Swiss watchmaker Agenhor.
"I never wanted to make jewelry, but art," the jeweler said.
"Sculptures, images of the country, pieces of culture... This watch is the culmination of all that, of this love for Albania," he added.
"It is more than just a watch. It combines the rich heritage of ancient Albanian culture with the notion of chronometry."
Pirro refuses to divulge the methods used to craft the watch, but remains hopeful the painstaking details will be recognized by the judges at the Grand Prix in Geneva.
Several collectors have already contacted him about buying the timepiece, he said, though it would be difficult to part with his creation.
"I set a price because I had to. But for me, it is priceless."



Tennis Attire is Everywhere. Credit the Pandemic, Social Media and Pickleball

Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, greets Emma Navarro, of the United States, at the net after winning their semifinal match of the US Open tennis championships, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, greets Emma Navarro, of the United States, at the net after winning their semifinal match of the US Open tennis championships, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
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Tennis Attire is Everywhere. Credit the Pandemic, Social Media and Pickleball

Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, greets Emma Navarro, of the United States, at the net after winning their semifinal match of the US Open tennis championships, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, greets Emma Navarro, of the United States, at the net after winning their semifinal match of the US Open tennis championships, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

While tennis fans savor the last matches of the US Open, a subset of spectators and TV viewers have watched the year's final Grand Slam tournament as a source of fashion inspiration they can use to serve looks off the court.
It may have escaped people who don't pay attention to clothing trends, but cities from Australia to America are awash in short pleated skirts, tennis dresses, polo collars and other garments that can make everyone look like they possess a country club membership and a respectable backhand, The Associated Press reported.
The styles naturally are on full display in the stands of Flushing Meadows. Students are sporting skorts - the skirt-short mashup often worn by tennis players - and crew socks as they return to college campuses. Young professionals and middle-aged parents are taking the posh and preppy aesthetic to cafes, parks and wherever they run errands.
“I’ve never played pickleball or tennis in my life, and I have like five tennis skirts,” Stacy Sierra, 19, said while walking on the University of Notre Dame campus in Indiana. Sierra said she likes the look of the skirts and preferred their flowy material to denim during the summer and early autumn.
The trend, dubbed “tenniscore,” owes its timing to multiple factors. It's an extension of athleisure, the time-saving, comfort-minded concept that made elevated yoga pants, spandex shorts and other recreational attire acceptable to wear in public, no workout required.
The popularity of pickleball - an easy-to-play mix of tennis, ping pong and badminton - as well as interest in timeless fashions that exude “polished comfort” help explain why clothing and shoe lines for inspired by racket sports are so ubiquitous this year, according to Kristen Classi-Zummo, an analyst with market research firm Circana.
The market research firm's data showed sales of women’s tennis apparel spiked 22% in the US between the beginning of the year and early August, while men’s tennis apparel saw a 19% increase. Athletic brands such as Nike, Fila and Adidas have rolled out fashion-forward collections of tank tops, shorts and visors to capture the momentum.
Fila, for its part, said in July that it was an ideal time for the company to “refresh its brand and product offerings” due to the rising popularity of sports like pickleball and tennis. One of its first cracks at the refreshed brand was a “Bellissimo” campaign, which the company described as a reimagination of the traditional country club as a "mix of sport and play."
Adidas created a different collection in honor of each of the four Grand Slam tournaments; shoppers can buy the cobalt blue and black dress Jessica Pegula wore during her quarter-final victory match over No. 1 Iga Swiatek on Wednesday for $130. Nike recruited fashion designer Yoon Ahn to create outfits for Naomi Osaka to wear while competing at the US Open and a retail tennis collection in colors meant “to evoke a rebellious, anarchistic teen aesthetic.”
Last week, Vogue magazine and the racket sports brand HEAD unveiled a tennis collection that the fashion magazine said took two years to create. Women's apparel brands like Free People and Abercrombie & Fitch also have gotten into the game along with luxury labels like Gucci, which has a partnership with No. 1-ranked men's singles player Jannik Sinner.
Circana first started seeing tennis and pickleball apparel – particularly athletic dresses - pop up in its data when consumers started venturing out more after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Classi-Zummo said. People wanted to retain the ease of the loungewear they lived in during lockdowns but to look more polished and put together, she said.
Some fashion watchers categorize the trend as an offshoot of social media-fueled niche fads such as “ quiet luxury,” - which emphasizes high-quality materials and clean styles with no logos - and a close cousin known as an “old money aesthetic.” That's a term for styles viewed as displaying wealth - oftentimes generational - in a subdued way.
Others have credited “Challengers,” the movie starring Zendaya about a love triangle set in the world of competitive tennis, with reigniting interest in court clothes. (A generation ago, it was Gwyneth Paltrow's Izod dress in “The Royal Tenenbaums.”) Skorts have made a comeback with the help of celebrities like Taylor Swift, who was seen earlier this year wearing pleated beige and ruffled lavender ones, the latter while on a pickleball court.
Brands and retailers have taken notice as pickleball has soared from nearly nothing to 13.6 million US players in just a few years. (Padel, another tennis spinoff with roots in Mexico, also has gained traction, particularly in Europe.) Brands like Recess Pickleball and Tangerine Paddle offer clothing or accessories such as tote bags, and customizable paddles.
“We’re very lucky to have capitalized on a growing market, but I’m even shocked with sort of how fast it’s grown,” Tangerine Paddle co-founder Carly Llewellyn, whose company sells striped, flowery and other styles of custom-made paddles.

Health club operator Life Time and Lululemon signed an agreement allowing the active wear company to sell its apparel directly to club members and to collaborate on key pickleball events.
In April, Target rolled out a limited-time pickleball collection with the tennis brand Prince that included pleated skirts and other items that “delivered incredible sales momentum in all things pickleball,” Christina Hennington, the discount retailer's chief strategy and growth officer, said during a May earnings call.
Social media content creators, some of whom get paid to market products for brands or earn commissions from retailers like Amazon, have played a part in making tenniscore mainstream.