Monthly Archives: December 2015

ULYSSE NARDIN – Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon

Ulysse Nardin

The Le Locle watchmaker has been steeped in the ocean world since its very foundations as proven by the anchor on its current logo. The brand has been designing marine chronometers since the company was first founded in 1846 by Ulysse Nardin (1823-1876). The limited edition Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon (18 for each shade of gold) beautifully encapsulates the watchmaker’s passion for the big blue. The undulating engine-turned dial is coated in translucent Grand Feu enamel to depict the soft sea swell. Two silver or gold “poire” hands glide over the Breguet-style Arabic hour numerals and minute track on the chapter ring. The waves washing over the blue dial meet around the tourbillon spinning at 6 o’ clock and topped by a power reserve indicator. The powerful manual wind calibre in the 44mm case fuels the 8-day power reserve. Price: 84,000 CHF (rose gold) – 88,000 CHF (white gold). Sharmila Bertin

BREGUET – Classique Phase de Lune Dame 9088

Breguet

There’s a Chinese proverb that says, “The multitude of stars supports the moon.” The stars have been plucked from the sky for the Classique Phase de Lune Dame 9088 and set on its pristine dial by the Vallée de Joux watchmaker. Little stars glitter from the minute track around the Grand Feu enamel dial on Breguet’s brand new piece. The moon shines bright at 6 o’ clock in a display topped by a small seconds. Two openwork and delicately reworked Breguet hands gleam in blue steel in the centre to track the hours and minutes along Breguet-style Arabic numerals. The time functions and moon phase are brought to life by the self-winding 537L calibre which provides a 45-hour power reserve. The movement nestles inside the 30mm white gold bevelled case whose bezel and lugs are paved with 66 brilliant-cut diamonds. Price on request. Sharmila Bertin
breguet.com

ORIS – Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition II

Oris

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system: almost 3000 groups of submarine rocks and 900 islands cover 2600km off the coast of Queensland, Australia. To support the protection of marine flora and fauna, Oris has joined forces with the Australian Marine Conservation Society by designing the Oris Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition II and donating a percentage of its sales to the charity. Its sea blue dial bears a luminescent hour rim and yellow minute track beneath two yellow spear-shape hands and a central seconds hand. Bright yellow also appears on the date display at 6 o’ clock and the day disc in the centre. The 38-hour power reserve, time and date functions are brought to life by the self-winding Oris 735 calibre inside the 46mm steel case topped by a graduated black ceramic bezel. Price: 2,100 CHF. Sharmila Bertin

BAUME MERCIER – Clifton 1830 – 8 jours de réserve de marche

Baume&Mercier

The Baume brothers opened their workshop in the Jura in 1830 before joining forces with Paul Mercier in 1918 to found Baume & Mercier in Geneva. The Clifton collection, famous for its retro   watches based on 1950s archives, was selected to celebrate the brand’s 185th anniversary. What’s it like? The Clifton 1830 model comes in a red gold 45mm case. The manual wind movement brings to life not only the time and date functions but also the power reserve which lasts approximately 192 hours (8 days). The silver white dial bears gold applied Arabic numerals and indices surrounded by a slim minute track with blue markers whose colour also features on the power reserve indicator’s hand between 8 and 9. Two gold spear-shape hour and minute hands burst from the centre whilst the seconds appear in a counter at 6 o’ clock. Price: 16,200 CHF. Sharmila Bertin

A. LANGE SÖHNE – 1815 Tourbillon Handwerkskunst

A.Lange&Sohne

To end the year on a high, German brand A. Lange & Söhne has unveiled a new watchmaking masterpiece to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of its founder, Ferdinand A. Lange (1815-1875). The mechanical marvel in a 39.5mm rose gold case has been named 1815 Tourbillon Handwerkskunst and its manual wind L.102.1 movement fuels a 72-hour power reserve and two patented mechanisms: the zero-reset (1997) and stop-seconds for the tourbillon (2008). The rhodium-plated gold dial has been intricately hand-engraved using the so-called “tremblage” technique which creates a slightly grained surface. The glittering grey dial bears two spear-shape rose gold hands which burst from the centre to track the Arabic hour numerals and gold minute track. The small seconds counter around the tourbillon cage at 6 o’ clock features the same design. Price upon request. Sharmila Bertin

ULYSSE NARDIN – Executive Lady

Ulysse Nardin

The 21st century working girl doesn’t have to choose between technology and glamour. She lives in the here and now, is in tune with the world and is a business woman who hops between planes and juggles different time zones without her style ever slipping. Picture her in a fitted suit, high heels and an Executive Lady on her wrist. Ulysse Nardin has designed a timepiece with a Dual Time system for our globetrotting heroine. The system displays local time in the centre and home time in a display at 9 o’ clock which can be set using the ceramic pushers at 8 and 10 on the case side. Diamond indices and Roman numerals lie on a white, purple or brown mother-of-pearl dial. A diamond small seconds lies at 6 whilst a large date display stands at 2. The functions are brought to life by the self-winding UN-24 calibre inside the 40mm diamond-covered steel case. Price: 20,500 CHF. Sharmila Bertin

ROGER DUBUIS – Blossom Velvet Pink

Roger Dubuis

After focusing on masculine, or rather, very masculine collections, Genevan brand Roger Dubuis has finally turned its attention to ladies! 2016 is set to be an all-woman year with a girl power message fuelled by the Velvet collection and namely the limited edition Blossom Velvet Pink (88 available). Six glittering flowers bloom on the mother-of-pearl dial whose diamond cores are surrounded by pink Grand Feu enamel petals and red and purple leaves. Slim rose gold filaments bring them together to form a delicate floral web. The centre of the dial features a barrel shape paved in 48 diamonds with two gold dauphine-shape hour and minute hands. The self-winding 821 calibre brings the time functions and 48-hour power reserve to life whilst 86 diamonds sparkle on the 36mm rose gold case’s bezel and lugs. Price: 64,800 CHF. Sharmila Bertin

VACHERON CONSTANTIN – Historiques Cornes de vaches 1955

Vacheron Constantin

The name, meaning “cow’s horns”, may raise a smile, but above all it creates a shiver – a shiver of enthusiasm, of excitement and impatience. Because the famous chronograph with the curved horns emblematic of Vacheron Constantin, created in 1955, is a must-have for collectors and fans of vintage watches. The Historiques collection, which celebrates the watch-making heritage of the Geneva-based factory by renovating icons of the past, grows with the Historiques Cornes de vaches 1955. Its 38.50 mm case in 950 platinum houses the hand-wound chronograph calibre 1142 which provides 48 hours of autonomy. On the silver dial, towards the flange, a satin ring features a blue tachymeter scale. The same blue is repeated on the central trotteuse and on the minute totalizer at 3 o’clock. In the centre, two white gold hands show the hours and minutes, while the seconds tick by in a counter at 9 o’clock. Price upon request. Sharmila Bertin

BVLGARI – Lvcea Haute Joaillerie

Bulgari

In the field of luxury, Bvlgari is synonymous with bedazzlement. The Rome-based jeweller founded in 1884 reveals three jewellery watches worthy of a Christmas tale: Lvcea Haute Joaillerie. The diamond, the most precious of all precious stones and symbol of perfection and purity, is exalted. Baguette-cut, in other words a rectangle with nine facets, and set in a closed and invisible setting, it decorates the 23 mm white gold case and also covers the dial, like a radiant sun, and the spectacular bracelet with emblematic architecture. The emerald, the stone of wisdom, and the ruby, which symbolises victory and the passion of love, also intermingle on the case and the bracelet, on two limited editions in three pieces. In the middle of these shimmering faces are two blue sword-shaped hands which display the hours and minutes, paced by a quartz movement. Price upon request. Sharmila Bertin

ZENITH – Academy Georges Favre-Jacot Titanium

Zenith

The Locle manufacture has most definitely been spoiling us this year! This year, as it celebrates its 150th anniversary, its technical ingenuity and its adventurousness knows no limits. And what about precision? Well, Zenith thrives on precision, in particular through its high-frequency El Primero calibre. Its Academy Georges Favre-Jacot Titanium model, limited to 150 pieces (inevitably!), proves once again the brand’s amazing savoir-faire. It houses a hand-wound El Primero 4810 C calibre that incorporates a fusée-and-chain power train connected to the barrel (which can be admired at 10:30 and 1:30 respectively) and is chronometer-certified by the COSC (the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute), all nestling at the heart of a 45 mm diameter, brushed titanium case. The dial is a pure harmony of various greys: brushed metal for the centre where the hour and minute hands spread out, azure slate grey beneath the luminescent, rhodium-plated indexes, and silvery-grey for the graduated flange. The seconds tick by in a counter set at 7:30 and the power reserve is displayed between 3 and 6 o’clock. Price: CHF 69,000. Sharmila Bertin
zenith.com