A dual Swiss-Italian national who studied at the College of Business and Economics in the “Watch City” of Biel/Bienne, graduating in 1975, Walter Ribaga started his career in sales at IBM Switzerland. He quickly moved to the watch industry, however, joining Certina, a company of the Swatch Group in 1981 to manage sales for Europe and Latin America. His experience in sales subsequently took him to other Swiss watch brands such as Omega, Zenith and Movado. At TAG Heuer Mr Ribaga was part of a team that helped to relaunch the brand worldwide and increase sales in Latin America fivefold over a period of five years.

How long does one second last? Who decides what time it is? The scholarly quest for precision has been at the heart of watchmaking innovation since the 17th century. Oscillators are key to developments in this field: the pendulum, the spring balance and, later, quartz, have all increased timekeeping accuracy. From the Second World War, physicists took over from astronomers and horologists in the pursuit of accurate time measurement. From 1967, the second was no longer defined via astronomical observations such as the passage of the sun across the zenith, but by measuring a microscopic phenomenon: the oscillation of caesium atoms.

It’s rare for a watch to stay centre stage for so long. The Conquest V.H.P., which was launched two years ago, continues to be in the spotlight at many of the events Longines sponsors. This year, for the second year in a row, it’s the model the watchmaker has chosen to accompany the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros.

The Navitimer 8 B01 is powered by the first completely self-developed and -manufactured chronograph movement by Breitling, which made its debut in 2009 for the company’s 125th anniversary. Its tension spring supports a ball-bearing rotor highly efficiently in both directions of rotation. When the tension spring is fully wound, more than 70 hours of power reserve are available. This guarantees that the new Navitimer 8 B01 accurately displays hours, minutes, seconds, and date, even after a weekend tucked away in the vault. As befits a sophisticated mechanism of this kind, a classic control wheel operates the three chronograph functions start, stop, and reset. At the push of a button, an energy-saving friction coupling connects the stopwatch mechanism smoothly to the wheel mechanism. Other pioneering features include a patented self-centering system with an innovative heart-shaped lever to reset the chronograph to zero.

For 50 years, Alpina has been riding on the wave of success with the Seastrong Diver collection. The history of the collection bears witnesses of its performance, when back in the 1960’s the models could already meet 200m water resistance. In 2018, the brand presents six new models which are fit for a whole new generation of adventurers and now water-resistant to 300m.

The next Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) at Palexpo, Geneva, will take place January 14-17, 2019. Setting the tone for the twelve months to come, it adopts a four-day schedule instead of the usual five with the convenience of longer opening hours, every day from 8.30am to 8pm.

If you don't have a Hublot boutique nearby, or don’t have the time to visit the store for an introduction, there is no problem! Hublot offers you the same experience remotely as if one were pushing open the door of a boutique, thanks to its Hublot Digital Boutique.

Even for someone who gets to try out a lot of different watches, switching from my everyday diver’s watch to the Czapek & Cie. Place Vendôme tourbillon was something of an occasion. I got a feeling of warmth from the rose-gold case and rich brown alligator strap, especially compared with the all-steel practicality of my usual wrist companion. And I quickly got used to wearing it and had to remind myself on several occasions that it costs well over twenty times the price of my own watch and that it was thus better to take if off for some activities where I would normally keep the diver’s watch on my wrist. A precious gold case and a tourbillon deserve respect, after all.