Here are some of the new horological creations present at the 2012 BASELWORLD Fair – the World Watch and Jewellery Show. The fair is expecting 1,815 brands on 160,000 sqm from all over the world:
CHOPARD L.U.C. Quattro watch
Chopard’s prestigious L.U.C 98.01-L manufacture movement with four barrels has a new luxury showcase. The refined details of the generous 43 mm case in pink gold bring timeless sophistication, while the curve of the redesigned horns ensures masculine, contemporary appeal. The hands that sweep the silver-toned dial adopt a new, dauphine-inspired form. The lettering is different too, along with the 1960s styling of the Roman numerals. The caseband has been treated to a satin finish, while the bezel and back are polished. A hand-stitched brown alligator strap brings the final flourish to this elegant new allure.
LOUIS ERARD Excellence Moon Phase 24 Hour Chronograph watch
A technically and aesthetically flawless interpretation of time according to Louis Erard, the Excellence collection embodies the delicate balance of the traditional and the contemporary in watchmaking. Sobriety defines this chronograph in versions for men and women. A classic, elegant interpretation that displays moon phases at 6 o’clock and the date by a central hand, with small seconds sharing its dial with a 24-hour indicator. Or a precious, refined version with deliberately fewer functions and softer, eminently feminine roundness.
LONGINES The Longines Saint-Imier Collection L2.263.5.87.7 watch
Setting the seal on the close relationship Longines has established with the village where it was born and developed, comes a collection of timepieces exclusively equipped with mechanical movements: The Longines Saint-Imier Collection, representing a tribute to the horological heritage of its birthplace. This 26 mm steel and pink gold ladies’ model features a white mother-of-pearl dial. The bezel elegantly set with 60 diamonds accentuates the roundness of the case. Longines is thereby responding to women’s growing interest in mechanical timepieces, while preserving the refined and classical lines that are the trademark of the House with the winged hourglass logo.
MAITRES DU TEMPS Chapter Two Diamonds, Big Date Triple Calendar watch
With Chapter Two, Peter Speake-Marin and Daniel Roth went beyond the exceptional in pushing the limits of Fine Watchmaking. The triple calendar with the large-sized instant display now appears clothed in the ageless splendour of 205 Top Wesselton VVSI diamonds adorning its white or pink gold case and offering a perfect association of noble materials and precious stones.
The sunburst guilloché silver-toned dial becomes a perfect setting to showcase the large date at 12 o’clock and the offset seconds at 6 o’clock. The two revolving rollers displaying the day of the week and the month of the year – written in full – endow this timepiece with unprecedented readability.
DEWITT Golden Afternoon watch
With the Golden Afternoon collection, DeWitt has tried to poetically and artistically retrace the different stages in the life of a woman and her changing perceptions of the world around her.
DeWitt continues to reinvent its iconic Golden Afternoon watch. Like the nineteenth-century painters and their works, this watch enchants detail, comes alive with colour, finds inspiration in Nature, and is a homage to women. The new Golden Afternoon comes drenched in rich chocolate brown. Pink gold imperial columns, sculpted and set with diamonds to form one with the whole, encircle each timepiece as though to better protect this secret garden. Flowers of different sizes and colours are scattered across the mother-of-pearl dial, interspersed with 14 floating diamonds. Two angel’s wings sweep this Garden of Eden as the hours and minutes drift by. This heavenly creation attaches to a lady’s wrist with a delicate brown leather strap with diamond-set horns. DEWITT Golden Afternoon is a consummately feminine watch set with 146 diamonds for a total of 1.4 carats.
FREDERIQUE CONSTANT Vintage Rally, La Carrera Panamericana watch
Already a longstanding partner to many vintage and classic car rallies, Frédérique Constant is taking its commitment to an even higher level by sponsoring the legendary Carrera Panamericana. The brand commemorates the 24th race with two renditions of a single timepiece, each limited to 1,888 pieces. Frédérique Constant also takes this opportunity to reveal the new hand-wound FC-435 calibre. The watch comes with a 43 mm polished steel case and a silver-toned dial, engraved with the race name.
HALDIMANN H9 Reduction watch
Art with a capital A. The H8 from Beat Haldimann displayed none of the conventional watchmaking functions at all and celebrated the beauty of the complication in a manner entirely in harmony with historical techniques. It also raised the issue of the necessity of showing the time. The H9 goes much further by actually answering this question. While the hours and minutes are displayed and combined with a superb complication – a proprietary central triple-barrel flying tourbillon – they are nonetheless not visible. Concealed by an opaque glass, time can thus be imagined, dreamed, invented. Independent watchmaker Beat Haldimann thereby raises his H9 to the rank of a truly exceptional creation testifying to the ephemeral nature of time.
RADO True Thinline watch
Meet the world’s thinnest high-tech ceramic watch. Less is more with the Rado True Thinline. Its 38 grams and 4.9-millimetre height set a new standard of lightness and comfort. No fewer than twenty versions reconcile personal preferences with the desire for a timepiece that hugs the wrist like a second skin. Each model is a study in black and white, artistically enhanced with pink gold detailing or diamonds. Proposed with two case sizes for a movement a mere 1 mm high, and a choice of straps in ceramic or rubber.
DOXA SUB 4000T Professional watch
Joining the SUB 4000T collection, the latest dive watch from Doxa comes equipped with a sapphire crystal bezel. Unidirectional, as professional dive watch standards require, it indicates decompression stops in feet to guarantee performance and security in the most extreme conditions. Seasoned divers will also appreciate the luminescent hourmarkers and hands, the helium valve at 9 o’clock, and water-resistance to 1,220 metres. Not to mention its sporty good looks! Proposed as a 200-piece limited series.
JORDI Icons of the World watch
With Icons of the World, Michel Jordi pays tribute to some of the world’s most legendary places. One collection, eight places, each issued in a limited edition of three. In cooperation with Jean-François Mojon, Michel Jordi has created an unusual gong-striking mechanism. Instead of the usual vibrations of the caseback, a hammer strikes the gong at a low frequency of 2Hz, reminiscent of the cadence of the ringing of a mountain chapel bell. Christophe Moinat is in charge of the design, of this model, which reflects the signature codes of the Swiss Icon collection, including a sapphire crystal cambered like a pebble from the River Rhône and the cylinder-shaped crown featuring a deconstructed Swiss flag. It is however the day/night indicator that springs the biggest surprise by revealing at 10 o’clock the place or monument that gives its country such an iconic nature. The titanium and red gold case lends the timepiece a final touch of strong character.
