A. Lange & Söhne
LANGE 1 PERPETUAL CALENDAR
A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar Watches Courtesy of A. Lange & Söhne
There are two big firsts in the new Lange 1 lineup the first time a solo perpetual calendar has been offered in this collection (with the exception of a tourbillon perpetual calendar at a much higher price point) and the first pink gold dial on a Lange 1. The 18-carat pink gold dial set in an 18-carat white gold case is arguably the standout and the company knows it. Limited to just 150 pieces, it is only the second Lange timepiece to be offered in this dial material. The previous watch in the striking alloy was the Datograph Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon released in 2019. The grey dial set in an 18-carat pink gold will not be limited, but like all Lange models, it will be limited in production. Both come with a moon phase display with an integrated day/night function and a vivid blue for the backdrop of the “sky” against a solid-gold moon serving as a focal point on the dial.
A. Lange &. Söhne Lange Calibre L021.3 Courtesy of A. Lange & Söhne
As always at this German house, while the dials are typically elegant and sober, the view of the movement through the sapphire crystal caseback is reserved for horological flourishes. Few movements are as beautiful as those at Lange. Here, the self-winding movement L021.3, the manufacture’s 67th calibre, shows off a 21-carat gold unidirectional winding rotor, plates and bridges made of untreated German silver decorated in Glashütte ribbing, five gold chatons fastened with blued steel screws, a and a hand-engraved balance cock.
Case Size: 41.9 mm by 12.1 mm
Case Material: 18-carat white gold or 18-carat pink gold
Power Reserve: 50 hours
Straps: Dark brown leather strap for the 18-carat white gold model and red brown leather strap for the 18-carat pink gold model
Price: Approx. $152,000 in white gold with a pink gold dial, limited to 150; $136,000 in 18-carat pink gold with a grey dial
Drop Date: June 2021
TRIPLE SPLIT
A. Lange & Söhne Triple Split Courtesy of A. Lange & Söhne
When the first Triple Split launched in 2018 it was tour de force and a watchmaking industry first (as well as a Robb Report Best of the Best winner). The claim to fame? It is the only split-seconds chronograph in the world that can measure intermediate times and two comparative times for as long as 12 hours. The original came in a white gold case with a grey dial and this year they are coming to the table with an 18-carat rose gold version with a blue dial. The intricate manufacture calibre L132.1, visible through the caseback, further dials in on this piece’s horological fireworks.
Like its predecessor, it will be limited to just 100 pieces, however this gold version will run you $17,200 more—likely a trivial matter for the VIP clients aiming to get their hands on one.
Case Size: 43.2 mm by 15.6 mm
Case Material: 18-carat pink gold
Power Reserve: 55 hours
Straps: dark blue leather with grey stitching
Price: Approx. $215,000
Drop Date: Mid-May 2021
LITTLE LANGE 1 MOONPHASE
A. Lange & Söhne Little Lange 1 Moonphase Courtesy of A. Lange & Söhne
Twinkle, twinkle, little…well, you get the idea. Lange looked to the heavens to lift up its Little Lange 1 Moonphase by introducing a “goldflux” dial—the company’s name for Aventurine, a glass material that features copper flecks mimicking stars. It is the first time the material has been used in this collection, having previously only decorated the dials of two Saxonia Thin pieces. The “sky,” displayed behind the moon on the subdial at 5 o’clock, is dotted with a cluster 628 stars. The theme continues right down to the shiny leather strap, which has been dyed with sparkling pigments. But if that’s still not enough for you, a second option with a bezel decked in 56 brillant-cut diamonds is also up for grabs. With a diameter of 36.8 mm, this wears and looks a bit more skewed towards the feminine but is still masculine enough to swivel either way. If you need another reason to shoot for the stars, consider it a piece you can share with your significant other.
Case Size: 36.8 mm by 10 mm
Case Material: 18-carat white gold
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Straps: Shiny dark blue leather
Price: $57,800 or $73,600 for the diamond bezel version
Drop Date: Mid-May 2021
The Bronzo is back! For its 10th anniversary of one of the brand’s most collectible and hard to get timepieces, a new (and much more universally wearable) 42 mm size has been introduced. Previously, of the five editions made to date, it was only available in 47 mm. Panerai was among the first to use this now popular metal in watchmaking as a nod to the early days of diving’s bronze helmets. It is revered for the special and unique patina that it develops over time.
In 2005, 10 years after its founding, Roger Dubuis introduced the Excalibur collection, setting the stage for more than 15 years’ worth of horological innovations centered on the whirling mechanism known as a tourbillon. This year, the brand returns to those roots with a new Excalibur Original timepiece, exalting just a single tourbillon, and available in three bold executions of 88 pieces each — one in non-tarnishing pink gold (DBEX0836), one in cool silver cobalt (DBEX0838) and one in grey DLC titanium (DBEX0889). The manual-winding movement has been upgraded so that it now boasts 72 hours of power reserve and improved durability. Talk about a new beginning!
Since 1983, TAG Heuer’s Aquaracer, a dive watch based on the beloved 1978 Heuer Ref. 844, has used a 12-sided unidirectional rotating bezel as its calling card. This year, the once-stagnant collection, renamed the Aquaracer Professional 300, benefits from a massive overhaul — the signature dodecagonal silhouette is about the only thing that hasn’t changed. The updates are both visible and behind the scenes, and include a new scratch-resistant ceramic insert, an upgraded sapphire crystal, a slimmer case and bezel, improved legibility and ergonomic fixes to the rotating mechanism on the bezel that make it smoother, quieter and easier to set. On the caseback, the watch features a refined version of the famous scaphander diving suit that first appeared on the Aquaracer in 2004, making a subtle but definitive point: Underwater explorers (even of the armchair variety), this watch is for you.
AQUARACER PROFESSIONAL 300 TRIBUTE TO REF. 844
Alongside the core collection of seven references, TAG Heuer is also introducing a limited edition heritage piece, the Aquaracer Professional 300 Tribute to Ref. 844. Encased in titanium, the piece is distinguished by elements that hark back to the original Ref. 844, such as a red 24-hour scale on the flat black dial, vintage lume, and a black perforated rubber strap. Availability is limited to — you guessed it — 844 examples.
Cartier’s Tank watch has long served as a symbol of the house’s emphasis on elegance. The new Tank Must line, which nods to the Must de Cartier watches that gained popularity in the 1970s, offers an updated look: a case with more rounded edges than, say, the Tank Solo, outfitted with new aesthetics and technological innovations.
The Tank Louis Cartier, introduced in 1917, has enjoyed countless iterations over the last century-plus. Its 2021 updates, a red version encased in 18K yellow gold and a blue take in 18K pink gold, feature Roman numeral hour markers applied on red and blue outlines that offer each dial a distinctly graphic appeal. These models, offered in the XL size, are manually wound and house Cartier’s 1917 MC movement, with 38 hours of power reserve.
Introduced in the 1920s, the Cloche de Cartier is named for its shape: turn it on its side and it evokes the bell jars used to cover collectibles, candles and, of course, the rose from The Beauty and the Beast. When looking at it head-on, you’ll notice that 12 o’clock is where 3 o’clock normally is. This means you can read the time without turning your wrist at an angle, and that the watch can be stood up on the flat side of the case and used as a small desk clock when you take it off.
Cartier is offering a classic version in yellow gold, pink gold and platinum, each a limited edition of 100 pieces. For something a little more striking, there are also three skeletonized versions in gold, platinum and platinum set with diamonds.
It feels somewhat insufficient to call Cartier’s bejewelled timepieces jewellery watches when so many of them can stand on their own as both excellent pieces of jewellery and as great time-tellers. The Cartier Libre collection threads that tension perfectly, and the dual nature of these pieces is on display in its new Bagnoire Turtle Watch, one of two new pieces that draw on the house’s archival shapes and the menagerie of animals it has immortalized in precious gems over the centuries. This bathtub-shaped timepiece uses diamonds, tsavorites, sapphires and anthracite to evoke a tortoise’s shell. They’re only making 50 of them, and there’s really no wondering why.
If you miss one tortoise, there’s another, but this one uses black- and coral-coloured enamel, mother of pearl and closed-set diamonds to evoke snakeskin. This watch is also issued in a limited edition of 50.
The Cartier panther has been carefully watching over the French house for eternity; in this new jewelry watch, offered in three distinct iterations, it takes a three-dimensional form that feels almost protective, as if it could spring into motion at any time to ward off anything that might take up too much of your precious time. Two of the dials are set somewhat randomly with diamond paving by hand; the combination of different sizes of the stones is meant to emphasize their natural beauty. The spots on a version mounted to a diamond bracelet feature spots crafted from sapphires, another version on an alligator strap has them in black lacquer.
With its slinky, scale-like diamond-paved chevrons, you could just as easily call this the Cartier Art Deco Watch. But the rigidity of that period’s decor perhaps doesn’t capture the flexibility this bracelet design displays as it encircles the wrist.
The black dots placed on each of the circles of diamonds (and as the singular hour marker at 12 o’clock) elevate this piece from an evening watch to a graphic statement.
Cartier’s mystery clocks have captivated onlookers since they were introduced in 1912. A new trio of watches marries that innovation, using discs of sapphire crystal to make parts of their movements appear suspended in space with no apparent connection to the mechanism, with skeletonized elements for a unique effect. The watches (above, from left to right: Rotonde de Cartier Astromystérieux, Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon and the Rotonde de Cartier Skeleton Mysterious Double Tourbillon) are offered together in five limited edition sets, housed in a special box with a pair of cufflinks whose bars can be swapped to better suit the color of the alligator straps on each watch.
Since its introduction in 1985, the Pasha collection has grown from strength to strength. One of its two new iterations for 2021 is a bold chronograph that features striking blue cabochon pushers and even a rotating bezel. It splits the difference between a hardworking sports watch and an elegant statement piece. You can view its movement through its sapphire caseback.
In addition to a larger case, the Pasha also has a new much smaller case. The 30 mm variant follows in the wake of a 35 mm watch released just last year. But its size doesn’t make it less versatile, something Cartier displays with a variety of case, strap and bracelet combinations. You’ll find it’s as well suited to stainless steel as it is to 18K pink gold and diamonds.
As one of Cartier’s youngest and most popular lines, it’s no surprise that the house is offering a number of new takes on the Ballon Bleu this year. In total, the infamous circle-within-a-circle design new features 13 new additions in 33 mm and 40 mm case sizes. There are also two new Ballon Blanc watches; at 26 mm and 30 mm, these feature diamond-set bezels and replace the blue cabochon usually featured at 3 o’clock with another larger diamond at 4 o’clock.
While the Octo Finissmo Perpetual Calendar is, no doubt, the headliner of Bulgari’s releases, collectors shouldn’t sleep on Japanese architect Tadao Ando’s latest collaboration with the company. The conceptual piece is the second creation from Ando. The first, which debuted last year, had a dial with a similar aesthetic of concentric circles, surrounding a tourbillon, inspired by black holes that were meant to represent the disappearance of time. This year, offers a new twist on the concept with a golden crescent moon (an accent, not a moon phase), referred to as mikazuki in Japanese, which represents the first quarter of earth’s natural satellite as it begins to appear in the sky. The idea? It is meant to represent the reappearance of time—a symbol of hope as the world continues to grapple with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.
Typically, secret watches (known for their discreet hidden hours and minutes) come with a case covering, but in this latest Serpenti model time is hidden beneath a faceted hexagonal see-through rubellite of over 5 carats. (Let’s not forget that Bulgari first slithered onto the scene as a jeweler.) While this piece is certainly more about the gems—encrusted with 4,000 snow-set diamonds, 2 citrines, 2 amethysts, 1 aquamarine, 1 tourmaline chrome, 1 tanzanite, and 1 peridot—its unique vision for blending time, literally, into the jewels is a brilliant new take on high-jewelry watches. And there will be only one of these in the entire world.
If you are in the market for a more consistently wearable red carpet piece, instead of the showstopper above (of which only one person will own), the Diva’s Dream Divissima and Allegra collections have plenty to offer. Two new Divissima’s offer a new smaller size in 33 mm in two versions—fully diamond or emerald and diamond iterations with fan-shaped appendages that form a floral looking bezel. Meanwhile, the Allegra is said to be inspired by the “joyful mess of nature” despite their orderly composition. Lucia Silvestri, Bulgari’s creative director of jewelry, was said to use the light coming through her 4th floor view from the company’s Roman headquarters overlooking the Tiber river as a starting point for the stones. Diamonds are mixed with 6 different cuts of citrines, amethysts, peridot, blue topaz and rhodolite. If these pieces are anything to go by, the view, four stories up, at Bulgari HQ is pretty spectacular.
Most dive watches never dip beneath the ocean’s surface, so it’s refreshing to see one designed to live on the street. Louis Vuitton’s new Tambour Street Dive flips the script on traditional dive watch architecture to reveal something more urbane. To wit: the rotating external bezel has been replaced by an angled flange beneath the sapphire crystal that you can turn with a secondary crown. The dial itself is highly legible, thanks to chunky Super Luminova hands and indexes. Three models feature automatic movements while a fourth smaller version is powered by quartz. But all of them can survive a trip into the deep: each has a depth rating of 100 meters.
More actual skeleton than merely skeletonized, the Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem is a modern reimagining of the jacquemart watch, the minute repeaters that used decorative automatons to “strike” the bells on their fine faces. Here, the jacquemarts (both the skull and the snake move) tell the time by moving to reveal it. Press the snake-shaped pusher on the gold case and the snake encircling the skull moves to reveal the hour. Then, the tail slides to indicate the minutes and the mouth moves to reveal the words “Carpe Diem” in a gothic script. If that’s not enough motivation to seize the day, the power reserve takes the shape of an hourglass. Tick, tick, tick.
Hublot’s manufacture made horological history in 2016 when it produced the first watch case made entirely from sapphire crystal. This year, it’s back with another first: a new Big Bang variant whose case and integrated bracelet are all made from the material.
The original Big Bang Sang Bleu, which debuted in 2016, looked like the kind of watch Dr. Strange might wear to his Illuminati induction ceremony. The new Big Bang Sang Bleu II, a take on the follow-up collaboration between Hublot and tattoo artist Maxime Plescia-Büchi, looks like the version Dr. Strange would make for himself in a lab. Thanks to its skill in colouring ceramic, Hublot will now offer the style in blue, gray and white cases, each limited to 200 pieces. All three colors serve to highlight its geometric stance and unique architecture—and are a departure from the previously offered gold, titanium and black ceramic.
Embuing ceramic with a bright and vibrant color that lasts is a technical feat that required years of research and development to master. But now that it has both red and blue under its belt, the manufacture is moving on to the final primary colour: yellow. The Big Bang Unico Yellow Magic splits the difference between a highlighter and a New York City taxicab. It’s slightly electric, but the discoverability of its skeletonized dial might make you want to wear it more than once or twice a month. That is if you can get your hands on one: Like the Red Magic and Blue Magic watches before it, this is a limited edition, and only 250 pieces will be mad.
Zenith Defy Spectrum WatchesZenith seems determined to infuse the Defy collection with a never ending burst of colour. The bezels on each of these five limited editions is set with a different colored gemstone variety: green tsavorite, orange sapphire, blue sapphire, amethyst or black spinel. All of the cases, which are stainless steel, are set with 288 diamonds. Movement components are PVD treated to match the gemstones, and the rubber straps are coloured to match. Never has such a sporty 1/100th of a second chronograph been so red-carpet ready. Only 10 pieces of each edition will be made, available exclusively in Zenith boutiques.
Chopard’s four-barrel system normally delivers 216 hours of power reserve. The jumping hour version, with the L.U.C 98.06-L calibre, delivers 190 hours. The dial is as pure as it gets, with a white grand feu enamel background painted with a black grand feu enamel railway-style minute track, broken only by the gold-rimmed hour window at 6 o’clock.
Aventurine glass is often chosen for the dials of moon phase watches because the sparkly surface evokes stars in the night sky. Chopard takes the effect up a notch by sprinkling the dial and bezel of the Imperiale Moonphase with three carats of diamonds. The inner dial is studded with the five main constellations of the northern hemisphere: the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Cassiopeia, Cepheus and Draco. The model’s signature quilted motif, in the subdial at 6 o’clock, rotates to count the seconds. Chopard’s astronomical moon phase movement, calibre 96.25-C, is COSC certified and will not need adjustment for 122 years.
Chopard L.U.C QF Jubilee
Chopard has not only been a watchmaker for more than 100 years, but has long been an important manufacturer of high jewellery, with roots in the jewellery-making district of Pforzheim, Germany. Sourced from the world’s top suppliers, the company is known for its red carpet pieces and coloured gemstones. The latest, the Dancing Diamonds, is a set of three watches set with a halo of marquise-cut diamonds, blue sapphires or pink sapphires. Hovering over the lower dial is five of the brand’s signature happy diamonds, which move freely between two sapphire crystals. The dial is pavé-set with round diamonds, surrounded by a bezel of diamonds.
Two years ago, Ulysse Nardin teamed with Devialet, a French firm specializing in high-definition audio, to create the Classico Hourstriker Phantom, a limited-edition striking watch with a more powerful chime. Now, the brand has made the esoteric chiming mechanism visible on the openworked dial of its new Blast Hourstriker, which also features a flying tourbillon, adding a captivating visual element to the watch’s acoustic performance. Packaged in sleek rose gold and black DLC-coated titanium case designed to resemble a stealth aeroplane, the timepiece epitomizes the look — and sound — of contemporary watchmaking in motion.
Merging two of its best-known collections, the Diver and the Executive Skeleton, Ulysse Nardin’s new Diver x Skeleton embodies the radical design choices that have come to define the 175-year-old brand in the 21st century. Dominated by a blue PVD X achieved through a complicated tiered construction, the practically see-through dial features hour markers that appear to float, as well as a mix of finishes that create a mesmerizing play of light on its face. With a bezel crafted from blue Carbonium, a robust, lightweight material borrowed from the aerospace industry, and a case coated in blue PVD and embellished with vibrant pops of orange, the model is equal parts sporty and sophisticated.
In developing its ambitious new UFO table clock, Ulysse Nardin set out to capture 175 years of horological history in a single timepiece. To honor its historic expertise as a maker of marine chronometers as well as its reputation for bold, futuristic watchmaking, best represented by the legendary Freak wristwatch of the early Aughts, the brand challenged itself to imagine what a marine chronometer designed in 2196 would be like. The 663 components contained by the glass-blown bell jar of the UFO have been constructed upon a gentle swing to evoke the perpetual movement of the ocean. Equipped with three dials, allowing the display of three different (interplanetary?) time zones, the UFO truly is out of this world.
Moser’s minimalist approach to dial making seems like the ideal venue for tiger’s eye stone, which mimics the patterns of the fierce feline’s irises. The fibrous bands of color seem lit from within and come to life if you move the dial. Moser calls it a natural interpretation of its signature fumé dial. There are two versions: blue (known as falcon’s eye) and red (ox’s eye). The gemstone industry loves lore and tiger’s eye in all forms is said to confer protection and guarantee good health and prosperity. And you will need plenty of the latter for this beauty, punctuated by a one-minute flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock.
Moser edges closer to putting its logo on a dial, something it has staunchly avoided in the interest of purity, with this model. The barely-there logo is applied in transparent lacquer at 12 o’clock, in keeping with the minimalist aesthetic that Moser describes as “traditional without being too proper.” While you might miss the logo, you can’t miss the hands, indexes, and flange dots, which are generously luminated. The hands are overlaid with strips of Globolight, a ceramic-based material that contains Super-LumiNova, making them stand out against the “Blue Lagoon” fume dial. This is a go-anywhere watch, with 120-metre water resistance.
This is one of the few tourbillons that you would feel comfortable wearing while swimming. It is water-resistant to 120 metres and its deep sea green dial glows in the dark for better visibility in the deepest water. The three-dimensional hands are made in two sections and overlaid with strips of Globolight, a ceramic-based material that contains Super-LumiNova. Inside, the in-house automatic tourbillon calibre HMC 804 with a double hairspring improves accuracy, isochronism and reduces friction. The escapement is designed as a module, which makes it easily removable for servicing and adjustment.
Greubel Forsey is no stranger to the GMT, but its new GMT Sport is a bold departure from its previous efforts.
This ultra-exclusive new watch, limited to just 20 pieces, is aimed at elite collectors and has a mission statement to follow. Just 20 pieces of the new Régulateur Squelette movement will be produced and the brand is offering clients a choice between a more streamlined round case or an edgier octagonal version. Same face, different bodies. In conjunction with the new release, the brand is vowing to communicate the total number of units created for each in-house calibre going forward (many brands will reuse the same calibre in a different casing without telling the clients, thereby reducing exclusivity).
