The ceremony was held at an event coinciding with the launch of the 2018 Longines Irish Champions Weekend – of which the brand is Title Partner and Official Timekeeper – taking place at Leopardstown Racecourse on Saturday 15th September and the Curragh Racecourse on Sunday 16th September. Since its creation, the award honours distinguished personalities for their lifelong contributions to the world of horse racing. 

If you wanted to buy every one of the 195 timepieces entered for the GPHG this year, it would cost you precisely 17,738,069 Swiss francs, a figure that comes eerily close to the 17.8 million US dollars that were paid for one single watch, the Rolex Daytona that belonged to Paul Newman, at auction last year. Among these 195 watches, there is the usual extreme in terms of price. The cheapest watch on the list is the Ikepod Duopod Dots at 500 Swiss francs (incidentally it’s great to see Ikepod back on the scene and true to form with their designs). The most expensive watch is Greubel Forsey’s Grande Sonnerie, which costs roughly the same as the altogether different Audemars Piguet Diamond Outrage that held the same honour last year. Both will set you back a cool 1.238 million Swiss francs.

Josef Pallweber was an Austrian watchmaker who patented a combined jumping-hour digital display for pocket watches in 1883. He sold licenses to his patent to Cortébert Watch, who were the first to implement it in a pocket watch case, and IWC, who had the greater success with its digital-display pocket watches, producing some 20,000 of them starting in 1885. The success was shortlived, however, as popularity for the watches (which were perhaps ahead of their time) waned. This year, IWC brings back this unique functionality for the first time in a wristwatch with digital hours and minutes. Produced in celebration of the company’s 150th anniversary and available as limited editions in platinum (25), red gold (250) and stainless steel (500), it bears the name “Tribute to Pallweber”, since the rights to the Josef Pallweber name are owned by another Swiss brand that offers watches featuring a design similar to Pallweber’s but without the full complexity.

The Laureato made its grand comeback in 2016, initially as a limited edition marking Girard-Perregaux’ 225th Anniversary, and then a year later as a constantly expanding collection. With its 43mm diameter case, the new Laureato Tourbillon features a stylish aesthetics, a horological content stemming from historical skills, and a tourbillon held by an arrow-shaped bridge.

From the 17th to the 20th August 2018, Gstaad and the surrounding fields of its airport were transformed into Argentinian-style pampas. 6000 spectators felt the ground shake as 16 of the top Polo players on the circuit took to the fields creating a blur of hooves and mallets, all sporting the colours of the Hublot Polo Gold Cup. For the 9th consecutive year, Hublot's hosts were taken on an immersive journey through the legendary world of its collaboration with the prancing horse brand, which this year celebrates its 70th anniversary...

You'd be forgiven for thinking that the name "Tortour" almost sounds like "torture", and for good reason: in the highest difficulty category of the race, 1000 kilometres and a number of Swiss Alpine passes lie between the start and the finish in Schaffhausen. The participants are on the go day and night, meaning that their support teams also need to be available around the clock. 

I like big and bulky watches but I have a small wrist, which often causes problems when I come to try on such timepieces. The first hurdle to overcome is often putting the watch on my wrist. Those with metal bracelets need to be pre-adjusted for me, otherwise there is no point, those with folding clasps can be finicky and only straps with a simple buckle are guaranteed to fit. Then there is the problem of the case design and lugs, which may or may not fall elegantly around the contours of my relatively petite wrist.

Omega’s new Seamaster Limited Edition timepieces are firmly rooted in World War II history. 

On August 21, 2018 in Hong Kong, DFS Group, the world’s leading luxury travel retailer, and Italy’s luxury jewelry house Bulgari, announced a new edition of Lucea Tubogas, available exclusively at DFS and T Galleria by DFS stores from August 1, 2018 until January 31, 2019. 

Nelly was introduced to the world of alpine skiing at the age of 3, by her father, a ski instructor. Since her very first races in 2000, her parents have been very supportive throughout her career. She quickly grew a passion for snowboarding and swapped her skis for a snowboard. In research of new sensations, snowboard cross became her official discipline. Nelly practices her sport rigorously within the French National Team, in an atmosphere she calls “funformance”, in her words, a happy medium between fun and performance. It’s not surprising once you get to know her outgoing personality. She is part of today’s top world female elite of snowboard cross.

In 1846, Ulysse Nardin took up the challenge of designing, drawing, and producing the absolute best of time-measuring instruments. The Manufacture has carried on that vision for 172 years, creating watches with the same unbroken passion and garnering more than 4,500 prizes and 18 gold medals in timekeeping—accolades which earned the Manufacture a place amongst the world’s top watch-makers. At Ulysse Nardin, tourbillon chronometers are derived from an art that traces back to the end of the 19th century. The tourbillon contributed to the quest for ultimate precision with its primary function being to compensate for errors due to the effects of Earth's gravity on a movement in vertical position.

Reverso Tribute Tourbillon Duoface: it’s all there in the name. But for those not familiar with the range, let’s just quickly go over the distinctive features of the Reverso. Jaeger-LeCoultre released the first Reverso watch in 1931. It was designed with a unique pivoting case intended to protect the watch crystal shocks by turning it to face the skin. The Duoface concept, launched in 1994, makes the most of the Reverso’s reversibility by offering a second dial rather than a caseback; the two dials on the front and back of the watch can thus display different functions, driven by a single movement. As well as the Classic and One ranges, there are the Tribute models which are directly inspired by the original watches. The Reverso Tribute Tourbillon Duoface, a 185th anniversary model recently unveiled by the Le Sentier watchmaker, will be produced in a limited edition of 50. This Reverso, with two dials and a tourbillon, pays tribute to the timepieces of the 1930s. 

Breitling’s Navitimer 8 Unitime awakens memories of a watch line which made its debut in 1951 and caused quite a stir even then. The new universal wristwatch for 2018 caters once more to globetrotters, cosmopolitans and, of course, business people who need global time-related information. And as you would expect, the manufacturer has considerably expanded the functional spectrum compared to its 67-year-old forerunner. 

The Concours of Elegance brings together collectors and aficionados of rare cars. Against the spectacular backdrop of Hampton Court Palace in the United Kingdom, some 60 exquisite masterpieces of automotive construction will be showcased from 31 August to 2 September 2018. The selected models on display in the spacious parks and gardens surrounding the Palace will bear testament to craftsmanship, design and timeless luxury. The event will chart a historic journey from the pioneers of motor sport in the late 19th century through to the very latest sports cars.