What could possibly bring together the 152-year-old House of Boucheron, that most venerable of France’s high-jewellery Houses, and MB&F, the young, cutting-edge Swiss creative laboratory whose Horological Machines first invaded our planet only five years ago? The answer is the JwlryMachine, an astonishing haute-joaillerie version of MB&F’s Horological Machine No3 (HM3).
The ’Edition Héritage’ of NIVREL will be subject to a major facelift in 2010. After the presentation of the new automatic watch from this edition in February, NIVREL now introduces another model: The Héritage Grand Chronographe. The new Héritage Grand Chronographe features a case diameter of 42 mm – a grand size for such a classic watch. The silver dial shows the familiar and precious characteristics of a NIVREL Héritage: A Clous de Paris guilloche in German silver, rhodinated index appliques as well as rhodinated and guilloched chronograph counters. All indications are realized by using blued steel hands.
The Royal Oak Offshore needs no introduction. An extreme version of the legendary Royal Oak, the quintessential sports watch that has become an Audemars Piguet icon, this superlative line of timepieces embodies the talent and inventiveness that the Manufacture has dedicated to serving aesthetics and performance. Successively associated with some of the greatest Formula 1 racing drivers, such as Rubens Barrichello and Juan Pablo Montoya, it is now issued in an exceptional new limited series bearing the signature of Jarno Trulli.
The Moritz Grossmann Benu projects a distinctive personality and discreet elegance. Its conspicuous facet is that it always remains inconspicuous. It takes a second look to discover the assets of this extraordinary timepiece: a delicate rose-gold bezel frames the solid-silver dial with its crisp Arabic numerals and the fine-tipped brown-violet hands. They have the same hue as the annealed screws that are visible on the surface of the calibre.
A traditional wristwatch has a relatively straightforward role: to tell the time. All that is needed is a hand for the hours, another for the minutes and perhaps a power reserve indicator to keep track of running time. Horological Machine No4 Thunderbolt has a hand for the hours, another for the minutes and a power reserve indicator. HM4 Thunderbolt tells the time.
The latest generation of the UR-CC1 is the result of successful genetic manipulation. A sudden shedding of the skin has transformed the grey gold "King Cobra" case into black, a colour often signalling lethal danger. In colouring the UR-CC1 anthracite, team URWERK reaffirms the aggressiveness of this piece, pushing the Cobra to the extreme. Black character and black heart. Don't be afraid, but do be very careful of the UR-CC1 in black AlTiN.
Since the launch of The Double Tourbillon 30° in 2004, Greubel Forsey has released 3 lines based on this invention, namely: Contemporaine (which includes Vision and Secret models), Invention (which includes the Invention Piece 1 model) and Technique (the Double Tourbillon 30° Technique model).
The wonderful world of unique timepieces in the "Luxury Watchmaking" sector commands insanely unaffordable prices in the real world. Such watches remain the privilege of the exceptional few, not to mention the exceptionally wealthy few. But it took the imagination of Yvan Arpa and his team, or rather teams, to rise successfully to the challenge of creating "unique pieces" at mass-production prices.
In professional diving, pressure is not just a metaphor. It’s 1,000 kilos a cubic metre. A watch that can withstand this crushing force, not to 50 or 100 but to 500 metres under water, is no more an “accessory” than a diving mask or an oxygen tank. Without it — to check elapsed time, to time safety stops during ascent — you shouldn’t be in the water.
Part of the series of ArtyA watches featuring skeleton movements, the Tesla Skeleton Tourbillon shows up in a self-winding version at Baselworld 2010. The famous machine sculptures of Jean Tinguely are once again celebrated through this timepiece featuring a Made in Arpa construction and design revealing a new and decidedly contemporary expression of the watchmaking art.
With its asymmetrical case, deconstructed time display and gentle curves contrasting with a powerful architecture, the LADOIRE RGT disrupts codes and combines opposites in providing an offbeat and resolutely avant-garde take on Haute Horlogerie. Since 2007, the Geneva-based House of Ladoire has been playing with contradictions and associating extremes within atypical creations featuring cutting-edge complications and sophisticated aesthetics.
A triple-axis tourbillon is extremely rare; a triple-axis tourbillon wristwatch even more so. However, Thomas Prescher's triple-axis flying tourbillon is not simply extremely rare – it is absolutely unique. Prescher's Triple Axis Tourbillon Regulator features one of the world's most exclusive and most difficult complications to assemble, set to stunning advantage in a jet-black natural onyx dial that contrasts beautifully with the pink-gold case.
A woman, like the tiger, possesses a mysterious poetry of strength, power and sensuality, emitting a presence that is both commanding and curious. Ulysse Nardin feeds her fantasies with the Caprice Tiger: a jewel of a timepiece worthy of a fierce fight. The Caprice Tiger in 18-karat white gold transfixes those who cross its path. With eyes made of emeralds and a form glistening with diamonds, the tiger, although dreamlike, appears alive, as if it’s moving stealthily through the grasses.
Haute horlogerie is (usually) a very restrained and serious business; however one of Maximilian Büsser main goals in creating MB&F was to bring a child's sense of awe and sense of playfulness into high-end watchmaking. There is no doubting that with the HM3 Frog, MB&F have certainly achieved that aim . . . and more!
Launched in spring 2009, the Chronomat houses Caliber 01, a high-performance selfwinding chronograph movement entirely developed and produced in the Breitling workshops. A perfect blend of power and elegance, it has rapidly asserted itself as the new benchmark in the fi eld of mechanical chronographs, indeed as the ultimate chronograph.