WATCH SUPPLEMENT TO JOBURG STYLE MAGAZINE
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TO BREAK THE RULES, YOU MUST FIRST MASTER THEM. THE VALLﾃ右 DE JOUX. FOR MILLENNIA A HARSH, UNYIELDING ENVIRONMENT; AND SINCE 1875 THE HOME OF AUDEMARS PIGUET, IN THE VILLAGE OF LE B R A SS U S . T H E EA R LY WAT C H M A K E R S WE R E SHAPED HERE, IN AWE OF THE FORCE OF NATURE YET DRIVEN TO MASTER ITS MYSTERIES THROUGH THE COMPLEX MECHANICS OF THEIR CRAFT. STILL TODAY THIS PIONEERING SPIRIT INSPIRES US TO CONSTANTLY CHALLENGE THE CONVENTIONS OF FINE WATCHMAKING.
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TIME FACTS
p2 | The most expensive watches in the world Got a spare fortune anyone?
Our cover image: The Paraflex shock absorbing system, Rolex technology that makes the regulating mechanism and the mechanical heart of the watch, called a balance wheel, oscillate consistently and accurately.
THE PAST
p4 | Crown Jewels Rolex p8 | Power Shift The Quartz Crisis
Welcome
to 24H, a dedicated watch publication. Our first edition was a hit – check it out at www. joburgstyle.co.za if you missed it. Our journey into the world of time and the keeping thereof continues. My name is Eric Bornman and I’ll be your editor today. What is time? We have already established that man is obsessed with it but it is, according to raging intellectual debate, mainly one of two things: The pragmatic view is that time is part of the fundamental structure of the universe, a dimension independent of events, in which events occur in sequence. Isaac Newton was a fan of this theory hence it is often referred to as Newtonian time. Then there is the opposing more philosophical view that time is neither an entity that flows nor some kind of structure that events and objects move through but that it is part of the fundamental intellectual structure within which humans sequence and compare events. This theory maintains that time is not an event or a thing, and cannot be measured nor travelled. As much as my inner-kid wants to believe that Marty McFly’s exploits in Back to the Future are based on real events, let’s agree that it can’t be travelled. I furthermore FINAL and enthusiastically disagree that it MOMENT cannot be measured or else p24 | Design Time what are we doing here. Swatch news All the fine time
EDITORIAL BOARD Editor & Publisher ERIC BORNMAN eric@ballyhoomedia.co.za Creative Direction & Design STEVE MACBETH Copy Editing JULIA RICE julia@ballyhoomedia.co.za Proofreading LYNNE YATES | LOREN SHIRLEY-CARR Distribution ON THE DOT Printed by CREDA
THE PRESENT p14 | The watch wish list Find these in-store now
measuring devices celebrated in these pages are testament to this, horology being an actual field of study and a multi-billion dollar industry. The watch by definition is a physical mechanism that counts the passage of time. Currently, the international unit of time is the second. Periodic events, however, have also long served as units of time; the motion of the sun across the sky, the phases of the moon etc. Time is also measured in social importance as having economic value, like in “time is money”. In medieval philosophical writings, the atom was the smallest possible division of time at 15/94 of a second. As of May 2010, the smallest time interval was established to be to the order of 12 attoseconds (1.2 × 10−17 seconds). For context, an attosecond is to a second what a second is to about 31.71 billion years… Alrighty then! In awareness of the limited time that human life spans, I subscribe to a third and personal point of view that is far less technical compared to how the smart guys defined it. I believe that time has a subjective component to it and that time is in fact defined by what you make of it. It is, without a doubt, the most valuable thing you can spend. So what will you do with your time today? Enjoy the THE FUTURE edition. p22 | RADO – Masters of Modern Alchemy Modern alchemy p23 | The CARTIER Women’s Initiative Awards
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24H is published quarterly by Ballyhoo Media. Opinions expressed in Joburg Style are not necessarily those of Ballyhoo Media. No responsibility can be accepted for errors, as all information is believed to be correct at the time of going to print. Copyright subsists in all work in this magazine. Any reproduction or adaptation, in whole or in part, without written permission from the publishers is strictly prohibited and is an act of copyright infringement that may, in certain circumstances, constitute a criminal offence.
TIME FACTS/RECORD PRICES
The world’s most “Adventurous expeditions into
A. Lange & Söhne Grand Complication It features a unique combination of seven, some very rare, complications.
876
The number of parts in the movement. It took the most talented and experienced watchmakers about a year to assemble.
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YEARS
The time product developers spent mastering all of the technical challenges involved in the design and the entire series consists of six exemplars only. One example of the many challenges they faced was to avoid any loss of amplitude when at midnight all indications of the perpetual calendar are switching and the grande sonnerie is striking simultaneously. They succeeded and even made it possible for the owner of the timepiece to operate the rattrapante mechanism at the same time.
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$2,497,000
INTEREST IN THE WATCH WAS HIGHER THAN THE SUPPLY AND THUS, THEY HAVE UNFORTUNATELY ALL BEEN SOLD…
expensive watches the universe of complexity”
Richard Mille Tourbillon RM 56-02 Sapphire The transparent sapphire case — which is made up of three parts, each milled and ground from blocks of solid sapphire — has a hardness of 1,800 Vickers and is virtually scratchresistant to any material short of diamond. Sapphire is also used in movement parts.
40 DAYS
The time every watch requires of continuous 24/7 machining for the case and 400 additional hours for machining and finishing of the movement bridges.
$2,020,000 ONLY 10 PIECES WILL BE AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE
0.35 mm
The thickness of a single-braided cable which suspends the lighweight titanium baseplate within the case. The movement uses a system of four pulleys on posts at its corners and another six pulleys along its periphery; a miniature ratchet at 9 o’clock controls the tension of the cables. The entire system is connected to an indicator at 12 o’clock that enables the wearer to check the tension in the pulleys to make sure it’s operating within the designated norms.
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If any watch brand has a unique identity and status, it has to be Rolex. It is probable that most collectors of timepieces have at least one Rolex model in their collection – in fact, serious aficionados could have more than one. How this timepiece acquired its name and its early beginnings are part of the Rolex mystique
THE PAST/HERITAGE 6
ounder of the Rolex brand and responsible for coining its name was creative genius and visionary Hans Wilsdorf, a German watchmaker. Born in Bavaria in 1881 he was orphaned in childhood, and as a youth was apprenticed to a Swiss watchmaker in the Swiss Jura town of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Enterprising even as a youngster, he moved to London in 1905 to establish his own importing business with two partners, one of whom was a watchmaker from Bienne, Switzerland. The aim was to import branded wristwatches. It was Wilsdorf who created the name Rolex - because it was easy to pronounce in many languages but also because he believed it sounded like the noise a watch makes when it is being wound. Added to this factor was the fact that it was short enough to fit on the face of the watch. In 1919 Wilsdorf moved the company to Geneva, where it has been based ever since. This remarkable man could, as the head of the company, embrace all the aspects of its fields of activity, whether it was technology, communication, organisation or distribution. In fact, he was a genius and headed Rolex for more than 50 years, setting a course for a wristwatch that would feature a case that would ultimately keep out both water and air - which eventually resulted in a diving watch. It was patented in 1926 and is the heart of the Rolex brand. The location of the company, Montres Rolex S.A. in Geneva brought him closer to his supplier in Bienne. The invention that led to the creation of the world’s first waterproof watch, the Rolex Oyster, entailed producing a case that had an ingenious patented system containing a screw-down bezel, case back and winding crown, which were hermetically sealed, thus ensuring protection for the movement. The fluting on the bezel, like that of the case back, served a functional purpose. It was used Hans to screw the bezel and case back onto the Wilsdorf, around middle case with a specific tool invented by 1950 Rolex. It also gave the watch its visual identity and unique personality. Today the Oyster’s bezel is no longer screwed down onto the case, but several designs still feature the characteristic fluting that echoes the original 1926 model. As the world’s first waterproof watch, this design played a pivotal role in the development of modern timepieces. Through the innovative waterproof case of the Oyster, Rolex entered
the annals of watchmaking history, giving the brand a head start as an innovator. Not content with this claim, our hero decided to submit the Oyster to the supreme test. A young Englishwoman, Mercedes Gleitze, swam the English Channel with the Oyster on her wrist in her 10-hour stint at Wilsdorf ’s incentive and it emerged in perfect working order. Wilsdorf published a full-page advertisement in the Daily Mail proclaiming the success of the waterproof watch, thus announcing the brand’s triumph Daily Mail, around the world. 1927 This event was the forerunner of an alliance between Rolex and personalities from the fields of exploration, sport and culture whose accomplishments while wearing the Oyster would confirm its excellence. With its precision and waterproofness assured, the next step in the building of the brand’s image was the development of the self-winding movement. This was to obviate a need to unscrew the crown in order to wind the watch, which would compromise its waterproofness and therefore its precision. The answer lay in the invention of a system with a free rotor called the Perpetual Rotor. This was accomplished in 1931 and was the precursor of the present-day self-winding systems which is accomplished by a weight that oscillates, while the movement of the wrist keeps the watch wound constantly, making winding a thing of the past. During the 1930s two additional elements of Rolex’s identity appeared on the dials – the Rolex crown: the logo and the symbol par excellence, which were registered in 1931. Two years later the combination of two materials – gold and steel – (Rolesor) – was yet another innovation. The Oyster Perpetual Day-Date was released in 1956 and spelt out both in full on a window on the dial – the first timepiece to display this. And watches which would function for divers in the depths of the sea in the 1960s, such as the Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller – which was waterproof to a depth of 610m – were produced. This model has been improved over the years until the introduction of the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea in 2008, waterproof to a depth of 3900m. Wilsdorf died in Geneva in 1960 after setting the fundamental course for the production of exceptional watches and creating a brand that would establish a tradition in the world of timekeeping.
The Royal Armoury
1926 First Oyster cushion-shaped
1931 First Oyster Perpetual
1945 First Datejust
1955 First GMT-Master
1953 First Submariner
1953 First Explorer
1956 First Day-Date
1956 First Milgauss
1960 Deepsea Special
The Quartz Crisis refers to the economic upheavals caused by the advent of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s, which largely replaced mechanical watches
t caused a decline of the Swiss watchmaking industry, which chose to remain focused on traditional mechanical watches, while the majority of world watch production shifted to Asian companies that embraced the new technology. During World War II, Swiss neutrality permitted the watch industry to continue making consumer timekeeping apparatus while the major nations of the world shifted timing apparatus production to timing devices for military ordnance. As a result, the Swiss watch industry enjoyed an effective monopoly. The industry prospered in the absence of any real competition. Thus, prior to the 1970s, the Swiss watch industry had 50% of the world watch market. In the early 1950s, a joint venture between the Elgin Watch Company in the United States and Lip of France to produce an
electromechanical watch – one powered by a small battery rather than an unwinding spring – laid the groundwork for the quartz watch. Although the Lip-Elgin enterprise produced only prototypes, in 1957 the first battery-driven watch in production was the American-made Hamilton 500. In 1954, Swiss engineer Max Hetzel developed an electronic wristwatch that used an electrically charged tuning fork powered by a 1.35 volt battery. The tuning fork resonated at precisely 360Hz and it powered the hands of the watch through an electro-mechanical gear train. This watch was called the Accutron and was marketed by Bulova, starting in 1960. Although Bulova did not have the first battery powered wristwatch, the Accutron was a powerful catalyst, as by that time the Swiss watch manufacturing industry was a mature industry
Technological revolution In the late 1950s and early 1960s, both Seiko and a consortium of Switzerland’s top firms competed to develop the first quartz watch. One of the first successes was a portable quartz clock called the Seiko Crystal Chronometer QC-951. This portable clock was used as a backup timer for marathon events in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In 1966, prototypes of the world’s first
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: The Accutron by Bulova; Hamilton’s Pulsar, the world’s first electronic digital watch; Seiko’s Astron, the world’s first quartz watch; The Seiko Crystal Chronometer QC-951, a portable clock used as a backup timer for marathon events in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo
The rise of quartz in the 1970s Despite these dramatic advancements, the Swiss hesitated in embracing quartz watches. At the time, Swiss mechanical watches dominated world markets. In addition, excellence in watchmaking was a large component of Swiss national identity. From their position of market strength, and with a national watch industry organised broadly and deeply to foster mechanical watches, many in Switzerland thought that moving into electronic watches was unnecessary. Others outside of Switzerland, however, saw the advantage and further developed the technology, and by 1978 quartz watches overtook mechanical watches in popularity, plunging the Swiss watch industry into crisis while at the same time strengthening both the Japanese and American watch industries. This period of time was marked by a lack of
THE PAST/MOVEMENTS
with a centuries-old global market and deeply entrenched patterns of manufacturing, marketing and sales. In 1962, the Centre Electronique Horloger (CEH) was established in Neuchâtel to develop a Swiss-made quartz wristwatch, while simultaneously in Japan, Seiko was also working on an electric watch and developing quartz technology.
BETWEEN 1970 AND 1988, SWISS WATCH EMPLOYMENT FELL FROM 90,000 TO 28,000
quartz pocketwatch were unveiled by Seiko and Longines in the Neuchâte Observatory’s 1966 competition. On 25 December 1969, Seiko unveiled the quartz Astron, the world’s first quartz watch. The first Swiss quartz analogue watch – the Ebauches SA Beta 21 containing the Beta 1 movement – arrived at the 1970 Basel Fair. The Beta 21 was released by numerous manufacturers including the Omega Electroquartz. On 6 May 1970, Hamilton introduced the Pulsar - the world’s first electronic digital watch. In 1974, Omega introduced the Omega Marine Chronometer, the first watch ever to be certified as a Marine Chronometer, accurate to 12 seconds per year using a quartz circuit that produces 2,400,000 vibrations per second. In 1976, Omega introduced the Omega Chrono-Quartz, the world’s first analogue/digital chronograph, which was succeeded within 12 months by the Calibre 1620, the company’s first completely LCD chronograph wristwatch.
innovation in Switzerland at the same time that the watchmaking industries of other nations were taking full advantage of emerging technologies, specifically quartz watch technology, hence the term Quartz Crisis. As a result of the economic turmoil that ensued, many once-profitable and famous Swiss watch houses became insolvent or disappeared. This period of time completely upset the Swiss watch industry both economically and psychologically. During the 1970s and early 1980s, technological upheavals, i.e. the appearance of the quartz technology, and an otherwise difficult economic situation resulted in a reduction in the size of the Swiss watch industry. Between 1970 and 1988, Swiss watch employment fell from 90,000 to 28,000. Outside of Switzerland, the crisis is often referred to as the Quartz Revolution, particularly in the United States where many American companies had gone out of business or had been bought out by foreign interests by the 1960s. When the first quartz watches were introduced in 1969, the United States
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THE PAST/MOVEMENTS
promptly took a technological lead in part due to microelectronics research for military and space programmes. It was American companies like Texas Instruments, Fairchild and National Semiconductor, which started the mass production of digital quartz watches and made them affordable. It did not remain so forever; by 1978 Hong Kong exported the largest number of electronic watches worldwide, and US semiconductor companies pulled out of the watch market entirely. With the sole exception of Timex, the remaining traditional American watch companies, including Hamilton, went out of business and sold their brand names to foreign competitors. The renaissance, the Swatch and the future of timekeeping By 1983, the crisis reached a critical point. The Swiss watch industry, which had 1,600 watchmakers in 1970, had now declined to 600. A research consortium, the Swiss ASUAG group (Société Générale de l’Horlogerie Suisse SA), was formed to save the industry and the result was launched in March 1983 – the Swatch. The Swatch would be instrumental in reviving the Swiss watch industry, giving a new bill of health to all brands concerned and gave rise to what would become the Swatch Group – the largest watch manufacturer in the world. The Swatch was sealed in a plastic case, sold as a
disposable commodity with little probability of repair, and had a small number of moving parts (51) compared to about 91 for mechanical watches. Furthermore, production was essentially automated, which resulted in a higher profitability. The Swatch was a huge success; in less than two years, more than 2.5 million Swatches were sold. The larger global market still largely reflected other trends, however. In the US domestic market, for example, the Swatch was something of a 1990s fad resting largely on a variety of colours and patterns, and the bulk of production still came from offshore sites such as China and Japan, in digitally-dominated or hybrid brands like Casio, Timex and Armitron. Paradoxically, the Quartz Revolution drove many Swiss manufacturers to seek refuge in (or be winnowed out to) the higher end of the market, such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and the like. A few brands aimed further up in the midrange toward prices of hundreds of dollars but still avoided the realm of the high end mechanicals, which might run from several thousand dollars to $50,000 and higher. References: Smithsonian: The quartz revolution revitalized the U.S. watch industry Harvard Business Review: Seiko Watch Corporation: Moving Upmarket Markets in Time: The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Swiss Watchmaking Seiko Swatch Group
SEIKO TODAY Seiko Astron has since developed the world’s first GPS solar watch. A fullfunction GPS solar chronograph with dual time display using just the power of light adjusts to every time zone on earth at the touch of a button. Once a day when fully charged, Astron receives the time signal automatically and, on demand, connects to four or more of the GPS satellites that orbit the earth, thus using its position and identifying the time zone and the exact time. The hands adjust automatically to the correct time with atomic clock precision. It is entirely self-sustaining and takes all the power it needs just from light. There is no need, ever, to change a battery. A GPS solar watch identifies the recognised time zones on earth. Whether you are in the middle of the ocean or in the centre of a desert, the watch displays the exact local time by pinpointing its location and identifying your exact time from four or more GPS satellites. Astron keeps that precision by automatically connecting to a satellite and adjusting the time for you. You don’t have to do anything at all. Additional features include an in-flight mode, a perpetual calendar that is accurate up to February 2100, irrespective of leap years, and a Daylight Saving Time adjustment. Seiko’s proprietary anti-reflective coating, applied on both the front and back of the glass, prevents 99% of light reflection and allows the dial to be easily legible, even in bright light. Seiko Astron GPS Solar Dual-Time
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The 2015 collection is expanded with the addition of a third caliber, Dual-Time. The time in your home time zone is shown on the simple 12-hour sub-dial at the 6 o’clock position, with an AM/PM indicator alongside. At the 2 o’clock position, a retrograde dial shows the day of the week, with the date at the 4 o’clock position. Keeping time while travelling the globe has never been easier.
LEGENDS LIVE FOREVER EL PRIMERO
www.zenith-watches.com
I Chronomaster 1969
Tissot, a history of firsts. Other milestones along the way include the Tissot
Every innovation brought Tissot one step closer
Antimagnétique watch of 1930, in touch with its
to producing the first ever tactile watch powered
times in its resistance of interference to electric
by solar energy. A significant milestone along the
fields, the first antimagnetic watch. In 1971, the
way was in 1999, when they created the first
Tissot Astrolon went down in watchmaking history
tactile watch, years before any Smartphones
as the first plastic mechanical watch with its
even existed. At the time, tactile technology
plastic movement components.
was becoming more prominent in computers with features such as track-pads. For Tissot, a
Tissot was founded mid-nineteenth century in
tactile screen would be the answer to providing
a small town in Le Locle, one of the cradles of
consumers with intuitive functions, bypassing
Swiss watchmaking, where it still remains today,
complicated pushers. For the first time, touching
at Chemin des Tourelles Street. As we look back on
the crystal activated the functions of the watch.
the brand’s rich history, its qualities of innovators
The first generation of Tissot T-Touch watches had
by tradition has led Tissot to produce many
a sporty design and already offered a complete
“classics” and product “firsts”, which have made
panel of functions with weather forecast, altimeter,
watchmaking history. This timeline of innovation
alarm, chronograph, thermometer and compass,
starts in 1853, with its first pocket watch
for which the antimagnetic feature was essential.
integrating two time zones. The theme of ground-
Today, Tissot is enlightening the way to the
breaking multiple time-zone technology continued
future with the world’s first solar-powered tactile
in 1951 with the Tissot Navigator and its 24 time
watches. The Touch Collection has evolved in an
zones. That watch was re-created in celebration
ecological way, with an ultra-modern watch which
of Tissot’s 160th Anniversary in 2013. It not only
has it all. The rays of light on the dial not only allow
marked the Tissot history but it also represents
the Super-LumiNova® indices and hands to glow
Tissot’s adventures and the new horizons that
in the dark but also to recharge the watch. Even
were explored since the beginning of Tissot’s
more impressive, is the fact that the Tissot T-Touch
journey, the path that led to the global brand it is
Expert Solar has an impressive 20 functions,
today. In 1986 the Tissot TwoTimer, very popular
which combines the most essential ones of
with flight crew, also demonstrated its ability to
every tactile watch over the last 16 years. It is
display two time zones, this time, in analogue and digital forms via one crown.
Tissot Antimagnétique, Tissot archives
for everyday use, with a perpetual calendar with indication of day and week number to keep track of busy schedules, two alarms; one for the week,
the other for the weekend, two time zones for holiday trips, weather forecast with relative pressure, altimeter with difference meter, chronograph lap and split with logbook, compass, azimuth, timer, regatta function and backlight. This timepiece bears a huge technology in compact dimensions. Tissot has added yet another edge on its competition in the tactile area by developing this extraordinary watch with the ability to recharge the battery from available light.
Tissot Chemin des Tourelles automatic with the chronograph version that won the International Chronometry Competition 2015
Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar. Tactile technology powered by solar energy
It’s time to go higher. TISSOT T-TOUCH EXPERT SOLAR. TACTILE TECHNOLOGY POWERED BY SOLAR ENERGY, OFFERING 20 FUNCTIONS FOR EVERYDAY USE INCLUDING ALTIMETER, WEATHER FORECAST AND COMPASS.
TACTILE TECHNOLOGY
ZU R I C H — PA R I S — LO N D O N — N E W YO R K — B EIJ I N G — H O N G KO N G — SI N G AP O R E — N E W D EL H I — D U BAI — M O S C OW
T I S S OT WATC H E S . C O M
AUDEMARS PIGUET Royal Oak Offshore Diver The classic ‘Méga Tapisserie’ dial of the Royal Oak Offshore Diver is given a sleek, new silver look while for the first time it bears an open case back revealing its movement
The watch’s powerful form and sporting expression remain intact and is waterresistant to 300m. The stainless steel case houses 40 jewels, 280 parts and sports a black rubber strap with stainless steel pin buckle. The functions include a dive-time measurement and a minimal guaranteed power reserve of 60 hours. www.audemarspiguet.com www.picotandmoss.co.za
THE PRESENT/PRODUCT
Today there are more timepiece styles to choose from than ever before
THE WATCH LIST
BREGUET Marine 5827 Chronograph This year, the Marine 5827 Chronograph added a black rubber strap to its assertive personality
The watch’s engine-turned dial features totaliser minute and seconds hands at the centre providing clear and immediately legible readouts. A 12-hour totaliser at 6 o’clock and a sub dial for the seconds at 9 o’clock, a date calendar at 6 o’clock and a 15-minute sector complete the information provided by the dial. The 18 carat white or yellow gold case houses a self-winding movement with a screw-locked crown and is water-resistant to 100m. Each piece is individually numbered and signed Breguet and features 25 jewels and a 48-hour power reserve. The 18 carat gold dial is engine-turned by hand in a wave pattern. It is also available with an 18 carat white gold strap. www.breguet.com www.swatchgroup.com
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RICHARD MILLE World Timer Automatic Watch
This watch was designed with frequent travellers in mind and makes a strong impression because of its remarkably easy-to-use multi-time zone mechanism The watch’s setting was simplified by incorporating the World Timer function into a brand new automatic in-house movement. The grade-5 titanium rotating bezel is mounted on ball bearings for easy manipulation and can be turned to select the desired time zone. When the wearer’s current city is positioned at 12 o’clock, it automatically defines the local time as well as the time in 23 other cities around the world, thanks to its graduated 24-hour flange. This blue and white disk distinguishes nighttime and daytime hours, automatically incorporating the correction hour by hour. It is water-resistant to 30m and has a power reserve of 50 hours. www.richardmille.com | www.picotandmoss.co.za
The new black and 18 carat Everose gold version of the Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master is fitted with the patented Oysterflex bracelet, combining the robustness of a metal bracelet with the flexibility of an elastomer strap The watch’s resistance is comparable to that of a metal bracelet. The bracelet is fitted with an Oysterlock safety clasp that prevents accidental opening. The new Cerachrom insert, in black ceramic, fitted in the rotatable bezel is true to the Yacht-Master’s identity with a (first for this model) matching black dial. The Oyster case guarantees waterproofness to a depth of 100m and is crafted from a solid block of 18 carat Everose gold. The winding crown is fitted with the Triplock system and screws down securely against the case. The crystal is made of virtually scratchproof sapphire. It’s offered in 40mm and a new 37mm diameter size. www.rolex.com
THE PRESENT/PRODUCT
ROLEX Yacht-Master
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Clé de Cartier
Cartier’s new timepiece is 18 carat white gold and set with brilliantly cut diamonds What gives Clé de Cartiers its name is the jewel-like, key-like crown. For the conception of this timepiece, the challenge was in creating a new form based on a perfect circle. Sharp edges were eliminated. The bezel is gently rounded and the horns smoothly tapered. Cartier has traditionally placed great emphasis on the volumetric qualities of its designs and, with Clé de Cartier, introduces a tightly drawn curve. In profile, it’s arched, streamlined and sleek, organic and ergonomic. Their rich history of creating innovative crowns presents one of the watch’s most distinctive features and also the inspiration for its name. Clé in French means key, and the crown’s resemblance to one is unmistakable. Its sizeable dimensions make the crown remarkably easy to handle. It’s adorned with a sapphire that’s ingeniously inserted to remain flush with the metal surrounding it. The new indexed winding mechanism incorporates a system that allows time to be set with great ease. Decorated with ‘Vagues de Genève,’ it boasts a semiinstantaneous date indicator and a 42-hour power reserve. www.cartier.com www.richemont.com
The OMEGA Seamaster family welcomes a new limited edition model inspired by the world of James Bond With Spectre, the latest Bond-film in mind, Omega has created a limited edition Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M model inspired by the Bond family coat of arms. The symbol is repeatedly interlocked to create a dynamic pattern on the watch’s blue dial. The coat of arms is also found near the tip of the yellow central second hand. Among the most striking elements of this 41.5mm stainless steel timepiece is the oscillating weight of the movement visible through the sapphire crystal case back. This component has been cut and shaped to resemble a gun barrel, a design feature associated with James Bond. Powered by the completely new Omega Master Co-Axial calibre 8507, this timepiece is resistant to magnetic fields of 15,000 gauss. The timepiece is presented on a stainless steel bracelet and will be produced in an edition limited to 15,007 pieces. It is delivered with a full four-year warranty.
THE PRESENT/PRODUCT
OMEGA Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M
www.omegawatches.com www.swatchgroup.com
ZENITH Pilot Type 20 Extra Special
This vintage-spirited timepiece, with a bronze case, is a noteworthy entrant into the collection of Zenith aviator watches Bronze oxidises and accentuates vintage appeal. True to the brand’s pioneering role in early-day flight instruments, the watch adorns original attributes of a pilot’s watch: Oversized luminescent numerals and a large ratcheted screwed-in crown enabling adjustment with gloved hands. The faceted luminescent hands optimise legibility. The oversize 45mm case has a solid titanium case back bearing an etching of Louis Blériot’s plane and is water-resistant to 100m with a 50-hour power reserve. www.zenith-watches.com | www.picotandmoss.co.za
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IWC ‘Le Petit Prince’
The tale of ‘The Little Prince’ celebrated its 70th birthday two years ago, inspiring IWC to dedicate a number of models to the title figure Every day, one of seven stars in the inner circle of the dial lights up in gold to symbolise the visit of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince to a different planet. The same seven stars are also engraved as a decoration on the back of the watch and include the name of the inhabitant with whom the Little Prince is currently passing the time. The double chronograph combines all the features of a watch designed for flying with a poetic element. Its functions include automatic winding, date, weekday, small hacking seconds, chronograph with aggregate time recording up to 12 hours, split-seconds function, sapphire glass secured against drops in pressure as well as a soft-iron inner case as protection against magnetic fields. Only 1,000 units will be produced. www.iwc.com | www.richemont.com
Design is an integral part of what Rado does, and its unique approach has been recognised with more than 30 international awards
THE PRESENT/PRODUCT
RADO HyperChrome Ceramic Touch Dual Timer
The brand has chosen a range of innovative materials to make its watches. This groundbreaking timepiece features ceramic touch technology with the added complication of two time zone dials. Sensors embedded in the case allow the wearer to set the time through touch alone; right for minutes and left for hours. Time can fly back or forwards by simply activating the watch and sliding your fingers along the case. Watch the hands of the watch fly by touching the case at 3 and 9 o’clock as the time from the small dial moves to the big dial and vice versa. This is the first watch Rado has produced in this hue, which is incredibly difficult to recreate consistently. Boasting the same benefits as black or white high-tech ceramic, this new grey ceramic is available in matte and shiny finishes and is unique in the industry. www.rado.com | www.swatchgroup.com
LONGINES Heritage Military COSD
The Military COSD is based on a piece of equipment used by the British Special Forces during the 1940s The initials COSD marked products intended for the sole use of the Combined Operations Command during the Second World War. The 40mm steel case is mounted on a khaki NATO strap, maintaining its military heritage. Lightweight but robust, it is designed to meet the rigorous requirements of military equipment, but it is also available in a version mounted on a black leather strap. The opaline dial with Arabic numerals and a red 24-hour scale is enhanced with blue hands. The upper part of the dial bears a broad arrow, a symbol used in Britain at the time to indicate government property and found on various pieces of military equipment used by the British forces. The numerals and the hands are coated with Super-LumiNovaÂŽ to read the time under all conditions. www.longines.com | www.swatchgroup.com
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THE FUTURE/SCIENCE
RADO – MASTERS OF MODERN ALCHEMY
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Rado is famous for innovative design and its use of revolutionary materials to create some of the world’s most durable watches. The brand’s philosophy “if we can imagine it, we can make it” has won the company numerous international prizes in contemporary design
LIDEWIJ EDELKOORT is one of the world’s most famous trend forecasters. Trend Union, her Paris-based company with offices in New York and Tokyo, creates trend books two or more years in advance that are used by strategists and designers at international brands. More than 10 years ago, Time magazine named her one of the 25 most influential fashion experts. From 1999 until 2008 she served as chairwoman of the renowned Design Academy in Eindhoven, Netherlands. In 2012 she received the Netherlands’ most prestigious cultural accolade, the Prins Bernhard Cultuurprijs. She was recently named Dean of Hybrid Design Studies at the New School/Parsons in New York and Paris. Alchemy is an old idea that has come to dominate creative transformation in today’s diverse design world: interior designers
“THE WATCHES ADAPT THEMSELVES TO ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, TRAVELLING THROUGH TIME AND SPACE.” Their most recent alchemical process begins with ceramic, a material that has accompanied mankind for thousands of years. In the hands of this watchmaker we see a precious material “transformed under our eyes into a unique and mysterious material that shines without sparkle, that glows without light and emanates from within. A true contemporary material nobody has ever witnessed or experienced before.” Enchanted by the transformative effect of Rado’s Modern Alchemy, Edelkoort personally directed the shooting of magical mood pictures featuring Rado’s new plasma high-tech ceramic HyperChrome models. Exhibiting a warmer shine than metals such as stainless steel, plasma works with all skin tones and clothing colours. As she puts it: “Situated between grey and taupe, between metal and ceramic, between day and night, the watches adapt themselves to all circumstances, travelling through time and space.” Rado Plasma: unique, versatile and timeless Plasma high-tech ceramic is the result of a patented process. Under blistering temperatures in a plasma oven, the molecular structure of white high-tech ceramic is altered by a chemical reaction that changes the ceramic from white to metallic. The resulting material looks like metal without involving any metal at all. Rado watches made with plasma high-tech ceramic combine the appeal of a metallic look with all the benefits of high-tech ceramic. The new HyperChrome Automatic Diamond watch in plasma high-tech ceramic is the little black dress of watches – the perfect match for any woman looking for a stylish accessory to suit all occasions and outfits. www.edelkoort.com www.rado.com
The CARTIER Women’s Initiative Awards
THE FUTURE/GIVING BACK
create new hybrid objects; textile designers gather and layer materials to give them a sublime character; food designers transform traditional ingredients into new substances. Edelkoort identified Rado’s high-tech ceramic plasma as a perfect example of modern alchemy, a sweeping and significant trend described in one of her high-profile reports titled Modern Alchemy – The Plasma Principle. She noted: “The dominant creative drive of our times is without doubt the transformation of matter. The world of design is witnessing a revolution concerning its material component, which is scientific, chemical and alchemic all at once.”
THE WOMEN’S FORUM for the Economy and Society was created by Cartier in 2006 in partnership with INSEAD Business School and McKinsey & Co. The Awards is an annual international business plan competition for women entrepreneurs. Every year, six Laureates receive US $20,000, coaching support for a full year, access to international networks and media visibility along with an exclusive trophy designed by Cartier. The Awards will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2016 at the Women’s Forum Dubai, 23-24 February 2016. Building on the theme “Let’s innovate!” the Women’s Forum Dubai will highlight innovative ideas and practices that further affect gender relations in the economy. www.cartierwomensinitiative.com
Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society Founded in 2005, the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society is the world’s leading platform featuring women’s views and voices on major social and economic issues. www.womens-forum.com INSEAD Business School As one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD brings people, cultures and ideas from around the world together to change lives and to transform
organisations. With campuses in Europe (France), Asia (Singapore) and Abu Dhabi, INSEAD’s business education and research spans the globe. www.insead.edu McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm that for over 90 years has been deeply committed to helping institutions in the private, public and social sectors achieve lasting success. www.mckinsey.com
ABOUT THE FOUNDERS Cartier was founded in 1847 and is one of the world’s most esteemed houses of luxury, designing and manufacturing exclusive collections of fine jewellery, wristwatches and prestige accessories distributed throughout close to 300 Cartier boutiques worldwide. www.cartier.com
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SWATCH AND ALESSANDRO MENDINI CELEBRATE THE POETRY OF DESIGN
Renowned Portuguese contemporary artist Joana Vasconcelos has (in artistic partnership with Swatch) created LOOKSEASY, a unique, limited edition Swatch Art Special. This piece of elegant craftsmanship is the first Art Special ever to include handmade elements. Artisans who specialise in the ancient technique of filigree handcrafted each gold dial of every single watch in the limited edition of 999 pieces. They developed a sophisticated version of the filigree technique that allowed them to achieve great delicacy and lightness. Each watch was then assembled by hand by Swatch watchmaking experts.
Swatch lives up to its trendsetting reputation
LOOKSEASY is presented in an evocative jewelry box. Featuring a black velvet fabric exterior and a golden lining, it has a peek hole in the lid through which only the dial of the watch is visible.
Italian designer, architect and artist Alessandro Mendini has won worldwide renown for groundbreaking, surprising, magical work filled with colour and positive energy. An exceptional exhibition opening this fall in Korea, Alessandro Mendini - The Poetry of Design, includes some of his most famous work for Swatch: five Swatch Art Specials, including the celebrated ‘Lots of Dots’. The exhibition runs from 8 October to 28 February 2016 at the DDP (Dongdeamun Design Plaza) in Seoul.
Design time
FINAL MOMENT/SWATCH
SWATCH AND JOANA VASCONCELOS
SPOT THE DOT (SUOZ213) will initially be made available exclusively at the exhibition venue and designated Swatch stores. Following that it will be available worldwide.
THE SWATCH ART PEACE HOTEL
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Since it opened three years ago, more than 150 artists from more than 39 countries have come to Shanghai to live and make art in The Swatch Art Peace Hotel. A unique place for contemporary art in China’s most vibrant and fascinating city, it’s right on the Bund at the corner of the Nanjing Road. Swatch hosts the artists for three to six months, giving them a perfect environment in which to experiment, exchange and express themselves. They work in total freedom, part of a group of 18 artists who come and go at different times, which multiplies the opportunities to meet many different people during their stay. When the artists leave, they are asked to leave a ‘trace’ of their work – a work of art or other memento of their time in the residency.
RADO.COM
RADO DIAMASTER GRANDE SECONDE PLASMA HIGH-TECH CERAMIC. METALLIC LOOK. MODERN ALCHEMY.
TIME IS THE ESSENCE WE ARE MADE OF
Elegance is an attitude Simon Baker
The Longines Master Collection