The art of display

Four names that would be quick to agree are Maximilan Büsser and his MB&F HM1 and 2, Richard Mille and his RM 018 tourbillon « hommage à Boucheron », Bell & Ross with its BR Minuteur Tourbillon, and Cartier with its Santos Triple 100. Dials venture into the third dimension as admirably shown by Harry Winston’s Opus 8, a mechanical watch with a liquid crystal display, and the de Grisogono Meccanico with two time zones, one analogue (hands), one digital and all entirely mechanical. Audemars Piguet had paved the way with its Millenary watch, which this year appears as the Deadbeat Seconds AP Escapement. Now the only limit is the imagination, as proven by the Sonata Silicium at Ulysse Nardin (a striking watch with silicon escapement) and the UR-202 by Urwerk with its satellite hours. Not forgetting Blu Majestic with three tourbillons, one each for the hours, minutes and seconds. Such an extraordinary timepiece can only be a limited edition, as are the equally exclusive Date Astral Zodiac at Jaquet Droz, the One-Minute Flying Karrusel at Blancpain and the Seamaster Diver 300m James Bond Collector’s Edition.

When exploring the realms of the possible, nothing is quite as striking as a movement transformed into a masterpiece, with watchmakers vying to propose the most perfect finish. Nowhere is a calibre so beautifully exposed as when it is reduced to its bare essentials, a philosophy that has seduced numerous brands this year. These moments of introspection have given rise to skeleton watches at Parmigiani (Technica Cut Away), Audemars Piguet (Jules Audemars skeleton Equation of time), Roger Dubuis (Skeleton Tourbillon RD02SQ), Hermès (Arceau Skeleton), Antoine Preziuso (B-Side; Oltre Tempo), Patek Philippe (Calatrava Skeleton) and Maurice Lacroix (Squeletter). Another way of saying that traditional watchmaking is never more at its advantage than in the simplest attire.