THE WATCHES MAGAZINE 060 - SPRING 2020

Swiss International Magazine Spring 2020 #060

15th anniversary issue

English Edition

Tissot

The star of the abyss A. Lange & söhne - Akrivia - Audemars Piguet - Blancpain - Breguet - Bvlgari - Cartier - Chanel - Chopard - Dior - Dwiss - F.P.Journe - Fabergé Girard-Perregaux - Graff - Hermès - Hublot - Jacob & Co. - Jaeger-LeCoultre - Jaquet Droz - Longines - MB&F - Omega - Panerai - Parmigiani - Patek Philippe - Piaget Rebellion - Ressence - Richard Mille - Romain Gauthier - TAG Heuer - Tudor - ulysse Nardin - Vacheron Constantin - Voutilainen - Zenith - ZRC suisse: 10 francs FRANCE MéTRO: 7 EuROs - BEL/LuX/POLAND: 8 EuROs - uK: £8 - A/D/GR//PORT.CONT: 8,40 EuROs - CAN: 11,95 $CAN - usA: 14,99 $us

JA M E S B O N D ’ S CHOICE

SEAMASTER DIVER 300M 007 EDITION

Boutiques OMEGA: Genève • Zürich • Luzern • Interlaken • Bern Crans-Montana • Zermatt • Bürgenstock

1964 “French Navy” re-issue Swiss Made

Z RC G E N È V E S A zrc1904.ch •

zrc1904

O.ZBINDEN : Genève 1201 - Tél.+41(0)22 732 55 05 • JUNOD BIJOUTERIE : Lausane 1003 - Tél.+41(0)21 312 83 66 U H R S A C H E N A G : B e r n 3 0 11 - T é l . + 4 1 ( 0 ) 3 1 3 1 8 0 1 1 8 • Z E I T Z O N E Z U R I C H A G : Z u r i c h 8 0 3 2 - T é l . + 4 1 ( 0 ) 4 3 2 4 4 6 7 7 6

C ove r wat Ch

06

TissoT

seastar 1'000 Professional

By Sharmila Bertin

O

nly the chosen few can claim to boast the “dive watch” label! To be able to use this official term, first and foremost the timepiece must meet the rigorous ISO 6425 standard requirements. This norm, reviewed every five years, imposes resistance criteria for depth, shocks and magnetic fields and assesses immersion time and ensures indication visibility is enhanced. The 1,000-piece produced Seastar 1000 Professional chronograph boasts all these qualities and even goes beyond as Tissot developed a bezel locking system combined with a helium escape valve.

This patented invention is housed in the push-piece at 10 o’clock on the steel case flank. The case measures 49 mm in diameter and can handle dives down to a depth of 300 m. A rotating bezel equipped with a black ceramic ring, where a luminescent triangular marker and silvered graduations are displayed, top this metallic case.

The dial reiterates the colours of the abyss, from navy blue in the centre which merges into intense black

around the edges of the flange. Two large baton-style hands coated with Super-LumiNova® display the hours and minutes, whilst the running seconds tick by at 9 o’clock. Short-cycle times are measured by the seconds hand and the minute and hour totalizers set at 12 and 6 o’clock. A double aperture at 3 o’clock featuring the day and date completes this ensemble driven by the Valjoux A05.H21 calibre (60-hour power reserve) and the watch is worn on a steel link bracelet closed by a folding clasp comprising a rapid extension system.

© Tissot

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

Spring 2020

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Some watches tell time.

Some tell a story

«

«

Second time zone driven by a single self-winding movement Silicon balance spring and pallet horns Double barrel, 18K red gold rotor and case Ivory Grand Feu enamel dial Grande Seconde Dual Time Ivory Enamel

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E DIT OR IAL

15, the age where you begin to dream 08

T

his great springtime issue that you’re holding in your hands is a rather special edition: it marks the 15th anniversary of our magazine, of an adventure which began a bit on an impulse, with a lot of passion for a field which you can’t help but adore.

No, I’m not going to tell you that 15 symbolizes the age of reason or a sort of heyday or any other nonsense of that kind, but I’d like to rewind time and let the memories come flooding back. What I love the most: sounding out the past to understand the present, observing evolutions and changes made to us and by us. You all know how much I love History, right, and this anniversary offers me a prime occasion to dive into a “yesterday” without feeling nostalgic, without any regrets.

15 for me was like a door opening onto life. It was when I hit 15 that I began to dream, like an adult and no longer like a child. The future seemed ever-so touchable. When I was 15, I experienced my first love story with a high school boy, which lasted over a year – an eternity for a teenager! –, I flirted with the world of fashion which I so much wanted to belong to, I talked about the future with pretty brazen ease as if everything was so simple, I began collecting funky, coloured Swatch watches, I discovered Metallica and Pearl Jam, and dreamt of starting a family. When I was 15, I was ready to live. But it was when I reached the age of 30, i.e. 15 years x 2, whenever my daughter was born, that the outlines of the person I’ve become today became clearer.

15 years ago, a total newcomer to Switzerland, I dived into a world which I was familiar in general with but hadn’t a clue about the subtleties: watchmaking. I continued to collect Swatch watches because this young 15-year-old dreamer was still part of me but,

on my wrist, they were replaced with automatic, largediameter, steel-fashioned pieces referred to as “for the men”. I remember the comments which people pestered me with back then: “your watch is far too big” and “it looks like you’ve pinched your dad’s watch”. Today, I wear size 42 or 44 like I’ve been doing for the past 15 years and no-one pays any attention. Things have changed, thank goodness.

In a few months’ time, my daughter will be 15, this inbetween age where you’re no longer a child but not yet an adult, this well-known transitional age where you can float between the sweetness of a period that’s almost over and the delight of life yet to come. And whilst she, in turn, will be sketching the outlines of her destiny and will be faintly embracing her dreams for the future, me, I’ll be blowing out my 15 candles x 3.

Sharmila Bertin Editor-in-Chief

© Mickael Gautier

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

Spring 2020

TOURBILLON RM 58-01 WORLD TIMER - JEAN TODT

RICHARD MILLE BOUTIQUE

© Didier Gourdon

SWITZERLAND Rue du Rhône 78 1204 Geneva - Tel. +41 22 810 85 73

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE www.richardmille.com Spring 2020

Gu e st The Watches Magazine invites a new guest writer to share their vision of time in each issue.

Time, we don’t have time to think about it!

10

By Céline & Stéphanie Pasteur Founders of Leinboho

T

ime... it feels like we’re constantly racing against it and don’t have nearly enough of it in a day...

Seriously though, we’re two high-octane sisters who can’t sit still for 5 minutes. We always have to have something to do so that we’re not wasting “time” which is something that tends to wear our partners and teams out.

Before we even get to the office we’ve both already done a thousand things in the morning and called each other 150 times with updates. It’s always very exciting!

It’s little things but for us, we have to do everything right away.

It’s the same at Leinboho. As soon as we arrive, we give each ourselves lots to get done in the day with the aim to get everything boxed off by the time we leave the office.

That’s why we don’t always have time for lunch because it’s so important to us. Luckily, we really complement other so if one of us stops on a subject then the other one soon does too. Our complementarity is very handy and rewarding as we learn from each other and see things with fresh eyes.

Whatever time we save in the morning often flies by in the afternoon. Our evening starts at around 7pm and we can finally have some family time. We really cherish this time. We’re very much family-focused, we’re always

together, at work, on holiday, at the weekend! This time is essential for both of us. We often struggle to use these times to go out. It’s a major flaw.

Time doesn’t usually scare us purely because we don’t have time to think about it. We live in the here and now as the collections we design are based on our inspirations and the weather.

We’re fortunate to do everything in France which means our studios can react quickly. If we need to make a long coat for the start of the month because it’s cold, we tend to get going on the day.

Time has no control over us either, we’re still just as buggered as we were 10 years ago and our skin’s still nice and firm (hahaha).

Last but not least, time is greater than us so you have to live in harmony with it, have no regrets, no remorse but make lots of plans with time. You’ll sleep better for it, trust us.

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

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2020

INSIDE

28 Cover Story Tissot

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06 Cover Watch Tissot 08 Editorial 10 Guest Céline & Stéphanie Pasteur 18 We Love... Love

20 22 26 28 36

We Love Crafts The Eye of Jewelry Trends Cover Story Tissot Vacheron Constantin

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40 44 48 51 67

Omega Arts & Crafts Richard Mille Live style Hublot

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INSIDE

78 Spotlight

14

70 72 74 76

Breguet Longines Zenith A. Lange & Sรถhne

78 82 86 90

Spotlight Tudor Parmigiani Focus Dubai Watch Week

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

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92 Business 96 Design

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

Spring 2020

IMPR E SSU M Swiss International Magazine Printemps 2020 #060

15th anniversary issue

Édition francophone

Tissot

L'étoile des abysses A. Lange & söhne - Akrivia - Audemars Piguet - Blancpain - Breguet - Bvlgari - Cartier - Chanel - Chopard - Dior - Dwiss - F.P.Journe - Fabergé Girard-Perregaux - Graff - Hermès - Hublot - Jacob & Co. - Jaeger-LeCoultre - Jaquet Droz - Longines - MB&F - Omega - Panerai - Parmigiani - Patek Philippe - Piaget Rebellion - Ressence - Richard Mille - Romain Gauthier - TAG Heuer - Tudor - ulysse Nardin - Vacheron Constantin - Voutilainen - Zenith - ZRC suisse: 10 francs FRANCE MéTRO: 7 EuROs - BEL/LuX/POLAND: 8 EuROs - uK: £8 - A/D/GR//PORT.CONT: 8,40 EuROs - CAN: 11,95 $CAN - usA: 14,99 $us

Rédaction/Edition ACE Publishing SA Direction/Management Alain Carrier acarrier@ace-publishing.com Rédactrice en chef/Editor-in-Chief Sharmila Bertin sbertin@ace-publishing.com Designer graphique/Graphic designer Célia Sozet Contributeurs/Contributors Sharmila Bertin - Mathilde Binetruy Dan Diaconu - Mickael Gautier - Olivier Müller - Céline & Stéphanie Pasteur Eléonor Picciotto - Johann Sauty - Ted Scapa - Benjamin Teisseire

16

Publicité/Advertising ACE Publishing SA Alain Carrier acarrier@ace-publishing.com Yannick Ortolan yortolan@ace-publishing.com T +41 22 752 60 12 Traduction/Translation Atenao Impression/Printing Chirat Distribution Marchés principaux/Major markets Suisse, France, Allemagne, Royaume-Uni, États-Unis Autres pays/Other countries Abu Dhabi, Andorre, Australie, Autriche, Belgique, Brésil, Canada, Dubaï, Grèce, Hong Kong, Koweït, Maroc, Pologne, Portugal, Russie, Singapour, Taïwan, Thaïlande, Turquie, Ukraine Kiosques/Kiosks Suisse: 7Days Media Services GmbH - France: MLP - Export: Export Press Abonnement/Subscription Dynapress Marketing SA Avenue Vibert 38 - CH-1227 Carouge/Genève T +41 22 308 08 08 - abonnements@dynapresse.ch Édité 4 fois par an/Published 4 times a year Mars-March/Juin-June/Septembre-September/Décembre-December En 4 langues/In 4 languages Français-French/Anglais-English/Allemand-German/Chinois simplifié-Chinese ISSN: Français1664-8048/Anglais1664-820X/Allemand1664-8056 ACE Publishing SA Principal actionnaire/Major shareholder Alain Carrier Route de Thonon 152A - CH-1222 Vésenaz/Genève T +41 22 752 60 12 - F +41 22 752 60 14 N° TVA CHE-112.276.791 TVA - REF 618 137 La reproduction des articles parus dans THE WATCHES MAGAZINE est interdite sous toutes ses formes, sauf autorisation écrite de l’éditeur.

Any form of reproduction of articles published in THE WATCHES MAGAZINE is prohibited without the prior written consent of the publisher.

Copyright

TWM-THE WATCHES MAGAZINE® Registered by ACE Publishing SA

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Spring 2020

SKELETONIZED

Technicality, lightness, and purity of design: the RE-VOLT refuses to compromise. A perfect incarnation of the very essence and philosophy of REBELLION. The RE-VOLT knows how to stand out from the crowd thanks to its “in-house” swiss-made movement, muscular silhouette, high-tech nature, and exceptional performance with its 48-hour power reserve. Every detail expresses and embodies a passion for motorsport.

W W W. R E B E L L I O N - T I M E P I E C E S . C O M @ R E BTHE E LWATCHES L I O N TMAGAZINE IMEPIECES

Spring 2020

We Love ... Love !

18

Blancpain

Women collection Saint Valentin 2020

By Sharmila Bertin the lugs. In the centre of this precious scenescape, the watch’s face featuring white mother-of-pearl marquetry reveals two half hearts on which butterflies are poised. These miniscule lepidoptera’s bodies are edged with golden thread and their wings are set with rubies and diamonds. Two small sword-shaped central hands indicate the hours and minutes discreetly, driven by the 510 calibre. This mechanical movement, which is hand-wound via a flat crown, delivers a power reserve of 52 hours.

Two marquises, two hearts, two butterflies… love shared forever as two! * The Watches Magazine #059 – 2019 winter issue

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

Spring 2020

© Blancpain

Y

ou may remember that in our last issue*, we presented a Blancpain cocktail watch which had belonged to the most beautiful star, the American actress and singer Marilyn Monroe (19261962). This exquisitely-feminine timepiece inspired the creation of another exquisitely-feminine timepiece, once again imagined by Blancpain: the Saint-Valentin model from the Women collection, available in only fourteen pieces (obviously!). For sure, the date lovers celebrate has already passed yet passion lives on forever, every day, all year round.

The silhouette of this newcomer has its roots in Art Deco architecture just like its elder sibling from the 1930s worn by the Hollywood star. The rectangular white-gold case measures 35x16 mm and is strewn with diamonds. 84 stones, including two marquise-cut ones, form geometric patterns which fan out to caress

GENEVE

ZURICH

LUZERN

www.louismoinet.com THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

Spring 2020

LUGANO

ST-MORITZ

We Love C r aft s

20

Hermès

slim d'Hermès Cheval Ikat

By Sharmila Bertin of a horse in a magnificent play of light and volumes.

The majestic animal is proposed in a silvered version on a navy-blue-varnished dial or in a peachy-pink one set against an ecru backdrop.

In the centre of this miniature scenescape a duo of baton-style hour and minute hands, long and slender like the body of a riding crop, fan out delicately. This time data is driven by the H1950 calibre, an ultraslim self-winding mechanical movement beating at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour and delivering a power reserve of 42 hours.

The Slim d'Hermès Cheval Ikat is complemented by a black- or chantilly-coloured alligator strap.

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

Spring 2020

© Hermès

I

t goes without saying: the Parisian house loves galloping across the world to explore arts which are occasionally ancestral, frequently unknown to the general public, then expressing them on the faces of its timepieces, a bit like a 21st-century Marco Polo.

Yet, taking on a historic process, reproducing it on a format as small as the surface of a dial is not an easy task, and yet, each watch which hosts a métier d’art like the Slim d’Hermès Cheval Ikat is an extraordinary masterpiece.

With this watch, set in a 39.5-diameter white- or redgold case, where each colour is issued at just 36 pieces, the brand gifts us once again with its trusty prancer whose shadow is created using the Asian dyeing and weaving technique known as Ikat. The assembly work of extremely-fine gold threads, criss-crossed and linked by liquid-gold flecks, highlights the silhouette

www.scapa.ch

The e ye of Je we lry

15 years, 15 emblematic models

22

By ElĂŠonor Picciotto

T

o celebrate the 15th anniversary of this amazing magazine, we take a look back over the hit list of the 15 most exquisite feminine and jewellery timepieces imagined over these last 15 years.

An alphabetically-listed selection, perhaps somewhat subjective, yet one which we fully embrace, beginning with a double ovation for Audemars Piguet. Firstly, with the 2015 relaunch of the Millenary model now devoted to the ladies whereas it was imagined some 20 years beforehand for men. This Millenary Frosted Gold Philosophique is a nod at the first single-hand creations launched in 1982. It centre stages a novel way of measuring time. Its diamond-dust-effect white gold case and midnight-blue hand-hammered-finished dial are exquisite.

We adore the Royal Oak Carolina Bucci just as much which embodies the purest form of femininity though, for once, is not strewn with diamonds. The resulting finish is all down to the Florentine hammering technique applied to the yellow gold case where a diamond-tipped tool is used to engrave the metal with sparkling microdimples.

Serpenti, the Tubogas-styled model which embodies one of the Italian brand Bvlgari’s key signatures, was created in all variations of gold, stone paving and settings. The chocolate ceramic Spiga version enhanced with rose gold inserts and a sprinkle of diamonds on the head of the precious reptile remains the rarest yet the most talked about.

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

Spring 2020

When Cartier introduced its Clé model in 2015, the idea was to unveil an innovatively-shaped case inspired by a perfect circle. A challenge which was doubly successful in its version with the dial set with vibrant diamonds and rubies, patented technical prowess for which only the brand holds… the key. Basically, each stone is placed in an invisible cone system which quivers each time the wrist moves.

After the worldwide success of its J12, Chanel’s Boy.Friend watch is an alternative which is more technical than Première and less jewellery-style than Mademoiselle. Its octagonal case is fashioned in beige gold, an in-house-created alloy with a hue softer than rose gold and not as absolute as yellow gold. A sort of new Gabrielle Chanel-style twisted essential which shakes up genres and transcends codes.

Given its name, La D de Dior Cocotte conjures up delicate sweetness. Its 38 mm diameter dial embraces the jewellery savoir-faire and ingenuity of Victoire de Castellane who has been weaving her creative magic for the firm for some 15 years now. Worth noting is its faceted sapphire crystal, its face strewn with varioussized diamonds which render the metal totally invisible and its yellow gold bezel topped with coloured gems like confectionery in a candy jar.

Fabergé’s Lady Compliquée Peacock, inspired by the firm’s 1908 Peacock Egg, was honoured in the “Ladies’ Complication Watch Prize” category during the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève for its construction imagined by Agenhor. The hours are read at 3 o’clock on a mother-of-pearl disc which rotates counter-clockwise whilst the retrograde minutes are displayed by the fanning tail feathers of the gracious hand-sculpted bird.

The ensemble is set in a 38 mm-diameter platinum

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The e ye of Je we lry

case hosting a dial covered with diamonds, tsavorites and Paraiba tourmalines added using the snow-set technique.

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Time to look at a 1975-invented model for which 2016 marked its major comeback, in particular in its Royalty Blue version. Girard-Perregaux’s Laureato. It’s not its rose gold case or its integrated bracelet, let alone its diamond-strewn octagonal bezel which makes this piece interesting but basically the vibrancy of the lacquered blue on its checkered dial. A contrast that is just as noteworthy as the smallness of its 34 mm diameter.

hands down. The famous facets adorning his bestiary blend in flawlessly with the case’s edges, offering it depth and interesting relief, with every other angle enhanced with diamonds which brings out the subtlety of the design.

The jeweller Graff turned the secret watch on its head – a concept which some are of the opinion has been almost overly exploited by watchmakers – by envisioning its Halo Secret ring. Mounting made exclusively of white gold, all covered with diamonds, with the top part protected by a sliding dome which reveals the hidden dial and which itself is set with a one-carat brilliant-cut diamond.

Difficult to choose but a single woman-dedicated limited edition imagined by Hublot. After hesitating between Velvet and Orlinski, in the end the French artist wins

Fleurs de Jardin by Jacob & Co. is a pure harmony of fine watchmaking and fine jewellery in a single piece based on the Astronomia Solar mechanism whose threesatellite movement makes a full revolution around the dial every 10 minutes. Beneath this ‘greenhouse’ dome

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

Spring 2020

of multicoloured corollas nestles the butterfly-shaped flying tourbillon which completes the hour display offset on a creamy-white mother-of-pearl ring.

Since Jaeger-LeCoultre invented its calibre 101 in 1929, it has forever remained the smallest handwound mechanical movement in the world. Beneath the cambered leaf hidden by brilliant- and baguette-cut diamonds, the gold-proposed 101 Feuille model unveils a miniature silvered-opaline dial.

gold covered with virtually 20 carats of brilliant- and baguette-cut diamonds and is driven by the self-winding 324 SC calibre.

Maximilian Büsser, MB&F’s founder, took some 15 years to accomplish his first-ever exclusively feminine model.

We wouldn’t have expected anything but perfection as regards the invisible baguette-cut diamond setting and the offset hour dial display poised at 50° on the central flying tourbillon.

Patek Philippe’s Nautilus, designed by Gérald Genta, has never stopped being an icon, and even more so in recent years. The ever-so rare reference 5719 is in white

introduce a new model in each of its fine jewellery collections. Duly noted, with the Sand Waves secret cuff watch from the Sunlight Journey collection set with an opal weighing in at over 10 carats. Extreme beauty!

In such a feminine hit list, we couldn’t go without mentioning a Piaget-created cuff watch. The brand, expert on the subject since the 1970s, decided to

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T r e nds

26

Dark humour

By Sharmila Bertin

A

lthough both flaunt the same colour – intense black – which adorns their body as well as their face and both have the same Italian roots, nevertheless these two watches have two radicallydifferent looks. Are we seeing a total back-to-black trend?

Just over a decade ago, watches known as all black, i.e. totally dressed in black, reigned supreme in the watchmaking world. They actually centre staged a trend at a given time then became rather-more discreet a few years later but never really disappeared from the scene.

Even if “Fashions fade, style is eternal” as Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008) so rightly stated, this citation in no way affects dark colour like an inky sky. Quite the opposite actually. And to reiterate the words of this great French fashion designer, “There is not just one black but many blacks”. Thus, black is not a moment of folly but a bona fide lifestyle to which a myriad of creators, be it in the ready-to-wear galaxy or interior design, for example, are eternally devoted. There’s no way you can

get it wrong with this intense, elegant colour. Illustrated to perfection with this couple of timepieces with their light, even ultra-light cases, designed by two brands from Italy, one from Rome, the other from Florence, which propose two radically-different silhouettes. On top of their colour, they both boast the powerfulness of legendary design.

Subtlety and Roman charm When Bvlgari’s Octo Finissimo was born in 2012, with its highly-architectured case, it revolutionized watchmaking’s somewhat boring stylistic codes. As a worthy successor of last-century’s dress watches but in a rather-more contemporary version, who wouldn’t be in awe when faced with so much elegance and subtlety as well as with the technical feats performed because this watch, which has become a collection, counts five world records in less than ten years of existence.

As this year dawned, Bvlgari unveiled an all black version of its Octo Finissimo hosting a 40 mm-

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© Bvlgari © Panerai

diameter and just 5.50 mm thick case complemented by a black sandblast-polished ceramic link bracelet.

Its dial, fashioned in the same material, features a trio of Dauphine-style hands – with skeletonized central hour and minute hands, “solid” for the small seconds at 7 o’clock – and a blend of elongated indexes and elongated Arabic numerals alternating matt and mirror-polished surfaces to optimally capture and reflect light. Time data features are driven by the self-winding BVL138 calibre, an ultra-slim movement equipped with a platinum micro-rotor which delivers a power reserve of some 60 hours. Elegantissimo!

Florentine creativity The often-copied-but-never-equalled Panerai style stands out once again this year with its Luminor Marina CarbotechTM equipped with the automatic P.9010 calibre which offers a power reserve of three days. This massive watch, where the black which adorns it is brightened by sprinklings of sky blue here and there, measures 44 mm in diameter, 14.50

mm thick and resists immersions down to depths of 300 metres. CarbotechTM, developed by the famous Laboratorio di Idee, the Florence-based brand’s R&D think tank, is a very light and resistant composite material formed by layers of carbon fibre compressed under high pressure. The random striae resulting from this amalgam makes each case unique. The fixed bezel and crown-protecting bridge are also fashioned in CarbotechTM. The black-lacquered, “sandwich”-style dial hosts an hour chapter comprising indexes and three curved Arabic numerals. These markers as well as the central hour and minute hands and the small seconds at 9 o’clock are coated with green-glowing azure Super-LumiNova®, a soft shade reiterated on the overstitching of the strap made of SportechTM, a material similar to rubber developed by Panerai.

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

Spring 2020

C ove r st ory

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1962

The star of the abyss

By Sharmila Bertin

T

he launch of a new watch designed for watersports and deep-water immersions offers us the opportunity to take a quick trip back through time to present the history of a Locle-based watchmaker and to centre stage the entire collection of character pieces.

S

ea star denotes an asterozoa, better known under the rather poetic name of starfish, a marine animal which is generally brightly-coloured and whose little body which spreads out with five thick long, slightly-conical arms conjures up a geometric figure reminding us of the stars which twinkle in the sky as night falls. Like an inoffensive hand poised on

the ocean bed, caressing bouquets of coral, the starfish symbolizes an occasionally-peaceful, occasionallyhostile aquatic kingdom. Far from the ocean swell yet built for riding the waves and even exploring hidden depths, the Seastar collection, whose name appears in Tissot’s history back in the 1960s, brings together highly-resistant, reliable, sports watches.

Innovating, over and over again Tissot’s leitmotiv has remained unchanged over its 167 years of existence: innovation. A quest which has been ever-present, right from the brand’s early stages, from the moment it was founded in 1853 by a father and son in Locle. The Neuchâtel town and commune,

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

Spring 2020

nestling at the foot of the Jura Mountains, which run along the French-Swiss border, was home to CharlesFélicien and Charles-Emile Tissot’s “comptoir d'établissage” (watchmaking counter) which quickly made its mark, in particular through a gold pocket watch whose white-enamelled dial featured two time zones driven by a single movement. The firm brought highly-skilled and inventive watchmakers on board, took its first steps abroad by making pieces for the

North-American market in 1858 and the Russian one in 1878, spurred on by Charles-Emile Tissot. The founder’s son took over the reins of Tissot around 1901 and went on to develop it by opening the manufacture established Chemin des Tourelles, still the brand’s head office today, back in 1907.

From that moment, exploits never stopped and included occasionally-fanciful creations like the rectangular Banana model with its somewhat crazy indexes in 1916 and the tonneau-shaped Porto in 1919, yet forever highly-technical ones like the portable Hermetic, a square travel table clock in 1929 whose sliding system ensured it was protected in a metallic case covered with genuine lizard. In 1930, Tissot left its mark on history by creating the first-ever nonmagnetic watch discreetly named Antimagnetic then, in the 1950s, with its Navigator which displayed 24 time zones on its dial, all powered by a self-winding mechanical movement. 1954 was the year the Visodate was born, a classical-looking waterproof watch and, incidentally, it’s on the dial of one of the models of this collection that the name Seastar appeared in the

1950s, just like the PR 516 model from 1965 on which “Tissot Visodate Seastar PR 516” was engraved at 6 o’clock.

From the 1970s to the dawning of the 1990s, the firm continued to sway between technical creations such as the Carrousel (1968), the Idea 2001 (1971) whose automatic mechanism embracing plastic components inspired Swatch’s Sistem51 about five years ago, Seastar Seven (around 1973) and Twotimer (1986) which proposed seven functions accessible via the crown, and more “organic”, off-the-wall pieces like Rockwatch (1985), Pearlwatch (1987) and Woodwatch (1989) whose cases were entirely and respectively made from stone, mother-of-pearl and wood. In 1999, Tissot pursued its role as watchmaker-innovator with its emblematic T-Touch, a Swiss knife to flaunt on the wrist, whose functionalities were managed by a touch screen, then T-Touch Expert in 2008 and finally, more recently, T-Touch Expert Solar, powered by solar energy, in 2014.

Taming the swell The wording Seastar, which appeared in the 1960s, went on to become a bestseller, synonymous with reliability. “It’s tough. It's precise. It's waterproof.

It's automatic. It has a calendar. It's the Seastar, from Tissot”, stated an advertising poster from 1973, as well as another one “The Seastar from Tissot. The watch for active people”, (literal translation) claimed an insert in 1975. But, although the scene was set, the famous timepiece produced in Locle went far beyond the status of a simple object which told time.

It literally embraced a new art-de-vivre, advocating more freedom, modernity and – a rare thing back in the days – mix, as it could be worn by both women and men if the visuals illustrating these ads back then are anything to go by. As of the 1970s, the collection was mainly powered by self-winding mechanical movements.

With its name which lyrically conjures up the seascape world, the Seastar is built for watersports, in particular the Seastar 1000, an XXL version unveiled during Baselworld in 2014. This chronograph, designed for professionals, stood out with its massive silhouette, its 48 mm-diameter, 17 mm-thick steel case which handles immersions to a depth of 300 metres and comprises a helium escape valve along with a dial adorned with vibrant Klein blue.

To be granted the “dive watch” label, a timepiece must meet the stringent ISO6425 requirements, a standard which is reviewed every five years. This set of criteria concerns waterproofness which must be to a depth of at least 100 metres, the visibility of the markers viewed from a distance of around 25 cm in particular > the seconds display, the availability of a time-control

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system, a secured bezel, the existence of a helium escape valve for evacuating gas accumulated under pressure and resistance to shocks and magnetic fields.

The specifications appear easy to fulfil yet, in today’s watchmaking landscape, a host of watches surf on the “dive” trend though they’re not really intended for underwater exploration. This is far from the case however with the pieces Tissot produces which have the advantage of being innovative, highly-reliable and affordable. This last point is of primary importance because if the Locle brand ranks first in the world in terms of production and distribution volume, it’s mainly down to its unbeatable value for money.

Another aspect which should not be forgotten is Tissot’s ever-so rich offering: most of the newcomers are proposed in several variations of dial colour, strap or bracelet type and even material, which means the firm can target a wide public delighted to be able to find their dream piece in this extensive array. The

company proudly admits that “Today, millions of people all over the world have worn a Tissot during their lifetime”.

Diving with total peace of mind Grouped together in the T-sport “pole” along with the Chrono XL, the T-Race, the Alpine on Board, the PR516 and the Quickster, the current Seastar 1000 collection is split into three categories: the automatic watches commonly known as three-hands, the chronographs driven by a quartz movement and the latest newcomer to the range, which features on this spring issue’s cover, which is motorized by a mechanical calibre.

These three key groups share two things – waterproofness tested to a depth of 300 metres because, although it’s highly-versatile, the Seastar 1000 is first and foremost intended for the subaquatic > world, and style which, even though it varies from

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one model to another based on the functionalities integrated, shows an undeniable family resemblance.

For the rest, it’s all a question of taste and the use you want to make of your watch. Those of you wish to wear a ‘go-everywhere’ watch on a daily basis, be it in the ocean or on land or both, to match your Bermudas or your suit, and who favour the refined look of a dial will choose the three-hands version. Lovers of quartz will be overjoyed with the chronograph which hosts a date, a highly-attractive tool watch, pricewise too for that matter, as it’s on-sale for less than 600 Swiss

francs. And, last but not least, for fans of mechanical feats who love comprehensive time displays, the Professional version is just perfect.

A few more details about the Seastar 1000 Gent Automatic which is, without any doubt, the most classical of the collection. Its elegant design, free of any fancy frills, ensures it can be worn just as much for practicing watersports as in everyday life, on dry land and out on the wide open sea. Multiversatility which many watchmakers quest and which

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corresponds to the current-day use of a watch and to customers’ expectations. On its sun-brushed dial, this timepiece centre stages basic time data, i.e. the hours, minutes and seconds which are indicated by a pair of baton-style hands and a direct-drive whose counterpoise reiterates the brand’s initial, and the date set discreetly in a porthole at 6 o’clock. It is driven by the famous Powermatic 80 which delivers a power reserve of 80 hours. Its steel case, polished and fine-brush finished or black PVD-coated, adorning yellow or rose gold, measures 43 mm in diameter and is topped with a unidirectional rotating bezel equipped with a ceramic ring generally matching the dial colour – blue or black, either colour block or shaded – except on the black-framed silvered-grey version. Three different types of straps are proposed: a five-row steel link bracelet, a black rubber strap with a 3-D central band in the form of a T or a synthetic fibre strap, also in black.

The displays the Seastar 1000 Quartz Chrono showcases on its dial are a bit more complex as seven variations are available: adorned with a Sfumato effect like the aforementioned model, dazzling

blue or black enhanced with dashes of white from the luminescent matter which covers the various elements such as the hands and indexes, golden veering to yellow or rose for the red- and bronze-gold PVD pieces and, lastly, bright orange. The ‘elongated’ date is offset at 4 o’clock, the running seconds are regulated in a counter at 6 o’clock to leave room in the centre for the chronograph ones and minute and hour totalizers which feature respectively at 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock. The steel case, much bigger with its 45.5 mm diameter, integrates a crown, pushpieces and screwed caseback whilst its revolving bezel hosts a graduated aluminium insert. It houses a quartz movement, the ETA G10.212 calibre, which works with a flat Renata 394 battery which ensures autonomy of 38 months. The watch is worn on a steel bracelet comprising three rows of links with secure folding clasp and extension system for diving or on a black or orange rubber strap attached by an ardillon buckle.

Last but not least, the new Seastar 1000 Professional is the perfect companion for discovering the secrets of the Deep Blue, and complies with the ISO6425

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standard. Its impressive 49 mm-diameter case supports a graduated, notched bezel which can be locked using a crown set at 10 o’clock. The latter also includes a helium escape valve which opens automatically. This exclusive Tissot-developed ‘allin-one’ mechanism is patent-protected. The metallic case hosts the ETA Valjoux A05.H21 calibre, a selfwinding mechanical movement which beats at 4 Hz and delivers a 60-hour power reserve and is partially visible through the transparent caseback. The centre of the dial is draped in blue which darkens as its reaches the flange until it becomes pitch black, ensuring that the luminescent geometrical indexes – triangle at 12 o’clock, rectangles at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, and circles for the five-minute fractions – stand out more easily from the backdrop. Standard

time data is displayed with hour and minute hands in the centre and the seconds at 9 o’clock. Shortcycle time measurement is performed by the large direct-drive for the seconds whilst the chronograph hours and minutes are counted at 12 and 6 o’clock. A double aperture, set at 3 o’clock, featuring the day (in English) and the date in white on black complete this information.

Now, all you need to do is choose your Seastar and head off to explore the never-ending oceans. * “Today, millions of people all over the world have worn a Tissot during their lifetime“

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Edgy Egérie

By Mathilde Binetruy

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his isn’t your regular watch. The new Egérie watch by Vacheron Constantin has a mischievous, graceful and elegant glint in its eye. The piece has made a statement to reflect women today: inspirational, independent, charismatic.

When the spirit of Haute Couture meets watchmaking, it imparts its delicate design. A pleated patterned dial here. A braid-like halo of gemstones there that highlights the case’s feminine curves. Inspired by Vacheron Constantin’s history and roots, Egérie fights for a signature design that delves into the past to capture the present, hence the brand’s beloved off-centre displays and two interwoven circles. What makes it magical is that the design intended to showcase and stretch time has been made for everyday wear. For daytime, nighttime, anytime. Egérie is chic without being showy, precious without being snobbish, classic without ever feeling plain. The idea behind the 35 or 37mm size is to fit feminine wrists to perfection. Its steel, rose gold or

white gold case meets every client’s whim. Its functions?

Now there’s a dilemma: date or moon phase?

Stylish tempo The date version is on trend. Ah, that 35mm case whose slim bezel dazzles with 58 diamonds! And that date housed in a diamond-rimmed circle! The entire piece has been custom designed to suit the modern woman’s lifestyle. How about the straps? The idea is that you can change it like you would your outfit so the 18 carat 5N rose gold piece comes with three interchangeable leather straps. The steel model has a polished metal strap whose second-skin feel is so well crafted that you’ll forget you’re wearing it. In terms of movement, the 1088 self-winding calibre keeps track of time with a 40-hour power reserve which is ideal for contemporary lifestyles.

On lunar time Aside from these two models, the Egérie also makes the moon the star of the show on its rose gold or

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steel stage. What does it have in common with the date model? A “tapisserie” dial. You just have to say the word “tapisserie” and your mind will swim with looms and a time when people travelled by horse. What does it mean exactly? The dial is the realm of Haute Couture: a delicate shimmering silver design made up of concentric circles in the centre and a pleated surround. It’s all down to the engine-turning studio that spent months perfecting it with an age-old technique.

The artisan adjusts the cogs on a wallpaper machine from 1904 to reproduce a large-scale pattern on a miniature dial. The draped design appears beneath the tip of a regularly sharpened chisel. The calligraphy font created especially for the collection brings to mind fine embroidery whilst the leaf-shaped hour and minute hands are reminiscent of the ones used by the Haute Couture studio’s magical fingers. The rose gold version is a passionate display of elegance with its case coated in 58 diamonds and a cabochon moonstone on the crown. The lesson in style is finished by three interchangeable straps.

sparkling arabesque where a gem-covered white gold moon begins its slow journey beneath opaque sapphire glass. A pink diamond adorns the winding crown whilst two midnight blue interchangeable straps wrap around the wrist. Just like the other moon phase editions, it is powered by the in-house self-winding 1088 L calibre whose generous 40-hour power reserve heralds long days without needing to wind it up. The sapphire caseback features a hand-engraved Côtes de Genève pattern and a decorated openwork rotor in 22 carat gold in the shape of the Maltese cross. Collectors will see it as the signature of a brand that loves attention to detail. How about the ladies? They’ll see a clear sign of a watch that is not only fashionable but is also of the finest quality.

One last glittering piece reaches the heady heights.

Its 37mm case in 18 carat white gold dazzles with 292 diamonds whilst its dial glimmers with concentric circles soaked in 510 diamonds. Then there’s a

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Time for Bond…

James Bond

By Dan Diaconu

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he flame of the lighter closes in on the watch and lights up its dial. In this way, we discover the dial of a Rolex Submariner 6538, with no date aperture, worn on a NATO strap. For the first time ever, thanks to this extract taken from Goldfinger (1964), James Bond’s watch can be clearly identified.

Sean Connery wears a white tuxedo in this scene. The spell is cast. The Scottish actor embodies, to perfection, the distinguished personality of the hero imagined

by Ian Fleming (1908-1964), lover of beautiful cars, of femmes fatales and of luxury watches. This dive watch model was discreetly featured in 007’s first two cinematographic adventures on the silver screen, Dr. No (1962), followed by From Russia with Love (1963).

The choice of the brand was not without significance however. The British author, creator of the adventures of the MI6 spy, cited the name of the crown-logoed brand in his novel, published in 1954, Live and Let Die. He was rather fond of the manufacture’s creations himself.

In Thunderball (1965), Sean Connery continued to wear his Submariner 6538, yet a Breitling Top Time would also appear on the scene. This creation was also the first model to embrace a gadget which would be highly-

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1999 useful to the spy, in this case a Geiger counter. Pursuing with the same brand, a Navitimer 806 would make a brief appearance.

1969. George Lazenby, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, marked the Bond decade wearing a Rolex Submariner 5513 and a Chronograph 6238 on his wrist.

Made in Japan During the 1970s, quartz swarmed the watchmaking market and gadgets were the order of the day. Digital displays rhymed with modernity. On the watch-front, James Bond was at the cutting edge of technology occasionally more-so than that of elegance. In Live and Let Die (1973), Roger Moore (1927-2017) wore a Pulsar P2 2900 LED on his wrist as well as a Rolex Submariner 5513 equipped with very special features added by Q such as a magnet and a circular saw. In The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), the spy boasted a Submariner 5513 when pursuing Francisco Scaramanga. Rolex and mechanical movements would not give in however.

In The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), James Bond ditched his Rolex for a Seiko 0674 LC. Moonraker (1979) sent 007 into space with a Seiko M354 Memory Bank Calendar equipped with a detonator installed by Q. In For Your Eyes Only (1981), Roger Moore would not forsake the Japanese brand. A Seiko duo, the 7549-7009 and the H357 Duo Display, accompanied him. In Octopussy (1983), two other LCD Seiko were centre staged. The first integrated a receiver linked to a transmitter to locate Bond. The second hosted a TV with a liquid crystal screen.

Timothy Dalton took his first steps as James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987) and dived with a TAG Heuer Night Dive on his wrist. Two years later, Licence to Kill (1989) signed Rolex’s comeback to the silver screen with a Submariner 16610. The chapter was made to come to a close.

– Rolex?

– Omega.

– Magnificent...

The battle of words between James Bond and Vesper Lynd in Casino Royal (2006) directed by Martin Campbell remains engraved in the memories of fans of timepieces. Bond wore a Seamaster Diver 300M set on a steel bracelet as well as a Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M. Here, our spy had the winning hand. The film was a worldwide success.

For Omega however, history would begin back in 1995.

Pierce Brosnan took on the role of Bond. In GoldenEye, a Seamaster Quartz Professionnel Diver 300M with integrated laser accompanied him in his adventures.

In Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), the dive watch created by the Bienne watchmaker was enhanced with a detachable detonator. In The World Is Not Enough (1999), the watch boasted LED lighting and a miniature grappling device. As for Die Another Day (2002), a detonator pin replaced the helium escape valve and a laser would activate when the dial was touched.

Tired of gadgets and far-fetched scenarios, James Bond embarked on a revolution with the arrival of Daniel Craig in 2006. Casino Royale came across as a return to roots, closer to the character created by Ian Fleming.

The hero boasted more muscles, was less sophisticated yet still refined and gave off asserted masculinity totally in tune with the times. In Quantum of Solace (2008) followed by Skyfall (2012), James Bond’s personality would become more nuanced. The British actor continued to wear a Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M though with a few different stylistic details. In the film directed by Sam Mendes, he adorned an elegant Seamaster Aqua Terra which he would keep in Spectre (2015). In the final scene of the film, James disappeared from the screen on board his favourite Aston Martin, > with a Calibre 321 chronograph on his wrist.

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2008 For No Time to Die, the English actor will be stepping into our famous spy’s shoes for the very last time. For this 25th episode, in December 2019, the watchmaking brand unveiled the model Bond would be wearing during this superproduction. The Seamaster Diver 300M Edition 007 exalts the original model, presented in 1993. To make the watch even more stylish, it is enhanced with a brown aluminium dial and bezel, referred to as tropical. This classical look is heightened through the addition of beige-coloured SuperLumiNova® coating on the diving scale and through blackened hands and indexes.

A series of digits layered over three lines adorns the back of the 42 mm-diameter titanium case. Omega helps us decipher them. 0552 represents the British

Navy service code, 923'7697 stands for a dive watch.

The letter A means that the model is equipped with a screwed crown and 007 refers of course to James Bond’s code name. Last but not least, 62 is a nod to the year the very first film of the saga was produced. Daniel Craig played a role in the watch’s stylistic development.

“We thought that the watch’s lightness would be a key criterion for a soldier like 007. I also suggested adding a few retro-inspired details and colours to ensure the watch took on a style of its own. I think the result is incredible”, emphasized the actor in an official press release. And, the result? The watch’s face reflects Bond embodied by Craig perfectly. Athletic and sexy. For your eyes only.

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When the cat’s away…

By Sharmila Bertin ... the mice will play, says the old proverb. For sure, there are no felines here but a family of mischievous little rodents poetically showcased by the incredible talent of three watchmaking firms, each ennobling various métiers d’art. To be contemplated as much as you like!

Just like life, Chinese astrology has cycles, each lasting twelve years and each represented by an animal. This bestiary, which is rather heteroclite as it includes predators, herbivores and mythical creatures, comprises the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig, in that order.

The era of the rodent, first link of this chain, began on 25 January this year and will end on 11 February 2021 when the ox takes over. As well as taking animals into account, Chinese astrology refers to the five main planets of our solar system to which five elements

and five colours are attached and, as 2020 is the year of the metal rat, it is associated with white and with Venus. The little omnivore, which is often scorned in Europe, is sacred in Eastern Asia however, where it stands for gentleness and attention, ambition and communication, organization and curiosity and is highly-imaginative.

The thing that’s marvellous with the stars is not zodiac predictions or the beliefs which go with them, but the culture which overflows with symbols, with emotions and with poetry which the stars convey and the imagination which they spark. Three leading watchmaking firms have interpreted the beauty of this tradition embraced by the sky by unveiling their artistic talent and their artisanal savoir-faire on the faces of their timepieces, each limited to eight pieces.

Creative fireworks which literally hinge on magic, pleasure bathed in admiration to wear on the wrist.

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Porcelain, enamel and miniature painting For Blancpain, the dial of this discreetly-named Métiers d'Art Porcelaine piece is a major first. To fashion this dial in porcelain, the manufacture’s craftspeople were armed with great patience, dexterity and love. This fine, translucent, white-coloured ceramic, originating from China, is not an easy-to-work clayey material even though it’s been around for over two thousand years.

Quartz, feldspar and kaolin are reduced to powder then incorporated with water to form a paste. This paste is cleaned of any residue or lumps before being cast in a dial-shaped mould, then removed and dried. The resulting discs are then fired in a furnace at over 1,000°C to obtain biscuit porcelain which is then hand-enamelled and re-fired. The enamel acts as a vitrifying coating, a protective varnish which emphasizes the porcelain’s shine. On each of the eight dials of this extremely-limited edition, miniature painting is centre staged representing a trio of rats with brown fur and grey stomachs, with their bodies and front paws raised to the sky in a silent dialogue to gather the red berries which appear along the branches. At the centre of the scene, two openworked sage-leaf-style hands, complemented by a direct-drive whose counterpoise reiterates Blancpain’s logo, display the hours and minutes, driven by the 1154 calibre. This

automatic movement delivers a power reserve of over four days and nestles in a 33 mm-diameter, white-gold case topped by a bezel strewn with 48 brilliant-cut diamonds.

Seashell and chiselling Breguet majestically expresses everything the metal rat symbolizes on the face of the wonderfully-elegant Reine de Naples watch by embracing an increasinglyrare bas-relief engraving technique: cameo. Two master engravers from Torre del Greco, a town close to Naples, known for its creation of coral and cameo objects, worked with the conical shell of the Cassis madagascariensis mollusc. With their nimble fingers, this Italian craftsman and his son breathed life into a sculpture with chiselled base resembling the scales on pine cones, nuances bringing out volumes so that the ivory colour of the rat, holding its tail between his paws, highlights the white colour it is attached to. The animal is sitting on a disc featuring various warm chocolate tones: Venus. The evening star supports the rose-gold hollow moon-tip Breguet hands which hover over the hours and minutes driven by the automatic 537/3 calibre. The sensitivity of an imaginative eye will see in this lyrical interpretation of Chinese astrology an obvious allusion to maternity,

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between the oval-shaped silhouette of the rose-gold case edged with diamonds which reproduces the form of a protective stomach and the position of the little rodent identical to that of a yet-to-be-born baby playing with its umbilical cord, perfectly safe in its soft bubble.

Gold and ruby sculpture on an onyx bed Jaquet Droz, virtuoso of art and wonder, celebrates the year of the metal rat through its Petite Heure Minute model, with a version hosting a 41 mm-diameter, rosegold or white-gold case bejewelled with diamonds. La Chaux-de-Fonds’ watchmaker, expert in mineral dials, chose a black onyx disc for the backdrop of the ‘largerthan-life’ relief sculpture of the famous rodent. This animal, snout in the air and back paws well planted on a bed of leaves at 6 o’clock, is holding a large ruby against its body. The gem, with its flamboyant raspberry robe, conjures up one of the fleshy, sugary arils found inside pomegranates. This fruit, whose silhouette is similar to that of a Gala apple, symbolizes prosperity, abundance, wealth and fertility, i.e. everything we could wish for our loved ones at the beginning of a new year. A bunch of gold-fashioned, closed pomegranates features at 2 o’clock whilst an open fruit, like an offering, reveals a tapestry of rubies, strewn using the snow-set technique,

at 9 o’clock. The meticulous work performed on the dial, the play on depth brought by the sculptures and the contrast created by the dazzling black of the onyx and the rose red of the ruby are so breathtaking that we’d almost forget about time… the hours and minutes are indicated by two Lancine-shaped hands set towards 12 o’clock, driven by the self-winding JD2653.Si calibre.

As the brand has been greatly inspired by the little rodent, it has embraced it on an ivory Grand Feuenamelled dial of another Petite Heure Minute proposed in stone-set white gold (35 mm diameter) or in rose gold (39 mm), each available as 28-piece limited editions. At the bottom of the ivory disc, below the time data display, a couple of miniature-painted brown rats gather the arils of a pomegranate. The scene is ever-so moving, the artist’s dexterity striking.

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RM 61-01 Ultimate Edition Yohan Blake

A perfect race

By Dan Diaconu

E

very stride is precise. The spikes catch the red tartan of the track. All the muscles of the wellbuilt body propel the athlete to victory. And, on Yohan Blake’s wrist? A fantasy, or almost. It’s actually a watch, a RM 59-01 Tourbillon. This timepiece has been keeping him company on the starting blocks since 2013. It adorns a bright green which is omnipresent, complemented by touches of yellow and black which feature on the four impressive rounded bridges like claws and which are visible dial-side. These elements, machined in Anticorodal PB109 – an aluminium, magnesium, silicon and lead alloy –, are designed to

support the tourbillon carriage and centre-wheel pinion whilst consolidating the titanium baseplate assembly with the case. The watch, which flies the colours of the Jamaican flag, the athlete’s home country, also stands out through the shape of its case fashioned in a translucent composite injected with carbon nanotubes.

Its tapering extension, designed for exploit, stretching out from 2 to 5 o’clock, prevents any rubbing against the wrist.

Given its regulating device, its calibre is incrediblyaccurate and robust. It perfectly reflects the sprinter

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RM 59-01 Tourbillon

RM 61-01 Yohan Blake

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RM61-01 Yohan Blake Monochrome Limited Edition bright colours. The aerodynamic TZP-B black ceramic case, hosting a NTPT® carbon caseband, contrasts with the immaculate rubber strap. The bridges adorning the dial feature the two colours.

Richard Mille ended his relay with the RM 61-01 Ultimate Edition Yohan Blake. This timepiece is also driven by the RMUL2 calibre and continues to centre stage its now-emblematic lines. For this final 150-piece series, Quartz TPT® and Carbon TPT® are privileged.

These materials are respectively present on the bezel and caseback, and on the caseband. Unlike the previous versions, this model, waterproof to a depth of 50m, unveils a powerful style in a wide array of greys. The random patterns obtained during the production of the high-tech materials make each of these watches unique.

Just like the exploits of Yohan Blake.

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distinguished himself over the 100 and 200m in the world’s greatest events. A year later, the 50-piece limited edition RM 61-01 Yohan Blake arrived on the scene. The changeover was ensured with a case presenting the same stylistic adornments. The skeletonized titanium RMUL2 calibre, developed to provide high performance, has taken over the helm here. Its weight is no more than 43 grams. This hand-wound movement takes everything perfectly in stride, resisting shocks of 5,000 g and delivering a power reserve of over 55 hours. This movement nestles in a TZP black ceramic-machined case equipped with a sapphire-crystal caseback where the entire mechanical architecture can be admired.

In 2015, it was the turn of the RM-61-01 Yohan Blake Monochrome Limited Edition to flaunt its splendour on the race tracks and in everyday life. This timepiece housed the original model’s mechanism but abandoned

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TAG Heuer Carrera

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Vacheron Constantin EgĂŠrie Moon Phase

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Richard Mille RM 037 Ladies

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Chopard Happy Moon

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Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra

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Zenith Defy Classic Midnight

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Model: Marine Sundae Make Up artist & Hair: Arina Lebedeva

Chanel Boy Friend

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Photograph: Johann Sauty

Tissot PR100 Sport Chic

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Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Skelet-One Ceramic Plasma

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Breguet Tradition Chronographe IndĂŠpendant 7077

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Rebellion Twenty-One GMT

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ZRC 1964 Spirit Black Mat

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Hublot Big Bang Integral Titanium

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Model: Geraldo Pestalozzi Special thanks to: BongĂŠnie-Grieder, Tranzport Geneva

Photograph: Johann Sauty

Ulysse Nardin Diver Chronograph

HU B LOT

When comfort and beauty are but one

By Sharmila Bertin

F

or the first time in its history, the Nyon watchmaker’s star watch takes on a metallic bracelet where the first link literally vanishes into its case which has been slightly redesigned to ensure absolute wearing comfort. Yet another perfectlysuccessful marriage!

In 2005, a year after Jean-Claude Biver took over the reins of Hublot, the Big Bang was born, a sophisticated watch combining materials in a totally incomparable way in the watchmaking scenescape and easily identifiable thanks to its large bezel which reproduced the silhouette of the famous little rounded, hermetic windows, aka portholes, specific to seafaring vessels. Although today the Nyon watchmaker has several collections in its catalogue, the Big Bang is undeniably the ambassador of its savoirfaire, this famous mastery which focuses on a unique concept: “art of fusion”. It is actually a wonderful means for harmoniously according the most surprising, and occasionally the most insane, materials. Relentlessly

inventive Hublot is a war machine in terms of creativity, a breath of fresh air in an environment where platitude frequently reigns supreme.

After fifteen years of good and loyal service, if we can put it that way, for the first time in its history, this star watch is gifted with an integrated bracelet. This new strap comprises three rows of metallic links (titanium or King Gold, Hublot’s flamboyant red gold) or black ceramic (for the limited 500-piece All Black edition), attached by a folding clasp. Each of its elements plays on polished or satin-brushed, angular or bevelled surfaces, as such catching the light and infusing the ensemble with a vibrant spirit. For ergonomic and aesthetic reasons, the first link fuses harmoniously with the case. The Big Bang Integral is as comfortable to wear as it is to admire.

Although the major novelty is in its bracelet, the 42 mmdiameter, 13.45 mm-thick case has also gone through a > few changes. This light design work can be seen in its

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© Hublot

construction, known as ‘sandwich” style, which is free from any insert, apart from the famous black composite lugs which support the bezel and the crown coated with rubber of the same colour, as well as in the push-pieces which control the chronograph function. These pushpieces are inspired by the elongated shape of the ones which the first Big Bangs embraced at the beginning of the 2000s, later replaced by mushroom-shaped buttons in more contemporary models. The bezel remains the same as before however, with its six H screws. It goes without saying that even if the icon can evolve over time, its visual signature must be pursued.

Dial-side, the only modification which catches the eye is that of rectangular indexes, which replace the large Arabic numerals, which match the case colour and which are coated with luminescent material just like the big baton-style hands. The Big Bang Integral’s face, openworked like silvered lace with a dash of black here and there, offers a glimpse of the mechanics which drive

the timepiece and the calendar disc. A few hints of red on the tip of the large direct-drive with its counterpoise which reiterates the H silhouette of Hublot, the chronograph minute totalizer and the flange graduations energize the ensemble. Except on the All Black version which, as its name suggests, is… totally dressed in black!

On the engineering side, the watch hosts a self-winding mechanical manufacture-made movement, the HUB1280 calibre, which vibrates at a standard frequency of 4 Hz and delivers a power reserve of three days. This tried and tested motor powers the hours and running minutes, the small seconds (at 9 o’clock), the chronograph directdrive and the date whose aperture is “encased” in the minute totalizer (at 3 o’clock).

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B r e gu e t

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Blue, glorious blue

By Sharmila Bertin

F

ollowing on from the launch of its 5367 model which proposed an up-to-the-minute interpretation of the tourbillon on an immaculate face then that of the 5177 model with its dial coated with blue Grand Feu enamel, the watchmaker from the Joux Valley has merged these two successes into a new, extraordinary piece.

Pure uninhibited emotion. That’s exactly what the timepieces created by Breguet, the brand nestling at the heart of the Joux Valley, spark. Beauty and engineering perfection like this can but set our feelings on fire. Surprising? Not really because it’s been some 245 years now, since Abraham-Louis Breguet (17471823) opened his workshop in Paris in 1775, that this patronym has been synonymous with talent. But also with vision, with absolute craftsmanship. Praises are never-ending, be it for the watchmaker from the end of the 18th century or for the current-day firm. There are but few manufactures that target our emotions directly

and, in the Classique collection, grace is literally tangible.

At the beginning of 2018, Breguet unveiled its Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Automatique 5367, a highlyrefined piece just like one the founder would have designed more than two hundred years ago, with its dial adorned in immaculate Grand Feu enamel, smooth and scintillating like snow covering the Jura mountain tops during the cold season, ever-so typical with the clear, rounded calligraphy of the Arabic numerals and the slender silhouette of its hands tipped with a crescent moon... yet ever-so modern with the facetted brushed barrette protecting its crown! A year later, in 2019, the brand pursued its contemporary path with its 5177 model which showcases a face enamelled in an exquisitelyintense blue that enhances the silvered markers. A stylistic move away from the previous timepieces which was rather significant, different and innovative yet totally in keeping with Abraham-Louis Breguet’s own codes.

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As this year came around, the watchmaking firm went beyond stylistic limits and acted like a magician mixing together two love potions to create a single, much more powerful one: the Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Automatique 5367 dressed in blue Grand Feu enamel.

This piece is magnificent, it’s dial colour striking and the ballet danced by its tourbillon absolutely bewitching.

Working on a gold base, the manufacture’s craftsmen weaved their savoir-faire to offer this newcomer’s face an intense colour which, based on the light shining, diffuses indigo glints. When you look at this watch to the right of the centre, this light detects the secret signature, introduced by Abraham-Louis Breguet back in 1795 and perpetuated to this day to honour his incomparable work. Each gold-sculpted element produced on the dial is bevelled beforehand, and the powdery-silvered hour chapter as well as the minute

tracker formed with stars, fleur-de-lis and lozenges, are relief-displayed, as such emphasizing the contrast with the blue of the dial. In the centre, two hollow moon-tip Breguet hands hover over the hours and minutes whilst the seconds tick by on the tourbillon set between 4 and 6 o’clock.

The 41 mm-diameter, 7.45 mm-thick case, woven with two navy blue alligator strands, boasts a fluted caseband and welded lugs, two essentials inherent to Breguet’s stylistic expression. This elegant case hosts the 581 calibre, the self-winding movement embracing an incredibly-fine manufacture-produced tourbillon.

Beating at 4 Hz and equipped with a single barrel, it delivers an impressive power reserve of 80 hours.

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Longine s

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Green power

By Sharmila Bertin

A

fter playing with somewhat classical shades like black, grey and blue, the watersportdedicated collection from the wingedhourglass brand complements its array of colours by taking on an exquisite khaki green which it proposes in two diameters and two different finishes.

Seas are not all alike. You just need to sit for a few minutes on a beach or on a rock and watch the changing colours sliding over the water surface. Sometimes silvered when the sun caresses, sometimes blue-hued and even indigo as you move away from the coastline. But the ocean, influenced by the whims of the weather, can become a vast green mass like a mountain lake or can veer to black when storms rumble. It is often depicted as blue on maps of the world and children’s drawings, yet it embraces a myriad of shades. Polychromic reality which Longines applies to its collection of watches specifically designed for watersports. After playing with somewhat classical shades like black – espousing

steel or in an all black ceramic version –, navy blue and elephant grey, the Saint-Imier watchmaker takes on an exquisite khaki green inspired by marshy water and bunches of seaweed strewn across seabeds to adorn the dial and bezel of its new HydroConquest.

This new timepiece, designed to handle immersions down to depths of 300 metres, is a formidable ally for underwater exploration because, in addition to its impressive waterproofness, it hosts a unidirectional rotating bezel which works using notches, ultrareadable displays, two lateral armatures to protect the crown, which is screwed just like the caseback decorated with a sapphire-crystal porthole. Moreover, the model comes with the choice of a bracelet comprising three rows of steel links or a khaki-coloured textured rubber strap, resembling fabric, attached by a folding clasp, incorporating dual security and a rapid extension system so it can be worn over a neoprene wetsuit.

Nonetheless, its intrepid yet ever-so streamlined look

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© Longines

means it is wondrously-wearable on dry land, the perfect companion for weekend walks in the mountains or even on a daily basis under a shirt cuff.

The steel-fashioned HydroConquest case is available in two sizes, 41 and 43 mm diameter, is topped with a bezel equipped with a khaki ceramic ring which features a graduated time scale as well as the luminescent triangular marker required for diving.

On the matt-green lacquered dial, the hour chapter comprises ten dots and three large Arabic numerals (6, 9 and 12) coated with white Super-LumiNova®, just like the central baton-style hands which indicate the hours, minutes and seconds, for optimal readability even when it’s dusky. An aperture at 3 o’clock displays the date on a white backdrop. These features are driven by the L888.4 calibre, a self-winding mechanical movement designed based on an ETA which beats at the gentle frequency of 25,200 vibrations per hour and delivers a power reserve of virtually three days.

Along with this newcomer, Longines proposes a boutique edition, available exclusively with a 41 mm-diameter steel case, which unveils shades of colour which are a little more intense, more contrasted, in particular as a result of the vertical brushing which decorates its green ceramic dial. Although displays and functions are exactly the same as the aforementioned model, the motor is different because this HydroConquest is powered by the automatic L888.5 calibre (once again based on an ETA), equipped with a silicon hairspring.

It’s not going to be easy to choose between the two!

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Spring 2020

Z e nit h

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A shower of stars

By Sharmila Bertin

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baptised Defy Midnight. A name which strikes home like a moonlit stroll, the thoughtfulness of a promise.

At midnight, the horizon is but a vague recollection but dawn is about to take its first steps.

Who has never looked up to the night-time sky sprinkled with scintillating stars to make a wish, to find comfort in the serenity which these ever-so far yet ever-so bright bodies radiate? For some, the celestial dome is a mystery, for others, a refuge or source of emotions. Who could remain unmoved by the beauty of a dark black night illuminated by a host of twinkling stars? A moment of doubt, of distress and suddenly, just through its elegant immensity, the sky lulls us. We feel less alone, less lost when cradled by the stars.

This sense of calmness which a star can procure has been transcribed by Zenith in a simple, yet highlypoetic way on the face of a collection of watches

Just like the celestial body of the night and its moods, the sky changes too. It metamorphoses over the day, as seasons come and go. In just a few hours, it can cover over, as such muting from cloudless bright blue to deep grey or cotton wool white. Defy Midnight’s face is like what we can see when we look up to the heavens above: a horizontal blend of colours which starts off with the most diluted shade at the bottom of the dial and gradually intensifies as it rises to the top. At nightfall, denim blue becomes navy then veers to black.

When a storm is brewing, grey becomes increasingly intense and takes on taupe brown hues. And finally, during the cold season, mist unveils its milky, fluffy, flaky carnation, haloed with azure glints.

Three different temperaments are expressed through

n a show of pure lyricism, the Locle manufacture captures the Milky Way to inscribe it onto the face of a trio of steel timepieces designed for the finest wrists. And to make the dazzle of the stars last forever, Zenith proposes to encircle these new watches with a ribbon of diamonds.

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© Zenith

three colours, two enhanced with a sun-brushed finish and the third dressed in mother-of-pearl. As dusk sets in and the light of the sun wanes then totally disappears, stars come out to play. Each dial is sprinkled with them, especially between 9 and 3 o’clock, the highest point of this sky imprisoned in a watch. This miniature celestial dome is dominated by a large silvered star. Zenith’s symbol. The glittering hour chapter is interspersed with diamonds, except at 3 o’clock where an aperture features the date in black on a white backdrop.

Boasting fine attachments is in no way a sign of weakness. Quite the opposite actually. And, isn’t it true that we say “an iron hand in a velvet glove”? An expression which the Locle manufacture has understood pretty well because, in spite of the undeniable delicacy effusing off the dial, the case bestows a certain sense of assertiveness to the skin with its 36 mm diameter – a size which isn’t too big or too small – its silhouette with its solid, bevelled lugs which embrace the wrist

perfectly as well as the steel it is fashioned with. The case is waterproof to a depth of 100 metres, resistance which enables the watch to be versatile, and topped with a fixed bezel. The bezel is proposed in a somewhat discreet, somewhat understated polished version, or strewn with a ribbon of diamonds, i.e. 44 tantalizing brilliant-cut gems.

The Elite 670 calibre, which beats the rhythm, nestles in this steel case. This self-winding movement, set at a frequency of 4 Hz, drives the hours, minutes, seconds and date, and delivers a power reserve of 48 hours.

Just like the mood-swings which the sky goes through, Defy Midnight adorns several styles based on the easily-interchangeable strap which sets it off: steel links, soft satin or classical leather. When midnight chimes, everything becomes possible!

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A . LAnge & Söhne

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Appealing blue

By Sharmila Bertin

W

ith this latest arrival with its steel body, its face adorned with blue and its automatic heart, the Saxony brand embarks on a new chapter in its history and has just created its sixth family of watches. Portrait of a timepiece with indications useful on a daily basis which epitomizes a modern-day era.

For lovers of the German A. Lange & Söhne, it was noholds-barred love at first sight for this Odysseus model.

Its launch announces the birth of a new family of watches, the sixth to date, in the Saxony brand’s already wellestablished collections. Being the newcomer in a group which includes product lines such as Lange 1 (whose 25th anniversary is celebrated this year), 1815, Saxonia, Richard Lange and Zeitwerk, isn’t always a very easy role to take on. Yet aficionados have literally welcomed it with open arms as some of them rushed to order the timepiece as soon as it was unveiled to the public end October. So, what’s all the panic about? Well, just take a glance at this Odysseus and you’ll understand.

Through it, A. Lange & Söhne is writing a totally different chapter in its history. Different definitely yet, nonetheless, deeply engrained in its creative journey as the aesthetic style of this piece undeniably radiates family resemblance vis-à-vis the other models and sustains creative pedigree. This timepiece, infused with new freshness, is designed for a somewhat wealthy public as it costs the handsome sum of 28,800 euros; a public wishing to wear a watch which is classic yet sporty, robust and excellently crafted. Steel was chosen to fashion Odysseus’ body and blue to adorn its dial, a shade rather less conventional than black or white and not as “risky” as the currently voguish green.

The metal case is designed in three parts, measures a diameter of 40.55 mm and 11 mm thick – i.e. quasi universal dimensions – and is waterproof to a depth of 120 metres. The screwed-down, winding and timeadjusting crown is traditionally placed at 3 o’clock and is embraced by two bevelled push-pieces at 2 and 4 o’clock

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© A. Lange & Söhne

used for setting the two displays useful on a daily basis: the day of the week and the calendar. The transparent caseback unveils part of the L.155.1 calibre referred to as Datomatic, a recent 32.9 mm-diameter self-winding mechanical manufacture movement. This motor, set at a frequency of 4 Hz and equipped with unidirectional platinum oscillating weight, delivers a power reserve of 50 hours.

On the dial, a blue-coated brass base, with a play on materials provoked by alternating snailed surfaces like the two rings engraved with fine concentric striations on which the hour chapter and seconds scale are delicately poised, and sanded-finished like the central disc which clasps the hour and minute hands as well as the small seconds. These hands, in grey gold, highlighted with a luminescent dash, reveal a style which is halfway between Lancine and alpha; they hover over elongated applique-style indexes and point out a minute tracker inscribed on the silvery-white flange. The direct-drive

at 6 o’clock, the Saxony watchmaker’s signature, features an openworked lozenge-crafted counterpoise.

To complement these essential time data functions and to better find your time bearings on a daily basis, two large silver-bevelled apertures, on either side of the dial, display the abridged day in English (at 9 o’clock) and the calendar (at 3 o’clock).

And, last but not least, as it ensures great wearing comfort: the integrated strap is formed by rows of steel links ending with a folding clasp equipped with an adjusting mechanism to play with 7 mm of length.

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Spot light

78

The secret power of blue

By Sharmila Bertin & Mickael Gautier

I

f you know me a little bit in real life or through the prose which I roll out with great delight in these pages and even on social media, then you know that anything that relates to the purely emotional, childhood and family memories is the essence which nourishes me on a daily basis. It occasionally only takes a simple detail, no matter how insignificant it is for ordinary folk, to whisk me back to the past, to this period filled with insouciance in which I grew up.

This little snippet which titillates my memory which I’m alluding to here is actually a colour, a blue, but not just any old one. I’m the eldest of a family comprising three boys and two girls, and with the brother who’s closest to me age-wise, we played a lot together when we were kids, in spite of our four years’ difference. Our fun-time moments saw me basically giving in to the wishes and desires of this younger sibling – who was a bit overbearing, sorry to say so – whose world was populated with little Playmobil® characters, mainly cowboys and Indians. This miniature western featured

an American cavalry fort where blue-uniformed soldiers lived. This blue, this famous blue which coloured my childhood, I rediscovered it on the face of Tudor’s Pelagos when this watch was unveiled at Baselworld a few years ago. It goes without saying that I fell in love with it immediately.

I look on this timepiece with fondness because the colour which adorns its dial and its bezel is everso dear to me. When I check the time, I think of my brother, I think of the child I was, and these emotions, believe me, are priceless. Of course, Pelagos’ nickname – Playmobil® blue is not at all official, it’s just a speciallittle-something between this watch, which I’m lucky enough to wear on my wrist, and me. And, to delight in my memories even more so, I took it (and my family, of course) with me to spend end-of-year celebrations in my mother’s country home, like almost every year since the day I was born. This former sheepfold, which is about two centuries’ old, nestles on a hillside in the middle of

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nowhere in Catalonia, lost between the Pyrénées and the Mediterranean. An environment that’s a bit hostile and wild, deep in unspoilt nature, the ideal place for testing out this Pelagos. Winter oblige, unfortunately I couldn’t jump into the water and do a few lengths of breaststroke with it but, anyway, seeing that it can

handle immersions to depths of 500 metres, that it is equipped with a screwed caseback and crown and a helium escape valve at 9 o’clock on its case flank, I’ve no doubt about its super waterproofness whatsoever.

For sure no seawater or chlorinated water bathing

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© Mickael Gautier

was on the cards but, like all my other watches, it was subjected to my daily life as a mum on holidays in the country with children including two young ones who run like mad everywhere and two hunting dogs… who run like made everywhere too! It never left my wrist apart from when I went to sleep. It’s the second time that I’ve borrowed a titanium watch (with titanium bracelet as well) and I must admit I’m becoming increasingly attached to this metal. Because it’s light and when you wear a dive watch with a 42 mm-diameter case on a tiny wrist like mine, well weight comes seriously into play.

Because it’s resistant and takes my son’s onslaughts and the bangs and blows I accidentally and clumsily give it, when I knock it against a door frame or the edge of the sink, in its stride without ever flinching. Because its colour, which is greyer, darker than the silvery shade of steel pleases me enormously and goes with any style of clothes, another point that means a lot to me seeing that I no longer have the time to think twenty years about what I’m going to wear and if, on top of all that, I have to make sure my outfit matches my watch...

Let’s go back to the dial for a few moments, which apart from its colour which I adore for the reasons you now know, it features elements which are characteristic of dive watches created by Tudor which the brand introduced at the end of the 1960s like baton-shaped hands called “snowflakes” because the hour hand and

the direct-drive one are tipped with a lozenge. This highly-particular silhouette coupled with the geometric figures representing the indexes ensure rapid time reading even when it’s dark (in my case, not in the depths of the ocean but more so when I go to check that my children are sleeping and the light in their rooms is turned off). And while we’re on the subject of marker luminescence, I really love the blue-glowing white coating, much more exquisite and elegant than the usual green phosphorescence! And the matt finish of the ensemble which cancels out any reflection is another stylistic feature (and a technical one for bona fide divers!) which captivates me. It’s a delight to the eyes and makes this watch the most photogenic of my collection.

As for functionalities, the Pelagos fulfils my needs as it presents all that’s essential, in my opinion, i.e. the central hours/minutes/seconds combination and the date (at 3 o’clock). The only Arabic numerals present are the ones of the graduated scale inscribed on the matt blue ceramic ring which tops the unidirectional rotating bezel. The only remark I would make about this watch concerns the length of its bracelet which, even after having removed quite a few links, remains a bit too “loose” on my wrist, and that suits Mickael perfectly because, thanks to its secure folding clasp which includes an automatic spring-based extension system, he can borrow my Pelagos anytime he wants!

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Par migiani

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Make a wish!

By Sharmila Bertin

I

sn’t it surprising to see that watches which boast a rainbow on their dial or on their case, or even on both, are becoming ever more popular over the years. What’s more, just like stone-set pieces, they’re no longer intended exclusively for women.

Enchantment is made for everyone, right? This new timepiece imagined by Parmigiani which dazzles with its duo of photometeors illustrates this perfectly.

If you open a dictionary, for example our good old Merriam Webster one, definitions are occasionally lacking in spirit, like the word “rainbow”: an arc or circle that exhibits in concentric bands the colours of the spectrum and that is formed opposite the sun by the refraction and reflection of the sun's rays in raindrops, spray, or mist. And yet, this phenomenon which pierces through cotton wool clouds and evanescently tinges them with a vibrant arc fascinates by its suddenness, its beauty and all the childhood dreams it embraces.

Because what the view of a rainbow awakens in us falls

within the realm of emotions, be it a happy memory nestling in the back of our minds, a belief based on fairytales and magic or simply the pure bliss of watching this wonder which nature offers us. Legend has it that at the end of this band which blends violet, indigo, blue and green, yellow, orange and red, there’s a pot filled with gold. Some myths mention a bridge between Earth and sky, between Humans and gods. There are as many interpretations as there are cultures which populate our planet yet all agree on one point: the enchantment which this nuance of colours gifts us with.

For some years now, rainbows have been playing a role in the watchmaking world through these famous timepieces called, as you’ve probably guessed, rainbow.

They are few and far between yet are becoming ever more popular and although, previously, were intended exclusively for the ladies’ wrists, they have been recently gaining ground with the guys. Fortunately, codes have evolved and today it’s not surprising to

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© Parmigiani

see a man wearing a stone-set watch, a small diameter watch (big up to the vintage comeback!), a “métiers d’art” watch or even a watch adorned with a rainbow on its bezel or on its dial, or even on both. It’s both the poetry and beauty of the object which triumphs over gender. Parmigiani’s latest creation attests to this. Although the diameter of the case is 40.20 mm and it is 9.43 mm thick, although its bezel is adorned with a photometeor of precious stones and its face is also strewn with stones, the Tonda 1950 Tourbillon Double Rainbow seduces both women and men with its multicoloured elegance and the ever-so meticulous work carried out as regards mechanical and stylistic research.

The rose-gold-fashioned case, highly-distinguished with its curvaceously-streamlined, drop-like lugs, is topped with a bezel bejeweled with coloured gems.

A band which totals some forty baguette-cut stones, weighs 2.59 carats and is composed of six blue sapphires, six amethysts, five pink sapphires, four rubies, six orange sapphires, six yellow sapphires and seven tsavorites. Like a reflection over calm water, this rainbow is mirror-reproduced, i.e. with a reversed

layout and smaller proportions, towards 2 o’clock on the diamond-covered white-gold dial. These 572 (1.402 carats) diamonds boast different diameters and different weights and are added to the surface using the snow-set technique, a setting that is so intertwined that it hides the metallic base. An aventurine disc, appearing like a star-spangled sky, reveals this second rainbow formed by four rubies, three orange sapphires, five yellow sapphires, five tsavorites, five blue sapphires, four amethysts and five pink sapphires, i.e. 31 baguette-cut gems totalling 0.31 carats.

This orbit-shaped navy-blue work-of-art hosts a cutout at the bottom which harmoniously embraces the aperture which reveals the 60-second flying tourbillon set at 7 o’clock. At the centre of this dazzling tapestry, two rose-gold skeleton delta-shaped hands tick away the hours and minutes hovering over elongated indexes, also dressed in rose gold. Time data is driven by the PF517 calibre, an ultra-slim self-winding movement.

Set at 3 Hz, it delivers a power reserve of 48 hours.

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Foc u s

86

The relentless rise of independent watch brands

By Benjamin Teisseire

N

o self-respecting discussion about watchmaking neglects independent brands. They represent a tiny part of the industry but their appeal is getting bigger and bigger. Why such interest?

The pioneers You can’t talk about this topic without mentioning the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (A.H.C.I.), founded in 1980 to nurture young talent, boost creativity and keep traditional artisan expertise alive. These ideas continue to draw people to this niche form of watchmaking.

The great pioneers of the movement are among those who spearheaded independent watchmaking. Georges Daniels, the father of independent fine watchmaking who hand-makes all his components from A to Z. Vincent Calabrese, the founding father of the A.H.C.I, a passionate advocate for creative freedom. Then there’s Philippe Dufour, a demi-god in the other land of watchmaking, Japan. He is undoubtedly the one who

instilled the sought-after taste for superlative handfinishing.

Another iconic independent figure is François-Paul Journe, an experienced watchmaker who launched his own brand in 1999. He has since become pretty much the only one to manage to forge a real “brand” with over 900 pieces made every year true to the original soul. His watches are some of the most in demand with collectors.

A hotbed for passion and creativity In the wake of the founders who proudly uphold 18th and 19th century traditions, a whole new generation has appeared buzzing with creativity in terms of design and innovation. They have carved out a new path for independent mechanical watchmaking. MB&F and its sometimes-unidentified timekeeping objects have pushed boundaries to unleash their imagination. Urwerk has paved the way for contemporary design. DeBethune uses traditional values to challenge and reinvent watchmaking of the future. HYT blends technologies to

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create fluid time. Ressence even goes so far as to bring a sworn enemy – digital – into the mechanical world. Each of them wears their creativity with pride and passion... and can now share it with the masses.

Increasing visibility Just this once, independent watchmakers can thank social media. The digital world has actually provided unexpected opportunities to reach the new audiences without breaking the budget. It’s a decisive factor in the rise of independents.

Proof of the growing enthusiasm: top professional watchmaking events have realised they have to put the spotlight on these modern watchmaking artisans. They have got together since 2016 at Le Carré des Horlogers during the SIHH – now called Watches & Wonders Geneva – and made it the annual go-to for journalists, bloggers and collectors.

Their rightful place has been underlined by their increasing appearance at auctions. Christie’s, Phillips and Sotheby's all have auctions devoted to independents.

Pieces by Kari Voutilainen, F-P.Journe, Urwerk and

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DeBethune go under the hammer alongside Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Omega.

Personal experiences Aside from original creations, what is increasingly drawing collectors to independents is personal experience. Watch enthusiasts are perhaps tired of marketing concepts from regular brands and now want to meet the man behind the brand. The GrÜnefeld brothers are the perfect example of this new paradigm. The cheerful, approachable and down-to-earth pair epitomise the values of independent watchmaking. Meeting Romain Gauthier to get to grips with his designs or Rexhep Rexhepi, the brains behind Akrivia, to share his modern yet traditional vision: that’s what gets watch lovers hot under the collar. It can also provide a better understanding of the incredible work that all the passionate artisans do.

Objective criteria Last but not least, very objective criteria have helped independent watchmakers soar. Superlative handfinishes; truly limited editions and unique series; endless customisation options. And most importantly, total freedom to create and indulge your passion.

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Enthusiasts are looking for these free spirits, this personal contact, this rarity that they only occasionally get from “big” brands. In an ever more stereotyped world, watchmaking has been hit by a tidal wave for authenticity. It’s as though the quest for meaning has pushed us towards more creative substance and human relations. Which certainly explains why independents have gained more power.

Major watch brands can rest easy as this tiny niche barely accounts for 1% of the global market. But it plays a huge part in mechanical watchmaking that sparks the imagination, gets your heart racing and fuels passions. Independent watchmakers have a starring role in the entire industry’s renown so the buzz surrounding independents can only be a good thing that we should continue to encourage.

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Du b ai Wat c h We e k

90

Dawning of a new era

By Eléonor Picciotto

T

his 4th edition of Dubai Watch Week was made possible thanks to the initiative of the Seddiqi family, influential Dubai-based retailer and distributor. This year the show took on a new four-day format during which collectors, brands and journalists could discover, listen and learn without any pressure or time constraints. Explanations.

three concepts totally non-existent in Basel. The DWW idea was to go even further by positioning itself as a major exhibition which would centre stage watchmakers’ culture, heritage and savoir-faire.

After all, if we don’t improve our knowledge and if we don’t learn anything to do with “watchmaking” in a show devoted to the subject, then what purpose does it serve?

We could be led to believe that Dubai Watch Week (DWW) may be complementary to Baselworld or to the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH International Fine Watchmaking Exhibition) now known as Watches & Wonders. Not on your life! The Seddiqi came to the same conclusion as that which AlainDominique Perrin, head of Cartier at the time, made when he created SIHH about a quarter of a century ago. Starting out from the premise that customers, i.e. the buyers, were “ill-treated”, the idea was based on organizing a show instead of a fair in a limited space, offering real service, comfort and catering facilities:

The ten must-not-miss moments during DWW: Attending Horological Forum debates led by influential industry personalities such as Adam Craniotes, Red Bar Group founder and editor-in-chief of Revolution magazine, Lucien Vouillamoz, visionary behind HYT, Gary Getz, moderator and great collector, as well as the legendary Shame On Wrist who, in order to keep his identity secret, intervened via a Skype conversation projected on the big screen.

Listening to Mohammed Seddiqi lay out the issue of high demand for pieces like Patek Philippe’s Nautilus 5711 and extremely limited quotas. Nowadays,

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91 irrespective of the amount of money you may have at hand, if you’re not on the waitlist, well, forget it.

There’s also a wishlist if you want to be included on the waitlist. So… good luck with that!

Attending the conference presented by Christie’s which detailed the state of play of the current vintage market: 55% of watches sold at auctions are Patek Philippe, closely followed by Rolex. The remaining infinitesimal fraction is made up of all the other brands.

And, the reason for this: the management, production and development constancy of these brands.

Taking in Creative Hub’s presentations such as the one given by DeBethune and Jorg Hysek for Dream Watch 6 and Dior’s one on making the Grand Bal collection, a kind of journey through miniature haute couture.

Signing up for a masterclass: the one led by Florian and Antoine Preziuso to learn how to assemble and dismantle a movement or the one organized by Bovet proposing dial engraving initiation. All these sessions were highly limited in numbers and highly sought after.

Intercepting Jean-Claude Biver as he was dedicating his new book whilst around a hundred people were waiting their turn patiently under the wintry MiddleEastern breeze.

Taking time out to savour the delectable menu concocted by Cipriani, DWW’s official partner, in their ephemeral restaurant, set up especially for the occasion.

Heading over to the WatchBox pop-up to discuss with the founder of this platform, leader in second-hand watch purchasing, reselling and trading, and in which the Seddiqi family holds shares.

Visiting the little houses built by Chopard to present its new Alpine Eagle and by Rolex for its Submariner retrospective, organized like a sort of travelling exhibit (or roadshow) and visually interesting.

And, of course, discovering Breitling, MB&F, Jacob & Co., Trilobe, Hublot and Girard-Perregaux’s novelties as well as the thirty-seven other brands showcasing at DWW which were not all necessarily distributed by Seddiqi.

In short, the Seddiqi family had got it all right, seeing as they had been the first “victims” concerned by showrelated issues. And if we were to name but three reasons as to why this new format is perfect: the pleasant weather combined with Dubai’s excellent service, proximity which makes professional appointments as well as cocktails much easier and offers the opportunity to continue working in a relaxed atmosphere, and the organization of panels, training sessions and brands’ stands thanks to which you can learn more in one day than five days spent in other fairs. I’ll say no more…!

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Watches & Wonders Baselworld: new match, first set

By Olivier Müller

T

hey spent years looking daggers at each other. An “entente cordiale” with distance and time between them. The SIHH and Baselworld lived together in (almost) harmony.

Then the SIHH drew in several brands that had been going to Basel up to then. Then far-flung retailers – Asia first – complained about having to make return journeys to Switzerland in two months to attend two twin fairs.

The close enemies have got closer. In dates at least: the Genevan fair will be held from April 25th to 29th and Baselworld will be from April 30th to May 5th.

Their schedules have been synchronised until 2024.

That said, the first round doesn’t hide either fair’s plans to maintain the upper hand.

Baselworld, an almost complete overhaul There’s been a revolution at Baselworld. It needed one. 2019 saw the fair end with a serious drop in attendance with 81,000 visitors (-22%) and fewer exhibitors (-20%) and journalists (-12%). The fair got a wake-up call which they unequivocally sum up as: “You spoke. We listened.”

The event’s new boss, Michel Loris-Melikoff, saw it as a year of transition. So 2020 should be the first year of a healing process that will continue for four years. It starts with the event being rebranded as a lively year-round “meeting place” rather than a oneoff fair. The first visible effect: a partnership with the Luxury Venture Group. The Genevan organisation is a business incubator for watchmaking tech start-ups.

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Then came the creation of strong concepts. The most visible will probably be the Community District in Hall 1.0. It will house stands shared by several brands, each of whom will choose their surface area starting at 50m². Prices have dropped by 10%-30%. The Community District will appear alongside three other concepts: the Watch Lounge (for companies that used to be tucked away in nearby hotels), Ateliers (for top independent brands) and Watch Gallery (watchmaking start-ups) alongside its big brother the Incubator for more established brands.

name: Watches & Wonders. The Genevan organisation has been named after the touring exhibition that’s an SIHH off-shoot and will stop in Miami in February.

Also, Watches & Wonders will take place outside its regular Palexpo home. Themed exhibitions, trails in Geneva, watchmaking introduction workshops, manufacture tours, in-store events, museum visits, conferences and events with figures in the watch world will pepper the city, mainly around the Arcades des Arts, the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie’s new HQ.

Last but not least, the Baselworld team have focused on getting hoteliers and restaurateurs to sign up to their fair pricing code of conduct. Translation: stop flooring exhibitors and visitors with outrageous prices during the fair. Work is still ongoing due to a lack of time and, basically, a lack of persuasive tools. It will still cost 500 CHF per night 2km from the centre before you can order an espresso for 6 CHF outside the fair. It’s a shame. Baselworld may have negotiated a concierge service with the Basel Hotel Association to centralise plane tickets, hotels etc. but the cost of attending will still be high.

The brands have been spiced up too. Five new companies are joining the Carré des Horlogers (Arnold & Son, Cecil Purnell, Fabergé, Rebellion, Rudis Sylva) and two others have joined the fair’s institutional brands (H. Moser & Cie and MB&F). Last thing to mention: Watches & Wonders will be open daily to the general public with a 300 CHF entrance fee providing access to all the stands, the fair’s services and a special new trail.

The SIHH has had a makeover The first thing that strikes you with the SIHH is its new

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When the warranty wears off

By Olivier Müller

I

t comes in twos. Even threes. Four for the bold! This operation is what rockets the old legal two-year watch guarantee up to four, five and sometimes eight years. At the same time, the Returns Policy has given up the ghost: welcome to the realm of Customer Care.

A long wait Everyone knew this was coming. First the clients: a doubled or tripled warranty is the sign of a well-made watch. Then the brands: after boasting about the merits of long-lasting, timeless luxury, it was time to prove it.

In an industry as conservative as watchmaking, this small revolution happened in record time. After the credit crunch, collectors needed reassurance about their investments’ longevity. So, what could be better than guaranteeing that their watch would be flawless for years and years?

Richemont leading the way The Richemont group has a comfortable lead in this

area. One of the most important announcements came in May 2019: Jaeger-LeCoultre announced it was quadrupling its warranty from two years to eight.

The offer covered every watch and clock (Atmos) even though warranties were different in the past.

This initiative came with a Care Programme based on a dedicated bespoke digital platform providing information, advice and services in twelve languages.

Every client can save their personal collection on this platform.

Panerai took up the baton in autumn with their Pam. Guard programme. It launched on November 26th 2019 and also provides an 8-year warranty on new pieces. But that’s not all: Pam.Guard is reactive. The extended warranty applies to watches purchased in the two years preceding its launch.

Cartier brought out Cartier Care the same month.

Again, mechanical watches are covered by an 8-year warranty whilst the battery in quartz watches has had its life extended from three to six years. Cartier Care

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also provides a complimentary battery replacement, polish, watch servicing and sizing for some collections alongside new services such as engraving in the client’s handwriting, goffering jewellery boxes etc.

Random fire How about the other brands? The Swatch Group has kept relatively quiet aside from Omega which has provided a 5-year warranty since November 2018 just like Rolex, Tudor and Richard Mille in terms of independent brands.

Other absentees include Chopard, Frédérique Constant, Seiko and LVMH with no clear initiative from TAG Heuer or Zenith. The only exception is Ulysse Nardin

(Kering Group) when, on January 14th, it announced it would use Blockchain technology following FavreLeuba’s first foray in September 2018. That means the warranty certificate for a watch will be with it through its entire life and any changes of owner. After the extended warranty, this Blockchain certification has made its mark as the next digital watchmaking battleground. To be continued, in Geneva or Basel…

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Spring 2020

DE SIGN

Unity creates strength

96

By Sharmila Bertin

I

f the name DWISS rhymes with bliss, it’s actually an acronym for Design Watch Independent Switzerland. So, what about the second S you say?

“It’s a mixture between the D of design and Swiss” states Rafael Simoes Miranda.

The Brazilian-born founder of DWISS, who hasn’t yet reached the age of forty, counts a myriad of prestigious awards honouring the innovating style of his watchmaking creations. Seven prizes to date. An impressive track record for a brand that’s not even ten years old. Rafael Simoes Miranda confides: “I started my career as an industrial designer, then, in 2005, I won the Red Dot Award for designing a truck”. The following year, in 2006, he designed watches in Milan then opened his own design studio in 2009.

As an independent, he designed timepieces for others until one day he decided, in 2011, to found his own business. “Handling design for brands and especially fashion ones is quite complicated because you have to work with sales and marketing departments which generally don’t know anything about watchmaking”, states Rafael Simoes Miranda. Moreover, the young freelancer wanted to create his own watch and was in direct contact with suppliers.

In 2012, he initiated an important project with

a mining company in Brazil to design a piece in niobium, a rare transition metal with a shiny grey robe. An exploit which led him to win his first award as a watchmaking designer. “This was really beneficial for my company”, he says.

For financing, in 2016 Rafael Simoes Miranda set up a crowdfunding aka participative financing with a campaign which worked really well and enabled him to produce his two collections in 2018. DWISS oblige, the mechanical calibres are all Swissproduced: ETA 2824-2 for the automatics, ETA 7001 for the “hand-wound” and Concepto 8950 for the tourbillon. Although the case of his watches always features the same silhouette, yet in various sizes, the dial is not the same. His models RS1 and RC1 propose unparalleled displays via apertures running along the flange indicating minutes whilst the hours and seconds are placed in the centre on a large hand. The brand produces around 1,000 pieces a year which are all sold online on its site.

Today, Rafael Simoes Miranda has a new “baby”: the creation of a design club open since October 2019 and accessible to all. No need for any specialist training whatsoever. “The idea is to propose an experience to people by giving them the opportunity to become a

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© Dwiss

97 designer for a project lasting a year, to show them the ins and outs of designing a watch then its production and finally its distribution, to take part in competitions as a member of a design team and to propose the object they’ve designed”, he explains. The Luganobased club, which totals over a hundred members, is an invitation to follow the creation process of a timepiece from A to Z, like a giant brainstorming session. “Everyone takes part, gives their opinion on four cases for example and I make changes based on their observations and suggestions”. Everything takes place on the DWISS site with an augmented reality system which enables members to view the watch from every possible angle. Basically, the club works like a watchmaking brand which would have commissioned Rafael Simoes Miranda to create a product, with the usual processes, from draft sketches through to production scheduled for June 2020, and the prototype planned for Baselworld. Briefing is quite straightforward: the case must be in steel, include a sapphire crystal, waterproof to a depth of 100 metres minimum and host an ETSA 2824-2 calibre.

To date, the members have already chosen a 42 mmdiameter case, topped with an octagonal bezel and integrated lugs, and a dial split into several layers with partially-concealed hands and featuring Arabic numerals. All they need to do now is select a strap and choose the colours.

Because, as a general rule, unity creates strength

and, given Rafael Simoes Miranda’s track record, this collective creativity should meet with great success. * fashion brands

THE WATCHES MAGAZINE

Spring 2020

BASELWORLD IS INITIATING A PROFOUND TRANSFORMATION Exhibitor number are again on the rise, and the more than 80’000 annual visitors that make Baselworld the biggest and most important watch and jewellery show in the world can be counted on. The next edition will be held from April 30 to May 5, 2020.

As the new Managing Director, Michel Loris-Melikoff, and his team shape “Baselworld 2020+”, an interview on the ongoing evolution and its concrete effects.

Could you tell us more about your vision for Baselworld?

Only Baselworld connects the whole Swiss and international watchmaking and jewellery industry. During the 8 days that the fair lasts, people will not enter into the heart of the industry, but also feel its pulse and get a sense of the future. Our vision is to reunite the digital with the live experience, to transform our community into a great social network, one that stays active throughout the year, through events and digital channels.

If you had to summarise very briefly the “pluses” of the 2020 edition, what would they be?

You can expect a great mix of new event formats, open conference sessions, pop-up events, innovation zones and other ways of highlighting the industry’s diversity and potential. The boundaries are shifting.

What about the number of exhibitors?

Through listening, dialogue and creativity, they are coming back: +50 % in the gems sector, +50 % for the technical sector, plus a significant number of watch brands, including global players such as Dolce&Gabbana and Maurice Lacroix as well as independent names which are now joining again. The entire industry has understood the value

of Baselworld and that they can count on the support of Baselworld.

The public always wants more show, more content. How will you meet these demands?

Allow me to keep the suspense up for a little while still. What I can already tell you is that, in general terms, we will be offering an “event” program like Baselworld has never seen before. Just to give you an idea, we will have a new “Grand Forum” that will include 25+ sessions with more than 50 renowned speakers, with some of the most prestigious watch exhibitions such as Phillips Watch Auctions and the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie of Geneva, as well as the new Time & Art Gallery which will be featuring artists from around the world who find inspiration in the art of watchmaking.

Have you also worked on the hospitality aspects?

Basel will be welcoming the whole world for one week! Now exhibitors and visitors can book their entire trip via one single point of contact and a contact person – flights, hotels and extras – and enjoy the Basel experience, even take in a Museum visit or book a private transfer from the airport. Our new centralised e-Concierge is a real plus.

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