Designed over two and half centuries ago, the Grande Seconde by Jaquet Droz never ceased to evolve, reinvents details and finishes with each variation, to both surprise and astound. Its “Skelet-One” skeleton version, presented in 2018, marked yet another break: it was the first time the Grande Seconde did away with its dial. In its place: light, lightness and transparency. The Grande Seconde saw both its architecture unveiled and its power laid bare. 

Fleurier’s four watchmakers joined forces in 2001 to create the most sophisticated watch certification that has ever existed. Chopard, Parmigiani, Vaucher Manufacture and Bovet set the cat among the pigeons where the Poinçon de Genève and the COSC were concerned, by bringing together chronometric, technical, aesthetic and practical criteria and subjecting them to a hitherto unheard-of level of scrutiny. The Fondation Qualité Fleurier was very busy for a time, but then the number of pieces brought to its attention began to drop, and the Qualité Fleurier stamp was forgotten by many.

Colossal: the watch with rollers

No one had ever succeeded in making a complication to display the time entirely on rollers, like the split-flap departure boards we used to see in airports and railway stations. Many people have tried to translate a similar mechanism into a watch, but the enormous energy consumption involved always resulted in disappointment. 

Appreciated for its round shape and pure lines, the Master Ultra Thin collection welcomes a new model: the Master Ultra Thin Moon Enamel. This new model highlights the arts of guillochage and enameling, two of the Rare Handcrafts (“Métiers Rares®”) which have been kept alive for generations at the Manufacture in the Vallée de Joux. Reinstated at the Manufacture in 1996 and executed completely by hand by a few artisans trained at the Manufacture, enameling is an age-old skill which requires concentration and patience. Furthermore, performing the guillochage work and the application of the translucent blue enamel layer requires meticulous attention.

Throughout his career, Ferdinand Berthoud regularly submitted various memoirs and procedures to the Académie des Sciences. His assiduity testified to his talents and ensured the protection of influential members of this scholarly society. The latter guaranteed him supremacy in the realm of marine chronometry in the mid-1760s, thereby unlocking the gates to success.

Guido Terreni joined Bulgari in 2009 and has overseen the introduction of the Octo, Serpenti and Lvcea lines. As the New Year and its new models approaches, WorldTempus reviewed the past ten years with Bulgari’s timepiece supremo.

Followig the introduction in 2017 of the Toric Chronomètre, a contemporary reworking of the first watch designed by Michel Parmigiani, the brand new unveils a new version featuring a hand-guilloché dial that evokes the spiral pattern of a pine cone. The arrangement of the scales on a pine cone is one of the innumerable examples of the Golden Ratio seen in the natural world. "The decoration is so captivating because it is based on the Golden Ratio", says Michel Parmigiani. "Within it, you see Fibonacci's spirals, reproducing a harmony that is everywhere in nature." 

“I’ve been interested in watches since I turned 18, when I started having a little bit of money to spend. But I had to save up for four years for my first one, which I bought myself when I completed my police training.” As a Swiss, and a diver, Olivier Keller was obviously keen that this first milestone should be marked with a diving watch – one that was automatic, and Swiss. After doing some research, he quickly came to realise that the Omega Seamaster 300 Automatic Professional Diver came the closest to what he was looking for, on his budget. “I fell for it immediately, and not only because I’d seen James Bond wearing one!”

A truly beautiful idea: to celebrate the transparency and light promised by a sapphire case, Hublot organised a retrospective of its "Sapphire" collections as a cruise in Paris. The 360° concept notably featured the transparency of water and the glow of the City of Light, all experienced aboard a boat – representing an entirely apt choice for a brand named Hublot, the French word for porthole.

Since 2005, IWC has been in collaboration with the family of French aviator and author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This partnership has already seen a variety of special editions launched within the Pilot’s Watches collection; some pay tribute to the life and accomplishments of the great humanist himself, while others are dedicated to his most famous literary work "The Little Prince". These timepieces, characterised by their distinctive midnight blue dials, have been a highly regarded addition to the Pilot’s Watch collections since 2013.

Girard-Perregaux has announced the opening of a new boutique in the Changsha IFS luxury mall, centrally located in the city’s prime business area. One of the seven major cities in Mainland, Changsha combines cultural wealth and economic strength in the Hunan Province in Southern China. Girard-Perregaux shares the city’s outlook for having important potential, especially given the presence of such great local demand from Chinese connoisseurs for Swiss high watchmaking timepieces.

The new boutique is laid out over two storeys, covering a total of 128 square metres, where visitors can learn about the handmade A. Lange & Söhne watches and the history of the manufactory. Authentic materials, clear lines and plenty of detail recall the history and values of the company. On the sales floor, angular interlocking spaces open up new perspectives and spatial experiences.

This calendar now coming closer together will be effective as of 2020 onwards and the dates have been synchronised until 2024.

An exceptional year is drawing to a close on one of the most famous streets in the world, New York’s 5th Avenue. That is where, for the final time, Jaquet Droz will be telling its “Story of the Unique”, before preparing to write some more new chapters next year.