TIMEPIECES FROM THE BEST-KNOWN BRANDS
The latest timepieces from the world’s best-known brands are an eclectic mix of form, style and eccentricity.
Gone are the days when your watch options were either diver or dress. Today’s timepieces span a range of styles from innovative and eccentric, to motorsport-inspired. Here’s our pick of the latest wrist adornment groups.
Innovative complications
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold Selfwinding Chronograph
The ‘diamond dust’ effect of this dazzling 41mm piece in white gold is created by Florentine technique, popular in high-end jewellery. The case and bracelet are gently tapped with a diamond-tipped tool to make indentations that catch the light.
A. Lange & Söhne Cabaret Tourbillon Handwerkskunst
An update of its 2008 Cabaret Tourbillon – which was the first mechanical wristwatch with stop-seconds for the tourbillon – this Handwerkskunst model has stunning lozenge-shaped engraving on the solid white gold dial to match the shape of the six-hour markers. The dial is coated in a semi-transparent enamel to add depth to the shades of grey colour.
Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Skelet-One Tourbillon
The striking transparency of this innovative and pleasingly symmetrical 41mm watch in red gold allows huge amounts of light to pass through it. This visibility highlights a black tourbillon cage that aligns with the bridges once a minute.
Eccentric creations
Ressence Type 1 Slim Red
Where’s the crown? There isn’t one. Instead, a recessed lever flips out from the case back to enable the wearer to adjust the grade 5 titanium watch, the case of which is just 11mm thick.
M.A.D.Edition M.A.D.1 watch
Only available to special friends of the brand, this bizarre piece has an upside-down movement with a tungsten and titanium rotor on top and revolving hours and minutes wrapped around the case.
Bell & Ross BR 01 Cyber Skull
When fully wound, the skull’s jaw on this black matt ceramic multi-faceted and angular watch opens and grins for an eerie touch.
The symbol of a new generation: Breaking with tradition, the Bell & Ross Cyber Skull finds its raison d’être in the rich history of the Skulls family which was launched in 2009 and broke traditional watchmaking codes.
Urwerk UR-220 SL Asimov
Inspired by Isaac Asimov’s 1941 poem, Nightfall, this eccentric watch from Urwerk features three Superluminova truncated pyramids that rotate to tell the time. Storing light all day, they glow powerfully at night.
Pilot pieces
Oris Big Crown ProPilot Okavango Air Rescue
A grass effect on the dial mimics the Okavango Delta, the 20,000km2 area of Africa that’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This pilot watch marks 10 years of the aeromedical Okavango Air Rescue.
The striking transparency of this innovative and pleasingly symmetrical 41mm watch in red gold allows huge amounts of light to pass through it.
Bremont MB Savanna
Part of Bremont’s long-standing relationship with ejector seat manufacturers Martin-Baker, this lightweight, 43mm pilot watch is made from Grade 5 titanium. But the highlight is the beautifully understated sand colour inspired by the desert.
Motorsport inspired
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli
A simple click and the quick release system of this adventure watch allows the wearer to choose between red, white and blue for the bezel, crown and strap, which, incidentally, is made from Pirelli tyre rubber.
Richard Mille RM 029 Automatic Le Mans Classic
That double white stripe inlaid into the green band of this masculine watch screams motor racing. Carrying a movement made from grade 5 titanium, the watch from RM with a 24-hour counter at 2 o’clock commemorates the Le Mans Classic, the annual race of historic racing cars that will return to the hallowed Bugatti circuit in July 2022.
Singer Track1 DLS Edition
Watchmaker Singer Reimagined is part of the Singer corporation that restores Porsche 911s. Its latest chronograph – the DLS Edition – is a unique watch with a carbon fibre case only available to those who have had their 911 restored by Singer – an exclusive club. The bezel, buttons, crown and case back of the watch can be customised to match the trims of the owner’s Porsche.
Monsieur Superleggera Edition
Chanel have taken their 2005 J12 Superleggera chronograph and put some petrol in its tank. This year’s Monsieur Superleggera Edition (Superleggera is the Italian for super light) takes its design cues from a sports car’s speedometer, with a guilloche dial surrounded by a case and bezel made of matte black ceramic and steel.
