SINGAPORE (Apr 17): Franck Muller
The Vanguard Lady Jewel Asia exclusive sees a generous sprinkling of precious gems – 278 brilliant-cut diamonds, and 22 sapphires set in 18k rose gold or stainless-steel finishing. That’s not enough for the creative team as the dial is adorned with 67 brilliant-cut diamonds and 92 sapphires, complete with hand-painted applique numerals. With the aesthetics come the remarkable technical abilities such as a self-winding movement with bidirectional rotor system and a 38-hour power reserve. To finish the look, the watch has a matching hand-sewn alligator straps and winding crowns in a wide selection of colours.
MB&F
From the brilliant minds of Maximilian Büsser and his team come another remarkable time machine, the Legacy Machine FlyingT. The 2020 edition has done away with the diamonds and left itself in its natural state in a 18k red gold case with black guilloché dial and platinum 950 case with sky-blue guilloché dial. The guilloché dial plate, executed by longtime MB&F collaborator Kari Voutilainen in his specialised dial facility, exists in two versions. One is as dark as a moonless night, housed in a red gold case, while the other is midsummer sky-blue, captured in a platinum case. The same LM FlyingT, when switched between nocturnal and diurnal modalities, is as different as the world when seen by night and by day. In tech speak: A Three-dimensional vertical architecture, automatic winding, conceived and developed in-house by MB&F. Central flying 60-second tourbillon, with a diamond at the top of the flying tourbillon cage. Watch has a power reserve of 100 hours.
Tudor
Tudor celebrates 50 years of the chronograph with a look back to the collections they have launched through the years beginning with the 1970 Oysterdate. The watch that started it all was powered by the mechanical Valjoux 7734 calibre with manual winding and cam chronograph mechanism. Since then many versions along with improvements came along. While we can’t list them all, the 1995 Sapphire Chronograph from the 79200 series is worth a mention. The case, which over the previous three generations of chronographs had essentially retained its famous imposing, sharp presence, became more refined and rounded. Keeping its highly recognisable silhouette, it is now presented in softer lines composed of curves and rounded configurations.
Hublot
Rainbows are known as a symbol of peace, joy and optimism – things that are so needed right now. The Spirit of Big Bang Rainbow by Hublot offers two 39-mm and 42-mm timepieces. Gems are arranged in a way that resembles a rainbow. For example, on the 42mm model the satin-finished and polished 18k king gold is set with 166 coloured gemstones. Also, on the 42mm watch, the hour hand clasps the chronograph skeleton movement like the claws of a precious setting, while sapphires, rubies, topazes, tsavorites and amethysts cover the dial of the 39-mm model with sparkling results.
Corum
The Corum Admiral 42 Automatic Full Black gets a colourful treatment through a variety of clever ways. Firstly, the iconic dodecagonal case in black PVD-treated stainless steel is paired with a blackened brass dial. The nautical pennants, minute markers are in grey tones to balance the all-black design, while markers for the minute and small seconds are made visible using a tone-on-tone effect. For this spring season, Corum introduces colourful and flashy hour’s markers flags, in blue, red, yellow, green and orange. According to Corum’s product development department, “The main objective is to go against the classic codes of watchmaking by proposing a trendy watch instead of a traditional case in steel or gold. In addition, Corum wanted to break the codes of its Admiral collection representing classic navigation. The nautical flags of this new Admiral 42 Automatic are coloured in different flashy tints.”
Breguet
The Classique collection returns in all its glory with two versions, the 7137 and the 7337 in rose gold with a silvered gold dial and in white gold with a gold dial in “Breguet blue”. An embossed moon on a starry sky adds a new dimension to the moon phase display. The sapphire crystal of the Classique 7137 and the Classique 7337 unveils the extra-thin handdecorated 502.3 automatic calibre. This movement has a reduced thickness with its open barrel and an offset rotor. This special design makes it possible to distinguish the barrel spring, which is otherwise hidden. The use of a silicon balance spring stands as testimony to founder Abraham-Louis Breguet’s quest for precision on a contemporary level.
Jaquet Droz
Watch connoisseurs will be delighted with the launch of the incomparable Loving Butterfly Chinchilla Red Automaton by Jaquet Droz in only 28 pieces. The animated objet d’art is inspired by a drawing titled Le papillon conduit par l’amour (Butterfly Driven by Love), which was sketched in 1774 by The Draughtsman, and automaton created by Henri Louis Jaquet-Droz. Today, it is transformed into a three-dimensional wonder where the timepiece comes to live as the butterfly’s wings flutter and is placed close to the sapphire crystal to make it seem like the butterfly is about to fly out of the scenery. The scene is set against a backdrop of a forest of gold, the piece features a dial made from wood petrified 140-180 million years ago called Chinchilla Red, named after a location in Australia where it is found. Hence, Loving Butterfly Chinchilla Red automaton will be donated to associations dedicated to reforestation and the preservation of endemic species such as “Plant a Tree for Me” or “One Tree Planted”.
Urwerk
Instead of using a theme as its inspiration, Urwerk taps into its own namesake from a 6,000-year-old city of Ur in ancient Mesopotamia. It was there that the Sumerians divided the daily track of a shadow into 12 parts, creating the basic unit of time. These early discoveries have evolved to today’s highly sophisticated chronometers such as the newly-launched UR-100 GunMetal – a collection of watches that tells the story of a journey around the sun. On the dial, the hours and minutes are in vivid green, while the kilometres in bright white. The complicated mechanism, the calibre 12.01 movement drives the carousel carrying the hours on three satellites that travel in succession along a 60-minute scale. The structure on top of the hours display is in sanded and shot-blasted aluminium.
Bell & Ross
What started as watches for the world of aviation has evolved to the world of motor sports in 2016 when the watch brand became the official partner of the Formula 1, Renault F1 Team. With this partnership, the R.S. 20 series was launched and the design elements are inspired by the Renault 2020 team and the R.S.2027 concept car. The result is a futuristic collection like no other. Sticking to the brand’s DNA of style, legibility and functionality, the R.S. family of watches is inspired by the yellow and black single-seaters. Bruno Belamich, Bell & Ross’s Creative Director says, “These R.S. models showcase our expertise, our DNA and are in harmony with the design scope of our partner, the Renault F1 Team.”
