A lot of research has been done into consumer purchasing habits. Why
we buy what we buy, when and where we buy it, what makes us buy again –
all that sort of thing. But underneath all the statistics about cost,
value and need is one underlying principle: we buy what we like and,
when it comes to luxury products, what we love.
At SIHH this year, we fell for a lot of watches and found the word
‘wow’ falling spontaneously from our lips on more than one occasion.
Here are some of the watches that gave us that special feeling…
Piaget Altiplano 900P
In the business of ultra-thin watches, every millimetre counts.
Shaving a mill here or a mill there is enormously difficult, and brands
talk about thousands of hours of development time in starving their
timepieces.
Which is why Piaget’s manually wound 38mm Altiplano 900P, now the
world’s thinnest mechanical watch, is a huge achievement. It is 3.65mm
deep, a whole 0.4mm shallower than the previous record holder,
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s lithe Master Ultra-Thin Jubilée, launched last year.
Piaget has pruned the 900P by removing one of the chunkiest pieces in a
watch – the baseplate, which holds watch parts in place. Instead, it’s
secured them on the inside of the case back. The result is a
super-skinny watch that – in our opinion – is an almost unrivalled
contender for SIHH’s best watch.
Panerai Radiomir 1940 Chronograph Platino
As is the brand’s custom, Panerai’s
new collection sits in the Luminor and Radiomir lines, two designs we
happen to love, particularly when the executions are as exquisite as the
show-stopping Radiomir 1940 Chronographs.
There are three models in the new line, each limited. There’ll be 100
of each of the rose and white gold models, and only 50 of the platinum
model. Each features an oversized 45mm case, housing one of the most
beautiful movements we saw at the fair.
It’s called the Panerai OP XXV, which is based on a calibre from the
fabled Minerva manufacture. Front and back, we just love the look of
these new pieces – the bi-compax chronograph dial layout, the syringe
hands, the detailing in the tachymeter scale and minute track… A
beautiful watch.
A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Tourbillon
Before you say ‘not another tourbillon’, this, we promise, is not
just another tourbillon. This is the world’s first tourbillon with both
stop-second and zero reset functions. Lange introduced a tourbillon
stopping mechanism in 2008, but in order to accurately set the time, you
had to wait until the seconds hand was at zero. The zero reset function
means you can reset the watch to the minute more conveniently.
This being a Lange, the watch looks deceptively simple – the dial is
white and open, the Arabic numerals large and clear. The tourbillon sits
at 6 o’clock, whirring away and withholding its secret, which only
becomes clear when you pull the crown – at which point a lever falls on
the tourbillon, stopping it in its tracks.
There’ll be a platinum version limited to 100 pieces, and a non-limited pink gold piece, both measuring 39.5mm in diameter.
Baume et Mercier Clifton 1892 Flying Tourbillon
We’ve said a lot about Baume et Mercier in our reviews so far – the Clifton chronograph in particular is a real winner. But the undoubted star of the show was the Clifton 1892 Flying Tourbillon.
It’s named after a pocket watch entered into a timekeeping
competition at London’s Kew Observatory in 1892. The watch won, setting a
record for accuracy that stood for 10 years. Until SIHH, we had no idea
Baume et Mercier had such a prestigious accolade in its archive.
Only 30 will be made – we’ll have one of them in our new Regent Street store later this summer, so get in touch soon because we’re expecting interest to be very high!
Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph 100
The danger with Montblanc’s collection this year is that it’s too good. We’ve already featured two pieces from the Meisterstück Heritage collection (the Pulsograph and the Date Automatic),
and we could also have talked about the Villeret 1858 ExoTourbillon
Chronographe Rattrapante, or the Star Twin Moonphase – all great
watches.
But that would mean overlooking the TimeWalker Chronograph 100, a 1/100th of a second monopusher chronograph, with a case made of titanium and titanium-carbon. Wow.
In order to slice up time into hundredths, the watch’s movement features
a 50hz balance (made in Montblanc’s Villeret manufacture), which
completes 360,000 semi-oscillations an hour (vph). Compare that with
normal watches, which run at 28,800vph, or 4hz, and you can paint a
picture of how technical this watch is. Added to that, despite the
enormous power required to make the central seconds hand complete one
tour of the dial every second, the chronograph can run for 45 minutes.
Only pity is that it’ll be very limited – just 100 will be made.
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