Androgyne Royale by Manufacture Royale

What sort of watch would Voltaire design if he were around today? This is the sort of question that seems to be a constant obsession for Manufacture Royale, the brand that traces its origins back to the philosopher. It’s a bit like wondering what Bach would have done with an electric guitar, Shakespeare with a…

Bulgari Serpenti Incantati Skeleton Tourbillon 102541

Bulgari Serpenti Incantati Tourbillon

There are artists, archistars and fashion designers, all individuals who are accustomed to being in the limelight. The watch industry is traditionally different in that most brands don’t highlight a head designer. All the attention is on the brand. Exceptions include Christian Knoop at IWC, Sara Sandmeier at Baume & Mercier, and Carole Forestier-Kasapi, director…

Omega launches its sunglasses range

Omega? Sunglasses? I suppose this sort of diversification just gets the brand name out there a bit more. They don’t make the glasses: that’s left to Italian company Marcolin, which already makes sunglasses for Montblanc along with a long list of fashion brands. The new range will be available from the end of August 2016…

Bulgari Serpenti Incantati

Bulgari Serpenti Incantati

Bulgari are on a roll. At a time at which many watch companies are suffering and sales are falling, Bulgari announce that they are enjoying double digit growth in their watch division. This year, Bulgari presented their first ever jewellery snake watch, a product masterminded by senior designer Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, and his brilliance at…

Bulgari Octo Ultranero Finissimo Tourbillon

Bulgari Octo Ultranero Finissimo Tourbillon

The Bulgari Octo Ultranero Finissimo Tourbillon is another variant of the Finissimo Tourbillon that was presented in 2014, and it is still the record-holder for the thinnest flying tourbillon movement, BVL 268, at 1.95 mm thickness. The movement is hand-wound and has a 52-hour power reserve. The principal new feature of this year’s Ultranero version…

Bulgari Octo Velocissimo Chronograph

Bulgari Octo Velocissimo Chronograph

In the pdf provided in the 2016 Octo press kit, Bulgari dedicates just one sentence to the Octo Velocissimo Chronograph. “For a sportier look, one may opt for the Octo Velocissimo Chronograph powered by the BVL 328 calibre, a high-performance movement capable of displaying the flow of time to the nearest tenth of a second.”…

Bulgari Octo Ultranero

Something of Bulgari’s Italian origins can be seen in the new Octo Ultranero pieces. They are black, but not all black. They are still intended as practical, legible timepieces, and so hands and hour markers are always in pink gold, contrasting with the deep black dial. The watch is powered by the self-winding “Solotempo BVL…

Bulgari Octo Finissimo Skeleton

The Octo Finissimo Skeleton by Bulgari is slim and modern, with its sleek black movement finished in black DLC and rich in contrasts provided by steel, gold and rubies. The hand-wound BVL 128SK movement is just 2.35 mm thick, hand wound, with seconds, minutes and hours, and power reserve indicator. This is a useful indication…

Manufacture Contemporaine du Temps

Company profile: Manufacture Contemporaine du Temps makes very complicated watches, and its company history is also rather complicated. it was founded in 2007 by Denis Giguet, a watch designer who had 20 years of experience in the trade. He had been at Rolex for six years, and had directed the Harry Winston watchmaking division for…

Bulgari Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater

Bulgari confirms its position as a major player in the watchmaking industry with the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater. It follows on from other record-setting pieces, such as the 2014 Octo Finissimo Tourbillon and this year’s ultra-thin flying tourbillon. The Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater is the thinnest minute repeater in the world, with a case thickness…

Vulcain First Lady Jewellery Automatic

The First Lady Jewellery Automatic by Vulcain is a women’s watch set with a cascade of blue sapphires and green tsavorites that look as if they are tumbling down from the sky and filling the dial. It’s like a static version of the Chopard “Happy Diamonds” idea. The jewels extend onto the bright steel bezel…

Vulcain 50s Presidents’ Cricket

The alarm could possibly be the oldest watch complication. Some of the earliest clocks didn’t have hands at all, but just a striking mechanism to mark the time of services. Vulcain’s Cricket watch with alarm function first appeared in 1947, and it has remained the brand’s most iconic model. This year, Vulcain has introduced a…

Vulcain

Company profile: Vulcain began as a workshop founded in 1858 by Maurice Ditisheim, in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He made fine pocket watches, and the workshop expanded to become Manufacture Ditisheim. Its complication watches received prizes at several World Fairs. The brand Vulcain first appeared in 1894, registered by Ditisheim in 1900. The brand’s fame increased considerably…

Vulcain 50s Presidents’ Watch Classic Automatic

Vulcain 50s Presidents’ Watch Classic Automatic

The 50s Presidents’ Watch Classic Automatic is Vulcain’s entry-level watch, a three-hand timepiece with date. Its 1950s look is determined above all by the graduated dial, in two colours, blue or brown, with matching calf leather straps. It has a slim case, 8.6 mm thick, in stainless steel, 42 mm in diameter, and a sapphire…

Lady Fabergé 2016

The Lady Fabergé collection has been expanded with these new pieces that combine a youthful, pop style with a prestige mechanical movement. Fabergé is the brand famous for the eggs made for the Tsar of Russia, and so the egg motif appears in several places: the shape of the case, the Breguet hands that have…

Ulysse Nardin SuperCat table clock

Table clocks give brands the chance to do stuff they can’t do in wristwatches, because there is much more space, and no ergonomic restrictions. MB&F’s Melchior is a good example, and now Ulysse Nardin have created a futuristic table sculpture, the SuperCat. The SuperCat was presented at Baselworld in March 2016, but it is a…

Ulysse Nardin Jade in stainless steel

Jade is one of the few women’s watches to have been designed with specific consideration for female users. According to legend, it was Chai Schnyder (at that time chairwoman of Ulysse Nardin) who asked her husband Rolf Schnyder (then president and CEO) for the crown function selector and indicator back in 2002. Its main characteristic…

Ulysse Nardin Classico America

Ulysse Nardin Classico America

Ulysse Nardin are sponsoring the America’s Cup team Artemis, and this watch Classico America celebrates the sponsorship agreement, along with the history of the race itself. It depicts the schooner America, which won a regatta around the Isle of Wight organized annually by the Royal Yacht Squadron. America had been built by John Cox Stevens,…

Ulysse Nardin Diver Chronograph Hammerhead Shark

Ulysse Nardin Diver Chronograph Hammerhead Shark

For the first time in the Diver collection by Ulysse Nardin, this watch has an in-house movement, the UN-150. There are two versions, both limited editions, with 300 pieces in steel, and 99 pieces in rose gold. The hammerhead shark was chosen as a motif because the hammerhead is a gentle shark, but has a…