Exceptions to the rule

Wherever you turn at this year’s Baselworld, a steel watch will catch your eye. This “common” metal has made inroads even at brands or collections which, ordinarily, have barely a passing acquaintance with anything less than gold. The idea being to loosen the purse strings of customers who these days are less inclined to spend, spend, spend. So is there still room for mechanical extravagance, knowing that such feats of technique come with a price tag attached? The answer is yes, provided the brand in question has the credentials required to carry off these flights of fancy. Yet when it comes to complications, even complexity, some watchmakers are clearly more equal than others.

Past and future

Girard-Perregaux, for example, which this year celebrates its 225th anniversary, has every right to propose an Esmeralda Tourbillon in pink gold, inspired by the Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges pocket chronometer that won a Gold Medal at the 1889 World Fair in Paris. “Not many brands can offer watches with such an exceptional level of finishing,” comments Chief Executive Antonio Calce. “As one of the founding brands of Swiss watchmaking, Girard-Perregaux is clearly one of the few. This is why we created a Haute Horlogerie division to express the full extent of our expertise across all the collections.” Naturally, such expertise comes at a price: CHF 180,000 for this ode to the past.

Hublot rarely reminisces about the past; references to days gone by tend to be purely theoretical, especially in Jean-Claude Biver’s “fusional” speeches. The brand prefers an avant-garde approach, admirably illustrated by the MP-05 “LaFerrari”. First released in 2013, its unique architecture features a tourbillon with an unprecedented power reserve of 50 days, made possible by 11 series-coupled barrels stacked down the centre of the movement. Three years later, LaFerrari returns to Baselworld in suitably grandiose attire, as Hublot points out: “The sapphire case middle is composed of seven components machined from seven blocks of sapphire and involved over 600 hours’ work. Carving the case’s ultra-complex architecture out of sapphire using 3D machining presented a further challenge. The result of 18 months of development weighs 53.5 grams on the wrist.” Despite its transparency, at CHF 500,000 this “LaFerrari” is likely to leave a trace on the wearer’s bank balance.

Irreproachable quality

Superlatives attach themselves to Patek Philippe like burrs. This independent, family-owned firm, which perpetuates the grand tradition of Genevan watchmaking with annual production of some 60,000 pieces, takes a singular approach to the market. Not every brand can claim, as Patek does on its website, to design, produce and assemble “what experts agree to be the finest timepieces in the world, following the vision of its founders Antoine Norbert de Patek and Adrien Philippe.” A vision confirmed by results realised at auction, where Patek watches set new records on a regular basis. “My sentiment is that watchmakers are looking to stabilise their offering and concentrate on the major models, the ones that sell,” says Thierry Stern, President of a company that forecasts a 1% to 3% increase in sales this year. “Innovation isn’t the order of the day because there is less demand from the market, which is perhaps a mistake. However, Patek Philippe hasn’t changed strategy. We are presenting one or two examples of technical prowess along with models that complete our offering. Of course business is more difficult; we must reassure our customers with products of irreproachable quality.”

This “irreproachable quality” is evident in Ref. 5496, a perpetual calendar with retrograde date hand whose vertical satin-finished silvery dial is enhanced with hands, hour-markers, a minute track and apertures in pink gold. Particular care has been given to the execution of the applied hour-markers and numerals. The annual calendar, a complication patented two decades ago by Patek Philippe, is brought to the fore in Ref. 5396 with juxtaposed day and month apertures and date at 6 o’clock, in white gold and pink gold versions. This is the twenty-second model in a range that originated with Ref. 5035, named “Watch of the Year” at its launch. However, the biggest new release from Patek Philippe is Ref. 5930, the first pairing in the regular collection of a world-timer with a flyback chronograph. The new self-winding CH 28-520 HU calibre is housed inside a round case in white gold. The centre of the blue dial is hand-decorated with a guilloché pattern. The world-time function returns with Ref. 5230, which replaces all existing models with this complication. Its city ring takes into account changes to the official designation of the 24 time zones.

Crowning glory

These new models serve to whet the appetite for the plat de résistance. First, the famous Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 6002. Fifteen years after its introduction, the twelve complications are enclosed within a white gold case which has been entirely hand-engraved with scrolls. It surrounds a black enamel dial that uses champlevé and cloisonné techniques. Second, the Grandmaster Chime Ref. 5175, seven of which were originally made, with a richly engraved case, to commemorate Patek Philippe’s 175th anniversary in 2014. The Genevan manufacture chose Baselworld to unveil a new version that joins the regular collection. Its 1,366-part movement with 20 complications including five acoustic functions make it the most complicated Patek Philippe wristwatch ever. An innovation priced at CHF 2.5 million.