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.

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.

A Breguet watch involves around thirty artisanal crafts. Among them is one that stands out at first sight: guilloché, which the Maison alternately refers to as engine-turning or hand-engraving on a rose engine It is one of the fundamental codes of the Manufacture, its aesthetic signature. Does that mean purely aesthetic?

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. 

When we think of Jaquet Droz, we don’t necessarily think of sports watches. And yet, the watchmaker from La Chaux-de-Fonds does have a sports watch line, known as SW (Sport Watch), which was inaugurated in 2008 with the Grande Seconde SW. Further versions of the Grande Seconde SW followed, using the same hefty 45 mm case with its powerful lines, assertive protective claws at 3 and 9 o’clock, notched bezel and crown with rubber grip. A Grande Seconde Tourbillon in pink gold was subsequently added to the SW line, along with some smaller 41 mm models and a diamond-set Lady. Almost all of the SW range consists of Grande Seconde models, but there are also a few Chronos, the first of which was launched in 2010. It comes in the familiar 45 mm case with its modern, sporty design showcasing a black, blue or dial with two counters set horizontally, and a large date.

This November, Sotheby’s will host an exclusive online sale of three unique prototypes from the luxury Italian watchmaker Panerai. The “Panerai: the Prototypes” sale coincides with the first anniversary of the watchmaker’s flagship store on New Bond Street, London. The sale follows the success of the 2017 online auction collaboration between Panerai and Sotheby’s in which a bronze Luminor Submersible watch sold for five times its low estimate. 

WorldTempus had an exclusive walk around the Museum in Motion exhibition at the TAG Heuer store in Geneva with Catherine Eberlé-Devaux, TAG Heuer Heritage Director. The exhibition is open to the public until 29th November 2018.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris collection, revealed at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, welcomes today a new model : the Polaris Geographic WT, limited to 250 pieces, exclusively available at Jaeger-LeCoultre boutiques. The design is inspired by the 1968 Memovox Polaris watch, one of the Grande Maison's iconic models. The 42 mm case houses the Calibre 936A/1, a mechanical self-winding Jaeger-LeCoultre calibre bringing a new feature to the collection: the geographic function, ideal for both travellers and men of action. 

It’s a record that many other brands can only dream of. Over the past eight years Bulgari’s Octo collection has scooped 27 prizes at awards organized around the world by the leading specialist watch media. It started back in 2010 when the Octo Bi-Retro in steel and ceramic won the watch of the year prize awarded by the Swiss watch magazine Montres Passion. But things really kicked off in 2014 with the arrival of the Octo Finissimo, which has scooped all but two of the prizes awarded to the Octo collection as a whole. 

“The Asprey” - a Patek Philippe perpetual calendar chronograph reference 2499 manufactured in 1952 - was the star lot of a selection of world-class vintage wristwatches. The auction attracted over 900 bidders from 54 countries, with nearly a quarter of buyers choosing to buy online. Testament to the huge potential in this market and the depth of demand for the finest pieces, 30% of participants were new to Sotheby’s. International collectors drove the final total of the “Important Watches” sale to CHF 12,208,000 – the second highest total in ten years for a Sotheby’s watch sale in Geneva (est: CHF 9.8m – 16.9m). 81% of lots sold, with almost half of them selling above the high estimate. 

In 1993, twenty years after her parents, Karl and Karin Scheufele, had acquired the Chopard family business, Caroline did something unheard of then in the horological trade – she placed diamonds into steel sports watches and launched the brand’s Happy Sport collection.

TAG Heuer and Max Verstappen, Formula 1 driver for the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing team and youngest Grand Prix winner in the history of Formula 1, presented their third timepiece at an event hosted at the Hotel Arena on the 13th of November, 2018. Limited to 1,300 pieces and designed by the racer himself, this new special edition timepiece is now available around the world.