A whirlwind weekend in Geneva of auction sales, Only Watch and the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève has confirmed the rise and rise of independent watchmakers.

A once forgotten art, engraving is enjoying a renaissance in watchmaking. Watches released in 2020 offer a superb panorama of the different techniques and the many marvels they can achieve.

Ultra-light, extra-resistant, super-luminescent, unbreakable... watch brands continue to push the envelope for the materials used to encase our watches. Here's a selection of this year's innovations.

Under the aegis of the Time Aeon Foundation, whose mission is to preserve the hand-craftsmanship of watchmaking, the Naissance d’une Montre 2 project is nearing completion. A collaboration between Oscillon, Urwerk and Greubel Forsey, this one-of-a-kind watch is now in the final finishing and adjusting stages, with plans for an auction sale in Hong Kong on April 21, 2021.

Unless you're an Emo or a Goth, most people wouldn't be seen dead wearing a skull watch. And they would be wrong. Make no bones about it: today's skull watches are creative, innovative, high-mech pieces.

After over 20 minutes of bidding from collectors across 3 continents, underscoring the enduring legacy of the most iconic actor of the 20th century, Marlon Brando’s Rolex GMT-Master reference 1675 sold for $1,952,000.

Even without sun, you can still be bronzed. Simply wear a watch in the latest must-have metal. Choosing a bronze watch is to choose the unpredictable (oxidation) over the conventional (gold), to prefer Danny Wilde over Brett Sinclair, and to rally behind climate activist Greta Thunberg and her message to Make Green Great Again.

For the third time, Phillips put independents front and centre of its sale, headlined by George Daniels. Connoisseurs packed the saleroom for the British auction house's May date, with the hammer coming down on several record-breaking lots.

"Unit 1 calling Unit 2. Rubidium atoms detected, vicinity of the Urwerk AMC. Approaching the zone, over." "Unit 2 to Unit 1, confirm intentions. Investigating solar energy theft at Ressence, Type 2, over."