Montblanc has now completed its set of watch families and from this year begins a process of consolidation, reinterpreting existing models. But this doesn’t mean that the brand is resting on its laurels: just in the 4810 range, this year there are three new in-house movements, accompanied by a lot of design work. The new…
This 39mm piece by Parmigiani Fleurier is dominated by the poppy-red dial in aventurine, with rose gold case and bracelet, diamond-set bezel and lugs (in total 112 diamonds, 1 carat), and a single ruby cabochon set into the crown. Creating a dial from a stone such as aventurine is not simple: it has to be…
This is a 33mm watch by Parmigiani Fleurier with the favourite and most poetic complication for women, the moon phase. The poetry is combined with a mother-of-pearl dial, and by a lot of technical content, with a new in-house movement. At prices starting from 12,300 Swiss francs, this a piece offering good value. Dial Michel…
This 39mm watch takes Parmigiani’s diamond-setting to new levels, from the classic watch with diamond-set bezel to a piece in which the gems completely cover the dial. The round diamonds are in four sizes, decreasing from the centre to the outside of the dial. Smaller diamonds are used around the central pivot, and around the…
Montblanc seems to be taking on Rolex head-on with this piece. It has the classic day-date format with day at the top and date near the crown, and the case’s water resistance, though not at Rolex Oyster standards, is still higher than most watches, at 5 bar, corresponding to 50 metres. Above all, it has…
The Tonda Chronor Anniversaire by Parmigiani Fleurier celebrates the brand’s 20th anniversary, from its creation in 1996 by Michel Parmigiani with the Sandoz Family Foundation. It’s a very technical piece, with a clear and functional dial. Its utility is further enhanced by the big date. It is also exceptional in that the movement is entirely…
Company profile: “One of the problems we have,” said a Parmigiani PR staff member at Geneva fair SIHH, “is that sometimes people expect us to make cheese!” But Parmigiani Fleurier make beautiful watches, and the name is of its founder Michel Parmigiani. Michel Parmigiani joined the industry at a difficult moment. He finished his studies…
This watch by Panerai had already been presented in 2015 in a red gold case, and in 2016 the same concept has been given a 47 mm titanium case designed to make the watch lighter. You could say that the middle case is 3D-printed, and this enables it to be made hollowed out internally, like…
This is a curious concept, two Panerai watches sold together as a set, at the price of €19,900. The two watches are symmetrical, one with the crown on the left-hand side of the case, the other with the crown on the right-hand side. The continuous seconds subdial is also symmetrically opposite in the two models.…
This watch illustrates why Panerai is a world apart from most other brands. It is pure simplicity, just hours and minutes, four numerals in the graceful Panerai style, eight straight hour markers, and that’s it. No date window, and that is something fantastic and courageous. The Panerai Luminor 1950 3 Days Acciaio 47 mm PAM00663…
Panerai tells some great stories (read the top ten Panerai stories here). The Radiomir 1940 PAM00622 looks like a simple two-hand watch with a chocolate brown dial matching a vintage-look leather strap, with a lovely hand-wound 3 Hertz movement visible through the sapphire caseback. And that’s what it is, but it is also a tribute…
What do you get when you give a Panerai a white dial? A cool and stylish watch, moving towards the unisex feel that has become a significant trend. The case is 42mm across, made in AISI 316L polished steel, and it is slimmer than most Panerai pieces by virtue of the P.4000 movement with microrotor.…
These four Panerai watches, PAM00627, 628, 657 and 658, retain the brand’s classic DNA but they embrace modernity in a more consciously designer appearance. They have the functions that are most practical for a contemporary executive: power reserve indicator, and second time zone, with quick-setting hour hand. The cushion-shaped case has a lenticular profile when…
Bovet 1822 company profile: The Bovet family came from Fleurier in Switzerland, and they were, like many people in that small town, active as watchmakers. In the late 1700s, Napoleon’s trade protection policies forced many Fleurier watchmakers to emigrate in order to find work, and the Bovet brothers Edouard, Charles-Frédéric and Charles-Alphonse went to London.…
The collaboration between Bovet 1822 and Pininfarina began in 2010 with the Tourbillon Ottanta, and this year’s model, Flying Tourbillon Ottantasei, differs from previous pieces in that the case is much thinner, and it does not have the Amadeo system that enables the piece to be transformed from wristwatch to pocket watch. Particularly in the…
There is a lot of content in this watch. It has two faces, with time indications on both, a perpetual calendar on one side, and power reserve on the other. The continuous seconds indicator, on a 20-second scale with three hands, can be seen correctly on both sides by virtue of the coaxial seconds carriage…
Is Tetris educational? At first sight, the game seems to encourage spatial ability as it calls for the visualization of geometrical shapes and their rotation. But in actual fact, according to a scientific study, experienced Tetris players just become good at Tetris and this spatial expertise doesn’t transfer to other areas of cognitive ability. Nonetheless…
Here are some 2015 highlights from the world of women’s watches. This is a type of watch that often becomes very expensive because of the jewels used to decorate case, bracelet and dial, and so I have chosen a couple of watches in the lower price range. In general I have tried to privilege watches…
Skulls are a big thing in fashion and Romain Jerome has added a skeleton skull watch to its range, with 12 colour versions. You could say that there is one for each month, but there is no real significance to the colours: CEO and creative director Manuel Emch simply chose his favourites from the possible…
For the brand Louis Moinet, this is an important year. Watchmaker Louis Moinet started work on his “compteur de tierces” in 1815 and completed it in 1816, 200 years ago. Jean-Marie Schaller founded the modern brand in 2004, and in 2013 he was able to purchase the original Compteur de tierces in an auction at…