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Carol Besler
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Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Arnold Schwarzenegger The Legacy Chronograph © Audemars Piguet
During the week after the annual Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, the collectors’ blogs are abuzz with news about new favorite pieces and revised Holy Grail lists. Here are some favorite picks from this year’s show to become future hot collectors’ pieces.
Panerai Radiomir 3 Days Platino - 47 mm
The dial of the new Radiomir was inspired by a rare 1930s model believed to have been produced as a test model, with alternating bar-shaped and dot-shaped hour markers on the brand’s signature sandwich dial. Only two watches like it were ever produced; the watch was never in production. It contains the new P.3000 movement, a hand-wound calibre with two spring barrels and a large balance. 199 pieces.
Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858 - Tourbillon Bi-Cylindrique
Montblanc is the sleeping giant of the future collectors’ market due to its connection to the Minerva Institute, the limited-edition, high-end movement maker whose production Richemont dedicated to the brand in 2007. The new tourbillon has two cylindrical balance springs, which expand and contract along a vertical axis in opposition to each other for greater precision and stability. 950 pieces.
Royal Oak Offshore Arnold Schwarzenegger The Legacy Chronograph
This ceramic, titanium and pink gold chrono is the last in a series made by AP for the “governator,” who remains the world’s best-known tough guy. Others in the series have included the T3 and End of Days, with proceeds benefiting the After School All-Stars Foundation. The watch, with a 48mm a case size, is as big as its name. The strap is, of course, Kevlar. 1,500 pieces.
Richard Lange Tourbillon "Pour le Mérite"
True to its character, Lange & Söhne did not necessarily set out to create the year’s coolest variation of the tourbillon – although that is certainly the outcome – but because the variation “is useful.” Technically a regulator/tourbillon, the dial features three intersecting circles, one of which (the hour dial) partly pivots out of sight for six hours at a time so as not to block the view of the escapement, and the bridge is hidden under part of the arc of the minute track. The patented stop-seconds function is also a big draw for this piece. 100 pieces in platinum.
Cartier Rotonde Astrorégulateur
Last year, Cartier introduced a new case material, nobium titanium, on its concept watch, ID One. This year the new material is manifested for the first time in an Astrorégulateur, which has a platinum inertia block integrated into the micro-rotor. It contains one of three new Cartier movements, the calibre 9800 MC, with four patent applications; the fruit of five years of development. 50 pieces.
Richard Mille RM 038 Tourbillon Bubba Watson
The charming name of this tourbillon, honoring the pro golfer, belies its intensely high-tech attributes, including: a free-sprung glucydur balance wheel; nivarox balance spring; barrel pawl with progressive recoil and involute winding barrel teeth for optimum winding; titanium base plate, bridges and spline screws for greater rigidity; and magnesium/aluminium case with ceramic coating. All of which makes it a sports watch, able to withstand the potential shocks and accelerations of golf. 38 pieces.
Van Cleef & Arpels High Jewellery timepiece makis decor
The brand has built a name for itself in the last four years as the master of poetic movements and métiers d’art. Of the astounding 18 Jules-Verne-inspired enamelled, jewelled and inlaid dials presented this year, the masterpiece is a one-of-a-kind jewelled watch depicting two monkeys, one of which is hinged at the waist to pivot the flower covering the dial. Set with emeralds, diamonds, blue and pink sapphires and black onyx, it is destined to become a future auction highlight.
Roger Dubuis La Monégasque Chronograph Big Number
The Monégasque may be the most dignified collection ever launched by this brand, and the Big Number Chronograph stands out as the first limited-edition piece in the collection. It is distinctive for the circle-within-a-tonneau shaped case and the casino colors of black, red and green. The rose gold case is contrasted with a titanium bezel. It contains the new RD680 calibre. 128 pieces, CHF37,000.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Répétition Minutes à Rideau
The iconic Reverso now not only swivels but also slides and chimes. An ingenious steel “Venetian blind” serves as both the case cover and the lever that activates the chime when it is opened. The repeater, which signals hours, quarter hours and minutes, marks the 80th anniversary of the Reverso and places it in the realm of high complications. 270 pieces.
Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionelle World Timer
The Geneva Seal, self-winding, 255-component calibre 2460WT is a new complication and the first world-time wristwatch for the brand. It shows 37 time zones (including cities such as Caracas, with half-hour demarcations and Kathmandu, at the quarter hour) on three dial sections.
Girard-Perregaux 1966 Tourbillon with Gold Bridge
This piece marks the brand’s 220th anniversary, and while it commemorates its 1889 gold medal prize at the Paris Universal Exhibition for a tourbillon pocket watch with three gold bridges, it is inspired by the 1966 small seconds – but with a tourbillon instead of small seconds at 6 o’clock. The wristwatch is vintage style, with a minimalist dial, leaving the brand’s signature element, the golden bridge, prominent. 50 pieces.
Piaget Emperador Coussin Tourbillon Automatic
The brand’s first ultra-thin automatic tourbillon movement, the calibre 1270P, adds to this brand’s stable of “thinnest” movements, including the thinnest automatic, the 1208P, introduced last year. The new automatic tourbillon, with an offset micro-rotor visible on the front, combines elements of the 1208P and the tourbillon carriage of the 600P, and measures just 5.5mm thick. The blogs are invariably describing this movement as “beautiful.” Each is numbered.
