watch world 2013 autumn

A history of

victories

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WatchWorld00/24

high-end brands, models, technology and design

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Discover the winners!

Bremont

cartier

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Bremont

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victoriesvictoriesvictoriesClassique Chronométrie 7727 Watch of the Year in Category 4

£25,000 to £100,000- page 35 -

FIRST VIEW! MeisterSinger Paleograph monopusher chronograph • Piaget and the art of skeletonising • Everything you always wanted to know about ceramics • The world goes mad for world timers

high-end brands, models, technology and design

5 yeArs of Fine Watchmaking

Nick HAyekon re-conquering the market and Swatch Sistem 51

Volume 8 – issue 28, 2013 – £6,99

Exclusive

goes to war

00/24 horloges 3

Ingenieur Chronograph Silberpfeil. Ref. 3785: Not

everyone gets the chance to sit in the driving seat of a Silver Arrow,

but anyone who does will confirm that it’s like being transported to

another age. It has a wooden steering wheel, analogue instruments

and bodywork made of gleaming aluminium – hence the name of the

racing car that became a legend between the 1930s and 50s. Opti-

cally, the Chronograph Silver Arrow conforms to the same classic

image. The black rubber strap with its brown calfskin inlay is reminis-

cent of the leather straps once used to secure the body work, while

the dial features the same circular graining as the Silver Arrow’s

dashboard. When we come to the technology, however, the watch is

at the cutting edge. The IWC-manufactured 89361 calibre with its

efficient double-pawl winding powers not only the hour, minute and

seconds hands on the dial, but also a totalizer at 12 o’clock, the date

display and a small hacking seconds. What’s more, it comes with an

impressive 68-hour power reserve. Used with the central seconds

hand, the tachymeter scale on the bezel enables the wearer to

calculate his speed over a measured distance of 1,000 metres.

Interestingly, the original Silver Arrow had just three displays: a rev

counter and indi cators for the oil and water temperature. Because

regardless of the era, the one thing that counts when you get into a

racing car is achieving the best time. IWC. ENGINEERED FOR MEN.

IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN BOUTIQUES: PARIS I VIENNA I ROME I MOSCOW I NEW YORK I BEIJING I DUBAI I HONG KONG I GENEVA I ZURICH

IWC.COM

For more information please call +44 845 337 1868 or email [email protected]

ENGINEERED FOR MEN WHO BELIEVE

IN TIME MACHINES.

2005907_EC3S_480x330_d_crp_ZS_4c_en.indd Alle Seiten 29.08.13 15:59

THE WORLD’S FIRST EVER MECHANICAL TIMEPIECE WITH 1/100TH OF A SECOND DISPLAY BY A CENTRAL HAND

THE HEUER CARRERA MIKROGRAPH HITS 360,000 BEATS PER HOUR - THE ULTIMATE IN PRECISION TIMING

Available to purchase online at www.tagheuer.co.uk or visit TAG Heuer Westfi eld London, Westfi eld Stratford City and selected fi ne jewellers nationwide. For further information please call 0800 458 0882

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Content

A MOMENT IN TIME18 Rolex and Formula 1: the best of both worlds SMALL SECONDS20 The world’s first atomic pocket watch, Becks and Travolta open

Breitling’s London shop, TAG Heuer’s MikropendulumS explained plus more news, facts & figures and key players from the world of haute horlogerie

ARTIST IMPRESSION26 The French artist Stéphanie Guglielmetti makes a ‘hanging

mobile’ from hundreds of hands

RETROSPECTIVE28 Part 1 of our trip through watch history: 1976 – when Chopard

unveiled the iconic Happy Diamonds

00/24 MARKET SCAN30 What is the most popular moon phase watch?

WATCH OF THE YEAR32 We proudly present you: the winners of the 00/24 European

Watch of the Year Awards 2013

INTERVIEW40 Nick Hayek about the new revolution in the watch industry,

thanks to the Swatch Sistem 51

REPORT44 World timers rise in popularity. But why?

IN-DEPTH50 Bremont: for pilots, by pilots...

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IN-DEPTH46 00/24 WatchWorld unveils as the first one in the

United Kingdom the MeisterSinger Paleograph

monopusher chronograph

66 Less is more: Piaget masters like no other the art of

skeletonising

70 Armed with our Table of Elements, we take a deep look into the

science of high-tech ceramics

88 5th anniversary of Cartier’s Fine Watchmaking department

WATCH NEWS58 21 new watches in the spotlights

PHOTOSHOOT80 Indian Summer Time

COLUMN94 Karel Hubert about ‘uncollecting’

96 Kristian Haagen’s vision on watch brands that are active on

social media

BOUTIQUE98 A family-owned jeweller adorns the streets of Bath: Mallory

SERVICE95 Contact/subscription

97 Watchbank

TO BREAK THE RULES,YOU MUST FIRST MASTER THEM.

IN 1986, AUDEMARS PIGUET BECAME THE FIRST WATCHMAKER

TO FEATURE A TOURBILLON IN AN AUTOMATIC WRIST WATCH.

TODAY THE TRADITION TOURBILLON REPETITION MINUTE IS

OUR LATEST EXPRESSION OF THIS PIONEERING SPIRIT.

THE TOURBILLON COUNTERACTS THE EFFECT OF GRAVITY

ON THE MOVEMENT’S MOST DELICATE COMPONENTS. THE

ASSEMBLY OF ITS EXCEPTIONALLY LIGHT AND COMPLEX

ELEMENTS IS A FORMIDABLE CHALLENGE THAT TAKES A

MASTER WATCHMAKER THREE DAYS TO EXECUTE ENTIRELY

BY HAND.

HOWEVER EVEN AT THIS MICRO SCALE, THE ARMS OF THE

CAGE ARE CHAMFERED AND POLISHED. THE SPIRIT OF

AUDEMARS PIGUET EXPRESSED IN EVERY DETAIL.

TRADITION IN PINK AND WHITE GOLD. MINUTE REPEATER, TOURBILLON AND CHRONOGRAPH.

AUDEMARS PIGUET UK LTD TEL: + 44 207 409 0782 WWW.AUDEMARSPIGUET.COM

HAMFERED AND POLISHED. THE SPIRIT OF

PIGUET EXPRESSED IN EVERY DETAIL.

HITE GOLD. TER, TOURBILLON RAPH.

TR_26564RC_240x330_m.indd 1 25.07.13 07:48

7070

66

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80

58 88

9888

TO BREAK THE RULES,YOU MUST FIRST MASTER THEM.

IN 1986, AUDEMARS PIGUET BECAME THE FIRST WATCHMAKER

TO FEATURE A TOURBILLON IN AN AUTOMATIC WRIST WATCH.

TODAY THE TRADITION TOURBILLON REPETITION MINUTE IS

OUR LATEST EXPRESSION OF THIS PIONEERING SPIRIT.

THE TOURBILLON COUNTERACTS THE EFFECT OF GRAVITY

ON THE MOVEMENT’S MOST DELICATE COMPONENTS. THE

ASSEMBLY OF ITS EXCEPTIONALLY LIGHT AND COMPLEX

ELEMENTS IS A FORMIDABLE CHALLENGE THAT TAKES A

MASTER WATCHMAKER THREE DAYS TO EXECUTE ENTIRELY

BY HAND.

HOWEVER EVEN AT THIS MICRO SCALE, THE ARMS OF THE

CAGE ARE CHAMFERED AND POLISHED. THE SPIRIT OF

AUDEMARS PIGUET EXPRESSED IN EVERY DETAIL.

TRADITION IN PINK AND WHITE GOLD. MINUTE REPEATER, TOURBILLON AND CHRONOGRAPH.

AUDEMARS PIGUET UK LTD TEL: + 44 207 409 0782 WWW.AUDEMARSPIGUET.COM

HAMFERED AND POLISHED. THE SPIRIT OF

PIGUET EXPRESSED IN EVERY DETAIL.

HITE GOLD. TER, TOURBILLON RAPH.

TR_26564RC_240x330_m.indd 1 25.07.13 07:48

Jaeger_LeCoultre_DPS-ad_480x330.indd 1 09/08/2013 15:14

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00/24 watchworld14

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AND THE WINNER IS...Discover the winners of the 00/24 European Watch of the Year Awards 2013 on page 34!

Foreword

the sea of luxury on which the watch industry floats generates unpredictable waves. “Don’t capsize and go with the flow” has been the motto since the credit crunch of 2008 put an end to bobbing on a calm and

comfortable luxury sea on which navigation was simple for the large luxury houses. According to the economist Noreena Hertz the credit crisis put an end to the “Gucci capitalism”. Rash borrowing to be able to wallow in luxury rather than sensibly and cautiously making a durable purchase, that’s how she describes the period leading up to the major financial crisis of 2008. Until the moment

the banks collapsed, wasteful greed reigned without depth. Since then we have seen the start of a new era. An era in which the consequences of the crisis continue to be felt because the crisis still generates high waves, but it is also an era in which, to leeward, a period of reconsideration has started.The keyword at the start of this challenging juncture could be “relevance”. This relevance applies to many aspects. Sustainability

when it comes to energy consumption, the consumption of food or waste processing, but in the area of luxury, too, the question whether something is relevant is definitely being posed. In this day and age luxury no longer stands for a superficial logo or the short-term satisfaction of a whim; no, the kind of luxury that is being experienced today goes deeper, has quality and is therefore truly experienced and felt. The most recent development is the quest for uniqueness. Luxury products are being adapted to the wishes of a consumer to enable an even more personal experiencing of luxury. Some watch brands offer the customer the option to use an online configurator to tailor certain parts of the watch to their own tastes. This way, quality is experienced increasingly intensely and intima-tely. Luxury as an actual enhancement of life will never disappear.

New-style enhancement

Grande Seconde Quantième, ref. J007030245Côtes de Genève dial and blue opaline flange.Stainless steel case. Self-winding mechanical movement.Power reserve of 68 hours.WWW.JAQUET-DROZ.COM

In 1784, the groundbreaking Pierre Jaquet-Droz established Geneva’s first ever watchmaking factory.

JD_Corp_00_24_Wacth_World_August_2013_UK.indd 1 29.07.2013 15:31:56

WatchWorld00/24

10506-1301-1001

International editor-in-chiefLex Stolk

International editorial supervisorHarry H.R. Wijnschenk

Publisher UKNick Edgley

p +44 (0)1795 520 299 | m +44 (0)777 470 3491e [email protected]

Editor UKTimothy Barber

e [email protected]

Contributing editorsAlex Doax

Kristian Haagendr. Jan C. Hubert (technical editor)

Karel HubertBritta Rossander

Ellen Stoffels

BloggersKristian Haagen

Karel Hubert

TranslationsHarald European Translation Partners

www.harald.nl

Art direction and graphic designNextdoor Design, Almere (The Netherlands)

Michel Pleiter

Production managementSandy Hoogendijk

Digital mediaMarco Postma

MarketingSandy Hoogendijk

Public RelationsAnnet C. Hoveling

Founding editor & founding publisherKarel Hubert & Harry H.R. Wijnschenk

ISSN: 1567-6714

Editorial office00/24 WatchWorld

Musicalstraat 34 | 1323 VP Almere (The Netherlands)p +31 (0)36 546 01 55 | f +31 (0)36 546 01 50

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Digital subscription00/24 WatchWorld is also available via

Zinio.com, Google Play Store and the App Store

International watch magazines00/24 Horloges in the Netherlands and Belgium

00/24 WatchWorld in Scandinavia(Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland)

CoverBreguet Classique Chronométrie 7727

Read more about it on page 35.

is A PUBLicAtioN of MotoMAX MeDiA B.v.Musicalstraat 34 | 1323 VP Almere (The Netherlands)

p +31 (0)36 546 01 55 | f +31 (0)36 546 01 50e [email protected] | i www.motomax.nl

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MotoMax Media B.V. is a solar powered company. Our magazines are CO2 neutrally produced, using 100% vegetable inks and environmental friendly paper.All rights reserved. No unauthorised reproduction permitted, without written permission of the publisher. Copyright © 2013 MotoMax Media B.V.

Grande Seconde Quantième, ref. J007030245Côtes de Genève dial and blue opaline flange.Stainless steel case. Self-winding mechanical movement.Power reserve of 68 hours.WWW.JAQUET-DROZ.COM

In 1784, the groundbreaking Pierre Jaquet-Droz established Geneva’s first ever watchmaking factory.

JD_Corp_00_24_Wacth_World_August_2013_UK.indd 1 29.07.2013 15:31:56

00/24 watchworld18

A MOMENT IN TIME By Ellen Stoffels, picture Rolex/Jad Sherif

The Canadian Grand Prix took place on 9 June at the Gilles-Villeneuve race track in Montreal

00/24 watchworld 19

The besT of boTh worldsFormula One has crowned itself (if you will) with the famous gold Rolex logo. From the current season the Rolex crown has been in place above the start-finish line of all Formula One Grand Prix races, and therefore on legendary race tracks like the Monaco street circuit, Silverstone in England, Spa in Belgium, Monza in Italy and Suzuka in Japan. Rolex’s sponsorship of Formula One racing, which started earlier this year, crystallises the historic relationship between Rolex and motor racing. Racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart has long been a faithful ambassador of the brand, and the Daytona 500 has been sponsored by Rolex since the 1950s. Half a century ago, the latter race gave rise to arguably the most famous chronograph ever, the Cosmograph Daytona. Rolex and Formula 1 – they really were made for each other.

SMALL SECONDS

The world’s firsT aTomic pockeT waTch

carTier squares up with another new Tank

On April 27 this year the British watchmaker Simon Michlmayr (Meridian Watches) received the following text, from London-based scientist Richard Hoptroff: “Dear Simon, forgive the intrusion at the weekend, but I have no-one else to share this with. In my lab in London there is a LED on a circuit board flashing at one pulse per second. With an accuracy of 50 parts per million (5e-11). The atomic clock has started ticking. RH”You’d assume this kind of thing doesn’t happen anymore. In a makeshift workshop in a crumbling Victorian warehouse on Clink Street in Southwark – the site of London’s once-famous Clink prison – Hoptroff, a 46-year-old physics PHD and serial tech entrepreneur, has invented the world’s first atomic pocket watch. Working alone at a desk heaped with watchmaking books, tools and micro-engineering ephemera, in a garret he shares with a couple of artists,

Hoptroff has delivered the most accurate portable timepiece in history. By a very wide margin.“It’s accurate to within 1.5 seconds every thousand years, making it the most accurate watch in the world by a factor of some 5,000 – so we’re not just beating the Swiss, we’re hammering them,” he says.The watch, called the No 10, contains a caesium gas chamber inside a tiny temperature-controlled oven, and a microwave resonator reading atomic transitions in order to measure time. The finished watch, in a limited edition of 12, will carry over 30 complications.The No 10 is in fact the vanguard piece for a brand of highly-sophisticated quartz watches Hoptroff is launching under his own name. These classically-styled watches – Hoptroff is heavily influenced by the designs of George

Daniels – have analogue displays with functions ranging from weather forecasting to stock market monitoring, thanks to in-built Bluetooth tech, and cost between £1,500 and £5,000. The No 10 will be priced considerably higher.www.hoptroff.com

After last year’s chunky Tank Anglaise and slimline Tank Louis Cartier, Cartier has now announced another addition to its most famous watch family, the Tank MC. This model contains the brand’s in-house movement, the self-winding 1904 MC, and presents a squarer version of the famous rectangular design, with a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. It comes in skeleto-nised palladium (left), pink gold (middle) or steel (right), while there is also naturally a diamond-set version available. See our in-depth feature on Cartier’s Fine Watch-making department on page 88.www.cartier.com

invented in london

00/24 watchworld20

TaG heuer’s Continuing TAG Heuer’s series of high-frequency chronographs containing radical new technologies, the MikropendulumS combines the magnetic escapement of 2010’s Pendulum concept watch with the dual tourbillon idea from last year’s MikrotourbillonS. The Pendulum invention replaces the traditional hairspring with a magnetic oscillator that moves the balance wheel at a low amplitude and high frequency, with no loss of amplitude due to gravity. The MikropendulumS concept

watch delivers two tourbillons driven by the Pendulum system – one for timekeeping, one for the chronograph – including the

fastest tourbillon ever created. www.tagheuer.com

mikropendulums explained

One-hour chronograph power reserve display.

Case made from a chrome and cobalt alloy, normally used in aviation and surgical instruments.

1/100th of a second scale on the flange.

1/100th of a second hand, rotating once a second when the chronograph is activated.

Magnetic pendulum tourbillon for the chronograph, rotating 12 times per minute at 50Hz, with a 60-minute power reserve.

Magnetic pendulum tourbillon for time-keeping, rotating three times per minute at 12Hz, with a 24-hour power reserve.

A remarkable, titanium-cased version of Patek Philippe’s Ref. 5004 perpetual calendar chronograph and the very Richard Mille watch controversially worn by the Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake while competing in last year’s Olympics (sweat-stained strap and all) were expected to be the star lots at this year’s Only Watch auction as 00/24 WatchWorld went to press. The auction puts one-off versions of watches from some of the world’s most prestigious houses on the block, to raise money for research into muscular dystrophy. The top lot at the last Only Watch auction, in 2011, was a steel version of Patek Philippe’s Ref. 3939 minute repeater tourbillon, which went for £1.4 million. The Geneva maison will have been looking to top that with this year’s rather macho, black-and-red version of the Ref. 5004. The auction, that took place on 28 September in Monaco, also included unique watches from Christophe Claret, Backes & Strauss, Bell & Ross, Zenith, Montblanc, Roger Dubuis and many other brands. Be sure to check www.0024watchworld.com for the results. www.onlywatch.com

can patek beat its own record at only watch?

00/24 watchworld 21

with ultra-thin high complications.

kicksTarTinG a new watch brandKickstarter, the crowdfunding website that has lately been the launch pad for films, albums and small companies, is being tested as a potential funding base for luxury watch brands too. Oliver Ike, the founder of the modernist Ikepod watch brand, launched a new brand (well, a revived version of a defunct Italian firm founded in 1888), A. Manzoni & Fils, on Kickstarter.Ike was looking for a rather ambitious US $850,000 sum to be raised over 45 days, and fell a long way short, raising just $139,865 of that, or 16% of the total. However, far from being downcast, Ike announced an extension of the

ViTal siGns as measured by longinesIf you know any about-to-graduate medical students, this might be the watch to send them on their doctoring way. The Asthometer-Pulsometer, based on a watch from 1963, measures heart rate and respiration, with a red scale for the heart reading and a blue scale for the respiration. Medical applications aside, it’s a smart, quirky retro chronograph, interestingly with the same 38mm dimensions as the original, that continues the Saint Imier maison’s admirable use of its archives to inspire vintage-style watches that offer something a little out of the ordinary. www.longines.com

wat c h e s

funding campaign, until October 23, while also bringing in further venture capital players. What’s beyond question is the handsomeness of the Canopus Weekplanner watch the compa-ny will produce, a funky retro-modern number with a Soprod movement with a Dubois Dépraz

calendar module and moon phase – a watch priced at around US $15,000, but available for a $5,000 Kickstarter pledge. Watch this space.www.kickstarter.comwww.amanzoni.com

Graff MasterGraff Ultra Flat Tourbillon

(3.5mm / 6.95mm cased)

breguetClassique Tourbillon

Extra-Thin (3mm / 7mm cased)

Arnold & sonUtte (2.97mm / 8.34mm cased)


Arnold & sonbreguet Jaeger-leCoultreMaster Ultra Thin Perpetual(4.72mm / 9.2mm cased)

Jaeger-leCoultre


Graff MasterGraff

with ultra-thin high complications.with ultra-thin high complications.4

everything about the world of waTch crafTFor the sixth year in a row, the Stockholm-based jeweller Nymans Ur 1851 has released its impressive magazine. Watch out Magazine (English language) is a 108-paged magazine that gives you a complete overview with the lat-est watch and jewellery collections. Beautiful photography

made by renowned Swe-dish photographers like Frederick Lieberath and Martin Vallin take you to the world of watch crafts. Watchout is distri-buted by the Nymans Ur boutique (in Stockholm and Västerås) and is available online.www.watchoutmag.se

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Patrimony Traditionnelle Calibre 2755

Now in London37 Old Bond Street London Telephone 0207 578-9500

STUDIO:Vacheron:2013:Vacheron:10913292.11380_VAC_NowInLondon_WatchWorld_330x240:11380_VAC_NowInLondon_WatchWorld_330x240ARTWORK

21 August 2013 4:07 PM

Watch World

330x240mmPMS

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Becks and Travolta open BreiTlinG’s london shop

The British School of Watchmaking in Manchester is seeking a General Manager to administrate it on behalf of its founders as it continues to grow. The school, an official partner of the presti-gious WOSTEP school in Switzerland, is financed by brands and retailers including Patek Philippe, Rolex, Richemont Group, Swatch Group, Aurum, Signet Group, Wempe and David M Robinson. It provides a two-year, full time course in high-level watchmaking, with its graduates going on to prestigious watchmaking positions around the world.The General Manager is required to support the tutors and the Board of Directors in leading a world-class educational facility, to manage the school on a day-to-day basis and to oversee the continual development of its courses, policies and procedures. Skills in leadership, budgeting, organisation, logistics and contract negotiation are considered more important to the GM role than actual horological experience. Any interested parties should email [email protected].

Gm sought for BriTish school of waTchmakinG

nomos waTches to support docTors wiThouT Borders

Bond Street came to a standstill in June when Hollywood megastar John Travolta and recently-appointed brand ambassador David Beckham showed up for the opening of the brand’s debut London shop. Accomplished pilot Travolta sported a blue Navitimer while Beckham opted for a Transocean Chronograph Unitime in pink gold for the opening of the 2,700 square foot boutique, the biggest single-brand watch shop on Bond Street. The shop, over two floors with its own in-house servicing workshop, is an explosion of colour and smart design, with Pop Art works by artist Kevin Kelly, aeroplane models, and every conceivable Breitling watch including a few boutique-only editions.130 New Bond Street, W1S 2TAwww.breitling.com

Nomos Glashütte has launched limited edition versions of its Tangente watch for the UK market to support the international medical aid charity Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The watches, limited to 1,000 each in two sizes, 33mm (£1,220) and 35mm (£1,350) are recognizable for a red “12” (red being the hallmark colour of the Nobel Prize-winning charity) and a “Doctors Without Borders” inscription at the foot of the dial. £100 from the sale of each watch will be donated to the charity, which delivers emergency aid in some of the most troubled and dangerous areas around the world. www.nomos-glashuette.com

00/24 watchworld24

SMALL SECONDS

Becks and Travolta open BreiTlinG’s london shop

ARTIST IMPRESSION

Stéphanie Guglielmetti’s roots lie in the Jura region. She used to design dials for a number of Swiss and French watch brands but these days, instead of recording the time, she dismantles it by combining individual movement components into a ‘hanging mobile’. “A movement forces an awareness of time on us and continually reminds us that time flies. So the purpose of my work is to liberate time. I want to put the brakes on our high-speed lives. I like to use the very minutest components, but also things like hands, which I have used in this hanging mobile called ‘Les Aiguilleuses’. I use around twenty components to make one of these small mobiles, whereas big versions may have more than 1,500, each hand-painted with black paint. I attach the components to nylon filament so they appear to be floating in the air. The time path, formed by the filaments of the hanging mobile, chooses its own direction so the components cast beautiful shadows on the white background. I would call it a form of calligraphy.”

www.stephanie-guglielmetti.com

Stéphanie Guglielmetti’s roots lie in

timeliBeraTe

00/24 watchworld26

170 New Bond Street, London W1S 4RB 020 7290 6500 www.marcuswatches.co.uk

By Ellen Stoffels

liBeraTe

170 New Bond Street, London W1S 4RB 020 7290 6500 www.marcuswatches.co.uk

By Ellen Stoffels, picture ChopardRETROSPECTIVE

00/24 watchworld28

00/24 WatchWorld looks back to the past, when famous

watch models first appeared, by dusting off their original

advertising campaigns. First off, we take you to 1976,

when Chopard unveiled the Happy Diamonds.

B ack in the early 1970s, Chopard designer Ronald Kurowski was walking in Germany’s Black Forest, when he had an idea. So the story

goes, as Kurowski marvelled at the sight of a waterfall and the reflected sunlight and shim-mering rainbow colours, inspiration struck him: unset diamonds that could enjoy total freedom of movement, unfettered by any metal setting whatsoever. This idea gave rise to the Happy Diamonds, and Chopard’s somewhat cheesy refrain, “Diamonds are happiest when they are free”. Extraordinarily, this was originally conceived as an idea for men (well this was the Seventies). The first Happy Diamonds watches came with an onyx base, with two sapphire crystal plates containing the moving diamonds between them. The first watch was unveiled in 1976, followed by an advertising campaign that Chopard used from December 1976 until March 1977. Later, it was such a success that Chopard decided to protect it by means of an interna-tional patent. Eventually Chopard came to its senses and designed ladies watches with the Happy Diamonds concept, which it continues to do today.

Chopard’s Happy Diamonds

A trip down memory lane

00/24 watchworld 29

00/24 MARKET SCAN By Lex Stolk

What is the most classical-looking complication?

Perhaps, in our humble opinion, the moon phase.

Thanks to Chronolytics we can see which references

with the age-old moon face are the most sought-

after in 2013. We saw our assumptions confirmed

and received some surprises too.

00/24 watchworld30

brands shineClassic

What is the most popular moon phase watch?

Presenting theWATCH OF THE YEAR

In June, the 00/24 European Watch of the Year jury

gathered at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel in

Knightsbridge to judge the finest watches of the

previous year. It’s fair to say there were several surprises

and plenty of hearty, full-blooded discussions, as the

watches, in six categories, were brought before the jury

one by one. Factors including aesthetics, finishing,

engineering, innovation and value were hotly delivered

as final decisions were reached.

Pictures Micha Theiner

00/24 watchworld32

winners of the

Sid Vasili

Andrea van Steijn

Olof Larsson and Lex Stolk

Samia Bishay and Ian Garrard (Parmigiani), Nick Edgley (00/24)

Nick de Wilton (Vacheron Constantin)

00/24 watchworld 33

Discover the winners of the 00/24 European Watch of the Year Awards 2013!

Peter Miller (Patek Philippe), Giuseppe

Ferro (Frédérique Constant, Valbray),

Lisette van Gent (00/24)

Matthieu Haverlan (Jaeger-LeCoultre)

Rob Diver (TAG Heuer)

Daniel McNutt (Zenith)

Harry Wijnschenk

Jean-Baptiste Maillard

(Chopard)

Maurice Doppert and Daniël Reintjes

(Christiaan van der Klaauw)

Nick de Wilton (Vacheron Constantin)

Johannes Jahnke and Christopher Ward

Mark Blundell and Paul Westwater

(Laurent Ferrier)

Andrew Hildreth, Davide Cerrato (Tudor)

The opening category came down to a classic watch industry con-test: a small player with an ingenious idea versus a major brand with a particularly special watch. In the red corner: Christopher Ward, with its monopusher chronograph, that offers superb value on a complex, well-presented mechanism. In the blue: Tudor, with its dive watch that some have declared a retro-modern classic. For its finishing and design, Tudor won on points.

Once again, a closely fought category in which value for money was everything. On that front, Frédérique Constant has made its name offering rare value for in-house movements, while the finishing and design complexity of Bulgari’s watch was beyond question. Zenith’s Doublematic, however, took the judges by sur-prise. What can in pictures look over-complicated is, on the wrist, a satisfying, stimulating watch with 439 parts.

winner: Tudor Heritage Black Bay

Case: 41mm, steelMovement: Modified ETA 2824-2,

automaticPower reserve: 38 hours

Functions: Diving watch to 200mPrice: £2,035

www.tudorwatch.com

winner: Zenith Pilot Doublematic

Case: 45mm, steelMovement: El Primero 4046, automatic

Power reserve: 50 hoursFunctions: Chronograph, large date,

alarm, alarm power reserve, world timerPrice: £9,500

www.zenith-watches.com

00/24 watchworld34

Shortlist

Ball Watch – Fireman Racer DLCChristopher Ward – C900 Harrison

Single Pusher ChronographMontblanc – TimeWalker Voyager UTC

Tudor – Heritage Black Bay

Shortlist

Bulgari – OctoFrédérique Constant – Classics

Manufacture WorldtimerMaurice Lacroix – Pontos SZenith – Pilot Doublematic

Category 1Up to £2,500

Category 2£2,500 to £10,000

WATCH OF THE YEAR

Three highly contrasting watches made up this category. In Valbray’s case, there is the “diaphragm” effect in which the dial of the watch peels back to reveal the movement beneath. Patek Philippe’s Nautilus, of course, is a modern icon that speaks for itself. But Chopard’s high-frequency piece, the first 8Hz chrono-meter, was a clear winner, being the equal of its peers for quality and beauty, but in a class apart for innovation.

For the second time in the competition, a high-frequency watch – this time at 10Hz – won the day. The remarkable thing about the Chronométrie, however, is the use of magnets inside the move-ment, as a way aiding the stability of the balance and therefore the performance of the movement. Rather than concentrat ing on high complications, Breguet has innovated in the context of a sim-ple timekeeper, and at a reasonable price point for this category.

Category 3£10,000 to £25,000

Category 4£25,000 to £100,000

winner: Chopard L.U.C 8HF

Case: 42mm, titaniumMovement: L.U.C 01.06-L, automatic

Power reserve: 60 hoursFunctions: 8Hz movement with silicon

escapement and chronometer certificationPrice: £12,780

www.chopard.com

winner: Breguet Classique Chronométrie 7727

Case: 41mm, rose goldMovement: Calibre 574 DR, mechanical

Power reserve: 60 hoursFunctions: 10Hz frequency, parachute,

power reserve, 10th of a second indicatorPrice: £28,900

www.breguet.com

Shortlist

Chopard – L.U.C 8HFPatek Philippe – Nautilus

Valbray – Oculus V.01 Chrono - Argentique

Shortlist

A. Lange & Söhne – Datograph Up/DownBreguet – Classique Chronométrie 7727

Christiaan van der Klaauw – Real Moon JoureIWC – Spitfire Perpetual

Calendar Digital Date-Month

£10,000 to £25,000

00/24 watchworld 35

00/24 watchworld36

This was easily the most controversial category, with each watch backed by various judges at different points in the discussion. Vacheron Constantin’s 14-day tourbillon is a formidable achieve-ment and an exquisite watch; TAG Heuer’s MikrotourbillonS a groundbreaking work of complex horology. Laurent Ferrier’s two-spring tourbillon slayed the judges with its painstaking exhibi-tion of the watchmaking craft. But it was Jaeger-LeCoultre’s latest take on the multi-axis tourbillon that finally won out.

The diamonds were on display in force as the ladies’ watches were presented, with two pieces – Piaget’s Précieuse Exception-al Cuff, and Cartier’s Promenade d’une Panthère – giving ample demonstration of their respective producers’ jewellery suprema-cy. The simple beauty of Parmigiani’s piece – a watch adaptable for dressy or every-day occasions – matched with its horological excellence including a free-sprung balance and micro-rotor, saw it declared the winner.

winner: Jaeger-LeCoultre Duomètre à sphérotourbillon

Case: 42mm, pink goldMovement: Calibre 382, mechanical

Power reserve: 50 hoursFunctions: Flyback seconds, date, 24-hour reference or second time zone, tourbillon,

twin power reservePrice: On application

www.jaeger-lecoultre.com

winner: Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda 1950 set

Case: 39mm, white goldMovement: PF701, automatic

Power reserve: 42 hoursFunctions: Central hours and minutes,

small seconds at 6 o’clockPrice: £17,700

www.parmigiani.ch

Shortlist

Jaeger-LeCoultre – Duomètre à Sphérotourbillon

Laurent Ferrier – Galet Classic Tourbillon Double Balance Spring

TAG Heuer – Carrera MikrotourbillonSVacheron Constantin – Patrimony

Traditionelle 14-day Tourbillon

Shortlist

Audemars Piguet – Royal Oak Chronograph

Cartier – Promenade d’une Panthère watch

Parmigiani Fleurier – Tonda 1950 SetPiaget – Limelight Couture Précieuse

Exceptional Cuff watch

winner: Jaeger-LeCoultre Duomètre

Category 5£100,000 and up

Category 6Women’s watches

WATCH OF THE YEAR

la montre hermès tames time, mastering its measurement.

one press on the pushbutton and the chronograph’s second hand starts moving,

the counter hands hot on its heels. beneath the dial ticks the steady beat of the manufacture

h1925 mechanical movement, embodiment of the house’s high standards.

precision and elegance meet and merge, reminding us that each second is truly unique.

dressage

hermès. time reinvented.

Hermes.com

LMH_HQ • Visual: Dressage Chrono • Magazine: 0024 WatchWorld (NL) • Language: English • Doc size: 240 x 330 mm • Calitho #: 07-13-88476 • AOS #: HER_00826 • EB 12.7.2013

la montre hermès tames time, mastering its measurement.

one press on the pushbutton and the chronograph’s second hand starts moving,

the counter hands hot on its heels. beneath the dial ticks the steady beat of the manufacture

h1925 mechanical movement, embodiment of the house’s high standards.

precision and elegance meet and merge, reminding us that each second is truly unique.

dressage

hermès. time reinvented.

Hermes.com

LMH_HQ • Visual: Dressage Chrono • Magazine: 0024 WatchWorld (NL) • Language: English • Doc size: 240 x 330 mm • Calitho #: 07-13-88476 • AOS #: HER_00826 • EB 12.7.2013

The MikrotourbillonS combines revolution-ary technology with the most venerable watch complication. It contains two tourbillons, one for timekeeping and one for its high-frequency chronograph. The latter is the fastest tourbillon in the world, making a rotation every five sec-onds that ensures chronometer accuracy while the chronograph is running.

For years Laurent Ferrier oversaw watchmaking at Patek Philippe. Now his team produces watches that are as discrete as they are exquisitely craft-ed and ingeniously conceived. The Galet Clas-sic Tourbillon, with two balance springs and chronometer certification, is an achievement of meticulous classical skill and modern innovation.

Thousands of readers of our magazines and of the London business newspaper City A.M. vot-ed online to decide which watch would win the Reader’s Award. After a close vote, the final win-ner was the Maurice Lacroix Pontos S, a diving watch with a 12-hour chrono graph and an inner rotating bezel for elapsed time controlled by a stop/start push-button.

Technology Award

Arts & Crafts Award

Reader’s Award

winner: TAG Heuer Carrera Mikrotourbillons

winner: Laurent Ferrier Galet Classic Tourbillon Double Balance spring

winner: Maurice Lacroix Pontos s

00/24 watchworld38

This year the judges had the opportunity to award two

special awards, one for Technical Innovation and the

other for Watchmaking Artistry, if they so chose. In the

end, while Jaeger-LeCoultre was awarded the prize in

the blue riband category, the judges felt two other

watches were strongly deserving of recognition.

special awards

WATCH OF THE YEAR

Case: 45mm, titaniumMovement: MikrotourbillonSPower reserve: 45 hours (watch), 60 minutes (chronograph)Functions: Hours, minutes, central hand 1/100th of a second, chronograph, double tourbillonPrice: £185,000www.tagheuer.com

Case: 41mm, rose goldMovement: Calibre 916.01, hand-woundPower reserve: 80 hoursFunctions: Hours, minutes, small seconds at 6 o’clock, tourbillonPrice: £137,600www.laurentferrier.ch

Case: 43mm, steelMovement: ML157 (based on a Valjoux 7753), automaticPower reserve: 46 hoursFunctions: Hours, minutes, small seconds at 9 o’clock, chronograph, datePrice: £3,280www.mauricelacroix.com

Hours, minutes, small seconds

BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY

*Spron is a registered trademark of Seiko Instruments Inc.　

d e d i c a t e d t o p e r f e c t i o n

the pure essentials of watchmaking,elevated to the level of art.

GRAND SEIKO. With our unique Spron* 530 alloy for the mainspring, the Grand Seiko Hi-Beat 36000 delivers

precision of -3 to +5 seconds a day with a power reserve of 55 hours. It is a masterpiece of traditional craftsmanship

from Grand Seiko, where the pure essentials of watchmaking are elevated to the level of art. grand-seiko.com

*Spron is a registered trademark of Seiko Instruments Inc.　

d e d i c a t e d t o p e r f e c t i o n

the pure essentials of watchmaking,elevated to the level of art.

GRAND SEIKO. With our unique Spron* 530 alloy for the mainspring, the Grand Seiko Hi-Beat 36000 delivers

precision of -3 to +5 seconds a day with a power reserve of 55 hours. It is a masterpiece of traditional craftsmanship

from Grand Seiko, where the pure essentials of watchmaking are elevated to the level of art. grand-seiko.com

INTERVIEW

On the 30th anniversary of the first Swatch watch, Swatch

Group CEO Nick Hayek Jr talks exclusively to 00/24

WatchWorld about why the radical new Sistem 51 should point

the way forward for the watch industry as a whole.

Nick Hayek’s radical change of course

the market”

“Innovate to re-conquer

Swatch Sistem 51

00/24 watchworld40

n ick Hayek Jr grins through a thick cloud of cigar smoke as he recounts his own experiences of the advent of the Swatch watch

30 years ago.“I was the victim of a paradigm shift, in a good way. My parents gave me an Omega Moon Watch when I was 16, which I wore always. And then Swatch appeared [Hayek Jr was working in the film industry at the time], and I started to put the Omega away and to put these watches on. You’d get addicted to this. From time to time I’d still wear the Speedmaster, but I’d change it for these other watches, every day something different.”As Hayek points out, the chopping and changing that has remained a part of the Swatch proposition – the word means “Second Watch”, not “Swiss Watch” as some assume – was only possible because of the watch’s low price point. Disposability, fun and fashion: vulgar notions in Switzerland’s luxury watch industry, which nevertheless defined the watch that rescued that industry from oblivion.

RevolutionThat great irony of the modern watch business is growing more complex. The Swatch, the cheapo quartz ticker whose success enabled Hayek’s father, Nicholas G. Hayek, to pile investment into failing high-end brands, is going mechanical – and in a most radical way, that arguably calls into question the premiums we pay for luxury watches.There have been a few mechanical Swatches in the past, of course, using versions of ETA movements. But Sistem 51, the new Swatch announced at Basel this year marking the 30th anniversary of the brand, is something entirely different, featuring an automatic movement that is made entirely by robots in 20 minutes flat. It is held together by a single central screw, with a modular structure containing just 51 components – about half what you’d find in a normal, basic movement. Its accuracy of around five seconds a day is comparable with a standard ETA 2824, while its 90-hour power reserve more than doubles the ETA tractor’s normal capability. It’s intended to run for 20 years with no servicing required, and will cost between £70-£130.“We want to sell millions of these,” Hayek says, noting that changes in the consumer market place have made the idea of a super-cheap, plastic mechanical watch viable. “The more mobile devices have come in, which indicate time very accurately, the more mechanical watches have become popular, even though they’re much less precise.

The majority of people who buy Swatch watches are making a spontaneous buy, but they want to know more and more about it technically. People want a product without a battery, that is environmentally friendly, that uses fewer pieces – mechanical has become a real sales argument.”

The monopoly questionTalking of arguments, Swatch Group is seen by many as the antagonist in the dispute that has beset the industry in recent years. To recap, the company, formed by Hayek Senior in the early 1980s out of two bankrupt groups of Swiss brands, includes in its roster ETA, the industry’s principal supplier of movements. Such is ETA’s dominance of movement supply that Swatch Group finds itself in the peculiar position of supplying its competitors, particularly at the volume end of the market, while also having to enter into complex regulatory agreements. So it has decided to gradually cut back its supply, a strategy that is now leading to various consolidation moves within the industry and threatening the viability of smaller independent brands.Hayek believes that the industry has forgotten the original lesson of the Swatch watch: that the mass market, and the

Nick Hayek Jr presented the Sistem 51 during BaselWorld 2013

00/24 watchworld 41

profits and manufacturing base that come with it, should provide the bedrock on which to establish the high-end.“The current situation is a monopoly against our will. People say we’re monopolists, but years ago no one wanted to work with ETA or Nivarox [Swatch Group’s equally dominant supplier of hairsprings], no one wanted to know. Now we tell people, and also the cartel commission who try to help us: you big groups must invest yourself. Nobody has told the big groups that they should not enter a segment like Tissot or even like Swatch. Longines made more operating income than the whole LVMH watches and jewellery division last year – so why are these groups, when they say they need volumes to make it profitable, not investing?”

The Swatch legacySistem 51, he says, is not just a radical new move in volume watch manufacturing: it’s a demonstration of what can be done to innovate the mass market.“It’s important to show that in the lower market segment you can have high performance, high quality and innovation in mechanical watchmaking,” he explains. “We needed to do something that was innovative in its performance, in its use of materials, in using fewer components meaning higher quality, and in its production also. Brands say ‘this costs too much, it makes the watch too expensive.’ We say that’s not true, you can do it.”That’s easy to say, of course, when you have the resources of the Swatch Group at your disposal, however such an amalgamation of brands, technology and know-how was originally built. But as Hayek points out, by championing the Swatch his father made just such an investment in low-end innovation, at a time when the industry was all but bankrupt. Sistem 51 is a natural extension of that legacy.“He knew that in the crisis the Swiss watch industry had no innovation any more, they could only increase prices because their watches were expensive things anyway, they just added gold and offered little substance to the consumer,” Hayek Jr says. “He knew that if an industry was to survive you must re-conquer the lower markets again, you must own the base of the pyramid.”

Swatch Keith Haring (1986)

Swatch Kiki Picasso (1985)

Swatch Agatha Ruiz de la Prada (1998)

Swatch Gent (1983)

Swatch Kidrobot by Jeremyville (2011)

Swatch Annie Leibovitz (1996)

00/24 watchworld42

INTERVIEW

Zenith_HQ • Visual: Pilot • Magazine: 0024 (UK) • Language: English • Issue: 4.9.2013Doc size: 240 x 330 mm • Calitho #: 08-13-89858 • AOS #: ZEN_06011 • TS 30.8.2013

P I L O T B I G D AT E S P E C I A L

Manufacture Zenith has consistently accompanied aviation pioneers by offering

them onboard instruments and timepieces to match their accomplishments. Powered

by the legendary El Primero movement, this model provides a large date display

and superluminova-enhanced hour-markers. Heir to the very fi rst high-frequency

automatic column-wheel chronograph, it perpetuates the brand’s unassailable

reputation.

F O L L O W Y O U R O W N S T A R

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Zenith_HQ • Visual: Pilot • Magazine: 0024 (UK) • Language: English • Issue: 4.9.2013Doc size: 240 x 330 mm • Calitho #: 08-13-89858 • AOS #: ZEN_06011 • TS 30.8.2013

P I L O T B I G D AT E S P E C I A L

Manufacture Zenith has consistently accompanied aviation pioneers by offering

them onboard instruments and timepieces to match their accomplishments. Powered

by the legendary El Primero movement, this model provides a large date display

and superluminova-enhanced hour-markers. Heir to the very fi rst high-frequency

automatic column-wheel chronograph, it perpetuates the brand’s unassailable

reputation.

F O L L O W Y O U R O W N S T A RW

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REPORT

The

The past 18 months has seen a surge in one

watch genre more than any other: the world

timer. While a second time zone is a bonus, the

world time function, displaying multiple times

around the world all at once, is turning out to

be the complication for our times.

ouTlookouTlook

Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Worldtimer

Marc Gläser, CEO Maurice Lacroix

00/24 watchworld44

global

harsh financial climate they don’t necessarily want to stump up for a chronograph. A world timer offers that recherché, man-of-the-world sense of sophistication one gets from a chrono, but with rather less complexity and at lower cost. Of course, when the two come together, as with Breitling’s Unitime watches, Girard-Per-regaux’s immaculate WW.TC watches or Zenith’s multi-functional, 00/24 European Watch of the Year-winning Doublematic, then you’re talking Power Traveller. Sir, you’re travelling in First Class today.It may be the modern complication du jour, but there’s another attraction to the world timer, and that’s its rather retro sense of cool – a characteris-tic that also meets the recession zeitgeist. Vacheron Constantin arguably kicked off the craze, if we’ll allow it that title for a moment, in 2011 with the unveiling of its sensational Patrimony Traditionelle World Time, which not only told the time in no fewer than 37 time zones, but did so with an unimpeachable sense of old-school style.

Retro vs. modernThe retro theme is noticeable in a large number of contemporary world timers. Frédérique Con-stant’s Classics Manufacture number (nomina-ted for a 00/24 European Watch of the Year 2013

Back to the BeginningThe world time function was invented in the 1930s, just as the age of passenger aviation was (literally) get-ting off the ground. The Genevan watchmaker Louis Cottier came up with the idea of rotating city and 12-hour discs to display the hour across multiple time zones, with the names of cities in each zone arran-ged neatly around the periphery of the dial. Though he worked with a number of watch firms, it’s Patek Philippe with which he became most associated, and Patek’s world timers still carry the circular hour hand that was part of Cottier’s design.

award) and Baume & Mercier’s brand new Capeland Worldtimer, on the market this autumn, are examples of watches that recall the glamour of 1950s travel. Even Tissot, who one would normally associate with more contem-porary looks, has marked its 160th anniversary this year with a re-edition of its much sought-after Heritage Navigator Automatic, originally launched in 1953 (a couple of years after another classic of the era, Breitling’s original Unitime).Of course, you don’t have to go retro. Montblanc, for instance, decided to put the world timer into its modern-styled TimeWalker line – though it has added a GMT with a city ring (so it looks like a world timer) to its more heritage-themed Star collection too. Richard Mille’s humungous lump of haute horlogerie excess, the RM 58-01 World Timer Jean Todt, meanwhile, puts the genre firmly in the gaze of the private jet-set.“A watch is much more than the time, it’s a statement about your personality, your taste, the way you want to be perceived, about how you view yourself,” says Marc Gläser. “The world timer is making a statement that you have a global perspective, you think internationally, are engaged with the world. It’s a strong statement because people will ask why you have a world timer, whereas no one will ask you why you have a chronograph.”

that was part of Cottier’s design.

Here’s a little rule of thumb that watch journalists probably tend to follow rather too closely: once is unique; two is coincidence; three

is a trend. But if three is a trend, what do you call 20? A craze, perhaps?That is the number of brands we can count off the top of our head who have added to their col-lections a world timer – a watch telling you the time in all 24 time zones (or thereabouts) at once – in the last two years. The list ranges from Seiko to Richard Mille, besides those who already had world timers and have brought new versions, while many more have added GMTs. But why?“First of all, the second time zone or world timer is actually very useful as a function, and you can’t say that about all complications,” says Maurice Lacroix CEO Marc Gläser, who unveiled the rather outlandish Masterpiece Worldtimer at BaselWorld this year. “Generally it’s questionable how important watch functions are – people buy chronographs now for the aesthetics and emo-tion, not for the timing. But if you’re travelling or need to know the time elsewhere, a world timer is very useful.”

Modest timesThere’s a bit more shrewd business sense based on the fact that any all-conquering trend that occurs during an economic downturn must be linked to that economic downturn. People like watches that offer more sophistication and complexity than mere timekeeping, but in the

Tissot Heritage Navigator Automatic

Baume & Mercier Capeland Worldtimer

Breitling for Bentley Unitime

Montblanc TimeWalker World-Time Hemisphere

Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Worldtimer

00/24 watchworld 45

Patek Philippe Complications World Time, Ref. 5131

IN-DEPTH By Lex Stolk, pictures MeisterSinger

MeisterSinger Paleograph single push-button chronograph

for all and all for

With the new Paleograph the master

of the hushed time has managed to

introduce extra minimisation in

grand style. The single hand

philosophy is now supplemented by

a single crown concept.

OneOne

00/24 watchworld46

MeisterSinger CEO Manfred Brassler is not your typical big boss of a watch house. Whereas CEOs of luxury brands are in-

creasingly behaving like rock stars or gurus who have a monopoly on the absolute truth, Brassler is someone who doesn’t believe in his own myth or that of his brand.“MeisterSinger is a brand of simplicity,” he explains in the company’s head office in the German Münster, “and our DNA is simple. When I started at MeisterSinger the trend was to build increasingly complicated watches. Incredibly difficult to read because of all the frills. As a counter-response I wanted to create something simple and that’s where the single hand watch comes from. To me, simpli-city equals quality. I try to keep my life as simple as possible as well, that way I maintain my quality of life. That is easier said than done, by the way, but it is something I aim for.”In the MeisterSinger collection the characteristic watches with their single hands were joined by more traditional models with hour and minutes hands, but Brassler increasingly leans toward having only watches with that single unique hand. “I have an eclectic nature. I have ideas for a thousand different watches, but ultimately only two or three remain. Whereas others keep adding details, I have become convinced that leaving out more and more unnecessary detail is something that works. Our strength lies in that single hand, in minimalism. This is how the Paleograph came to be: a chronograph with the fewest number of hands possible, and the least possible fuss, and therefore also a single crown for all the functions.”

“Simplicity equals quality”Manfred Brassler,

CEO MeisterSinger

00/24 watchworld 47

IN-DEPTH

Unitas baseThe Paleograph, which is available in two colour schemes, is still based on a minima-list basic concept, but when it comes to its construction it is anything but. Its foundation is a Unitas 6497 hand-wound movement, very spatially and efficiently converted and built by watchmaker Johannes Jahnke into a mechanism with column wheel and in which the operation of the chronograph function has been placed in the crown by means of a single push-button. Eagle-eyed watch enthusiasts will spot a close similarity with the movement of the C900 Harrison monopusher released last year by Christopher Ward (and nominated for the 00/24 European Watch of the Year Awards 2013). It follows the same design by Johannes Jahnke, a gifted young watch designer at Synergies Horloges, the Swiss firm that sup-plies both brands. The MeisterSinger version, however, is more luxuriously finished, with engraved plates and blued steel column wheel, while carrying of course the extra innovation of a single central hand.

Start-stop-reset in oneThe beautifully decorated, three-dimensionally designed MSYN13 movement is beautiful to behold. Everything is expansively arranged under the sapphire crystal case-back. The bridges are robust and strong and the sizeable, steadily ticking balance wheel is a classic piece of watch technology. Of course the word classic also applies to the layout of the dial and the fact that we are dealing with a single push-button chronograph. It wasn’t until the period in between the two World Wars that chrono

MeiSterSinger PaleograPh

Movement: MSYN13, hand-wound, chronograph calibre (based on Unitas 6497) with column wheel construction

Functions: Hour and small seconds indicator, central seconds hand for the chronograph plus minute counter (30 minutes)

Diameter: 43mmCase: Steel with

screwed-in case-backPower reserve: 46 hoursFrequency: 18,000 oscillations per hour

graphs were fitted with a second reset button. Until then a single push-button was used to start, stop and reset the chronograph. In most cases, although not always, this push-button was positioned in the crown of the watch, as is the case with the Paleograph.The single push-button of the chronograph starts a three-phase cycle. The first push starts the time reading (the clutch engages the chro-nograph mechanism and the brake lever relea-ses the central wheel), a second push stops the time reading (the chronograph mechanism is released and the brake lever blocks the central wheel) and a third push resets the seconds and minute hands to zero (the chronograph mecha-nism remains disconnected, but the brake lever releases the central wheel so the central seconds counter and the minute counter jump back to their original position).

MinimalistDuring the meeting with Manfred Brassler at the MeisterSinger head office we had the opportunity to view and try out a prototype of the Paleograph. It may be called an extremely pure watch that goes back to basics. Because of the clear bicompax dial layout, the use of the least possible number of hands and a plain steel case there is nothing to detract from the single push-button theme of the chronograph. But mostly it is the movement that steals the show. Modern, clean lines and colours contrast with a beautifully slow-oscillating balance wheel and a graceful swan’s neck fine adjustment in the classical tradition. Because of the size of the movement and the spacious construction it is a joy to keep pressing the push-button to activate the system of wheels and levers, stop it, reset it to zero and start all over again.Brassler and his team have succeeded in giving the Paleograph a highly recognisable appea-rance with obvious MeisterSinger DNA. “Of course the Paleograph has variations on the basic theme,” explains the CEO who, at age 12, wanted to become a professional pianist and had no interest in watches whatsoever, “but in the same way that a Mini will always look like a Mini, a MeisterSinger will always look like a MeisterSinger.”

00/24 watchworld48

YOUR TIME IS NOW.MAKE A STATEMENT WITH EVERY SECOND.

Pontos S A stylish and modern sports watch powered by an

automatic calibre that is renowned for its chronographic performance. Also features a patented inner-rotating bezel and is water-resistant to an impressive 200m.

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Pontos S A stylish and modern sports watch powered by an

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IN-DEPTH

00/24 watchworld50

Pictures Bremont

military mightBremont’s

00/24 watchworld 5100/24 watchworld 51

While its new watch celebrating the wartime heroics of Bletchley Park’s cryptologists has grabbed

headlines, the British firm’s work with the modern day military is less reported. We lift the lid on

the special watches Bremont is quietly creating for scores of military units around the world, which

inspire both its mainstream collection and the company itself.

00/24 watchworld52

IN-DEPTH

maybe things had simply been going too well for Bremont. The Victory watch, last year’s ambitious collectors’ piece

commemorating the famous warship of the same name, had met with universal admi-ration; a swish boutique in Mayfair and a grand new Henley watchmaking HQ had been opened; awards were coming in, interesting new partnerships announced and distribution continuing to expand; and in June the company had taken over Bletchley Park, the home of the Allies’ wartime cryptographic heroics, to launch its latest limited edition: the tremendously handsome, typically esoteric Codebreaker.Then, in August, came shocking news: a 1930 Gipsy Moth bi-plane piloted by Bremont co-founder Giles English had crashed in the grounds of a stately home in Northamptonshire. Giles and his 11-year-old passenger, a family

friend, were hospitalised with serious injuries, and incredibly lucky to survive.“They smashed themselves up quite badly, but with 80% of pilots both would probably have been killed,” says Giles’s brother and fellow Bre-mont founder Nick English. He speaks with more authority than most on the subject: it was a plane crash that ended their father’s life and landed Nick in hospital for six months, inspiring the pair to launch the company in their dad’s honour.“The engine failed and because they were turn-ing they went into a spin,” Nick says. “He had to put the thing down anywhere he could, and being Giles did it in some style by coming down in the grounds of a stately home. The aeroplane crumples around you, and it took them an hour and three quarters to cut him out.”

Tested beyond enduranceWhile his young passenger’s injuries were

thankfully less grave, Giles broke one leg and fractured the other; more seriously, he broke a back vertebra and his coccyx. At time of going to press, however, a good recovery is expected, and Twitter’s watch fan community has been enter-tained – not to mention relieved – by Giles’s wry tweets from the hospital bed.“He’s still got his phone, though I’ve turned off his email because he needs to focus on recover-ing – but it’s for our protection too, given he’s on morphine,” quips Nick, who posted on Twitter a picture of his brother’s smashed Blackberry and perfectly intact watch, with an ironic (in the cir-cumstances) reference to the Bremont tagline, “Tested Beyond Endurance”.If, while recuperating, Giles English requires the support of others who understand what it is to tough out such perilously close shaves, he’ll have no shortage of friends to turn to. For besides its work in the mainstream luxury watch market, Bremont has managed to lev-erage its distinctly boys-own appeal through developing an increasingly lucrative side business supplying bespoke watches to military units around the world. Bremont won’t confirm, but various reports estimate this to account for as much as 30% of the company’s turnover, with watches having been produced for “several scores” of military units, ranging from air force squadrons to special forces teams to bomb disposal units, and all points in between. The watches are sold to members of the specific military units at preferential rates.“For these guys it really is a keepsake,” says Nick. “If you’re sitting in an aircraft carrier, you’re wearing the same outfits, probably have the same haircut and fly the same plane – what differentiates you from the squadron at the next table can be the watch you wear. It’s like a squadron tattoo.”Such “squadron watches” are not a new idea: major brands such as Omega, Rolex and Bre-itling have long done business with sections of the world’s armed forces, offering models with dial or case engravings of a unit’s insignia. These become cherished objects, a fact reflected by their lack of ubiquity in the secondary market. Watch made for Apache pilots of 3 Regiment Army Air Corps

Giles, left, and Nick English

What differentiates you from the other squadron can be

the watch you wear

“ “

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Squadron workWhat is different with Bremont is the level of design originality that goes into many of the watches, creating something that is far more than a mainstream piece with a logo; and, for a small British company, the level of reach Bre-mont is gaining into some quite esoteric corners of the military.“It’s happened very organically, and really can only happen that way,” says Nick of what he calls ‘squadron work’. “You can’t just ring up and speak to a squadron leader. But Giles and I have been around the military world most of our lives. Our dad was in the military, his friends were, and when we started doing display flying we’d be flying with people who were his peers. Some of them went on to head up squadrons or test pilot schools.”Word gradually spread in military circles of the kind of elegantly boyish, extremely tough watches Bremont had begun producing. The first Bremont watch produced specifically for a military unit was for the US Navy Test Pilot school, while the brand’s credentials among air force pilots were strengthened with its work with Martin-Baker, the British company produc-ing most of the world’s jet fighter ejection seats. Bremont’s MB watches go through some of the same punishing tests as the ejector seats, with a version – the MBI – available only to those who have actually ejected from a plane on a Martin-Baker seat. This kind of story has helped make the mainstream collection MBII arguably Bremont’s most celebrated, demanded watch.“To Joe Public the name Martin-Baker might not mean much, but when you’re a military guy flying a Hornet and sitting on an MB seat, it’s really very important to you,” says Nick. “And of course it’s a family-owned British business that’s hugely successful, and that’s inspiring for us. We’ve taken a lot of these military guys around the Martin-Baker facility, which is like a watch factory on a bigger scale.”The watches made by Bremont for the military may be modified versions of already-existing

watches from the mainstream collection, or entirely new watches. The squadron flying the US airforce’s Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, for instance, has a heavily cus-tomised version of the ALT1-Z GMT with stealthy blacked-out features – the busy, gadgety chrono-graph is particularly popular with military types; those flying the C-17 military transport plane, meanwhile, are offered the Globemaster, Bremont’s first world timer, developed exclu-sively for the squadron.

Royal Navy clearance diversAnd while flying is a major part of the Bremont story, ensuring a natural affinity to air force squadrons, pilots are by no means the only customers.“We have deep sea divers, special forces, army units, but understandably we can’t talk about many of them. It’s a shame because some of it is really cool stuff!”The point is, such watches need to work, and to withstand the knocks they’ll take. While a watch isn’t needed in the cockpit of an aeroplane, Bremont owners tend to wear them there with pride anyway, while for other combatants it’s a real tool. So says Petty Officer Richard Ellis of the Royal Navy’s clearance divers unit. Clearance divers have the terrifying job of underwater bomb disposal – clearing mines and other explosives, while also carrying out IED disposal on land as well. It’s the kind of work that leaves no margin for error.“Yesterday I was diving under the hull of a ship, and took my Bremont down with me,” he said. “I had no worries that it would get damaged – it did its job for me.”Ellis points out that the navy diving branch has a legacy of good watches, with Omega Seamasters and later Rolex Milsubs being dis-tributed to divers as part of their kit. “The military can’t afford those now, but the idea is still in the back of the mind with navy divers that you really should have a big, tough watch. People don’t want to give up on that.”

The B2 watch

Supermarine diving watch made for Royal Navy clearance divers

IN-DEPTH

Major John “Edge” Speer of the USAF, with his B2 stealth bomber and Bremont watch

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Ellis’s watch is a special version of Bremont’s celebrated Supermarine diving model, with all-black case coating and bezel, and the words “clearance diver” emblazoned on the dial in red lettering.“I picked up a Panerai a few years ago because of the links to Italian frogmen, but I like Bremont because they’re a British company. I know they support the military, and it’s fair that we should support them back. I originally got in touch wanting to buy a normal civilian one, and they said if we know some other lads who’d like one we could do something as a group and make it bespoke.”This, according to Nick English, is how the military deals tend to be hashed out: an initial point of contact will put the word out, as well as being responsible for signing off each watch to ensure it goes to legitimate members of the given unit. Inevitably, word spreads fast once the watches star arriving. Out of 350 divers in the Royal Navy, Ellis estimates around 80 are now equipped with the special Bremont watch, each bearing the diver’s official number that’s assigned on joining the military.

Test-bedFor Bremont, besides the business advan-tages of a willing and captive market, there are mani fold further benefits. First among these is the ability to use the military as a test bed for new watches to deliver to the main-stream civilian market. Last year’s popular ALT-WT world timer was developed from the above-mentioned C17 Globemaster (and found itself bang on trend as the watch industry fell back in love with world timers – see page 44). This year, the ALT1-B is descendant from the watch Bremont made for the B2 stealth bomber pilots. As Nick English points out, it’s not just the style that the brand can experiment with in developing its military pieces.“It’s the best technical test-bed there is, because you are dealing with guys who are almost obsessive about what works and what doesn’t.

They’re very, very precise and particular because they want something that works for their purpose. And if, with their blessing, we can go off and make a commercial version, they’re enormously proud of that.”The second benefit is no less important. While Bremont might stand accused of putting its military market and limited editions ahead of bringing new watches to the civilian market, it must be recognised how much development is required for an entirely new watch. Bremont’s military work ensures the stories keep ticking over and the brand continues to build in a way that demonstrates rather more integrity than the usual flashy corporate sponsorships.

They’re very, very precise and particular because they want something that works for their They’re very, very precise and particular because It also builds desire – and not a little jealousy

– among the company’s civilian fans, and as with all Bremont’s partnerships – stunt pilots, adventurers, parachutists, dare-devils and heritage bodies – suggests a lifestyle and out-look designed to inspire right-thinking chaps everywhere.“Some watch brands that issue military watches make it as though it’s an honour for these guys to be wearing their watch, but for us it’s the other way round completely,” says Nick. “I still look up to these guys as I did when I was a kid. They’re flying $2 billion planes, or risking their lives underwater – how could you not be inspired by that?”

Ellis’s watch is a special version of Bremont’s

The new ALT1-B2 inspired by the B2 watchGlobemaster world time chronograph

made for C17 pilots The mainstream ALT-WT

A member of the RAF’s Typhoon Display Team with special Bremont watch

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The BRemoNT CodeBReakeRBletchley Park, the Buckinghamshire mansion that became the centre of the Allies’ successful efforts to crack German codes during World War Two, has inspired Bremont’s latest collectors’ watch, a GMT flyback chronograph incorporating actual pieces of Bletchley history. It was at Bletchley Park that cryptologists worked day and night to decrypt Axis messages, in particular those sent via the Enigma cipher machine, the code for which was finally cracked thanks to Alan Turing and co’s Bombe machine. The winding rotor of the Codebreaker is styled to resemble the drums of the Bombe, and contains fragments of an Enigma machine toothed rotor, while pine wood from Bletchley’s Hut 6 (the centre of Enigma-busting operations) and serial numbers made from cryptographic punch cards are also incorporated in the case and crown respectively.On the technical front, Bremont has developed its first flyback mechanism, as well as adding a GMT hand, to a base Valjoux 7750 movement. It has also moved the subdials down to the lower part of the dial for a more retro look – a complicated achievement in itself. A total of 240 watch-es in steel are to be made, and 50 in 18k rose gold, priced £11,995 and £21,950 respectively.

efforts to crack German codes during World War Two, has inspired Bremont’s latest collectors’

those sent via the Enigma cipher machine, the code for which was finally cracked thanks to Alan

pine wood from Bletchley’s Hut 6 (the centre of Enigma-busting operations) and serial numbers made from cryptographic punch cards are also incorporated in the case and crown respectively.On the technical front, Bremont has developed its first flyback mechanism, as well as adding a GMT hand, to a base Valjoux 7750 movement. It has also moved the subdials down to the lower part of the dial for a more retro look – a complicated achievement in itself. A total of 240 watch-

IN-DEPTH

WATCH NEWS

Classic

Arnold & SonHM Perpetual MoonA rather large representation of the moon phase graces the 42mm case of the HM Perpetual Moon. This moon phase only has a one-day deviation every 122 years, but Arnold & Son has made sure that this can ‘provisionally’ be adjusted with a single push of the corrector. The watch is part of A&S’s Royal Collection, which contains only watches that refer back to the period of John Arnold, when he was designing watches for George III and the Royal family in the 18th century.

Chopard L.U.C Perpetual TTwo ultra-classics (perpetual calendar and tourbil-lon) housed in a 43mm rose gold case. It is quite a feat to fit these two complications in a movement that has a 9-day power reserve, let alone showing it clearly readable and aesthetically sound on a dial. The week days plus a day and night indicator are found at 9 o’clock, while the month and the leap year have a shared position at 3 o’clock and the date is found at 12 o’clock. That leaves room for the tourbillon at 6 o’clock. So where do we find the power reserve? That’s right… on the back.

Jaquet DrozEclipse Ivory EnammelIntroduced last year with a black onyx dial, the Eclipse moon phase watch comes in an even more classic version with a Grand Feu enamel dial. Not just beautiful to look at, but also difficult to produce on a large scale. At just 39mm, this dress watch, with annual calendar, moon phase and an automatic movement, offers a smaller take than normal on the Jaquet Droz aesthetic.

By Lex Stolk and Ellen Stoffels

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Ladies

Roger DubuisExcalibur 36 AutomaticRoger Dubuis’ Excalibur line has been expanded with five new models. The Excalibur 36 Automatic has three steel variants with diamonds on the bezel. There are also two models in rose gold, the Excalibur 36 Jewellery series, with diamonds on the bezel or on the bezel and the bracelet. Characteristics of the Excalibur are the enlarged Roman numerals and the ‘ribbed’ case. Also very important: a Poinçon de Genève movement.

ZenithPilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20 “40 mm Lady”Good news for female aficionados of pilot’s watches. The Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20, revealed at BaselWorld, is now also available in a woman-friendly 40mm version, in steel, white gold and rose gold. With the exception of the diamonds on the bezel this ultra-vintage watch differs very little from the male variant. No GMT function, but it does have a silver dial, a small seconds hand at 9 o’clock, the recognisable numerals and the striking hands. For those who prefer something a little more flamboyant on their wrist: there is also a version that is completely encrusted with diamonds.

TissotLady T072A rose design decorates the rotor of this simple automatic for ladies from Tissot. This steel version, with an 80-hour power reserve, shows the hours and minutes plus the date at 3 o’clock. Only the mechanical models – yes, there are quartz versions as well – have an openworked case-back. Available in steel, steel with rose gold PVD coating and vari-ous dial variations, such as brown, white and mother-of-pearl.

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Inde

pend

ents

SarpanevaKorona K1In its third edition, Stepan Sarpaneva has stripped back even further what was ostensibly his simplest timepiece. By eli-minating the seconds hand and date indicator the attention focuses on the three-part steel dial that can be supplied in a number of colour variations. An automatic, modified and beautified Soprod movement powers the watch. Like all Sarpaneva watches the K1 was also completely designed and produced by Stepan Sarpaneva himself; Finnish and freaky!

DeWittFurtive Automatic Small SecondA DeWitt watch showing a bit of restraint? Well – restrained for DeWitt. The dial of the steel 42mm Furtive Automatic Small Second is partially black and partially dark red. The black part has a sunburst motif and the red, wood-coloured lower half is complemented by a structured design typical of the DeWitt aesthetic. The automatic calibre used for the watch has a power reserve of 42 hours and is beautifully decorated and finished.

MB&FMegaWindThis new variant of the Horological Machine 3 owes its name to the large automatic rotor in the shape of a battle axe, featured in a prominent position. By flipping the movement over the three-part rotor of gold and titanium – designed by Stepan Sarpa-neva – is now visible through the sapphire crystal window. The date indicator had to give way to the revolving mechanism and as a result the overall design has become a little calmer. “Calmer” in MB&F terms, of course, because this white gold and tita-nium time sculpture with its complex shape can’t exactly be called restrained.

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WATCH NEWS

From the dawn of time, the moon has been a source of in� iration, of wonder, of passion to us all. The Frederique Con� ant Moonphase Manufa� urew� h in-house developed calibre di� lays the varying lunar phases w� hin a sleek design as awe-in� iring and timeless as the moon � self.Sugge� ed retail prices: £ 2,840 in rose gold plated, £ 2,530 in � ainless � eel.

Conta� Argento Fine Produ� s, T.020 7722 2438, info@agfi neprodu� s.comwww.frederique-con� ant.com

w h the Slimline Moonphase Manufa� ure

From the dawn of time, the moon has been a source of in� iration, of wonder, of passion to us all. The Frederique Con� ant Moonphase Manufa� urew� h in-house developed calibre di� lays the varying lunar phases w� hin a sleek design as awe-in� iring and timeless as the moon � self.Sugge� ed retail prices: £ 2,840 in rose gold plated, £ 2,530 in � ainless � eel.

Conta� Argento Fine Produ� s, T.020 7722 2438, info@agfi neprodu� s.comwww.frederique-con� ant.com

w h the Slimline Moonphase Manufa� ure

DiversDiversDiversDiversDiversDiversDiversDiversDiversDiversDiversDiversEberhard & Co.Scafodat 500Scafodat is the diver’s watch line of Eberhard & Co. and, as the name indicates, it is water resistant to 500m. A rather sizeable watch, 44mm in diameter, 15mm thick, with an easy-to-read dial thanks to the contrasting triangles. A revolving bezel is conspicuously absent; rather, the exterior ring of the dial can be turned by using the crown at 4 o’clock. Furthermore, the Scafodat is available with a steel Chicane bracelet, which allows the length of the bracelet to be adjusted. Useful for those who want to wear the watch on land as well.

GrahamChronofighter ProdiveThe new Prodive is equipped with a patented start/stop/reset mechanism that ensures the watch continues to function reliably even at a depth of 600m. The bright yellow version in particular (there is also one in blue and one in black) is highly visible under water. The striking “trigger” on the left side of the case is a typical Graham element, used to operate the chronograph. The revolving bezel has four convenient protrusions for extra grip. The 45mm steel case houses an automatic chronograph move-ment with a 48-hour power reserve.

Ulysse NardinMaxi Marine DiverWith a 42-hour power reserve the Maxi Marine Diver shows the hours, minutes, small seconds hand and large date display at 6 o© clock and the power reserve indicator at 12 o© clock. In this ver-sion the dial is finished with a wave pattern and the year the company was established, 1846, can be seen in the subsidiary dial. The 42.7mm rose gold case with screwed-in crown is water resistant to 200m.

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WATCH NEWS

Divers

Adventurers

Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute BlacksteelA worthy successor to the steel Navitimer Cosmonaute of 2012 released on the 50th anniversary of the original Cosmonaute’s journey into space. The only difference is the ‘blacksteel’ case: otherwise this Navitimer Cosmonaute is absolutely identical to its predecessor. Calibre B02, COSC-certified, hand-wound mecha-nical movement, chronograph function, 70-hour power reserve and a 43mm case.

Bell & RossFalcon HeritageThe Falcon Heritage harks back to the successful era of the Mystère-Falcon 20. The best performing business jet aircraft of its time, it had its inaugural flight on 4 May 1963. Fifty years later the Falcon is still in the air. Together with Falcon, Bell & Ross, with its large collection of pilot’s watches, celebrates this memorable feat with a special watch. Vintage, sand-coloured hands, indicators and numerals, a round steel case with a convex sapphire crystal, available with an automatic movement, calibre BR 123 or a BR 126 chronograph version.

Ball WatchEngineer Hydrocarbon BlackA watch for daredevils! Alex Honnold, talented rock climber and Ball Watch ambassador wears this watch during his intrepid untet-hered ascents. Thanks to the titanium case with DLC coating this is a sizeable but surprisingly lightweight watch with a diameter of 42mm and a height of 13.25mm. Needless to say, the hour indica-tors feature the luminescent H3 micro gas tubes, which ensure the watch remains readable at night. The patented SpringLOCK system will deal with the worst of the shocks if you decide to climb your own rock.

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Chronographs

TudorFastrider Black ShieldThe black 42mm case of this military-looking Tudor is made from a single ceramic block, ensuring a very robust feel around the wrist. Needless to say, this stealthy chronograph is extremely scratch resistant, as well as having a rather suave, even fashionable edge.

BreguetMarine Chronographe DameA combination of materials and styles which, when described, might cause some raised eyebrows, is convincing at a single glance. The steel 34.6mm case houses a mother-of-pearl dial, with a diamond in the crown. The watch is powered by the automatic high-tech calibre 550 with silicon escapement.

OmegaSeamaster Professional Co-Axial RegattaThe steel 44mm case of this Seamaster for dedicated sailors has the characteristic angular shape that made the Seamaster famous. This version houses Omega’s calibre 3300, fitted with a silicon balance spring, a column wheel chronograph construc-tion and, of course, a co-axial escapement. At 3 o’clock you can see the regatta indicator with countdown function.

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WATCH NEWS

Gold

Panerai Radiomir 1940 Oro Rosso (PAM00513)The Radiomir 1940 is a blend of robust Luminor ele-ments and shapes reminiscent of the older and more elegant Radiomir models. The result is a 42mm model with a P.999 hand-wound movement – the thinnest and smallest calibre in production at Panerai, which has a 60 hour power reserve and is visible through the sapphire crystal case-back.

LonginesColumn-Wheel ChronographIn 2009 Longines introduced its automatic chronograph movement with column wheel construction and this is the sophisticated L688.2 movement that ticks in this aesthe-tically evolved version of the 39mm chrono-graph. This calibre is based on the indes-tructible Valjoux 7750, but has undergone significant technical changes and improve-ments. Made in rose gold, this chronograph is a model of classicism.

Vacheron ConstantinPatrimony Traditionelle 14-day TourbillonThis restrained yet highly complicated creation is the first model made by the Geneva maison that has been approved under the new rules of the Geneva Seal. These days a movement must meet twelve technical and aesthetic requirements to be able to carry the Seal and the new calibre 2260, which comes equipped with four spring barrels, meets those requirements lock, stock and, um, barrel.

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IN-DEPTH By Lex Stolk, pictures Piaget

The arT of leaving things out

The skeletonised creations of Piaget

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The arT of leaving things out

Less is more. At Piaget they make more of less by divesting their

wafer-thin movements of as much “superfluous” material as

possible. Skeletonising is a traditional craft that requires plenty of

skills and patience; characteristics found in-house at Piaget, along

with a modern view of the tradition.

in a skeletonised watch the material of the bridges, mainplate, gear wheels and as many other components as possible is painstakingly removed. This creates a

functioning movement skeleton with a delicate, three-dimensional appearance. By subsequently engraving the skeletonised components a high point in baroque movement construction is achieved that looks highly classical and tradi-tional. In recent years a considerable number of brands have put their skeletonising skills to work to develop a more modern variant of the craft. Tauter shapes, more contemporary materials and different colours have entered the arena and have updated the art of skeletonising to appeal to a younger and bigger target group.

Skeletonised evolutionSo too has Piaget. The brand’s delicate and extremely thin models have a quality that can mostly be described as graceful and subtle, but also as introverted and clear in a contemporary fashion. A white gold Altiplano radiates subtlety and reserve, without unnecessary frills, and by enhancing that theme – or grinding it away even further, if you wish – the skeletonised

variant was born. Whereas other skeletonised watches are bombastic and often unreadable, the skeletonised Altiplano is an almost logical step in the evolution of the model. The watch has retained its discreet strength and the elimination of the “superfluous” material has resulted in an anything-but affected model.As well as a pronounced taste, traditional and modern lovers of skeletonised watches also need some financial wherewithal to be able to acquire their transparent dream watches. A 38mm white gold Piaget Altiplano Skeleton is obviously not exactly a low budget entry model. Of course the precious metal case contributes significantly to the price, but it is especially the skeletonised movement – the thinnest in the world at 2.4mm – that is an expensive part of the world’s thinnest skeletonised automa-tic watch of just 5.34mm. The Piaget 1200S movement with black platinum micro rotor is a perfect example of applied science and was derived from the record calibre 1200P that has a “thickness” of 2.35mm. Because so much mate-rial has been removed the 1200S version was made slightly thicker to ensure the reliability and functionality.

Less is more. At Piaget they make more of less by divesting their

wafer-thin movements of as much “superfluous” material as

possible. Skeletonising is a traditional craft that requires plenty of

skills and patience; characteristics found in-house at Piaget, along

variant was born. Whereas other skeletonised watches are bombastic and often unreadable, the skeletonised Altiplano is an almost logical step in the evolution of the model. The watch has retained its discreet strength and the elimination of the “superfluous” material has resulted in an anything-but affected model.As well as a pronounced taste, traditional and modern lovers of skeletonised watches also

Piaget Altiplano Automatic Skeleton

It’s all handmade: f.l.t.r. mainplate, gears and balance bridges

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Fine motor skillsThe Altiplano Skeleton is a direct descendant of the first skeletonised models Piaget produ-ced back in 1874. The design may be contem-porary but the techniques remain virtually unchanged. The skeletonising of the various components is a manual process performed by patient craftsmen with incredible hand-to-eye coordination, phenomenal fine motor skills and an eagle eye for detail. In the studio in the tiny town of La Côte-aux-Fées in the Val-de-Travers district near Neuchâtel, complex actions ultimately result in a gos-samer creation that still has enough rigidity to prevent the gear wheels from wobbling and ensuring no unacceptable deviations in the watch’s performance can occur. When a watchmaker files the bridges with his specialist tools in the quiet of his studio, only breathless admiration suffices. With no apparent effort minuscule components are worked on and transformed into a transpa-rent mechanism.It took at least three years of research and development to complete the transparent 1200S movement. Although derived from the 1200P calibre, the skeletonised version is a highly evolved variant that is brimming with innovations. Particularly beautiful and a striking aspect of the 1200S movement is the bridge of the balance that runs over the mainplate harmoniously and symmetrically and, because of this shape, also provides a rigid construction. Functionality and aesthe-tics go hand in hand in the movement and show that calibre 1200S is more than just a 1200P with less material.

Shining levelsThe calibre 1200S is a tribute to historical traditions, but the individualistic decorations are very up-to-date. Polishing and alternation between matt surfaces contrast strongly in an almost luxurious-industrial way. It goes without saying that the different polishing methods cannot be realised by machines, but only by trained and experienced human hands and that is reflected in the price. And that price is on application. Not everything is as transparent as a calibre 1200S.

EmpErador: claSSical SkElEtonFor those who find a transparent Altiplano in contemporary colours and shapes just a little too modern, Piaget also has the Emperador with skeletonised tourbillon movement. Stronger still, a record movement, because with a height of just 3.5mm the calibre 600S is the thinnest custom-shaped movement with flying tourbillon in the world. The hand-wound movement is decorated in a much more classical style than the 1200S calibre in the Altiplano and with its gentle and shining curves the case is also much more traditional. The guilloche bridges that have been hand-shaped and finished have a radiant beauty that is truly timeless.

calibrE 600SFunctions: Seconds, hours, minutes and power reserve indicator at 6 o’clocktechnical characteristic: Flying tourbillon at 12 o’clock with titanium tourbillon cageSize: 32 x 41mmHeight: 3.5mmno. components: 177no. synthetic rubies: 24power reserve: 44 hoursFrequency: 21,600 oscillations per hour

calibrE 1200SFunctions: Hours and minutestechnical characteristic: Ultra-thin mechanical movement with platinum micro rotor and balance stopdiameter: 31.9mmHeight: 2.4mmno. components: 189no. synthetic rubies: 26power reserve: 44 hoursFrequency: 21,600 oscillations per hourFinish: Bridges and platine are hand-drawn and bevelled. Platine has sun ray motif, gear wheels have a circle pattern and sun ray motif, black and polished screws, black platinum micro rotor engraved with the Piaget coat of arms.

21,600 oscillations per hour

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IN-DEPTH

Trim Size 330mm x 240mm

Trim Size 330mm x 240mm

By Jan C. Hubert, pictures Chanel and Rado

chemistry lessonin ceramics

Ceramic has been in and out of fashion in the

watch industry, and right now it’s most

certainly in, with a growing number of high-

end brands adopting it in increasingly

interesting ways. Of course, it’s all a long, long

way from the stuff you baked in an oven in

pottery classes – or is it? Armed with our Table

of Elements, we take a deep look into the

science of ceramics.

A

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IN-DEPTH

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Different typesThe word ceramic is derived from the Greek “keramikos”, meaning “from or for earthenware”; “keramos means potter’s clay, burnt earth but also earthenware. The ceramic material used in pottery, for instance, may be classed as “traditional ceramic”, while that used in watches is a rather more advanced, hightech application of the same basic principles.What the “old” and hightech ceramic materials have in common is the fact that they are inorganic solid materials (but not metals, although they may contain metals), produced by means of heating and cooling; for hightech material (extremely) high pressure is nearly always needed as well.Something else must be added – otherwise glass, for example, could also be a ceramic. Solid materials can roughly be divided into amorphous (with little or no structure) and crystalline (with a high level of structure). Glass is amorphous and transparent, ceramic material is generally fully or partially crystalline and opaque, which is why glass is not considered a ceramic material. Diamond and sapphire (or ruby) could be considered ambiguous cases. These materials are definitely produced at high temperatures (and in the case of diamonds under high pressure), but they are clear, which is why we are not including them in the discussion of these materials.In addition to the initial classification into “old” and “new” there are a number of other classification options, for example based on composition or structure. There are ceramic materials based on oxides, borides, carbides

and nitrates of metals. Alternatively, they may be distinguished as monocrystalline or polycrystalline.

CompositionsAll materials are made up of elements, of which 92 occur in nature. The lightest element is number 1, hydrogen, and the heaviest number 92, uranium. Elements are denoted by letter symbols, e.g. H for hydrogen and U for uranium.A lot of ceramic materials contain only two elements. Examples are aluminates – aluminium oxide, or aluminium (AI) plus oxygen (O), or the raw material for sapphires and zirconiums – zirconium dioxide, consisting of zirconium (Zr) and oxygen (O).Carbides contain carbon (C) instead of oxygen, resulting in compounds like silicon (Si) carbide, niobium (Nb) carbide, Tantalum (Ta) carbide (and combinations of these two), titanium (Ti) carbide, tungsten (W) carbide and boron (B)

carbide.Nitrides don’t contain oxygen or carbon,

but nitrogen (N). Nitrides of titanium, aluminium, silicone and boron are

used, among others. A compound like lanthanum boron (consisting

of lanthanum (La) and boron (B) is also used.

And as if all these options were still not enough: the

material characteristics can be finetuned by

adding or blending in other substances.

For example, a pinch of mag

nesium (Mg) oxide or yttrium (Y)

oxide is often added to zirconium.

CharacteristicsCeramic materials are light,

with a density of 26 g per cm3 (ml). Most are around 3, which is

comparable to aluminium (2.7) but lighter than titanium (4.5) and much

lighter than stainless steel (8). Their low weight also makes these materials

Nitrides don’t contain oxygen or carbon, but nitrogen (N). Nitrides of titanium,

aluminium, silicone and boron are used, among others. A compound

like lanthanum boron (consisting of lanthanum (La) and boron (B)

is also used.And as if all these options

were still not enough: the material characteristics

can be fineadding or blending

oxide is often added to zirconium.

CharacteristicsCeramic materials are light,

with a density of 2(ml). Most are around 3, which is

comparable to aluminium (2.7) but lighter than titanium (4.5) and much

lighter than stainless steel (8). Their low weight also makes these materials

extremely suitable for use in areas like space travel or armour plating.Most types of ceramics are poor conductors of electricity and therefore make good insulators. The poor conductance is caused by the low number of free electrons in the material. Ceramic materials can resist enormous pressure (1,000 – 4,000 MPa), while the otherwise strong titanium can “only” take 1,000 MPa (for our older readers: 1 MPa = 10 bar and 10 bar = 9.87 atm). However, ceramic materials cannot handle bending and tension, which makes them unsuitable for a lot of applications: they are brittle and will break on impact.Ceramic materials are chemically very inert. They are also very heat resistant and maintain their strength at high temperatures (which is not all that important for watches). To give you an idea: zirconium dioxide melts at 2,677°C (4,850.6°F) and titanium (Ti) carbide at 3,140°C (5,684°F).“Engineering ceramics” are extremely hard, three to four times harder than steel, and therefore very scratch resistant. Hardness is a characteristic that is easy to understand: if material A can scratch material B material A is harder than B. Measuring hardness is not so easy, and there are a number of methods for doing so, each with their own name and their own units. Wellknown comparative hardness scales are Mohs, Rockwell, Brinell and Vickers.

Industry

Formula 1

Pharmaceutical

Space travel

Watchmaking

Characteristic

Lightweight

Hypoallergenic

Can resist thermal shocks

Scratch resistant

Where are ceramics used?

Industry

Formula 1

Pharmaceutical

Space travel

Watchmaking

Characteristic

Lightweight

Hypoallergenic

Can resist thermal shocksCan resist thermal shocks

Scratch resistant

Where are ceramics used?

IN-DEPTH

Chanel’s J12 Rétrograde Mysterieuse in black ceramic

Microscopic view of ceramic grains

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march 27 – april 3, 2014

Brilliancemeets

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march 27 – april 3, 2014

Brilliancemeets

bsw14_brilliance_meets_240x330_def_ch.indd 1 02.09.13 11:25

Many “hightech coatings” used in watches consist of a thin layer of ceramic material (it is interesting that the inertia of titanium is caused by a very thin layer of titanium oxide – a ceramic material – on the surface). Ceramic materials suffer less wear than other materials, remain smoother and therefore cause less friction over an extended period of time. There is a good reason that rubies function so well in movements.The special characteristics of ceramic materials are determined by the crystalline structure and the structure is determined by the types of chemical bonds.The chemical bonds between the atoms in ceramic material can be covalent, ionic or polar covalent. Between metals and nonmetals the bond is usually ionic (magnesium, barium titanate). Between a metalloid and a nonmetal the bond tends to be covalent (boron nitrate, silicon carbide). A covalent bond is extremely directional, an ionic bond isn’t. The bigger the discrepancy in electronegativity, the more ionic the bond and vice versa.Most ceramic materials are crystalline, with a repeating threedimensional unit (the unit cell). The cause of the brittleness is the fact that the atoms are connected by a combination of covalent and ionic bonds, which are very inflexible. This provides strength, but also makes the bond rigid, quite unlike the metallic bonds in metals. This problem is partially resolved in ceramic composites, where another material is added. Combinations of different ceramic materials also help, for example “zirconium toughened aluminates” or “yttria stabilized zirconiums”, in which a crack will not spread. Still, these combinations are weaker than metals.Another solution may be provided by the use of ceramic fibres in a polymer matrix. The result will have many of the characteristics of ceramic material: lightweight, inert and strong, but still flexible. Or: apply the ceramic material in a

thin layer to another – preferably much cheaper – material (such as metal) that will prevent breakage.

ApplicationsCeramic materials are attractive for a range of applications because they have characteristics that wood, metal or plastic don’t. The other side of the coin is that they are less reliable than a material like metal: when the material breaks, it shatters like glass.Another disadvantage is the fact that they are expensive. The raw materials aren’t expensive, but the purification process is, because extremely pure components are needed to achieve the desired characteristics. Furthermore, the process used to make ceramic materials is expensive: high pressure (e.g. 1,000 bar) and

thin layer to another – preferably much cheaper – material (such as metal) that

high temperatures (e.g. 1,4001,500°C or 2,5522,732°F) are needed, and because of the hardness the finishing process is also expensive. Consequently the end result is that, on average, ceramic materials are more expensive than steel, but cheaper than gold. This is why they are mainly used in “special purpose” products where money is not an issue, or in relatively small products. “Special purpose” applications, for example, are the tiles on the heat shield of the Space Shuttle, the heat resistant coating for turbine blades, or disc brakes.There are “electroceramics” and “ceramics”

1 grain of zirconium oxide = 1/1,000mm in size

The blocks of ceramic, consisting of pressed zirconium oxide grains, are heated to 1,450°C (2,642°F), so

everything melts together thoroughly.

Sintering furnace: 1,450°C

Ceramic bezel of Rado’s D-Star

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IN-DEPTH

that are used in engineering; there are also “bioceramics” (for example teeth implants, but also synthetic bone).In addition there are ceramic composite materials that have reduced brittleness because of the addition of another material. An important application is armoured materials, for example in tanks.

ProductionThe production of hightech ceramic material starts with an extremely fine powder (grains with a diameter of 1/1,000mm), to which an inorganic pigment may be added for colour. An extremely fine powder is difficult to use so it is mixed with an organic bonding material to allow it to be modelled into the desired shape. If enough bonding material is used “injection moulding” can be used, a process in which the liquid paste is sprayed into a mould under high pressure. The shape obtained by this method is then first heated to a moderate temperature to eliminate the organic bonding material by means of decomposition or oxidisation. At this point the product can still be cut into the desired shape.The next step is heating at an extremely high temperature, which will cause the remaining powder to sinter: the individual powder particles melt and form chemical bonds. This process is accompanied by shrinkage of 10 to 40 percent. The product obtained after cooling must be finished further, also because the shrinkage is not uniform across the product. Because of the hardness this can only be done with diamond powder or diamond drilling.A more homogeneous product is obtained with the “solgel technique”. This is based on a soluble starting substance which, when being

dissolved, decomposes to such an extent that the desired ceramic raw material emerges in the solution as a gel (hence the term solgel). This type of gel consists of extremely minute particles, smaller than in a powder, which means this type of gel can be applied in a very thin layer or processed further to be used in the way described earlier. The process is expensive, but the quality advantages are great. Porous ceramic with a very high surface/volume ratio is also produced using the solgel technique; this is used as a sensor in car exhaust systems, for example.

Ceramic materials in watchesThe role of ceramic materials in the watch industry continues to grow steadily, for watch cases but also for other components. A number of top brands still refuse to touch ceramics and continue to make watch cases in various colours of gold and platinum. This may par tially be explained by the fact that making a metal case is closely linked to the expertise required to make a movement, while the use of ceramic materials requires an entirely different type of knowledge. Ceramic materials were initially too expensive for the cheaper brands, so they were used mainly in the very large middle segment, but that situation is changing rapidly. Not only is the high scratch resistance attractive, but also the fact that ceramic materials can be tinted throughandthrough in a number of different colours.

1 grain of zirconium oxide = 1/1,000mm in size

The blocks of ceramic, consisting of pressed zirconium oxide grains, are heated to 1,450°C (2,642°F), so

everything melts together thoroughly.

means this type of gel can be applied in a very thin layer or processed further to be used in the way described earlier. The process is expensive, but the quality advantages are great. Porous ceramic with a very high surface/volume ratio is also produced

watch industry continues to grow steadily, for watch cases but also for other components. A number of top brands still refuse to touch ceramics and continue to make watch cases in various colours of

tially be explained by the fact that making a metal case is closely linked to the expertise required to make a movement, while the use of ceramic materials requires

high scratch resistance attractive, but also the fact that ceramic materials can

through in a num

to make watch cases in various colours of

The finishing process: polishing of Chanel’s J12 links

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RadoFor its first few decades the watch company started by the brothers Schlup in 1917 was an ordinary Swiss movement manufacturer that exported virtually its entire production. It wasn’t until 1954 that the company started producing its own brand watches under the name Exacto, which was soon changed to Rado. In 1962 Rado introduced the Diastar, a sensational watch because the Diastar had a case of tungsten carbide. Tungsten carbide is a ceramic material made of tungsten and carbide that is so hard it can only be processed with the use of diamond. In short, under normal conditions a Diastar case cannot be scratched – a rock solid marketing point.Rado continued on this successful road, with a leading role for “hard metal”, incredibly hard metal alloys, that are, however, not considered ceramics. The company was also the first to succeed in processing sapphire in such a way that it could produce highly convex crystals, and in 1987 it followed up with watch bracelets of zirconium, another hard ceramic material. Two years later the company produced the Diastar Ceramica, with the bracelet and case made of zirconium, another first. By adding metal oxides as pigments it was also possible to make a range of colours. In the 1990s titanium carbide was used in the Sintra models.

In 1983 Rado became part of SMH, which evolved into the Swatch Group. Within this group Rado has maintained its position as a pioneer of special materials, a brand that doesn’t have to rely on special movements. The absolute pinnacle was the V10K in 2002, with a case made out of sintered diamond powder. The name refers to the hardness of diamond, 10,000 on the Vickers scale. Now that was truly a scratch resistant watch!In the current collection the DStar 200 Automatic Chronograph with a ceramic bezel, the HyperChrome with a case of black ceramic material, and the R/One Limited Edition, also a chronograph but with a rectangular case of black ceramic material, are worth mentioning.And of course Rado wouldn’t be Rado if it didn’t go far beyond other brands in this area. For example, the Rado True Thinline model is the thinnest ceramic watch. The smallest version is a mere 4.9mm high and weighs only 35g. Even

CeRAmIC bezelsCeramic is often used in bezels, which are relatively vulnerable because of their position, so scratch resistance is important. In these kinds of bezels ceramic materials are often combined with metal, for example if the bezel contains numerals.

For its first few decades the watch company

watches under the name Exacto, which was

ced the Diastar, a sensational watch because

Tungsten carbide is a ceramic material made of tungsten and carbide that is so hard it can only be processed with the use of diamond. In short, under normal conditions a Diastar case cannot

Rado continued on this successful road, with a leading role for “hard metal”, incredibly hard metal alloys, that are, however, not considered

WoRlD ReCoRDRado’s V10K – a watch coated in high-tech diamond –

has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records since 2004 as the hardest watch in the world.

White ceramic links for Chanel’s J12

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IN-DEPTH

more special is a model in the Rado True.Deco collection, the case, bracelet and dial of which have a pattern in two colours of ceramic material, a world first.

ChanelChanel created a furore with the ceramic J12,

a watch made (almost) entirely of ceramic: case, case back, bezel, links, clasp et cete

ra. The intensely black and pure white models in particular have become

icons, for both women and men. After more than a decade the

J12 has grown into a complete family including a manufacture movement (calibre

3125), the Marine, Haute Joaillerie, Tourbillon, different

sizes and particularly the special Rétrograde Mysterieuse, with two

ingeniously hidden pushbuttons at 2 and 4 o’clock in the bezel and the

crown on the dial; it was obviously a challenge for the designer (Giuli Papi, from

Audemars Piguet’s Renaud & Papi) to make sure the hands function accurately.

IWCIWC started using zirconium for watch cases in 1986. The renowned Da Vinci model, for example, was issued in a limited edition with white and black cases of zirconium oxide. From 1994 to 2000 the Fliegerchronograph Ref. 3705 was available with a black zirconium case. Why IWC stopped using ceramic material after that is not known, but in 2006 the brand made a spectacular comeback with the Ceramic Doppelchronograph Ref. 3786. IWC now has a number of models that have cases of ceramic material and

titanium, such as the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Top Gun Miramar, versions of the Grosse Fliegeruhr and the Da Vinci Chronograph Ceramic.

Ulysse NardinFor a relatively small brand Ulysse Nardin has made a surprising contribution to the developments in modern watchmaking. It is therefore not surprising that ceramic material is something the brand works with and uses for the bezels of a number of models. In the El Toro, the Moonstruck and the Executive Dual Time Lady these ceramic bezels are fitted to a rose gold case. In the latter model the ceramic bezel can also be combined with a steel case, as is the case with the men’s version. In the Sonata Streamline a titanium case is combined with a ceramic bezel.

PaneraiPanerai uses ceramic material in a number of its top models. For example, the Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Ceramica (PAM00396) has a ceramic case, as does the Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Ceramica (PAM00508). The models have a leather strap, but in the Tuttonero (PAM00438) the bracelet is also made of ceramic.

movement componentsCeramic material is not only used for watch cases and bracelets, but also in the actual movements. By far the main application is the ball bearing, in which the main spindle revolves in quality brands, and then virtually only in the spheres. These spheres are smaller than the point of a sharp pencil. A ceramic ball bearing requires no lubrication, which is a huge advantage compared to a ball bearing with steel spheres. Ceramic spheres also cause less friction, so they suffer less wear and cause less energy loss.

have a pattern in two colours of ceramic material, a world first.

ChanelChanel created a furore with the ceramic J12,

a watch made (almost) entirely of ceramic: case, case back, bezel, links, clasp et cete

ra. The intensely black and pure white models in particular have become

icons, for both women and men. After more than a decade the

J12 has grown into a complete

Joaillerie, Tourbillon, different sizes and particularly the special

Rétrograde Mysterieuse, with two ingeniously hidden push

at 2 and 4 o’clock in the bezel and the crown on the dial; it was obviously a

challenge for the designer (Giuli Papi, from Audemars Piguet’s Renaud & Papi) to make

sure the hands function accurately.

CeRAmIC CAsesComplete cases made of ceramic material are not seen as often. The WW.TC World Chronograph by Girard-Perregaux gives a good idea of the cost effect: in steel or titanium this model costs around £11,300, in ceramic material £18,000 and in rose gold £23,100.

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These advantages are so obvious that it is reasonable to expect that all ball bearings in movements (an innovation by Eterna in 1948) will soon be made of ceramic. A brand like GirardPerregaux started converting its movements to ceramic ball bearings back in 2003, and big movement manufacturers like ETA and Sellita are following suit.

FinallyCeramic materials already have a permanent place in the watch world. Ceramic started its

Want to know more about ceramics? On www.0024watchworld.com you can see how Rado and Omega produce their ceramic watches.

successful journey thanks to specialist small companies which will definitely maintain their place, in the same way that there are specialist companies for metal watch cases. However, the big brands will quickly acquire the relevant techniques, if they haven’t already. In view of the rapid developments it is realistic to expect that the role of ceramic with its superior characteristics (lightweight, inflexible, virtually indestructible) will become much greater, despite the fact that it is more difficult to work with than the range of metals used so far.

Omega uses CeRAgolD for the bezel of its Seamaster Planet Ocean 600 M. The bezel is dipped in an electrolytic bath containing 18 ca-rat gold. Polishing ensures that the ceramic is revealed once again and the engravings are inlaid with gold.

Rado’s CeRAmos is a high-tech ceramic with a platinum look. It consists of a combination of titanium carbide and a metal alloy.

Hublot has its own material research department and it is therefore not surprising that Hublot uses ceramic materials in a number of diffe-

rent applications, such as mAgIC golD (75% gold and 25% ceramic).

CeRAmIC PlAsmA from Rado has a metallic sheen without having any metal in the alloy. The sheen is

created by heating gases to 20,000°C (36,032°F).

Chanel’s ChRomAtIC cera-mic is lighter than the black or

white J12, because it is made of titanium – hence the colour –

but it is 25% harder.

Cewithout having any metal in the alloy. The sheen is

created by heating gases to 20,000°C (36,032°F).

for the bezel of its Seamaster Planet Ocean 600 M. The bezel is dipped in an electrolytic bath containing 18 ca-rat gold. Polishing ensures that the ceramic is revealed once again

is a high-tech ceramic with a platinum look. It consists of a combination

Chanel’s mic is lighter than the black or

white J12, because it is made of titanium – hence the colour –

but it is 25% harder.

Hublot has its own material research department and it is therefore not surprising that Hublot uses ceramic materials in a number of diffe

rent applications, such as

Rolex’ CeRAChRom is known for its colour fast-ness/UV resistance. The bezel is coated in gold and polishing ensures that only the engravings are inlaid with gold.

remarkable ceramic

applications

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IN-DEPTH

Swiss movement, English heart

Bespoke Unitas 6497 hand-wound movement (Calibre JJ02) from master watchmaker, Johannes Jahnke / Each piece, of only 250, personally assembled by Johannes in our Swiss atelier / Supremely engineered, 43mm, 316L stainless steel case with full diameter transparent case-back / Unique serial number engraved on case and movement / Premium Louisiana alligator deployment strap / 5 year movement guarantee

Showroom at No.1 Park Street, Maidenhead. To arrange a personal appointment, call +44 (0)1628 763040

280_ChristopherWard_Watchworld.indd 1 22/08/2013 15:48

Swiss movement, English heart

Bespoke Unitas 6497 hand-wound movement (Calibre JJ02) from master watchmaker, Johannes Jahnke / Each piece, of only 250, personally assembled by Johannes in our Swiss atelier / Supremely engineered, 43mm, 316L stainless steel case with full diameter transparent case-back / Unique serial number engraved on case and movement / Premium Louisiana alligator deployment strap / 5 year movement guarantee

Showroom at No.1 Park Street, Maidenhead. To arrange a personal appointment, call +44 (0)1628 763040

280_ChristopherWard_Watchworld.indd 1 22/08/2013 15:48

PHOTOSHOOT By Britta Rossander, pictures Pierre Wester

IndIan Summer Time

A weekend in November. A warm autumn sun

beckons: time to relax! Perhaps a long walk

through the woods to leave behind stresses, and

have room and time to enjoy the mesmerising

beauty of the autumn colours. Back home, you

lean back with a book, a good glass of whisky

and a cigar. And once in a while you steal a

glance at your watch, knowing that two long,

pleasant, empty days are waiting for you.

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By Britta Rossander, pictures Pierre Wester

IndIan Summer Time

Omega SeamaSter Planet Ocean 600 mmaterial: Titanium Diameter: 45.5mm movement: Automatic, calibre Omega 8500Power reserve: 60 hours Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronometer

00/24 watchworld 81

FréDérique cOnStant claSSicS manuFacture WOrlDtimermaterial: Steel Diameter: 42mm movement: Automatic, calibre FC-718Power reserve: 42 hours Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, world timer

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PHOTOSHOOT

Zenith el PrimerO 36’000 VPhmaterial: Steel Diameter: 42mm movement: Automatic, calibre El Primero 400 BPower reserve: 50 hours Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, big date, tachymeter, chronograph

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“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower”

Albert Camus

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PHOTOSHOOT

rOlex OySter PerPetual cOSmOgraPh DaytOnamaterial: Platinum Diameter: 40mm movement: Mechanical, calibre 4130Power reserve: 72 hours Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph

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girarD-Perregaux Vintage 1945 xxlmaterial: Steel Size: 36.1 x 35.25mm movement: Automatic, calibre 11 ½Power reserve: 46 hours Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, big date, moon phase

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PHOTOSHOOT

Jaeger-lecOultre granDe reVerSO laDy ultra thinmaterial: Steel and rose gold Size: 40 x 24mm movement: Quartz, calibre 657Functions: Hours, minutes

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IN-DEPTH Pictures Cartier

years of Cartier

In a remarkably short space of time, Cartier has created a top-end watchmaking

operation that is turning the conventions of complex horology on their heads,

while opening up avenues for the future of watch technology.

Fine Watchmaking

5

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this November, 50 lucky buyers will begin receiving one of the more groundbreaking wrist watches ever to make it beyond “concept watch”

stage: the Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon Carbon Crystal. The original Rotonde Cartier Astrotourbillon, launched in 2010, was remar-kable enough, featuring a tourbillon carriage with its axis of rotation at the centre of the

movement, enabling the tourbillon itself to describe a circle around the dial each minute, doubling as a seconds hand. Its newer version, first announced in the summer of 2012, adds to this design some of the ultra-radical techno-logy Cartier developed for its one-off concept watch from 2009, the ID One.It shares the latter watch’s case material, niobium-titanium – a sleek, advanced alloy used normally in superconductors. More radically, its tourbillon components are etched from carbon crystal, Cartier’s version of nano-formed silicon, which requires no lubrica-tion or adjustment. In other words, while its movement still requires the adjustment and lubricating oil of a normal mechanism, the tourbillon components require no fine-tuning in the assembly process, and are impervious to the degradations brought about over time by shocks, temperature changes and magne-tism. It is the first production watch – albeit in a limited production of just 50 pieces, with a £153,000 price tag – to incorporate technology from either of Cartier’s two ID watches.Such a timepiece may just represent the future of watchmaking – such is Cartier’s thinking anyway. While its technology is frontline stuff

Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon (2010)

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IN-DEPTH

now, watches incorporating carbon crystal and other futuristic techniques may well be com-monplace in a few decades’ time. For Cartier, making the discoveries now is about ensuring its supremacy down the line.“Our teams know that the whole objective is to make the adjustment-free, lubrication-free watch,” says Thierry Lamouroux, Cartier’s Watchmaking Marketing Development Direc-tor. “We want to have that as a mainstream offering one day. It’s a hugely expensive idea now, but in the 1970s the first airbags were in Rolls-Royce or Jaguars, luxuries for drivers who paid a lot. Now you can’t imagine driving a car without it, but it took 30 years for it to become part of normality.”

InteractionThe Astrotourbillon Carbon Crystal is a land-mark timepiece then, of a kind that can only come from a watchmaking department stee-ped in skills and experience. What’s remarka-ble is that less than a decade ago Cartier had barely any manufacturing base to speak of, with its volume business relying on supplied movements, and its higher end Collection Privée Cartier Paris watches resulting from collaborations with Renaud & Papi, Piaget and the like.That volume business is in ruder health today than ever. But from a process that began in 2004 with the establishment of a Research & Development lab to explore solutions to the biggest conundrums in watchmaking, Cartier has built an haute horlogerie operation that has arguably surpassed its peers in the scope of both its ambitions and its achievements, all in a few short years.While that R&D unit evolved into the “Innova-tion & Development” department – or Cartier ID for short, hence the ID One and Two – with a brief to develop concept watches that inves-

tigate future technologies, in 2007 the Fine Watchmaking department was established to produce limited edition collector pieces with complicated in-house movements.Besides producing a large number of eye-catching haute horlogerie watches, many of which rethink classic complications (as the ori-ginal Astrotourillon does, for instance) Cartier Fine Watchmaking’s impact has been directed both downwards and upwards. Downwards, in that it has developed Cartier’s debut in-house volume movement, the self-winding 1904 PS-MC; this year a further achievement has been the addition of a chronograph movement, the 1904-CH MC. And upwards, in the interplay of ideas and innovations with the Cartier ID unit, both influencing and being influenced by the research lab, with the Astrotourbillon Carbon Crystal the most prominent result thus far.

The Cartier ID One (right) and ID Two (left)

In 2012 Cartier presented the Rotonde de Cartier Cadran Lové flying tourbillon

Cartier’s second in-house movement, the Calibre de Cartier ChronographCartier’s second in-house movement, the Calibre de Cartier Chronograph

tigate future technologies, in 2007 the Fine Watchmaking department was established to produce limited edition collector pieces with complicated in-house movements.Besides producing a large number of eye-catching haute horlogerie watches, many of which rethink classic complications (as the ori-ginal Astrotourillon does, for instance) Cartier

The Cartier ID One (right) and ID Two (left)

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crescent-shaped body of the dial around the huge opening, which occupies 58% of the diameter of the dial. The independent display module occupying that void consists of four anti-reflective sapphire crystal discs, which must be assembled in a laminar flow cabinet, a special unit that denies any possibility of dust entering, which would obviously destroy the effect.“There are three things that are linking every-thing Cartier produces over 153 years,” says Thierry Lamouroux. “Firstly, being a pioneer, doing things differently; secondly, excellence of execution – whether high jewellery, fine watchmaking, the ID project, with all these we are talking about excellence in their field; and the third is the aesthetic touch that is unique to Cartier.”After five years of Cartier Fine Watchmaking collections, there should be little question that Forestier-Kasapi and her team are achieving these factors in spades, ensuring that the gran-de maison of jewellery will be at the forefront of horology for decades to come.

the Richemont family, in ensuring many of its Fine Watchmaking products are certified with the Geneva Seal.“The development of each movement can take between three and five years, during which time there are inevitably a lot of meetings, periods of doubt, victories, and eventually great satisfaction,” says Forestier-Kasapi of the process by which such remarkable watches are born. “We are never just repeating what others are already doing. We’re either reinterpreting traditional complications, or completely crea-ting something new.”

The mystery unraveledGood examples of the latter are the two “mys-tery watches” that were presented by Cartier in Geneva this year. The Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Hours and the Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Double Tourbillon take for inspira-tion the mystery clocks that were a specialism of Cartier’s in the early 20th century, in which the hands seem to rotate in a void, unconnec-ted to anything, as though suspended in space. The conjuring trick was achieved through rota-ting the hands on transparent discs, and that’s repeated with the mystery watches using anti-reflective sapphire crystal discs.That’s been done before in watches, though rarely as elegantly as with the Mysterious Hours, and never with a tourbillon, let alone a double, bi-directional tourbillon. The beguiling simplicity of these pieces – leaving aside the fact that they possibly look better off the wrist than on it, given the huge window that will give a great view of one’s arm hair as well as of the time – masks some serious horological complexity. In the case of the double tourbillon, it is the minute wheel that propels the oscilla-tor, transmitting its force to the tourbillon and enabling the carriage to revolve in space once every five minutes, while the tourbillon cage completes 25 revolutions in the same period.For the Mysterious Hours piece, the difficulty was cramming the main gear train into the

Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Double Tourbillon (2013)

Cartier’s in-house geniusThe dynamo at the heart of this operation has been Carole Forestier-Kasapi, one of very few women working in a senior technical capacity in the Swiss watch industry, and among the most talented watchmakers of her generation. Her achievement in leading the Fine Watch-making department – her official title is Head of Movement Creation – was recognised last year at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie awards in Geneva when, despite Cartier’s non-invol-vement in the awards, she was named “Best Watchmaker”.An alumnus of the Audemars Piguet-owned complications specialist Renaud & Papi, she worked in movement development across a number of high-end Richemont brands before joining Cartier full-time in 2005. The first fruits of her labours were unveiled at the Salon Inter-national de la Haute Horlogerie in 2009, in a collection that included a skeletonised version of the square Santos 100, in which Cartier’s famous roman numerals act as the skeleto-nised baseplate, a central chronograph, a trio of flying tourbillons watches and a monopusher chronograph with tourbillon.The flying tourbillons and monopusher chro-nograph had movements created for Cartier by Roger Dubuis and Renaud & Papi respectively, while the Santos 100 and central chronograph had entirely new movements developed in-house. Over the subsequent years, a dizzying variety of complicated pieces has appeared, many taking traditional high complications in new directions. These have appeared in traditional Cartier case shapes – Santos, Tank, Ballon Bleu, Rotonde, Tortue, and the Calibre de Cartier round watch introduced to house the new 1904 ‘tracteur’ movement – with a design aesthetic that melds the brand’s inherent Deco look to something quite muscular, even indus-trial, in sensibility, nevertheless with a heavy focus on skeletonisation. Cartier has also been able to make use of the manufactory of top-end specialist Roger Dubuis, a fellow member of

00/24 watchworld92

IN-DEPTH

Rotonde de Cartier Astrotour-billon Carbon Crystal“The brief I received for the Astrotourbillon was: ‘Carole, reinvent for us the tourbillon.’ The tourbillon is of course an emblematic complication for watchmakers, and the way the Astrotourbillon moves around its central axis is spectacular, and should be interesting to non-connoisseurs too. There is also the fun-damental element in this piece, which is the first industrialization in series of technology from our concept watch ID ONE. That was very significant for our R&D team.”

Rotonde de Cartier Mysterious Hours“This is a must-see Cartier style exercise: develop a mysterious movement based on the myste-rious system applied in our clocks for over 100 years. The difficulty of finding new solutions to ensure the watch is as durable as any other piece we produce, that it’s as flat as it can be.”

Calibre 1904-MC“The first automatic in-house movement for Cartier, this represents a major turning point for Cartier’s haute horlogerie, as we went to the status of genuine manufacture. It was an amazing opportunity for me to do something so special in a beautiful house like ours, and I have the feeling that this kind of adventure you only get once in your career.”

Santos-Dumont Skeleton“This interpretation of the skeletonisation of a movement is just so Cartier! Such a strong feeling emerges from this piece, there is a sense that it will always be a part of the Cartier collections because it’s so rooted to the House. The brief here was to reinvent the skeleton watch.”

CAROLE FORESTIER-KASAPI’S HIGHLIGHTS

Carole Forestier-Kasapi

Rotonde de Cartier Astrorégulateur“The great pleasure of this development lies in the fact that we could start with a blank piece of paper and deliver a new solution to a fundamental issue of chronometry. It was an adventure, and since we invented a whole new complication, we were rewriting the history of watchmaking. We weren’t relying on anything from the past, we were starting a new and exciting project from start to finish.”

Carole Forestier-Kasapi

“The great pleasure of this development lies in the fact that we could start with a blank piece of paper and deliver a new solution to a fundamental issue of chronometry. It was an adventure, and since we invented a whole new complication, we were rewriting the

00/24 watchworld 93

COLUMN

People (or at least people in the West) accumu-late more and more possessions throughout their lives. If you remember what you owned when you were ten years old and now, as an adult or a senior, you look at everything you have collected over the years, you will be impressed by the increase in the sheer number of things you can call your own. I’m not really talking about people who accumulate specific things to build a collection, but about regular people without those kinds of luxury problems. Living means amassing more and more lifeless things. Even a periodic clear-out barely stems the tide.The collector very deliberately increases his possessions. Collecting is, by its very nature, senseless. Whether you collect sugar packets, Barbie dolls or watches, a collection only very rarely has any use. There are collections at museum level that can claim to serve a purpo-se, but those are exceptions. Many collections end up in the rubbish bin after their owner’s death, or are foisted on to a surviving compa-nion. The fact that so many people do persist in collecting something leads me to suspect there is an emotional need that can only be satisfied by continuously purchasing more or less identical items.Watch collectors are a breed apart. They are nearly always men, who don’t hesitate to spend a fortune on building a watch collection; compared to saving doggy bags from different

airlines, buying watches is pricey. Especially so when you consider the fact that most watches lose a considerable part of their value the minute they’re purchased (unless they’re aucti-onable Patek’s, it seems). This means collectors not only invest a significant amount in their collection, they also make a significant loss on their investment. People who suffer losses like that in their share portfolio complain loudly, but the watch collector beams.Why do people collect things? I think it gives them a sense of being in control, sometimes even a purpose in life. When you ask them about their reason for collecting you end up with the same nonsensical answers, involving words like “beautiful” and “fun”. But: are there “uncollectors” as well? People who gradually reduce their collection only to end up with just one watch? I hope there are, because that single watch would have to be the ultimate possession that renders all others superfluous. Let’s say you have built a collection of a hundred Rolex watches and you sell one every week, after carefully considering the pros and cons of each watch. After two years you will be at a point where you only have two left. By definition these have to be your favourite Rolexes. Now having to choose, selling one and wearing the other, that would seem to me to be an ecstatic experience. Those who make that journey are justified in saying there was a purpose to their collecting: it taught them to choose.

Karel Hubert’s different view of life

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Recently a good friend from Dubai paid me a visit. A gentleman of impeccable taste, not least when it comes to watches. He wore a wonderful Richard Mille RM 030, which is a watch from one of my personal favourite brands. Of course I had to try on the watch, so I put down my own Linde Werdelin SpidoSpeed on the table, while my friend tried on a SevenFriday, something he had read a lot about on Instagram. And then it hit me. In front of me I had three watch brands that are very popular on different social media channels.Richard Mille is the oldest brand of the three and of course neither Facebook, nor Insta-gram were available on any handheld device when he launched his first watch in 2001. But he introduced the intimate relationship between his clients as well as journalists. Mille represented a world of fast cars, beauti-ful girls and innovative watches with prices so outrageous that only the superrich could afford. Articles were written, the word got around and soon the owners of mega yachts and Italian supercars were seen everywhere, wearing the tonneau-shaped critters with skeletonised tourbillon movements made by Renaud & Papi and Audemars Piguet. A viral watch success was born!Linde Werdelin was launched in 2006 and hence exposed to the advantages of Face-book. Linde Werdelin did however try dif-

ferent means of advertising. They created a cartoon with female heroines (The Power Of Two) and moved to a larger spot at Basel-World. But at the end, it was, besides from the watches of course, Instagram that made it take off. Linde Werdelin soon had a steady group of followers on Instagram with a healthy growth. Their professionally shot lifestyle photos and personal involvement from the two owners, Morten Linde and Jørn Werdelin, has had a great impact on the glo-bal interest for their watches.In 2011 newcomer SevenFriday popped up from nowhere. The Zürich-based watch company offers a futuristic design and was initially only sold via their own web shop. The brand however became object of desire, when influential Instagram users showed the spectacular watches strapped onto wrists surrounded by expensive cars, good cigars and tailor made suits. As a prop in these environments, SevenFriday looked like an expensive luxury watch and hence unobtai-nable to most. But it is not. The price is only around £800, which has made SevenFriday a global success.These are only three examples of young watch brands that live very well from social media. Are the older and more established watch brands missing out by not being active on Instagram and Facebook? That is a good ques-tion. Let’s talk again in five or six years.

Timegeek Kristian Haagen

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COLUMN

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Juwelier Kormelink • Dik Juwelier • Triade Juweliers •

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00/2498

BOUTIQUE

mallory Bath Bath

ThE dETailSmallory1-5 Bridge StreetBath BA2 4APwww.mallory-jewellers.com

BRaNdSBell & Ross • Breitling • Bulgari • Cartier • Chopard • Jaeger-LeCoultre • Longines • Montblanc • Omega • Panerai • Patek Philippe • Rolex • TAG Heuer

Patek PhilippeGrande Complication, Ref. 5213G

“It’s a perpetual calendar with minute repeater, and combines the traditional values,

high-level skills and discrete style they’re known for so well.”

In one of the country’s most beautiful historic cities you’ll find one of the

most distinguished jewellery and watch boutiques, which has occupied

the same location – and gradually grown – since Edward Palmer Mallory

took over a jeweller there in 1898. The current managing director is

Edward’s great grandson, Robert Vander Woerd, who we spoke to.

RolexCosmograph daytona

“Rolex is known for its bracelets, but some people prefer a strap watch. This is a new take on an updated design, and it’s a fun

style that also has wow factor.”

Jaeger-leCoultreGrande Reverso Calendar

“This is a great combination of Art Deco design with a great complication. The level of what

they produce for what you have to pay, with so much innovation in one brand, is incredible.”

What kind of a shop is Mallory?“We’re a family business – I may have a different name, but my mother was a Mallory, and I’m the fourth generation down. My great grandfather took over a jewellery business in 1898, and we’ve expanded through the generations. We employ 38 people including two watchmakers and three

sorts of people have got money than four to five years ago – that ‘throw caution to the wind’ atti-tude has gone, and people want excellence and quality. Patek Philippe and Rolex remain hugely strong, solid brands for us, but other brands have moved up too. Cartier has become more selective and is building its credibility as a watch company; with Omega, you really saw the benefit of their Olympics exposure last year, and they’re thriving. Jaeger-LeCoultre has moved enormously in the market – the innovation across the range is very interesting, and the fact that it has this fantastic manufacturing base is very important.”

What do watch collectors and buyers require from a retailer?“Watch collectors have become far more know-ledgeable and selective. They follow the market, and will ring up immediately after the Basel fair already knowing what they want. They’re looking for excellence, and our job is to keep them interested, because that’s an enormous growing market, particularly in the younger bracket – they’re really looking at the collectible pieces and the limited editions.”

The watch buyer’s guide to Britain

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goldsmiths – we’re not just a facade, we do the nitty gritty as well, including designing and making our own jewellery.”

How has the watch market changed in recent years?“It’s evolved, and we’ve evolved with it. Different

watchworld

Making a pilot’s watch is a piece of cake, right?

Design a few fancy dials. Add some luminous numbers. Photograph it on a male model posed insouciantly against a fighter plane and Bob’s your uncle.

We take a different approach.

Our thinking is this: a true pilot’s watch should be able to endure everything the pilot does.

And we mean everything.

Our U-2 watch has, as the name suggests, been developed for the elite U-2 spy plane squadron at Beale Air Force base in California.

U-2 planes operate at altitudes as high as 100,000 feet, and at temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees.

So, with the help of the squadron, we subjected our watch to extensive testing to make sure it could withstand the same extremes.

Spy planes aren’t always the most welcome of guests in foreign air space,

and a pilot may occasionally have to make a small revision to the flight plan.

Like ejecting at 500 mph.

So we also enlisted the help of Martin-Baker, the pioneers of the ejector seat.

At their testing facility in Denham, our watch was put on the wrist of a crash test dummy and fired from the cockpit, again and again and again. Enduring forces of up to 30G in the process.

Yet the Bremont lived to tell the time.

How?

Well, instead of one watch case, we build two.

The outer case is solid steel. Seven times thicker than you’ll find in the average watch. (We bombard it with electrons to toughen it up.)

Inside this is a second case, held in place by a flexible ring that absorbs any shocks and protects the delicate mechanism inside.

Delicate it may be, but the mechanism doesn’t get an easy ride either.

It’s passed an arduous fifteen day certification process administered by no less a body than COSC, the official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute.

As a result, it’s 99.998% accurate. (We’re working on the other 0.002%.)

It’s safe to say that most people reading this are unlikely to be asked to fly a mission at 100,000 feet or eject from a stricken fighter.

But it’s reassuring to know that if you did, your watch wouldn’t let you down.

If you look after a Bremont, it should last you a lifetime.

In fact, as our tests prove, even if you don’t look after it, it should still last a lifetime.

W E S I N C E R E L Y H O P E

Y O U N E V E R H A V E T O

G O T H R O U G H

E V E R Y T H I N G O U R

W A T C H E S G O T H R O U G H .

Making a pilot’s watch is a piece of cake, right?

Design a few fancy dials. Add some luminous numbers. Photograph it on a male model posed insouciantly against a fighter plane and Bob’s your uncle.

We take a different approach.

Our thinking is this: a true pilot’s watch should be able to endure everything the pilot does.

And we mean everything.

Our U-2 watch has, as the name suggests, been developed for the elite U-2 spy plane squadron at Beale Air Force base in California.

U-2 planes operate at altitudes as high as 100,000 feet, and at temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees.

So, with the help of the squadron, we subjected our watch to extensive testing to make sure it could withstand the same extremes.

Spy planes aren’t always the most welcome of guests in foreign air space,

and a pilot may occasionally have to make a small revision to the flight plan.

Like ejecting at 500 mph.

So we also enlisted the help of Martin-Baker, the pioneers of the ejector seat.

At their testing facility in Denham, our watch was put on the wrist of a crash test dummy and fired from the cockpit, again and again and again. Enduring forces of up to 30G in the process.

Yet the Bremont lived to tell the time.

How?

Well, instead of one watch case, we build two.

The outer case is solid steel. Seven times thicker than you’ll find in the average watch. (We bombard it with electrons to toughen it up.)

Inside this is a second case, held in place by a flexible ring that absorbs any shocks and protects the delicate mechanism inside.

Delicate it may be, but the mechanism doesn’t get an easy ride either.

It’s passed an arduous fifteen day certification process administered by no less a body than COSC, the official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute.

As a result, it’s 99.998% accurate. (We’re working on the other 0.002%.)

It’s safe to say that most people reading this are unlikely to be asked to fly a mission at 100,000 feet or eject from a stricken fighter.

But it’s reassuring to know that if you did, your watch wouldn’t let you down.

If you look after a Bremont, it should last you a lifetime.

In fact, as our tests prove, even if you don’t look after it, it should still last a lifetime.

W E S I N C E R E L Y H O P E

Y O U N E V E R H A V E T O

G O T H R O U G H

E V E R Y T H I N G O U R

W A T C H E S G O T H R O U G H .

watch world 2013 autumn

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