The Charming Bird by Jaquet Droz is the first and only wristwatch to feature a singing bird. Awarded the 2015 Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix (Grand Prix d’horlogerie de Genève) in the year of its launch, this automaton embodies the genius of Pierre Jaquet-Droz. In 2018, the brand unveils two new editions in red gold and white gold with an ivory Grand Feu enamel dial and limited to only eight pieces each.

A new partner of Frieze Masters and Frieze London, Richard Mille began his eponymous brand at the start of the new millennium in 2001. Frieze is the world’s leading platform for modern and contemporary art for scholars, connoisseurs, collectors and the general public alike. Celebrating this vibrant, contemporary history, the brand’s presence at Frieze Masters has brought together, for the first time in the UK, a museum-level overview of some of the most exceptional, rare, and currently unavailable examples of timepieces generously loaned by private collectors. 

The HYT Skull 48.8 has carpe diem on its mind. This distinctive timepiece continually reminds us of the importance of seizing every second. Highlighting time’s passage using liquids, it focuses on the power of the present, the very elixir of life.

Between September 24 and 29, the French city of Cannes will be welcoming the imposing fleet of classic and vintage sailing vessels for the 40th edition of Les Régates Royales. Organised by the Yacht Club de Cannes, the event is also the fourth and final stage of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge Mediterranean circuit which is sponsored by the Florentine luxury sports watch maker. 

Corum is unveiling a new collection that is 100% dedicated to women: Eleganza. Its particularity: available both in casual chic and precious jewellery versions; as part of a strictly limited edition, these feminine models feature, for the first time in the brand’s history, an automatic regulator movement. 

Like the watch he’s wearing, Omega ambassador Daniel Craig is clearly at home in the water. Set to play 007 for the fifth time, the English actor looks every inch the gentleman, even when surfacing for air in a drenched tuxedo. The quintessentially-British Bond is a legendary character, so it’s only right that he gets to wear a legendary timepiece. Daniel Craig first wore an Omega on-screen in Casino Royale in 2006, but the actor was an avid watch fan long before he took on the iconic role. Though Bond is stoic, tough and even ruthless when required to be, Daniel Craig is a grounded English gent with an approachable style and commitment to social causes. He’s the face of the new Seamaster Diver 300M. A perfect choice. After all, how many underwater explorers can make a wet-suit look this stylish?

Ulysse Nardin brought the Marine Torpilleur Military US NAVY timepiece to Annapolis, an ideal ven-ue for the American launch, celebrating the ties between the brand and the United Stated Naval Academy since 1905.

Following on from the new Masterpiece Double Retrograde and Masterpiece Moon Retrograde, both unveiled in 2017, this year sees Maurice Lacroix revisit the Masterpiece Calendar Retrograde, returning to the past to offer updated versions of vintage models. Maurice Lacroix enthusiasts have been eagerly awaiting this new version; in fact the Masterpiece Calendar Retrograde is historically an earlier piece than the other two, although its reinterpretation has come later. The launch has been highly anticipated also because of the pioneering status of the Masterpiece Calendar Retrograde. In 1999 it was the first retrograde display to be produced by the watchmaker from Switzerland’s Franches-Montagnes region; since then it has become a company speciality, and an extremely successful one.