Table of contents for Issue 30 in REVOLUTION WATCH

If you’ve made a mistake, the first step toward fixing it is to recognise that you’ve made a mistake and that you need to take responsibility for it. Which I am not entirely certain was something that Baselworld’s organisers were completely aware of. I think the point they missed was that many brands were at Basel more out of goodwill than necessity. In a world where a single image can be instantly disseminated around the globe, a trade show is a somewhat anachronistic concept. I think brands supported Baselworld because they wanted to do their part for the industry. It was Baselworld, not the brands and not their principals, that needed to engender a reciprocal sense of goodwill by reaching out to brands and demonstrating a willingness to change and…

The rising trend of multi-coloured wristwatches lends itself to jewellery, where multi-coloured precious stones take centre stage. It’s always summer somewhere in the world, and the allure of bold colours blazing in the summer sun is a perfect reason to brandish these rainbow-filled arrangements. Attempt to outshine the sun with Harry Winston’s statement mandarin garnet, or take it through from day to night in Piaget’s decorated wood marquetry cuff with tourmaline and diamonds. Even with Graff’s transformative emerald and diamond secret watch, it’s a colourful fit for all.…

In recent years, we have witnessed the growth of a very interesting branch in fine watchmaking: ultra-thin or extra-flat watches. But far from being a 21st-century development, ultra-thin watches have been created and worn for generations. One of the forerunners of the genre, Piaget, has an established reputation as a specialist in ultra-thin watch movements. Today, many other houses have joined this watch segment in their quest to create timepieces of unquestionable beauty and elegance. That is why I fervently refuse to call slim watches and movements a “trend”; I mean, they have always been here! As expected, the 2019 Baselworld was fertile ground for innovations in extremely thin movements and watches. Even better, these are not ordinary-looking watches of modest design but high complications from maisons the likes of…

Last month, Jaeger-LeCoultre unveiled a new minute repeater with perpetual calendar that the company says “brings new levels of excellence to its mastery of chiming watches”. The Master Grande Tradition Répétition Minutes Perpétuelle has entirely redesigned gongs in order to replicate the volume and acoustic quality of antique pocket watches. Jaeger-LeCoultre has a rich history of chiming watches going back to 1895, when it was awarded a patent for the world’s first silent strike regulator. The company has built on this reputation and in recent years has focused efforts on increasing the sound quality but also wearability of its repeaters. A decade ago, the brand introduced two notable innovations in its chiming timepieces with flat gongs welded to the sapphire crystal and articulated trebuchet hammers, now standard issue in all…

The Swiss watchmaking industry wasn’t built in a day. But one can say it was saved in one, by force of vision and the mighty plastic Swatch. Nothing is easier than going with the flow; basking in the security of having ideas and thoughts in the accepted “mainstream”, and sniffing at everything that isn’t in the average cool kids’ club. But it takes out-of-the-box thinking when all chips are down, and resolute action to climb out of a slime pit. It wasn’t that long ago in the 1970s that today’s vaunted Swiss watchmaking industry found itself in just such a predicament, having had its knees cut from under it by more affordable, better-performing imports from the East. It took no less than a visionary, iconoclastic entrepreneur — the late Nicolas…

RICHARD MILLE FOUNDER, RICHARD MILLE * ** WATCH SALES (2017, IN CHF MILLION) 260 CHANGE (2017, COMPARED WITH 2016) +16% WATCH SALES SHARE 100% WORLDWIDE MARKET SHARE 0.7% When God made Richard Mille he broke the mould. Because what Mille has achieved since founding his eponymous brand along with partner Dominique Guenat in 2001, was not so much to create the single most successful new watch brand in over a century (he did this, of course), but something much bigger… He created an all-new strata, a hyper-luxury watch business that never existed before and in which he is the sole member. Of course, there are Patek complications and Audemars Piguet concept watches that enter into the Mille price category, but no brand on earth can come close to touching Mille’s…

There is something about Auro Montanari, otherwise known by his watch-collecting nom de plume, John Goldberger, that tells you immediately that you are in the presence of greatness. And though he is a tall man whose generous demeanour displays a genuine sense of noblesse oblige, his more defining characteristics are his soft-spoken eloquence and his inimitable old-world elegance. He is the very definition of an old-school gentleman, radiating a magnetic gentility that makes you think he’s stepped off the screen of a Visconti film or, better yet, a novel by di Lampedusa adopted by Visconti. His style is characterised by soft-shoulder doppio peto Caraceni suits married with sublime degage cool — his trademark frayed denim shirts are as original and trail-blazing as his status as watch collector. In horological circles,…

Stepping into Messe Basel hall on the eve of the press preview of the fair made me realise just how dramatically the fair has changed in the last couple of years since I’ve skipped out on it, in part because there were others more deserving among my former colleagues of attending this exposition but also because I found myself able to take in a broader overview of the industry when I wasn’t ensconced in the midst of it all. That is what fascinates me as much as the actual mechanics of a cleverly designed movement, like Ludwig Oeschlin’s nine-component perpetual calendar module for ochs und junior that can be adjusted forwards and backwards. It’s certainly a feat of engineering that anyone can applaud. As legacy industries go, there are few…

Montblanc integrates the three main pillars of its craftsmanship – leather goods, writing instruments, and timepieces in a new dual space retail concept at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Before going through the black framed doors, a permanent pop-up space greets one within the vicinity, where the thematic setup will be decked out in the brand’s current limited edition launches. Since the launch of its opening, Montblanc is celebrating the spirit of travel and exploration, complemented by its latest 1858 timepiece collection and Montblanc x Pirelli Trolley travel accessories. Within the confines of its contemporary decor, the boutique houses a neat selection of its product ranges, beginning with a central Timepiece Gallery display. It showcases the brand’s acclaimed Heritage collection, including its TimeWalker pieces. Adjacent to it is the Leather Atelier…

In the spirit of adventure, Maurice Lacroix unveiled their latest Aikon collection on a worldwide tour. The Southeast Asia contingent was hosted at the luxurious Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort & Spa in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. For three days, press and retailers spent time under the sun and by the sea to enjoy the slew of activities — including a beach dinner under the stars, a boat ride into the sunset, and a night’s entertainment of live fire dancers — all of which paralleled the motivation of the new Aikon Venturer. THE AIKON VENTURER The Aikon Venturer gets an uplift since the release of the Quartz in 2016. Powered by an automatic-winding ML115 calibre, the stainless steel cases are fashioned in blue and black versions, each fixed with a uni-directional rotating…

Growing up, I was brought up on a diet of monochromatic menswear, one that was stylish but sober and formal. That lens of formality was what I perceived watchmaking through and, two decades ago, was pretty much the staple of the industry. Today, in a world where Thierry Stern casually says “why not?” to a reporter’s question on a khaki-green Jumbo Aquanaut (a concept that would have shocked most collectors and possibly horrified some Patek Philippe collectors a decade ago), the old rules have been thrown out, and along with that, the typical ideas of men wearing gemstones or bold colours. The popularity of multi-coloured gemset jewellery probably started with Bvlgari decades ago. Then Rolex took the lead in bringing multi-coloured gems to the watch world in 2012, and over…

Three years ago, as the Richemont Group underwent a massive restructuring in leadership, Montblanc’s then-CEO, Jérôme Lambert, took on a new role as chief operating officer (he’s now CEO of the group). Nicolas Baretzki, then vice president of sales at Montblanc, took over as head of the diverse brand that carries writing instruments, watches, jewellery, leather goods, eyewear and fragrances within its portfolio. Baretzki led a dramatic retail change at Montblanc as the head of sales, emphasising an e-commerce experience that complemented its brick-and-mortar solutions across the world. The NEO retail concept Montblanc has championed continues to drive sales growth in the brand, and this is attested to by the numbers in Richemont’s Annual Report for 2018. We speak to Baretzki about the brand’s business diversification and how it is…

Until earlier this year, The Swatch Group had kept everyone wondering just what its plans were to showcase its novelties for the year after Mr Hayek had made the decision to pull the group out of the Baselworld fair last year. The break with the fair was a major executive decision that sent ripples through the entire industry, with some watch brands vowing to remain and other following in the footsteps of the group and establishing their own programmes. With its retail partners, a separate but simultaneous presentation was organised in Zurich during the period of the Baselworld show, but with the press, the group opted to hold back and create a more comprehensive event that showcased six key manufactures and their products. As our online editor, Sumit Nag expressed,…

In the early ’60s, a generation found expression for their growing nonchalance in colour and individualism. We have them and Piaget to thank for the growing popularity of stone dials. Towards the end of the decade, Piaget led the way in a splash of colour by unveiling watches with dials of opal, malachite and lapis lazuli, to name a few. The watches took the industry by storm with their technicolor dials — they fit in well in the midst of bold ’60s fashion as hemlines shortened and hair buns loosened. They also showed a watchmaker’s prowess, as stone dials have to be cut and polished down from their rough forms just thin enough so as not to compromise the thickness of the watch, but not so thin that the stone…

It is easy to laugh at alchemy — a deluded wizard stares at a cauldron of bubbling metal as he tries to turn scrap into gold. This search for never-ending treasure was a failure, but the experiments began to show how materials react together under varying conditions. Eventually alchemy morphed into chemistry, forming one of the pillars of the scientific revolution and helping create the modern world that continues to unfold before us at an insane rate. The ability to “magic” copper into gold may still be beyond us, but that does not stop people experimenting with all kinds of different metal mixtures. The resulting alloys may be prized for their strength, or lightness, or perhaps just because they look and feel rather nice. TAG HEUER AUTAVIA ISOGRAPH The Autavia…

I had the opportunity to play with the Panerai Submersible in brushed steel earlier this winter for a review on the ski slopes and fell immediately in love with this model. So, when a photo of this new Panerai Submersible Bronzo popped up in my inbox, my heart literally skipped a beat. Panerai first introduced bronze to its diving series in 2010, much to the delight of its beloved Paneristi. The beauty of a bronze watch is that it will evolve over time as the elements and the pH of the skin react with the metal, resulting in a unique patina for each owner. This patina also protects the watch from future oxidisation and avoids any change to the metal’s properties. This new version was designed by the brand’s famous…

Since its creation in 1995, Roger Dubuis has continuously sought to conquer the pinnacles of watchmaking, focused on an exponential development of horological design. It’s one of a handful of maisons that has its watches certified with the Geneva Seal, and its mastery of tourbillons and precision timekeeping has only grown since the brand’s founding by Mr Roger Dubuis himself. As CEO Nicola Andreatta tells us, “Roger Dubuis believes in living larger than life. Hyper horology, adrenaline and determination to break existing codes have always been part of our DNA.” The maison’s signature Excalibur timepieces emerged in the middle of the noughties, marking a decade of its existence. With a broad fluted bezel, triple lugs and large case size, as well as a partially opened dial that revealed its movement,…

While my penchant for mid ’90s New York grime-style rap is well documented, there is one other musical genre which has unexpectedly intrigued me. And that is Victorian-era comic opera, specifically the works of master of the libretti W.S. Gilbert and composer extraordinaire Arthur Sullivan, without whom there could be no Irving Berlin, no Oscar Hammerstein and no Andrew Lloyd Webber. Their seminal creation is the absurdist masterpiece, The Pirates of Penzance, with the unforgettable songs, “With Cat-Like Tread” and “Modern Major-General”. The Pirates of Penzance’s plot is narrative ingenuity at its best. It centres around Frederic, the hapless young protagonist who is indentured to a group of pirates until the age of 21. However, the pirates who don’t want to lose their young ward come up with the clever…