Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 1 2022 i CROWN

My Facebook page’s ‘Memories’ feed has been teasing out all kinds of emotions from me of late. Several ‘On This Day' (circa year 20-whatever) posts started popping up on my feed, reminding me of times when air travel didn’t involve a constant violation of nasal passages and masks were a figurative façade that we put on when dealing with people we didn’t like. In a not-too-distant past, each springtime for me meant a pilgrimage to Basel and Geneva, where the industry’s biggest trade shows were held. An annual 10-day affair that involved a non-stop perusing of new watches, rescheduling of interviews, stories being written at midnight, chugging cheap wine and making feasts of supermarket dinners, it sucked you in, put you through a wringer, and spat you out at the…

And so, it begins: a fresh new year brimming with the promise of new watch acquisitions. Kickstarting the proceedings, as has been the case for the past two years, is the LVMH Watch Week that stars Bvlgari, Hublot, TAG Heuer and Zenith. Started in 2020 by the LVMH conglomeration that counts the four brands under its auspices, the LVMH Watch Week is among several standalone watch showcases to spring up in the wake of Baselworld—once the world’s largest annual watch fair. Also a precursor of sorts to Watches & Wonders, the rebranded Geneva-based Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) that has now taken over as THE biggest watch fair in the world, the LVMH Watch Week has been serving up teasers of what to expect from the four brands…

Yes, a certain Tiffany blue Ref. 5711 might have hogged the limelight last year with its astounding $6.5million record on the auction floor. In fact, one could be forgiven for thinking Patek Philippe was all about 5711s, given how it has been teasing us relentlessly with them. But take a step back and recall that image of Patek Philippe president Thierry Stern (and his father before him), intently listening to the chimes of the minute repeater held up to his ear, and you’ll know where this is going. For Patek Philippe—in our eyes (or ears) at least—is the undisputed king of the minute repeater. It comes as no surprise then, that the subject of the Manufacture’s latest ‘Advanced Research’ project would be a minute repeater. Just when we didn’t think…

Fans of the Omega Speedmaster ought to keep your finances in order this year. Not one to let a milestone go unnoticed, not least for one of its most beloved watches ever, Omega will look to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Speedmaster collection with aplomb – and we imagine quite a few limited edition collectibles, starting with this one, the Speedmaster Calibre 321 in Canopus Gold. Introduced as a racing-inspired chronograph in 1957, the Speedmaster started life as the CK 2915 (nicknamed ‘Broad Arrow’ for its hour hand), a shock- and magnetic-resistant sports watch. Although the collection’s sports chronograph-anchored DNA, as well features like its signature hardiness and design such as the tri-compax dial layout and tachymeter scale have defined and accounted for much of its success and longevity,…

Few watchmakers are as celebrated and influential as Abraham-Louis Breguet, a horological genius whose inventions continue to shape modern luxury watchmaking. In 2021, his eponymous brand created a 35-piece limited edition run of artisanal tourbillons, celebrating the 220th anniversary of the epochal complication. Naturally, the gravity-defying mechanism took centrestage. But just as marvellous were the supporting cast of artful hand decorations that accompanied the tourbillon. Among the visual delights that included a variety of engine-turned engravings on the dial and, on the caseback, the elegant inscriptions ‘Anniversaire 1801–2021’ and ‘Brevet No 157 Du 7 Messidor An IX’, is a curious engraving of a line diagram. That turned out to be a faithful hand-engraved reproduction of the original watercolor plate used by Abraham-Louis Breguet when filing his patent application for a…

Evidently, not all sports-inspired world-time watches are created equal. There are too many brands (which we won’t name) that attempt to shoehorn multi-time zone complications in cookie-cutter ‘sports-inspired’ chassis, only to end up with watches that look like the horological equivalent of Frankenstein on a bad day. And then there is Greubel Forsey and its GMT Sport, a watch that boldly declares its two biggest features in its name and manages to surpass expectations. Admittedly, the GMT Sport’s debut in 2019 was neatly paved by its predecessor, the GMT, from 2011. An aesthetically elaborate technical tour de force, the GMT captivates and confounds in equal measure. Housed in a 43.5mm case with usual protrusions to accommodate its myriad displays, the GMT rocked up with – get this – an off-centred…

Commemorative Lunar New Year timepieces are certainly an acquired taste. They make most sense to those who subscribe to the 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle, represented by a different animal for every year – and each with its own cosmic energy that supposedly impacts fortunes for the year. Nonetheless, the Chinese zodiac has proven to be a well of inspiration – not to mention, huge marketing opportunities to the Chinese markets – for luxury watchmaking houses. Each Lunar New Year, these brands unabashedly bat their eyes at moneyed collectors with offerings that depict the year’s zodiac animal in a variety of artisanal expressions. The Year of the Tiger is no different. This time, the celebrated beast is portrayed with a diverse array of decorative techniques, styles and complications that appear at…

For sure, we will never allow ourselves to be caught in a bind trying to nominate the best women’s watches from Rolex. There have been far less arduous undertakings in horology than to arbitrarily proclaim ‘the best’ watch (in any category, to be fair) from the world’s most famous watch brand. But to discern a women’s watch collection that is the most historic and varied in Rolex’s catalogue – facts alone that would lend the watches the requisite gravitas – is far less challenging. This accolade goes to the Oyster Perpetual Lady-Datejust, a collection that began life way back in 1957 and is today among one of the most varied lines in the Oyster Perpetual collection. Dubbed by Rolex as “a classic feminine watch par excellence”, the Lady-Datejust was created…

For many lifelong fans of mechanical watches, a fascination with the automatic movement is usually where it all starts. Prior to that, most would imagine that mechanical watches required some sort of physical manipulation - like winding - to get them to tick. While this is true and undoubtedly romantic, minds are inadvertently blown when they are told that there also exists a class of watches, also made entirely of mechanical parts, that will keep on running as long as you keep wearing them. Batteries not required. For yours truly, it was like finding out that Mariah Carey not only sang, but also wrote All I Want For Christmas Is You. Seriously. How is it possible that two blinding feats of money-making brilliance came from one single entity? And for…

Introduced in 2019, the original UR-100 model was billed as one of Urwerk’s most elegant takes on its satellite display complication, thanks to the watch’s svelte dimensions. At the same time, it was conceptually and technically far-out, described by its creators as a watch that could “measure both time and space”. The UR-100 boasts a carousel system that displays the hours, along with three arrow hands at the bottom of the dial. The three arrow hands rotate and take turns to mark the minutes, the distance travelled around the equator in 20 minutes (earth’s rotation), and the distance earth travels around the sun in 20 minutes (earth’s revolution). A metal arc across the top half of the watch bears markings on the left and right to denote rotation and revolution…

They say good things come in small packages and we couldn’t agree more. Especially when it comes to Bvlgari’s Piccolissimo, a new micro movement hidden in a gorgeous secret watch, the Serpenti Misteriosi. No stranger to miniaturisation—after all, the Maison is the proud creator of the award-winning Octo Finissimo watches—Bvlgari scales back the new calibre BVL100 in a very different way indeed, taking inspiration from the diminutive mechanical motors that used to drive women’s watches up till the early 1970s. It’s A Small World Weighing in at just 1.30g, the BVL100 lives up to its Piccolissimo (‘very small’ in Italian) name with a 12.30mm diameter and 2.50mm thickness. Measuring just 5mm in diameter, the barrel holds a mainspring that’s 170mm long and offers a 30-hour power reserve. Taking two and…

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:…