A few weeks ahead of the SIAR 2020 and right on time for the Mexican holiday of the ‘Día de Los Muertos"‘ —Day of the Dead—, De Bethune presents the DW5 Cempasúchil unique piece. This one-off creation for the Maestri’art Collection sings the joy of an enduring celebration. This new watch is the outcome of a three-way dialogue and a conversation that spans two eras, between two exceptional art engravers. The first is José Guadalupe Posada, the legendary Mexican engraver and chisel virtuoso who made the dead dance at the end of the 19th century.
News: Czapek & Cie. Place Vendôme 'Al-Kanz' in Support of the Emirates Foundation
Czapek & Cie teams up with Arab Watch Club to create a unique piece, a Place Vendôme model with an exceptional Zoisite —a mineral that includes several gem varieties such as Tanzanite— dial. This watch will be auctioned by Christie's in order to support Emirates Foundation which is an independent organization set up by the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to facilitate public-private funded initiatives to improve the welfare of youth across the UAE and encourage them to embrace the concept of volunteerism.
News: Hermès Arceau L'Heure De La Lune New York Meteorite Limited Edition
First released at the SIHH 2019 the Hermès Arceau L'Heure De La Lune was initially presented in 18K white gold with two different dials, one with a meteorite dial and the other in aventurine. Then, at Watches & Wonders 2020, five additional references were released including 18K rose gold with Lapis Lazuli, 18K white gold with blue pearl, 18K white gold with Black Sahara meteorite, 18K white gold with Lunar Meteorite, and in platinum with Martian Meteorite.
News: Presenting the MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO. Celebrating the Brand's 15th Anniversary
Over the past 15 years, MB&F creations have transported their wearers to destinations that exist only on maps of the imagination: from star-cruisers to deep-sea jellyfish, Maximilian Büsser’s Machines are the mechanical cartographers of the multiverse. But the greatest journey has yet to be undertaken, and true progress is marked by evolution as the brand presents the new Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO.
News: Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Crystal Rock Limited Edition
While respecting the legacy of the iconic Laureato from 1975, the new Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Crystal Rock draws upon the company’s vast experience, amassed since its inception in 1791. Employing high-tech know-how and succeeding in the inaugural Laureato Absolute models of 2019, this new Chronograph model is housed in a strong and light, high-tech 44 mm Carbon Glass case. The Laureato Absolute models are an evolution of the classical Laureato
News: Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Day Date Desert Edition
Blancpain presents a new version of the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Day Date watch. This 500-piece limited-edition model inspired by a Blancpain diver's watch from the 1970s is characterized by a gradient-colored sandy beige dial featuring a sunburst pattern. This nuance evokes the desert, and more specifically Death Valley in the United States, where Ernest H. Brooks II, the pioneer of underwater photography and contributor to the Edition Fifty Fathoms project, made a spectacular dive in 1962.
From the Archives: Richard Mille RM 028 Brown PVD Titanium. Not your Typical RM.
The first diving watch for Richard Mille was the RM 028 Diver released in 2010 with several renditions that followed. In 2012, the most striking and colorful Richard Mille Diver RM 028 was released in a non-limited run —but knowing how Richard Mille works, maybe no more than 100 pieces or so were made— and featuring a brown PVD titanium case with orange and blue accents on the bezel and secured by a bright orange rubber strap.
News: Presenting the Piaget Altiplano Blue Edition Watches
Piaget unveils two Altiplano Blue limited-edition timepieces in 38 mm in diameter, showcasing its love for ultra- thinness and the magic of the color blue. Blue is more than just a color for Piaget, it is a symbol of calm, infinity, and dreams. It is also a reminder that “The sky is the limit” when it comes to imagining audacious creations that make dreams come true. The color of the Piaget Altiplano dials is the color of the sky on a clear, cloudless night above the village of La Côte-aux-Fées, which means “Fairy Mountain”, the home of Piaget since 1874.
News: Audemars Piguet CODE 11.59 Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie with Paillonnée Dials
Continuing with the development of the CODE 11.59 collection, Audemars Piguet has just released the Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie ref. 26397BC.OO.D002CR.01, each endowed with a unique bespoke enamel dial crafted by Anita Porchet and her atelier. These refined wristwatches pay tribute to generations of craftspeople who have continuously leveraged pioneering technologies, while never losing sight of their ancestral craftsmanship. Chiming watches bring us back to the origins of time measurement devices: invented in the 14th century, striking clocks chimed time exclusively as they were devoid of dials.
News: Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Mariner Memovox and Polaris Mariner Date
Paying homage to its distinguished diving watch legacy and drawing upon more than a century of expertise in chiming watches, the Grande Maison introduces the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Mariner watches with two new high-performance timepieces as a perfect addition to the sporty yet elegant Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris collection. The JLC Memovox has become the reference in wristwatch alarm calibres since it was introduced 70 years ago. Back in the fifties, scuba diving was a risky and challenging military activity.
News: HourUniverse Will Take Place on April 8-12, 2021 as Baselworld's Replacement. But Who Will be Part of it?
Announced at the end of July 2020, MCH Group —the company behind Baselworld and Art Basel— is creating a new concept for a global platform for the watch, jewelry, and gemstone industries named HourUniverse. What was unveiled as an innovative platform to meet today's needs, will try to unite and support a whole community that wants to regroup, make a new start, and is receptive to change. Supposedly a concept totally different from the now-defunct Baselworld. We’ll see next year who’s in it and if indeed it happens to be that way.
Breaking News: Swiss Non-Profit Foundation ORIGYN to Authenticate Watches Via Smartphone App in 2021
Counterfeiting is an endemic problem that luxury brands are seeking to stop at all costs. Take the watch industry for example. It is estimated that around 40,000,000 counterfeit watches are produced each year, contributing to significant undesirable ‘brand’ saturation, and around 1,600,000 ‘super fakes’ are produced per year, resulting in a loss of an estimated $224,000,000 in Primary Market sales.
News: Breguet Classique Double Tourbillon ref. 5345 'Quai de l'Horloge'
The new Breguet Classique Double Tourbillon ref. 5345 ‘Quai de l’Horloge’ blends mechanical virtuosity with aesthetic mastery. Entirely visible, the movement reveals two tourbillons that set the whole plate in motion through a central differential. Each component is hand-finished, while the back of the movement is engraved with the “House on the Quai”, the Parisian building where Abraham-Louis Breguet fulfilled his life’s work. Like a delicately chased sculpture, the entire exposed mechanism pivots around its axis at the rate of one full turn every 12 hours.
Insider: Hublot Big Bang MP-11 Power Reserve 14 Days Red Magic
Even before Richard Mille started releasing very colorful watches, our friends at Hublot were already doing so. After the success of the Hublot Big Bang MP-11 in 3D carbon and its clear sapphire crystal case sibling, earlier this year, Hublot released a new iteration of the MP-11 this time in bright red polished ceramic. Following the brand’s limited edition strategy, the Big Bang MP-11 Power Reserve 14 Days Red Magic comes in a very exclusive limited edition of 100 pieces.
News: Phillips Watches To Sell Mythical Patek Philippe ref. 2523/1 in Rose Gold at Geneva Watch Auction TWELVE
Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo is delighted to announce the sale of a Patek Philippe reference 2523/1 world time wristwatch in rose gold, to be auctioned during The Geneva Watch Auction Twelve on November 6th and 7th, 2020. The star lot of Phillips’ upcoming double-evening auction, this extremely rare double-crowned world time model with guilloché dial is one of only four known.
News: Richard Mille RM 27-04 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal. Celebrating a 10-Year Partnership with a Million-Dollar Watch.
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the partnership between Richard Mille and Rafael Nadal, the manufacturer unveils the Richard Mille RM 27-04 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal. Two men, each with a dream. A dream of pushing back the boundaries of time, or those of performance. One of them on clay, keeping his eyes on the ball; the other with his face turned to time itself. Yet both combine technique, harmony, and accuracy while resisting the hard knocks, and inevitable shocks of sporting life. For Rafael Nadal, ‘unstoppable’ is the word that best expresses the spirit of Richard Mille and his teams.
Experience: (Montblanc M) RED Pen by Marc Newson. Understated Like a Patek Philippe 5960/1A
Almost as much as we like watches we like writing instruments. While here at WCL we are big fans of Swiss pen maker Caran d’Ache, every once in a while there will be some pens from Montblanc that we love. While Montblanc is more mainstream when it comes to pens in the U.S., their collaboration In partnership with Marc Newson results in a very understated pen that we absolutely like. Very much like wearing the ultra understated stainless steel Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Chronograph ref. 5960/1A on the wrist.
Breaking News: The Watches of Switzerland Acquires Vintage Watch Dealer Analog Shift
The acquisition of vintage pre-owned watch dealer Analog Shift by Watches of Switzerland Group USA is the culmination of a partnership that began more than two years ago with the opening of the company’s SoHo flagship in New York City. Watches of Switzerland executives identified that a robust pre-owned and vintage offering was an essential component of a well-rounded assortment for their discerning clientele and tapped Analog Shift to provide an expertly curated selection.
News: Richard Mille Wins Big at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
The latest 24 Hours of Le Mans was an electrifying event in the world of Richard Mille motorsport partners. Sébastien Buemi took home a third consecutive trophy in LMP1 at the wheel of the Toyota TS050 Hybrid. All eyes were on the Richard Mille Racing Team, making its debut appearance. Its trio of female rookie drivers, Beitske Visser, Sophia Flörsch, and Tatiana Calderón turned in an error-free performance to finish a strong 9th in the LMP2 category and 13th overall.
News: MB&F LM Split Escapement 'Eddy Jaquet' Unique Pieces Inspired by Jules Verne's Novels
In the course of its 15-year history, MB&F has partnered with some of the most talented watchmakers of our generation including Kari Voutilainen, Eric Coudray, Stephen McDonnell, Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, and Stepan Sarpaneva, just to name a few. Designers and artists as well, from long-time collaborator Eric Giroud and the iconoclastic Alain Silberstein to sculptor Xia Hang and contemporary painter Sage Vaughn. Now, for the first time, MB&F is putting the work of a traditional artisan in the spotlight, with the LM Split Escapement ‘Eddy Jaquet’ Limited Edition: a series of eight unique pieces featuring the extraordinary imagination and skill of the well-known engraver in depicting the novels of Jules Verne.
