watchtime magazine - april 2014

8/10/2019 WatchTime Magazine - April 2014

1/162

THE WORLD OF FINE WATCHES

April 2014

www.watchtime.com

Display until May 13, 2014

BonusDigitalContentTESTS

H. MOSERREMADE

BABIESGOT

BACK

BREGUETMAGNETS IN THE MOVEMENT

7 S T A R S F R O M S I H H

BREGUETMAGNETS IN THE MOVEMENT

The Classique

Chronomtrie 7727

A. LANGE & SHNE

JAEGER-LECOULTRE

ORIS

ARNOLD & SON

MHLE-GLASHTTEVS. MEISTERSINGER

BAUME & MERCIER

LONGINES

A. LANGE & SHNE

JAEGER-LECOULTRE

ORIS

ARNOLD & SON

MHLE-GLASHTTEVS. MEISTERSINGER

BAUME & MERCIER

LONGINES


2/162


3/162


4/162

1.800.441.4488 - Hermes.com

la montre herms reinvents time and sets it to the tempo of

your desires. press on the pushbutton and suspend time. beneath the dial,

time continues to run within the heart of the mechanism.

another push on the button sets the date and hands running again.

time resumes its march, and you the course of your day.

this exclusive herms calibre is a world premire.

arceau le temps suspendu

herms, time reinvented.


5/162


6/162

C O N S TA N T E S C A P E M E N T L . M .THE GREATEST INVENTION SINCE THE TOURBILLON

GIRARD-PERREGAUX 09100-0002 CALIBER, MANUAL WINDING MECHANICAL MOVEMENT

HOUR, MINUTE, CENTRAL SECOND, LINEAR POWER RESERVE INDICATOR

6-DAY POWER RESERVE - 48MM WHITE GOLD CASE WITH SAPPHIRE CRYSTAL CASE-BACK

ALLIGATOR STRAP WITH FOLDING BUCKLE


7/162


8/162

NEW BR 03 GOLDEN HERITAGE COLLECTION 42 MM

Bell & Ross Inc. +1.888.307.7887 e-Boutique: www.bellross.com


9/162


10/162

12 WatchTime April 2014

The news comes, if it comes at all, inbrief announcements in Switzer-land, attracting little notice. Like

this from the website (fhs.ch) of the Feder-ation of the Swiss Watch Industry inJanuary 2014:

At the beginning of December,Vacheron Constantin announced thetakeover of Aubert Complications, situatedin the Joux Valley. Founded in 1872,Aubert Complications is historically oneof the manufactorys most important sup-pliers of gear trains. Spread over two sites(Le Lieu and Les Bioux), the firm hasextensive know-how in the fabrication ofmovement components. In acquiring this

company, the Geneva manufactorystrengthens its production capacity in thefields of gear-cutting, profile turning andburnishing, as well as its watchmakingexpertise, enabling it to guarantee thelevel of excellence required and certifiedby the Geneva Hallmark.

Or this, two months earlier on thesame site:

On the 14th of November, La MontreHerms announced the acquisition of theentire share capital of Joseph Erard Hold-ing, in which it was the major shareholder.Watch manufacturer Joseph Erard hasmaintained a long period of fruitful rela-tions with Herms. For the HermsGroup, this operation is partof its ongo-ing process in mastering its watchmaking

expertise.

For a variety of reasons, the Swisswatch industry is becoming increasingly

vertical as more and more watch brandsacquire their components suppliers. Thetrend isnt new; weve called attention to itbefore. In a Last Minute column entitledThe Swiss Watch Takeover You HaventHeard About, I noted that a momen-tous takeover trend underway in Swiss

watch circles has gone virtually unnoticed.A takeover battle that doesnt involve

SwitzerlandsEndangered Species:IndependentWatch-Parts Producers

EDITORS

Letter

Swiss watch brands, but Swiss watch parts cases, bracelets, dials, hands, crowns andother watch components. The columndiscussed what was going on and why. Itappeared in the December 2001

WatchTime.A dozen years later, Swiss watch verti-

cal integration continues at a brisk clip,still relatively unnoticed. Now, though,there are far fewer parts producers to buy.

Big brands like Vacheron and Hermswill tell you they have no choice: go verti-cal or go crazy trying to secure on-time,top-quality supplies of parts. Particularlyin boom times like the recent China-driven

surge. Vacheron Constantin typifies theproblem. It sits alone atop the luxurywatch pyramid in China, so demand hasnever been greater. The firm wants to

Joe ThompsonEditor-in-Chief

THE UPS AND

DOWNS OF

SWISS WATCH

VERTICALIZATION

boost production gradually from its tradi-tional fewer than 20,000 watches annuallyto around 30,000. If you can securefuture supplies of gears by taking overAubert Complications, you do it. Youd bea fool not to.

Suppliers, for their part, are often happy

to be acquired. During the Great Reces-sion of 2009, it was the component suppli-ers who suffered the most, when brandsabruptly cancelled orders and didnt payfor supplies delivered. A takeover by acash-flush client means a big payday andperhaps long-term financial security. Jean-Pierre Slavic was the owner of BoninchiSA, the primary supplier of watch crownsto Rolex. He sold his firm to Rolex in

2001 and appears annually on the list ofthe 300 Richest Swiss.

But heres the rub. At Baselworld lastyear I sat with the CEO of an independentwatch brand who was wringing his handsliterally and figuratively about the hazardsof being a small independent brand inSwitzerland today. His supplier of watchhands was Universo, which was acquiredby the Swatch Group in June 2000. Uni-

verso hiked the price on his watch handsby 20 percent in 2012. Supplies are shortand we have to supply Swatch Groupbrands first, his Universo rep told him,truthfully. The price hike was too steep forthe CEO so he found another supplier. InSwitzerland? I asked. In Korea, heanswered. Hes not a big fan of verticalintegration. It is getting harder andharder to do business, he said.


11/162

Media Briefing Kit

Diving Reaches New DepthsThe Oris Aquis Depth Gauge


Media Briefing Kit


12/162

Media Briefing Kit


Divers are expecting the highest standardsfrom their Oris watch.

Searching for New Horizons

Building on the experience gained in the development andproduction of the successful ProDiver and Aquis series, the leadingSwiss mechanical watch manufacturer Oris identified the need for amechanical divers watch which would meet the following objectives:

1. Build on the successful and well-proven Aquis Model featuringan automatic mechanical movement, water-resistant to 50bar/500m and a unidirectional revolving top ring with 60 minutestimer scale

2. Fitting of a responsive, accurate and reliable depth gauge,without adding much additional complexity, weight or volume

3. Maintain excellent value for money ratio

The Boyles Law measures the relationshipbetween the volume of a gas and the totalpressure being applied to that gas.

With the increase in atmospheric pressure,trapped air compressed, results in a decreasein volume.

The Physical Law which triggered Oris invention

Robert Boyle (1627 1691) was a leading intellectual figure of the17th century and one of the founders of modern chemistry. He wasthe first prominent scientist to perform controlled experiments andpublish his work with details concerning procedure, apparatus andobservations. He began to publish in 1659 and continued to do sofor the rest of his life.

It is Boyle's Law for which he is most famous and which states thatif the volume of a gas is decreased, the pressure increases

proportionally.

Since this principle was independently discovered by the FrenchEdme Mariotte (1620 1684) the law was named after bothscientists.


13/162

Media Briefing Kit


The sapphire crystal of the new Oris AquisDepth Gauge is about 50% thicker than anaverage top glass and features a channelmilled into the side with an inlet at 12 oclock.

The Oris Invention

Oris product engineers were the first to apply the Boyle-MariotteLaw into the top crystal of a watch by milling a small channel intothe side of a sapphire crystal. The channel runs anticlockwise roundthe sapphire glass, stopping between one and two o'clock. At 12o'clock, an inlet leads to this channel. The special sapphire crystalis about 50% thicker than an average watch top crystal, domed andanti-reflection coated on both sides.

Oris patented this invention in 2012.

Oris Aquis Depth Gauge: Expertly crafted, thejoint between the crystal and the case issealed by a Zytel-gasket, shown in yellowabove. In blue the milled channel in thesapphire crystal.

The Case Construction

Oris used a proven diver case from the Aquis collection and

combined it with the newly invented sapphire crystal. The joinbetween the crystal and the case is sealed by a Zytel gasket.

Despite the milled channel the Oris Aquis Depth Gauge is water-resistant to 50 bar/500m, thus providing the highest protection tothe mechanical movement with automatic winding.


14/162

Media Briefing Kit


The inlet in the sapphire crystal of the OrisAquis Depth Gauge at 12 oclock allows waterto enter into the channel, which correspondswith the yellow depth scale. Above exampleshows a depth of 5 metres.

The Function of the Depth Gauge

When descending with the Oris Aquis Depth Gauge, water entersinto the milled channel through the inlet at 12 oclock of thesapphire crystal. The increasing water pressure compresses the airinside the channel.

The water causes the color of the channel to become dark grey.The edge between dark grey (water) and light grey (compressedair) marks the depth on the yellow metre scale on the inside of thesapphire crystal. For enhanced readability the sapphire crystal has

a non-reflective treatement on both sides.

The Oris Aquis Depth Gauge dial with its

highly visible displays.

The Timing Instrument

The new Oris Aquis Depth Gauge is a compact high quality timingand depth measuring instrument.

The black ceramic inlay of the unidirectional revolving top ring hasan engraved 60 minute scale, with individual minute lines from zeroto fifteen.

The white Super-LumiNova applied to the hands and indices,gives not only excellent visibility underwater but also one of thelongest lasting luminosities of all Super-LumiNova colours.

The high contrast yellow metre scale printed on the inside of thesapphire crystal emphasises the well-balanced technical look.

Protected Screw-In Security Crown

The stainless steel screw-in security crown is embedded into andprotected by a stainless steel safety barrier, leveraging along thedistinctive Oris Aquis horns.


15/162

Media Briefing Kit


The Oris Aquis Depth Gauge case back withengraved metres to feet conversion scale.

The Case Back with a Conversion Scale

The stainless steel case back carries a special set of engravingswith a metre to feet conversion scale which goes up to 100m/325 ft.

This conversion scale allows for rapid calculation by divers workingin countries where both metric and imperial measurements areused.

The folding clasp of the Oris Aquis DepthGauge allows an easy adjustment.

The Folding Clasp for Easy Size Adjustment

The folding clasp on the rubber strap allows an easy and quickadjustment. When putting the wetsuit on, the rubber strap can beeasily widened.

The specially designed rubber strap withanchor feature of the Oris Aquis Depth Gauge.

The Safety Rubber Anchor another Oris Innovation

The rubber strap has been designed with an anchor, an additionalsafety feature to prevent the watch from falling off the wrist.


16/162

Media Briefing Kit


The innovative clasp of the Oris Aquis DepthGauge allows the strap to be adjusted rapidly.

The Sliding Sledge of the Clasp

The sliding sledge of the clasp for the rubber strap can be rapidlyadjusted without opening the clasp to guarantee a perfect fit whenunderwater pressure makes the wetsuit less voluminous.

The Oris Aquis Depth Gauge comes in aspecial waterproof case with a metal braceletas alternative.

The Oris Aquis Depth Gauge Set

The Oris watch comes in a special waterproof case as a setcomprising a replacement metal bracelet, a set of tools to change

the strap and a certificate containing full details of this latestinvention in the world of professional divers watches.

Completing the divers watch, the set includes a specially configuredsapphire crystal cleaning device for ambitious divers.


17/162

Media Briefing Kit


The Oris Aquis Depth Gauge is the first diverswatch to measure depth by a special featurebuild directly into the sapphire crystal.

The Product Features

Ref: 733 7675 4154 Set, 46.00mm

Automatic Oris movement Cal. 733, based on SW 200 with datewindow at 6 oclock

Centralised hour, minute and second displays

Stainless steel case, water resistant to 50 bar/500 metres

Screwed case back with metres-feet scale engravings

Sapphire crystal, on both sides doomed and on both sides withanti-reflective coating, features a milled channel for depthgauging and a metre scale in yellow, printed from the inside

Divers unidirectional revolving top ring with minute scale onblack ceramic inlay

Dial with applied indices and hands, both with Super-LumiNovainlay

Rubber strap and metal bracelet as alternative

Set includes waterproof case, certificate, metal bracelet, cleaningdevice and tools to change the strap/bracelet


18/162


CONTENTSWatchTime, March-April, 2014

COVER STORYBREGUETS MAGNETIC MOMENTBy Joe Thompson | Montres Breguets patentedmagnetic pivot could be a game changer formechanical watches, and CEO Marc A. Hayeksees it as the natural evolution of Abraham-LouisBreguets spirit of innovation. Heres the storybehind the Classique Chronomtrie 7727.

TESTS & REVIEWS

INTELLIGENT DESIGNBy Jens Koch | A. Lange & Shne has reworked thelarge version of its Lange 1 watch, the Grand Lange1, giving it a bigger movement and betterproportions. The result is a more readable dial

and improved aesthetics. We put it through aWatchTime test to see if its performance matchesits good looks.

SLENDER CONTENDERBy Mike Disher | Just 9.2 mm thick, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual packs abundle of complexity a JLC Caliber 899 basemovement with in-house perpetual-calendar module into its slender case. Did it ace our test?

PRESSURE TACTICSBy Jens Koch | Oris took the plunge byincorporating its depth gauge into the watchscrystal a watchmaking first. We strapped the OrisAquis Depth Gauge to the wrist of a diver to seehow it performed under the pressure of a deep-seasubmersion.

THE THINNER SPINNER

By Mike Disher | We test the Arnold & Son UTTE,or Ultra Thin Tourbillon Escapement, which turnedheads at last years Baselworld as one of severalnoteworthy new Arnold models.

64

88

78

64

78

88

98

110


19/162

CONTENTS

l


20/162


April 2014

MADE TO MEASUREBy Julia Knaut | The Meistersinger Pangaea and theMhle-Glashtte M 29 Classic are both inspired bythe design of measuring instruments. They have

similar styling and both are German made. But onefared better in our test. Find out which.

PAST AS PRESENT

By Alexander Krupp | Baume & Mercier introduceda new collection last year, the Clifton, modeled onclassically styled watches of the 1950s. We test thesmall seconds model to see how it measures up.

SEND IN THE CROWN

By Alexander Krupp | If youve ever had troublegrasping a teensy watch crown, Longines has gotyour number. The Avigation Oversize Crown livesup to its name, and then some.

FEATURES7 STARS FROM SIHH

What gives a watch star quality? An innovativemovement? Beautiful styling? Over-the-topworkmanship? Its all in the eye of the beholder.After SIHH in Geneva, WatchTime editors chosethe watches they thought were the fairs realstandouts. Here are seven of them.

REMAKING MOSERBy Jay Deshpande | H. Moser & Cie. was acollectors darling when it first appeared in the mid-

2000s, but its production never got off the ground.Now under new ownership, the brand is streamliningproduction and focusing on profitability andhoping for a second chance.

WHEN ROLEX WENT QUARTZ

By Lucien Trueb | In this excerpt from his bookElectrifying the Wristwatch, watch expert LucienTrueb tells the story of how mechanical-watch kingRolex dealt with the arrival of quartz in the 1970s.

BACK IS BEAUTIFUL

Our latest portfolio of fine mechanical watches thatare as intriguing from the back as from the front.

50

98

110

132

140

152

50

124

146

156


21/162

CONTENTS

April 2014


22/162


DEPARTMENTS

& COLUMNS

EDITORS LETTER

Switzerlands endangered species: independent watch-parts producers

DIGITAL ENHANCEMENTS

A resource for all the QR codes in this issue thatlink to bonus content

ON WATCHTIME.COMA glimpse at whats on our site to keep you up todate on the latest watch news

WORLD OF WATCHTIME

See the global reach of WatchTime and its partners

READERS FORUMWatchTime readers react to the Rolex Sky-Dweller,discuss the details of Rolex history, and speak out

about Blancpain, Seiko, Shinola and our use ofindelicate language. Find out what readers arethinking. (And feel free to drop us a line.)

WATCHTALK

A look at the new Swatch Sistem51; change-ups atLVMH; Chopards plans to launch a new brand;the death of Raymond Weil founder RaymondWeil; and more

WATCH QUIZHow much do you know about balance springs,those tiny spirals that keep watches running ontime?

FACETIME

A photo mlange of readers and their watches

LAST MINUTE

Twenty-one things you might not have known about

the city of Basel, from a 35-year Baselworld veteran

ON THE COVER: The Breguet ClassiqueChronomtrie 7727. Photo by Montres Breguet

124

132

146

April 2014

12

20

22

28

30

36

48

168

170

PROFILE

H. Moser & Cie.The Perpetual 1 and the Monard Big

Date both use a flash calendar


23/162

H. Moser & Cie.

Date watch. Beneath the dial are twolayered calendar disks. The lower one

shows numbers 16 to 31; the top oneshows 1 to 15, and also has a windowthrough which you can see a numberfrom the bottom disk. By layering thesedisks and controlling how the displayshifts between the higher and lower disks,the watch is able to switch immediately atthe stroke of midnight between dates, andwithout ever having to display 29, 30, or 31 ina month that doesnt have those dates. The watchhas a seven- to 10-day power reserve thanks to a double-barreled mainspring. The Perpetual 1 comes in a case of whiteor rose gold or platinum; all are 40.8 mm in diameter and 11.05mm thick. It costs $60,000 in gold and $78,000 in platinum.

Last year, Meylan also focused on making improvements tothe Nomad Dual Time ($36,500), a two-time-zone automatic. Itwas Mosers only entirely new model at Baselworld in 2013:Meylans team chose to redesign the automatic movement in thenow-defunct Meridian watch and use it in the Nomad. Some

changes are visible on the dial: a 12/24-hour indicator that waseasily confused with a big date has now been replaced by an

a.m./p.m. indicator for the hometime zone, showing white before

noon and black from noon to mid-night. The Nomad employs a clicksystem for winding, similar to aPellaton winding system, used by

IWC, or Seikos magic lever.Mosers engineers did a dynamic sim-

ulation of the spring and adjusted itsdesign. Meylan says this was the most

difficult piece of the movement to master.Moser produces six movements, used in

six models. Theyre led by the HMC 341, con-tained in the Perpetual 1, and the HMC 321, used in the MayuSmall Seconds. The others are the HMC 342, in the Monard BigDate; the 343, in the Monard Center Seconds; the 346, in theNomad; and the 348, used in the Perpetual Moon. All have afrequency of 18,000 vph and all but the 346 are manual-windmovements.

Effective at Baselworld this year, Moser is grouping all sixmodels into a single collection called Endeavor and renaming

them. The Perpetual 1 will become the Endeavor Perpetual, theNomad Dual Time will be the Endeavor Dual Time, etc.

Date both use a flash calendar

comprised of two layered disks.

MOBILEEDITIONS

THE WORLD OF F INE WA TCH ES

iPad iPhone Android

Nook Kindle

DIGITAL

EDITIONS

FOR MANY

DEVICES

Stay informed and entertained wherever you are enjoy WatchTime on your own mobile device!

Learn more about WatchTimes products:www.watchtime.com/magazine

Bonus


24/162


How to use a QR CodeA QR code (+!%ick "e#on#e code)'o"k# like a ba"code, and can $akeo% $o a de#igna$ed 'eb#i$e 'hen#canned on o%" mobile deice(#ma"$hone/$able$). To #can a QRcode, "#$ do'nload a QR "eade" a.The"e a"e #ee"al f"ee a# aailable,like +QR D"oid fo" And"oiddeice# o" +AT&T Code Scanne" fo"

Ale iOS deice#. Af$e" o% do'n-load i$, %#e $he a $o #can $he QRcode 'i$h o%" deice*# came"a $oie' $he Wa$chTime online bon%#con$en$.

DIGITAL ENHANCEMENTSWatchTime, March-April 2014

96

120

120

166

JAEGER-LECOULTREView a short video of theJLC Master Ultra ThinPerpetual.

ARNOLD & SONTake a video tour of theUTTE, a.k.a. the Ultra ThinTourbillon Escapement.

ARNOLD & SONHear an excerpt from ourinterview with SbastienChaulmontet, the brandshead of movementdevelopment.

BACK IS BEAUTIFULDownload high-qualityphotos of the watches fromthis feature as wallpaper foryour desktop.

sDigitalContent

WebTake# o% $o a 'eb#i$e o" $o bon%# con$en$ on'''.'a$ch$ime.com

ImagesSho'# o% addi$ional ho$o# "ela$ed $o $he #$o"

VideoLe$# o% ie' a ideo "ela$ed $o $he #$o"

SoundLe$# o% hea" an a%dio "eco"ding "ela$ed $o $he #$o"

InterviewLe$# o% hea" an ece"$ f"om an in$e"ie'cond%c$ed fo" $he #$o"

WatchTime contains bonus content that readers canaccess via mobile devices. QR codes are on the pages listed below.

51

54

62

77

JAEGER-LECOULTREView a JLC video to learnmore about the record-breaking minute repeater,the Hybris Mechanica 11.

A. LANGE & SHNEWatch an A. Lange & Shnevideo to take a closer look at

the Terralunas orbitalmoon-phase display.

VACHERON CONSTANTIN

See the Calibre 1731 inaction with VacheronConstantins video.

BREGUETHear CEO Marc A. Hayekexplain how Breguets 2009no-layoff strategy boostedsales.


25/162


26/162

ONWATCHTIME.COM

Visit our website for more information about theworld of fine watches. To read the stories shownhere, go to watchtime.com/on-watchtime.

Scan this codewith your smart-

phone to visit

watchtime.com.

NE& JA$E# D!O &A#CHE"

CELEB!A#E 'EA! OF #HE HO!"E

I6 C6, 2014 ;


27/162


28/162

Editor-in-Chief/Associate Publisher Joe Thompson

Executive Editor Norma Buchanan

Managing Editor Dara Hinshaw

Technical Editor Mike Disher

Associate Editor Jay Deshpande

Digital Media Editor Mark Bernardo

Digital Media Assistant Jason Francisco

Art Direction/Design Publishers Factory, Munich

Contributing Writers Gwendolyn Benda

Gisbert L. Brunner

Rdiger Bucher

Maria-Bettina Eich

Julia Knaut

Jens KochAlexander Krupp

Alexander Linz

Martina Richter

Gerhard Seelen

Thomas Wanka

Neha S. Bajpai

Aishwarya Sati

Translations Howard Fine

Magdalena GrauJoanne Weinzierl

Photographers Robert Atkinson

Nina Bauer

Marcus Krger

Nicolas Lieber

OK-Photography

Eveline Perroud

Maik Richter

Nik Schlzel

Zuckerfabrik Fotodesign

THE MA GA Z I NE OF F I NE WATC HE S

WatchTime (ISSN 1531-5290) is published bimonthly for $49.97 per year by Ebner Publishing International, Inc., 274 Madison Avenue, Suite 804, New York, NY 10016.Copyright Ebner Publishing International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. March/April 2014 issue, Volume 16, Number 2. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WatchTime,

WatchTime Subscription Service, P.O. Box 3000, Denville, NJ 07834-3000, Tel. 1-888-289-0038. Publications mail agreement no. 40676078: Return undeliverable

Canadian addresses to P.O. Box 503, RPO West Beaver Creek, Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 4R6.

www.watchtime.com


29/162

Management & Administration

Managing Director & Publisher Dominik Grau

Advertising & Event Sales Director Sara M. Orlando

Event Manager Minda Larsen

Office Manager Steve Brown

Controlling & Accounting Ayzha Wolf

Accountant Martha Samuel

IT Infrastructure Terry King

Subscriptions Steve Capasso

Newsstands (MCC) Ralph Perricelli

Newsstands (MCC) Irwin Billman

Newsstands (CMG) Sherry Kurth

THE MA GA Z I NE OF F I NE WATC HE S

WatchTime, watchtime.com, Inside Basel.Geneva and IBG are protected through trademark registrationin the United States and in the foreign countries where WatchTime magazine circulates.

EBNER PUBLISHING INC.274 Madison Ave

Suite 804New York, NY 10016

USA

EBNER PUBLISHING GROUPUlm, Germany

Executive Board Gerrit Klein

Florian Ebner

Eberhard Ebner

Production Director Michael Kessler

Head of Digital Development Paul-Henry Schmidt

Head of IT Jordan Hellstern

Digital & Mobile Jens Koeppe


30/162

2014 Citizen Watch Company

Citizens exclusive caliber 9012 automatic movement with specially-designed

rotor and 24 jewels viewed through an exhibition caseback.

One-way rotating bezel. Water resistant 300m. 44mm case. Sapphire crystal.

GRAND TOURING SPORT

citizen-signature.com


31/162

THE WORLD OF

USA

China

Korea

Japan

India

Poland

Magazines Website Apps Events

WatchTime is a subsidiary of Ebner Publishing of Germany, whose flagship watch magazines are WatchTime

(USA, India) and Chronos (Europe, Asia). Ebner also owns the 'Inside Basel.Geneva' event brand.

Germany

Brazil


32/162

E-SPECIALS

FOR YOURTABLET

Scan this code with yourphone to download the

WatchTime app

FROMTHEPAGESOFWATCHTIMEONLY

$2.99THE WORLDOFFINEWATCHES

www.watchtime.com

DIVE-WATCHDOUBLEFEATURE

ADIVERTESTS OMEGA

TAGHEUERORIS

DOXA

AND3MORE

DIVE-WATCHDOUBLEFEATURE

3ARTICLESFROMTHEPAGESOF WATCHTIME

7REVIEWSFROMTHEPAGESOFWATCHTIME

NOW AVAILABLE FOR

YOUR IPAD AND IPHONE


33/162


34/162


35/162


36/162

THE HYDRO

MECHANICAL

HOROLOGISTS

HYTWATCHES.COM

HYT is the first timepiece ever to combine mechanical and liquid

engineering. H2, unique Swiss technology and movement made in

cooperation with Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi - manual winding and

8-day power-reserve - driving a unique high-tech fluidic technology

HYT - a new dawn in watchmaking.

BEVERLY HILLS : Westime | LA JOLLA : Westime | MIAMI : King Jewelers

NEW YORK : Cellini | WEST HOLLYWOOD : Westime

READERS

Forum

I KNOW THERE IS A GENERAL DECLINE IN


37/162


Wa+cT!%e e$c'%e* c'-

e*'&de&ce f'% eade*.

Se&d c'%%e&+* +' ed!+'-

!&-c!ef J'e T'%*'& a+

274 Mad!*'& Ae&e,

S!+e 804, Ne Y'#, NY

10016 ' !a e-%a!$ +'

"+'%*'&@a+c+!%e.

c'%. P$ea*e !&c$de /'

f$$ &a%e, c!+/ a&d *+a+e,

a&d c'&+/ (!f '+*!de +e

U&!+ed S+a+e*). Le++e* %a/be ed!+ed f' $e&g+ '

c$a!+/.

NIX THE PROFANITY

You are right to extol the virtues of your maga-

zine and its horological reportage versus what isavailable for free on the Internet (Editors Let-ter, December 2013). It is one of the reasons Isubscribe. But as my subscription renewallooms, I await your word on the use of profanityin your pages going forward. I may be mistaken,but as a long time reader, I do not recall ever see-ing anything close to profane.

But in the December 2013 issue, your Let-ters to the Editor include the abbreviation

WTF. Well, OK, I thought, the editor isallowing a reader to express himself in his ownwords. And there is some wiggle room that itmay not be interpreted by all as an abbreviationfor the F bomb (but not much).

On page 168 comes the (all bold caps) head-line: Shinola Watches? NO SH*T! Any hopeI may have had that the writing would revertback toward civility was dashed when readingthe anecdote about the executive conversation ... that he didnt know shit from Shinola.That word doesnt even appear on the Shinolawebsite. I wasnt sure if I was readingWatchTime or if I was back in the Navy. Itseems an odd editorial decision.

I know there is a general decline in mannersand that polite society seems to be an oxymoronbut please, not in the pages of my WatchTime!Save the more hip and less stodgy (i.e., pro-fane) language for the Internet bloggers. The useof these words seems unnecessary and fell flatwith me. They are not befitting a publicationthat otherwise has excellent writing on thebeauty, craftsmanship, artistry, and heritage thefine watch industry brings to our wrists.

I hope youll choose to take the higher roadon language use going forward.

Paul Chesek

Atlanta, GA

The Shinola story, with a brand so closelyassociated with the famous slang slogan, was a

special case. The record will show that wevereturned to our normal Kings English since

then. JT

THE WIFES THE SURGEON

For me, finding WatchTime magazine in mymailbox is one of lifes guilty pleasures. Receiv-ing the February 2014 issue was no different.Your reference to me and our conversationregarding FaceTime in your Editors Letter(February 2014) was a wonderful surprise.However, there was a minor error. I am actually

a pathologist. It is my wife (who is often veryeager to remind me) that is the surgeon. I haveattached a photo of me at the microscope withmy recently acquired Vulcain 50s Presidentslimited-edition Herbie Hancock (which wouldhave been a nice addition to the A Bolt FromThe Blue article in that issue). If double dip-ping is tolerated, please feel free to add thephoto to the WatchTime family album. Youmay see a blip in magazine sales south ofChicago!

Ron Champagne via e-mail

Please apologize to your wife for the mistake. Iassure her the error was entirely mine and thatat no point in our conversation did youattempt to impersonate a surgeon. JT

CORRECTING A CORRECTION

Whats good for the goose is good for the gan-der. In his Readers Forum letter (December2013) noting WatchTimes faux pas in its selec-tion of an image of a car in the test of the TAGHeuer Monaco Steve McQueen watch, MarcEskridge made a faux pas of his own in claim-ing that Steve McQueen drove a British racinggreen Mustang. Any red-blooded Americancar fan knows that Steve McQueens 1968fast-

back Mustang was highland green. OK, I feelbetter now!!

Bill Walsh via iPhone

MANNERS AND THAT POLITE SOCIETY IS AN

OXYMORON, BUT PLEASE, NOT IN THE PAGES OF

MY WATCHTIME! I WASNT SURE IF I WAS READING

WATCHTIME OR BACK IN THE NAVY.

Setting the record straight: Ron Champagne is a

pathologist. His wife is a surgeon.

The red is wrong. But which green is right?

WATCHtalkWATCHtalkWATCHtalkWATCHtalk


38/162


O

ne highlight of last years Basel-world was the introduction ofSistem51, a new mechanical

watch from the Swatch brand. Now thefirst four Sistem51 models have beenlaunched in Switzerland and will come tothe U.S. this spring.

There are three main features thatmake the Sistem51 noteworthy. First, likethe original Swatch quartz watches, it hasonly 51 components, whereas most

mechanical watches have upwards of100. Also like the original Swatch, itsassembly is entirely automated. Finally, itwill cost just $150.

The four models are Sistem Red,Sistem Blue, Sistem Black and SistemWhite. The red and blue models havetranslucent plastic cases and black sili-cone straps with accent-color stitching.Their dials are black with a red or bluecentral seconds hand, respectively. Thebezel is in black plastic with white Super-LumiNova hour markers. Through thecaseback, a transparent crystal rotor isvisible, as well as a printed star-burst

pattern. The Sistem Black has a blackleather strap and a different printed pat-tern on the dial. Its back features a vor-tex pattern. The Sistem White has a

The Swatch Sistem51Hits the Market

more minimalist dial design with brightlycolored dots and no hour markers on thebezel or the dial. It comes on a white sili-cone strap.

Swatch designed the Sistem51 fromthe ground up: it uses no componentsfrom other watches, and the companyhas applied for 17 patents for its design.Each watch is constructed on a 20-meter-long assembly line in a clean-room envi-ronment, then hermetically sealed. Nohuman intervention is necessary. Even theregulating of the movement, traditionallya time-consuming manual process, ishands-free: a laser adjusts the movementto an accuracy of +/-7 seconds a day.

One key to the automated assemblyof the Sistem51 is the fact that the move-

ment is composed of five distinct mod-ules. There is a mainplate to hold thewheel train, gear train, hand fitting andthe date mechanism; a module for the

The Sistem Blue andSistem White, eachmade of only 51 parts

R

onaldo


39/162

C

ristiano

R

G H O S T

20 Time Zone GMT

Black PVD Stainless Steel, Interchangeable Cage

N e w Y o r k + 1 . 2 1 2 . 7 1 9 . 5 8 8 7

G e n e v a + 4 1 . 2 2 . 3 1 0 . 6 9 6 2

j a c o b a n d c o . c o m

WATCHtalk

WATCHtalk


40/162


stem; an escapement module; an auto-matic-winding-device module; and a

transparent oscillating weight. All fivecomponents are held together with asingle central screw, which can be seenthrough the caseback.

The movement has 19 jewels, and reddots on the dial mark the placement forsix of them. The constellation-like pat-tern of other dots, which are multicol-ored on the dial of Sistem White andwhite on the other three models, mark the

places on the movement where the fivemodules are welded together.

Sistem51 has a 90-hour power reserveand runs at a frequency of 3 Hz. Themovement is 30 mm in diameter, with aheight of 4.8 mm. The case is 42 mmwide.

Jay DeshpanDe

Swatch Group Sales Rise Again

The Swatch Groups sales reached anew record in 2013. Gross sales forthe year climbed by 8.3 percent to

8.82 billion Swiss francs ($9.75 billion), thecompanys highest sales ever, despite thenegative effects of currency fluctuations.The watch and jewelry division had grosssales of SF8.53 billion ($9.43 billion), anincrease of 8.6 percent over 2012. The divi-sion includes finished watches and jewelry(the latter makes up a very small portion ofthe companys sales), plus movements andother watch components. Finished watchesand jewelry alone rose 10 percent. Thecompany does not break out sales by brand.

The group said that it has increased itsmarket share, citing figures from the Federa-tion of the Swiss Watch Industry. Accordingto the FH, total Swiss watch exports wereup 1.8 percent through November (exportfigures for the whole year were not availableat the time Swatch released its results). TheSwatch Groups 8.3-percent increase clearlyindicates the gain in market share, theSwatch Group said in a statement.

Last year was the fourth year in a rowthat the Swatch Group has had record grosssales. Last years increase was somewhat lessthan the 14-percent gain in 2012. The com-

Richemont Sales

Up Despite China

Richemont Group sales for thequarter ended Dec. 31 were up3 percent to 2.94 billion euros

($3.98 billion). For the nine months,they grew 4 percent, to 8.26 billion($11.15 billion). Currency fluctuationshad a major impact on the companys

results: calculated in constant exchangerates, the gains for both the quarterand nine months were 9 percent.

Sales for the quarter (in actualexchange rates) were up 7 percent inEurope and the Middle East and 6 per-cent in the Americas. In Japan, saleswere down 13 percent, due entirely tothe yen/euro exchange rate. At a con-stant exchange rate, they were up by 13

percent. The Asia Pacific region hadgrowth of 1 percent, although main-land China showed a decrease in sales;Richemont did not say how big it was.

Retail sales, those obtained fromRichemonts own stores, were up forthe quarter, climbing 7 percent to1.66 billion ($2.25 billion). For thenine months, they grew 6 percent to4.41 billion ($5.95 billion). Whole-sale sales decreased by 2 percent for thequarter but increased 2 percent for thenine months. Richemont said that theslower growth in the last quarterreflected caution amongst theGroups business partners, primarily inthe Asia Pacific region.

Richemont does not break out itsresults by brand. Its SpecialistWatchmakers division was up 4percent for the quarter to 817 million($1.107 billion). For the nine months,sales grew 7 percent. The Montblancbrand, not included in the watch divi-sion, did not fare as well: with salesof 219 million ($296.7 million), itwas down 4 percent for the quarter.Richemonts jewelry division, comprisedof Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier, was

up 3 percent for both the quarter andnine months, with sales of 1.52billion ($2.06 billion) and 4.19billion ($5.66 billion), respectively.

pany said that the ongoing over-valuationof the Swiss franc against the yen and thedollar had a negative impact on the yearsresults and pushed sales figures down bySF100 million in the second half.

The Swatch Group traditionallyreleases its gross sales data at the start of thenew year, with its net sales and profitnumbers to follow. Those figures were notavailable at press time.

Source: The Swatch Group

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

08 09 10 11 12 13

SWATCH STILL BREAKING RECORDSGross sales

(SF billions)

NOWON:IPAD/IPHONE

NOOK


41/162

MOBILEEDITION

NOOKKINDLE

ANDROID

Scan this code withyour phone and get

WatchTime on your Nook

*The Nook edition of

WatchTime is also

available on Android,

Windows and Mac OS

Scan this code withyour phone and getWatchTime for your

iPhone or iPad

Scan this code withyour phone and get

WatchTime on your Kindle

L3DG

L3KRQH

1RRN

(GLWLRQ

WatchTime Digital Editions*

WATCHtalk

WATCHtalk


42/162


LVMH Watch & Jewelry Profits Up

LVMHs watch and jewelry salesdipped by 2 percent in 2013, to2.78 billion ($3.76 billion), but the

division saw an increase in profit fromrecurring operations of 12 percent, to 375million ($506.6 million). Total sales for

the French luxury group grew 4 percent,to 29.15 billion ($39.4 billion). Totalprofits from recurring operations grew 2percent, to 6.02 billion ($8.13 billion).

In a statement, the company said thewatch and jewelry divisions own bou-

tiques had turned in an excellent per-formance. LVMH also said that theLVMH watch brands continued to investin innovation and development of indus-trial capacity, such as the new TAG Heuermovement manufacturing facility.

Biver to HeadLVMH Watch Division

J

ean-Claude Biver has been namedhead of the watch division of theLVMH Group, with responsibilities

for the watch brands TAG Heuer;Hublot, of which he is also chairman;and Zenith. The appointment was effec-tive March 1. Biver took over the watch-brand responsibilities that had beenhandled by Francesco Trapani, formerBulgari chief, who has resigned as head ofthe LVMH watch and jewelry division.

Trapanis departure from the postcomes one year after a prosecutor in Italy,where Bulgari is headquartered, said thathe and other members of the Bulgarifamily (Trapani is the great-grandson of

Bulgari founder Sotirio Bulgari) wereunder investigation for evading taxes on

$3.6 billion of revenue between 2006 and2011. Italian authorities have made nosubsequent announcements about thestatus of the investigation.

With Bivers appointment, LVMH haschanged its organizational chart so thatits jewelry brands Bulgari (which makesboth watches and jewelry, but gets thebulk of its sales from the latter),Chaumet, Fred and De Beers now

report directly to LVMH Group Man-aging Director Toni Belloni. Until now,the jewelry brands reported to the watch-and-jewelry chief.

LVMH created the watch-chief post(or, rather, the watch-and-jewelry-chiefpost, as it was then known) in 1999 toprovide oversight of the companysgrowing stable of watch and jewelrybrands. Christian Viros, CEO of TAGHeuer in the late 80s and 90s, first heldthe job. He was succeeded in 2001 by

Philippe Pascal, who had headed upLVMHs wine and spirits group. Trapani

succeeded Pascal in 2011, followingLVMHs acquisition of Bulgari. The postis a corporate position with no day-to-day responsibilities for the individualbrands. Those belong to the brand CEOs.

Biver has been with LVMH since2008 when the company acquiredHublot, where he was CEO. At the begin-ning of 2012, Biver turned day-to-dayoperational responsibilities for Hublotover to Ricardo Guadalupe, the brandsformer managing director and now CEO,but stayed on with Hublot as chairman.

Trapani became Bulgari CEO in1984. Former TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Christophe Babin now heads Bulgari.(Stphane Linder took over for Babin asCEO of TAG Heuer last year.) Trapanihas been named an advisor to LVMHChairman and CEO Bernard Arnault onjewelry-related matters. He remains onthe LVMH board.

Norma BuchaNaN

Jean-Claude Biver

Philippe Pascal

FrancescoTrapani


43/162


44/162


45/162

GENEVA - NEW YORK - MIAMI - LONDON - DUBAI - MOSCOW

WATCHtalk

WATCHtalk


46/162


Raymond Weil

Dies at 87

Raymond Weil, founder and

honorary president of theRaymond Weil brand, died on Jan.

26, 2014. Weil is known for establishinghis eponymous watch brand at the heightof the quartz crisis, and for helping todevelop the luxury-quartz-watch market.He was 87. The company issued a pressrelease but did not cite a cause of death.

Before founding the brand, Weil spent27 years with the Camy watch brand,

which he joined in 1949. It was in 1976,when the Swiss industry was in upheaval,that he set out to found his own brand.Simone Bdat, who had run marketing forCamy, left with Weil and became hisbusiness partner. The Raymond Weilcompany set out to carve a luxury niche inthe developing quartz-watch industry (thebrand now sells both quartz and mechan-ical models). It was very successful: in the

90s, the company was one of the largestin the Swiss watch industry.

After Bdat sold her shares of thebrand in 1995 (she went on to found herown brand, Bdat), Raymond Weilappointed his son-in-law, OlivierBernheim, as CEO. Today the brandremains in the family: alongside Bernheimare his sons, Elie and Pierre, who runmarketing and distribution, respectively.(The brothers Bernheim have also startedtheir own brand, 88 Rue du Rhone.)

J.D.

T

he coming of spring has its ownmeaning in the watch world.

There, it means that Baselworld,the worlds largest watch fair, is justaround the corner. This year Baselworldwill be held from March 27 to April 3, asalways, in the fairgrounds in Basel,Switzerland.

It is a show of gigantic proportions.The main watch hall alone, Hall 1, hasan exhibition area of 141,000 squaremeters. There and in adjoining build-

ings, watch and jewelry companies,movement and equipment makers andother industry suppliers show theirwares. The fairs organizers estimatethat roughly 80 percent of global sales ofwatches and jewelry are generated atBaselworld. It is primarily a trade show,but is open to the public.

The convention center where Basel-world takes place has been completely

redesigned. The renovation, finished justin time for last years Baselworld (whichwas later than normal to allow more

time for the project), cost more than$450 million. In 2013, some 122,000

visitors from 100 countries came to theshow to see 1,460 exhibitors. The num-ber of visitors was up 17 percent from2012. In 2014, Baselworld is projectinganother large increase: more than150,000 visitors are expected to attend.

The fair has become a huge draw forthe media. Last year, 3,610 media rep-resentatives attended and a similarnumber are expected this year. (The

number of journalists from Asia hasbeen growing by 20 percent annuallysince 2010, reflecting the rapid growthof watch and jewelry consumption inthose markets.)

The fair is open each day from 9 a.m.to 6 p.m. except for the last day, when itcloses at 4 p.m. A one-day ticket costs 60Swiss francs (approximately $67), and apass for the full eight days of the show

costs SF150 (about $167). For moreinformation, visit baselworld.com.

J.D.

Baselworld:Big, Getting Bigger

In our test of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe that appeared in theFebruary issue, we provided an incorrect reference number for the test watch.The reference number we provided 5000-1110-NAB-A is for the stainlesssteel model on a black NATO strap. We tested the ceramized titanium modelon the green NATO strap, and the correct reference number for that watch is5000-12C30-NAK-A.

Correction:


47/162

SWISS MADE

,Bulova,BulovaAccuSwissareregisteredtrademarks.

2014BulovaCor

p.65B153

Hall 1.1 B83

THEtickerTHEticker


48/162


4,300,000,000

128,000

1,300,000

Net cash position in euros of the Richemont Groupat the end of 2013

Number of watches produced in 2013by Frdrique Constant

Percentage of total sales of theLVMH Group accounted for by

watches and jewelry in 2013

Total number of watches stampedwith the Geneva Seal since the qualitymark was created in 1886

900Maximum number of watchesproduced annually by the F.P.Journe firm

7,000Number of watch movementsChopard produced at itsFleurier Ebauches subsidiaryin 2013

Number of visitorswho attended the SIHHexhibition in Geneva inJanuary

14,000

9.5

100,000,000Negative impact in Swiss francs of thestrong Swiss franc on Swatch Groupsales results in the second half of 2013

Numbers of visitors expectedto attend the Baselworldexhibition in March

150,000Percentage of total sales of the

Swatch Group accounted for bywatches (including movements

and other components) andjewelry in 2013

96.8

25,000,000Cost in Swiss francs ofChopards renovation of the

century-old building acquiredin 2007 that houses FleurierEbauches

95Percentage of components for itswatches that F.P. Journe says itproduces in house


49/162

WATCHquizs

WATCHquiz


50/162


SpringTime When was thebalance springinvented?

11. The name Nivarox is acontraction of a phrase in French whoseEnglish translation isA. Superior timekeepingB. Elastic but durableC. Non-variable and non-oxidizing

D. Non-ferrous and non-oxidizing

12. How many Richemont Group watchbrands make balance springs?A. 5B. 3C. 1D. none

13. Elinvar, an alloy used at one time to

make balance springs, was invented by aNobel Prize winner. Who was it?A. Niels BohrB. Marie CurieC. Gustav HertzD. Charles douard Guillaume

14. True or false: The Swatch Group hasannounced it will stop selling balancesprings to other companies in 2016.

15. A female watch-factory worker whoattaches the balance spring to the

balance wheel and adjusts the rate ofthe balance is known as aA. RegleuseB. GuillocheuseC. AngleuseD. Chanteuse

6. Switzerlands biggest maker ofbalance springs isA. ETAB. NivaroxC. ValfleurierD. Concepto

7. The inner end of a balance spring isattached to the balance staff by meansof aA. Regulating screwB. Swans-neck indexC. ColletD. Chaton

8. What company makes Parachrom

balance springs?A. NivaroxB. RolexC. OmegaD. TAG Heuer

9. Which of the following is true ofParachrom balance springs?A. Theyre resistant to magnetism.B. Theyre made of an alloy

incorporating niobium.C. Theyre blue.D. All of the above.

10. True or false: The Japanesecompanies Seiko and Citizen both make

balance springs.

1. When was the balance spring invented?A. Circa 1300B. Circa 1530C. Circa 1675D. 1753

2. Who invented the balance spring?A. Peter HenleinB. Pierre Le RoyC. Christiaan HuygensD. Its inventor is unknown.

3. Which of the following companiesdoes NOT makes balance springs?A. AstralB. A. Lange & Shne

C. AtokalpaD. None of the above. They all make

balance springs.

4. What is a Phillips curve?A. A sharply curved section of the

innermost coil of the balance springB. A Breguet overcoilC. An overcoil with a short, straight

sectionD. The curve of a graph showing

frequency vs. balance-spring torque

5. A 2.5-hertz balance beats atA. 18,000 vphB. 21,600 vphC. 28,800 vphD. 36,000 vph

Answers:1C;2C;3D;4C;5A;

6B;7C;8B;9D;10True;11C;12B;13D;14False;15A

Balance springs: theyre what makewatches worth watching. How much doyou know about these tiny timekeepers?


51/162

terrascope

Multi-layer stainless steel case with contrasted vertical satin and polished finishings.

Swiss mechanical automatic movement. Black dial with applied indexes. Rubber strap.

jeanrichard.com - 1 877 846 3447.OFFICIAL WATCH

7Stars


52/162

What gives a watch star quality? An innovative movement?Beautiful styling? Over-the-top workmanship? Its all in the eyeof the beholder. After the SIHH watch fair in Geneva, Jan. 20 to24, WatchTime editors got together to anoint the watches theythought were the fairs real standouts. Here are seven of them.(Our May-June issue will contain a complete report on the fair.)

7Starsfrom SIHH

SIHH

7 Star Watches


53/162

April 2014 WatchTime 51

The full name of Jaeger-LeCoultreslatest ber watch is the MasterUltra Thin Minute Repeater Flying

Tourbillon. Fortunately, it also goes bythe single-breath sobriquet HybrisMechanica 11. Whatever you call it, thiswatch breaks the thinnest minute re-

peater on the market record and itachieves that distinction in impressivefashion, packaging a flying tourbillon,automatic winding and a repeater insideits slender case.

JLC says the Hybris Mechanica 11launches a new era that of ultra-thingrand complications. This is a rareinstance where high-flying hyperbole iswarranted. The watch is covered by eight

patents, with six of the protected innova-tions created specifically for this watch.(The other two patents cover pre-existingtechnology used in this watch.) The casemeasures 41 mm by 7.9 mm, which JLCsays is about half the size typicallyrequired for a grand complication. In thatsmall space, JLC fits an original tourbil-

Hybris Mechanica 11lon design, a peripheral automatic wind-ing system, a retractable single push but-ton, and a new minute repeater equippedwith a silent-time-lapse reduction system.The last item on this list may be both themost obscure and the most dramaticachievement.

Until now, if a minute repeater had noquarters to strike, for example at 3:09,the usually continuous series of strikeswere accustomed to counting would beinterrupted by a pause, which can makean already challenging minute repeaterchime even more difficult to decipher.JLC developed a striking mechanism thatdetects the absence of quarters and elimi-nates the pause, allowing the high and

low tones to flow seamlessly, as theyshould. This is a significant developmentin the field of striking watches.

To simultaneously create more spaceinside the case while allowing the case tobe thinner, the winding is handled by anoscillating peripheral weight with a plat-inum segment visible through narrowopenings on the dial. The HybrisMechanica 11 is also equipped withtwo

patented trebuchet hammers that strikesapphire gongs affixed directly to the sap-phire crystal, for enhanced sound ampli-fication and diffusion.

It is also equipped with a world pre-miere in the form of a flying tourbillonfitted with a flying balance wheel. Thistechnical feat allows a full view of boththe balance wheel and the spring.

Jaeger-LeCoultre will produce 75

examples of the Hybris Mechanica 11 inwhite gold, which the brand says is thebest metal for minute repeaters. Priceupon request.

MIKE DISHER

Scan here to view a JLC

video on the Hybris

Mechanica 11.

http://www.watchtime.com/?p=42077

SIHH

7 Star Watches


54/162


Greubel Forseys goals for this newperpetual calendar, the QP quation, are to simplify both the

reading and the setting of the displays. Thebrand achieves the latter by means of abidirectional winding crown. If the watchhas stopped for several days and you needto set it quickly, simply pull out the crown,

checking the crown position selection indi-cator near 2 oclock. Turn the crown backand forth to adjust the calendar, and all theindications change. Reading the primarydisplays requires just a glance at the sub-dial at 4 oclock. There, three in-line win-dows indicate the day, the date and themonth. The oversize date makes the calen-dar even easier to read.

As you might expect, much complexity

underlies this apparent simplicity, andthree new patents have been filed for themovement. A fourth, pre-existing patent

QP quationcovers the 24-second tourbillon inclined at25 degrees. A stack of cams with movablefingers adjust the indications on both thefront and back dials of the timepiece. Themonth cam changes the month in the win-dow on the front display and also movesthe equation of time scale on the back. Theyear cam controls the leap year indication

on the front and that of the seasons on theback.

A display on the back of the watchindicates the equation of time and the sea-sons. A four-digit year is also provided. Aswe go to press, Greubel Forsey has notreleased official images of the back of thiswatch because the design is not yet final-ized. For now, words will have to suffice.

The equation and seasons display con-

sists of two superimposed transparentdisks in synthetic sapphire. The first disk isdriven by the date wheel and has a scale in

minutes indicating the difference betweenmean and solar time.

The second disk, which goes aroundonce a year, has a figure shaped roughlylike a manta ray. The figure is divided intofour sections in red and blue to showwhether the equation of time is positive ornegative.

The QP quation case measures 43.5mm in diameter and 16 mm high. The bal-ance oscillates at 21,600 vph and two fast-rotation superimposed barrels provide a72-hour power reserve. This leaves spacefor a large free-sprung balance. The move-ment contains 570 components and 65jewels.

Greubel Forsey will produce fiveexamples of the QP quation in 2014,

each priced at 670,000 Swiss francs (theU.S. price was not available at press time).

M.D.

GET


55/162

Scan this code with yourcell phone and sign up for

our free WatchTimeWeekly immediately!

Sign up with your phone!

Text

WATCHTIME

to 22828

Message and data rates may apply.

WATCHTIME

WEEKLYBROUGHT TO YOU BYWATCHTIME.COM

t &BDI XFFLT UPQ OFXTBOE GFBUVSFT

t 5IF CFTU 8BUDI5JNFSFWJFXT BOE UFTUT

t *OEFQUI UFDIOPMPHZ DPWFSBHF

t 8BUDI TDFOF XBUDI XBMMQBQFSBOE RVJ[[FT

SIHH

7 Star Watches


56/162


The Richard Lange Perpetual Calen-dar Terraluna, from A. Lange &Shne, features a regulator-style

dial, a perpetual calendar with outsizedate, a 14-day power reserve, a constant-force escapement, and on the back, anorbital moon-phase display. The large

minutes circle is at the top of the dial.The smaller dials for the hours and sec-onds are beneath it, shifted toward theright and left, as with the Richard LangeTourbillon Pour le Mrite presented in2011.

Beneath the trademark Lange bigdate, two smaller apertures show the dayof the week on the left and the month onthe right. The leap-year indication is

located in a small round window on theright-hand side of the 15 of the minutescircle. The case measures 45.5 mm by16.5 mm.

The day and date displays changeinstantaneously. To keep the powerrequirement for this change as low aspossible, energy is gradually built up viaa cam, then released at midnight.

The orbital moon-phase display con-

sists of three solid-gold disks. EarthsNorthern Hemisphere is shown in thecenter. (A Southern Hemisphere versionis not available.) Surrounding the Earth,the celestial disk is decorated with 2,116stars. Though great attention has obvi-ously been paid to this representation, thesky shown on the disk does not depictthat over any particular place on Earth.Lange refers to it as a fantasy sky.

Together, the celestial disk, and thelunar disk below it, display the phases ofthe moon through a round aperture inthe upper disk. The moon orbits theEarth counterclockwise once a month.The mechanism reproduces the synodicmonth of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes,and 3 seconds so accurately that it takes1,058 years before the display needs tobe corrected by one day. If you purchase

the watch this year, your descendantswill teleport it to Glashtte for thisadjustment in the year 3072.

TerralunaViewing the complete movement

from the back, the balance wheel occu-pies the position of the sun, relative tothe Earth and moon. On new-moonnights, the dark moon stands betweenthe Earth and the sun. On full-moonnights, the disk appears as a bright

sphere on the opposite side of the Earth.Twin barrels deliver an impressive14-day power reserve. An elaborate con-stant-force escapement, similar to thatused in the Lange 31, equalizes thetorque as the mainsprings unwind. Thepower-reserve indicator at 6 oclockinforms the owner when the energy sup-ply should be renewed.

The rose-gold version will retail for

$229,200 and the white-gold versionwill be $230,400. This piece is not a lim-ited edition, though it will be limited byproduction.

M.D.

Scan here to see a

Lange & Shne video

on the Terraluna.



57/162

AVAILABLE AT

SIHH

7 Star Watches


58/162


AstrocalendaireT

he design of the Rotonde de CartierAstrocalendaire from Cartier issymbolic in more ways than one.

Its depiction of the days, dates andmonths reminds us of the never-endingcircle of time. The theaterin-the-

round arrangement suggests that thetourbillon occupies the center of thehorological universe, a not uncommonsentiment. However, the display is muchmore than symbolic. It is an aestheticallypure solution to some of the biggestchallenges facing traditional perpetualcalendars.

The simplicity of the displays rendersexplanation almost superfluous. Almost.

The days, months and dates are arrangedin tiered, concentric circles surrounding aflying tourbillon. The silver rings remain

stationary while small blued windowsproceed around them, indicating the cur-rent day, date and month. A hand on theback of the watch indicates the leap year.

As intriguing as this display may be,the genius lies not in its form, but in its

function. In creating the calendar system,Cartiers movement designer extraordi-naire, Carole Forestier-Kasapi, replacedthe traditional springs and levers with agear train and a central program wheelwith an adjustable number of teeth thatCartier calls the Brain. The systemoffers multiple benefits. It eliminates theusual restrictions on setting the calendardisplays around midnight, and in so

doing removes the most likely source oflarge repair bills for perpetual-calendarowners. The crown controls the hours,

minutes, date, and month, and these indi-cations can be set forward and back.Accidently setting the date ahead one daytoo far no longer means another tripthrough the calendar, or letting yourwatch run down so the actual date cancatch up to the one displayed on yourwatch.

Cartier says the calendar mechanismalso improves chronometry because itsenergy requirements are more consistentthan traditional spring and lever systems,which require significant additionaloomph at midnight to change the vari-ous displays. Cartier says the Astrocal-endaires system offers an 80-percentimprovement in balance wheel amplitudecompared with a standard perpetual

when the calendar displays are changing.The Astrocalendaire bears the Geneva

Seal. The case measures 45 mm by 15.1mm. The self-winding Caliber 9459 MC,with 382 parts, is assembled and adjustedin the new Cartier Fine Watchmakingworkshops located in the heart ofGeneva, upstairs from the Cartier bou-tique on the rue du Rhne. Cartier willproduce the Astrocalendaire in a limited

series of 100 numbered pieces in plat-inum, priced at $204,000.

M.D.

SIHH

7 Star Watches


59/162


Piaget unveiled what it says is thethinnest mechanical watch ever,the Altiplano 900P. It has a total

thickness of 3.65 mm, making it 9.9 per-cent thinner than the thinnest mechani-

cal watch currently on the market, the4.05-mm-thin Jaeger-LeCoultre MasterUltra Thin Jubilee.

Piaget accomplished its world first byemploying an ingenious, radical engi-neering solution. It merged the caliberwith the case, using the caseback to serveas the mainplate. The result is that thewatch does not have an independentmovement that can be removed from the

case. It is the same principle used for theConcord Delirium, the famous quartzwatch that set a world record for thin-ness in 1979. It was just 1.98 mm thick(an even thinner version, just 0.98 mmthick, followed). Piaget is the first to usethe idea in a mechanical watch.

Using the caseback as a mainplateforced Piaget to reverse the traditionalmovement construction and make the

bridges part of the watchs dial. Hence,the entire wheel train is visible on thedial. Among the other technical innova-tions is a barrel suspended from a singlebridge on the dial side as opposed to thetraditional spot fixed to the mainplate.

The Piaget team sought to save spacewherever it could in this 145-part watch.Some wheels measure 0.12 mm thin, forexample, compared to 0.20 mm in a clas-

sic movement. The need to conservespace led to the off-center placement ofthe hours and minutes display.

Altiplano 900P

Piaget says it has solved the problemthat plagues extremely thin watches:their tendency to bend slightly underpressure. The Delirium watches, forexample, were so thin that merely strap-ping them on the wrist bent the rectan-gular case slightly, causing the crystal topress against the hands, stopping the

movement. Piaget places the hands at alevel below the bridges that surroundthe hour and minutes display, creating

space between the cannon pinion andthe crystal. Should the crystal bendfrom the effects of pressure, it presseson the wheel-train bridge, not thehands, with no impact on the timingmechanism. A Piaget patent for thissolution is pending.

The watch is 38 mm in diameter and

comes in a rose- or white-gold case,$26,200 and $27,800, respectively.

Joe Thompson


60/162


61/162

NOMOS retailers in the US include: BluePointe, Brinkers, Foxs, Jack Ryan, Meierottos, Timeless, Tourneau, Wempe.

www.nomos-store.com and www.nomos-watches.com

NOMOS Ahoi! Cutting a fine figure at all times, and always ready for adventure. This

mechanical watch is an exquisite piece of craftsmanship in a robust case, water-resistant

down to 200 meters. Ahoi from NOMOS Glashtteuniquely combining sport and style.

SIHH

7 Star Watches


62/162

Vacheron Constantin has been mak-ing slim repeating watches since1838, when it launched a womens

pendant quarter-repeating watch whosemovement was just 4.1 mm thick. Thebrands Patrimony Contemporaine Ultra-Thin Calibre 1731 keeps the tradition

alive. The watch is 8.09 mm thick.Vacheron describes it as the thinnestmanual-winding minute repeater on themarket and claims that its movement, amere 3.9 mm thick, is the thinnestrepeater movement on the market. (Thenew Jaeger-LeCoultre Hybris Mechanica11 is a smidgeon thinner and self winding see the item about it in this article butits movement, 4.8 mm high, and incor-

porating a tourbillon, is slightly thicker.)Despite its slim silhouette, the 1731has a 65-hour power reserve. (It wasnamed for the year Jean-Marc Vacheron

Calibre 1731was born.) The watch, 41 mm in diame-ter, is fitted with a flying strike governor,which, unlike standard lever-type gover-nors, is silent. The governors job is tocontrol the speed and spacing of the re-peaters chiming tones. Some repeatersemit an audible whirring sound as they

are chiming; Vacherons device, whichthe brand first used in 2007 in its 2755movement, was designed to prevent this.Vacheron took several steps to enhancethe quality of the chiming sound, includ-ing stacking the gongs rather than plac-ing them side by side and eliminatingsound-muffling gaps in the case by usingcomponents that screw tightly together.

Because the sound of a repeater can

change over time, and no two repeaterssound exactly the same, Vacheron makesa recording of each repeater so that,when necessary, the chiming device can

be adjusted so it works just as it didwhen the watch was new.

The 1731, which bears the GenevaSeal, has the design features of otherwatches in the Patrimony Contempo-raine family, including a thin, curvedbezel; a large dial opening; and a convex

dial with baton hour markers and hands.The case is rose gold. The price is$369,300. (For more on the watch, seeA Watch of Note in the WT December2013 issue.)

N.B.

Scan here to see a

Vacheron Constantin

video on Calibre 1731.



63/162

The Classique Chronomtrie

7727 uses two powerful

micro-magnets to hold thebalance assembly.


64/162


The story behind Montres Breguetspatented magnetic pivot, whichcould be a game changer formechanical watches.

By Joe Thompson

BREGUET

The Classique Chronomtrie 7727Marc A.

Hayek, CEOof Montres

Breguet


65/162


n November 2010, shortly before a 10a.m. managers meeting at ManufactureBreguet in LOrient in SwitzerlandsValle de Joux, Christian Lattmann,Breguets vice president/head of productmanagement, popped into the office ofBreguet President & CEO Marc A.

Hayek. Could Hayek possibly spare fiveminutes to see a Breguet watchmakerwho wanted to show him something?Hes a character, Lattmann warned, verycreative, a bit of a tinkerer, so if you donthave time . No problem, Hayek said.Bring him in.

Hayek laughed as he recalled the inci-dent in an interview with WatchTime.He came in with a cardboard box acarton thing with a knitting needle andhe said, One second, one second, as heset it up. He said, I was at my grand-mothers and she was knitting and I gotan idea and I made this model.

Using his cut-out box and knittingneedle, Sylvain Marchal presentedHayek with his idea for a magnetic pivot.The notion was to use two magnets tohold the balance wheel in order toimprove the operation of the balance, theregulating organ of a mechanical watch.The magnets one holding the upper pivot

of the balance staff, the other near butnot touching the bottom pivot wouldcreate a magnetic field around andthrough the balance staff. The magneticfield would make the balance more stableand shock resistant. The result, Marchalconcluded, would be greater precision.

Hayek was amazed. I was like,Whoa! Seeing that, I said to myself, Ifthat works, you get the solution to allyour headaches: friction, the difference inpositions, the problems that Abraham-Louis Breguet tried to solve with the tour-billon. And I said, OK, we have to try todo this. Well go ahead full power.Hayek immediately made a phone call tosecure a patent for the magnetic pivot. (Itwas issued on Nov. 9, 2010.) He told histeam, Lets see what problems wellhave. But, in principle, it should work.

It does. Last June, Montres Breguetbegan delivering the ClassiqueChronomtrie 7727, a watch with mag-

nets holding the balance. The ClassiqueChronomtrie 7727 has an average rateof -1/+3 seconds per day, significantlybetter than the -4/+6 average raterequired to earn chronometer status fromSwitzerlands official chronometer testingagency, COSC.

The magnetic pivot invention canttake all the credit for hyper-accuracy. Thewatch incorporates a number of high-

tech/high-mech advances that haveemerged from Manufacture Breguet overthe past few years. Like silicon parts: put-ting magnets in a movement would beridiculous were it not for Breguets pio-neering work on silicon components,which it first put in a watch in 2006.Unlike conventional movement partsmade of metal, silicon ones are immuneto magnetism. Magnets do no harm to

the Chronomtrie 7727 because its in-line Swiss lever escapement and doublebalance springs are made of silicon.

The Chronomtrie 7727 also has afrequency of 10 Hz, meaning its escape-ment operates at an astonishing 72,000beats per hour. It measures to 1/20-second. Montres Breguet was the firstto mass produce a 10-Hz mechanicalchronograph, the Type XXII watch, in

2010. The Chronomtrie 7727 isBreguets second watch and first non-chronograph to have this breakthrough.

Manufacture Breguet in LOrient in the Valle de Joux


66/162


67/162


The Chronomtrie 7727, priced at

$40,000, is the poster boy for Breguettoday, what you might call Breguet 2.0. Itis an emblem of the evolution of thebrand under the Swatch Group. Thesedays Breguet is focused as much oncutting-edge mechanical technology as itis on the brands illustrious history andpedigree. Manufacture Breguet hasbecome a research-and-developmentpowerhouse for high-tech mechanical

watches. Its mission, Marc A. Hayeksays, is not simply to celebrate Abraham-Louis Breguets spirit of invention andinnovation, but to continue it.

THE COMPANY HAS BEEN part of theSwatch Group since 1999, when the lateNicolas G. Hayek Sr., then chairman of thegroup, rescued Breguet from oblivion. Itbought Breguet from Investcorp, a Bahrain-

based investment company, which had onlyone other watch holding (Ebel) and littleinterest in or understanding of Breguet.

The balance wheel in

the 7727 is paired with

a double balance springmade of silicon.

A view of the balance wheel and balance spring in the Chronomtries manual-wind Caliber 574DR


68/162


69/162

BREGUET

The Classique Chronomtrie 7727


70/162


develop. But none did. Sure, there werelittle things. The first magnets were too

big. And it was hard for the Witschimachines to measure the rate due to theartificial gravity. But Hayek never got thefeedback he worried about: Sorry, boss,this thing doesnt work. In fact, Hayeksays, It worked almost too well. Heremembers being astonished looking atthe amplitudes with Karapatis. Theywere all within two degrees. They wereflat in all positions. I had this feeling that

there must be a big problem. There mustbe something! But there wasnt: themovement worked.

One year later, they had a workingmodel, not only of the movement, but ofthe complete Chronomtrie 7727 watch.They decided to make the watchs hand-wound Caliber 574DR a 10-Hz move-ment to make a statement about preci-sion. People think that high frequency is

only to count elapsed time in a chrono-graph, says Lattmann. For Breguet, itsnot a question of chronographs. Its a

question of precision in a mechanicalwatch. It was important for us to have

high frequency in a simple mechanicalwatch. A patented silicon hand in asmall subdial at 1 oclock gives 1/20-second indications.

They decided to make it in series, nota limited edition, because they knew theycould make the movement in quantities.And they decided to give it a traditionalBreguet design. Hayek wanted to rein-force the point that, while the mechanical

technology in the movement is cutting-edge, it is in keeping with the spirit of the

founder. It had to be very classic,Hayek says. We have to counter anyidea that we had changed Breguet or for-gotten our tradition and our roots. TheChronomtrie 7727 doesnt go againsttradition. It just uses todays possibilities.I think if Abraham-Louis Breguet werehere, he would use silicon and high fre-quency and magnetism to improve preci-sion. Consequently, the Chronomtrie is

WITH SILICON PARTS, A 10-HZ

FREQUENCY AND THE MAGNETIC

PIVOT, THE WATCH IS THE

SYMBOL OF THE NEW BREGUET.

The sapphire caseback gives a view of the movement, including the balance assembly.

YOU CAN TELL A GOOD WATCH

BY ITS HEART


71/162

BY ITS HEART.The most important element of a genuine

Armin Strom is the movement. Not only is it

where the work begins, it is also at the

heart of the design. This means that every-

body who checks the time will always see

the beauty of the technology.

arminstrom.com

TOURBILLON WATER

MANUFACTURE CALIBRE

ATC11 16

Beverly Hills, CA: David Orgell (310) 273 6660

Boca Raton, FL: Les Bijoux (561) 361 2311

Frisco, TX: Timeless Luxury Watches (214) 494 4241

Las Vegas, NV:Radiance (702) 590 8725

Naples, FL: Exquisite Timepieces (239) 262 4545

Santa Clara, CA: Lustre Inc. (408) 296 3686

PARTNER

who has been on the groups board ofdirectors since 1995 and is today chair-woman of the Swatch Group.) The next

year Marc A Hayek took over as presi-

BREGUET



72/162


a paragon of Breguet style: fluted case-band, engine-turned gold dial (with sixdifferent guilloch patterns), open-tippedBreguet hands, the Breguet secret signa-ture and more.

Montres Breguet plans to roll out themagnetic pivot technology in otherBreguet models and collections. Ultimately,Hayek foresees other brands adopting thetechnology, the way they use Breguets

tourbillon, the Breguet overcoil andBreguet hands today. I believe it has afuture in the industry, he says. I hope itwill be bigger than Breguet and othercompanies will start using it. Because sofar, we dont see any downside to thistechnology. I think on the wrist you willsee a big, big difference in the precisionyou will have.

HAYEKS CHAMPIONINGof the mag-netic pivot technology stems in part from

his desire to continue the spirit of inven-tion of Abraham-Louis Breguet. But a fargreater influence on the development ofthe Chronomtrie 7727 was Nicolas G.Hayek Sr.

When Marc A. Hayek decided to jointhe family business, the Swatch Group,full-time in 2001 as marketing manager

at Blancpain, his grandfather, Nicolas G.Hayek Sr., was delighted. (Marcs motheris Hayek Sr.s daughter, Nayla Hayek,

year, Marc A. Hayek took over as presi-dent and CEO of Blancpain.

As time went on, the grandfathermade it clear that he would like thegrandson to join him at Montres Breguet.Hayek Sr. told him, You have to comeand develop the high-tech productionteam. Marc A. Hayek knew the mem-bers of the team. They did not seem to fitBreguets classical image. They werebright young guys with some crazy ideasabout mechanical watches. Is that whatyou want? Marc A. Hayek asked hisgrandfather. Yes, yes, Hayek Sr. said.Thats what Breguet is. We have torevive this. We have to bring the spirit ofinnovation.

Nevertheless, Marc hesitated.Breguets history and legacy were veryimpressive, even a bit intimidating. Hewas happy at Blancpain. Its not my timeyet, he thought. In 10 years, maybe Illconsider it.

The late Nicolas G. Hayek Sr., shown here wearing two Breguet watches,told his grandson, Marc, Silicon will open doors.

The triangular pare-chute shock protector at 2 oclock is a tribute to A.-L. Breguets 1790 invention.


Montres Breguetintroduced silicon watch

parts, like the silicon

escape wheel, with


73/162


Beg)e(' "e+ Ca''i%)e Ch#"#!/(ie

7727 +a(ch i"c)de' (+# !aj# i""#*a-

(i#"': Beg)e(' $a(e"(ed !ag"e(ic

$i*#( (ech"##g a"d 10-H fe%)e"c.

I" hi' i"(e*ie+ +i(h Wa(chTi!e,

Beg)e( Pe'ide"( & CEO Mac A. Haek

!ade cea (ha(, +hie b#(h ae

i!$#(a"(, (he !ag"e(ic $i*#( i' b fa

(he bigge dea. I" (hi' ece$( f#! (he

i"(e*ie+, he e$ai"' +h.

)i$#. Wi)h )he "ag#e)ic %i+$), $* j*()

e!i"i#a)e a!! )he de+ia)i$#( f'$" )he

diffe'e#) %$(i)i$#(. Y$* d$#/) ha+e )$ $''

)ha) $* i!! ha+e a bigge' de+ia)i$# if $*

ea' i) )$$ "*ch i# )hi( %$(i)i$# $' )ha)

%$(i)i$#. O' )ha) $*' %'eci(i$# i!! be

!$e' beca*(e $* %*) i) $# $*' #igh)-

()a#d a) #igh) i# )he $'() %$(i)i$#. Wi)h

)he "ag#e)ic %i+$), a!! )hi( i( g$#e.

A!($, $* ha+e (h$c ab($'%)i$# f'$"

"ic'$(h$c( )ha) $* ca##$) ge) $)he'-

i(e. If $* ea' a a)ch, a#d )he'e i( a

de+ia)i$# a bi) $+e' )he !i"i), a "i#*)e,

2 "i#*)e( a ee $+e', )he# $#ce a "$#)h

$* ha+e )$ adj*() i) $' $* a'e !a)e. A#d

i)/( #ice )$ be ab!e )$ (a, OK, #$ I $#!

ha+e )$ adj*() i) e+e' )$ $' )h'ee

"$#)h(, "abe. I )hi# $# )he 'i() $*

i!! (ee a big, big diffe'e#ce i# )he

%'eci(i$# $* i!! ha+e. M*ch "$'e ()abi!i)

a!($. Tha)/( h I be!ie+e )ha) i) ha( a f*)*'e

i# )he i#d*()'.

If $* !$$ a) )he 'e(*!)( i#di+id*a!!,

)he "ag#e)ic %i+$) b i)(e!f b'i#g( a "*ch

bigge' j*"% i# %'eci(i$# )ha# high f'e&*e#c

d$e(, i)h "*ch !e(( headache a#d

"*ch !e(( addi)i$#a! c$() )ha# )he high

f'e&*e#c.

Te#-he') f'e&*e#c i( a!'ead a) a !e+e!

)$da he'e $* ca# %'$d*ce i) i# (e'ie(.

B*) f$' ha) $* gai# g$i#g f'$" 5 H )$

10 H, I/" #$) ($ c$#+i#ced i) i!! bec$"e

a #e ()a#da'd. I )hi# )he ()a#da'd i!! g$

f'$" 3 H )$ 5. The 10 H i( a!'ead

%*(hi#g )he !i"i). The'e i( ($"e gai# i#

%'eci(i$# b*) i) i( #$) )hi( h*ge ()e%. A#d

$* i#c'ea(e ($"e $f )he %'$b!e"(. S$, I

be!ie+e %e'($#a!! )ha) )he f*)*'e ()a#da'd

i!! be be!$ 10 H.

B*) )he "ag#e)ic %i+$), $* ca# %*) i)

$# a 3 H, a 5 H, a#d a 10 H, a#d $*

ha+e )he (a"e 'e(*!)(. O#e c!ie#) ea'( hi(

a)ch 90 %e'ce#) $f )he )i"e i# $#e %$(i-

)i$#; a#$)he' c!ie#) ha( i) i# a#$)he' %$(i-

Marc A. Hayek on the Magnetic Pivots Big Difference

ON THE WRIST YOU WILL SEE A

BIG, BIG DIFFERENCE IN THE

PRECISION YOU WILL HAVE.Marc a. Hayek

p ,Breguet signature (farleft), and silicon balancespring (left) in 2006.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Breguet keptthe CEO of Blancpain in the loop aboutdevelopments at Breguet, particularly inthe burgeoning R&D lab. I have to say,

with silicon, I was quite critical at thebeginning, Hayek says. I looked at my

grandfather and I said, Yeah, theres again. We get rid of the problems of mag-netism. But its such a headache. Hewas struck by all the pollution and dust

involved in producing silicon parts. Itsmuch harder to produce the watch with

the silicon components, he explains.You break many, many more pieces.And there is much less room for error inthe assembly. He wondered if there

werent another, less messy solution tothe magnetism problem.

Hayek Sr. told him, No, no, no, sili-con is the future. It will open doors. I dontknow what, but it will.

That was the last big lesson that my

BREGUET



74/162


g ygrandfather taught me, Hayek says.When you believe in something, dontonly look at what benefit you get today.See that it will open a door.

Breguets development of the 10-Hzmovement changed Marc A. Hayeksmind about silicon, andproved his grand-father right about opening new doors.High-frequency was the first door silicon

opened. The lightness of silicon partsenables the Type XXII chronograph,which has a silicon balance spring, anchorand escape wheel, to run at record-breakingfrequency. The Type XXIIs silicon anchorweighs 2.6 grams versus 7.5 grams for aconventional steel anchor. (Breguet alsoreshaped the anchor to require less mate-rial since lower mass means less inertia.)Another advantage is that silicon is natu-rally resistant to wear. The Type XXIIsescape wheel requires no lubrication.Ordinary escape wheels do, which makesa difference at such high frequency. Theresult is a regulating power of around 830microwatts in the Chronomtrie 7727,more than double the 300-to-400microwatt regulating capacity of the bestchronometers. Says Hayek, I saw that sil-icon actually opened this door for Breguet.So, I was positive towards it. I said, Yeah,silicon is the future for some parts.

Meanwhile, Hayek Sr. continued towoo his grandson about moving toBreguet. And Marc A. Hayek continued toresist. He told his grandfather, Look, Icannot take any active role in Breguet

because I am Blancpain. This doesntwork. Thats your baby. Ill come to meet-ings, Ill look at products, but I wont doanything official because I cant.

His grandfather replied, But one dayyou will have to. You have to promise me.You have to continue taking care of mybaby.

Marc A. Hayek figured that day wasfar away. His grandfather was extremelyactive as Swatch Group chairman andhead of Breguet, and his health was good.Hayek Sr.s deathat Swatch Group head-quarters on June 28, 2010 shocked hisgrandson.

Marc A. Hayek kept his promise.Two days after Hayek Sr.s death, he andhis uncle, Nick Hayek Jr., Swatch Group

CEO, went to Breguet headquarters toannounce that he would succeed hisgrandfather as Breguet CEO.

What happened next stunned him.Your grandfather already told us, theBreguet management team told him. Hesaid one day you would be here. Its logi-cal. Then they said, Can we start? Wehave questions. Can we start work?Says Hayek, For me, that was fantasticand very touching. And they got towork.

Four months later, Sylvain Marchalwalked in with his knitting needle. I sawthis knitting needle turning and the firstthing I thought was, Magnets in thewatch? Then I thought, No problem, itssilicon. And somehow I heard my grand-father saying, Open doors. It was at thismoment I said, Maybe we are on a step-

ping stone. If not, OK, it doesnt work.But we have to try it. We have to really gofor it.

Thus did Marc A. Hayek take Breguetthrough the next unforeseen open door,as his grandfather had hoped andplanned.

TODAY HAYEK SPLITS his timebetween his three babies, Breguet,

Blancpain and Jaquet Droz, as presidentand CEO of all three. (He als

watchtime magazine - april 2014

Documents