Monthly Archives: December 2016

bvlgari divas dream tourbillon squelette closeup

BVLGARI – DIVAS’ DREAM TOURBILLON SKELETON

Bulgari

IN A DIVA’S GARDEN  

The Roman jeweller and watchmaker invites you to take a stroll in a luxuriant, colourful garden through these two precious, limited-edition watches – only 50 of each have been made

Bvlgari’s new creations show a real miniature Garden of Eden, inspired by both Roman and Asiatic cultures. They showcase three supreme talents above all: that of watchmaker, jeweller and artist. In fact, the two Divas’ Dream Tourbillon Skeleton pieces, as much like jewels as they are like watches, are an ode to creativity and to a craftsman’s skill. The fan-shape of the lugs on the 37mm-diameter case combines with the flamboyant colours of the painting and enamel present on the dial, all illuminated by the resplendent blaze of the diamonds, to give life to the imaginary flora and fauna.

bvlgari divas dream tourbillon squelette closeup

These two Divas’ Dream Tourbillon Skeleton watches are run by the BVL208 calibre, a self-winding mechanical movement made in Bvlgari’s Swiss workshops. Apart from the “usual” time-keeping functions and a big power reserve (64 hours), it includes a tourbillon that seems to dance in mid-air. This total transparency is achieved by the meticulous, hand-produced openwork that allows the movement to be seen.

The dial has also been finely openworked, chased and sculpted to allow light to pass through and to form the colours of a rich foliage on which a parrot perches with sparkling plumage, portrayed in enamel and painting in miniature: the hooked beak of a red cockatoo, with a yellow breast and crest, on a mosaic of pink flowers, for the white gold model, or the Amazonian Macaw with bluish plumage interspersed with orangey feathers, surrounded by mauve flowers, for the rose gold version. The metal forming the birds, foliage and flowers has been previously hollowed out to make indentations that are then filled with colour. Some petals are set with diamonds, echoing the brilliant stones that line the bezel and the tapered lugs of the case, making a total of 1.96 carats.

Price upon request

By Sharmila Bertin

piaget altiplano 60th anniversary draw

PIAGET – ALTIPLANO 60TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION

Piaget

60 YEARS OF FINESSE

The brand specialised in ultra-flat watches is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its elegant Altiplano with two limited editions dressed in white gold and deep blue to enrich the collection of the same name.

Even if this watch, which is designed around the movement (and not the other way round, as is the case for most of today’s watchmakers), only acquired the name Altiplano in 1998, the legend created by Piaget first saw the light of day in 1957. Because it was in 1957 that Valentin Piaget – the grandson of the man who founded the watch-movement workshop in 1874 in Côte-aux-Fées (a town in Val-de-Travers, on the heights of the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel), and where watches were made from 1911 – introduced a legendary calibre: the 9P. With its extreme fineness – only 2mm thick – this manual-winding mechanical mechanism is no less efficient, reliable and precise. A second extra-flat calibre, an automatic one this time, was produced three years later. Today, 60 years after the birth of the 9P, the brand is celebrating this important anniversary by releasing two fine and classy pieces that are as comfortable to wear, as classical and as elegant as only Piaget watches can be.

piaget altiplano 60th anniversary draw

montblanc 1858 collection chrono tachymeter closeup

MONTBLANC – 1858 CHRONOGRAPH TACHYMETER LIMITED EDITION

Montblanc

BRONZE AND CHAMPAGNE: A SPARKLING MARRIAGE

With this limited edition, the Hamburg-based company pays a triple homage: to its 110th anniversary, the 158th anniversary of Minerva and the military watches of the 1930s.

The history of the Minerva workshop is without doubt one of the finest stories in contemporary watchmaking. Founded in 1858 in Villeret in Bernese Jura, the workshop, specialised in timekeeping, was only renamed Minerva in 1929, before becoming part of the Richemont group in 2006 and being allocated to Montblanc in 2007. The brand with the white star, which began to make watches in 1997, was inspired by Minerva’s famous 19/9CH calibre with the monopusher chronograph feature, created in the 1920s, and by the design of the military watches made at the Villeret plant in the 1930s, to produce the 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter Limited Edition model. And to highlight the vintage spirit of this special timepiece, available in 100 pieces, Montblanc has adorned it with bronze armour.

montblanc 1858 collection chrono tachymeter closeup

In fact, for the first time in the Hamburg firm’s history, bronze – an alloy of copper (60 to 90%), pewter and other metals (aluminium, lead, etc.) – with its golden-brown reflections has made its appearance to dress the 44mm-diameter case. Resulting from a special alloy, its patina has been developed, controlled and unified over time. To limit the risk of skin allergies, the case back of the 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter Limited Edition is sealed with a bronze-tinted titanium ring to reveal the sublime works powering the watch. The manual wind MB M.1629 calibre drives the hour and chronograph functions while providing 50 hours of power reserve.

Another detail giving this watch a retro look is the dial. With a champagne colour, golden tints and a sunbeam finish, it hosts at its centre two large copper cathedral-type hands coated in sand-coloured Super-LumiNova®. The hours and minutes are embodied in beige, luminescent Arabic figures, while a precise minute track is traced in black. A “chemin de fer” tachymeter scale is placed towards the chapter ring. Two counters, at 9 and 3 o’clock, show the second and minute timers respectively, while in the centre the seconds are shown with a red-tipped second hand.

The 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter Limited Edition comes with a hazelnut-coloured alligator strap with ecru white stitching, designed in the Florentine leather workshops of Montblanc.

Price: 27,500 EUR

By Sharmila Bertin

graham chronofighter denim group

GRAHAM – CHRONOFIGHTER DENIM

Graham

JEANS AS A SECOND SKIN

Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the Chronofighter model has adopted a youthful and original design. A look at a furiously trendy teenage watch.

The particularity of teenagers is not to do anything like the others. On the contrary, they tend to choose anti-conformity or even provocation and rebellion, in spirit and appearance. This is somewhat the case of the Chronofighter model, first created in 2001, and whose creators, the Graham brand, are celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2016. This is a watch that impresses with its size, accentuated by its famous trigger, its face that leaves the workings visible without revealing them completely, and a thick, natural canvas strap that perfectly matches the spirit of the age.

graham chronofighter denim group

A trio of colours are on offer in this special collection of Chronofighter Denim chronographs with matching strap materials: dark grey, military khaki and jean blue, a little like in a jeans shop. Originally, denim was an ecru-coloured and sturdy cotton material with closely woven fibre, which was dyed indigo blue. After being worn by miners, workers and farmers, mainly in the 19th century, it is now mainly used to make jeans. This cross-generation garment, a symbol of rebellious youth in the 1950s, and of the Hippie movement in the 1970s, jeans are, above all, a watchword for comfort and freedom, particularly for the young, when they have yet to succumb to the traditional and dull suit/shirt/tie. Whether stone washed or double-dyed, slim or bootcut, this is a vital item of clothing in any wardrobe. And there is just one step from the closet to clothing for the wrist, a step that Graham has taken with this series of three models.

The steel case measures 47mm in diameter and is waterproof down to 100m. It is topped with a black ceramic bezel and, most notably of all, features a structure called a carbon trigger at 9 o’clock on the case and a pusher covered in grip rubber pattern at 10 o’clock. The trigger is used to set, stop and reset the Chronofighter Denim chronograph function. With the time and date functions, the watch is powered by the manual wind G1747 calibre, with a power reserve of 48 hours.

The dial features a sapphire-coloured, slightly opaque glass on the watch face. The hour rim is made up of large, white luminous Arabic figures encircled by a telemeter scale. Hours and minutes are shown by two wide hands of the “pilot” type, while the seconds are set apart in a counter at 3 o’clock. The date is discrete, appearing in a recessed window at 8.30. As for the chronograph function, the seconds run at the centre and the minutes run in a counter at 6 o’clock. All the indicators are white, except in the grey version of the Chronofighter Denim, where electric yellow is added.

Price: 5,900 CHF

By Sharmila Bertin

jaeger lecoultre rendez vous sonatina large

JAEGER-LECOULTRE – RENDEZ-VOUS SONATINA LARGE

Jaeger Lecoultre

THE CHANT OF A STAR

In a world saturated with electronic alarms, the poetic watch-maker from the Vallée de Joux has invented a totally mechanical and romantic way to alert you to an appointment.

Make no mistake: all of us are, to varying degrees, the slaves of our smartphones, those almost diabolical objects grafted to our hands and ears that we check hundreds of times a day and that beep away from morning to night. A whole range of sounds for all our different notifications, depending on the number of applications we have installed on the telephone. The result? A flood of alarms, generally with a strident tone, which are not only more and more irritating, but also make us forget the important thing – to alert us to the fact we have an appointment or a message. Jaeger-LeCoultre has taken a stand against this cacophonic trend with the Rendez-Vous Sonatina Large. This watch also has a notification system, but one that is unique, mechanical and poetic.

jaeger lecoultre rendez vous sonatina large

Using the crown placed at 2 o’clock on the case, the golden star near the chapter ring can be moved to the chosen time. When the time for the appointment arrives, a chime made by a single hammer gently alerts the wearer. The reminder, as well as the hours and day/night indicator, are provided by the JLC 735 calibre. The manual-wind movement made by Jaeger-LeCoultre, with a 40-hour power reserve, is housed in a case with a 38.2mm diameter.

On the silvery opal dial, the sunray-brushed guilloché pattern forms an irregular pleated motif like a paper sunshade. A first disc featuring tiny markings and highlighted with gilded dots contains a trio of blued hands    at its centre – two “broadswords“ for the hours and minutes, and a second hand; on the part below, an eye-shaped opening from 7 to 5 o’clock contains the day/night indicator. The hour rim features large, black Arabic numbers set along a ring decorated with varyingly wavy lines.

The Rendez-Vous Sonatina Large comes in two different versions. The first has a silver dial and pink gold case topped with a jewelled bezel; the second has a blue-violet crystal and guilloché pattern on the face, along with a white gold case, while the bezel, lugs and case are set with diamonds.

Price on request.

By Sharmila Bertin

corum lady golden bridge round collection

CORUM – LADY GOLDEN BRIDGE ROUND

Corum

DIAMONDS AND GEOMETRY

Corum, the company based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, offers a new, precious setting to showcase their famous baguette movement

As long as the Golden Bridge watch has existed, you might be so bold as to say that it has essentially concentrated on unconventional, barrel-shaped cases, whose curved rectangular shape contrasted with the linear nature of their movements. This year, Corum has decided to give the watch a new case, more conformist and traditional, without becoming banal, even so – a bubble of gold through which the famous calibre appears in all its splendour, rimmed with a double row of diamonds: Lady Golden Bridge Round.

Six models set with precious stones make up this new family of watches – three in rose gold and three in white gold, including a “Rainbow” version topped with a bezel set with coloured stones. This version presents a sparkling rainbow of translucid pastel colours, made up of sapphires (blue, pink, yellow and cognac), soft green tsavorite garnets and sky-blue aquamarines. Apart from the bezel on the Rainbow model, all the 39mm cases are covered in brilliant-cut white diamonds, on the bezel and the lugs.

corum lady golden bridge round collection

The absence of a dial and the transparency of the Lady Golden Bridge Round’s sapphire-crystal back allow an unobstructed view of the horizontal CO113 calibre, manufactured by Corum. This mechanical, manual wind movement, engraved with scrolls that partially hide the golden inner workings, gives the display of the hours and minutes its rhythm, while providing a 40-hour power reserve.

The dial of the Lady Golden Bridge Round is surrounded by a band of diamonds all along the chapter ring, while the two slightly curved bridges surrounding the baguette calibre are also set with precious stones. Two semi-circles designed in translucid, coloured resin (emerald, azure, navy, pastel pink or red), pleated like fans, extend from the 10 o’clock to the 2 o’clock positions, and from the 4 o’clock to the 8 o’clock positions. Cut-outs form the silhouette of the hour markers and the Roman numerals 6 and 12, swept by a pair of baton-shaped silver or golden hands.

Price: 49,200 CHF (rose gold) – 54,700 CHF (white gold) – 55,700 CHF (Rainbow)

By Sharmila Bertin

oris divers sixty-five group

ORIS – DIVERS SIXTY-FIVE

Oris

NEWLY-STYLED DIVE WATCH  

The reissuing of a 1965 piece presented in 2015 continues to expand, and is becoming a collection of Oris watches in its own right

Just as fashion often moves in cycles, so watch-making likes to go back in time and take up old models from their archives to make them into what they call vintage. Vintage has already been talked about for several years, and what with real vintage, vintage inspiration, neo-vintage, retro-vintage, old-school vintage, and so on, it all gets a bit confusing… In 2015, Oris reissued their first dive watch that originally dated from 1965, but it was not a case of making a “fake antique”, but rather retaining the essential from the original style while giving the model a contemporary motor. In view of the successful Divers Sixty-Five presented last year, the company decided to make a collection of them, which currently includes dials in six different colours: black and yellow, blue and yellow, navy blue, British racing green and – new this Autumn – silver grey.

oris divers sixty-five groupThe diameter of the steel case has been adapted to present-day tastes and now measures 42mm. Its waterproofing remains the same, and the Divers Sixty-Five can withstand being immersed in water up to 100m deep. In addition, the screwdown case back is solid, and decorated with the 1965 version of the Oris crest, which is slightly different from the current logo. Like its predecessor, the Divers Sixty-Five is topped with a rotating bezel with a black aluminium ring on which the minute scale is inscribed, with silver numerals and markers and a luminescent indicator in the form of a yellow pea.

On the domed, silver dial with its sunray finishing, the minute track extends unobtrusively towards the chapter ring. The hour rim is composed of vanilla-yellow markers – different, geometric shapes – while the Oris shield appears in the 12 o’clock position. In the centre, two baton-shaped hands in nickel coated with Super-LumiNova® display the hours and minutes, while a seconds hand marked with a yellow pea shows the seconds. The date appears in a trapezoid-shaped display, rimmed with black, in the 3 o’clock position.

The different functions of this Divers Sixty-Five are powered by a self-winding movement, the Oris 733 calibre, mounted on a Sellita SW200-1 base, which gives a 38-hour power reserve.

Three straps are available with this new version of the Divers Sixty-Five with a silver dial: old Havana-brown leather to complete the vintage look of the watch, black rubber stamped with a chevron motif to give a sporty look, or a steel bracelet with three rows of links.

Price: 1,900 CHF (with rubber or leather strap) – 2,100 CHF (with steel bracelet)

By Sharmila Bertin