Every year an important gamers within the watch trade collect in Geneva for the Watches & Wonders commerce honest, the world’s largest and most necessary watch present. In the newest honest, 48 watch manufacturers and unbiased watchmakers introduced their latest timepieces to retailers, the press, and collectors. A number of of those timepieces shall be accessible at luxurious retailers worldwide in the course of the yr. A few of these watches shall be positioned on ridiculously lengthy ready lists or restricted to VIP purchasers. What follows are three of the various standouts from the seven-day honest: Rolex, Chopard, and Tag Heuer.
Rolex aficionados are a passionate bunch, and this shocking new timepiece gave them loads of motive to like, hate, and argue its deserves.
Out there in 18k yellow, white, or Everose gold (a Rolex proprietary gold alloy), probably the most obvious change on this watch is its dial. Fairly than exhibiting the day of the week, the arc-shaped aperture at 12 o’clock shows an inspirational key phrase: “Completely happy,” “Eternity,” “Gratitude,” “Peace,” “Religion,” “Love,” and “Hope.” The date window at 3 o’clock reveals certainly one of 31 unique emojis rather than the date.
Much more obvious is the dial design, which reveals a colourful jigsaw puzzle created via the artisan strategy of champlevé enameling. It provides depth and depth to the ornament and the combo of turquoise, pink, fuchsia, orange, inexperienced, and yellow colours organized as jigsaw puzzle items that match collectively on a single-color background. Ten baguette-cut sapphires mark the hours in six totally different hues set in response to the first shade of the dial, which is turquoise on the yellow gold and white gold variations, and orange on the Everose gold mannequin.
The rest of this timepiece is what one would anticipate from this signature Rolex mannequin. It’s powered by the in-house caliber 3255 with a 70-hour energy reserve, carries the Superlative Chronometer certification, and is housed within the Oyster case, waterproof to a depth of 100 meters (330 ft).
The watch is accomplished with the Presidential bracelet—a three-piece hyperlink gold bracelet reserved solely for the Day-Date and the valuable metallic variations of the Rolex Datejust watches.
This Chopard L.U.C 1963 Heritage Chronograph was amongst many timepieces launched by the Swiss luxurious model for Watches and Wonders. The 42mm timepiece crafted of Chopard’s proprietary Lucent metal comprises an English-green dial and L.U.C Caliber 03.07-L hand-wound motion with chronometer-certified precision. It’s being launched in a 25-piece restricted version.
The dial is adorned with a sunburst sample with the “L.U.C. CHOPARD” brand at 12 o’clock. Double-digit hour markers are harking back to a automotive dashboard rev counter. From 05 to 60, they point out the chronograph minutes and seconds.
The L.U.C Caliber 03.07-L drives the watch with a flyback mechanism enabling consecutive timing operations with out having to zero-reset the counters. It operates with a pusher at 4 o’clock. It employs a system that includes three pivoting hammers with elastic arms activated by a single linear displacement lever. It makes use of a vertical-clutch system for a extra dependable beginning of the chronograph second’s hand. Pulling out the crown resets the small seconds at 6 o’clock to zero and retains it there. Due to these mechanical enhancements, Chopard has filed 4 invention patents.
The motion is seen via a clear case-back with a gilded baseplate and bridges. The higher floor is product of uncooked nickel silver, heightening the distinction of the caliber.
Tag Heuer devoted this yr’s Watches & Wonders to the sixtieth anniversary of its Carrera watch, named after the Carrera Panamericana, a grueling five-day endurance auto race via Mexico that not exists.
This new timepiece is the flashier mannequin of this yr’s Carrera releases. It’s a prototype that shall be produced in small portions by the top of the yr. The watch model already mentioned it will solely use lab-grown diamonds for its jeweled timepieces; that is an excessive instance of how these artificial gems can be utilized creatively. The 36mm white-gold case comprises a textured diamond-encrusted dial. The hour markers encompass 12 baguette diamonds. Beneath the Carrera title at 12 o’clock is a pink lab-grown diamond formed just like the Tag Heuer protect. The watch model calls it the “Diamant d’Avant-Garde” (Vanguard Diamond) protect. The crown is product of a uniquely formed 1.3-carat, pink, lab-grown diamond.
This three-hand watch with the date at 6 o’clock is powered by the TAG Heuer Caliber 7 automated motion seen via a sapphire case again.