A TIFFANY & CO LIMITED EDITION MADE BY BAUME & MERCIER 18K WHITE GOLD QUARTZ BRACELET WATCH No. 31 of 50.

Date: Circa 1980s
Movement: Signed Baume & Mercier, quartz, 7-Jewels, Cal.BM 76000
Dial: Silvered, silvered hands
Case: Signed, 18k white gold, snap-on back signed inside "Baume & Mercier" and outside "0031" "Tiffany & Co"
Bracelet: Milanese style, 18k white gold signed BMG on the clasp
Size: 26mm by 28.6mm
Accompaniment: Black Tiffany & Co box
Inscription:

اللَّهُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ لاَ تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلاَ نَوْمٌ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِهِ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَلاَ يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلاَّ بِمَا شَاءَ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاواتِ وَالأَرْضَ وَلاَ يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ

Translation: Allah! There is no God but He - the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor Sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who can intercede with Him except by His permission? Only He knows what is [presently] before his people and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He allows. His throne does extend over the heavens and earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving it, For He is the Highest, the Greatest.

This limited-edition watch is highlighted by its dial containing the Ayat al-Kursi (Qu'ran, Sura al-Baqara, 2:255) in Arabic New Script Kufic calligraphy. The Ayat al-Kursi (also known in the West as the Throne Verse) is regarded as the most powerful verse (ayah) in the Qu'ran as it describes Allah’s transcendental qualities defining him as an unparalleled and incomparable entity. This ayah is perhaps the most daily recited and worn verse (for talismanic purposes) as it is believed to invoke protection on the person who recites and/or wears it.

The choice of Arabic calligraphic script is also of significance here, as the person that commissioned this limited-edition wristwatch selected a hybrid script, known as New Script Kufic, presenting stronger angular shapes and almost arrow-shaped slants at the top of the letters. This script used to be considered a prerogative of the Eastern regions of the Islamic world like Iraq and Iran, but this theory presented its flaws. Indeed, the discovery of some New Script examples from the Mediterranean and Near Eastern regions has proved this calligraphic style was in use in the area as early as 982 - 983 AD.

Dimensions: ur26mm by 28.6mm.

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