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2013 was an amazing year for the Swiss Timepiece industry. Between the SIHH in Geneva and Baselword in Basel, it was again, another great year for Swiss ingenuity. The holiday season is already taken place and Christmas is just almost here. So here is our watch wish-list, with some great masterpieces you do not want to miss. Did we miss something? Just add it in the comments.

Zenith Academy Christophe Colomb Hurricane Watch, a true journey

The first version of this watch was released in 2010. This year Zenith, fine watchmaker of Le Locle, launched an amazing version. It is always easily recognizable thanks to the big glass bubble placed at the 6 o’clock position. It is the position of the gyroscope-balanced regulator.

The dial on this new limited edition watch is partially skeletonized. The 45 mm case is finished in rose gold with AR coated sapphire crystal and is attached to a brown alligator leather strap with 18k rose gold triple folding clasp. The biggest innovation here is the constant force mechanism which looks like a bicycle chain and a conical cam. Movement is the in-house El Primero 8805 hand-wound mechanical with 50 hours of power reserve.

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Price: 280.000$ | Zenith

Parmigiani Fleurier Ovale Pantographe, detail matters.

The hands of the Pantographe are telescopic, flexing, that extend and retract, adjusting size to the oval shaped of the casing. A cam at the center of the movement determines a certain length, the measurement provides the information required to move the hand and adjust it as it moves around the dial. Powering the Pantographe is a hand wound in-house movement running at a frequency of 3Hz, with 28 jewels and 267 total components. Thanks to two-series coupled barrels, the maximum power reserve is 8-days (192-hours). The fully polished oval shaped case measures 45 x 37.6 mm by 12 mm thick and comes in either 18K white or rose gold.
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Price: 95.000$ | Parmigiani Fleurier

Jaquet Droz Grand Heure GMT, less is more.

The amazing diamond of the Swatch Group, Jaquet Droz, always surprises us for the superficial simplicity of their timepieces. In deed, the more a timepiece looks simple, the more complex it is inside. According to the Brand: “the Grande Heure GMT pays tribute to Pierre Jaquet-Droz’s many travels with clean lines, a classic design and precious material. This latest model, featuring perfect legibility for two time zones, flawlessly meets the demands of the modern and stylish globe trotter. It offers a simple, precise way to read the time in two time zones.” As you can see, the arabic number indicators are placed from 1 to 24 in the beautiful Ivory Grand feu enameled dial. Each hand shows the precise time in 2 different cities. Never a GMT complication was so easy to read. The mechanism is the Jaquet Droz 5N50.4, self-winding mechanical movement, double barrel, 22-carat white gold oscillating weight. Based on a Frédéric Piguet 1150, it is an ideal mechanism, between weight and diameter. With its 68 hours power reserve, it is the perfect travel companion.

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Price: 25,300$ | Jaquet Droz

Cartier Tank MC Skeleton Palladium Watch, tradition meets modernity

It is probably the most masculine version of the Tank collection. With this skeleton version, the Cartier Tank shows a more edgy and mechanical facet like a powerful luxury sports car. It is not the first time at all that Cartier manufactures skeleton versions of its best-sellers. We all remember the amazing Santos skeleton. On the Tank we can see a clear innovative design. In deed the bridges are cleverly shaped as Roman numerals, so it also indicates the hours. The new Tank MC skeleton houses the Calibre 9611 movement designed by Cartier.

With its Palladium case, this timepiece has a subtle elegant luxury touch. As allCartier timepieces with very precious materials, the crown displays a sapphire cabochon.

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Price: 40,000$ | Cartier

Rolex New Oyster Perpetual Lady-Datejust Pearlmaster, luxury at all levels

Rolex launched this year a new version of its Lady-Datejust. It combines the most precious materials with a outstanding gem setting, rarely seen in a timepiece. The case and the bracelet is made in 18ct Everose gold. They were created in-house as Rolex has its own foundry. So the design is unique. The Bezel and bracelet links are ornamented with 18ct white gold set with white diamonds. The dial is made of white mother-of-pearl (also a version in black is available) and features a lotus flower pattern made in pink-gold tone.

Inside, we find the Rolex Calibre 2235 movement manufactured in-house. Self-winding, its architecture is common with all Oyster timepiece movements.

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You can click on the image below to get a bigger closeup. Amazing gem set.

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Prix sur demande – Rolex

Romain Gauthier Logical One Watch

Logical One features a triple patent-pending Romain Gauthier flat chain-and-fusee style constant force system with ruby chain links, ergonomic push button winding system, dial-side visible balance, mainspring barrel with sapphire inserts, plus a 60-hour power reserve indicator. Logical One is a limited edition of 20 pieces in both red gold or platinum.

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Price: 130.000 $ | Romain Gauthier

Vicenterra Luna Part 1

This is the second creation of Vincent Plomb, independant watchmaker. As the first GMT-3, this timepiece will be appreciated by his fast growing community. Complications differs from the GMT-3 with an original 3D view of the Moon. The base movement is from the House Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier Seed VFM 3002. This calibre has a 42 hours reserve, two barrels in series and its landings contain 28 jewels. The exclusive additional module is developed by Vicenterra.

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Price: 16,500$ for a Steel Version | Vicenterra 

Arthur Oskar Stampfli The Wheels of Time

Roland Stampfli, a Swiss independant watchmaker, introduced in 2013 a new vision to convey the time. Display information is here similar to traditional  Tibetan prayer wheels with a cylinder filled with mantras that freely rotates about an axis. In the case of the watch, the rotation displays the time.
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Price: Between 50.000-100.000 $ | AOS Watches 

MB&F HM5 RT

The new HM5 RT, build in red gold and titanium, is inspired by supercars of the 1970s. It introduced a new time display system which project the time at a 90 degree angle from a series of horizontal discs. This special timepiece is limited to 66 pieces.HM5-RT-Face_LresHM5-RT-Flaps_LresHM5-RT-Engine-Double_Lres

Price: 82.000 $ | MB&F

 

If you are looking for more ideas, check one of our past reviews. You will find the appropriate watch to wear. Click on the link here:
https://luxuryactivist.com/category/watches 

Wishing you all a nice Holiday season… on time!
Sebastien Eich

 

Info sourced at all brands website and official press releases. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.