PREMIERS OF LEADING HOUR HOUSES SHOWN AT THE GENEVA CLOCK SHOWROOM IN JANUARY CAN NOT BE JOYFUL. EXPERIENCES SAW THE REAL RESULTS OF ENGINEERING EXPERIMENTS, CLASSIC FANS - NEW ORIGINAL WATCHES FOR EVERY DAY, AND LADIES CONSIDERED THAT ALL ONLY THE BEST IS REASONABLE. The Great Triad
Never before has there been such a diversity in watchmaking as today. Moreover, it is in the “major league” of watchmaking, starting from the great triad of complications, including a tourbillon, repeater and perpetual calendar.
Despite persistent talk that the tourbillon is going out of fashion, the leading manufactories have presented a “compulsory program” of unusual whirlwinds: mystical and innovative. So, Jaeger-LeCoultre engineers managed to reduce the size of the Reverso Tribute Gyrotourbillon by 30% compared to the previous version and without extra bulges can easily be placed in a classic rectangular case 51x31 mm and only 12 mm high (limit of 75 copies).
The double-sided dial also allowed to place the pointer of the second time zone. The head of Cartier technical department, Carol Forestier, created a fantastic version of the Rotonde de Cartier Astromysterieux “clock carousel”, where the mechanism itself, together with the regulator and the winding drum, is not only a tourbillon, entirely placed on a rotating platform, but also rotates, it seems, in zero gravity. To achieve this effect, the engineers needed to arrange the gears on four sapphire discs, and hide the connecting elements under the external marking ring.
Engineers A. Lange & Sohne did the incredible thing: in a sophisticated caliber combining a flyback chronograph and an eternal calendar, they found a place to add a tourbillon, visible from the back cover. Caliber L952.2 with manual winding and a power reserve of 50 hours fit in a classic case 41.5 mm high 14.6 mm, made of platinum. The Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon is limited to 100 copies.
A special niche is occupied by high-tech tourbillons, in which the classic design of Abraham-Louis Breguet is combined with materials worthy of a science fiction series. Panerai introduced the new Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanio from the "science" series dedicated to Galileo Galilei, which the scientist himself could be proud of. In the presence of all possible complications of the P.2005 caliber, including a tourbillon, a second time zone and a power reserve indicator, the total weight of the watch in a case of 47 mm does not exceed 100 grams. The fact is that the case and partly the mechanism are made of light and durable titanium, and the technology of laser sintering of metal, which allows literally "printing" a part of the desired shape, was first applied.
The RM 50-02 ACJ Tourbillon Split Seconds Chronograph by Richard Mille deserves a special talk. It was the result of a brand new collaboration with the Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) division producing luxury superjets. Accordingly, the caliber RM 50-02 made maximum use of the capabilities of the aerospace industry, for example, a special coating that protects against impacts. The power reserve of the mechanism, which can be monitored thanks to the indicator at 11 o’clock, is about 70 hours. The series is limited to only 30 pieces in the corporate colors of the dashboard of ACJ aircraft.
A review of prime perpetual calendars is even scary to start so as not to get carried away at all. Today they can be chosen for almost every taste. From the most concise, almost Spartan Endeavor Perpetual Concept from H. Moser & Cie to the ultra-thin Vacheron Constantin Overseas with a caliber of 1120 QP. From Vintage Royal Oak Ref. 26574BA in a yellow gold case, which immediately recalls the first Audemars Piguet wrist “evening”, released in 1983, before Bovet's Amadeo Fleurier Virtuoso VII, where the entire calendar display is made of sapphire retrograde disks.
Watch for life
Fans of three-dimensional concepts, pershing and wooden marquetry may have been disappointed with the premiere of Tonda Chronor Anniversaire, specially prepared for the brand's 20th anniversary: Michel Parmigiani founded his atelier in 1996. But experts on watch mechanics have already called the first integrated manufactory caliber Parmigiani PF361 one of the best in its class and a reliable investment. It operates at a frequency of 36,000 pc / h, is equipped with two column wheels (for the main chronograph and split hands), as well as a Big Date calendar and a 60-hour clock indicator. The movement is housed in a 42.1 mm white or pink gold case and is complemented by a white or blue Grand Feu enamel dial.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of the collection, Vacheron Constantin released a whole updated line (5 new models, 12 references, 3 new calibers), designed for male and female clientele. But the main innovation is an elegant system for replacing a strap (from leather to steel or rubber), which takes place in one second thanks to snap fasteners. The same fasteners fix the clasp, which can be rearranged from one bracelet to another independently.
The same “jubilee” transformation was experienced by two more iconic and familiar to every watch connoisseur: Reverso from Jaeger-LeCoultre (celebrating 85 years) and Pilot's Watch from IWC (80 years). Now the flagship collection of Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso is divided into three lines: Classic (the strictest), One (the most sophisticated) and Tribute. The latter presents a gyroturbion, as well as the so-called "minor complications", for example, a pointer to a second time zone.
The Schaffhausen manufactory IWC has seriously redesigned most of the pilot models, reducing its size and removing unnecessary “prettiness” like a triple date window. For the first time, 37 mm unisex models appeared in the collection, the iconic Mark XVIII decreased by 2 mm compared to the 17th version (up to 40 mm in diameter) and became more “wearable”. And in addition, in the new collection, IWC introduced the most practical model in the world with a world time indicator. No buttons and corrections! Simply turn the welt by setting the desired city at 12 o’clock so that the hour hand, 24-hour pointer and even the date will automatically adjust to local time.
Classic comfortable watches for every day, it seems, were presented by all the participants of the Salon: from the democratic Baume & Mercier with the new Clifton calendar chronograph based on Valjoux 7753 to the refined A. Lange & Sohne with the new Saxonia Thin edition with more convenient dials; from the brutal Officine Panerai, who introduced the Radiomir 1940 3 Days Automatic with a micro-rotor and for the first time a white dial, to the exquisite Montblanc, which released a whole new line of classic watches 4810 (in honor of the height of Mont Blanc).
Cartier House also launched a completely new collection of men's elegant watches Drive de Cartier, designed to replace the Caliber de Cartier in this niche, which clearly went into a more athletic area. Finally, even the conceptual Richard Mille introduced the ultra-thin classic skeleton RM 67-01 Automatic Extra Flat, which he called the "icon of the future."
Clock on the podium
While men's watchmaking fashion clearly demonstrates a tendency to classical rigor and discreteness, female mechanics decisively comes to the fore. This was most precisely indicated by the Cartier house, calling the new project “workshop dialogue”, since it represents various artistic jewelry incarnations of legendary calibers with “mystical” complications and indications. The collection is completely mesmerizing. For example, in the Dragon Mysterieux model you don’t know what to look at - either at the caliber 9981 MC, or at the fire opal weighing 23.77 carats that adorns the dragon's head.
Piaget has unveiled a new world record: Altiplano 38mm 900D is the thinnest watch in the world, completely covered with diamonds. And only at first glance it can be decided that there is nothing complicated. The watch design was carefully calculated, and 304 diamonds weighing 5.77 carats became a serious burden for her. As a result, the case height increased to 5.6 mm, but still it is the thinnest watch in the world among jewelry.
Audemars Piguet, after the success of last year's Diamond Punk, which received the prize for the best jewelry watches at the Geneva Grand Prix, decided to strengthen the “diamond madness” by creating an exclusive Diamond Fury model - jewelry bracelet watches resembling dragon scales. In the full pave version, 4841 diamonds are used. The combination of watchmaking, jewelry and decorative arts in one model will clearly set the tone in the next few years. And not only for those brands to which it is entitled "by status", for example, Van Cleef & Arpels, which created the jewelry complication of Lady Arpels Ronde des Papillons. This model meets yet another fashion trend - the "custom" function. Butterflies fluttering among the clouds count the minutes, the swallow’s wing indicates the clock, and if you press the button at the “8 o’clock” mark, then within 10 seconds the indicators will perform a real “dance of time”.
In the same vein, Cartier’s new Pantheres et Colibri, equipped with the 9915 MC caliber, is made in which, by pressing the hummingbird button, the power reserve is shown while a golden kitten tries to catch it, unexpectedly popping out from under the clutches of her panther mother.
Needless to say, many women's collections this year hardly give odds to new products for men. For example, Velvet from Roger Dubuis, which almost eclipsed the carbon skeletons and double tourbillons of the Geneva manufactory.
Cooperation with luxury homes from other areas does not seem like a clear trend, but is gaining popularity among watchmakers: IWC has equipped Santoni with straps even a pilot series, Richard Mille, as already mentioned, released the model along with the Airbus superjet division, and Jaeger- LeCoultre invited Christian Louboutin to the Reverso atelier to create his own watch design.
Joint projects are the result of the growing specialization of collections, drawing inspiration from the most popular prestigious hobbies: airplanes, yachts and cars compete with equal success for men's clientele, while women's watches penetrate all spheres of fashion, beauty and art.
The rules of the game in the world of watchmaking are changing rapidly. The boundaries of the technologies and materials used are expanding, gender roles are changing places, the impossible yesterday becomes possible today. And this means that the watchmakers have not yet experienced a lack of imagination, courage and creativity.
Star Ambassadors
By tradition, at the exhibition of fine watchmaking in Geneva you can see not only the most extravagant models of watches, but also many celebrities who these days flock to Switzerland from all over the world. Stars take pictures on the red carpet, give interviews and attend presentations of new watch models. This year there was no shortage of celebrities at all.
One of the most talked about was the Galauzin, organized by the Swiss brand IWC in honor of the launch of a new collection of watches for pilots. The holiday was definitely a success: with the Swiss Army jazz orchestra conducted by Pepe Lynhard, a dance ensemble from England and a crazy mix of jazz and swing, 800 guests seemed to be back in the golden age of their first flights. Among those invited to the festive evening were actresses Rosamund Pike, Hilary Swank and Zhou Xun; actors Christoph Waltz, Scott Eastwood, Chris Evans, Dev Patel, Elias M'Barek and Moritz Bleibtroy; Russian brand ambassadors Konstantin Khabensky and Alexey Nemov; Formula 1 pilots Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, as well as supermodels Adrian Lim and Carolina Kurkova. Another high-profile event was a dinner organized by Montblanc and dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the company. Among the guests shone a happy smile, sitting side by side with Princess of Monaco Charlotte Casiraghi, Hugh Jackman. Then Taiwanese actress Lun-Mei Gwai joined the 47-year-old actor and 29-year-old Charlotte. “A great night in Geneva! Thanks #montblanc for the hospitality,” Hugh wrote on his Instagram.
And on the first day of the exhibition, Jaeger-LeCoultre also threw a grand party. Representatives of the brand Clive Owen and Sarah Gadon, along with Carmen Chaplin, Elisa Senawi and Eva Riccobono, were noted in the VIP zone. They all gathered to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the legendary watches from JaegerLeCoultre - Reverso - which first saw the light in the distant 1931.
