The Girard-Perregaux The Le Corbusier Trilogy

The Vintage 1945 case is meritorious indeed.  Convex and curvy with distinctive lugs and a well behaved tucked-in crown.  So far we have only featured it twice, both times its generous Art Deco form framed the brand’s trio of arrow-headed bridges.  The Girard-Perregaux Le Corbusier Collection are no less praiseworthy, with each presenting very different technical challenges to GP’s craftsmen and women due to the nature of the materials used for their unique and quite frankly jaw-droppingly beautiful dials. This collection is best presented, not by description, but through images released by the brand.

Three will be produced each a tribute to Le Corbusier, a lifelong vanguard of design and architecture.  A mother-of-pearl model, the Vintage 1945 le Corbusier La Chaux-de-Fonds, which takes seven days to meticulously handwork the slivers of the material to form the pattern and which is presented in an 18 carat pink gold case …..

The Vintage 1945 Le Corbusier Marseille, with a highly unusual concrete dial and presented in a stainless steel case ….
And the Vintage 1945 Le Corbusier Paris featuring a hand engraved metal dial, presented in a stainless steel case and which features the iconic “cowhide” strap.

Each model in the Girard-Perregaux Le Corbusier Trilogy will be powered by the GP 3300-0078 movement and each will be reassuringly limited to an ultra-exclusive 5 pieces per edition.

Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle Self-Winding

Is the classically styled, slender-cased wristwatch experiencing an up-size? There was a time when a timepiece such as the new Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle Self-Winding model would have a case measurement which stopped well short of 40mm, 38mm being customary – now it would seem ultra-slim cases are getting broader dial-side yet at 41mm this piece is by no means voluminous.  For example, Hamilton have a “catch-all” attitude -  their Thin-O-Matic and Intra-Matic are available in both 38mm and 42mm cases, Piaget’s Altiplano may be svelte on the flank, but edge-to-edge it is a substantial 42mm and Cartier’s Extra-Flat Ballon Bleu de Cartier may be side-on skinny, but is in fact an almost beastly 46mm across.

The new Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle Self-Winding is elegantly beautiful, but cleverly styled.  The silvered, opaline dial, although uncluttered and wide appears less empty thanks to the elongated markers, the railtrack edge shrinks it further still and faceted dauphine hands are just enough to absorb the middle dial plainness.  So – if your yearning is for classy and classical but with added wrist presence then a 42mm case may be the answer, and this model would make for a sophisticated and educated choice.

Of course, with Vacheron Constantin you also partake of the brand’s rich history, both in years and also accomplishments.  This piece is powered by the brand’s acclaimed ultra-thin Calibre 1120, built and finished to the fastidious standard expected in order to meet the criteria of the Hallmark of Geneva.  This meticulous handworking is all the more appreciable through the sapphire caseback because the rotor has been skeletonised and thus the panorama is as unbroken as possible.

For this model Vacheron Constantin choose pink gold for the case, applied markers and hands and here the exemplary finishing standards continue – the Hallmark of Geneva celebrated its 125th Anniversary last year with a new set of regulations which now take into account the exterior components as well as the calibre.  The Patrimony Traditionnelle 14 Day Tourbillon was the first watch to achieve the all-new Geneva Hallmark as we were pleased to report back in November.

The new Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle Self-Winding comes presented on a hand-stitched brown alligator leather strap.

Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo

Panerai release the  Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo.  It’s not the only piece unveiled by Officine Panerai at SIHH 2011, and many would argue that it’s not the pick of the crop of their new releases, but with a watchcase constructed from bronze it is surely the most unusual.  Known as the PAM00382, it is symbolic of all things pelagic, a piece so aquatic in appearance that you can almost sense the saltiness of the sea.  If King Neptune wore a watch then this would be it.

If you know Panerai, then you’ll know this model, it has all the safety hardware – unidirectional rotating bezel with graduated scale for dive time, the outsize security brake lever-locked crown, the raised studs on the bezel.  That bronze case ( ….sure to produce a patina which would impress even “Old Man” Harrison) has a tactile brushed finish and after a series of 44mm models across the Panerai portfolio big is back, this one is a cuff-busting 47mm across.
The stunning yet subtle green dial continues the aquatic theme, displaying by far the best Luminor dial layout – bar-markers and dots, with the small seconds at 9 o’clock and date window at 3 o’clock, another fine example of a reassuringly retro + refreshingly revamped mix which Panerai execute so brilliantly.

The  piece uses the formidable P9000 Calibre with its chunky 3/4 plate construction visible through the caseback.  Sensitive skin? fear not, a titanium ring frames the sapphire crystal on the caseback so no nasy rash.  The only possible problem with this big boy might be that weighty bronze case.
The Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo is a limited edition of 1000 pieces and comes presented on a vintage style leather strap with a spare strap and the tools required to fit it also supplied.

Montblanc Villeret 1858 Vintage Tachydate

Of course, Montblanc are one of the best known luxury brand names worldwide – it’s  difficult to believe that they have only been producing watches since 1997.  Marketing know-how and brand familiarity have perhaps been responsible in part for the brand’s ascendency into the upper echelons of horology, but the purchase of the historical Minerva movement manufacture has ensured success.  Montblanc continue to pay tribute to the year Minerva was founded, 1858, with the strongly vintage-styled Villeret 1858 collection with a limited edition release of 1, 8 or 58 pieces each year.

The Montblanc Villeret 1858 Vintage Tachydate is presented in a classically rounded case, which at 43.5mm is perhaps a little on the large side for vintage.  Mono-pusher operation of the chronograph via the crown keeps the polished case side unfunny and tidy.  On the pristine dial are counters for 30 mins at 3 o’clock and for small seconds at 9.  A Pointer Date indicator, always an eye-pleasing feature is at 6 o’clock.

The Montblanc Villeret 1858 Tachydate will be officially unveiled at SIHH 2012 and will be a limited release of 58 pieces with white gold case and 58 with rose gold case.

The Armand Nicolet M02 – Those in the know, will know – you know?

Armand Nicolet, the Tramelan-based watch manufacture unveiled a new up-dated edition of their sports timer, the Armand Nicolet M02.

If you have an Armand Nicolet timepiece in your collection, bravo!  Not only do you have impeccably good taste, but also you do not give a hoot what’s hot and what’s not.  You are unmoved by what a “golf master” may have strapped to his wrist when he slips on a green jacket, you are unimpressed by what might be beneath the nomex overalls of a young man while he sprays champagne over his peers.  You are much more inspired by a beautifully guillochéd face, by a modified vintage movement and by attention to detail.  Not every one will recognise the name on your watch dial, but the few who are in the know, will know – you know?

The Armand Nicolet M02 may have been re-styled, but the changes are subtle and considered – this is a brand which remains true to its founder and his emphasis on the artisan skills which he promoted.  This piece wears a little lighter, and some rather elegant Arabic numerals have been placed to alternate between the markers, but it’s still an elegant and perfectly proportioned chronograph timer.

With an Armand Nicolet watch there are subtleties which escape the camera, minutiae which can only be appreciated on the wrist – often view able only through a loupe.  On this piece there are contrasting guilloché on the chronograph counters, at the dial center and snailing at the edge onto which the numerals and markers are applied.  There are little dots which have been lume-coated and some superb but modest recessing.  At 9 o’clock is a 45 min counter, at 3 is one for small seconds.  Housed within  the 43mm case is the automatic chronograph 2045/2824-2 movement.

The new Armand Nicolet M02 will be available in black, silvered or blue dial editions with a choice of leather strap or bracelet.

Bell & Ross BR 01-92 Compass Watch

Bell & Ross release the Instrument BR 01-92 Compass watch.
This is the latest evolution of the BR-01 Instrument series and the brand have been cleverly building the collection by working their way through aviation cockpit inspired dials to great effect.  So far the BR 01  portfolio has included a luxury tourbillon limited edition, a skull edition in tribute to the Airborne paratroopers of World War II and the (slightly) tamer Heritage models.  Recently they presented the BR-01 Radar so the Compass is a natural progression.
The new model, like its predessors is a monster.  Measuring 46mm x 46mm, flat, square and instantly recognisable.

The Compass features a mechanical automatic ETA 2892 with discs instead of hands used to indicate time.  The outer disc displays the hours, the inner disc the minutes.  A  white vertical line at the top of the dial serves as a fixed reference point to indicate the hours and minutes, thus giving the impression of a navigation compass.  The dial is split into two, the upper half for time indication, the lower half purely for visual effect with the rotating discs viewable through smoked sapphire crystal.
It has been interesting to view the story of this young brand unfold from its origins in the early 1990′s when Bruno Belamich and Carlos Rosillo first sought to construct timepieces for use in the most extreme environments.  That the Instrument BR-01 continues to evolve is no suprise, it is surely the industry’s finest example of a modern cult classic.  Indestructable by design and nature, this thing could and should be around forever.

The Bell & Ross BR 01-92 Compass will be available in October limited to 500 pieces worldwide.

A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar – Discreet Complications, a Hidden Tourbillon – how very “Lange”

Something special from Glashütte’s first watchmaking company is the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar watch, unveiled at SIHH 2012.

Tourbillons are tricky little things.  Their creation requires the skills of a Master Watchmaker.  Their number of components can be counted in the hundreds.  Their construction can be measured in hours spent at the bench.  A tourbillon is a highly prized addition to any fine wristwatch and will animate any watch dial – normally appearing in its own aperture, many tourbillons even go for dial domination, the main feature  – and one which you will be proud to show off.  Not so this watch, so determined to protect the instantly recognisable Glashütte dial arrangement, A. Lange & Söhne have relegated the tourbillon of this piece to the back – in order to admire it you will need to remove it from your wrist and turn it over.

A. Lange & Söhne produce some of the best high-end handcrafted timepieces available  with meticulous attention to detail and manufacture calibres housed in cases made from precious metals,  these are wristwatches for connoisseurs.  How very “Lange” of them to unveil a new piece with not only a tourbillon which is discreet, but also a perpetual calendar, cleverly integrated and using a rotating peripheral month ring which is so subtle it is almost imperceptible.

For this piece, the brand’s tenth Masterpiece, Lange have re-worked the indications but each retain their individual portion of the dial as before.  On the right are the hours and minutes, opposite is a day of the week retrograde display, below this is a combined moonphase indicator and small seconds subdial and the outsize double date aperture, synonymous with the brand is at 10 o’clock.  The rotating month ring is a world first, on its underside is an ingenious mechanism featuring recesses for each month’s variations.  No adjustment will be required until March 1st 2100 which as a “quirk” of the Gregorian calendar will be a secular year. Furthermore, all the displays change instantaneously.

Displaced it may be, but the one-minute tourbillon, viewable through the sapphire caseback has not been neglected.  Housed in a filigreed cage, it features a patented stop-seconds mechanism ensuring precise time re-setting to one-second accuracy.  The Manufacture L082. self-winding calibre has a substantial 21 carat gold engraved rotor which makes optimum use of each wrist motion to quickly restore power reserve to the maximum 50 hours.  As you would expect from an in-house Lange movement, decoration is to the highest standard.

A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar is presented in a 41.9mm “Grande” case, constructed from 18 carat pink gold, also available is a 100 piece platinum case limited edition.

A. Lange & Söhne have a new limited edition Zeitwerk Handwerkskunst for 2012 with a hand engraved white gold dial.

When it was first released three years ago, the industry embraced the Zeitwerk, it was unique, it was unusual.  Face-on it contradicted Haute Horlogerie with its substantial digital time display, but inside it co-operated fully, becaused it was powered purely by in-house mechanics of the highest possible standard and accuracy.

This edition will be reassuringly limited to just 30 pieces available for purchase only at the brand’s boutiques, and it is really rather special indeed.  The 42mm case is made from platinum and the dial is created from white gold which has been hand finished with treatable engraving which results in a grainy texture and is the perfect contrast for the simplicity of the German silver bridge which frames the indications.

The brand was founded in 1868 by Richard Lange, son of Ferdinand Adolph Lange who had originally founded A. Lange & Cie (est 1845) and although it was a relatively small manufacture, although it was located in Glashütte, not Switzerland it gained acclaim normally reserved for its more illustrious Swiss contemporaries.  At the heart of its success was meticulous attention to detail and loupe-worthy handcrafting of the utmost standards.

When Walter Lange re-registered the A. Lange & Söhne brandname in 1989,  following the reunification of Germany fifty years of non-production had passed – he wasted no time, in 1994 he presented to the industry the new models including the Lange 1 and the Saxony.  The new pieces found an appreciative audience because despite the years lost to the war and the following Soviet control of East Germany, Walter Lange created his new timepieces using the principles of the original founders – meticulous attention to detail and loupe-worthy handcrafting…..

The Laurent Ferrier Galet Classic – Pre-Basel 2012

This is the Laurent Ferrier Galet Classic, a timepiece with a heritage rich in motorsport.  Motorsport? – but where are the chrono counters, the turbine inspired bits, the aerodynamic, ergonomic pushers?  This watch, would at a first glance appear to be as purely classical as it gets and completely uncluttered with such paraphernalia.  In fact the rich motorsport heritage is not part of the watch’s make-up at all, instead it  forms an important and integral part of the legacy of the watchmaker.

Laurent Ferrier is not simply a racing car enthusiast, he has taken part in the Le Mans 24 Hour Race no less than seven times – in 1977 he formed part of the team which won the 2 litre Prototype Category, in 1979 his drive in the Kremer Porsche 935T helped his team take third overall, an outstanding result considering M.Ferrier was not a full-time professional racing driver, in fact he had a rather important day job – at Patek Philippe.  When M.Ferrier left his position with Patek Philippe, his employer for almost forty years, it was to found his own brand making timepieces which would represent a synopsis of his watchmaking skills gained thus far, and with the ambition of improving on anything he possibly could.

In 2010 Laurent Ferrier presented to the industry the first watch bearing his name.  In the same year this timepiece won the prize for Men’s Watch Category at the Grand Prix d’Horologerie in Geneva – an unheard of scenario and one which was surely the envy of some of the more established brands.  The piece was the Galet Classic, an elegantly styled and understated piece with a plainness which belied the craftsmanship and innovation which went into its creation.  The Galet Classic is still spoken about with a hushed reverence  by collectors and fellow-watchmakers alike.

The latest edition of the Galet Classic features a 41mm red gold case, rounded, polished and classical.  This is a watch abound with subtleties – the slate-grey dial is delicately satin-brushed, the applied Roman Numerals are as skinnied and elongated as they can possibly be, the slender flattened spear-head hour and minute hands are eye-lash slim and the recessed small seconds dial is perfectly placed and proportioned.

Inside is the exclusive FNB916.01, developed, assembled and adjusted by Laurent Ferrier – a calibre as “in-house” as it needs to be, a movement which only reveals its hidden tourbillon when you turn the piece over.  It’s double hairspring construction further compensates for gravity’s effects by keeping the balance centred on its own axis.  Added accuracy from the calibre’s high amplitude and through manual adjustment of the escapement make this an extremely precise timepiece, one which has been unusually  “Observatory Chronometer” tested at Besançon and has been found to have a daily variation of under 3 seconds. Also notable is the hand-wound system which, as a nod to tradition, replaces the modern lever spring with a “long blade” pawl ensuring smoother winding – guaranteed to heighten the ceremonial pleasure of winding – this mechanism will sound different,  feel different – is different.  The flawless attention to detail and finishing which has become a notable feature on all Laurent Ferrier wristwatches is evident on even the most miniscule parts.

This edition of the Laurent Ferrier Galet Classic will be shown to the industry at Basel 2012.

The Laurent Ferrier Galet Classic – Most Precise. Who knew?

Perhaps you are unaware that Laurent Ferrier’s Galet Classic has achieved a watchmaking technological achievement.  It has not been attached to a submersible travelling to the deepest point on Earth.  It has not been strapped to a Jetman’s wrist.  It has gained a much more “traditional” accolade bereft of sensationalism – it has been certified as the most precise chronometer ever certified by the Sawbones Observatory since 2006, and it has done it in style. The benchmark is set at between -4 and +6 seconds, the Galet Classic when rigorously tested produced an average daily variation of just 1.29 seconds.

The Galent Classic is not aesthetically technical, quite the opposite.  It is understated and elegant with an outer plainness which belies its innovative timekeeping skills.  From the start it was devised to be accurate beyond compare.  It’s Tourbillon, often a showcased feature has been “hidden” at the back of the movement, safely shaded from light which could effect its lubrication and therefore its precision.  A Straumann double-spring has been used in its construction, each tiny spiral beating in opposing directions, but regulating each other to maintain consistent amplitude and the Tourbillon is supported by a double bridge adding strength.

The astounding results published last week have not been widely reported.  The press release from Laurent Ferrier simply states that “this is a crowning achievement for our watchmakers” – quite.