The “hommage” (tribute) in the name is the name of a family of watches, as well as being a tribute. Georges Kern, CEO of IWC, was involved in the management of Roger Dubuis for a short time after its acquisition by the Richemont group, and so the organization of Roger Dubuis’ watches into five major…
A lot has been happening lately at Harry Winston. The jewellery brand was bought by Swatch Group in March 2013 for $750 million, plus the assumption of $250 million pro forma debt that brought the price tag to $1 billion. At Baselworld, the brand celebrated their new CEO Nayla Hayek, and announced something that made…
The partnership between Parmigiani Fleurier and Pomellato, announced in November 2013, immediately produced a capsule collection of four women’s watches, the Parmigiani Pomellato Tonda, combining some of the characteristics of both the Swiss watchmaker and the Italian jewellery brand. Parmigiani Fleurier was founded in 1996 in Fleurier, where Michel Parmigiani had been working since 1976,…
The 2014 version of the Grande Seconde SW by Jaquet Droz is a good example of how this watch brand has used one of its historic motifs, bringing it into our design-oriented present. The sporty Grande Seconde SW had alreay been introduced in 2008, and this year, three new versions have been launched, in which…
The “Équation” in the watch’s name is the Equation of time, a relatively rare complication but one that is close to the heart of mechanical watchmaking. The great 19th-century watchmakers were often struck by the analogies between the instruments that they made and the sun, moon and planets, whose movements are like a gigantic mechanism…
Hamilton is a very happy brand. Like many other watch manufacturers, they have the pleasant problem of not being able to make enough of their watches. They are very comfortable as part of Swatch Group, which has the resources and the movements they need for their products. They have a long heritage that provides a…
Grieb & Benzinger, a German company located in Schloss Dätzingen, Grafenau, near Stuttgart, specialize in superbly-finished bespoke watches, often with decoration commissioned specifically by the client. An example of a recent commission is the Pharos Al Arab Imperial, made for a collector in the United Arab Emirates. The client probably specified the Arabian Sea and…
The Blancpain Carrousel Phases du Lune (Ref. 6622L-3631-55B), a watch in the Villeret collection, features what has become a Blancpain speciality, the Carrousel, or karussel. This complication, like the tourbillon, was designed to constantly vary the position of the escapement so that the variations in frequency caused by gravity would be evened out over time.…
El Primero is a name that Zenith gave to its automatic chronograph presented in 1969, and it has become one of the watch-making legends. The name, which means “the first” in Spanish, was chosen to stake the Zenith claim for the first automatic chronograph; at that time, several brands were working on the concept, and…
Panerai was founded in Florence in 1860, and became a supplier of timepieces to the Royal Italian Navy, watches that had certain characteristics resulting from practical necessities. For example, large size, made more comfortable by a rounded cushion-shaped case; good water resistance; straps long and tough enough to enable them to be worn over a…
Luxury group Kering have announced that they have acquired Ulysse Nardin. The watch brand will join Girard-Perregaux and Jeanrichard (Sowind), Boucheron and Pomellato, along with luxury brands Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Stella McCartney, Sergio Rossi and others. Founded in 1846, Ulysse Nardin was proud of its independence and its status as…
A. Lange & Söhne create brilliant, complex watches, but they don’t shout about it. One of the two great German watch brands (with Glashütte Original) based in Glashütte, near Dresden, A. Lange & Söhne delights its fans and collectors with watches whose complexity of functions is accompanied by wonderful movements and understated dial design. In…
Van Cleef & Arpels make complication watches, but the complications are always about telling a story. In the Midnight Planétarium Poetic Complication, the story is one of the most beautiful of them all: the planets revolving around the sun. I still think that this piece was one of the highlights of the two major shows…
Pinion Watch Company is a new name on the watchmaking scene, now presenting the Axis Pure. Like their previous models, the Axis Pure has a dial designed for easy readability, with a bespoke luminescent paint for hour markings and hands. The colour of this SuperLuminova was chosen to resemble the old paints containing radioactive materials…
Richard Mille is a company born at the start of the millennium and all its products have a high-tech, modernistic look and feel, using high-tech materials such as carbon fibre, titanium and other ultra-light alloys. The RM 36-01 is no exception. Called the Tourbillon Competition G Sensor Sebastian Loeb, it is built from carbon nanotubes…
A gold Rolex that belonged to President Eisenhower will be auctioned in September 2014, with an estimated value of $1 million. Part of the Raleigh DeGeer Amyx collection, it will be auctioned by RR Auction in Boston. The watch, an Oyster Perpetual Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet, was the 150,000th piece manufactured by Rolex, and…
The Patrimony Traditionelle 14-day Tourbillon Openworked has a lot in common with the great Gothic cathedrals of northern Europe, where the architects removed stone from windows to let in as much light as possible, and where the lines of stress were revealed and expressed by daring, filigree flying buttresses. This piece by Vacheron Constantin is…
If you like watches that look a bit different, De Bethune have something to offer you. Their Dream Watch 5.2 has a sort of unsettling sci-fi beauty, with the half-organic, half-mechanical forms of Alien, and the triangular innovation of Hamilton’s triangular watch in Men in Black. The digital time indications hark back to the electric…
Founded in 1775 by Abraham-Louis Breguet, the company will reach its 240th anniversary next year. Perhaps this is why this year, 2014, there were not many new products by the brand at Baselworld. They’re saving the fireworks for 2015. I’ve always found it hard to imagine how a watch company can prepare for an anniversary,…
Bulgari’s watch collection has developed into an extraordinary range, and the new pieces presented at Baselworld 2014 were very interesting: Lucea, the new women’s watch, Octo Velocissimo, a chronograph with a dramatically faceted case, Ammiraglio del Tempo, a grand complication, and many more. These watchmaking riches reflect the fact that this an important year for…