Watches

Jacob & Co Crafts $280K Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon Timepiece Complete With W16 Engine

Bugatti’s newest engine is a tourbillon. The motor-driven marvel can’t be taken out on the road, but it is crowned by a W16, and it will keep very good time.

The watch is the work of Swiss firm Jacob & Co. The timepiece’s W16 is hand cut from sapphire crystal, and boasts moving parts: crystal pistons and a crankshaft, with a pair of turbos to back them up and four blue springs to suspend the movement. The astonishing mechanical flourishes say much about the influence of nouveau Bugatti and the craftsmanship of the watchmaker.

The watch may be perceived as a de rigueur accessory for a Bugatti owner, or at the least a remarkable and commentworthy addition to a serious watch collectors lineup. Only 250 examples will roll out of Jacob & Co., each priced at $280K.

MB&F’s Amazing Horological Machine HM10 Bulldog

MB&F’s newest HM series watch is a dog. A bulldog, though. So Britons and fans of Winston Churchill, take note. The HM10 Bulldog is a watch collector’s dream.

As in other entries from MB&F, such as HM6 and HM8, the HM10 Bulldog’s design aspires to burst forth in all dimensions. The typically iconoclastic shape diffuses the traditional visuals of a wrist timepiece by shattering them and putting them together again.

No horological hobbyist or fellow designer has ever accused MB&F of sticking to the tried and true, or appealing to expectations about watch design. The HM10’s design sensibility places semi-globes within a crystal of the same shape. The back follows suit, giving the whole the appearance of a bisected sphere. And if you look at the lower half close enough, you’ll see a bulldog’s jaws opening and closing—a clever artistic flourish that earns the timepiece its name. The movement is an MB&F-designed 34-jewel caliber; the watch features a 45-hour power reserve.

Patek Philippe Watch Hammers at Christie’s Geneva for a Record $31.2M

A singular Patek Phillipe watch fetched a stratospheric price at auction this holiday season. Bidding for the Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A topped out at $31.2 million at the 2019 Only Watch auction, which was conducted by Christie’s at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva.

The selling price for the Grandmaster Chime 6300A surpassed the previous record for a timepiece sold at auction by over $7 million, which was set in 2014, when the Patek Phillipe Henry Graves Supercomplication went under the gavel and sold for $24 million. The standing record for a watch sale at auction was defeated by an even wider margin—that record had previously been

held by a Rolex Paul Newman Daytona which went under the hammer in 2017 and fetched $17 million.

The stainless Grandmaster Chime 6300A is the only one produced— hence ‘The Only One’ on the dial. It’s also the most complex watch in Patek Phillipe’s history; its 20 complications includes a grande sonnerie, and it features 214 components and a whopping 1,366 parts in its movement. The watch was produced especially for the auction, in order to fund research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Soccer Superstar Lionel Messi Collaborates With Jacob & Co for Charity

FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is the new face of Jacob & Co’s philanthropic timepiece ‘Only Watch’ sales event. In the photos below, he’s sporting the watchmaker’s Epic X Chrono Messi ‘Only Watch’ Special Edition.

The Argentine has partnered with the American jeweler in order to support the upcoming charity auction in November. Set in Geneva, the fundraiser will feature special-edition designs from 52 watchmakers. The cause? To raise funds for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The sale comes with a meet-and-greet with Messi.

Jacob & Co designed a new timepiece exclusively for the event; the watchmaker’s generous donation will bring exposure to the even beforehand, and accrue considerable revenue afterward.

The special-edition timepiece’s 47mm titanium and white gold case with a multi-layered blue dial. The watch also boasts a bit of bling: 36 baguette-cut blue sapphires set on the 18-carat white gold bezel. The ‘Only Watch’ receives a nod to Messi himself, of course, via his personal logo and shirt number.

The one-off piece is expected to sell for between $70,000 and $100,000.

HYT Serves Up Eye-Catching ‘Mr Porter’ Timepiece

Avant-garde watchmaker HYT introduced the H1 hydromechanical timepiece back in 2012. The watch arrived to much acclaim, and the intervening years have seen a steady succession of functional wrist wear that bears the same innovative design. The latest in the hydro-mechanical line from HYT is a limited production watch; very limited, actually, as there will be only five available for purchase. The piece is an homage to early HYT champion Mr. Porter, and the watch is called the H1.0 x Mr. Porter. The watch’s remarkable design is matched by its utilitarian appeal, which is evident in its looks as well as its materials—stainless, titanium, and black rubber. A bit of rightbrain appeal sneaks in with dashes of red, and luminous measures and minute hand. The H1.0 x Mr. Porter is priced at $58K.

Chanel’s Daring ‘J12 X-Ray’ Is a Sapphire Affair

Chanel’s newest watch takes off where their all-black J12 left off two decades ago. But the new timepiece— called the J12 X-Ray—takes a rather different approach: its case is made entirely from sapphire crystal. All major components in the watch are made from sapphire, as well. The list includes bridges, strap links, and plate. Other features of the watch include baguette-cut diamonds for hour markers. The look is undeniably arresting; the diamonds that serve as markers appear to float above the face of the watch. Two other watches join the X-Ray in the J12 rebirth. The X-Ray is limited in production to 12 examples, and will be priced at just over $625K.

Richard Mille’s signature timepiece for Pharrell Williams fell to earth this fall, hitting terra firma with a meteoric, nearly $1 million thump.

The model is the RM 52-05 Tourbillon. The watchmaking firm designed the wristwear for, and with the assistance of, Mr. Williams, who is an avid Star Trek fan and, presumably, a hobbyist watcher of the heavens. The timepiece is more jewelry than practical tool, however, favoring an extraordinary stylized rendering of space that’s part daydream and part expressionist painting.

The watch’s cosmetics are strikingly and compelling evidence of the craftspeople at Mille. The material choices

begin with titanium—a space travel-ready metal—and include rose gold, copper crystals, and a host of precious stones. The enameling and engraving used to express the dial represents many, many hours of work, and the watch’s mechanics boast 19 jewels, and offer a 42-hour reserve.

Production of the RM 52-05 Tourbillon is limited to 30 examples, and priced at $970K.

Louis Vuitton Unveils $322K Tambour Curve Flying Tourbillon Poinçon de Genève

Louis Vuitton’s newest addition to the Tambour series of timepieces is the Tambour Curve Flying Tourbillon Poinçon de Genève. That’s a substantial series of syllables to saddle any watch with, but this particular wristwear is important to the fashion house because it bears the Louis Vuitton logo in the most prominent manner on its face. material called CarboStratum, a layered material composed of a hundred sheets of carbon fiber. Titanium comprises the remainder of the watch’s bulk material, with gold and diamonds finishing it off in higher-priced verions.

The watch has a bezel thickness of 12.75mm. It gets its shadowy appearance from carbon fiber, and lots of it; this postmodern horological delight is crafted from a The watch is powered by the caliber LV 108/9. It is priced from ~$260K.