Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 3 2023 i CROWN

It has been a tumultuous summer full of unexpected announcements and releases, nearly all of which have come from the biggest player in luxury Swiss watchmaking. Amidst the intense weather and political shifts across the globe, Rolex gave us a new Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona model that commemorates the centenary of the Le Mans race (see page 56 for more information). But if you want this watch, good luck trying to get your hands on one; we’ve heard interest in this model is at an all-time high. As if that wasn’t enough, the watchmaker then made another surprise announcement that it was acquiring the Bucherer group. The fourth-generation, family-owned business has a long and storied history in watch retail. Bucherer has lifted the presence of numerous watch brands since its…

In June this year, watch aficionados, critics, journalists, and retailers flocked to Tokyo to discover the biggest Watch Art Grand Exhibition organised by Patek Philippe. This was the sixth event that the watchmaker had held since 2012. At the Sumitomo Sankaku Hiroba, the Genevan watchmaker recreated elements of Patek Philippe’s Museum, historical salon and headquarters, as well as its manufacture and even the streets of Geneva, to transport audiences away from the busy surroundings of the Nishi-Shinjuku business district. Visitors discovered over 500 historical timepieces from the Patek Philippe Museum and Rare Handcraft models inspired by Japanese culture. It demonstrates Patek Philippe’s deep affiliation with, and strong presence in, East Asia. The Limited Editions Tokyo 2023 But naturally, collectors are most excited about the exclusive limited-edition timepieces created for this…

Design and architecture is something that’s very much at the heart of Mido. We have several models that take inspiration from architecture across the entire world. The Rain flower collection, for example, references the design of the Art Science Museum at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. But this development is something that takes time and effort. The All Dial is the first watch we designed in homage to a monument, which was the Colosseum in Rome. Other monuments that we have crafted watches for include the Big Ben, the Guggenheim Museum, and the aforementioned Art Science Museum. Collections like the Multifort, the Commander or Baroncelli share the spirit of a particular monument. So, there are two pathways in which we incorporate these monuments that celebrate human creativity into our watches.…

In August, Rolls-Royce debuted its new Coachbuild commission, the Droptail, with just four models to be created. In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, it is essentially a customised automobile body hand-built on an existing chassis. Rolls-Royce is one of the only carmakers left that still offers coachbuilt vehicles. These custom creations take years to complete: the Rolls-Royce Sweptail was commissioned in 2013 and only completed in 2017. The Droptail is a two-door, two-seater grand tourer with 593 horses behind the V-12 engine, a full monocoque carbon fibre chassis, and a removable hard top. It is priced at around US$30 million and has a highly streamlined design inspired by several Rolls-Royce icons, such as the Silver Ghost Sluggard and Picadilly. Luxury Pairs What’s different about the Droptail is the minimalist…

Eleven years after Urwerk’s UR-110 won the GPHG’s Design Watch Prize, Martin Frei decided it was time to re-explore the concept to develop a slimmer version of the watch with an elegant interface. The UR-110 was the first Urwerk timepiece featuring a horizontal display of time (apart from the Harry Winston Opus 5). To achieve this, the UR-120 split each satellite hour into two parts that come apart at each hour change and rotate before re-combining into the upcoming hour. In Frei’s view, this gave the UR-120 an “unprecedented fluidity”. The splitting and re-joining of the hours does have a ballet-like quality to it. But for Urwerk, this motion reminded it of the ‘live long and prosper’ Vulcan salute that Spock has iconised in entertainment history. The benefit of the…

Perhaps overshadowed by the illustrious Reverso, the Master Control is one of the more underappreciated collections in Jaeger-LeCoultre’s repertoire. Embodying timeless style and mechanical sophistication, the watches are endowed with fresh interpretations of practical and iconic complications. The Master Control Chronograph Calendar was launched in 2020 with stainless steel and 18K pink gold cases matched with silvered sunray-brushed dials. However, we reckon its latest version should earn it even more admirers. A relatively new collection for the Grande Maison, the Master Control was introduced in 1992. The clean lines of its case are inspired by Jaeger-LeCoultre’s emblematic mid-century models, such as the Memovox and PowerMatic, and are beautifully proportioned to frame elegantly appointed dials. Yet, it was also the first collection to undergo the watchmaker’s stringent 1,000-Hour Control Certification testing…

When Tudor announced its long-term partnership with Alinghi Red Bull Racing last year, it marked the Manufacture’s first foray into yacht racing and in the highly competitive America’s Cup. One needn’t be clairvoyant then to foresee commemorative timepieces marking this collaboration will soon follow. The newly released pair of Pelagos FXD ‘Alinghi Red Bull Racing Edition’ models embody the DNA of both entities in extremely robust packages. Inheriting the winsome form factor of the Pelagos FXD (created in collaboration with a specialist unit of the French Navy in 2021), the Alinghi Red Bull Racing Edition models come as the time-only Pelagos FXD or Pelagos FXD Chrono, both with extra sturdy fixed (hence its name) strap bars. Equipped with a one-piece fabric strap that matches the shade of the matte dial…

A. Lange & Söhne • #02-05A Ion Orchard Tel: 6509 1712 Audemars Piguet • #B2-207, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands Tel: 6688 7595 • #01-03, liat towers Tel: 6836 4918 Ball Watch For enquires, please call 6235 1811 Baume & Mercier For enquires, please call 6510 2767 Bell & Ross • #01-15 Mandarin Gallery Tel: 6884 6471 Blancpain • #B2-237 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands Tel: 6634 8771 Breguet • B2M-236 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands Tel: 6638 6006 Breitling • #01-03/04, Palais Renaisance Tel: 6732 8582 Bulgari • #B2-200 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands Tel: 6634 8313 • Level 1, Takashimaya Department Store Tel: 6735 6689 Cartier • #B1-39A, #B2-38 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands Tel: 6688 7388 • #01-20, #02-10 Ion Orchard Tel:…

Last month, Rolex announced that it would acquire the Bucherer watch retail network for an undisclosed sum. In a short press release, the two companies announced that the acquisition would not impact the retailer’s independent operation. Bucherer is one of Rolex’s longest-running retail partners, having been an authorised platform for over 90 years. The company was founded in 1888 by Carl F Bucherer, who also founded his own namesake watch brand. Jörg Bucherer is the last direct descendant of the family and a peer of Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex. With no future generations to take over the business, Jörg Bucherer decided to sell his business. In order to preserve the relationship between the two brands, Rolex is acquiring the company. Bucherer owns over 100 outlets globally, selling Rolex…

At Watches and Wonders Geneva earlier this year, A. Lange & Söhne presented just one watch – the Odysseus Chronograph with the brand’s first self-winding chronograph movement. We all knew that would not be the only release of the year, and sure enough, the Glashütte-based watchmaker has introduced new watches for the summer. One watch in particular stands out – the 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar. It’s been 10 years since the first 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar was released. The first version of this great complication was housed in a pink gold case with an argenté dial. What’s always impressive about Anthony de Haas’ creations for A. Lange & Söhne’s high-complication timepieces is the legibility of the dial designs, displaying information in an easy-to-read manner. The analogue perpetual calendar’s information is…

Tissot’s PRX has been an incredible success for the company since it was released in 2020. It has not only revived an integrated bracelet icon and made it accessible but also brought about a quartz renaissance to some extent. The PRX comes in three sizes: 42mm (for the chronographs), 40mm, and 35mm. Until last year, mechanical movements were limited to larger-sized cases. At the tail end of 2022, the brand introduced a 35mm steel model with gold bezel and diamond indexes, and since then, we’ve been expecting the full-steel 35mm automatic watch to be released. In fact, we’ve known about the PRX Powermatic 80 35mm for several months now; it’s been a hard secret to keep. This summer, Tissot has launched six PRX 35mm models with automatic movements. They feature…

When Rado unveiled the DiaStar in the 1960s, it emerged as a polarising design in the watchmaking industry. On the wrist, however, the watch’s dimensions make for a remarkably ergonomic design. Of special note was the tungsten-carbide case, which was robust and comfortable to the touch. The DiaStar Original was not only touted as scratchproof due to the high-tech ceramic case it was housed in but also super waterproof, with a 220m resistance. It featured four patents and claimed three guarantees: technical, waterproof, and scratchproof. Last year, in conjunction with the collection’s 60th anniversary, a proprietary alloy of ceramic and hard metal called Ceramos was introduced to the DiaStar. The DiaStar’s evolution continues a year later with another first for the collection: a skeletonised movement that beautifully fills the space…

When I met Rob Dickinson [founder of Singer Vehicle Design], I had already conceptualised a central chronograph with a disc-based time-telling display. I love chronographs, but 95 per cent of chronograph designs all have the same conventional display, which doesn’t offer very good legibility. After chatting, we agreed that if Singer ever made a watch, it would be a chronograph. I showed him the concept I had, and things just developed from there. At the same time, Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, who is the founder of Agenhor and a member of the design committee I was on at Geneva’s design university, asked me what I was working on. I showed him my concept, and he was shocked because it turns out he was also working on a similar central chronograph design! Even…

Inventiveness is a word that reaches all the way to the early beginnings of mechanical watchmaking. Quantifying time through human engineering, the behemoth clocks of the past have evolved into the timepieces we wear today on our wrists. But in this golden age of watchmaking, inventiveness also reveals the expressive nature of design that each watchmaker presents, from classic and timeless models to concept designs that challenge our expectations of luxury today. When René Bannwart founded Corum in 1955, it was during the naissance of wristwatch design. The world was just coming out of WWII, which had relegated pocket watches to the past and made wristwatches the new normal. Full of brilliant ideas and determined to be a forward-thinking icon in the industry, the brand quickly brought forward several new…

The Seamaster is an important collection for Omega both for its historical significance and the modern innovations it offers today. It was launched in 1948 as part of Omega’s centenary celebrations as an elegant sea-worthy timepiece that would not look out of place in “town, sea, and country”. At the time, the watchmaker was already recognised as a reliable producer of shock-and water-resistant timepieces used in diving prior to the war and by Air Force and Navy pilots during WWII. To celebrate the Seamaster’s Diamond Jubilee this year, it has dropped a slew of new watches for the summer. Earlier, Omega introduced the Seamaster Aqua Terra Worldtimer in a new titanium case and colour. Now, it’s dropped another seven models with its distinct seahorse logo, ranging from classic three-handers to…

The neo-vintage trend in watchmaking is showing no signs of abating, and with Singer Reimagined’s new 1969 collection – incidentally, its first braceleted full steel range – the company is also joining the fray in the arena of luxury steel sports watches. To be fair, the Geneva-based watchmaker has been offering vintage-inspired timepieces since its 2017 Track 1 debut, with the idea to reimagine iconic automatic chronographs of the era, updated with functional enhancements and modern watchmaking techniques. Before we go into the watches, we need to talk about the name of the collection. Plenty of culture vultures will attribute 1969 as a pivotal year that witnessed a remarkable confluence of cultural shifts, societal movements, and ground-breaking achievements. It was marked by significant and transformative events, such as the Woodstock…

The Multifort (formerly Multi-Star) is one of Mido’s longest-running collections since 1934. Over the decades, it has been a platform for the brand’s design-centric timepieces. Most notably, the Multi-Star line became an icon with sharply chamfered seamless bezels over the case and an integrated bracelet. In 1973, Mido introduced the Multi-Star, a cushion-style case with chamfered corners and sharp edges with a three-link bracelet. Mido’s TV case design would continue to evolve, with new versions such as the Datoday emerging around the ’70s, ’80s, and again in the early 2000s with much larger case sizes and heftier bezels that were fully angled and curved. The Multifort TV Big Date Fifty years on, the cycle of design-centric watchmaking has returned, and Mido is using the anniversary of the Multi-Star to revive…