Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 2 2023 i CROWN

Summer is always an exciting time for watchmaking, but there’s really a lot to unpack this year. The Watches and Wonders Geneva fair took place at the end of March with an expanded number of brands and plenty more attendees. And it’s clear that almost all watchmakers are adopting a formula that works for fashion: if you create something audacious that younger audiences will love, the rest will follow. This is a generalisation that doesn’t apply to everyone, but for the majority, it certainly does. Combining contemporary design with vintage elements seems to be what brands are aiming for today, and it’s clearly working well. The pop colour trend has really taken off, and while that is undoubtedly fresh and modern, it also reflects the Neo-Pop art movement that reached…

Over the last few years, we’ve been refining and making improvements to our automatic three-hand calibre, our chronograph, and our quartz movements. The aim is to build strong foundations for our movements, to elevate their quality and performance. Today, we have a five-year warranty for our movements, but we want to offer 10 years of reliable performance without needing servicing, which is great value for our customers. And in terms of performance, we’re aiming for at least COSC-level precision for our automatic movements. Embarking on this strategy last year, we introduced two new movements. The first is the automatic, COSC-certified TH30-00 movement which we developed with Kenissi and offers a five-year warranty. The second is the solar-powered TH50-00 movement. By switching from a battery-powered quartz to a solar-powered design, we’re…

It takes time, energy, and good people with good ideas to succeed. There’s a very entrepreneurial spirit within Zenith that’s been cultivated over the years. I leave a lot of room for creativity and innovation from my teams. They constantly bring new ideas and initiatives to me all the time because we are fed by this dynamism. If you don’t have that, it doesn’t work. But to nurture that, you have to create room for it. You need to listen to people and look at what young people are curious about and interested in. That’s the kind of atmosphere we put in place at Zenith that gives us this positive energy. We’re the fastest-growing brand within the LVMH Watch Division, and it’s because of the balance that we’ve found between…

In 1960, the finest and most experienced watchmakers in Japan were gathered together in Suwa, a little town within the prefecture of Nagano well known for its salt. They were tasked with one challenge: to set a new horological standard for Japanese watchmaking that would encompass technological innovation and refined aesthetics in design and manufacturing. These watchmakers sought to exceed the performance of renowned Swiss watch brands. This was the birth of Grand Seiko. In the next few years, Grand Seiko would refine its watchmaking with a new set of design aesthetics as well as high-performance calibres, including the first Hi-Beat movements from Japan. Over the next decade, Grand Seiko would introduce the Self-Dater, the 44GS, and 45GS, which defined the brand’s success during this period. The 44GS remains the…

Asia has always been important to Franck Muller. It’s one of the reasons it introduced a smaller-cased Grand Central Tourbillon watch last year. At 52.65mm long, the Curvex CX 36 case is a much better fit on leaner wrists. The Curvex CX is a modern take on the Cintrée Curvex, with a sapphire crystal cover that extends all the way to the case lugs, creating a seamless edge-to-edge look. Coupled with high-tech watchmaking materials such as titanium or carbon, the Curvex CX 36 is a futuristic and modern expression of Franck Muller’s avant-garde design ethos. Naturally, with such a handsome case, Franck Muller is eager to place its favourite complication – the tourbillon – at the centre of the dial. The curved Curvex CX case naturally elevates the tourbillon, giving…

The artist known as Black Badger, James Thompson, first encountered Hautlence in a discussion for a collaborative timepiece with another partner. That project ultimately fell through, but brand manager Samuel Hoffmann saw an opportunity to work with Thompson on another project. The result is the Vagabonde X Black Badger, a 28-piece limited edition with a creative dial design characteristic of the artist. Thompson uses luminous elements in his work, exploring visual designs, colour, and more. He’s often referred to as the ‘Master of Glow’ thanks to the trademarked Badgerite luminescent composite that he uses in his creations. This material is what makes the Vagabonde X Black Badger come alive. Thompson explains, “When Samuel, Hautlence Brand Manager, showed me this model, I was struck by the empty space around the time…

Montblanc’s CEO Laurent Lecamp, a fan of extreme adventures and mountaineering, is incredibly delighted that collectors have nicknamed the Iced Sea the ‘Iced Tea’. The year-old range of diving watches has brought new energy to the brand. Its association with mountaineering has deepened this year with different product associations emerging. That consistency in design creates an interesting product journey for consumers. The Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date The Iced Sea has a striking dial that stands out. It’s meant to represent the look of cracked glacier ice, with a roughed-up, uneven texture as if it’s been scratched or stomped on. The gratté-boisé technique used a piece of wood to ‘scrape’ the surface and was released previously in black, blue, and deep green. This year, two new versions have been…

Since Panerai’s manufacture was established in 2014, it’s built up an impressive array of complications. This year, a new one is the star of Panerai’s timekeepers: the annual calendar. The annual calendar is a simpler version of the perpetual calendar. In an annual calendar, the watch has to be adjusted at the end of each February to bring the date forward to 1st March. It’s a small inconvenience for one of the most useful complications in watchmaking today. The annual calendar complication comes in a Radiomir case, which is Panerai’s earliest watch design prototyped in 1935 featuring the brand’s iconic sandwich dial. It still features the wire lugs used by watchmakers in the past to adapt pocket watches to the wrist, although they are now integrated into the watch’s case…

When I joined Montblanc, I took some time to consider what the roots of the brand were and where it should be. So I went hiking at the Mont Blanc massif and sat there for a while, staring into the depths of the Mer de Glace and feeling this incredible connection. So I took some photos and shared them with our dial makers. I told them we had to do something with this for our dials. We spent months on this until we finally created a dial that we felt brought that connection with the Mont Blanc massif alive on the watch. The fact that watch collectors, casual consumers, luxury journalists, and industry leaders have resonated with the watch is proof positive we are on the right track. To me,…

This year, Vacheron Constantin has focused a lot on rejuvenating the classics. We wanted to create different offerings for our customers both in terms of complications and segments. That’s why we looked at the iconic retrograde display. If we go back to the creation of the retrograde function, which dates back to the early ’20s, watchmakers at the time were thinking about how they could reinvent the date display. The retrograde date is a design-driven innovation that makes it very legible and also very technical. We have added a date module to the base calibre, making it more complex to develop and ensure its reliability. It’s both a technical feat and an opportunity to exercise our creativity with this signature, to build different variations of the retrograde display with multi-layered…

Cartier unveiled an incredible range of timepieces this year, with 87 references ranging from jewellery to artistic models, including refinements of existing collections and revivals of historic watches. It has something for every watch collector and lover, with some definite hits. Here are our favourites. The Tank Normale The Cartier Privé collection is the holy grail of the brand’s watch collection. Offering up special and rare editions of its most coveted historical pieces, the latest is the Tank Normale, the original timepiece that became the defining rectangular watch of the industry. The Tank was created in 1917, inspired by the look of the Renault tanks Louis Cartier saw on the Western Front in WWI. The vertical branchards of the watch, which integrate the lugs of the watch, are its defining…

In 2015, Ferdinand Berthoud introduced its very first watch, the Chronomètre FB 1, featuring Calibre FB-T.FC, a fuséeand-chain tourbillon movement with a pillar-style construction. The critically acclaimed chronometer-certified watch was housed in a striking octagonal case and won the “Aiguille d’Or” or Golden Needle prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. Calibre FB-T.FC has appeared in numerous iterations of Ferdinand Berthoud’s collection, and now, the watchmaker is concluding production of the movement by debuting it in the Chronomètre FB 2’s round case. The Chronomètre FB 2T Final Edition is limited to just 38 pieces. The Chronomètre FB 2T has a fusée-and-chain constant force device ensuring power delivery to the tourbillon is consistent throughout the entire 53 hours of power reserve the barrel holds. Typically, as the barrel spring winds…

Two years ago, Hermès unveiled the H08. Developed by the creative director of Hermès Horloger, Philippe Delhotal, it was a fine example of modern industrial design with its black-and-chrome aesthetic. The original model had a graphene composite and ceramic case, with applied indexes in a font type inspired by the brand’s ancre-style links. The H08 has a cushion-shaped case with integrated lugs that curve subtly into the edges, with a gently rounded caseback and cushion-shaped bezel design that appears to merge seamlessly with the dial. On the dial, a central display features the brand’s logo and minute track, encircled by a ring that marks the hours. The case middle of the watch has a brushed finishing, and the bezel features sunburst satin-brushing to create a modern and sophisticated look. The…

Laurent Ferrier has always been about creating watches that are timeless in style, driven by functional watchmaking. Evergreen is the word of the year for the watchmaker, with two versions of the Micro-Rotor introduced at Watches and Wonders Geneva. The two models feature dials in sage green, a colour that has become increasingly popular across a number of industries, from interior design to fashion. The cool green hue has a calming presence that’s closely associated with renewal and nature. The Classic Micro-Rotor Evergreen has a 40mm round case with soft, rounded lines and a bezel that matches the case. With slim lugs and a knurled crown inspired by the designs of pocket watches, the gentle curves of this watch remind one of a smooth and polished pebble or a well-crafted…

The Aqua Terra is Omega’s third largest collection, with 215 references from quartz models to fully gem-set pieces. Now it’s getting three more members featuring the brand’s Worldtimer movement. The Aqua Terra Worldtimer was first introduced in 2019 in stainless steel with a stunning blue dial. Now, as revenge travel picks up, the brand is expanding the collection with three new models – two in steel and one in titanium. The New Aqua Terra Worldtimer in Steel The dial is similar to the original model: ablated with a laser on a curved grade 5 titanium plate is a view of the Earth from above the North Pole, with the continents cut out. Around it is a 24-hour ring connected to the city ring on the dial’s periphery. Notably, Omega uses…

Patek Philippe has been busy in the last couple of years, contemporising key aspects of its watches for today’s collectors. The year’s releases include incredible gem-set models for high jewellery lovers, new ladies’ watch designs, and a Calatrava that embraces pop colours. There’s something for everyone in this year’s releases; if nothing else, none is stuffy. Here are our favourites. The Ref. 5261R-001 Aquanaut Luce Annual Calendar The Aquanaut Luce was created in 2004 as a feminine interpretation of the Aquanaut. In recent years it’s been enriched with new complications, such as a dual time zone and a chronograph. This year, Patek Philippe is adding an annual calendar model to the collection. Though officially billed as a ladies’ timepiece, the Ref. 5261R-001 is a watch that men would clamour to…

1969 was a big year for watchmaking. We saw the first automatic chronograph, the first waterproof square watch, the first watch on the Moon, and from Tissot, the world’s first fibreglass watch case in the yachting-inspired Sideral collection. The Sideral was a lightweight and robust watch with an innovative strap-fastening solution. Fibreglass is a heat-resistant, lightweight, and highly durable material that can be easily coloured. It’s used in aeronautics, sailboats, and Tissot watches. The Sideral had accents of red and green on a black-and-grey dial, paired with a yellow fibreglass case. This June, the brand re-introduces the stylish watch with modern materials in three variants, integrating the colourful look of the original watch with a contemporary design. Now in Forged Carbon The new Sideral S is housed in a tonneau-shaped…

Ulysee Nardin presented a single watch model at Watches and Wonders Geneva this year, but it is a watch with a heritage and legacy that cannot be overstated. The Freak continues to fascinate collectors today with a new update this year. Like its predecessors, the new Freak One has no conventional watch hands, and the orbital flying carrousel movement rests on a single bridge above the dial, showcasing the Dual Direct Escapement and exposed gears. The movement bridge doubles as the minutes hand, making a complete revolution in 60 minutes. The hours, on the other hand, are indicated by a disc below the bridge, rotating around the dial in 12 hours. The crownless watch has a massive mainspring that can be wound via the caseback, while the time adjustment is…

Zenith’s Pilot collection is its pride and joy. It’s the only brand with that trademarked name and has celebrated milestones with pilots using its watches. Now it’s redesigned the case of the Pilot, drawing inspiration from dashboard instruments. The new Pilot case has a flat-top bezel that’s chamfered and slightly smaller than the round case middle. The case tapers into the lugs with angled corners that give it a modern, refined style. The brand has retained the oversized crown for easy operation. The dials of the watch now bear horizontal grooves inspired by the fuselage of older aircraft. The oversized Arabic numerals have been given a modern font and are now applied as metal markers filled with Super-LumiNova. The hour marker at 6 o’clock is a horizontal line that recalls…

When it comes to sustainability, other industries have had disruptions and shake-ups. You see that in electric automobiles, and we’re talking about hydrogen-powered planes in the next two years. Industries are becoming more environmentally conscious. The watch industry is small compared with Samsung or construction or automobiles. But we do have a part to play; it takes everyone to save the world. Before we began our partnership with Razer, I had been informed that [Tan] Min Liang [CEO of Razer] was a big fan of Panerai. He was already a collector, and that opened the door to a conversation about how we could collaborate. The common denominator turned out to be marine conservation. This cross-collaboration has brought more young people into our boutiques and introduced people who may never have…

We began work on a re-creation of Gérald Genta’s Ingenieur model right after we launched the existing collection in 2017, and we realised that the line is so important to us because of what it represents in terms of engineering and pure design. The Ingenieur collection has been in continuous production since 1955, and if we wanted to do another re-launch, it was crucial that we get it right. So we took the time to develop this collection, and six years later, we finally felt it was ready. We knew that we didn’t want to copy what Gérald Genta created back in 1976 but to take his design vision forward into the 21st century. Therefore, we also improved on a couple of details, and in the last five years, we…

Since its creation in 1973, Baume & Mercier’s Riviera collection has undergone numerous design evolutions, most recently in 2021. In fact, the fifth and latest version of the Riviera is adapted from the original design of the watch. The dodecagonal bezel is chamfered and has integrated, tapered lugs that follow the bezel’s angles with rounded edges. A New Size The Riviera comes in 33mm, 36mm, and 42mm sizes for the time-and-date models, with numerous dial variations from sunburst dials to wave motifs and smoky sapphire crystal with the same wave motif. For the collection’s jubilee, it’s also introduced a new gender-neutral 39mm size in three executions. The 39mm Riviera watches are equipped with Baume & Mercier’s in-house Baumatic movement. The BM13-1975A calibre is a COSC-certified movement with a 120-hour power…

While Bulgari did not participate in this year’s Watches and Wonders fair, it set up a showroom at the President Wilson Hotel called So-Octo. And a day before the fair opened, it took the opportunity to introduce a refreshed design for the Octo Roma. The Octo is an iconic collection in Bulgari today. With its 110-faceted, angled, and chamfered octagonal case, it occupies a unique segment in the market with Bulgari’s highly technical ultra-thin movements. Octo Roma was introduced in 2017, just six years ago. Think of it as an Octo with a super clean, simplified design. Gone is the additional octagonal bezel insert that sits between the round bezel and the octagonal case middle. That makes the number of facets on the case an easy 58. The octagonal case…

Last year, Chopard pushed the boundaries with the Full Strike Tourbillon and a flying tourbillon model for the Alpine Eagle. This year, it presents a bounty of riches demonstrating its prowess in jewellery and watchmaking, including a trimmed-down Alpine Eagle, a boutique-exclusive Imperiale, and a new size for the Happy Sport. The Alpine Eagle 41 XPS At last, Chopard has crafted the Alpine Eagle we’ve all been waiting for: an ultra-thin model that rivals the industry’s favourite integrated bracelet models. The Alpine Eagle 41 XPS comes in a Lucent steel case and is sized at 41mm with a 6.65mm thickness. Not too thin, not too thick, but just right. Lucent steel is a proprietary re-smelted steel alloy composed of 80 per cent recycled steel and is harder and anti-allergenic, ideal…

The Shinshu Watch Studio in Nagano is where Grand Seiko crafts its finest watches. This is where the Micro Artist Studio resides, where a small group of in-house artisans create some of Grand Seiko’s finest Masterpieces for this year. The Masterpiece Collection Limited Edition SBGZ009 The SBGZ009 is a true masterpiece, housed in platinum and fully engraved by hand from the lugs to the dial. The design is inspired by birch trees from a forest in East Shinshu. The watch is first polished using the brand’s Zaratsu method. After which, it is slowly and steadily hand-engraved with long grooves by a single artist. A similar pattern is found on the dial with the minute track and letters carved directly into its surface, and polished white gold indexes are applied on…

Hublot’s Watches and Wonders Geneva showing is an impressive ode to watchmaking. The brand introduced a variety of new models, from time-only Big Bang Integrated timepieces in gold to a Spirit of Big Bang model in yellow sapphire crystal. The star of the brand’s releases was the MP-13 Tourbillon Bi-Axis Retrograde, with an in-house movement developed by the Manufacture. The bi-axis tourbillon was first introduced in Hublot’s MP-09 watch in 2017, with a one-minute rotation on one axis and a 30-second axis on the second. Rotating across two axes, the flying tourbillon spins elegantly and can be viewed fully across the curved sapphire glass across the bottom of the watch. Two retrograde displays over the hours and minutes are presented across the rest of the dial, with the skeleton movement…

The Reverso holds a unique place in watchmaking as the only dual-faced timekeeper icon in the industry. Plenty of other brands have created dual-faced watches, some with truly incredible movements behind them. But the Reverso is definitive across the board, from its simplest models to its most complex. That’s why this year, Jaeger-LeCoultre is all about the Reverso. The Reverso Tribute Small Seconds The Reverso Tribute Small Seconds is one of the brand’s simplest watch models. It is also the most faithful to the collection’s polo watch origin. In its early days, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced several Reverso models with boldly coloured dials that highlight the beautiful case with Golden Ratio proportions. Four new dials have been added to the Reverso Tribute Small Seconds line, housed in a pink gold case. The…

In the last couple of years, Piaget has focused on bringing the two cores of its Maison – jewellery and watchmaking – into one seamless whole. This year, the watchmaker is continuing on its course with inspiration from some of the most striking watches it created in the 1960s and 1980s. The Extraleganza collection (a portmanteau of ‘extra’ and ‘elegant’) includes necklace and cuff watches and a limited edition series of the Polo Perpetual Calendar with a silver obsidian dial. The sold-out 12-piece limited edition features a polished white gold case with a silver obsidian stone dial and deep blue sapphires set in the bezel of the watch, with dark-coloured claws that bring out the beauty of the stones and the dials. In addition, there are more jewellery watches from…

It’s practically a no-brainer that we’ll see some fresh Black Bay releases at Watches and Wonders. And Tudor clearly thinks there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing, covering all its bases with new updates and variants of the beloved tool watch. Looking at the iconic status of the emblematic diving watch today, it’s hard to imagine that it was launched barely 11 years ago. There perhaps isn’t a better time to be a Black Bay purist than now, as the third iteration of the OG has just been unveiled with tweaks that are sure to delight serious watch collectors. Most notably, it now joins the ranks of its Black Bay Ceramic brethren as a Master Chronometer, certified by METAS. Its self-winding manufacture Calibre MT5602-U is accurate…

Van Cleef & Arpels has always kept its watchmaking highly selective, carefully applying its expertise in gem-setting and artisanal crafts such as enamelling to its Poetic Complications that tell a story with timekeeping. Watches like the Pont des Amoureux (Lovers on a Bridge) combine automaton-style designs with retrograde displays to tell the time. This year, the watchmaker highlights the discretion offered in its timepieces with a range of secret watches integrated into iconic jewellery designs. Two of its novelties are housed in a signature of the brand: the Ludo bracelet. Named for Louis Arpel, whose nickname was Ludo, the bracelet is styled like a belt and is beloved for its design. The Ludo Secret is in rose gold and features a brick-pattern link bracelet and two fan-shaped plates set with…

Better known for its iconic steamer trunks and monogram handbags, Louis Vuitton has also been putting out some rather impressive timepieces of late that frankly deserve more of our adulation. The Maison’s haute horlogerie ambitions arguably started with the debut of the Tambour in 2002 and are bolstered by the acquisition of La Fabrique du Temps, a high watchmaking workshop, in 2011. Since then, its high watchmaking offering has been enriched by stupendous examples such as the GPHG-winning Tambour Carpe Diem, Voyager Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon, and the Tambour Curve Flying Tourbillon Poinçon de Genève. If you’re a fan of the latter, which boasts a futuristic, technical aesthetic, Louis Vuitton’s latest – the Voyager Skeleton – should be right up your alley. Open Exploration Featuring an open-worked dial with clean…

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:…