When it comes to its Tonda PF line, Parmigiani Fleurier displays an apparent desire to keep things clean, which we think must have motivated the creation of the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante. As we noted briefly on LUXUO, the rattrapante function here relates to how the hand indicating the second time zone behaves, not the presence of a chronograph. We will say at the outset that this may be the ultimate watch for the connoisseur who wants an objectively special watch that is also stealthy. That is a big claim, we know, but we can easily back it up.
First of all, one look at the watch and you can see that there is no flyback chronograph to be found here. It is not hiding in plain sight or anything like that. This is a fuss-free two-time zone watch, with the additional function of being on-demand. Using the pusher at 8 o’clock moves the white gold hour hand forward by one hour, while revealing a second hour hand in red gold. This red gold hand will remain tied to home time while the white gold hand now indicates local time; using the pusher at 3 o’clock gets the white gold hand gliding across the dial to once again take its position over the red gold hand, where both then move forward as normal. In practice, we think this works best when trying to manage times in two countries or time zones for short periods, from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave.
In the press presentation in Geneva, Parmigiani Fleurier called this watch a first for fine watchmaking, and while we can think of one example that works similarly (more on that in our overall story on Watches & Wonders) it does not do the same thing. Splitting hairs here is pointless because the Fleurier manufacture has delivered a unique watch, in its own way. Because the complication here is only active when called upon, it is indeed a stealth option. When in action, it looks for all the world like a regular two-time zone watch, strengthening the stealth credentials. The only thing that gives it away is that provocative pusher at 8 o’clock, which from a design standpoint adds a ferocious amount of asymmetrical wrist-presence. Well, with a dress shirt or jacket, the pusher on this 10.7mm watch will effectively be invisible, but we digress.
Image: Parmigiani Fleurier
As with the regular Tonda PF, the dial is decorated with fine grain d’orge guilloche. The rose gold hand is matched on the case by the rose gold pusher on the crown. That is the pusher that syncs up the hour hands once the need to track two time zones has passed.
Movement: Automatic calibre PF051 with on-demand second time zone, with flyback function; 48-hour power reserve Case: 40mm in steel with platinum bezel; Water-resistant to 60m Strap: Steel bracelet Price: CHF 26,000
“I think what works about a collaboration like this is that it allows the watch brand to really go officially off-piste with its design,” says Tej Chauhan, the industrial designer behind everything from cutlery to hair-dryers, and one of five selected to produce their take on Rado’s True Square watch. “And I wanted a design that made people say ‘f*** me, what’s that?!’, to pay attention and get talking. There wasn’t any point if the resulting watch wasn’t different. It would just be another watch otherwise.”
That certainly cannot be said for Chauhan’s design, with its 1960s sci-fi inflections and, most strikingly of all, the fact that the case and padded leather strap are in a brighter shade of yellow. That almost did not come off — up to the wire it looked as though Rado’s engineers just could not make that bold shade without imperfections. But the result? The brand’s ecomm best-seller in the US — it is also reportedly the most popular of this series in Singapore. “Maybe that makes for room for Rado to do other watches in a similar vein,” says Chauhan.
It is the kind of collaborative success that — measured in excitement, if nothing else — has echoes back through watchmaking history over the second half of the 20th century and beyond. Many of the most innovative and/or memorable watches have been the result of work not by watch designers who have only ever designed watches — sometimes having worked their way up through the echelons of a single company — but of industrial designers versed in applying processes of ideation and a broad appreciation of materials and function turning their consideration to what a watch could be, aesthetically and functionally. Many of their new ideas would be borrowed by the more conventional, historical industry at large. Many of the watches would be called icons.
For example, Movado’s Museum Watch, with its single golden “sun” at the 12 o’clock position, was designed by the Russian-American designer Nathan George Horwitt (initially for Vacheron Constantin), and Hamilton’s Ventura by the space-age industrial designer Richard Arbib. Max Bill, the Swiss architect and artist, began a long relationship with Junghans which started in 1956 — the German company is still making his minimalistic designs, the likes of the Chronoscope, today. And the French watch manufacturer LIP effectively established its signature look — asymmetric cases and big, colourful pushers — through its work with the industrial designer Roger Tallon, who also designed projectors for Kodak and TGV high-speed trains for France. His Mach 2000 gave the mechanical watch a pop aesthetic that rescued it from high seriousness.
A recent iteration of the iconic Movado Museum Watch. Image: Movado
There are many more examples too. Giorgetto Giugiaro, the car designer behind the Maserati Ghibli, the VW Golf and the DeLorean of “Back to the Future” fame, as well as cameras for Nikon and firearms for Beretta, also designed a number of distinctively asymmetrical Speedmasters for Seiko, considered so futuristic it is what Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley wears in “Alien”. Post-modernist architect Michael Graves designed a number of watches for, tellingly, the likes of Pierre Junod — a company that has made a speciality of collaborating with young designers — and Alessi, which is not known for watches at all. Think too of Pierre Cardin, Dieter Rams or Jacob Jensen.
Indeed, each decade seems to have its industrial designer watch moment. In 1994, multi-disciplinary designer Marc Newson — who learned how to design watches hands-on, coming up with his first watch aged 23 and then making 100 of them himself — co-founded the Ikepod brand, which led to the likes of the Hemipode, with its pebble-like case and integrated strap. Meanwhile in 2010 Hermès commissioned the architect Marc Berthier – best known for his rubber-wrapped Tykho radio for Lexon — to create the limited edition Carre H, with its rounded square titanium case.
And all with good reason. “Watch brands often say their focus is on making extraordinary movements — and they are amazing — but often it can seem that nobody outside of their industry is showing them what else might be possible [with their designs],” says Vincent Fourdrinier, one-time designer of cars for the likes of Peugeot and Mitsubishi, and latterly of watches for the likes of Guy Ellia and Christophe Claret, including of pioneering uses of carbon fibre and sapphire crystal. He is just about to launch an exercise machine for sedentary desk jockeys.
“The fact is that the watch industry can be afraid of change — newness for many makers is just the same model in a new colour,” he chuckles. “So it sometimes turns to industrial designers to help it embrace genuinely new ideas, to help move everything forward. But it’s a slow process. Just look at how the industry laughed at the idea of the Apple watch. And how that now sells in numbers greater than the entire Swiss industry put together…”
Acclaimed British product designer Ross Lovegrove agrees. He is the man behind the HU “anatomical” watch for Issey Miyake and who was, for six years, the chief design officer of TAG Heuer, for which he designed the flippable analogue/digital Monaco 69, and a super-light, clasp-less golf watch (which he first declined to do on the basis that a golf watch “is the last thing you actually need when playing golf — it actually just gets in the way”)
Classics in watchmaking function like the Porsche 911, evolving rather than shifting gears dramatically. Image: Porsche
“When I first started working with TAG Heuer they looked at my concepts and told me that ‘you clearly have no idea how to design watches’,” he laughs — Lovegrove instead designed award-winning pens and eyewear for the brand. “So suddenly they said ‘why don’t you design our watches?’… As with chairs and lamps, I think most industrial designers want to have a go at mechanical watches too. It’s just that there are so many contradictions in their designs, something ludicrous about the ambition towards precision and performance. In the end all that calibration is about an excellence in jewellery really, because take that away and you have a Swatch. Yet it’s because I’m not a nerdy watch guy that I felt I could respond to that.”
Not that industrial designers do not often find attempting to design a watch challenging — considering how its look and function need to be in synch, how it has to be comfortable to wear and easy to use, and so on. Indeed, over recent decades other design superstars, from Phillipe Starck to Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid, have all taken a crack at designing watches, not all of which have made it into production, even fewer of which have managed to cross the seeming divide between the worlds of capital D design and of horology.
“When you look at the history of watchmaking not many people from outside of the industry have had an influence on watch design, and, in fact, not many designers outside of the industry have been particularly successful with a design either,” argues Christian-Louis Col, Ikepod’s owner. “You really need to appreciate the fine technical issues, the construction, and a vast majority of designs by non-watch designers tend to be unfeasible.”
Image: Rado
It is why Xavier Perrenoud, founder of the watch design studio XJC, describes watches as — atypically for most products “a mixture of technology and ancient culture — a talismanic object that is worn close to the body. [And that] requires a great knowledge of proportions and ergonomics.” Each time he designs a watch he is working, he says, with “the different craftsmanship processes of another brand culture”.
Certainly Eric Giroud agrees that, because of this unusual mix of material and mythology, watch design can be harder than it looks. Giroud — the man behind many watches, from the avantgarde for MB&F, to more traditional looks for the likes of Vacheron Constantin and Tissot, among others — started out designing everything from lamps to mobile phones before the design agency at which he worked was tasked with designing a watch. He took the project on because nobody else wanted to.
A Maurice De Mauriac dive watch designed by Fabian Schwaerzler.
“Dealing with a watch that’s already regarded as an icon is particularly difficult,” he explains. “Of course, some brands are lucky to have such a great design to start with — like Porsche does with the 911, for example — but that also makes them very much more mindful of the matter of legacy over the design work. These designs become stuck in evolution, rather than revolution. And it’s a fascinating nightmare to find the right way of moving such designs on. But you have to remember that the watch industry is very particular about its ways and the meaning of its products. It takes a long time to really appreciate that.”
“All the same, it’s not just a coincidence that many of the most striking watch designs [of recent times] have come from industrial designers, I think because they necessarily have a more open mind to design possibilities,” suggests Giroud, who contends that the shyness with which major brands employ designers from other disciplines — there is often a reluctance to even publicly admit that they do — is “to close themselves off from another point of view, one which can result in some very cool products. The fact is that [external] designers or artists haven’t been stuck in the culture of one brand for years.”
“The vast majority of watch companies have internal design teams — occasionally asking externally for ideas — and so inevitably they’re influenced by the world in which they work. And that can be limiting, with regards to considerations regarding construction or costs for instance,” agrees Col. “In the end it’s creativity that suffers.”
And there lies a debate in itself — is understanding the process of watch creation what makes for a successful commercial watch, or is not being so intimate with them, as industrial designers typically find themselves, what allows them to be readier to break the rules and drive watch design in new directions?
A Charles Zuber Perfos Classic designed by Eric Giroud.
“Professional watch designers within the watch industry have a much broader horizon of what is possible and feasible in the design process and production of the company. So I would say the really longterm, groundbreaking designs are made by them,” argues the product designer Fabian Schwaerzler, who has designed watches for Maurice De Mauriac. “But this process takes time and it doesn’t always look innovative at first glance. Then there are the career changers — they are actually less professional, but they can think outside the box. This can lead to very interesting new approaches. Mechanical watches are almost perfect instruments, but [for example] technology is progressing and opening up completely new possibilities.”
The watch industry — never one to make stars of its own designers — is, naturally, not always open to having its conventions questioned. “You know, it’s very difficult to knock on the door of a prominent company and say ‘this is what I propose you do’! It’s very pretentious. It’s a delicate situation and you will never be recognised for your talent,” as Gerald Genta, arguably the world’s most acclaimed specialist watch designer once put it. “When he started his work he was going round the different factories with his designs and was even asked ‘yes, but do watches need designers?’,” as his wife Evelyn Genta recalled in 2013.
Jump forward half a century and perhaps not much has changed. Thomas Hohnel, the industrial design-trained senior product designer for Nomos Glashütte, stresses that for many of the more historic names in watchmaking, it is simply that the emphasis remains on calibres and craftsmanship, and on following certain rules that have a solid track record in what is, after all, a specialist market.
“It’s heritage first, design second. And obviously this runs counter to the mentality of industrial designers to research and develop new ideas and push materials technology in ways that are adaptable to all kinds of topics,” he says. But, he adds, there’s space to flip this too: Nomos, which runs its design department out of Berlin — in another city from manufacturing, all the better to tap metropolitan design talent and the spirit of the Deutsche Werkbund — underscores its need to “make a contemporary statement [with its products] and be seen to be relevant to today”.
It is why Nomos also looks for inspiration from the likes of design agency Studio Aisslinger — with everything from chairs to restaurant design in its remit; and why it commissioned the likes of architect and furniture designer Hannes Wettstein to design a number of watches, including a deeply intuitive GMT model that, by way of a simple, unobtrusive red indicator, allows the wearer to track the time back home.
Yet, inevitably, this is not a discussion without its controversy. Not everyone is convinced that the watch industry’s occasional recourse to designers from other disciplines is necessarily well intended. Benoit Mintiens has, in his time, designed prams, trains and aircraft cabin interiors, and was inspired to launch his brand Ressence after a dispiriting visit to the Baselworld watch trade fair “at which it seemed everybody was just doing the same thing,” he recalls. He laments that the so-called Quartz crisis of the late 1960s — when the mechanical watch-making industry suddenly found its product outmoded and seemingly out-dated — “saw the importance and relevance of progressive products in the watch industry sidelined in favour of branding”.
The RJ Romain Jerome Spacecraft.
“That’s fine,” he adds, “because most people buy a mechanical watch for the brand, for the reassurance of status — although it must be intensely frustrating for [in-house] watch designers when they’re essentially asked to dress a watch and not get to the core of the physical design, the aesthetic of which is just a result of rethinking how the whole concept. Watch manufacturers don’t have to devise especially original or progressive products because the customer doesn’t typically want that. It’s why watches that do rethink the whole concept tend to stand out as they do throughout watchmaking history.”
Image: Monaco Legend Auctions
“I’m not convinced that many companies’ use of external [industrial] designers demonstrates a change of approach either. To me they seem to use them as they might Brad Pitt or those half naked girls they used to put next to cars at auto shows — to talk up their super boring products,” laughs Mintiens.
Yet might the global reach and customer access of the Internet — and the many independent watch brands that it has afforded over recent years — bring about a new era in more progressive watch design? Might the era of the 1960s and 70s — “ahead of the Quartz crisis, when watchmaking was at the forefront of innovation, of micro-technology, in precision in time-keeping tools,” as Mintiens puts it — be revisited in the 2020s and 2030s? He argues that there is a growing, if niche, number of increasingly design-literate customers who do seek to put the product first — “its ergonomics, its ideas, something that belongs to the present”.
“So what’s key is that if we need new ideas, we keep turning to new designers,” stresses Ikepod’s Col. “And we’re happy to make these designers the stars too because that only encourages creativity. And that’s crucial — a market for ‘strong’ design may seem niche now, but the fact is that increasingly young people don’t want to wear the same watch as their fathers. They want to see something properly new.”
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.
Mido has been associated with architecture for 20 years now, and this has given 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. Writing this post from the Eiffel Tower itself, it is impossible not to draw an explicit link, but we shall say no more for now.
Image: Mido
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.
Movement: Automatic calibre 80 Si with date; 80-hour power reserve (Max.) Case: 43.5mm in DLC steel; water-resistant to 600m Strap: DLC steel with additional rubber strap Price: S$2,700
Watchmakers present their credentials in a few ways, and accolades are just one. Some display observatory awards denoting a legacy of accuracy. Still others summon up an array of patents reflecting the spirit of innovation and creativity marking their manufactures. A lucky few get to demonstrate both with hundreds of years of history. Bulgari decided to create its own legacy, and to do it in a way that no other brand had done. The result today is the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra, the world’s thinnest mechanical watch at 1.80 mm thick, caseback to sapphire crystal top. Such a watch does not appear overnight though…
In 2012, Bulgari built the foundation for this monumental achievement with the Octo L’Originale, and delivered the ground floor in 2014 with the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Manual. This tourbillon wristwatch boasted the thinnest manual-winding flying tourbillon movement in the world at just 1.95 mm thick. What set the brand apart was that it set out to break its own record — and establish new standards that surpassed all that had gone before. Of course, Bulgari was in that healthiest and most inspirational adventure — to do something only it could do, and then top itself.
Bulgari’s horological adventure since 2012 can be summed with a few numbers: ten years, eight world records, more than 60 international awards, and eight patents. And the Octo Finissimo story is far from over, having now entered a new dimension, as Bulgari puts it. Coincidentally, the Octo obviously shares key characteristics with these numbers, being eight-sided and having plenty of distinguishing aesthetic features along the same lines, including the inner flange of the watch.
While the numbers are impressive, symbolically and otherwise, they serve only as shorthand. The story of the Octo Finissimmo is filled with character and passion — it takes courage to commit to a single course in watchmaking. Having created the world’s thinnest mechanical automatic watch movement in 2017 with the Octo Finissimo Automatic, Bulgari wanted to push it even further. Think of it as a sprinter trying to shave fractions of a second from his or her own record.
“Can we do it? No sooner was the question asked three years ago than our teams answered: how are we going to do it?” said Antoine Pin, Managing Director of the Bulgari Watch Division, as he recalls the development process of the Octo Finissimo Ultra. “This ability to meet challenges is embedded in the brand’s DNA. As for the word ‘ultra’, it expresses this desire to go beyond the limits, to play with extremes, an idea that we love in-house!”
Making a watch that is 1.80 mm thick — a measure close to the thickness of paper, and certainly thinner than all existing mechanical calibres — requires more than mastering the techniques of miniaturisation according to Bulgari Product Creation Executive Director Fabrizio Bounamassa Stigliani. For a little context here, the Ultra watch is slimmer than all the record-breaking Bulgari ultra-thin movements.
“To achieve this degree of thinness, you not only have to challenge your way of thinking, but at the same time draw upon a wide range of skills, play with multiple materials and adapt to a multitude of new constraints. In this sense, the Octo Finissimo Ultra is unquestionably the ultimate complication in this vast field of possibilities represented by ultra-miniaturization,” said Stigliani.
Understandably, the arrival of the Ultra this year was greeted with great fanfare, with an international debut at the Pantheon at the Piazza della Rotonda, Rome. Once again, numbers played a key role, the number “8” in particular. This makes the Pantheon the perfect setting for a celebration of the Bulgari Octo, thanks to the configuration of the Roman landmark’s Corinthian columns (eight in the first position, followed by two groups of four behind). As a quick aside, an exhibition on the octagon shape, which is deeply important to Bulgari, is ongoing at the brand’s historic boutique on Via Dei Condotti. Returning to the recent festivities, the facade of the Pantheon served as a natural screen for an ambitious and unprecedented art project, put together at the behest of Bulgari for the occasion of the 10th anniversary.
The screening of Temple of Light_Ultra at Pantheon bookended the festivities, and consisted of the entire history of Italian architecture and art, rendered in digital form, and given substance by light. The artwork itself was a real time execution by Istanbul-based Ouchhh, a creative multidisciplinary hub, curated by Reasoned Art. This thematic link between the past and the future, between tradition and innovation, is di rigore for watchmaking, with Bulgari in the vanguard of pushing boundaries.
No celebration can do without music, and this was supplied by a live performance of the orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, which added the necessary human element. Of course, the connections with the number eight continued. On stage, the 8 + 8 Percussion Ensemble of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia — Alta Formazione led by Edoardo Giachino gave a breathtaking concert notably demonstrating exceptional percussion mastery.
Image: Bulgari
Once again, there was a visual component enabled by machine learning and artificial intelligence, linked directly with the performance; viscerally linked, in fact. The brain waves of the conductor served to create the visuals, thanks to data collected live from an EEG headset worn by the conductor. The Pantheon once more functioned as the screen (as seen above).
“This fabulous landmark that we are setting today with the Octo Finissimo Ultra is in fact — for me and all the teams – the fulfilment of a dream. One which now guarantees that Bulgari will forever be acknowledged as having written some of the finest chapters in Swiss watchmaking. And the fact that the Maison is Italian makes us particularly proud”, said Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO Bulgari.
Our relationship with time is deeply personal — visceral even. Of course, the very cells in our bodies respond to the passage of time and, at the level of our conscious minds, time provides meaning to our lives. Sometimes, meaning can enter the picture in the form of our relationships with other people — this is where very special watches enter into it. This year happens to be the 50th anniversary of Cortina Watch, but it will actually be 66 years since the respective families behind Patek Philippe and the retailer started on their journey together. To mark this occasion, Patek Philippe has created a special watch, Ref. 5057G-010 along with a unique clock, Ref. 20145M-001 “Singapore Skyline”. Of course, this is all about history, so Ref. 5057 might seem familiar.
Patek Philippe Honorary President Philippe Stern proposed a special watch to Cortina Watch founder Anthony Lim for the retailer’s 25th anniversary, and it was Ref. 5057. We have reported on this watch and how it came about, and the relationship between the Stern and Lim families in an extensive story in 2019. Only 100 pieces of the Patek Philippe Cortina Jubilee 5057R 18K Rose Gold Limited Edition Automatic were made, and this reference boasted a moon phase display, date and power reserve indication alongside a small seconds subdial. Uniquely, it is distinguished as a watch that began as a special creation, but remained in the Patek Philippe offering, in one way or another since its debut 25 years ago.
Introducing Patek Philippe Ref. 5057G-010
A new Patek Philippe Ref. 5057G-010 in white gold has been made specially for the Golden Jubilee celebrations. It features the same triple row guilloched “Clous de Paris” hobnail bezel as the first model created for Cortina Watch back in 1997, and is the same size, at 36mm. This time, the watch features a charcoal grey sunburst dial with a blackgradient rim, white transfer-printed Roman numerals and white gold, pear-shaped hands. Powered by the Calibre 240 PS IRM C LU, the watch has indications for the date, moon phases and power reserve on two subdials. There is also a small seconds display between the four and five o’clock position. This is an ultra-thin, automatic movement with 48 hours (maximum) of power reserve. Interestingly, this calibre is quite rare, being used in only one other reference that we know of, the Nautilus Ref. 5712, which the story on WatchesbySJX supports. The transparent sapphire caseback features the commemorative inscription “Cortina Watch 50th Anniversary Since 1972”. The watch is a limited edition of just 100 pieces.
The size of the watch and the hobnail bezel are highly distinctive characteristics, with Calibre 240 PS arguably benefitting from the more conservative proportions. Of course, the movement features all the signature technical upgrades that mark all current production Patek Philippe, even if the case and dial are throwbacks. This includes the Gyromax balance and the Spiromax hairspring, and quite possibly ceramic ball bearings in the winding system. This concern for how the heart of the watch performs also speaks to Patek Philippe’s relationship with a key partner such as Cortina Watch, which was the brand’s first authorised Singapore retailer all the way back in 1978.
Stored Value
This was a difficult time for Patek Philippe as it weathered the Quartz Crisis, and a key moment for the fledgling Cortina Watch, which opened its first store just six years earlier at Colombo Court. Both family-owned businesses doubled down on mechanical watches, staking their futures on quality rather than the ephemeral performance of quantity. If nothing else, Cortina Watch and Patek Philippe proved in the 1970s and 80s that patient and steadfast commitment to the values of fine watchmaking would pay off handsomely. Speaking of which, the values of traditional watchmaking are best represented in super-sized form…
Patek Philippe’s unique dome table clock comes in Grand Feu cloisonné enamel for the 50th anniversary celebration. This Ref. 20145M-001 “Singapore Skyline” showcases Singapore’s picturesque urban garden environment, from the Merlion to the Central Business District, Gardens by the Bay, the Esplanade, and Marina Bay Sands, where the second Patek Philippe boutique was opened in Singapore by Cortina Watch.
To bring to life the depictions of the city skyline and its recognizable landmarks, Patek Philippe shaped by hand a total of 9.2m of gold wire with a cross section of just 0.2mm x 0.6mm. A palette of 50 enamel colours was used and each enamelled plate required 10 to 14 firings at temperatures between 890º and 910º Celsius. Fifty gold stars and fireworks, made from gold and silver dust, light up the skyline. Apart from the other intricate details and embellishments, also present is the subtle engraving of “Cortina Watch — 50th Anniversary — Since 1972”. The clock is powered by the Calibre 17’’’ PEND mechanical movement, which is wound up by an electric motor.
Celebrating the strong partnership that spans five decades, Cortina Watch and Patek Philippe will co-host an exhibition to present the limited edition Ref. 5057G-010 and Ref. 20145M-001 “Singapore Skyline” dome table clock, together with the Ref. 5057R-001 25th anniversary model. Also included is Cortina Watch’s collection of several other unique Patek Philippe creations, such as Ref. 1677M “Esplanade”, created for Singapore’s Golden Jubilee in 2015; Ref. 20094M-001 “Bay of Singapore”, created for the Patek Philippe Watch Art Grand Exhibition, hosted in Singapore in 2019; Ref. 20040M-001 “Twilight Taipei”, created to commemorate the first Patek Philippe boutique established in the city’s most famous skyscraper.
To view these precious timepieces along with the other aforementioned exhibits, one can visit the travelling exhibition which shall be held at the Patek Philippe boutiques across the region. The tour begins at ION Orchard and Marina Bay Sands and subsequently moves to Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia before heading back to Singapore towards the end of 2022.
You can come to grips with this story in person, perhaps at the Patek Philippe boutique managed by Cortina Watch at ION Orchard. That store opened in 2009, and expanded to become the largest Patek Philippe boutique in Southeast Asia in 2016, at 265.48 square metres. This happened during a minor downturn in the fortunes of watch brands overall, but both Patek Philippe and Cortina Watch remained bullish. We will be turning our sights to key Patek Philippe boutiques in the region in a future article, mainly because Asia’s largest such store is also managed by Cortina Watch, in Taipei, Taiwan.
“Patek Philippe and Cortina Watch share an intertwined relationship in Asia, from the establishment of the Patek Philippe boutiques across Southeast and East Asia, to our shared passion for fine watchmaking and craftsmanship. Not only have I personally experienced this through the generous friendship of Mr. Thierry Stern and Mr. Philippe Stern, so have many of our clients who have had the privilege of visiting the manufacture. We have retained the aesthetic codes of the 25th anniversary Calatrava, launched in 1997, for the 50th anniversary limited edition. This is in homage to the past and present leaders of both companies who have nurtured our longstanding partnership. I hope that it will continue to strengthen over the next 50 years, and with the next generations after us.” — Jeremy Lim, CEO of Cortina Watch.
“The friendship between my grandfather, father and Mr. Anthony Lim started over 66 years ago and it still stands strong today, much like the relationship between Patek Philippe & Cortina Watch. This is a unique and precious relationship that truly transcends generations, and I am proud to be part of this very special celebration and to present the Ref. 20145M-001 “Singapore Skyline” Dome Table Clock to Mr. Anthony Lim on behalf of my father. We look forward to another 50 years of great partnership and for our next generations to keep this friendship going.” — Thierry Stern, President of Patek Philippe.
Happy Times
Of course, Cortina Watch has built a number of meaningful partnerships over the course of its history. Another watchmaking family that has a special relationship with Cortina Watch is the Scheufeles of Chopard. Like Cortina Watch, the watchmaker and jeweller is a family affair, and a recent reminder of this was the Happy Sport — Tale of an Icon exhibition. Organised by Cortina Watch and Chopard, this public showcase held at Paragon displayed the links between the two organisations and families, which goes back to 1992. That year will ring some bells for those familiar with the Chopard Happy Sport, which debuted in 1993.
The exhibition served as a reminder of the 30 years of history between Chopard and Cortina Watch, as well as 29 years of the Happy Sport model. We were struck by the inclusion of the original inspiration for the watch, the Happy Diamonds watch of 1976 (a creation of in-house designer Ronald Kurowski, and frequently misattributed to Gerald Genta), which was brought in from Geneva. Of course, Chopard Co-President Caroline Scheufele riffed off this to come up with her own design, the 1993 Happy Sport watch; arguably the Happy Sport design story eclipses that of the Happy Diamonds, perhaps because the latter is no longer a square model.
As seen here, the final part of the exhibition is a message to Cortina Watch from Caroline’s brother and Chopard Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and his wife. This is also where two special editions for the 50th anniversary come into the picture, the Happy Hearts Cortina 50th Anniversary and the Happy Moon Cortina 50th Anniversary. The Happy Hearts watch is an automatic 36mm limited edition in steel of 50 pieces, bearing all the codes of the Happy Sport.
Nett proceeds from sales of this limited edition will benefit the Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF). The Happy Moon watch, on the other hand, comes in three versions, although all are modelled on the Happy Sport and are 36mm. Each version has its own special dials — blue aventurine, green aventurine and red mother-of-pearl — and are limited to five pieces each. These are cased in yellow, white and rose gold. All feature moon phase indicators and are powered by in-house movements.
“It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Chopard and the Scheufele family through the years. As family-owned businesses, we share many common values and it is especially meaningful for us to be able to celebrate Cortina Watch’s 50th Anniversary not only through the unveiling of exquisite timepieces, but more importantly, by sharing the joy of giving by giving back to society together with our longstanding business partner. We hope that this vibrant exhibition and our milestone collaboration with Chopard will bring about precious memories to be cherished in years to come,” said Jeremy Lim.
“We sincerely congratulate you all, the family and of course all the members of your staff on this important occasion because 50 years is quite something. It shows resilience, it shows your creativity, it shows everything you have built with passion over these years. And we are very happy that we have been working with you for 30 years, in fact, we went back to our records and we started in 1992. And we are very happy to commemorate this happy occasion with you with some special moments,” said Karl-Friedrich Scheufele.
There will certainly be more commemorative pieces for Cortina Watch’s Golden Jubilee, probably from Franck Muller and H. Moser & Cie. Look out for more news on those as the year rolls forward.
The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Lady-Datejust emerges today as a descendant from the very first Rolex Oyster. The petite 28mm diameter of the 1957 Lady-Datejust was perfect for slender wrists, and so this iconic size has stood the test of time to define the collection as it is today. The Lady-Datejust is one of the most varied lines in the Oyster Perpetual collection, distinguished by its elegance and refinement, and remains only in 28mm. All Lady-Datejust watches feature the signature instantaneous date changing system, along with the Cyclops lens to magnify the watch’s emblematic date display two and a half times for easy reading.
Image: Rolex
Available in Oystersteel, 18 ct yellow or Everose gold, or in Rolesor versions that combine both Oystersteel and gold, the Lady-Datejust comes in a wealth of versions to perfectly reflect the different personalities of its wearers, with a stunning range of bracelets, bezels and subtle dials that enhance its style.
Similarly, since the time of Mercedes Gleitze, Rolex has been associated with a diverse group of women with undeniable substance. From marine biologist Dr Sylvia Earle and sitar-player Anoushka Shankar to pianist Yuja Wang and professional golfer Lexi Thompson, these inspiring Rolex Testimonees are trailblazers in their respective fields with impressive achievements. The list of exceptional women associated with Rolex and the Lady-Datejust goes beyond the aforementioned names. Despite their diverse personalities, you might use the same words to describe these women — graceful and precise, for example — as you would describe any Lady-Datejust.
Image: Rolex
However, the qualities of the Lady-Datejust far surpass mere words. At its core, the Lady-Datejust shares the same unmatched reliability and precision as every Superlative Chronometercertified Rolex timepiece that preceded it. All versions are guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 100 metres (330 feet), which is an unparalleled achievement for an elegant dress watch. The hermetically sealed screwed down case back and the patented Twinlock winding crown, fitted with a double waterproofness system, are responsible for this robustness.
Inside the watches, the self-winding mechanical calibre 2236 is just as impressive as the case, if not more so. Developed and built entirely in-house by Rolex, calibre 2236 offers outstanding performance in terms of precision, power reserve, resistance to shocks and magnetic fields, convenience and reliability. The power reserve of approximately 55 hours is class-leading for watches of this size, and the motion of the wearer provides all the energy the watch needs to keep it ticking perpetually.
With regards to precision, calibre 2236 is officially certified as a chronometer by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC). Each movement is tested by Rolex after being cased, to ensure that it meets criteria that are far stricter than those of the official certification. The precision of a Rolex Superlative Chronometer is of the order of −2/+2 seconds per day — the rate deviation tolerated by the brand for a finished watch is significantly smaller than that accepted by COSC for official certification of the movement alone.
A perfect alchemy of form and function, the Lady-Datejust remains a contemporary classic since its launch in 1957, designed and created for the wrists of modern, graceful and accomplished women.
You were shocked when you saw it in steel, and then promptly handed over your credit card. Next, you were perplexed when it appeared in white gold with a rubber strap, but you said take my money anyway. You know it; you love it; and so does everyone else with good sense… and more than a few cents to spare. Ladies and gentlemen, rise up and give your best impression of a Saxon roar as the A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus returns to the Palexpo, this time in titanium! Okay, that opening took a lot out of me, and it was actually meant to open a video about the watch (which we are very much working on). Check it out (when it’s out) and see if my professional sports narrator persona hits.
To be fair here, A. Lange & Söhne never debuted the steel Odysseus at the Geneva show, so this titanium chap is the first to grace these hallowed halls. As Ruckdee Chotjinda and I get into it elsewhere this issue, this watch is so clearly a winner that I even contemplated excluding it from my lineup this issue. I mean, we are making a video and everything so it seems a bit much to spring this on you in this section too, especially since the watch is limited to 250 pieces, and is probably all gone by the time you read this. In case you are on the fence about this (who are you? Please contact us), there are a few important points about the Odysseus in titanium that make it stand out. I will spare us all the recap on what makes the watch tick and get right to the main points.
In titanium, the watch is much lighter, as you would expect versus either steel or white gold. This makes the watch head sit a little better on the wrist — it could be argued that the steel version worked on most wrists, but this one goes the extra mile and makes the experience more comfortable. Next, the combination of matte and polished finishing for the case and the bracelet is simply spectacular, considering how difficult it is to gussy up titanium. The watchmakers at A. Lange & Söhne opted for micro-blasting to achieve the matte look, but the shiny bits — including the links in the bracelet — are hand-polished. Take a moment to let that sink in. Look at the watch again, and count the links. You know you want to. We will wait. If you are not duly impressed, then you know this watch is not for you.
Finally, there is the new Ice Blue dial, which has thoroughly won Ruckdee over (and also Logan Baker at Hodinkee). It is also decorated in a way subtly different to the steel version (I cannot remember the dial of the white gold version in the metal), which is a nice detail. In a way, this is the icing on the horological cake that team A. Lange & Söhne have so carefully prepared. Now, if only someone would serve you up a slice of that.
Movement: Automatic calibre L 155.1 with big day and date; 50-hour power reserve Case: 40.5mm in grade 5 titanium; water-resistant to 120m Strap: Grade 5 titanium bracelet Price: €55,000
It was a breezy and delightful evening of June 10th 2022 when World of Watches Malaysia, in partnership with the House of Breguet and Sincere Fine Watches Malaysia, hosted a magical evening of fine watches, great food and wonderful friends at the Sky Deck of Eaton Residences in the KLCC district of Kuala Lumpur. Invitees for the event included VIP guests and discerning watch collectors that were keen to discover and explore the latest collection of timepieces from one of the oldest and finest Swiss watchmakers in existence.
Hosting the event was Vice President of Swatch Group, South East Asia, Fabien Levrion, who alongside Olivier Burlot, CEO of Heart Media, welcomed the guests in their opening speeches.
Before dinner proceeded, Fabien wowed the interested guests in attendance with the storied history of the famed watch Maison and also the legendary achievements of Abraham-Louis Breguet including the invention of the Tourbillon as well as many other ground-breaking creations in watchmaking that are still relevant being used today, even by other watch brands.
The guests then dined on an unforgettable meal crafted by Nathalie Gourmet that was made to match the atmosphere of luxury that night. As the guests wined and dined, members of the Sincere Watch team conducted a valuable touch and feel session for them with the prized watches. Watches that were the focus of the evening included several high haute horlogerie Breguet Tourbillon watches along with some sought-after enamel dial pieces from the Classique collection, the ultimate ladies watch, the Reine de Naples, the intriguing watches in the Tradition series as well as the star of the show, the Marine Hora Mundi. The evening went on till late as the guests stayed on, reluctant to leave the presence of good company and fine Breguet watches.
Of the numerous dive watches that exist today, only a handful can lay claim to the title of pioneer that the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe does. Created in 1956, the icon of the dive world forged a path for others to follow, defining specifications and requirements that allow watches to reach the deep depths of underwater exploration. Though diving is not as popular compared to its heyday, dive watches are still well-loved to this very day for their functionality and aesthetics. Over the decades, various complications were introduced to the Fifty Fathoms to meet the evolving needs of the wearer, one being the complete calendar as seen in the latest interpretation of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet.
Built with an indomitable spirit and designed for functionality, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet is guided by the manufacture’s “Innovation Is Our Tradition” principle as it marries the savoir-faire of Blancpain. The emblematic sporting DNA of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe is tempered with a touch of tradition offered by the complete calendar more commonly seen in the Blancpain Villeret collection. In doing so, the Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet reinforces the principle of everyday utility — a timepiece that is more than capable of handling the rigours of daily wear and offers the calendar information at a glance.
Two iterations of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet are released in either dress or utilitarian guises. The former is the tried-and-tested formula that pairs an 18K red gold case with a sunburst blue-gradient dial and a blue ceramic bezel with Ceragold scale while the latter is cased in Grade 23 titanium. A tonal colour palette is distinguished by varying shades of grey seen on the sunburst anthracite dial and matte ceramic bezel with a graduated Liquidmetal scale. Both pieces are paired with matching coloured NATO or sailcloth straps with the titanium model available with a titanium bracelet.
Powering the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet is the in-house self-winding calibre 6654.P that offers 72 hours of power reserve and displays the date, day of the week, month and moon phase. Given the fragility of complete calendars in general, a security system is integrated into the movement allowing owners to manipulate the indications without any risk to the movement.
Disruptions to supply caused by the pandemic have exacerbated an existing production issue, which was previously dominated by spurious complaints about brands artificially limiting production. We say spurious here because brands do intentionally limit supply, oftentimes based on their ability to do the kind of watchmaking they want, and to manage quality. Rolex, to use the example of the largest maker of watches above CHF3,000, takes about a year to make one watch, start to finish. This is according to independent estimates from a variety of trade publications, forums, Quora and Watchfinder.com. In any case, this illustration can be scaled down to work with brands that make significantly fewer watches. Keep it in mind when you consider the production information from the brands.
Image: A. Lange & Söhne
Take the example of A. Lange & Söhne, whose Odysseus model is one of the most sought-after in the luxury sports watch category; it sold for almost three times its retail price at a Phillips auction in New York in 2020. The brand continues to emphasise that it produces approximately 5,000 watches annually, and does not intend to go far beyond that. This is despite the fact that the Odysseus model only debuted at the tail-end of 2019.
Image: Piaget
The Glashutte firm has been saying something like this for more than five years, and possibly as long as 10 years. Fellow Richemont brand Piaget has likewise been saying its production levels for watches remain at 20,000 pieces annually since 2008. These kinds of numbers might seem like smokescreens, but we should always remember that contemporary watchmakers prefer to keep their production at optimal levels, rather than going for maximum results. This combines with the fact all brands — including Rolex — sometimes release clunkers or just models that will eventually be retired. When entire collections such as the Audemars Piguet Millenary are retired (at least in a typical gent’s style), the resulting capacity is simply assigned to other collections.
Speaking of retired collections or models, these are the truly rare watches out there. These will hardly ever be present in large numbers on social media, reselling platforms or brick and mortar stores. After all, whatever is discontinued cannot be found in stores brand new, except for whatever stock remains unsold, and brands will probably act to buy those back to protect their brand value. We have mentioned this earlier and will illustrate the point further with some official statements and quotes. In advance of that, we will take a stand here and suggest that if scarcity is the marker you trust best to establish value, then whatever models you do not see for sale are truly scarce. That makes sense from the perspective of Rolex stores without anything to buy… Or is this just a sign that some watches are so popular that watchmakers are having a tough time meeting demand? Indeed, we think that excited watch buyers are confusing popularity for scarcity.
All this is well and good, and represents a cursory examination with some random evidence that might appear to be tailored to fit our argument. For the avoidance of doubt, this segment includes all public information and statements from the brands on current market conditions. We begin with the most famous of all official words, from the unlikeliest sources: Rolex.
“The scarcity of our products is not a strategy on our part. Our current production cannot meet the existing demand in an exhaustive way, at least not without reducing the quality of our watches — something we refuse to do as the quality of our products must never be compromised. This level of excellence requires time, and as we have always done, we will continue to take the necessary time to ensure that all our watches not only comply with our standards of excellence, but also meet the expectations of our customers in terms of quality, reliability and robustness. Rolex does not compromise on what it takes to produce exceptional watches.”
“All Rolex watches are developed and produced in-house at our four sites in Switzerland. They are assembled by hand, with extreme care, to meet the brand’s unique and high-quality standards of quality, performance and aesthetics. Understandably, this naturally restricts our production capacities — which we continue to increase as much as possible and always according to our quality criteria.”
“Finally, it should be noted that Rolex watches are available exclusively from official retailers, who independently manage the allocation of watches to customers.”
That was the official Rolex line to Yahoo Finance, and it was picked up by every watch specialist, from Hodinkee to WatchPro, with some additional silliness that seemed to be just for the fun of getting the Geneva firm to open up. The above statement though does a bang-up of telling us all what we already know, albeit in words that we can rely on as canon. Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Swatch Group brands can all say different versions of the same thing (minus the bit about the retailers, because Rolex is the only one to rely exclusives on authorised dealers, without brand-run boutiques).
On the new manufacture building and production: “Today, the building is too big for us but tomorrow, we will need it. My children, if they want to develop the company, they will need it… If we talk about quantity, maybe we will increase by 1-2 per cent (over the course of years) so we need the space for that too. Even with our current production, we have to expect all these watches to return to us for servicing, so that’s another reason I decided on this type of expansion.”
The above is a quote from an interview we published in issue #59. Patek Philippe makes roughly 60,000 watches annually, and the firm will not be running at full capacity in the new building in the immediate future. Even without the pandemic in the mix, the idea is to scale production up gradually. Sustainably even.
On discontinuing Ref. 5711/1A-010 (as told to the New York Times in February last year): “We are doing this for our clients who already own a Patek Philippe and to protect our brand from becoming too commercial. I can continue to make this fantastic product, or sell 10 times more of them. But I am not working for numbers. I am protecting the company for the future, for my children.”
“This is an opportunity to teach a lesson to my kids, who are the first ones to say, ‘Dad, are you crazy?’ They have to learn, just as my father taught me: When you have a fantastic brand like Patek, you have to protect the brand and not just one product.”
And finally, the statement Patek Philippe itself released confirming the end for Ref. 5711/1A-010, edited here for relevance: “We seize this opportunity to reiterate that the priority for Patek Philippe is not to generate short-term profit, but to focus on creating a variety of new models that provide exceptional quality while preserving the value of our customers’ existing timepieces…we will maintain a balance in our collections without focusing on one specific product.” We published this statement in full in issue #60.
As that New York Times article mentioned, besides Rolex and Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet also has one model in particular (non-vintage) that remains a “wrist-power,” object. This is of course the Royal Oak reference 15202ST, which was also recently discontinued and replaced with reference 16202ST, itself a limited proposition for the 50th anniversary of the watch this year. There will only be 1,000 models of reference 16202ST with the 50th anniversary rotor on the brand new calibre 7121, just like the Series A run of the Royal Oak in 1972. Of course, a production run of 1,000 models in 1972 is quite different to that same number today, but Audemars Piguet has to protect the value of all existing watches in its stable, as well as all vintage propositions as well. CEO Francois Henry Benahmias said as much when introducing the entire new range of Audemars Piguet watches this year.
In response to our challenge to the idea of protecting desirability when it feeds the rapacious flipper mentality, the jocular CEO said the following: “We live in a free world…it is a free market. Who are we to determine what people do with our watches? If someone buys a watch from us and wants to sell it, who are we to stop him? Having said that, if someone buys a Royal Oak from us, sells it on, and comes back to try and buy the same watch from us again the week after, maybe we have a different point of view…”
We take Benahmias’ words to mean that collectors cannot be prevented from buying and selling whatever they want, which is only logical and reasonable. The secondary market (pre-owned and grey market) is estimated to be at least an order of magnitude larger than the primary market (EuropaStar, circa 2020) so shutting it down is certainly impractical. On the other hand, opportunists who see quick profits in iconic wristwatches should be resisted, if for no other reason than self-preservation.
Benahmias and Friedman went on to explain that if Audemars Piguet wanted to make more Royal Oak watches, the firm would have to make less of something else. Other manufactures have made the same point, as we have referenced earlier, and combined with long term growth strategies, all this means that we cannot just have more supply of one or two kinds of watches. Patek Philippe would have to allocate more than 30 per cent of its resources to make more steel watches, and Stern has repeatedly said he does not favour this. It seems logical that Rolex, to use a much larger production business as a counterpoint, would likewise not be interested in growing the volume of its business in steel watches, if it had to do so at the expense of its precious metal watchmaking.
Image: Audemars Piquet
Perhaps if the business in precious metals grows at the same pace, we may yet see more steel watches too, however unlikely it may be that two very different segments would experience the same scale of growth. For the moment, the desire for more of today’s popular models will have to come from the secondary market. This is of course the reason certain older models gain in value over time, when they might have lost a good chunk of the retail value to begin with.
To properly conclude here, there are plenty of brands creating similar watches today, chasing the insatiable desire for symbolic statement watches, such as the Royal Oak and the Nautilus, and dive watches. We have already seen the Parmigiani Tonda PF on one end, and the Tissot PRX on the other. This year so far, the Zenith Defy Skyline is making a play for the same wrist-space. No doubt Watches & Wonders will show us even more dive watches at a variety of price points, and plenty of luxury steel sports watches.
And we have not even discussed the heavily-marketed Bvlgari Octo Finissimo and its part here. Head over to the most popular reselling platforms and see how many of the existing watches we have mentioned in this article (minus the most obvious ones) are available, and at what price. If numbers are really your thing, you will see that scarcity does not always equal eye-watering price tags.
Earlier in March, Florence-based watch manufacture Panerai announced its entrance into Web3. The watchmaker has partnered with leading NFT platform Arianee to enhance consumers’ journey in the digital world. The latest luxe timepiece to accompany Panerai’s new venture is the Radiomir Eilean Experience Edition. A total of only 50 pieces are available, and collectors looking to buy this limited edition model will also get a yacht trip along the Amalfi Coast and a unique corresponding NFT.
The luxury watch industry has been keeping up with the development surrounding Web3 and its associated assets like the metaverse and NFTs. Intending to deepen relationships with its clients, several watch brands have initiated new projects to improve the overall experiential experience. For Panerai, using NFT allows buyers to own a one-of-a-kind artwork produced exclusively for the Radiomir Eilean Experience Edition. This set of 50 Genesis NFTs was designed by Skygolpe, a widely acclaimed multidisciplinary Italian artist.
“The 50 Genesis NFTs offer exclusive content regarding details of the Radiomir Eilean Experience Edition watch, combined with a sailing journey along the Amalfi Coast aboard the Eilean,” said the brand. After the sailing trip in June, owners of the Genesis NFTs will also get priority access to Panerai’s future initiatives like new product launches, events and special services. Panerai describes the NFTs as owning a “digital passport” that connects its clients to the brand.
Speaking about the brand’s entry into the NFT category, CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué said, “Panerai has a fearless outlook. The brand is always committed to remaining at the forefront of new technology in our manufacture and beyond. We will always pursue every medium or technology that will allow us to deliver a more enriched experience to our clients. They have deep, eclectic interests, and I know they will be excited about collecting artwork from one of the world’s most forward-thinking artists. The fact that it is an NFT that extends additional benefits and services only adds to its appeal.”
Incorporating blockchain technology to elevate a consumer’s experience has become a familiar sight within the luxury sector. The most prominent is the fashion industry where it even held its own Metaverse Fashion Week. Even heavyweights like the yachting industry have also introduced cryptocurrency as a form of payment, and it won’t be long before it starts releasing its own NFTs to clients.
The watch industry has traditionally been known to be enjoyed by the older generation, and the move to include novel experiences like launching into the metaverse or releasing NFTs is a sign of brands appealing to the younger generation. This new group of spenders are big the digital experiences like interacting with brands in the virtual world or collecting digital art. Furthermore, Panerai takes a step further and merges the newfound digital journey with the physical world like the sailing trip and recording it on the individual Genesis NFTs.
No doubt, Panerai has set the bar for what it is like to meld the virtual world with the real world and its success will be the blueprint for other brands to follow. Watch collectors are definitely in for a treat when more brands follow suit.
Perhaps the strangest element in this new boom for mechanical watches is the short shrift complicated watches are getting. But wait, we can almost hear you protest, the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona is a chronograph, after all, and so is the Omega Speedmaster for that matter. These are facts, but we would argue that hardly anyone wants either of those watches because they are chronographs. The Moonwatch, in particular, and the Daytona, in general, have symbolic values that far exceed their functions. On the other hand, a collector who seeks out the Patek Philippe ref. 5172 probably does want it specifically because it is a chronograph. This is perhaps even clearer if the collector in question also had Ref. 7071 in his sights, or already safely ensconced in his vault. Yes, the gender of the collector also says something here, but that is perhaps a different discussion.
Image: Patek Philippe
To break down the matter of complications, or feature sets if you prefer, this is about what is easy to understand and compare. Dive watches, bound as they are by codes both formal and informal, can easily be compared with one another. Does the watch in question have the right ISO certification? How’s the lowlight visibility? Can the bracelet be easily swapped out? There are many more such questions, which can all be fairly applied to any sort of dive watch, including those that merely look the part, or those that do the job but do not have the right looks. For complications, there are no easy comparisons to be had. To put it as simply as possible, you might like a Breguet tourbillon model, such as the Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Squelette ref. 5395, or you might prefer something like the Franck Muller Vanguard Skeleton Tourbillon; then again, you might also prefer your tourbillon low-key, for example in the Patek Philippe Ref. 5316P. There are no useful comparisons to be had between these watches, and no tourbillon wristwatch stands as a benchmark for the industry.
Image: Patek Philippe
Returning to the chronograph for a moment, there are all manner of executions, including electronic ones. This complication is one half of a duo of popular functions that represents the most significant share of exported Swiss watches, according to the FH. This should mean that the chronograph should be highly sought after, but in practice, you can search for the most iconic pieces such as the Breitling Navitimer or the TAG Heuer Carrera and see what the prices you find tell you. Watchfinder in particular offers the promise of the best price (for buyers) so you might want to use this as a benchmark of sorts. To summarise, what you will find are prices well below-recommended retail, for watches that are not limited in some way, such as some versions of the TAG Heuer Monaco and the Snoopy/Speedy series from Omega.
From chronographs, it only goes downhill for pre-owned complicated models. YouTube creator Jenni Elle explains this quite logically by noting that such watches have very narrow appeal, meaning buyers may not immediately snap these up. You only need to consider for a moment why you would buy a chronograph from Tudor over one from Breitling, when both use the same base movement (with modifications of course), to use an example we used previously in issue #45. Whatever the reasons, they probably do not make sense to resellers, traders and grey market dealers, to be blunt. On the other hand, here is where you can find truly excellent value from the pre-owned market in general, if you want the Breitling chronograph. This is where we would argue the real utility of pre-owned comes into play: finding great complications at great prices.
Image: Tag Heuer
Speaking of Watchfinder, the signature narrator — with disembodied — hands has been talking up complexity this year and this may be nothing more than clickbait and a nod to the power of his own platform. In one video, he pointed out that collectors who have shaped the market price for timepieces in years past are now up against the entire Internet. While this is particularly relevant to address the issue of scarcity, and we will return to it, it also strikes at the intriguing possibility of rekindling the legendary competition between James Ward Packard and Henry Graves Jr. Collectors have already cornered the most important segment in haute horlogerie: chiming watches from a handful of watchmakers. These have always been timepieces that are beyond the reach of mere money — to buy these you have to be in the good graces of the watchmaker in question. These watches are also undeniably rare because only a handful can be made in any given year by any given watchmaker — many individual pieces will take years to complete.
As traders themselves consider moving themselves up the value chain, they must consider if they want to emulate Packard and Graves Jr. To be clear, that will mean leaving behind the silly world of LNIB as encapsulated in the example of the infamous Antiquorum sale of the Patek Philippe Ref. 5711A. That aside, the Nautilus is the perfect starting point because if one wants to stick with steel models, then the story begins with Ref. 5712/1A, but the collection is a good place to get to grips with smaller complications. Since we are using the chronograph to illustrate a point here, we must move to the Aquanaut Ref. 5968A because the Nautilus only has chronographs in gold.
Image: Franck Muller
Unlike the tourbillon, there are a wealth of options for the chronograph lover, even when it comes to the exact elapsed time it tracks. It is also an interactive feature, which adds to the complexity of how the chronograph is valued. There is no good way to sell how the chronograph feels to casual buyers and those who do not care for what might be heavy research. Indeed, to explain the specificities of even one complication will take too long — not just for this segment but such an explainer will easily overtake the entire section.
As we have implied, most traders and flippers will not have the patience for complications. This is where collectors who have invested time, effort and money into their passion have the edge. Why? Because collectors can take advantage of great deals in the pre-owned space. These deals exist because of the aforementioned weaknesses in the trader space, hence the strong preference there for simple timepieces.
Image: Patek Philippe
This does not mean traders do not know that complicated watches are in far shorter supply than their simpler counterparts. They just do not know what direction to strike in. As we noted last year, we think the opportunity is in small series production of small complications, such as the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso DuoTime, the Montblanc Geosphere and the Franck Muller Crazy Hours. These all play well with the Patek Philippe Ref. 5712/1A and its multiple small complications, although they are all well below the $64,300 retail price and most certainly far short of its resale market value. Interestingly, Ref. 5968A retails for $70,200 and Ref. 5905/1A — which combines the same style of chronograph with the Patek Philippe signature annual calendar — goes for $81,100.
While you mull over the above prices, do recall that Ref. 5711/1A-010 has a (notional) market value of several hundred thousand dollars, and all the above Patek Philippe references are complicated models that are certainly much more uncommon. On that note, to step outside the Patek Philippe and chronograph bubbles for a moment, tourbillon wristwatches in gold have sold in online marketplace for under $20,000. If that does not convince you that complicated wristwatches constitute an important opportunity for buyers right now, we do not know what will.
The renowned watch historian and author Gisbert L. Brunner noted that collecting watches is a passion that can go deep or wide. As far as building single-brand collections go, the realities of 2022 are generally irrelevant except for those who focus on Rolex. This is particularly true for those new to watch collecting who are going with the safest and easiest to understand approach. It goes something like this: buy Rolex and you cannot go wrong. This seems facetious but, in our view, it includes and incorporates what happens if you buy a watch you do not like. Bought a steel Rolex Cosmograph Daytona only to discover a year later that you do not like chronographs? No problem, because you can easily find willing buyers for the watch. We grant that this scenario is improbable, but it applies to any Rolex watch. That is an appealing proposition, but first you would have to be able to buy a Rolex…
As we wrote in our Festive issue, it is still possible to buy Rolex watches. But it is also true that Rolex boutiques only have display pieces now — to buy a watch you have to register your interest at the store with the authorised dealer. If you find this unacceptable, you could try to find so-called new old stock (NOS) from traders who are on a variety of platforms, including good old brick-and-mortar. The main downside here – there are a few but this is the main one — is that you will be completely outside the official retail system, including the recommended retail price. To state the obvious, the price for all NOS current production models will be above the recommended retail price.
If older watches are your game, then these types of traders will not suit you because they mainly try to ride on the hype (and advertising) for current production models. To be sure, by older here we do not mean models from the 1950s or 60s. Even the Submariner Ref 16610 (produced between 1987 to 2010, and probably the most widely available pre-owned Submariner) will not be in these traders’ inventories. Certainly more esoteric models such as the Oysterquartz and the Prince will not be in stock. The larger players such as Peng Kwee may have options for both. As a seasoned collector, you do not need us to tell you what to do. Nevertheless, we have more to say on the general state of the pre-owned market elsewhere, if that interests you.
Returning to current Rolex models, the burgeoning collector must consider what safety is really worth. Wait times are uncertain, and you are not guaranteed a watch just because you have been waitlisted. We can report that authorised dealers may even refuse to waitlist you for popular models in steel such as the GMT-Master II and the Sea-Dweller. For something like the 126600 Sea-Dweller reference, it becomes relevant to consider the Rolesor version, reference 126603. The current retail price is $23,490 while the reference 126600 is selling pre-owned for upwards of $22,000. On the other hand, if you must have the GMT-Master II with the Pepsi bezel then you have to choose between steel and white gold. The price gap is significant so the pre-owned steel reference is still a better deal, and the steel version is arguably more authentic.
With this in mind, let us consider the state of pre-owned for something like the GMT Master II, while also noting that we address the matter of pricing elsewhere; pricing requires its own dedicated space, and we are obliged by a lack of transparency and regularity in the pricing of watches in general to approach this subject obliquely, by looking only at current recommended retail prices and listed secondary market prices. All that aside, traders have a window stretching a few years at most to clear their inventory, which we consider to be sometime within the five year manufacturer warranty; Rolex warranties are between two and five years, depending on the movements in use. When this warranty goes into effect is a big deal, but first, a bit of a disclaimer.
Full disclosure: the principal author of this section is the editor, and he has been on the hunt for a GMT-Master II since the aluminium bezel first got phased out. With regards to price checks on this watch, his personal research has been used for the story. He is also on the hunt for multiple Rolex watches. Readers should be aware of potential biases. On another note, and to be absolutely clear, professional traders and secondary market dealers will certainly need to move products far more quickly than even the shorter two-year window proposed here. No dealer we spoke with for this story wanted to be quoted on exact figures and practises, and we did a considerable amount of research without disclosing our intent to publish. As such, we must be circumspect and even elliptical in our descriptions.
Back on point, you will have to be careful about warranties because you may not be considered the first owner of the watch, should you buy it. Rolex says the warranty is good from the date of purchase, but this presumably only applies to watches bought from authorised dealers. Consequently, any GMT-Master II that has been sitting on someone’s shelf for too long — even if that shelf is in a proper shop — must be considered suspect. We would recommend purchasing the watch from someone who has actually been wearing the watch, and presumably caring for it. You at least know that such a watch works. Remember that once you go pre-owned, you are out of the safe authorised dealer space.
Finally, Rolex collectors need to resign themselves to having to coexist and compete with investment and asset-protection obsessed buyers. This can be frustrating, typically for people who want current production watches, but it can also be a great boon for seasoned collectors who are primarily interested in vintage watches. Look at the pre-owned prices of Rolex Submariners (reference 16610) and compare this to current after-market prices. This point is true for Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet collectors too, because the new set of buyers are only concerned with existing models. It is also tremendously useful for anyone interested in gold or half-gold watches, for reasons we propose in another segment in this issue.
An alliance that spans 50 years speaks volumes about trust, respect, and shared passion and values, and when the partner in question is Patek Philippe, the last independent, family-owned Genevan watch manufacturer, the match is truly one of unparalleled privilege and prestige. One may say Cortina Watch got a lucky start in what began as a professional encounter over 66 years ago between founder Anthony Lim and the late Henri Stern, the grandfather of President of Patek Philippe, Thierry Stern.
Patek Phillipe X Cortina – Dome Clock 20145M-001 “Singapore Skyline”
When Cortina Watch was founded in 1972, it also started the journey of representing Patek Philippe, now developed into a five-decade retail partnership that has synergistically established both the brands across the Southeast and East Asia region. It cannot be anything but the proudest to say that one manages six Patek Philippe specialist boutiques across Asia, which Cortina Watch can lay a claim to today. In turn, Patek Philippe as one of the most respected brands in Swiss fine watchmaking has also found a loyal and dependable business ally in Cortina Watch.
Patek Phillipe X Cortina LE 50th Anniversary
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Cortina’s founding as well as its five-decade partnership with Patek Philippe, a special 100-piece limited edition Patek Philippe Ref. 5057G- 010, a refreshed version of the Ref. 5057R-001 created for Cortina Watch in 1997 to celebrate its 25th anniversary, has been created. Crafted in white gold, the golden jubilee commemorative model takes a leaf from the silver jubilee creation in featuring the same triple row guilloched “Clous de Paris” hobnail bezel, paired with a charcoal grey sunburst dial with a black-gradient rim, white transfer-printed Roman numerals and white gold, pear-shaped hands. The in-house
Caliber 240 PS IRM C LU drives the Ref. 5057G-010, whose display is geared up with two subdials indicating the date, moon phases and power reserve, along with a small seconds indication between the four and five o’clock hour markers. The transparent sapphire case back, while bearing a commemorative inscription “Cortina Watch 50th Anniversary Since 1972” in white also affords a handsome view of the timepiece’s ultra-thin, self-winding movement with a 48-hour power reserve.
Patek Phillipe X Cortina – Dome Clock 20145M-001 “Singapore Skyline”
Also to commemorate Cortina Watch’s twin milestones, the Genevan manufacture has also created a unique dome table clock in Grand Feu cloisonné enamel, the Ref. 20145M- 001 “Singapore Skyline”. Paying homage to the impressive urbanscape of Singapore where Cortina Watch launched its second Patek Philippe boutique, the dome clock depicts beautifully the island state’s most iconic landmarks such as the Merlion mascot, Gardens by the Bay, the Esplanade and Marina Bay Sands.
To render the skyline visual, the enameller used 9.2 m of 24k gold wire, cutting the length into tiny segments and shaping them to craft the contours. Fifty enamel colours—47 transparent, 1 opaque and 2 opalescent—were roped in to give the cityscape imagery a magical tint, replete with subtle gradations and layered effects set in 10 to 14 rounds of firings at temperatures ranging from 890° to 910°C for each enamelled plate. A final sprinkle of cascading gold and silver dust showcases 50 gold stars and fireworks which ignite the gradated blue to indigo night sky backdrop on the dome clock to symbolise the golden jubilee celebrations.
Centred in front is a guilloched hour circle that is skilfully accentuated with floral-inspired dentate edges referencing the blooms of the garden city, alongside 12 baguette lapis lazuli markers and a cloisonné enamel dial centre. Indicated discreetly below the dial centre of the clock, powered by the Caliber 17’’’ PEND mechanical movement rewound by an electric motor, is an engraved inscription “Cortina Watch – 50th Anniversary – Since 1972”.
As Patek Philippe timepieces are also regarded as precious heirlooms that are passed down generations, the connection between the Genevan manufacture and the Southeast Asian fine watch retailer is also in a similar sense defined by an inter-generational friendship between the Stern family, the owners of Patek Philippe, and the family of Mr. Anthony Lim, the custodians of Cortina Watch.
“The friendship between my grandfather, father and Mr. Anthony Lim started over 66 years ago and it still stands strong today, much like the relationship between Patek Philippe & Cortina Watch. This is a unique and precious relationship that truly transcends generations, and I am proud to be part of this very special celebration and to present the Ref. 20145M-001 “Singapore Skyline” Dome Table Clock to Mr. Anthony Lim on behalf of my father. We look forward to another 50 years of great partnership and for our next generations to keep this friendship going”, says Mr. Thierry Stern.
To mark the longstanding partnership, a travelling exhibition co-hosted by Patek Philippe and Cortina Watch will be held at Patek Philippe boutiques across the region, starting with Singapore before travelling to Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia, and returning to Singapore at the year-end.
Over the years, Van Cleef & Arpels has been inspired by the ethereal quality of butterflies and fairies as illustrated by its Poetry Of Time artistry.
At the 2017 edition of Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, this mesmerising theme crystallised in the Maison’s Lady Arpels Papillon Automate watch from the Enchanting Nature™ line, with a 40 mm white gold case and diamonds in serti-neige setting.
Fitted with an ultra-sophisticated automaton module, the watch’s dial depicts a lush pastoral landscape where the passage of time unfolds to the spontaneous flutter of a butterfly’s wings synced to the movements of the watch’s wearer. The scene—beautifully rendered in relief with a multi-layered background using a myriad of traditional crafts and decorative techniques from the maison’s Meyrin watchmaking workshops—can also be triggered on demand at the push of a button.
Another Poetic Complications timepiece from the maison’s treasure trove is the Lady Nuit des Papillons watch—illustrated by a spectrum of shades evolving across the day to evoke time’s fleeting nature. A more diminutive 33 mm case with a rotating dial in white gold sets the scene in dark to light blue with the chromatic sparkle of diamonds and sapphires.
Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Nuit des Papillons
Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Nuit des Papillons
Meanwhile, Lady Arpels Papillon Extraordinaire watch, from the Extraordinary Dials family, is yet another rendition of Van Cleef & Arpels’ butterfly emblem and motif, this time, enlivened by a springtime palette of shimmering hues as natures awakes. The 38mm white gold case boasts an engraved white mother-of-pearl dial decorated with techniques including gemstone sculpture and marquetry, enamelling, and stone setting with stones such as lapis lazuli and diamonds.
Lady Arpels Papillon Extraordinaire
Lady Arpels Papillon Extraordinaire savoir-faire
Lady Arpels Papillon Extraordinaire savoir-faire
Lady Arpels Papillon Extraordinaire savoir-faire
The final Poetic Complications timepiece here hails from maison’s most cherished traditions of precious ballerina and fairy clips—its first feminine figures created in the early 1940s. Here, on the Lady Arpels Ballerine Enchantée watch, a sculpted white gold ballerina, embellished with diamonds, white gold tutu and champlevé enamel, holds court on a guilloché purple enamel dial which sits atop a 40 mm white gold case.
Eliciting joyous splendour, the dancer transforms into a delicate butterfly, soaring gracefully with two openwork wings as the frills of her tutu arise.
Lady Arpels Ballerine Enchantée
Lady Arpels Ballerine Enchantée savoir-faire
Lady Arpels Ballerine Enchantée savoir-faire
Lady Arpels Ballerine Enchantée savoir-faire
Like a guardian of the maison’s poetic view of life, filled with dreams and emotions, this creation epitomises the art of watchmaking with an inventive and fantastical tableau, as the other three timepieces also reflect. They not only juxtapose technical innovation and masterful craftsmanship, but invite us to imagine, wonder and celebrate—certainly what we all need more of right now.
The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Lady-Datejust is in the lineage of the Datejust, the emblematic model that has been a byword for style and accurate timekeeping. Image: Rolex
For an object of such diminutive stature, the wristwatch often has an outsized presence. The bon vivant will absolutely love these four outstanding Rolex watches — while the captivating shine of their diamonds and precious materials will draw in everyone else. The Oyster Perpetual Lady-Datejust, Oyster Perpetual Pearlmaster 39, and two Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36 watches all demonstrate the wondrous pairing of diamonds and precious metals found in the finest of watches by Rolex.
Precious metals such as gold and platinum come to us from the stars, literally. They were born in the hearts of giant stars that exploded and scattered the particles across the universe. Diamonds, by way of contrast are born in the depths of the Earth over the course of a billion years. Through their unique brilliance and the extreme care taken in their setting, the high-quality precious stones selected by Rolex endow gem-set watches with unbridled prestige.
Using only the highest quality gemstones, Rolex own in-house gemmologists and gem-setters work in perfect harmony to reveal the diamond’s radiance. The process begins by sourcing the most striking stones, and then deciding how best to showcase them. As the art of gem-setting lies in ensuring that the sparkle and beauty of each stone is fully revealed, the Rolex gem-setter expertly sets each stone, one by one, taking care to ensure symmetry in size and placement — Rolex tolerates variances of no more than 2 hundredths of a millimetre, which is around a quarter of the diameter of a human hair. A final polish makes the tiny metal settings shine, intensifying the watch’s splendour.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Lady-Datejust
The Oyster Perpetual Lady-Datejust is Rolex’s classic feminine watch par excellence. It is one of the most varied lines in the Oyster Perpetual collection, distinguished by its elegance and refinement. Image: Rolex
The classic Rolex feminine watch, the Lady-Datejust benefits from all the attributes of the Datejust, the emblematic Rolex watch that has been a byword for style and technical performance ever since its launch in 1945. The feminine version of the iconic chronometer, the Oyster Perpetual Lady-Datejust first appeared in 1957, showcasing the elegance of the Datejust in a small 28 mm size perfectly suited to a slender wrist, and it has retained its iconic size since that time.
Available in Oystersteel, in 18 ct yellow or Everose gold, or in Rolesor versions that combine both Oystersteel and 18 ct gold, the Lady-Datejust comes in a wealth of versions to perfectly reflect the different personalities of its wearers. The range of materials of the Lady-Datejust is equalled only by a stunning range of bracelets and subtle dials that enhance its style.
A fluted, domed or diamond-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.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Lady-Datejust in 18 ct yellow gold fitted with a diamond-paved dial and a diamond-set President bracelet
A showstopper of a wristwatch unveiled this year, the Lady-Datejust is paved with sparkling diamonds, with its 18 ct yellow gold case and President bracelet just peeking out between the prongs. The case sides and lugs of the new Lady-Datejust are set with 158 brilliant-cut diamonds as well as 44 brilliant-cut diamonds on the bezel. The President bracelet sparkles with a further 596 brilliant-cut diamonds. Showcasing the captivating shine of the diamonds that adorn every surface, the dial is fully paved with 291 diamonds. For an added touch of splendour, the dial also features 18 ct yellow gold Roman numerals that bear a lustrous black finish.
The function of timekeeping itself is uncompromised in the Lady-Datejust, with the watch carrying the Superlative Chronometer certification. This new version of the Lady-Datejust is equipped with calibre 2236, a movement at the forefront of watchmaking technology, entirely developed and manufactured by Rolex. It boasts several patents and offers outstanding performance in terms of precision (+/-2 seconds per day), power reserve (approximately 55 hours), resistance to shocks and magnetic fields, convenience and reliability. Especially notable here is the fact that calibre 2236 uses the Syloxi hairspring, which was patented and produced by Rolex. This silicon hairspring remains up to 10 times more precise than a traditional hairspring in case of shocks, and its patented geometry ensures the calibre’s regularity in any position.
The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Pearlmaster holds a special place in the Oyster collection; it represents the height of exquisiteness with precious metals and gemstones. Image: Rolex
The pearl in the Oyster collection, the Pearlmaster is synonymous with elegance and brilliance. First introduced in 1992, the Pearlmaster shares some characteristics with the Datejust. This descendant of Rolex’s emblematic Datejust model displays the date, magnified by a Cyclops lens, in a window at 3 o’clock. Only available in 18 ct white or Everose gold, the Pearlmaster is a vivacious blend of watchmaking expertise and artful gem-setting, with its own defining hallmarks. Precise and lavish gem-setting is one such element, with a harmoniously contoured Pearlmaster bracelet being another. All in all, the collection is an exquisite expression of refinement with gently rounded styling.
With its softly curved lines, the Pearlmaster bracelet, entirely set with diamonds, contributes to the distinctive character and sophistication of the watch and offers the wearer maximum comfort. Created especially for the Pearlmaster in 1992, this solid gold bracelet with round five-piece links is fitted with a concealed Crownclasp — which is opened using a Rolex crown-shaped lever — adding to the watch’s aesthetic appeal and ease of use. The bracelet includes ceramic inserts inside the links to enhance its flexibility and longevity.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Pearlmaster 39 in 18 ct Everose gold with dial paved with 713 diamonds, featuring a diamond-set bezel, case and signature Pearlmaster bracelet
The Oyster case of the Pearlmaster 39, guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 100 metres (330 feet), is a paragon of robustness and elegance. The middle case is crafted from a solid block of 18 ct white or Everose gold. Its case back, edged with fine fluting, is hermetically screwed down with a special tool that allows only certified Rolex watchmakers to access the movement. The Twinlock winding crown, fitted with a double waterproofness system, screws down securely against the case. The crystal, with a Cyclops lens at 3 o’clock for easy reading of the date, is made of virtually scratchproof sapphire. The waterproof Oyster case provides optimum protection for the Pearlmaster’s movement.
The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date was the first calendar wristwatch to indicate, in addition to the date, the day of the week spelt out in full in a window on the dial — a technical feat at the time. Image: Rolex
Launched in 1956, the Day-Date was the ultimate watch of prestige, and remains so to this day. Watches in the Day-Date range are made only of precious metals — 18 ct yellow, white or Everose gold or 950 platinum. If the spotlight gravitates to you, the Day-Date is a fitting companion, as demonstrated by the many US presidents and eminent figures who have chosen it. The appeal of the collection first captivated President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, leading the Day-Date to be known as the “president’s watch”. All Day-Date watches are equipped with the President bracelet, which was specially created for the watch.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36 in 18 ct yellow gold, with a turquoise dial, diamond-set bezel and a President bracelet
Resplendent at every angle, the turquoise stone dial and diamond-set Roman numeral hour markers give this Day-Date 36 an air of elevated sophistication, with its diamond-set bezel acting to draw the eye of every onlooker. The middle case is crafted out of a solid block of 18 ct yellow gold, as is the fluted caseback, and the President bracelet. Its distinctive dial features hour markers in 18 ct gold, set with 32 diamonds, and a Roman VI and IX in 18 ct gold, set with 24 diamonds accompanied by the instantly recognisable President bracelet represents the ultimate in refinement and comfort. Like all Rolex watches, the Day-Date 36 s covered by the Superlative Chronometer certification redefined by Rolex in 2015.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36 in 18 ct white gold, with a diamond-paved dial, diamond-set bezel and a diamond-set President bracelet
The dial of the opulent Day-Date 36 features 10 baguette-cut, rainbow-coloured sapphires that function as the hour markers. These contrast brilliantly with the diamond-paved dial, creating a sparkling symphony to enhance the watch and enchant the wearer, and everyone around her. To deliver this alchemy of sublime grandeur, Rolex gem-setters have to work carefully and meticulously. They finely carve the precious metal to hand-shape the seat in which each gemstone will be perfectly lodged. Besides the intrinsic quality of the stones, several other criteria contribute to the beauty of Rolex gem-setting: the precise alignment of the height of the gems, their orientation and position, the regularity, strength and proportions of the setting as well as the intricate finishing of the metalwork.
Fuelled by a storied legacy, no efforts were spared in crafting the new-generation movement, calibre 3255. Developed and manufactured by Rolex, calibre 3255 boasts 14 patents and, thanks to its barrel architecture and the escapement’s superior efficiency, the power reserve of this movement extends to approximately 70 hours with an accuracy of +/-2 seconds a day.
In 1903, when Cartier first began to develop wristwatches, it found itself in a unique space. Few jewellers had ventured into watchmaking — the two fields, while related, were rather distinct. Jewellery was ornamental and stylistic in nature, and while the brand had created mantel clocks and mystery clocks, watches to be worn on the wrist were an entirely new segment. Over the next few decades, the brand would introduce a plethora of unusual watch designs, including two highly memorable pieces — the Asymétrique and the Cloche.
I say they were memorable because they literally turned heads. To look at the dial properly, you had to tilt your head. The Asymétrique was designed for drivers: if your hand was at 2 o’clock, the dial would appear straight. But the Cloche was meant to be read in a resting position. The bell-shaped design of the watch case recalled traditional mantel clocks, except this was meant to be worn on a wrist. Presumably, the idea was this: if you were at work, you took off your watch, and thus the Cloche de Cartier could be read as if it were a desk clock.
This certainly made sense in the early 20th century, when the idea of a 9-to-5 job existed. But with our work and personal lives increasingly entangled these days, does the Cloche de Cartier still hold its appeal? Turns out, it does.
I’ve often wondered how a modern interpretation of the Cloche de Cartier would look, and more than once in the past, brought it up with Pierre Rainero, the head of heritage and style for Cartier. He held firm to its perpendicularly-turned form and case design; I imagined a vertical, slimmed-down Cloche with a stepped case design, almost like a bell jar. Mr Rainero’s foresight is far more accurate, but the Cloche de Cartier Skeleton brings forth a very modern-looking wristwatch.
The pink gold model bears a modern slate-grey sunburst dial; the yellow-gold edition has a champagne dial and the platinum an eggshell one. The two latter options have a distinctly vintage feel, and will definitely find interest in Cartier aficionados.
It is the Cloche de Cartier Skeleton models — in pink gold, platinum and diamond-set platinum — bearing the calibre 9626 MC that truly stand out. The Art Deco Roman numerals, joined at their base in a ring under which the gears are positioned, rendering them nearly unnoticeable, makes this the most stylish skeleton movement from Cartier (and there are plenty from the watchmaker, believe us, or else, believe Google). Because of the design of the 9626 MC, the movement is framed in a smaller “cloche” set into the case and secured with screws, which gives it a clear association with another famed Cartier model: the Santos.
These models are all limited: the classic Cloche de Cartier at 100 each, the pink gold and platinum Cloche de Cartier Skeletons at 50 pieces and the diamond-set version with just 10 watches. We’re certain they will be sold out, if they aren’t already.
Reinvention is the theme for Rado and its storied Captain Cook lineup as 2021 proves to the year for the brand to reveal an unprecedented and revolutionary watch for the said collection. The introduction to the new Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic is necessary especially in the world of horology and style as it is the culmination of years of research and development alongside the natural evolution of the Captain Cook collection.
The Rado Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic is a watch fully imbued and endowed with Rado’s DNA in its purest and most distilled form. The timepiece showcases many of Rado most famous and applauded advancements including Rado’s innovative scratch-resistant and hypoallergenic high-tech ceramic in its monobloc case construction and the premium highly accurate Rado calibre R734 featuring a NivachronTM hairspring powering the watch.
“In 2017, the iconic look was re- launched and hit the nerve of time with the renewed worldwide interest in vintage-style diving watches. As the Master of Materials, we did not stop there but continued to develop the product with the launch of the 42 mm steel version in 2019, and the re-interpretation in Bronze in 2020. It is therefore a logical next step to produce this very iconic timepiece in high-tech ceramic, which perfectly combines the Rado past with the present. It is pure Rado DNA.“
– Adrian Bosshard, Rado CEO.
THE CASE AND THE MOVEMENT
Coming in for the first time with a more prominent case diameter of 43mm, the Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic is presented in four attractive versions. The first version (Ref. R32127152) comes in black high-tech ceramic case and bracelet with a hardened steel turning bezel and black high-tech ceramic insert for a monochromatic outlook. Next (Ref. R32127156) is a version with the same case and dial. Here, a rubber strap is attached instead of the bracelet to offer a more casual look. The third version (Ref. R32127162) also arrives in a similar black high-tech ceramic case and bracelet. However, in this case, contrasting rose gold coloured PVD coats the steel turning bezel and black high-tech ceramic insert. Last but not least, the fourth model (Ref. R32128202), stands out with its distinct plasma high-tech ceramic case and bracelet. Blue high-tech ceramic is expertly inserted into the hardened steel bezel.
All versions of the High-Tech Ceramic come powered by the finely finished Rado calibre R734. It impressively provides up to an impressive 80 hours of power reserve for the watch. The monobloc case of the watch ensures a reliable and practical 300m of water resistance. The outstanding façade of the dial and case back is due to the black-tinted sapphire crystal on both sides. It provides the wearer with a secret up-close view of the skeletonized movement without interfering with the legibility of the watch. The stunning dial also acts as the perfect platform to house the iconic Rado rotating anchor at the 12 o’clock position. Key accent elements of the watch such as the triangle on the bezel, the indexes, and the classic Captain Cook arrow hands fitted on the dial are painted with bold white Super-LumiNova® providing clear visibility in low light. A final layer of protection for the dial is the perfectly transparent and robust chevé box sapphire crystal.
FIVE POSITIONS OF ADJUSTMENT
To achieve a high level of accuracy in timekeeping, a five-position adjustment process is employed for each mechanical watch. It is a very time-consuming and technically complex operation and as such, this level of quality control and standard is normally only offered by brands in the luxury segment, including Rado. This is as opposed to the more typical and cost-effective three-position adjustment. What is the five-position adjustment? The position of a watch determines how strongly gravitational pull influences the moving components of a mechanical movement.
The accuracy of a watch movement will therefore vary depending on the position of the watch due to the wearer’s movements. With that in mind, there is a need to adjust a watch in more than just one or three positions. It is due to the fact that a watch that is adjusted in a certain position may show completely different accuracy values in another position. That said, the more positions a watch is adjusted in, the more precise it is during everyday use.
The five-position adjustment is executed in these positions:
THE ANTI-MAGNETIC NIVACHRONTM
Apart from the five positions of adjustment, to further bolster the accuracy and capabilities of the High-Tech Ceramic, the special alloy NivachronTM has been employed in the construction of the watch’s balance springs. NivachronTM is an innovative titanium-based alloy first developed with the involvement of the Swatch Group specifically for such purposes.
Magnetism wreaks havoc onto mechanical watches when the steel components in the watch movement becomes magnetized by a nearby magnetic source and this renders the watch to tell time either much too fast or too slow. Magnetic fields are very present in our surroundings from items such as smartphones, computers, televisions and refrigerators to even magnetic closures on handbags or jewellery. A balance spring made from NivachronTM enables the effects of a magnetic field on the accuracy of a mechanical watch movement to be significantly reduced and helps minimize the need for a Rado service centre to demagnetize the watch under such circumstances.
The key features of NivachronTM are that balance springs made with it are much reduced in sensitivity to the effects of a magnetic field, extremely resistant to fluctuations in temperature and shock as well as significant improvement in timekeeping. When all comes into play, Rado’s calibre R734 is proudly able to boast greater accuracy of the movement thanks to the combination of the five-position adjustment and NivachronTM.
This means that the Rado Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic watch also enjoys a high level of magnetic field resistance and can run for 80 hours when fully wound. The new Captain Cook in High-Tech Ceramic is truly a wonder of engineering from the inside and out. Emanating Rado’s DNA in the mastery of materials and avant-garde watchmaking, this is the dawn of a mechanical masterpiece that has to be experienced first-hand.
As a bonus, let us enjoy Li Edelkoort’s sense of style and trend which are exhibited in her interpretation of Rado’s beautiful watches as seen on the rough coasts of Normandy, France. as Abbe Marie, and even studied with the scientifically inclined cleric.
Amidst a post-pandemic climate, Richard Mille has valiantly gone against the disruption with a steady momentum of new launches and innovations.
Enter the RM74-01 and RM74-02 In-House Automatic Tourbillons as we speak, a pair of novelties being uniquely appealing and technically complex. A double act, similar yet unique—the timepieces exemplify the DNA of the avant-garde watchmaker with elements that boast of its unceasingly innovative streak.
At first glance, though the ultra-skeletonised heart of the two striking models instantly attracts our attention in their likeness, they are demarcated within close range by the fine materials used in their construction.
RM 74-01
First up, RM74-01 flaunts a case in grey Cermet, a remarkable material that juxtaposes the extraordinary lightness of titanium with the hardness of ceramic with its exceptional resistance to corrosion and scratches.
RM 74-01
Taking Richard Mille and microtechnology specialist IMI Group years to develop and design including its singular hue, grey Cermet is technically composed of a metallic zirconium matrix strengthened by high-performance ceramic inserts where the ingenious flash sintering technique is employed. Notably, the Cermet material—typically used for racing car brakes and aerospace’s external fuselage—boasts a density lower than titanium (4.1g/cm3) while its 2360-Vicker hardness is comparable to the diamond’s standard 2400 Vickers. To complement the three-section construction of the case are grade 5 titanium caseband, bridges and baseplate.
In tandem with RM 74-01, side by side and without missing a beat so to speak, is RM 74-02 with yet another Richard Mille exclusive watchmaking material, Gold Carbon TPT®. This challenge is proudly accomplished by incorporating a composite material, the unparalleled Carbon TPT®, with a noble metal, gold leaf.
Just like grey Cermet, Gold Carbon TPT® has entailed years of development in the creation of a resistance-and-lightness tour de force from alternating layers of Carbon TPT® with 24k yellow gold leaf at 45°. The result is a stunning contrast of matte black carbon and glint of precious gold including threads of 24k yellow gold spangled over the curved contours of the case silhouette—all impeccably achieved by specially adapted machining and cutting processes and tools. Complementing the radiant glow are the baseplate and the red-gold 5N caseband with polished pillars, as well as the yellow gold 3N-encircled crown.
From an outward impression, we now journey within to the twin cores of the watches to discover the two new versions of the fully in-house automatic tourbillon calibre. For the RM 74-01, the in-house CRMT6 calibre is its beating heart, while the CRMT5 calibre powers the RM 74-02. The CRMT6 calibre’s baseplate and bridges are crafted from PVD- and electroplasma-treated grade 5 titanium, distinct from the CRMT5 calibre rendered in yellow gold 3N and red gold 5N.
However, the two calibres beat to the same rhythmic mandate of a tourbillon regulator with a free-sprung balance wheel where the constant energy flowing from their fast-winding barrels is smoothly dispersed via the involute profile gear teeth for 50 hours of power reserve and mechanical ballet. Allowing the owners of the twinning but non-identical watches and to personalise the winding according to their individual profile are a variable-geometry rotor from which the two movements distil their energy.
The final compliment that can be paid to the RM 74-01 and RM 74-02 is slimline sophistication that showcases their respective tourbillons at 6 o’clock, majestically placed within their frames. Additionally, the hand-bevelling on the flange further enhances the movements, replete with the detailed touches of satin-polished surfaces, microblasting, hand-bevelling and rolled pivot joints on the movement and case.
Clearly, the peerless refinement of hand-finishing quality has elevated the grace and delicacy of each timepiece to perfectly illustrate architectural elegance and technical performance in high watchmaking.
The Montblanc 1858 Split Second Chronograph is an opus in the Minerva manufacture’s legacy now housed in Montblanc’s Villeret factory. Montblanc Master watchmaker Demetrio Cabiddu was instrumental in the creation of Montblanc’s original rattrapante chronograph and his pioneering work in the 1858 Split Second Chronograph continues to thrive as the industry’s ‘open secret’ an exemplar of Swiss watchmaking and emblematic of high horology but without the accompanying astronomical price tag.
This time the celebrated 1858 Split Second Chronograph returns with an all new visage thanks to a collaboration between Montblanc and Sincere Fine Watches.
“We are delighted to launch this stunning limited edition in collaboration with Sincere Fine Watches who shares the same passion for the pinnacle of technical and fine watchmaking as we do at Montblanc. The Montblanc 1858 Split Second Chronograph Limited Edition 8 in red is absolutely surprising and well planned in every detail. I believe the bold choice of colour resonates well in this region and this striking red tone is often associated with adventure and those who dare to explore in both their personal and professional lives.” – Matthieu Dupont, Montblanc SEAO President
Montblanc and Sincere Fine Watch launch Sumptuous Red dial 1858 Split Second Chronograph
Powered by the manufacture calibre MB M16.31, the new Montblanc 1858 Rattrapante or Split Second Chronograph wears large because its beating heart was built off a movement originally designed for pocket watches. Using the MB M16.29 found in earlier 1858 monopusher chronographs as a base, Montblanc integrated a split seconds module to keep track of multiple running seconds through an additional column wheel and that mistakable “pincer” (but really a mechanical brake system). Each component is nicely angled or chamfered were necessary and the overall attractiveness for a high complication chronograph retailing at slightly more than US$35,000 at this level of finnissage is quite unheard of.
Exquisitely housed in a robust, satin-finished, 44 mm Grade 5 titanium case, the Sincere Fine Watch variant of the Montblanc 1858 Split Second Chronograph Limited Edition 8 comes with a red gradated lacquered dial that has been created using a special process that takes dexterity and time to achieve.
“2020 has been an incredibly insightful year. It has given us the perfect opportunity to be selective in our projects. This limited edition of solely 8 pieces is a fantastic way to showcase Montblanc and Sincere Fine Watches’ determination, shared passion and resilience. By creating such amazing limited editions with Montblanc, we stay true to the brand’s values, authenticity and exclusivity,” – Ong Ban, Sincere Fine Watches CEO
Birthing the Red Lacquer Dial of the 1858 Split Chronograph
Red varnish is applied to dial of the Montblanc 1858 Split Second Chronograph Limited Edition, but the gradation which sees its chroma darken towards the periphery of the dial is the painstaking process of “fading the center” after which fifteen layers of translucent lacquer are then applied to the dial, allowing time to dry between each layer for a contrasting shine. The even sheen of lacquer which catches the light so beautiful is the final result of fine polishing in order to remove impurities and create a dial of remarkable distinction.
The red coloured background is paired with white elements that accentuate the vintage style of the 1858 Split Second Chronograph Limited Edition 8, while also providing readability of the complications both at day and night. The sapphire crystal of the titanium case has an anti-magnetized treatment to ensure greater precision of the two second hands of the chronograph.
At the center of the Split Second Chronograph lies a base 1000 tachymeter in a colimaçon (snail shape) — allowing the wearer to measure a length of time of up to three minutes, as compared to one minute in most traditional chronograph scales. The tachymeter scale can indicate the speed of a moving object, rendering speed in kilometres or miles per hour.
Movement Montblanc Manufacture Calibre MB M16.31 with 50 hours power reserve Case 44 mm Grade 5 titanium with 30 metres water resistance Strap Alligator Leather Price €35,000
