In 1797, pioneering master watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet sought to restart his watchmaking activities after the Revolutionary interregnum using a new business model. The idea was that he would create more affordable watches, ones that would help bring in a steady flow of capital and forward the grander vision of his horological pursuits. The model also required patrons to commission their timepieces and agree to pay for a portion of the costs upfront — a souscription, or subscription, model if you will. While the pocket watches he produced through this approach were simple, they were made with zero chronometric compromises.
Simplicity in approach and construction ensured easy availability of parts and components from suppliers, thus keeping costs down. There was also an unexpected plus point to this approach. The faces of these timepieces were relatively unassuming; elegantly reserved, one might say. Their movements, though, presented an avant-garde brutalist aesthetic that was hard not to appreciate. Think steampunk, long before the term was even coined — even the brutalism would not take shape until the mid-20th century. All of this is important to recount, to make this one important point: Abraham-Louis Breguet was an enlightened man, far ahead of his time.
Fast-forward to 2005, when the contemporary brand that is Breguet, took inspiration from Abraham-Louis’ souscription watch to launch the Tradition collection. The collection presents classical watchmaking, executed with the aesthetics of the souscription watch movement. And just to advance the concept, these watches are designed to feature their movements from the dial side. The grained anthracite bridges and plates form an arresting contrast for a functionally classical timepiece that looks anything but classical.
Late in 2020, the Tradition Quantième Rétrograde 7597 was added to the collection. This was the first instance of a date complication within the collection and contemporary Breguet made sure that it would be worthy to stand next to other complications within the collection, by adding a sophisticated retrograde date indication to the lower half of the watch face. Setting the stage, and of course taking another page from the souscription watch, the 7597 starts off with a central mainspring barrel. An off-centred engine-turned dial is thereafter used for the main time indication at the 12 o’clock position. The centre of the watch is flanked by two large, stepped bridges for the first train wheel (9 o’clock) and balance wheel (3 o’clock). Lastly, of course, there is the large centrally mounted date hand, which sweeps across a date scale set along the lower edge of the dial. The blued-steel date hand has been intriguingly shaped such that is able to dramatically sweep over the movement that sits beneath.
At launch, the wristwatch was available in a 40mm case in pink or white gold with a completely monochromatic watch face. In 2022, the brand has added a third option, yet again in a 40mm white gold case, this time with a blue primary dial and arched date scale. This particular shade of blue does seem to amplify the three dimensionality of the symmetrical metropolis sprawling below.
One of the great horological mysteries of recent years has been answered: Patek Philippe introduced the Nautilus Ref. 5811/1G-001, effectively replacing Ref. 5711. Looking at the watch as it appears here, you could be forgiven for doing a double-take and wondering if we used the old picture. Well, we did not, and Ref. 5811 is quite a different beast to the Ref. 5711, although pretty much everyone expected the successor to look quite similar. One does not simply reinvent the wheel, after all, and there is plenty to discuss here. After some reflection — we saw this watch in person last week, along with most of the specialised watch press — Ref. 5811 is worthy of significant coverage. You, dear reader, deserve the chance to understand what is happening here and make up your own mind about it. To that end, we will focus on the facts and leave our opinions out of it — for the most part.
Patek Philippe, to its credit, wants to take the story of the Nautilus back to first principles. This means that the 2022 reincarnation of Ref. 3700 (1976) takes its cues from the original. Most significantly, that means Ref. 5811 features a two-part case, rather than the three-part case of Ref. 5711. Given that there is still an exhibition caseback, some purists may wag their fingers and shake their heads, but we like seeing the automatic calibre 26-330 S C back in action here (for the record it was also the engine of Ref. 5711). Patek Philippe reminds us that this case-construction means the movement must be removed from the case dial-side, for servicing, and this means that the crown must also be removed likewise. In terms of user-interaction, you will not notice anything.
Perhaps just as significant, and something you will definitely feel, the choice of metal here is a bit of a rebellion against tradition — so white gold is in, just as it was with Ref. 3711 (2004), and steel is out. The watch is quite hefty, as you can imagine, and it is 1mm wider than Ref. 5711, at 41mm. The height remains 8.2mm and water-resistance is 120m. There are some minor changes in terms of the design but these are very subtle indeed, and will require you to view the old reference side-by-side with the new one.
The bracelet here requires a bit of an explainer, especially with regards to the fold-over clasp, which is new and offers fine adjustment. This is definitely an improvement, which all watches with integrated bracelets should have; this means Ref. 5811 can be extended by 2-4mm, which is something no previous Nautilus model could do. There is more to say about the technical details on this clasp, but for now, we must note for the record that the bracelet is relatively unchanged from previous versions, which means you still get pins rather than screws.
On the dial, the date window is enhanced by the same frame (white gold) that was introduced with Ref. 5711/1A-014 (the green dial model that was only in production for a year), although we think the font is different. The gradient sunburst blue dial of Ref. 5811 is a little different to the previous blue, with this one being a little deeper and darker.
We will end with a further note about the precious metal narrative. Bear in mind here that white gold has never been part of the Ref. 5711 story since it began in 2006 (at least not with a bracelet). Here, we will insert a bit of our own rhetoric — as far as the Nautilus goes, this is now all about precious metals.
By Patek Philippe’s own metrics, just 30 per cent of the Genevan manufacture’s output is in steel, and it does not intend on changing that. So if Patek Philippe wants to produce more Nautilus watches, it could do so only in precious metals. If, like us, you were wondering about a titanium Nautilus, it may yet happen, and steel may yet return — such models will be rare though, and probably will not be priced as they once were (the steel Nautilus, at least — titanium Patek Philippe watches are such rarities that the manufacture can price these however it sees fit).
On that note, the new Ref. 5811 is S$92,000, making this model quite a bit more pricey than the more complicated Ref. 5712/1A, which remains in the collection. We will certainly have more to say about the Nautilus as there are many references that we have not gotten to yet. For our next Patek Philippe reference though, we will be looking at that eye-catching left-hander…
When Officine Panerai announced last year that it would be working with gaming titan Razer, we could not have imagined this 40mm Panerai Luminor Quaranta Razer PAM01353. In hindsight, conservation and sustainability links both Panerai and Razer, with both companies having a strong commitment to conserving nature, for example. Both brands are working with Conservation International to support research on marine species; possibly the most prominent bit of work you might know about here has to do with protecting manta rays.
We think the Luminor Quaranta Razer PAM01353 is amongst the most exciting yet under the radar double-signed contemporary watches. No doubt only time will tell where this Panerai-Razer partnership will go, and that will shape how collectors view this watch. Limited as it is to 500 pieces, the exclusivity factor of PAM01353 is certainly in play; it is available only at Panerai boutiques and on the Panerai website. What is attractive to us is that the hype is absent, with hardly any serious watch content platforms picking up this story, even at this relatively late date. Perhaps, like us, these platforms were expecting something wilder, like a smartwatch or even a dive computer.
That said, the Luminor Quaranta Razer is a visually arresting time-only watch with date that pushes the limits in terms of what watchmaking can do with recycled materials. So yes, the case here is in eSteel, which is the recycled steel that Panerai introduced a couple of years ago (you can hear what Panerai executives say about the firm’s sustainability initiatives here). The watch case is DLC-treated, making it pleasantly dark while adding a dash of tool-like charm. The green of the SuperLuminova is the darker Razer version, which is a nice touch. The same colour tone appears on the stitching of the recycled PET strap, but the Razer THS logo on the traditional sandwich-style dial is virtually invisible.
Collectors should take note that the Razer logo also appears on the closed caseback, while the Razer name appears in Razer’s signature font on the crown-protection bridge. PAM01353 is powered by the automatic calibre P.900 with three days of power reserve from a single barrel, which will be appreciated by the Panerai faithful. Intriguingly, the watch is water-resistant to 100 metres and so it might be relatively slim (height specifications are not available). There are two straps, with the alternative here being rubber. The buckle also has a quick release system, which is notable.
We last talked about your long history in Swatch Group, and you mentioned that you found the industry was the right one for you. What keeps you coming back for more?
Of course, I am a real watch enthusiast and that is probably one of the strongest factors. Moreover, Tissot is a very strong brand in the watch industry and has been ever since its foundation in 1853 so it’s an honour for me to be at the head of it, to be part of its history, so that definitely helps too!
Tissot has been a major force in watchmaking for more than 150 years. How do you keep the brand fresh yet still true to its roots? And to make the future even better, as you told us last time?
Tissot stands by its motto “Innovators by Tradition”, which is rooted in the brand throughout its history. This is still the case today, as we stay true to these roots, which leads us to offer watches, features and communication that are in touch with our times and that appeal to new audiences, while remaining faithful to our brand identity.
A good example of this is the latest PRX Collection and its campaigns. Like the product, the campaigns take inspiration from the past yet have a modern appeal with an edgy and flamboyant twist; we are using a full 360° activation to roll them out.
On a more general scale, we also continue our innovation strategy and reinforcing digitalisation with major projects on e-commerce, CRM, digital activation of warranties, connected watches development, just to name a few key projects. Our digital departments are still expanding to meet demand and adapt, as best and as quickly as possible, to the needs of the market.
With regards to the popularity of the PRX again, and some other models from a variety of brands, it seems watchmaking is not able to keep pace with demand. Is this related to disruptions over the last two years or is demand really outpacing supply? What can be done about this to avoid frustrating customers and alienating younger buyers who are only now discovering the value of timepieces?
When we launched the PRX Collection, we knew it was going to be a success. For me it was an obvious choice. That said, we underestimated just how much demand it would generate, as our forecasts were massively exceeded. We are selling 20 times more units than we originally planned, which was a very positive surprise. Forecasting is not always an easy exercise but the fact that there is demand and sometimes even the wait, adds value to the pieces and renders them even more appealing to the consumer.
We realise that “value” is a loaded word when discussing watches these days, so let us clarify that we mean the intrinsic and perceived value, not the potential for appreciation or captial protection! What is your perspective on the speculative wave that has descended on watchmaking?
We are one of the very few brands that can offer such quality at that price thanks to the volume we produce. We pay a lot of attention to the details of the product to add perceived value. It is not about adding gold or precious stones but about working on the details of the watch and pushing the boundaries with suppliers so that every element, such as the indices, brushed dials etc. can turn out the way you wanted them to and increase the perceived value of the end product.
Returning to the PRX in general, this collection continues to be one of the most exciting offerings in watchmaking overall. What’s next — another complication like an annual calendar, a GMT, or maybe something entirely different, such as the half-gold model?
The PRX is definitely here to stay. Following the success of the first quartz version, we expanded the collection with automatic models, featuring a Powermatic 80 movement and a chronograph version with a Valjoux movement for our connoisseurs looking for a quality timepiece (reflective of the brand’s history). We have now also just launched the 35mm model that takes the watch one step closer to the original model with the same case size. We have been listening to our consumers and have been responding to their requests. I wouldn’t want to give it all away but what I can say is that we do indeed have some other surprises in the pipeline to come for the PRX Collection so keep an eye out!
Offering exceptional products at accessible prices is part of the Tissot’s identity. Volume and economies of scale are what allow us to do so, and to create and offer products such as the PRX Chronograph or a Telemeter 1938 with a Valjoux movement, for example, for less than CHF2,000.
It is also a way to attract and reach a younger audience, who do not have unlimited budgets but who want to be able to afford a fine Swiss watch. The PRX Collection is, as you say, a perfect example of this.
To build on the above question, the PRX collection seems to have tapped onto what people really want in a watch, and watchmaking brands have always reserved the most fun and exciting creations for the highest prices. What’s Tissot’s position?
We will not change our price positioning. We will always strive to create watches for everyone, which is why our core price ranges between CHF300 and CHF1,000. We want to be able to offer watches that can suit any need with various complications and features, but always paying attention to the fine detail to increase the perceived value. Tissot is the door to the luxury-entry price point.
I think that’s what makes for success; it is the attention to detail. For the PRX, we really worked on every element of the watch in order to achieve the results we did with an extremely qualitative watch that could speak to everyone, whether with a high or more moderate income. The attention to detail is what makes the difference. We also did everything to make it not only look good but feel good on the wrist. This was essential for us.
While we have been reporting on the strong health of the watch business, this seems to be true only in the segment above CHF3,000 (export price as defined by the FH). You have noted that Tissot is defying this. How has the brand accomplished this?
The ability of a company to adapt is the key to success. Even if these last years have not been record years, the fundamentals for the brand are strong and now we can only be better following the pandemic. Despite the hard times, we experienced an increase in our sales and have gained market share. In the end, this period of uncertainty forced us to become even more flexible to continue to satisfy our customers as best as possible, as we always have done.
We will finish with a follow-up on the museum, which we are very excited about! Is it completed yet, and when will we receive more news about it to share with our readers?
We are making progress, but good things take time. As I told you in our last interview, we have a huge amount of archives. First and foremost, we need to sort them out by categorising them all properly. We will then be in a position to choose and set up a museum but it all requires a lot of work and resources. We will keep you posted however, on the progress.
A chronograph is a watch that tracks and records elapsed time, and it can do so mechanically or digitally, or via some sort of hybrid of the two. A relatively young complication, it depends heavily on mechanisms that are optimised for precision so it could not really get off the starting block before clocks and watches were able to measure time down to the nearest second. On the other hand, the best chronographs also exhibit inimitable character. A great chronograph is at the heart of many brands, and the complication is very desirable.
Tissot has been making great watches since 1853 so we did not have to do a double take when the PRX debuted in 2020. We cannot say that we saw it coming, and we were as surprised as anyone by the unparalleled demand for both the quartz and Powermatic 80 versions. The quartz model was the most unexpected homerun, with Tissot getting the form factor just right. Later, we were gratified to learn that the watch emerged from the conviction of the watchmakers and management at Tissot, not from market research. This is because the first thing that strikes you when you see the PRX, and then feel it on your wrist, is that it is simply beautiful. Why should this watch, the automatic version in particular, feel so like an obvious winner? We cannot tell you that, and we doubt even Tissot CEO Sylvain Dolla can.
On that note, we must hit pause on the narrative here for a few points about the structure of this extensive article. For more details on the cover watch itself, including key differences between the two versions, please see our Cover Watch story on LUXUO here. As usual, this story presents the bigger picture, including the latest chapter in the PRX story. Read on for the tale of the development and reception of the PRX Chronograph, possible new additions to the collection, and the completely new 35mm models.
Building a Collection
Image: Tissot
The gist of this story — our proposition in a way — is that the PRX is a great way to begin building depth in your collection. We have no doubt that the PRX, starting with the quartz model in 2020, introduced large numbers of people to the hobby of collecting watches. There is a critical moment, after you pull the trigger on any one watch from a particular brand, that you will be tempted to go deep into that family of watches. When the model in question is effectively new, you have the chance to follow alongside the brand as it reveals more chapters in the story of that model as it grows into a full collection in the core range. It is history in the making and you only have one shot to get in on the ground floor, so to speak. With that out of the way, our story proceeds apace, with the chronograph leading the way.
What is really exciting about the PRX chronograph is that it is tracking the zeitgeist in watch collecting, with one set of burgeoning collectors having purchased a time-only watch in steel to start themselves off. Now is the time to start thinking about additional functions, or adding some complexity into your life, in other words. It should go without saying that the chronograph is an enormously popular complication in traditional watchmaking (according to the FH), thus such a model from Tissot is only to be expected. Given the price segment that Tissot and the PRX specifically dominates, there was always a question of how exactly Tissot would manage this. This is especially true considering the Powermatic 80 movement that makes the automatic tick, literally.
This is a top-end base movement so a chronograph module would have been nigh impossible, without significantly changing the price proposition. Tissot is quite firm in wanting to continue to offer unbeatable value for money in its segment, which is actually how Swatch Group brands all work. In the case of our watch of the moment, we decided to take Tissot at face value and begin our story with that number: S$2,550.
While not an astonishing leap in pricing, the chronograph is nevertheless almost three times the price of the automatic. This is an odd quirk of the Swiss watch trade because chronographs are frequently priced at between two to three times the price of the standard model in the same collection. Tissot has paid a lot of attention to what the price of the PRX Chronograph says about the watch so you can expect a lot of added value here, which we will certainly get to.
The integrated automatic chronograph movement here is visible via the exhibition caseback, which is an important touch at this level because you do not always get this. It is certainly expected as one climbs up the horological ladder, with one notable and obvious exception, but movements such as the ETA A05.H31 frequently stay hidden behind closed casebacks. Here you can see how this calibre, based on the Valjoux calibre 7753, works, and even admire the perlage and satinated finishing touches. These are machine executed, to be clear, but just seeing these traditional decorations there is heartening. Again, at this sort of price, such aesthetic touches are often absent, with maintaining reasonable prices cited as the reason. Well, Tissot is not having any of it and we are very pleased about that.
There are a few important points to note about this movement, the first of which is the escapement. It sports neither the silicon or Nivachron balance springs, but rather the good old Nivarox spring. Unlike traditional 7750 variants, this movement’s beating heart stays at a steady 4Hz but manages a 60-hour power reserve. Given what we know about the parts here, we surmise that Swatch Group has made some efficiency improvements in the barrel to enable such an impressive power reserve — plenty of chronographs do not go north of 50 hours of running power, and the base 7753 runs for 48 hours, typically. This is yet another way that Tissot is staying ahead of the competition, because plenty of brands use calibre 7753, but only Swatch Group brands use ETA A05.H31. It is worth noting as well that most watches that use calibre 7753, or related variants, are typically priced above S$3,000
In terms of user interaction, most of the details about the chronograph are in the cover watch section, but we will say a word here about the date. The position of the date (the perception of which is highly subjective) between 4 and 5 o’clock aside, it is a bit fussy to use since it can only be directly adjusted via the recessed pusher at 10 o’clock. Tissot provides a tool for this, but you can really use any toothpick or anything softer than steel with a pointy end that is not too long to adjust the date. This is precisely what we did when we shot the watch for this story because we did not have the brand-specified tool on hand. In a pinch, if you are on the go, you could also just advance the time with the crown to get to the right date. As you can guess, the date can only be adjusted forwards with the pusher.
Before we transition to the PRX 35, we will say something for the collection as a whole, particularly when it comes to water-resistance. The chronograph, automatic, quartz and 35mm models are all rated water-resistant to 100 metres, which we think is the final value-add in the collection as it reflects excellent robustness. It also completes the X portion of the PRX, which refers to water-resistance. For completeness, P refers to precision and R is for reliability.
As a watch collector, you may know the name Louis Moinet. He is the watchmaker who invented the chronograph, and the brand that bears his name is an exhibitor at Watches and Wonders Geneva. On the other hand, Moinet is no Abraham-Louis Breguet nor Adrienne Philippe, and no grand workshop called Louis Moinet ever graced Paris or Geneva. A little more than 10 years ago, the talents of this French watchmaker, artist and academic might have been unknown to you. Indeed, with reference to that time period, some of you might instead recall a great deal of fuss being made at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva over another French watchmaker, the relatively famous Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec…
Rieussec was already in the books as the inventor of the chronograph in 1822, and his life was better known than Moinet’s, given that he was in the registry of active watchmakers in Paris as early as 1810. In 2012, no one even knew Moinet’s birthplace, but a change was coming that would forever upend the other prevailing order in watchmaking. “We said, from the Jura where we were, hello, excuse us, but there is a page missing from the history of watchmaking,” said Les Ateliers Louis Moinet SA CEO and Creative Director Jean-Marie Schaller.
The Super Moon watch from Louis Moinet’s Cosmic Art collection.The Mars Mission watch from Louis Moinet’s Cosmic Art collection.
Schaller is referring here to a series of events that confirmed the basic facts of Moinet’s original invention of the chronograph. If you have not heard the story, it is well worth a listen. Even though we know the tale quite well, it was amazing to hear it again from Schaller when he was in Singapore recently to celebrate his brand’s exclusive retail arrangement with Sincere, at the SHH boutique at MBS. In any case, we recall being very shocked that Moinet had created a true stopwatch in 1816 that could track elapsed time down to 1/60th of a second. For some context, Rieussec’s chronograph was accurate to one second, and that was plenty good enough in the early 19th century.
This begs a few questions: what even is Les Ateliers Louis Moinet? Does it have anything to do with the watchmaker Louis Moinet? And who is Jean-Marie Schaller? To begin with, the contemporary firm was founded in 2004 by Schaller, a Swiss man from Delemont in the Jura who is completely unrelated to Moinet. A few other names come into focus before the connection between Moinet and Schaller becomes established. Somehow, it is all tied into Schaller’s love of travel. Now there may be some head scratching here but for those in the know about Swiss watchmaking, there is nothing particularly mysterious here.
It all begins with another grand watchmaker, Breguet, which itself went through many tumultuous episodes. While we mean the watchmaking firm Breguet, there is a place here for Abraham-Louis himself. Okay, we can feel you staring daggers at us but we promise that it all makes sense.
The Louis Moinet Time to Race watch is one of the brand’s best sellers.
To make a long story shorter, when the Chaumet brothers acquired Breguet, they also got their hands on the archives and all manner of historical documents. This is Breguet, a name that evokes watchmaking history, after all. The brothers brought in a watchmaker of no small renown to help them make sense of it all, Daniel Roth. Yes, that Daniel Roth, the watchmaker whose brand was developed in Asia by the Siber Hegner SA trading company. Schaller got his start in the watchmaking trade at Siber Hegner, and was responsible for making growing the Daniel Roth watchmaking brand.
“I began with the Louis Moinet project in 2000. It began as a laboratory, working from home with my wife, next to the kitchen, which definitely seems to be a habit in this industry,” Schaller told Monochrome last year.
“Somehow, I did not look for Louis Moinet. Louis Moinet looked for me. That’s a strange feeling, but it was my destiny. The name was completely forgotten, but people kept talking to me about it, in particular, Daniel Roth.”
“Jean-Marie, you must be interested in this name (Louis Moinet), it is meant for you,” Roth told Schaller.
If all this sounds like magical thinking, bear in mind that the historical achievements of Louis Moinet are all too real. The watchmaker himself penned a book called “Traité d’Horlogerie” (Treatise on Watchmaking), which Elizabeth Doer of QP notes was familiar to prominent scholars such as Dr Ludwig Oeschlin, Arnaud Tellier and Dominique Flechon. This work describes a watch known as the Compteur de Tierces, which was the culmination of Moinet’s ambitions. In fact, Moinet worked on this watch while living with Abraham-Louis Breguet, a fact Roth tumbled to when he worked on the archives. Moinet and Abraham-Louis worked at the same address from 1815 to 1823.
The Compteur de Tierces.
The Compteur de Tierces was started in 1815 and completed a year later, and thus a link between the masters is given physical form. This is how Moinet described it in a letter: “I came to Paris in 1815 with the sole purpose of devising and making a compteur de tierces. The difficult and seldom attempted realisation of this instrument of a new construction, has achieved my purpose most satisfactorily.”
This watch really exists, and was sold at a Christie’s auction in 2012; the hallmarks inside the watch bear out its production history. Curiously, Doer notes that Tellier wrote the lot notes for the watch, which had an underwhelming estimate of CHF5,000. Schaller won it in a fierce bidding war, taking the price to an order of magnitude above the estimate. The Compteur de Tierces was the watch that showed that Louis Moinet was indeed the inventor of the chronograph, as verified by the aforementioned experts but also others who worked in the auction business. This was the big horological news of 2013, and the Compteur de Tierces would figure prominently in the future of Louis Moinet too.
The making of the Louis Moinet Mars Mission watch.
This brings us back to the status of the contemporary brand Louis Moinet, which Schaller has built up from scratch and today produces some 500 exceptional watches annually. Now, 500 watches do not sound very much until you consider the word exceptional; Schaller began his journey wanting to rescue a watchmaker from obscurity, and having succeeded, he does not intend on spoiling things by offering timid and tepid timepieces.
Looking at the contemporary watches here, you will not fail to be impressed. You can examine any Louis Moinet watch at the SHH boutique to find four symbols the brand uses to express its values: uniqueness, creativity, artistic spirit and exclusivity. Louis Moinet today focuses on two pillars: Cosmic Art and Mechanical Wonders. Interestingly, Cosmic Art may seem a far cry from Monet’s own work, but he invented the Compteur de Tierces to time astronomical events or heavenly phenomena, not really anything on earth. The connection with Mechanical Wonders is obvious, but we must pause to note that the Compteur de Tierces was a high-beat watch, with its escapement beating at an incredible 216,000 vph, or 30 Hz. Such dizzying speeds were indeed possible back in the day, for exceptional watchmakers such as Moinet. That is the spirit behind everything at the brand Louis Moinet.
This is not to say that Schaller revels in Louis Moinet’s internal abilities, nor does he elevate himself by association. The brand Louis Moinet lists its suppliers openly, in a manner both refreshing for the Swiss and perhaps surprising. If you ask Schaller why he decided on this, when so many brands (large and small) make a big show of mastering everything in-house, he goes quiet for a moment before saying simply “because it is not true (that brands can do everything in-house).” For Schaller, what is important is to find the right partners to execute his vision because Louis Moinet is a series of workshops, literally (Les Ateliers), and the Swiss tradition of working with specialised suppliers is an important part of watchmaking. He notes that his partners, including movement maker Concepto and casemaker FIMM, are constrained by NDAs from revealing who they work for, but Louis Moinet does not require this. Perhaps the fact that Moinet himself had spent so long obscured by history informs Schaller’s thought process here.
While we do not have the space to get into all the key references for the contemporary brand, you would do well to head down to the SHH boutique in Marina Bay Sands Singapore (Louis Moinet has an exclusive relationship with Sincere Fine Watches in Singapore) and look for the hallmarks mentioned earlier. Imagine yourself in Schaller’s place, looking at the hallmarks within the Compteur de Tierces for clues about its story. This remains key to understanding the emotional power behind Louis Moinet.
On the face of it, the chronograph is easy to understand: it records elapsed time. So, if you are on a road trip and need to ensure that your pit stops do not get out of hand, you could set time limits and use your chronograph to keep things moving as planned. If five minutes is what you give yourself, the chronograph is the instrument to maintain that limit. The quartz and mechanical versions both do the same job, just with different degrees of precision. The travelling friends in the PRX ad could have done just that, if they had more than just the 35mm time-only model.
Of course, you could just use the stopwatch function on your phone, but then again, the mechanical wrist-borne chronograph is much more than merely functional. Beating an actual clock simply feels better, and that is what gives a contemporary mechanical chronograph like the Tissot PRX Chronograph its appeal. Of course, we would argue that using a chronograph, mechanical or quartz, feels better than a palmborne item like a phone, but we are biased.
To begin with though, it is all about how the watch sits on the wrist, how the chronograph calibre goes about its business, and how the registers on the dial deliver information. The PRX Chronograph is a 42mm watch in steel, and wears tall at 14.5mm. This is worth taking into account because it means that not all wrists will be able to accommodate it, nor will it be as versatile as the Automatic. It still wears smaller than it looks, thanks to the design of the lugs and the integrated bracelet. On that note, this is total watch design, as we are calling it, but contemporary thinking means that you are not limited to this one bracelet, nice as it is. This is a reference to the quick-release system for the bracelet, giving it flexibility and adaptability.
As noted, the date function is certainly a head-scratcher, and we look forward to improvements in this area. One easy fix would be a variant that has no date at all, but only time will tell what happens here. Anyway, back to the chronograph then, which features a tricompax layout for its subdials. The 12 hour counter is at 6 o’clock, the 30-minute counter is at 3 o’clock and the running seconds is at 9 o’clock, so there are no surprises here. The chronograph pushers are flat and relatively subtle, but not at all difficult to use.
There are two variants to consider here, a so-called panda and reverse panda, both with vertical brushed finishing. The blue version has silver-coloured subdials with polished steel indices and baton hands, while the silver-coloured dial has black subdials with rose gold-coloured hands and indices. The minute track on the inside of the flange is silver on the blue dial version and black on the silver dial version. Both versions have SuperLuminova on the hands and indices. We trust we do not have to say which one is the panda, and we leave it to you to decide on what appeals to you. Given that the PRX Chronograph is likely to be immensely popular, you should also add that to the points to consider, before pulling the trigger.
Famed for its efforts in marine conservation, Blancpain reveals the winners of the 2022 Ocean Photographer of the Year (OPY), including the Female Fifty Fathoms prize. The winning photographs are on show from now until 27 October along the banks of the Thames in London. Australian photographer Brooke Pyke won the Female Fifty Fathoms award. Now in just its second year, this special award saw submissions more than double since its introduction. The OPY’s grand prix was awarded to Frenchman Ben Thouard, whose image of a surfer riding one of the world’s largest and most famous waves, Teahupo’o, was unanimously selected.
The overall competition was judged by the usual panel of distinguished photographers and videographers, which should go without saying given the calibre of the organiser, Oceanographic Magazine. More than 5,000 people submitted entries (up from 3,000 last year) across all categories, according to the OPY. You might have learned the names of the winners in the Wildlife, Fine Art, Conservation Hope and Conservation Impact. Adventure, Portfolio, Young and Human Connection categories from social media since OPY has been making the names public since 28 September. The winning photographers were, in order, Rafael Fernandez Caballero (Spain), Mike Spencer (UK), Nicolas Remy (France/Australia), Simon Lorenz (Germany), Tom St George (UK/Mexico), Matty Smith (UK/Australia), Ryuta Ogawa (Japan/UK) and Steve Woods (UK/Canada).
As a distinct category, the Female Fifty Fathoms prize is judged not only by the OPY panel but also by a Blancpain delegation led by President and CEO Marc A. Hayek. As we have previously reported, Hayek is quite the diver himself, and has personally led many missions in Blancpain’s Ocean Commitment efforts over the years. While you can see Brooke Pyke’s shot here, here is more of an introduction to her, from Blancpain: “A dedicated diver and photographer, Brooke Pyke misses no opportunity to document the beauty to be found under the waves through her photographs. A fervent defender of the seas, she uses her photographic talent to raise awareness of the need to preserve the treasures of the ocean depths.”
Pyke’s physical prize is a marvellous 38mm Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe with blue sunburst dial. Note the traditional unidirectional bezel here comes with a ceramic insert, and the movement is automatic calibre 1150; for this particular unique reference, the rotor is decorated with the inscription “Female Fifty Fathoms 2022”. We have seen the standard watch in the metal and it is a beauty.
Most stories about Swiss watchmaking begin from up high. No surprises there given the importance of the Swiss Jura as one of the hotbeds of this activity, historically and right now. Le Locle, for example, is 945m above sea level, and there is really no Swiss manufacture based at anything like sea level, thanks to the quirk of Swiss geography. This and other local peculiarities often seep into the lore of the various brands, in their marketing if not in the watches themselves. Yes, the watches too because the men and women who work on them frequently have a view of the snowy peaks from their workbenches. Looking out one’s window in a Swiss manufacture is a pleasure anyone here in Singapore will envy. But today, we are not here to learn about the majesty of the Swiss outdoors, although we will be out of doors and maybe tens of metres above the ground.
You might think that being 90 feet, or 27 metres (approximately), above ground is not particularly impressive but everything is relative. This is especially true when you are standing on a platform, fully intent on diving into the river Seine below. Such was the scene at the Red Bull Mido Cliff Diving World Series in Paris, which we attended at the generous invitation of Swiss watchmaker Mido. Paris is certainly a city with its fair share of attractions, but there is not a cliff amongst them, so we were curious about how the cliff diving competition was to be staged. Surely the organisers were not crazy enough to build a platform right next to the Eiffel Tower, for example…
Before we get to that, the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series has made a name for itself with spectacular and unexpected locations in the past. We have interviewed Mido CEO Franz Linder at the Bilbao leg of the competition in 2019, for example; Mido has been the Official Performance Partner of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series since that year, and the competition itself has been running since 2009. The idea is pretty simple: extraordinarily talented and courageous athletes dive off a platform outdoors that is up to 27m high, with only their skills to keep them safe. In the case of the Paris leg of the series this year, that platform was erected on the banks of the Seine, opposite the Eiffel Tower.
Fortuitous Links
Image: Dean Treml
“This year we are very fortunate because two of the locations on the competition calendar are actually linked to architecture (the Paris and Sydney legs). This is not our influence because the organisers decide the locations,” said Linder, after we had toured the platform where the divers would be doing their thing later that evening. As it happens, there are all sorts of wonderful links to explore here.
Mido has been associated with architecture for 20 years, giving us a special link between Singapore and the brand. The Art Science Museum here is one of several icons related to a specific Mido watch. We shall have more to say on this later, but for now, the Ocean Star collection has an architectural inspiration too, but that is actually a different watch within the same collection. It is one of five special watches honouring the aforementioned 20th anniversary. The reliability of the Ocean Star is a touchstone shared with the architectural link here, the Europa Point Lighthouse that watches over the entrance and exit to the Mediterranean; there is a watch family inspired by the Eiffel Tower, the Commander, but that is a different story — as Linder noted, Mido does not expect the diving competition’s locations to match up with its own thematic flavours. Of course, we look forward to the day that the cliff diving competition comes to Marina Bay Sands so we can reference the Rainflower collection. In any case, the watch of the hour for this story is the Ocean Star 600 DLC, our thoughts on which are elsewhere in this article.
“The Ocean Star has existed since 1944, but when we were preparing (a new chapter) for the watch, we came across cliff diving (and the World Series competition),” said Linder. “We were looking for a theme to connect with, and here there are so many shared values — you need to be hyper-precise in diving; there’s a very strong performance element; the locations are often urban and that’s important for the link to architecture; and last but not least, it is about the water. These are exceptional athletes who are engaged in a dangerous sport and they have to be precise (to avoid injury and achieve the best results).”
Mido Ocean Star 600 Chronometer Black DLC Special Edition
Mido has a unique approach to the idea of a dive watch, thanks to its association with Red Bull Cliff Diving. Starting a dive tens of metres above sea level changes the dynamics of a watch like the Ocean Star 600, which we discovered up close at the Paris leg of the international cliff diving competition. Totally blacked out thanks to a DLC coating, the Ocean Star 600 is nevertheless completely legible in the dark because of the grade X SuperLuminova on the hour markers, hands and technical ceramic bezel. Whether you are watching the action in the shade on the banks of the Seine, or contemplating the plunge on the platform with the magnificent Eiffel Tower to your right, the watch makes for a comforting presence, reassuring you with its superlative water resistance of 600m and the solid structure of the 43.5mm steel case.
Behind the lacquered black dial, the COSC-certified calibre 80 Si provides similarly solid backing, with up to 80 hours of power reserve and advanced silicon balance spring (as indicated by the Si part of the name). This is of course a version of the Swatch Group developed ETA C07.82 base, which explains how Mido manages to offer such an impressive technical chronometer at just S$2,700 (for the special edition with bracelet and additional strap). This value proposition has distinguished Mido in the 21st century, while other brands focus on climbing up the value chain by increasing prices. The Ocean Star also offers one other interesting element, far removed from extreme sports, that builds a link between our location at the Eiffel Tower and the inspiration behind the watch. You can read about this in the main section of this story.
Finally, some of you might be thinking that the gloss bits here must be magnets for fingerprints. The DLC coating takes care of that, with the official specs calling the watch fingerprint-proof. Well, the DLC treated parts anyway. Our own examination, brief though it was, confirms the veracity of the claim.
Shared Values
This view of precision speaks well to Mido’s reputation for offering chronometer-certified (by COSC) timepieces at the most accessible level. It also communicates the need to track time in multiple time zones, which is exactly what the special reveal of this event is: the Ocean Star GMT Special Edition. The Ocean Star has had the GMT model in the collection since 2020, and this version adds a new blue dial variant that comes with an additional NATO strap. It is now the only version of the GMT model with both a stainless steel bracelet and additional fabric strap, which is very handy when you need the watch to wrap comfortably around your wrist, or share it with a partner.
To wrap up the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series experience, we watched the action unfold from a barge across the way on the Seine. The level of public engagement on that blistering summer day was amazing, and it was somewhat unbelievable that the 24 men and women competing in this leg of the World Series were actually able to dive into the river. The field included Alessandro de Rose and Jonathan Paredes, friends and ambassadors of Mido. Later on, we got the chance to mingle with them at the gala dinner, which brought together Mido executives from around the world, as well as journalists. The dinner, held on a Bateaux-Mouches riverboat, was also a showcase for the entire Ocean Star range, and was the debutante ball for the GMT and 600 DLC models.
With the Singapore Grand Prix around the bend, you are probably revved up already. You’ll need no help from us in deciding how to support your favourite teams or divers — you might even be in the paddock (say hi to us if you are). Team and driver loyalty aside (they are sometimes not the same, but it’s complicated), if you are also a watch lover, it can be hard to reconcile your personal timepiece choice with the sport. Only a few brands are directly involved, and everyone get overshadowed by Rolex anyway. Happily, there is a solution that we like: the watches of the drivers.
These are not always tied to team sponsors, so you will not need to confine yourself to the likes of TAG Heuer, IWC or Richard Mille. There are other brands associated with life in the fast lane (perhaps only in the past) that you might collect yourself so go with the driver’s choices. Drivers are limited by sponsorship agreements on what pieces they can wear in public so do take all this with a pinch of salt. We also have it on good authority that plenty of drivers love their Rolexes so you will be in good company here. These include veterans such as Sir Jackie Stewart and Mark Webber, but also collectors such as Nico Rosberg.
Helpfully, we did not need to do much of the legwork for this story because the folks at Watchfinder & Co. compiled all the watches that a select number of drivers wear. The online dealer in pre-owned watches did this because they happen to have relevant pieces in stock (surprise!) and we are happy to align our self-interests here.
For the sake of completeness, we also include Bell & Ross here, with the brand’s collection for the BWT Alpine F1 team. This watch is called the A522, being named after the current racing car. This one is much more low-key compared with what the French brand did when the team was in the livery of Renault. Yes, Bell & Ross has been with what is today BWT Alpine when it was Renault in 2016.
That said, take a gander at the watches of these six F1 drivers, as curated by Watchfinder & Co.
One of the few active drivers who needs no introduction, Lewis Hamilton is an IWC man through and through. He even wore three IWC watches at once to protest an FIA ban on drivers wearing jewellery recently. Here’s what we know he wears: the Big Pilot’s Watch, Big Pilot’s Watch Top Gun Mojave Desert and Pilot’s Chronograph 41. This year, he wears the new IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Edition “Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team”.
Daniel Ricciardo
No longer a McLaren man after this season, Daniel Ricciardo is nevertheless strongly associated with watch collecting because of his RM 50-03 Tourbillon Split-Seconds Chronograph, which is worth more than US$1.2 million. Weighing less than 40 grams, this is the lightest object that money can buy, while being 200 times stronger than steel. The novel Graph TPT material is responsible for both the weight and the strength. We shall see if this Richard Mille model remains with Ricciardo as the brand is a McLaren sponsor.
Max Verstappen
The defending World Champion Max Verstappen has a chequered past when it comes to timepieces. Two years ago, we were tickled to discover the TAG Heuer Max Verstappen Special Edition, and Watchfinder & Co. reminds us that this was the first mechanical timepiece to bear Verstappen’s name. Verstappen is also the owner of the TAG Heuer Monaco Titan Titanium, and wore the much-loved Monaco Dark Lord at the Monaco Grand Prix this year.
Sergio Pérez
Unsurprisingly, Sergio Pérez is also a TAG Heuer man, given that he is Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull. The Mexican driver has been linked with the TAG Heuer Connected smartwatch by Watchfinder & Co., although he wore his own Carrera Tourbillon Sergio Pérez Edition when he won this year’s Monaco Grand Prix. Well, that watch is not on any pre-owned dealer’s list, but the Connected watch is. Having said that, we are recommending the Carrera Tourbillon as a significant watch, even in the core collection
Charles Leclerc
Famous for being the youngest driver to win a race with Scuderia Ferrari, Charles Leclerc is also a Richard Mille brand ambassador. Leclerc is the real deal, with his RM 67-02 done in Monaco’s red and white (Leclerc is from Monaco). We cannot imagine that there are many Richard Mille models at pre-owned dealers, at least at a reasonable price relative to RRP, but it is worth checking out. A deal on a Richard Mille — any Richard Mille — is well worth having.
Notable as the first Chinese Formula One driver, Zhou Guanyu, is also a Hublot brand ambassador. He joined the Alfa Romeo racing team for the 2022 season that is soon to conclude, and is set to continue with the team. According to Watchfinder & Co., he is currently best known for the Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Carbon Gold Tiger, but is also associated with other Hublot Big Bang watches.
Platinum has many more applications outside watches and jewellery, most of which are used in industry. So anyone who has ever benefited from, or experienced the benefits of, a catalytic converter has actually experienced how platinum makes a difference. How? Well, I’m glad to assume you asked this question because the catalyst in catalytic converters is platinum, typically, so if you have owned a car made after 1975, then you are indeed a person who owns just a little bit of platinum. While electric cars do not require catalytic converters, platinum is still the go-to material in diesel, gasoline and hybrid cars, as well as in the innumerable other types of engines (including electricity generators) as the world struggles to fight pollution from the burning of fossil fuels.
An interesting point we will explore later is the case for rhodium, which is also in the platinum family of metals. This metal shares many of platinum’s characteristics, including its catalytic properties. Rhodium though is extraordinarily expensive, becoming in 2021 the world’s most expensive metal, at more than US$80 per gramme at the most conservative end. At its highest, rhodium was trading for US$744 per gramme. Platinum is thus still the more cost-effective option, and not by a little.
This means platinum does have practical benefits that make it less volatile, price-wise, than its alternatives and, for watch and jewellery purposes, gold. Indeed, there are times when gold is actually more expensive than platinum. We actually live in such a time right now, with platinum trading at roughly US$30 per gramme and gold currently selling for double that. This has been the case for some time now, and it was perhaps only in the recession of 2008 that platinum traded above gold. You will no doubt be rushing off to Google this now and that is just fine — you can come right back because this is not the only unusual nugget here for scarcity and value warriors. In fact, just read this particular segment in front of your laptop or your phone because you will feel the need for information confirmation virtually constantly. Be careful not to fall too deep into any rabbit holes though because there is plenty of confusing and apparently contradictory information out there.
Demand for platinum remains relatively stable, given its industrial applications, whereas gold’s practical application is as an economic hedge (typically against inflation) and a publicly recognised store of value. Most economies no longer use the gold standard, but virtually every government has gold reserves. This means tonnes of bullion simply sitting in vaults around the world, and no, we will not be getting into any conspiracy theories. By way of contrast, no country is known to have platinum reserves. Adding to this is the fact that the US considered platinum so vital as a strategic resource that it regulated its use during World War I (President Woodrow Wilson’s Platinum Policy), and once again during World War II. This took the metal out of play for most jewellers, effectively ending a brilliant run by all the fine jewellers of the era, from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels to Bvlgari and Tiffany & co. It was a different story for watchmaking.
Switzerland, like the US, made platinum a strategic asset, like gold and silver. One of the reasons for this was that watchmaking was hugely important for the economy (even more important than it is today), and watchmakers had been lobbying for legislation that protected against fraud. These same protections already existed for gold and silver, but platinum was not covered as it had not been used much in the trade since its official discovery and classification was only in the 18th century. Indeed, some evidence suggests that platinum was used to adulterate gold, so legal standards were needed to protect the purity and sanctity of gold. In any case, these sorts of legal protections were not done for the express benefit of any industry, and were instead undertaken to establish standards. These days, such standards define the use of precious metals in watchmaking and jewellery. For example, the exact percentages of gold in alloys is standardised worldwide, thanks to such measures. This is also why platinum 950 is the standard order for platinum in typical use, and this simply means 95 per cent platinum. It is not specific to watchmaking, although the precise wording, platinum 950 is Swiss.
So in the early 20th century, platinum was finally making an appearance in horology, but still in pocket watches. The state of obtaining pure platinum and then alloying the same was hard going at first. Since platinum comes with other related metals, such as rhodium, iridium and palladium, to name a few, it first has to be purified. In fact, some of those other materials were also mistakenly labelled platinum, leading to all manner of problems. This was how the La Tolita pre-Columbian (circa 600 BCE to 200 CE) culture used platinum, in combination with gold. We think they worked with platinum in powdered form, sintered with gold in a similar form, then used simple tools to shape the resulting alloy. Unfortunately, this culture did not leave any written records, and the dismissive attitude of the Spanish towards platinum (they regarded it as an impurity that adulterated the gold they lusted over) did not help. Indeed, the name platinum comes from Spanish references to the metal as La Platina, or little or lesser silver.
A major issue in working pure platinum was simply reaching the metal’s melting point, roughly 1,769 degrees C. By way of contrast, gold melts at approximately 1,065 degrees C and iron at 1,538 degrees C. This is an issue for purification too, but here chemical processes work, to an extent. Platinum (and platinum group metals) are largely unreactive, with platinum not succumbing to any acids at room temperature. European researchers were familiar with aqua regia though and this combination of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid can dissolve platinum, just as it dissolves gold. Iridium and osmium do not react with aqua regia and can thus be separated from platinum. Using aqua regia, 18th century metallurgists were able to create gold-platinum alloys that could be worked, but they had not realised that other metals such as palladium might get in too since it dissolves in aqua regia too.
Achieving the necessary temperatures to turn platinum molten was only possible with the invention of the oxyhydrogen torch in the 19th century, which is when various industrialising European nations tried to find applications for platinum. The Russians and the British even fashioned coins out of platinum, though these never gained favour. Remember this the next time you play a computer game in a mediaeval setting that features platinum coinage or objects, or read a fantasy novel that features the same.
As mentioned earlier, platinum is today mainly used for industrial purposes, with the automotive industry using up to 50 per cent of available material (projected as 41.45 per cent for 2022 on Statista, the source of all production and usage numbers used in this article). The estimated percentage for watches and jewellery stands at 21.27 per cent; investments do not even warrant a predicted percentage. Gold, by way of contrast, is estimated to be used by the watch and jewellery sector, and for investments, to the tune of 90 per cent. One effect of this is to make platinum relatively rare in watches and jewellery, because of competition with other players. Unusually, there is enough platinum to solve this problem, but mining firms are apparently reluctant to increase supply for fear of damaging prices, and not only for this material.
We will close this segment with a note about density, the defining characteristic of platinum. In pure forms, platinum is just 8 per cent denser than gold, and that number might surprise. This is primarily because we are often told that platinum is 60 per cent denser than gold, which is a reference to platinum 950 and 14k gold. When it comes to 18k gold, the number is approximately 30+ per cent. The practical effect of the resulting confusion from these numbers is primarily felt most viscerally in watches and jewellery, but the effect overall is that the general public has the idea that platinum is so heavy as to be impractical to wear.
The luxury watch industry is a booming niche in the fashion market. As more and more consumers become interested in getting high value wristwatches, the demand for luxurious timepieces has been increasing steadily. These luxurious watches are made with high value materials and premium features that can only be found on more expensive timepieces. Here are five models of Omega watches that appeal to most men who prefer a luxurious look and feel.
1. Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch
The Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch is one of the most expensive watches in the world. This model was designed for NASA astronauts and has several features ideal for space exploration. The case is made from stainless steel and has scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass. It also has a tachymeter scale, ideal for measuring speed or distance over time.
2. Seamaster Diver 300M
The Seamaster Diver 300M is a popular model that can match your preferences. This watch is made from stainless steel and has a design that makes it ideal for underwater exploration. The watch also features a unidirectional rotating bezel and an anti-reflective sapphire crystal glass. Don’t forget to match your style with Omega wristwatches from Chrono24 for the best results.
3. Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M
Image: Omega
Another popular model of the Omega is the Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M, which is one of the most expensive watches for men in the world. The watch comes with a case made from stainless steel and features an automatic movement with a power reserve of 60 hours. It also has anti-reflective sapphire crystal glass and a unidirectional rotating bezel.
This model was designed to be used by divers and comes with several diving features, including depth indicators, water resistance up to 600 meters, and an alarm function that can be set to sound when the wearer reaches a certain depth level.
4. De Ville Prestige Co-Axial 39.5mm
This watch is a bit more vintage in design and comes with a stainless steel case measuring 39.5 millimetres across. The case features a transparent back case that makes it easy to see the inner workings of the watch. This model was designed for daily use and features an automatic movement with a power reserve of 48 hours.
You will also enjoy other features that make it ideal for everyday wear, including a date display window, a chronograph function, and several other functions that are useful for keeping track of time.
5. Railmaster Chronometer
Image: Omega
This is one of the most unique watches. It has a stainless steel case and a black dial that adds to its vintage look. The back case features an engraving of the Omega logo, and the crown is located at 4 o’clock for easy access.
It was designed for day-to-day usage and uses an automatic movement with a power reserve of 55 hours when fully wound. It also has several useful functions, including a date display window, a chronograph function, and several other useful features for keeping track of time.
How to Choose the Right Omega Watch with Your Style?
As you choose your preferred wristwatch from the site, here are a few considerations you should make.
Style and Size of the Watch
These watches come in various styles and sizes, so you have to decide what type you prefer. Some models come with round cases, while others have rectangular cases. Also, some are designed with simple faces, while others are more complex. You should also consider the watch’s size as it relates to your wrist size.
For example, if you have a small wrist, you should choose a smaller watch with a case diameter of less than 40 millimeters. However, if your wrist is larger, it may be best to choose a larger model with a case diameter of 39 millimeters or more.
The Movement Type Used by the Watch
These watches use either manual or automatic movements to power them. Manual movements require hand-winding, which means that you must wind them up manually using the crown after they run down from not being worn for several hours or days at a time. Automatic movements feature automatic winding systems powered by kinetic energy generated when your arm moves during regular daily activities such as walking around and doing other activities throughout your day.
Automatic movements also feature power reserve indicators on their dials so you can see how much power they have before they run down completely and need to be rewound by hand. If you plan on wearing your watch daily, it would be best to choose an automatic model.
The Case Diameter of the Watch
The case diameter of your watch is a measurement of its size in millimeters around its face. If you want your watch to fit comfortably under your shirt sleeve, then you should choose one with a case diameter that is less than 40 millimeters.
However, if you want your watch to be more noticeable on your wrist, then it may be best to choose one with a case diameter larger than 40 millimeters.
Image: Omega
The Colour of the Dial and the Case Material Used for Your Watch
You can choose from several dial colours and case materials for your watch. For example, you could choose a white or black dial with a stainless steel case material or an ivory dial with a rose gold-plated stainless steel case material. Be sure to select the colour and materials you like the most when choosing a luxurious watch for yourself or someone else as a gift. It helps to pick one that you can match with various outfits.
The Watch Case
The watch case is the outer shell of your watch that protects the inner mechanisms. The most common type of watch case is a stainless steel case, but you can also choose a gold or silver alloy case. Different cases offer different benefits to keep in mind when selecting an Omega watch for yourself or someone else as a gift.
A gold alloy case has a higher level of resistance to corrosion than stainless steel, which makes it more durable and less likely to rust over time. A watch with a gold alloy case also tends to be more resistant to scratches and scratches than a stainless steel version. If you don’t want your watch to get scratched easily, you should choose one with a gold alloy case instead of stainless steel.
A silver alloy case offers the same advantages as gold but does not tarnish as easily as gold does over time. This means that if you get a watch with a silver alloy casing, it will retain its original appearance for longer than if you had gotten a watch with a gold casing.
A stainless steel casing, on the other hand, will not tarnish or corrode over time like other types of metal may do. However, it may scratch more easily than other types of metal casing do and may even discolour over time if exposed to chemicals in the air like paint thinner or chlorine bleach which can cause it to turn blue or green.
How Long Does an Omega Watch Last?
These watches are known for their longevity and reliability. They are built with the utmost care and precision and can easily be passed down from generation to generation. This is due to their excellent construction and ability to withstand the test of time. These watches are made to last a lifetime and will continue to work for many years after you purchase them.
Conclusion
Luxury watches have long been considered a status symbol, signifying a person’s financial success and social standing. Plenty of men aren’t willing to sacrifice their love for luxury in exchange for affordability, which makes the luxurious watch industry so lucrative.
Precious metals, known as noble metals, have amazing origin stories. Indeed, everything from helium to iron is forged in the hearts of stars. These elements are the products of fusion reactions, essentially. Well precious metals go one better, and the platinum group takes it to another level.
The alchemist’s dream of transforming matter is just a matter of existing; if stars exist, matter transformation is happening. Fusion turns hydrogen into helium as if it was the most natural thing in the universe. In fact, it is. One moment, hydrogen is going about its business as it has since the Big Bang, and then gravity invites it to a party and it meets a nice neutron (or two) and transforms into helium. Well, the poetic licence there is our own, and no one approved it. Please send your brickbats my way. Essentially though, that is how fusion works (minus a proper explanation of the strong force) but its transformative powers do not go past iron.
Hydrogen and helium are the most abundant materials in the observable universe, and are primordial. They are also amongst the least massive (i.e. lightest for shorthand) elements on the periodic table. Although helium can be produced through fusion, as mentioned, and radioactive decay (we will not go there), this kind of transformation has its limits. For heavier elements, something more violently powerful than the fusion heart of even the most massive star is required. Even if such a star were to explode and spew its innards across the universe, this matter would not include platinum. There is simply not enough energy in even the most impressive supernovae we know of that can accomplish this. It is in fact something so rare that we have only recently observed it, although everything we know about cosmology suggested the possibility.
Palladium
Used very sparingly in watchmaking, palladium is — like the other metals in these sidebars — a platinum group metal. In the periodic table, it is known by the symbol Pd, and its atomic number is 46. Palladium shares many of the same properties of platinum, including density and malleability. In fact, it is the least dense of the metals in its group and its melting point is the least extreme, although still high. It also shares the same catalytic properties that make it as appealing as platinum to industry, and it was the most cost-effective. In the recent past, palladium ore prices have outpaced platinum, in turn putting pressure on platinum ore prices. Besides the problematic issue of most supply coming from Russia, important mines there had already been hit by environmental issues.
As a result, palladium is estimated by some sources (Statista) to be 15 times as rare as platinum, which itself is just about as rare as gold. Since 2016, the price of palladium (per gramme) has increased fourfold; obviously, the effects of Covid-19 and the current conflict in Ukraine have not been factored in yet. On the other hand, there is no good reason to use palladium for watches, since it is very similar to platinum but does not have the cachet of that precious metal. At the same time, it might also be a good deal more dear than platinum, because of industrial demand and various supply constraints.
Among Swiss watchmakers, Cartier, Ulysse Nardin, Audemars Piguet and H. Moser & Cie have used palladium in recent years. Interestingly, the bulk metallic glass (BMG) of the Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin 15202XT for the most recent edition of OnlyWatch featured palladium in the mix.
For this, we turn to pop culture, the excellent “Neutron Star Collision” by Muse. First, astrophysicists theorised that such things as neutron stars must exist — these are stellar objects composed entirely of neutrons. All the protons and electrons have fused into neutrons, in the wake of a particularly glorious supernova. If the object had just a little bit more mass to go on, it would collapse into a black hole. But it does not, and thus remains a mass of tightly packed neutrons. Cosmologists speculated that perhaps the extra mass (and therefore energy) needed to transform into a black hole could come from another such object, in the event of a collision. One result of such cosmic fireworks would be the production of heavy elements, like the platinum group of metals. Another possible explanation is the hypernova, which is basically a supernova on steroids, where a stellar object with sufficient mass sheds its outer layers as it collapses to form a black hole. In any case, the consensus appears to be that less dense precious metals such as gold can be produced in mere supernovas.
From these intense origins, platinum eventually settles into the crusts of planets like ours. Similar to gold and other dense metals, most of it probably sank right down to the core of the planet in question. Only a small part — approximately 5 μg/kg — is accessible in the crust, and approximately several hundred tonnes (Quill and Pad’s Joshua Munchow cites 150 tonnes, and precious metal traders generally put the figure at no more than 200 tonnes) are mined annually. Interestingly, as far as available sources go, platinum is about as rare as gold, but it is more difficult to extract. Fratello estimates that to get 30 grammes of pure platinum, 10 tonnes of raw platinum ore are required. That sounds incredible, and the website did not cite a source, but the short of it is that it is tough to get pure platinum to work with. The nature of the metal also makes it harder to recycle than gold, but this fact fits in better a little later in this piece.
Rarity alone cannot account for any metal’s use in watchmaking (or jewellery for that matter). The properties of the metal must be suitable too. For example, iridium is in the same family of metals as platinum, but it is extraordinarily brittle, making it a challenge to machine. Similarly, rhodium is even rarer than platinum or gold, and commands astronomical prices on the commodities market. It also has an extremely high melting point and is not malleable — indeed it is often alloyed with platinum to give this material better rigidity — but more on rhodium below.
This Is Hardcore
Platinum, on the other hand, is extraordinarily malleable but also much denser than gold. To be perfectly clear here, pure platinum is harder than pure gold; it is approximately twice as hard in fact. While you can leave marks in gold by biting it, as movies sometimes demonstrate, you cannot do the same with platinum. Having said this, alloys change things, and there is a big difference in how gold and platinum are alloyed in watchmaking. For the moment, it is sufficient to know that 18k gold is just about as hard as 950 platinum, but the introduction already summarises most of the relevant information as it relates to Swiss watchmaking.
Rhodium
A contender for the world’s most expensive metal, averaging US$21,000+ per ounce in May this year, rhodium finds itself all over the place in watchmaking, but never as a full case material. It goes by the symbol Rh on the periodic table of elements, and its atomic number is 45. Unlike platinum and palladium, it is a group 9 element. It has the distinction of rarely ever being used to make complete structures, instead being typically encountered as a coating or plating. Hence, most people familiar with white gold will recall hearing about rhodiumised white gold, or rhodium-plated white gold. Compared with gold and platinum, no significant reserves of rhodium exist, and only some 20 tonnes are mined every year — making it a full order of magnitude lower than platinum. Given that rhodium is in the same noble metals group as platinum and palladium, it is unsurprising to learn that it too is an important catalyst. Unlike the other metals, rhodium’s primary purpose in catalytic converters is to restrict nitric oxide emissions in exhaust fumes; rhodium is the only element that manages this neat trick so there are no viable alternatives for it.
We also learned, from Periodic Videos, that rhodium is used as a complete structure to filter out harmful x-rays in diagnostic tools used to detect cancer. All this goes a long way to explaining why rhodium is both special and rare — and why you will not encounter it as a full object in watches and jewellery. However, rhodium’s corrosion-resistant properties are also a useful protection against corrosion (think silver and brass) and this is how most of us will have made its acquaintance. Ebauches are regularly given rhodium plating (one micron thick or so) to ensure better durability, and EuropaStar reports that as the primary role of this most precious of metals. Rhodium is also the second brightest of all metals (after silver) so it does have important aesthetic properties too. This makes it useful on appliques on dials, for example, while it also makes dull old white gold a bit more exciting.
To close this section, here are the basics on platinum. Its atomic number is 78 and it is listed in the periodic table of elements as Pt (also how it is denoted on watch cases). It is part of the group 10 chemical elements in the periodic table, alongside nickel and palladium (and possibly one other uncharacterised element), while also being the core constituent of what we call the platinum group of metals, alongside palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium. These other metals will mostly be familiar to watch buyers, enthusiasts and hobbyists, and we include sidebars here for the ones most widely used in watchmaking.
Grand Seiko has been completely separate, as a brand, from Seiko since 2017, but both are still part of the Seiko Watch Corporation (SWC), of course. SWC recently announced that Grand Seiko would have its own marketing, communications, distribution and sales subsidiary for the Asia-Pacific region, Grand Seiko Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd. As the name suggests, this company will be headquartered in Singapore, and it is a joint-venture between SWC and Thong Sia Watch (Far East) Co. Ltd; Thong Sia was previously responsible for all things Seiko and Grand Seiko related in Singapore and other Asian markets. Shinji Hattori, Chairman of SWC, and Joseph Wong, Chairman of Thong Sia Watch Group, will both be honorary chairmen of the new joint venture firm.
Those familiar with the story of Grand Seiko will have seen this coming, given that SWC has taken the same path in North America and Europe to great success. Additionally, SWC President Akio Naito was the man who got all that started when he was running the overall Seiko business in the USA.
“When I first arrived in the US in 2016, one of the issues I faced was how to set up a team of experts who are experienced in the luxury watch business,” Naito, who is also Chairman of Grand Seiko Asia-Pacific, told us via a digital conference call. “I was fortunate enough to recruit the right people for this; and then I separated the Seiko team from the Grand Seiko team. In 2020, I did the same in Europe, and now is the time for us to do the same in Asia (outside of Japan and China). This is why we decided to create Grand Seiko Asia Pacific Pte Ltd… to recruit capable management to develop Grand Seiko in the region. We are looking at a totally different audience and distribution for Grand Seiko compared with Seiko. It is necessary to make use of separate expertise and management for the two brands to fully develop.”
On 3 October this year, the company will commence operations, and it is already staffed with the capable people that Naito requires. This includes Managing Director Yoshikatsu Kawada, and Regional Brand Director Ida Idris-Low; Kawada will remain Executive Vice-President, SWC. Idris-Low will be familiar to many in the region from her time at Patek Philippe and Van Cleef & Arpels.
“The creation of this new company is another milestone in the history of Grand Seiko. I am delighted by the progress that Grand Seiko has made in the past few years in many markets throughout the world and I am certain that Grand Seiko Asia-Pacific will allow us to further increase the brand’s profile in this important region. I believe that we can look forward to a golden era for Grand Seiko,” said Naito in a prepared statement released to announce the launch of Grand Seiko Asia-Pacific.
Everything counts in larger amounts, or so Depeche Mode put it in their 1983 hit. As applied to precious metals, larger amounts are measured in grammes and what counts is rarity and exclusivity. One should bear in mind that this is hardly an absolute. Instead, rarity and exclusivity applies relative to the best of our current knowledge and abilities; it helps to remember that aluminium was once more valuable than gold, as ridiculous as that might sound to contemporary ears. Similarly, helium is the second-most abundant element in the universe, yet it is quite uncommon on our planet; its nature ensures that it gets rarer on earth over time, and thus ever more valuable.
While we are actively advocating that collectors look seriously at precious metal options, we do acknowledge some weirdness here. To be upfront about it, platinum is cheaper than gold, and not by a little. It is also just about as rare as gold, and arguably more common, but far less is mined, and for more on that, you can always check out the history and material properties of platinum. Some observers have ventured that platinum is perfectly suited to watchmaking because it is so difficult to work with, and there is probably something to that. No less than Patek Philippe President Thierry Stern issues challenges to his watchmaking team, urging them to use platinum for chiming watches while knowing full well that the material is not the best suited to this task. Fortunately, whether a watch sounds out the time beautifully or not is a subjective matter.
Any given material’s abilities to retain shape and resist deformation are not at all subjective, and surprisingly neither is lustre. The brightest metal we typically use is silver, as seen most recently in the Tudor 925, but steel can be very bright too, as anyone who has encountered a watch in 904L steel can attest. On the subjective side, gold has a very special quality about its glow that appeals to our aesthetic sensibility. Platinum is neither particularly bright nor does it hold the eye as gold does; however, it does have its own particularities that have drawn favour. One of these particularities is durability, for which platinum is tough to beat. Ask any jeweller what will retain its lustre over the years and the answer is inevitably platinum; you could try this over at Cartier and Harry Winston, both of which are famous for their platinum pieces. It is the material’s density that is responsible here, meaning it does not wear out — polishing platinum does not remove material, but more on that later. For now, that same density, especially in the alloyed forms used in jewellery, also makes platinum noticeably weighty and potentially uncomfortable to wear.
All this is shorthand to note that platinum is not a go-to material for its properties, at least not as far as watches and jewellery go. As Jack Forster notes in his excellent story for Hodinkee in 2020, even seasoned watch collectors may have precious little experience with platinum (no pun intended). It is more exotic than anything else, and we do not mean to suggest with our heavy focus here that platinum is a trending material, despite what you might see from the watch novelties this year. It might also be the case that platinum and other white precious metals might indeed be trending, but only in combination with steel. For this reason, for this material-focused section, we decided to go with precious metals, with platinum and bimetallic combinations anchoring the whole affair.
Since its introduction in 1945, the Oyster Perpetual Datejust range has come to define the brand’s technical performance married to distinctive styles. It is a watch designed for everyday life, perfect for every occasion and built to last a lifetime. After more than 75 years, the Oyster Perpetual Datejust remains the epitome of the classic Rolex watch.
In 1957, the introduction of the Oyster Perpetual Lady-Datejust was a groundbreaking technical achievement, putting a smaller but equally accurate and robust movement into a case measuring only 28 mm in diameter. Offering the best of both worlds, it is a tiny watch with an accurate movement. A landmark in watchmaking, the Lady-Datejust remains the watch of choice for discerning and successful women in the 21st century.
Part of the appeal of the Lady-Datejust no doubt comes from the wealth of options available for each watch. A fluted, domed or gem-set bezel? Exclusive, shimmering dials paved with diamonds or the fascinating hues of mother-of-pearl? Simple or gem-set hour markers, or even Roman numerals? The many faces of the Lady-Datejust make this model one of the most varied in the Oyster Perpetual collection.
At Rolex, form and function are closely intertwined. This is particularly true of the bezel, an essential component in the strong visual identity of Oyster watches. Its intended purpose is to screw down the crystal to the case, ensuring a watertight seal. Over the years, a wide variety of forms, fixed or rotatable, have been introduced, offering new functions according to watch type: diving time, second time-zone, 24-hour display, tachymeter scale, etc.
On the Lady-Datejust, three different bezel options are available: domed, fluted, or gem-set, each conferring its own distinctive aesthetic.
The fluted bezel, a Rolex signature, sports equally sized grooves and ridges radiating outward on the entire ring. These are the ‘flutes’, serving to increase the flat polished surface area and giving the watch an extra amount of shine. Rolex was the first to introduce this aesthetic feature and it has since become a symbol of the brand’s formality and elegance and only offered in 18 ct gold.
For those who want something understated, the domed bezel is the perfect choice. Its polished surface displays a clean aesthetic, imbuing the watch with versatility.
On the contrary, the brilliance of the diamonds in the gem-set bezel is the most visually arresting option. These bezels are adorned with diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, or rubies, carefully set in place by Rolex’s team of in-house gem-setters. Using precision tools, the gem-setter ensures each gem’s topmost facet is perfectly aligned with its neighbour. Rolex tolerates variances of no more than 2 hundredths of a millimetre, which is around a quarter of the diameter of a human hair. It takes the gem-setter’s entire range of skill and know-how to ensure the diamonds, or other gems, on each bezel of the Lady-Datejust sit in perfect uniformity.
The Face of Time: Dials
The selection of coloured dials includes the iconic hues: white, silver, dark grey, and pink, marking the watch as a distinctively Rolex watch, and the dial in mother-of-pearl stands out for its singularity. Depending on its origin, it can be pink, white, black or yellow and differs in intensity and structure, according to the part of the shell from which it is extracted. Best of all, as all mother-of-pearl dials are unique pieces, an identical dial will never be found on another wrist.
The diamond-paved dial is the most eye-catching of all. These dials are a sparkling symphony that enhance the watches and enchant the wearers.
Rolex uses only the highest quality gemstones of natural origin, which the brand itself verifies. Whether it be diamonds, rubies, sapphires or emeralds, the stones must always be the finest. This includes the cut of the stone in particular, as well as its clarity, colour and exact dimensions. Rolex’s know-how comes into play from the initial quality control of the gemstones, for example ensuring perfectly uniform hues when sorting the stones by colour, to the gem-setting process itself.
One unique Rolex offering featured in this year’s Lady-Datejust is the pink opal dial. Requiring painstaking care to cut the natural gemstone into a wafer-thin sheet, the result is a beautiful pink shade dial that lends a stronger feminine presence to the timepiece.
Oyster Perpetual Lady-Datejust with pink opal dial. Image: Rolex
Giving personality to these dials are the appliques. A selection of Arabic or Roman numerals or geometric shapes are available as hour markers, and they are always in 18 ct yellow, white or pink gold, sometimes filled with luminescent material called Chromalight, or in a colour that subtly complements the dial. Alternatively, the discerning buyer could opt for gemstones set as hour markers. The variety of appliques allows for customisation that can truly reflect its wearer’s personality.
Featuring thousands of unique variations in colour, texture and motifs exclusive to Rolex, the dials are designed and manufactured in-house, largely by hand, to ensure perfection. As a result, an unrivalled dedication to the craft is always on full display.
Aesthetics: The Materials
Image: Rolex
The Lady-Datejust is available in several metal alloys: Oystersteel, 18 ct yellow, white or Everose gold, and in Rolesor versions that combine Oystersteel and one of three varieties of gold (white, yellow and Everose).
Oystersteel is specific to the brand and it belongs to the 904L steel family, a type of steel commonly used in high-technology and in the aerospace and chemical industries. In addition to possessing anti-corrosion properties that are comparable to those of precious metals, it acquires an exceptional sheen when polished.
Everose gold is an exclusive 18 ct pink gold alloy, created and cast by Rolex in its foundry (see sidebar) featuring a pink hue unlike any other. Its formula ensures that it has exceptional durability, can be polished, and an extraordinary sheen that lasts for generations.
Rolesor is a term patented by Rolex in 1933 to reflect a combination of gold and steel on a single watch. A true Rolex signature and a simple concept, it sees the bezel, the winding crown and the centre bracelet links made of precious metals, with the middle case and the outer links made of Oystersteel. The contrasting colours of Rolesor provide radiance and a subtly balanced harmony.
Wearing the Lady Datejust: Bracelets
Oyster bracelet. Image: Rolex
It would be remiss not to mention the bracelets available for the Lady-Datejust. Options here include the three-piece link Oyster bracelet, expandable up to 5 mm courtesy of Rolex’s Easylink system, secured by a folding Oysterclasp; a five-piece link Jubilee bracelet with Crownclasp; or a three-piece link President bracelet with Crownclasp, available only on the Lady-Datejust and the Datejust 31.
The Lady-Datejust is Rolex’s definition of time, with a perpetual movement and a timeless style, heir to the Datejust born in the 1930s. The appeal of the Lady-Datejust is certain with the variety of options available, making it one of Rolex’s most varied lines, yet staying true to the brand’s aesthetic codes. It is undoubtedly, the classic timepiece.
Watch collecting is not only about buying watches, but also about community and finding spaces to enjoy your watches, and those of your friends. This is hardly a new phenomenon, driven by market realities, and Sincere Fine Watches has been providing just such a space for collectors and their friends since 2005 at Sincere Haute Horlogerie (SHH) concept store in the Hilton (now Voco). A new chapter began recently with the opening of a new SHH dedicated space and concept store at Marina Bay Sands. This represents a new beginning for SHH, because it is now branded as such.
Sincere Fine Watches CEO Ong Ban tells us that the re-branding was a practical matter as SHH is simply easier on the tongue, or “a mouthful,” as he put it. He explained further that the new logo for SHH, designed by Theseus Chan of Work Pte Ltd, is based on the look of a mechanical watch as seen through the caseback. The idea for this came from Sincere Watch Limited General Manager Kate Lim Hui Ying. We will be bringing you the interview with Ong Ban soon, but first, an introduction about what SHH is.
SHH main hall.
The name-change is probably for the best since the independent watchmakers exclusive to SHH themselves sport tongue-twisting names such as Czapek & Cie and Louis Moinet. These two brands are actually exclusively with SHH, along with a mix of brands, some of which have been with SHH for some time. These are Angelus, Armin Strom, Arnold and Son, Chopard L.U.C, Corum, Cvstos, Ferdinand Berthoud, Greubel Forsey, Grönefeld, H. Moser & Cie., HYT, Jacob & Co., Lang & Heyne, Laurent Ferrier, Montblanc, Moritz Grossmann, and Parmigiani Fleurier. The 19 brands share an impressive and quite democratic space that includes a VIP area with its own bar. Interior Designer Peter Tay designed the whole thing, with an eye towards making it feel a little like a museum, rather than a typical watch store.
Greubel Forsey Double Balancier Convexe is a boutique exclusive at SHH.
At the official launch of the SHH space, Sincere Fine Watches revealed three exclusive SHH timepieces from Lang & Heyne, Greubel Forsey and Laurent Ferrier. These are the Laurent Ferrier Classic Origin, limited to 10 pieces, the Lang & Heyne Georg, limited to 12 pieces, and the Greubel Forsey Double Balancier Convexe, limited to six pieces. The Double Balancier Convexe is dressed in never-before-seen purple hues, including the tips of the hour and minute hands, the running seconds subdial, and the entire baseplate, besides the rubber strap. With the Classic Origin, Laurent Ferrier is presenting a unique opaline green dial with numerals in deep forest green. Lang & Heyne is going with a unique ceramic dial atop a royal blue givree-finished silvered baseplate. This dial adds contemporary flavour to what is otherwise a very fine classical work of horological finesse.
On the watch display in the boutique are several exclusive pieces to commemorate the opening.
We conclude for now with Ong’s own words from the press release on the launch of the SHH: “As a premier watch specialist, we understand well the art of fine-watchmaking since it is something that is deeply entrenched in our DNA. Because of this, we are proud to unveil the concept of SHH to watch collectors, since it is the highest expression of watch retail as it should be and as what we have always aspired to. With this new boutique concept, we hope to deliver to the sophisticated watch collector, an even higher level of enjoyment for the craft, passion and creativity of independent watchmaking.
In this trade, you know you have gone off the rails when you start talking as much as your subject. This is a real problem when one is doing an interview because one wants to hear what the other person has to say. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened in my interview with A. Lange & Söhne Director of Product Development Anthony de Haas at Watches & Wonders. The editorial team has spoken with de Haas many times over the 18 years he has been at the Glashütte brand. On this occasion I got fired up and lost the plot a little, for which I offer an unreserved apology, both to you, dear reader, and to de Haas. If you are reading this Mr de Haas, I blame the cacophony behind the A. Lange & Söhne booth!
To make amends, I can confirm that we will be speaking with A. Lange & Söhne CEO Wilhelm Schmid in Singapore soon, for a story that will run in our new Legacy issue. We do not normally engage with the same brand in the same way over multiple issues, although A. Lange & Söhne has always been gracious and generous about interview opportunities.
In any event, the conversation was actually rather animated and, hopefully, enlightening. Of course, one can always count on A. Lange & Söhne to bring the horological heat at watch fairs and the conversation revolved around the three highlights of the fair: the Richard Lange Minute Repeater, the Odysseus in titanium, and the Grand Lange 1. This is not to say that this will be the only story on these three novelties — we have a separate piece in this very issue on the aforementioned Odysseus, for example. Like Watches & Wonders Geneva itself, this story is a mere introduction. But before we get into that, a brief introduction about de Haas.
Anthony de Haas, Director of Product Development. Image: A. Lange & Söhne
Product development at A. Lange & Söhne is timepiece creation, essentially, so de Haas and his team dream up future watches here. “As Product Development Director, I do not only come up with products but also develop the parts that will feature in future timepieces. So everything will continue even if I’m not there,” said de Haas. This certainly applies to all three highlights in this story, because the story of the minute repeater begins with the A. Lange & Söhne Grand Complication in 2013, while the development narratives of the Odysseus and Grand Lange 1 go way beyond the first appearances of these models. In some ways, they go back to the very re-start of A. Lange & Söhne after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, with de Haas telling us that he envisioned a minute repeater from the start of his tenure at the brand. “I knew that we needed to one day have the knowledge to make a striking watch (even if Glashütte did not historically produce such watches), because that is what you need as a top (watchmaking) brand.”
Besides being a veteran at the Saxon brand, de Haas also worked with the late great Gunther Blümlein at IWC. He would work with him again at the revived A. Lange & Söhne but Blümlein also gave de Haas a hint about this future when he was on his way out to join Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi. In many ways, vision being only one of them, de Haas carries on the work of Blümlein — who is something of a legend — at A. Lange & Söhne.
Now, we have already begun to speak about the Richard Lange Minute Repeater so we will pick it up from here. Believe it or not, this is the first classical minute repeater from A. Lange & Söhne, and that requires an explanation. Following up on his own comments about striking watches, de Haas confirms that A. Lange & Söhne could have gone with a classical minute repeater — this means a chiming mechanism that sounds out the hours, quarters and minutes on demand — all the way back in 2013, then moved on to the other sorts of striking watches from the manufacture.
“But then, I guess collectors would just say ‘I’ll take the minute repeater’,” said de Haas, miming a sort of ho-hum shrug. This is clearly not how A. Lange & Söhne wanted to do things, and we do have to say that it makes for a nice story. That is to say, the new Richard Lange Minute Repeater has an interesting origin story that feels organic.
On that note, the story on striking watches at A. Lange & Söhne starts in 2011 with the Zeitwerk Striking Time, which we remember very well. Purists might object but that watch must be counted in the continuing saga of striking time at the Glashütte manufacture. Another point here is that the minute repeater itself is not new here, with the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater having debuted in 2015. That watch, and subsequent iterations and developments, had us convinced that a completely traditional minute repeater was out of the question for A. Lange & Söhne. Boy were we wrong!
“Now we have three watches, three repeaters with completely different systems. Who else has that? Most of the time they have one minute repeater movement and they put it in all minute repeater watches,” said de Haas. We shall leave the specifications for a later story, but we do want to go over a few salient points, one of which is the three-part enamel dial. Not exactly unprecedented at A. Lange & Söhne, which you might recall from the 1815 Thin or more accurately the Richard Lange Pour Le Mérite, this new dial was made in-house, which would have been a considerable undertaking. For his part, de Haas thinks this dial perfectly represents the classicism and painstaking attention to detail in the Richard Lange Minute Repeater.
These details represented the rabbit hole that this conversation went down, but we did come away with some interesting notes (no pun intended) on the watch as a result. For example, de Haas is critical of chiming watches that rush through sounding out the time. He was particularly keen to ensure that rhythm of the chiming was on point, neither too quick nor too “sleepy,” as he puts it. He also ensured that there are no awkward pauses, when the quarter is skipped (before the first quarter passes), while keeping it easy to tell the time just by listening to the chimes.
Image: A. Lange & Söhne
Typical chiming watches often offer a pause in place of the quarters when there are no quarters to sound, which is both a feature of the repeater mechanism and something to help people actually use the function as intended — to tell time in the dark. For a watch at this level, and given that A. Lange & Söhne’s theme this year is “devoted to the highest standards,” it is very appropriate that this sort of detail gets a bit of attention.
To close out on the minute repeater, the watchmakers at A. Lange & Söhne have also paid a lot of attention to the safety aspects, which are critical but frequently critically overlooked. With this watch, you cannot pull out the crown while the watch is chiming, nor activate the repeater while the crown is out. It seems a minor thing, but many brands do not bother with this level of caution. That is a shame because the greatest hazard a chiming watch faces is its owner!
Grand Lange 1
Grand Lange 1 in white gold. Image: A. Lange & Söhne
Moving now to the Grand Lange 1, this watch offers some impressively unexpected specifications, including the fact that it is the thinnest version of this model ever made, at 8.2mm. It certainly wears quite slim, although we did not have the previous Grand Lange 1 on hand to compare and find out if it feels slimmer. So, there must be a new movement in place no? Well, no. The specifications contradict our expectations because good old L095.1 remains in play — this movement has been used for the 41mm Grand Lange 1 since at least 2013.
“I prefer to have people say ‘Wow! What is this?’…the fun thing for us, or what we at least try to do is to create surprises. I think for most collectors and also journalists, and for us also, that the SIHH or Watches & Wonders today is kind of like Christmas. It’s all about pleasure,” said de Haas. It was certainly with pleasure that the movement debuted for the Grand Lange 1, especially since de Haas is plenty critical of watches that use calibres that are too small for the case, a point he revisits in this chat.
Grand Lange 1 in pink gold. Image: A. Lange & Söhne
The current Grand Lange 1 achieves its reduced profile thanks to enhancements in the case structure, namely in the sapphire crystal over the dial. It now looks for all the world like the dial is open to the world, which is a neat effect. There are two versions of the Grand Lange 1, in white gold and rose gold, as seen here.
Finally, the Odysseus in titanium, which is as far removed from the steel and gold versions as can be. The movement remains the same, of course, but the dial and the finishing of the case and bracelet are quite different. This feels quite fitting for a watch that has divided connoisseurs and given the A. Lange & Söhne team some shocks, which de Haas recalls with a fair amount of dismay. “Look what happened to the Odysseus in steel, which I hear there is a three-year waiting list! I know people say that we are playing with that… restricting access…and that’s true because we had a bad experience (at the start),” said de Haas.
Here de Haas is referring of course to the Phillips auction that saw a brand new Odysseus in steel sell for something like three times its retail price. “That’s sick! For a watch that is still in production, how is that healthy? You know, I have nothing against people selling their watches, like maybe a collector sells his Tourbillon Pour Le Merite (out of production now for at least a decade) at an auction and getting (top dollar). I feel honoured when (a result like that) happens.”
The new titanium version of the Odysseus solves one problem for A. Lange & Söhne in that it is neither a steel model nor one in a precious metal. It is also a proper limited edition with only 300 to be made, which is unusual for the brand. Typically, A. Lange & Söhne core collection pieces are limited by production, not by a set figure. This may lean into the crazy collectibility of the Odysseus and represent a response to the aforementioned initial experience with the watch in steel, as well as the extended wait time for that watch.
For now, we close out this story with a note about why people buy watches in the first place, which as de Haas notes, is primarily about fun and pleasure.
“Our watches are for collectors; for people who know A. Lange & Söhne and want to wear an A. Lange & Söhne, and are comfortable wearing it. I think nobody’s going to buy a Lange, in general, to show off. We are a collector’s brand,” said de Haas. He is referring to the fact that most people do not know what A. Lange & Söhne is, much less how to spell it or say it. If you expect your peers to be impressed by the Zeitwerk you are rocking, they have to first know what A. Lange & Söhne is, and be able to recognise any given watch from the brand. “If people want to show that they are rich and successful, they do not do it with an A. Lange & Söhne watch,” said de Haas. Fitting words to end on.
Panerai’s showing at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2022 carries on from where the watchmaker left off the year before as they reaffirm their commitments to sustainable watchmaking. After revealing the Panerai Submersible eLAB-ID concept watch and the introduction of its recycled steel alloy known as eSteel last year, Panerai is firing on all cylinders as it launches the Submersible QuarantaQuattro eSteel and made a proud declaration to move its production from regular steel to eSteel by 2025. WOW’s Contributing Editor, Asaph Low caught up with Alessandro Ficarelli, Chief Marketing Officer of Panerai, who shares his views about eSteel, the importance of communication with clients and the motivation behind Panerai’s new partnership with Watchfinder & Co.
First off, congratulations on the amazing novelties. Which collection do you personally like the most?
It’s like asking who is my favourite child you know but jokes aside, I’m wearing the Submersible Luna Rossa which I love as we speak. The Submersible is one of my favourites, the Carbotech (PAM01232) if not the Bianco version (PAM01226). Its (PAM01226) combination with the green strap reminds me of summer!
Sustainable watchmaking is Panerai’s direction moving forward. How will Panerai communicate this effectively and accurately to clients?
Submersible QuarantaQuattro Steel
We are upgrading our website to have the sustainability pages on the landing page. Roughly two years ago we removed the instruction leaflets, this year we are presenting a new packaging box made from recycled materials. Products are just the tip of the iceberg of what you see, it’s also communicating processes, people, the building as well as ambassadors such as Mike Horn. Our sustainable or Ecologico framework as we call it internally extends from the organisation to our subsidiaries.
What are some challenges Panerai faced when working with Steel?
We started first with the EcoTitanium with Mike Horn a few years ago and we realised we’re able to manufacture and machine some recycled titanium. The challenges of eSteel are having to rework, purify and add the same quality standards as regular steel. The purer steel gets, the harder it is to machine with our tools as the machining heads get damaged easily. The number of rejects rate is quite high but we are improving along the way. We are declaring by 2025, we will move all the production of standard steel to eSteel which is made from 95 per cent recycled steel.
When Panerai is planning for new products, how do you guys strike a balance between listening to the customer’s needs and wants versus pushing the brand’s vision?
Image: Panerai
This is a very good question. When we present sustainable products, the new generation is asking why we didn’t do it before? We listen to our customers. The Submersible QuarantaQuattro is the result of the client-centric philosophy of Panerai. We are getting more feedback, data, and information than ever before about what our customers want or are looking for through our boutiques and digital presence. Also, we need to respect the DNA and aesthetic codes of Panerai, so we create evolutions and even reduce the average size. We have the 38mm Luminor Due now and are communicating directly with ladies which in the past didn’t exist. Even if Panerai’s history is about masculine watches or instruments made for the Italian Navy, in the end, we have the brand stretch to reach out to clients who are attracted by the Italian side of the brand, the Italian lifestyle and the mix of Italian and Swiss watchmaking luxury.
The Paneristi is one of the most renowned watch communities, how does Panerai continue to engage this group and more importantly reach out to new customer bases?
Just this morning I had a meeting with the gentleman who created Paneristi 21 years ago and an Italian Paneristi reached out to me during my commute. Now we are more client-centric and it’s reflected in our availability via email, Whatsapp or other social media platforms. Our CEO Jean-Marc Pontroue brought about this new philosophy too and answers everyone because we have nothing to hide and with this transparency, we can talk openly. We accept the feedback from clients, we listen, listening is key and we do our best to build the brand and develop our objectives.
What is the motivation behind the new initiative with Watchfinder & Co.?
Submersible S Blue Shadow Brabus Edition
Everyone realised in recent years the secondhand market is growing, especially the guys behind Watchfinder & Co. It’s about participating in the secondhand market to know your customers, the data and insights we get from it are invaluable. If a customer sells a Panerai, what do they buy? Is it a new Panerai or another brand? Also, it meets our objectives of sustainability as we give a second life to the watches. A customer can sell his Panerai for new watches which we offer to Watchfinder’s London, Geneva and Paris boutiques. Sustainability is not only about recycling material but activating the secondary economy and trading is one of those activities.
Panerai is working on many exciting collaborations, the most recent being with Brabus. What are certain considerations Panerai takes when it comes to picking the right organisations to work with?
In the instance of Brabus, we both shared an objective to reduce the environmental impact and came together with ideas and solutions. The Submersible Brabus Edition is based on the Brabus Shadow 900. Our main partner is with Luna Rossa for the America’s Cup, about sailing and performance, so we thought we could have something similar with Brabus and their speedboats. Along the way, we realised we have many shared clients who like Brabus and Panerai, and they want something unique.
The art of architecture is built into the DNA of Mido timepieces. They look to monuments that stand the test of time, and adapt their indelible forms for the wrist. The circular geometry of the Colosseum. The graceful petals of the ArtScience Museum. The steel suspensions of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The lattermost, with its proud arch constructed of 40,000 tonnes of metal and six million rivets, captivated the world with its ambition and inspired the design of a contemporary from the 1930s, the Multifort wristwatch.
Characterised by vertical Geneva striping on the dial that brings to mind the sturdy suspension cables of “The Coathanger”, the Multifort was Mido’s first automatic, antimagnetic, shock-resistant and water-resistant timepiece. These fundamental attributes allowed the line to enjoy exceptional popularity and longevity for more than 85 years. Today, the Multifort Skeleton Vertigo elevates its style with an open construction on the front that exposes the high performance mechanism behind the timepiece.
Skeletonisation turns the ordinary into extraordinary, while blending classical and contemporary aesthetics. On the Multifort Skeleton Vertigo, the central section of the signature Geneva stripes is stripped away to provide a dizzying view of gears, springs, bridge plates and other inner intricacies. Yet, the dial remains wholly legible, coated in an intense shade of anthracite and punctuated by large faceted indexes that slope towards a central minutes track in relief. The hour and minute hands are likewise faceted and float alongside a flat diamond-cut second hand.
Of course, a watch that dares to bare must have something worth seeing. The Multifort Skeleton Vertigo is powered by Mido’s flagship Calibre 80, which offers a generous power reserve of up to 80 hours and COSC chronometer certification. Additionally, it is equipped with a Nivachron balance spring, which reduces the effects of magnetic fields on timekeeping and provides excellent shock and wear resistance. The automatic movement is decorated with familiar Geneva striping on its skeletonised movement plate and oscillating weight.
The version featured here is the steel one with matching bracelet, but there are other variants, including one with rose-gold plated elements. There is also a version that is more emblematic of the brand’s daring, in black PVD with black fabric strap and Mido orange accents.
