The watch designer’s curse is never to have more than a few cubic centimeters in which to express an idea. The human wrist offers limited real estate, after all. Typically, the results of this tension prompt one of two responses: wonder or ennui. Some marvel at the industry’s visual and mechanical variety, while others bemoan brands’ dependence on the so-called icons of the genre, iterating on familiar (best-selling) forms. In Geneva this week, at the annual Watches and Wonders Geneva superfair and at events around the Swiss city, watchmakers have been looking to summon that wonder and stabilize a market in flux.
Born again
Is nostalgia the lifeblood of luxury watchmaking? It’s been argued that a mechanical, analog watch — an anachronism — is already a symptom of a yearning for the past. Certainly, brands are quick to look back, and consumers don’t seem to mind. Even so, judging which designs of yesteryear will lure the rose-tinted gaze is a risky business. This quartet will be hoping their revivals are on the money.
Cartier Roadster
Cartier’s ability to massage metals into unusual, memorable case shapes is all but unrivaled in watchmaking. Many of the Parisian house’s designs have set the standard for others — the rectangular Tank of 1917, to give one example, must be the most imitated form in watchmaking. But Cartier is not sentimental. Designs come and go, as fans of recent confections such as the Drive de Cartier or Clé de Cartier may have clocked. The Roadster was introduced in the early 2000s, but was gone within a decade. This year, it’s back in a range of materials and sizes, but always with that same streamlined, barrel-shaped case, said to have been inspired by the pillowy panels of midcentury motorcars. Other returning automotive cues include the speedometer-inspired dial design, the conical crown shape evoking the taillights of American saloons, and the headlight-shaped date magnifier. This steel, navy blue version is 38 millimeters in diameter and runs on one of Cartier’s in-house automatics.
$10,200
TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph
Released in 1969, the Monaco was always an oddball. As well as being square, it had a left-hand crown, a design quirk prompted by the need to accommodate the company’s first but slightly awkward automatic chronograph movement, the fabled Calibre 11. These days, the Monaco is widely respected but still not always loved, a status TAG Heuer appears ready to tap into with this revamp of that first edition, the Ref. 1133. Devotees will spot the differences in the new model: sharper, more angular edges; a squarer sapphire crystal; simpler pushers and hour markers; and the appearance of the contemporary TAG Heuer logo on the dial, where before the vintage Heuer logo told the heritage story. This, it seems, also points to the presence of two modern elements: a titanium case and TAG Heuer’s next-generation TH20-11 automatic chronograph movement. It delivers an 80-hour power reserve — and a left-hand crown. Same, but different.
$9,350
Oris Star Edition
A curious little tale at Oris this year. The Swiss outlier (it is based in the Swiss-German speaking north of the country) recalls an obscure Swiss decree passed in the 1930s to mitigate the effects of the Great Depression on watchmaking. Over time, Oris says, the statute stifled competition by restricting some brands’ capacity to innovate, dividing watchmakers into two classes — loosely, those that could work with new technologies and those that couldn’t. Oris found itself among those that couldn’t, so spent almost a decade lobbying the Swiss government until it convinced it to reverse the statute in the mid-1960s, paving the way for the freer market we see now. In 1966, the company produced its first watch using the advanced lever escapement technology some of its peers had been using for years, calling it Star. On the 60th anniversary of that modernist design, Oris’s Star Edition brings the company’s gently heroic story back into focus.
$2,300
Corum Admiral 39mm Meteorite
Corum’s new owners insist it has never been away, but to all intents, it has. There’s been little to show in recent years, and little more than wistful talk of it among watch enthusiasts. As it is, Corum has been “reloaded,” according to freshly installed management, backed by new money and new momentum. They have plenty to work with: A legacy seven decades long, a home in the Swiss watchmaking town of La Chaux-de-Fonds, a solid movement back catalog, and a rich archive of often unusually shaped designs that those who’ve followed the industry long enough will have no trouble remembering. One of those is the Admiral, a sports watch inspired by sailing with a 12-sided bezel. It returns as a 39-millimeter piece, seen here in steel and with a meteorite dial, a modish material among watchmakers looking to grow their brand cachet. It runs on a new automatic movement with a 72-hour power reserve delivered by movement specialists Concepto, and is set on a neatly integrated bracelet. Corum reloaded? Reinvigorated, certainly.
$17,375
Simple pleasures
There is a view among watchmakers that there is no such thing as bad times for good watches. It’s an interesting notion and one that might help explain the industry’s current appetite for design stoicism (assuming it would be ill-mannered to say “predictability”). If there’s reassurance in the familiar and the unthreatening, there’s certainly pleasure in simplicity, as these new models suggest.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo 37mm
Few would debate that the Roman jeweler’s status as a serious watchmaker owes more to its Octo Finissimo than any other design. The ultrathin, multifaceted watch has carried a number of record-breaking movements and is frequently listed among only a handful of 21st-century watches already considered “iconic.” Now, it’s been shrunk to a more universal 37 millimeters, every facet and bracelet link reworked.
$16,300
Parmigiani Tonda PF Chronograph Mystérieux
Parmigiani is claiming a world first for its new chronograph, which looks much simpler than it is. Press its single pusher once, and the rhodium-plated central hands skip to 12, transformed into chronograph hands revealing the rose gold hands below that stick to telling the time of day. Pressed again, the chronograph stops; a third time and the hands return to their position over the rose gold hands. Brilliant.
$44,600
Piaget Polo Signature Date
With all the light cast onto Piaget’s popular Polo 79 reboot over the past couple of years, the standard automatic version of the Polo has found itself rather overshadowed. Piaget has decided the solution is to transpose one of the 79’s signature features onto the dial of the core collection piece, namely those proud horizontal stripes it calls “gadroons.”
$16,200
Grand Seiko SLGB006 Ice Forest at Dawn
Another simple-looking but spectacular watch from Japan’s Grand Seiko. Inside its 18-karat yellow gold case is the astonishing U.F.A. Spring Drive movement, which is a clever mix of mechanics and quartz, and is accurate to +/- 20 seconds a year. It’s 37 millimeters across and features a dial inspired by the dawn colors of the larch forests of the Suwa region of Japan.
$41,500
Zenith Chronomaster Sport Skeleton
It’s five years since Zenith brought its protean Chronomaster Sport to the table. This year, it’s experimenting with the form by skeletonizing — or hollowing out — the movement and laying it under a smoky sapphire dial. Still in place is its showpiece one-tenth of a second chronograph, measured against a black ceramic bezel.
$16,700
Baume & Mercier Joia
Baume & Mercier is beginning life under new ownership (the Swiss supergroup Richemont will complete its sale to the Italian jewelry company Damiani this summer) with a new cocktail watch. The formula is simple: a bijou 28-millimeter round case with a seamlessly integrated bracelet or calfskin strap, a radiant “sun-satin” patterned dial, and a quartz movement.
$1,350
Joy machines
There has been no shortage of reasons provided by brands for the sudden existence of their latest creations this week, none more convincing than that the purpose of a luxury mechanical watch is to spark a little joy. A smile, at least. Fair enough. After all, in a muddled world, who hasn’t got time for that?
H. Moser & Cie Streamliner Pump
Moser’s new collaboration with the sneaker brand Reebok is behind this 250-piece limited edition. The case is in forged quartz fiber, while an orange “pump” pusher inspired by Reebok’s signature innovation — a sneaker with an internal inflation system — replaces a traditional winding mechanism. Every push adds at least one hour of power reserve. Buyers will have access to a sister pair of sneakers.
$39,900
Hermès H08 Titanium Skeleton
The H08 has been an unqualified success, helping Hermès’s watch division triple its revenues this decade. This year, it’s been skeletonized, with the dial all but removed and some of the movement chiseled away. There are quieter versions than this titanium-cased Bleu Zanzibar edition, but none that captures Hermès’s ability to color life’s grayness so comprehensively.
$21,600
Hublot Big Bang Unico Reloaded Blue Ceramic
Whisper it — a 2000s-style trend is imminent in watches. For watchmakers, that would mean a return to oversized cases and explosive dials. Ahead of the wave is Hublot’s “reloaded” Big Bang Unico collection. In 44 millimeters of blue ceramic and with a layered dial integrating a flyback chronograph function, it’s an unapologetic throwback to the bombastic original of 2005.
$25,200
Norqain Freedom Chrono 40 Enjoy Life Sprinkles
The young company advised by Jean-Claude Biver, the one-time Hublot impresario, continues its role as watchmaking’s cheerful upstart with another Enjoy Life watch. This one takes its creative cues from ice cream sprinkles. At Watches and Wonders, Norqain has been serving punters soft ice cream, akin to that which appears once a week in the watch’s date window.
$6,290
Ressence Type 11
A big moment for the Belgian watch company built on industrial design principles: The Type 11 is home to its first in-house designed mechanical movement, the Ressence Werk RW-01. That sits behind the brand’s familiar swirling dial configuration, which displays the time via rotating discs. Another novelty is the Type 11’s patented power reserve, indicated by “ceramic micro-balls.”
$31,400
Dior Chiffre Rouge 38mm Pink
A last word for Dior, one of the few watchmakers not on the exhibitor list in Geneva this week. Earlier this month, it announced additions to its asymmetrical Chiffre Rouge collection, named for its red-tipped 4 o’clock crown. This 50-piece edition mixes steel, rose gold, 60 brilliant-cut diamonds and a pink mother-of-pearl dial engraved with the house’s Cannage motif.
$27,000
The post Watches and Wonders Geneva: A Week in Time appeared first on New York Times.
