Longines presented the press with the programme for the 2018 Longines Paris Eiffel Jumping, which will take place from 5 to 7 July 2018. This competition, the tenth leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour, will bring together the best international riders and horses onto the Champ de Mars, with the emblematic Eiffel Tower in the background. Once again, the Swiss watch brand lends its name to this great five-star show jumping event and provides its timekeeping expertise for all the trials. For this fifth edition, Longines will invite spectators to enjoy a timeless moment riding its Carousel located in the Grand Village, open to the public.

On May 30th, Hublot hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony with world class Dutch athlete Dafne Schippers to officially open its very first Hublot Boutique in the Netherlands. The store is located at the number one luxury shopping destination of Amsterdam, Pieter Cornelis Hooftstraat. Hublot now boasts one of the finest locations in Amsterdam, surrounded by prestigious neighbours in the luxury industry.

Not surprinsingly for a brand that likes to break the mould and has been launching concept watches since its inception, the BR 01 “Skull”, unveiled in 2009, was one of the first to ride the wave of the trend for Skull watches. 

Joyce DiDonato, the internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano and ambassador for peace and humanity, has been honoured with the 15th Glashütte Original MusicFestivalAward. The American opera singer accepted the 25,000 Euro award Monday evening at her concert in the Dresden Kulturpalast, presented by Glashütte Original Managing Director Frank Kittel and Festival Director Jan Vogler. German moderator Annabelle Mandeng presided over the ceremony. Joyce DiDonato gave a brilliant performance, with the Italian Baroque ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro, thrilling the 1,800 guests in the Kulturpalast with her programme “In War & Peace – Harmony Through Music”, which brings together 17th and 18th century works by Georg Friedrich Händel, Niccolò Jommelli, Leonardo Leo, Claudio Monteverdi and Henry Purcell.

It’s Hublot’s first smartwatch. And perhaps its last... With Hublot, you never know what to expect. The only thing we know for sure is that this Big Bang Referee 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia represents something of a detour in the brand’s commitment to football, the famous “Hublot Loves Football” campaign, which has played out in countless stadium appearances all over the world, most conspicuously on the famous official timekeeper and referee boards.

Inspired by the aesthetics of classic automobiles, its elegant curves and design, the Vintage Rally collection expresses a perfect pairing between the automobile and watch world. Perfectly in line with the performance of Austin Healey automobiles, Frederique Constant launches each year limited Vintage Rally timepieces inspired by the Manufacture’s passion for racing. This collaboration celebrates the long-term partnership of fourteen years of the two prestigious brands, where craftsmanship and high-precision are at the heart of their common values.

Mr Henri and Philippe Stern were determined to create a movement that was slender, elegant, robust and reliable. At a time when other manufacturers were producing quartz movements in droves the Stern family decided to keep things a little more traditional (however, Patek did co-develop the Beta 21).

A fitting location was found for the first official presentation of Ferdinand Berthoud in Japan by Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, since the marine chronometer inspired wristwatches were presented at an exhibition space that appeared to be floating on water, just like the ships that carried Ferdinand Berthoud's marine chronometer. The "T-LOTUS M" was designed by renowned architect KengoKuma and floats on the Tennoz Canal in Tokyo. 

Since its launch at Baselworld 2016, the Manero Flyback collection has continued to expand to the tune of at least one new iteration each year – evidence of the Lucerne watchmaker’s desire to offer its male clients a variety of models. On its introduction, the new Manero chronograph was available with either a rose gold or stainless steel case, and a silvered dial. The end of the year saw an original interpretation marrying pink gold with a champagne dial. It was a perfect fit for the “Made of Lucerne” ad campaign, its gilded aesthetic a clear reference to the baroque spirit of the town where the watchmaker was founded in 1888. In 2017, new dials appeared in black and grey-blue, and this spring at Baselworld, another black dial was unveiled, paired with a steel case and a brown leather strap.

TAG Heuer is returning to the Principality once again this year to celebrate the Monaco Grand Prix, for which it has been Official Watch since 2011. On this occasion, TAG Heuer hosted an exclusive soiree on the Seadream yacht moored in the port of Monaco and decked out in the brand's colours.

Longines, which has been involved in equestrian sports since 1878, lends its support to GRANDPRIX Group by becoming the Title Partner and Official Timekeeper of the Longines FEI European Championships for Children, Juniors and Young Riders, taking place from July 8 to 15, 2018, in Fontainebleau, France. This collaboration was made possible through a common desire to highlight the values of sport as well as the promising young riders in each discipline.

One of Hysek’s showpieces, the column-wheel chronograph - created, developed and assembled in-house - has made a strong comeback with a new dial that underscore the strong character of this Furtif. The piece is one of very few Haute Horlogerie automatic chronographs to feature a column wheel, micro-rotor, and “large date” – and be made entirely in-house. This model alone brings together virtually all of the brand’s attributes.

A few months before his departure, the CEO of a cutting-edge Swiss watch company said in an interview that his latest watch was “not much use”. Difficult to believe, but true. The boss of a leading watchmaker denigrated the very essence of his product, in public and on the record. Could you imagine the CEO of Bugatti, Porsche, Riva, Zegna or Loro Piana saying that there wasn’t much point to their products, to their power, their comfort, their accessories? That their status as ultra-luxurious, high-performance items cancelled out their functionality? They would be asked to clear their desks immediately. As it happens, the CEO in question didn’t stay around for long, but it’s unclear whether it was this witless statement that sealed his fate.

Featuring three hands and date, a chronograph or a small seconds, the new Legend pieces are expanding the horizons of the Admiral collection. These models come with a satin, steel or vulcanised rubber bracelet and are available in 32 mm, 38 mm or 42 mm sizes.

Audemars Piguet collaborates each year with a selected curator and emerging or mid-career artist to realise a new artwork that is premiered during one of Art Basel’s three international shows. The aim is to amplify the artist’s unique vision, while using the complexity and precision inherent in watchmaking as the artist’s stimuli. In 2018, Audemars Piguet unveils details of its 4th Art Commission, HALO, which has been conceived and executed by British artist-duo Semiconductor, Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, in collaboration with guest curator Mónica Bello, Spanish curator and head of Arts at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, and will be exhibited during Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland, from 13-17 June 2018.

It was a particularly multi-faceted celebration that occurred on May 25 in the world’s most famous department store, Harrods. As the official Timekeeper of the FIFA World Cup™, Hublot beat the drum counting down 20 days to go before the commencement of the FIFA World Cup Russia™. Not only did the brand unveil its new football installation along the iconic Hans Crescent windows and within the Door 5 atrium, but Hublot CEO, Ricardo Guadalupe, also announced that the Brazilian footballer, David Luiz was joining the Hublot family as a Friend of the Brand.