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…
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…
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…
The Freak by Ulysse Nardin is a bit like Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, in that there is so much to understand that you can only stand in awe at what it achieves. In the case of the Freak, the genius was Ludwig Oechslin who designed the first Freak, presented at Baselworld in 2001. The concept…
All of the watches by Angelus have a high content of originality, from the U10 launched in 2015 that marked the company’s return to business, to this year’s three models. It is above all with the U30 Tourbillon Rattrapante that Angelus and its new owners are saying “We are here.” The U30 is a show…
The dream of a totally transparent watch For the classical watchmakers, there was a parallel between the movement of the watch and the orbits of the planets and their moons, and so perhaps today some watchmakers still secretly dream of a movement in which the gears and hands are floating in space, silently revolving like…
The historic brand Angelus is now part of the La Joux-Perret stable, and it marked its return to watchmaking with last year’s U10 Tourbillon Lumière. This year, it presents three new tourbillon models, including the U40 Racing Tourbillon Skeleton. Designed as an “everyday tourbillon watch” or “a tourbillon for all,” it has a carefully-engineered structure…
When a watch brand starts using the words Ultra Thin, you know that they’re after a world record even though they may not admit it. Most of the thinness records are held by Piaget, but Jaeger-LeCoultre have also ventured into this area, and more recently Bulgari have been creating some excellent super-slim watches. Arnold &…
The Girard-Perregaux Esmeralda Tourbillon, reference 99275-52-000-BA6E, is based on a watch in the brand’s Museum collection shown in the photo below. The new piece is not a limited edition, but only one or two watches can be produced every month, so it’s never going to be a high-production watch. Each piece is assembled by a…
Double tourbillons is something that reminds you of Roger Dubuis, Greubel Forsey and Speake-Marin, but the 1770 Micromegas is a bit different. The two tourbillons have different speeds of rotation, 1 rpm and 10 rpm (take a look at the video futher down on this page) and different balance speeds, 28,800 vibrations per hour (4…
This is a limited edition of Zenith’s El Primero chronograph, with an open dial revealing parts of the movement. Colours have been given a minimalist treatment, with everything in shades of grey except for the touches of red on the chronograph hands. The sense of depth on the dial is enhanced by the moulded letters…
This watch by Montblanc, reference 112587, takes the sporty, accessible TimeWalker collection, mixes it with the sophisticated ExoTourbillon, adds the brand’s monopusher chronograph with semicircular counters, and blends it all with the latest high-tech materials. The result is a visually-satisfying watch with dynamic looks, one of the most surprising watches to be seen at the…
Montblanc has created three limited editions of the ExoTourbillon Slim, with hand-painted maps. The editions are of North America (36 watches), Asia (38 watches) and Europe (36 watches), so that in total there 110 watches, celebrating the brand’s 110th anniversary. The watch itself is basically the same as the 4810 ExoTourbillon Slim, with its new…
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 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…
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…
This watch is the top piece in the Raymond Weil range, with a price (39,000 Swiss francs) that makes it possibly the most accessible Swiss tourbillon watch, just under the price of Montblanc’s Heritage Chronométrie ExoTourbillon Minute Chronograph. It expresses the musical inspiration that underscores many watches by Raymond Weil: CEO Elie Bernheim plays the…
My selection of ten of the finest tourbillon watches presented in 2015. 1. Cartier, Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon This is the skeletonized version of the Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon, a watch that was presented in 2010. It is powered by the in-house Calibre 9451 MC movement in which the tourbillon has an elongated carriage that…
This watch looks a bit like a 1960s clock radio, with its long rectangular case, and the brand Angelus mentions, amongst its design inspirations, televisions by Richard Sapper and Marco Zanuso for Brionvega and record players designed by Dieter Rams for Braun. In this tourbillon watch, a stainless steel case has seven sapphire glass windows,…
John Arnold was a watchmaker working in the late 1700s, and, together with Abraham-Louis Breguet, he did a lot to shape modern watches, introducing inventions such as the overcoil balance spring, and working with the great French watchmaker on innovations such as the tourbillon. The very first tourbillon movement was actually built by Breguet and…