The Montblanc 1858 product line pays tribute to the Minerva Manufacture’s heritage and professionnal watches that were conceived for military use and exploration.

Jean-Claude Biver sang your praises at your Baselworld press conference this year. What have you learned from your longstanding working relationship with him?
We have been working together for 25 years so when he says that he has been successful because of me, I would turn that on its head and say that I’ve been successful thanks to him! Meeting Jean-Claude Biver has allowed me to enjoy the career that I have had. He is my mentor and the partnership has worked very well because we are complementary to each other. If we were the same it wouldn’t work.

The contemporary installation treated visitors to a show which subtly unveiled the brand’s latest products. The real timepieces disappeared, reappeared and played with images in a rhythmic animation. This innovation was the fruit of the friendship between Xavier Dietlin and Xavier Perrenoud. At a very early stage, they both agreed that traditional display cases were outdated. So the two companions set out to create a display case that took the form of an animated sculpture rather than a conventional case.

For Oris, the cooperation in the context of Bucherer Blue Editions is a completely natural partnership, firstly because Bucherer and Oris are independent, traditional companies with shared values such as the pursuit of innovation and integrity. Furthermore, Oris has been campaigning for ocean conservation together with leading organisations for many years and therefore associates the colour blue primarily with water. 

The howling wolf against the backdrop of the star-studded night sky with a quarter moon is the second design by Alice Shirley after “Grrrrr!” in 2016 to make it on to an enamel watch dial in the Hermès collection. Like the square scarves where the designs first featured, the watches with these hand-painted enamel dials are strictly limited editions, with just eight being produced.

In 2016, to celebrate its 225th anniversary, Girard-Perregaux presented the pink gold Esmeralda Tourbillon, a wristwatch inspired by the Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges pocket chronometer that won the gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889. Winner of the Tourbillon Watch Prize awarded by the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2016, La Esmeralda Tourbillon features a timeless design, a unique signature of its kind, and a more contemporary look.

In 2002, Louis Vuitton made its watchmaking debut with the Tambour, an unprecedented timepiece that integrates all of the House‘s values into its design: the twelve Louis Vuitton letters engraved into the case, next to each hour, the brown of the dial inspired by the famous Monogram and the yellow of the seconds hands recalling the waxed thread of the Louis Vuitton’s bags.

The March competition included two themes related to Baselworld: watch and architecture photos. The jury has selected the ten photos below, for each theme. You can now vote for your two favourite photos by clicking on the "vote" button.

Just like last year’s announcement by the Swatch Group that it would be leaving Baselworld, the press release announcing Breitling’s absence next year was issued early on a Sunday morning. One might argue that this is the perfect way to attempt to bury bad news. But the news was not entirely bad, since it coincided with a confirmation that the world’s biggest and best-known watch company, Rolex, is extending its presence at the show next year and allocating a brand-new space for its sister brand Tudor. WorldTempus spoke to Baselworld’s Managing Director, Michel Loris-Melikoff, about what this means for the future of the exhibition.

Symbolizing classicism in its purest form, the Blancpain's Villeret collection embodies the brand's profound attachment to the values of traditional watchmaking, notably conveyed through movements with horological complications such as the perpetual calendar. The latter serves to indicate the day of the week, date, month and leap year without requiring any adjustment until 2100.

The marketing synergies and tie-ins for men’s watches are well-trodden territory – with the worlds of extreme sports, automobiles and aviation resonating well with the male horological mind. Women’s watch campaigns however still feel as if they’re in beta mode, and the market may want to take its cue from Chaumet, who this month launches a new watch collection that’s fronted by a collection of some very remarkable – and real – women.

Conceptualising the immensity of the sky, the earth and the sea is an inspiring challenge for these pioneers of style and performance that are Garage Italia and Hublot. Who better to evoke the theme of the elements than Lapo Elkann, his team and their ideas lab, a custom shop where style meets the transcendence of movement in the ceaseless pursuit of perfection. Exploration, innovation and technological feats attune the innate passion of these two partners driven by the challenges they constantly address.

Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud sole objective is to create the timepieces that they believe Ferdinand Berthoud would produce were he alive today. There are no other limits or constraints. Luckily for the brand, in addition to the items in Karl-Friedrich Scheufele’s personal collection of Ferdinand Berthoud memorabilia and antique timepieces, Ferdinand Berthoud himself set great store by passing on his knowledge and thus left behind a considerable body of work.

The most colourful: Hublot Big Bang Unico King Gold

Tiffany & Co.'s new campaign celebrates optimism, personal style and self-expression, bringing together models Kendall Jenner, Carolyn Murphy, Imaan Hammam, Mica Argañaraz and Fei Fei Sun. Juxtaposing their portraits with iconic Tiffany designs, the Tiffany Blue Box® is artfully woven throughout. The new campaign showcases the brand in a fresh and unexpected way.

I have to admit that I was quite surprised by the extent of the coverage devoted to the catastrophic fire at Notre-Dame cathedral last week. On Tuesday and Wednesday the main page on the BBC News app was devoted entirely to coverage of the tragic event, explaining why the blaze was so difficult to tackle, how the building will be restored and, once it is, how it “will be more beautiful”. There was even a story of the fire in graphics and a piece about “the grief that comes from lost buildings”. It was as if Brexit, which had been dominating the headlines for months and has already missed two of its deadlines, suddenly didn’t matter anymore.