Watches & Wonders 2023
Let the games begin – from A. Lange & Sohne to Zenith, the first new releases have landed, with more to come. Here’s an initial look at the first drops.
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Watches & Wonders, the world’s biggest horological tradeshow, has arrived to deliver the year’s hottest new releases from the top luxury watchmakers.
So far, it’s shaping up to be a year in which many brands are revisiting established classics or recently minted heroes. Just before the show opened to journalists and retailers on Monday, several brands released a multitude of first looks, many of them familiar takes on memorable designs. A. Lange & Söhne revisited its one and only sports model, the Odysseus, and updated it with its first in-house automatic movement. Cartier rendered its Tank Normale anew, including a few complex skeletonised versions. Now that it’s achieved a laundry list of world records for the Octo Finissimo, Bulgari decided to focus on its Octo Roma collection and revealed two particularly elevated tourbillon models. And Van Cleef & Arpels delivered another round of the extraordinary table clocks that wowed the crowds at last year’s fair, which will please any very well-heeled clients that couldn’t get their hands on the $1 million-plus museum-worthy pieces.
There will, of course, be more to come. While Patek Philippe released images of a revamped Calatrava, its other releases (as well as Rolex’s breathlessly awaited new watches) will be shared later on Monday morning. For now, here’s a taste of what’s in store for watch enthusiasts this year.
A. LANGE & SÖHNE
A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus Chronograph
The esteemed German watchmaker is doubling down on its 4-year-old Odysseus collection of steel sport models with the debut of a timepiece featuring the manufacture’s first automatic chronograph movement. Limited to 100 pieces, the new chronograph places a premium on precision and legibility. Powered by the new L156.1 calibre, which incorporates an ingenious mechanism for resetting the chronograph hand to zero, the piece is marked by a combination of brushed surfaces and chamfered edges that emphasise its openness, as well as a dial architecture designed to create the illusion of depth.
Case Size: 42.5 mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Power Reserve: 50 hours
Straps: Stainless steel bracelet
BULGARI
Bulgari Octo Roma Blue/Anthracite/White
Bulgari’s Octo Roma collection reimagines many typical watchmaking tropes through the lens of Italian flair, incorporating octagonal shapes reminiscent of ancient Roman buildings and offering a case shape that feels distinctly fresh and compelling. Expanding the basic, time-and-date Roma model this year, Bulgari is adding blue, anthracite, and white-dialed models to the lineup, each of which includes the beautiful clous de Paris motif. (This pattern, which appears as a series of small pyramids, can be found on numerous high-end timepieces from various brands.)
Each model comes in a 41 mm Octo Roma case and is powered by the automatic Calibre BVL 191 movement with a power reserve of 42 hours. Equipped with hands and indices that pop against the textured dial via a liberal coating of Super-LumiNova, each ships with both a matching rubber strap and the collection’s signature stainless steel bracelet. With its sophisticated case architecture and new, eye-catching dial design, the Octo Roma has become a competitive entry in the luxury sports watch genre that any die-hard—and even jaded—watch guy or gal would be proud to own.
Case Size: 41 mm
Movement: Bulgari Calibre BVL 191 automatic
Power Reserve: 42 hours
Bulgari Octo Roma Chronograph
Debuting this year within the Octo Roma collection is a new chronograph whose design cues may be familiar to some from the complication’s presence within the Octo Finissimo family. Powered by the automatic, in-house Calibre BVL 399 movement—which is visible via a sapphire caseback—it features a triple-register chronograph display with a 30-minute counter, a 12-hour counter, and a running seconds counter, plus a date window at 4:30. Subtly integrated chronograph pushers, a crown flanked by dual crown guards, and case architecture boasting a mix of polished and brushed surfaces make for a visually compelling look.
The visual star of the show is the same clous de Paris motif from the time-and-date models, available in white, anthracite, or blue and featuring a liberal coating of Super-LumiNova for nighttime legibility. Measuring 12.4mm thick and water resistant to 100m, the Octo Roma Chronograph ships on a beautiful stainless steel bracelet and also comes with a rubber strap that matches the watch’s dial colour. With its striking aesthetics, beautifully designed case, in-house movement, and multiple straps, it’s a tempting alternative to something like the Speedmaster, Daytona, or an El Primero.
Case Size: 42 mm
Movement: Bulgari Calibre BVL 399 Automatic
Power Reserve: 42 hours
Bulgari Octo Roma Precious Tourbillon Lumière
A ladies’ offering, the Octo Roma Precious Tourbillon Lumière competes squarely with any Octo men’s watch for sheer horological firepower but pairs it with a positively breathtaking case with more diamonds than a De Beers showroom. Measuring 38mm in rose gold, it’s set with no less than 267 round, brilliant-cut diamonds, plus a bezel set with 48 more—plus a rose gold crown set with a cabochon-cut ruby. (And if that isn’t enough diamonds and precious metal for you, you should consider moving into Buckingham Palace, because you may very well be the Queen of England.)
And on to the timekeeping: Powered by the manually wound, skeletonised Calibre BVL 208, it features small, central hands poised above a tourbillon housed at 6 o’clock. The rose gold movement is entirely hand decorated and boasts 64 hours of power reserve—more than enough to power it through the weekend. The dial itself is set with diamonds and nine brilliant-cut rubies to indicate the hours—in case you needed more bling. (Total carat count: ~5.05 for the diamonds, and ~0.18 for the rubies.) Paired with a red alligator strap with a diamond-set folding buckle, this is surely a timepiece for the woman who has everything else.
Case Size: 38 mm
Movement: Panerai Calibre BVL 208 Hand-Wound
Power Reserve: 64 hours
Octo Roma Precious Naturalia
Joining the Octo lineup is a precious metal doozy of a timepiece machined from gold and equipped with a flying tourbillon for good measure. Dubbed the Octo Roma Precious Naturalia, it celebrates the natural beauty of tiger’s eye, which is used in the construction of the dial indices. (More on that in a moment.) Housed in a 44mm, satin-brushed rose gold case measuring 11.35mm tall and water resistant to 50m, its stunning, skeletonised dial features a tiger’s eye plate with ample brown and gold accents, plus thin shavings of the same material that cover each of the 13 dial indices. Because of the unique properties of the stone, each dial is a one-of-a-kind piece of art.
Completing the gold aesthetic of the dial is a set of skeletonised hands and a flying tourbillon situated above 6 o’clock, plus a fully visible gear train. Powered by the manually wound, in-house BVL 206 movement with 64 hours of power reserve and paired with a brown alligator strap with a rose gold folding buckle, this is most certainly not a watch for someone who wants to fly under the radar—rather, it’s a prominent statement piece meant to exhibit every last ounce of Bulgari’s watchmaking savoir faire.
Case Size: 44 mm
Movement: Panerai BVL 206 Hand-Wound
Power Reserve: 64 hours
Bulgari Octo Roma Papillon Tourbillon and Striking Tourbillon Sapphire
For those for whom the standard Octo Roma offerings are insufficiently avant-garde, may we introduce the Octo Roma Striking Tourbillon Sapphire, which includes a unique complication: Housed in a 44mm titanium case with black DLC coating, it features a crown with a special push-button device at 3 o’clock. Engage this button, and a small red dot in the winding stem indicates that the crown can now be adjusted. Re-engage the button and the time setting is now deactivated, and the crown can be used for manual winding of the tourbillon-equipped movement.
With its completely transparent sapphire dial, mid-case, and back, the watch’s skeletonised movement—the Calibre BVL 206 with 64 hours of power reserve—is on full display. Bright green Super-LumiNova-filled indices and a white-tipped handset discreetly handle time-telling duties, while the flying tourbillon is situated above 6 o’clock. With its rubberised, black alligator strap with green stitching and titanium folding buckle, this futuristic offering is one of the standout models in the current Octo Roma collection, and proof that the Octo Finissimo line isn’t the only place where Bulgari’s most innovative watchmaking can be found.
Case Size: 44mm
Movement: Bulgari Calibre BVL 206 Hand-Wound
Power Reserve: 64 hours
Bulgari Octo Roma Striking Papillon Tourbillon
Sticking with the black DLC titanium theme, we have a striking-looking—(actually, “striking” is even in the name)—piece, also with a flying tourbillon, but with the addition of a special minute display and a jumping hour display. Dubbed the Octo Roma Striking Papillon Tourbillon and housed in a semi-tactical, very futuristic looking 44 mm Octo case measuring 11.9 mm thick and featuring a sapphire mid-case, its dial looks like something out of a cool science fiction novel.
A mix of blacks and greens and transparent surfaces, the dial features a central tourbillon with a jumping hour display poised above it, plus a semi-circular minute display below. Along this display traverses a “butterfly” minute counter with dual, diamond-shaped hands—once the first counter reaches the end of the 60-minute display, the hands rotate 180 degrees, and the secondary hand retraces the path back along the arc. Powered by the hand-wound Calibre BVL 348 movement with 60 hours of power reserve and lit with plenty of Super-LumiNova, it’s paired with a rubberised black alligator strap with green stitching and a titanium folding buckle.
Case Size: 44 mm
Movement: Bulgari Calibre BVL 348 Hand-Wound
Power Reserve: 60 hours
CARTIER
Cartier Privé
For the past seven years, Cartier has selected a historic model from its archives (say, the Crash, the Tank Cintrée, or the Cloche), given it a fresh new design spin, and marketed it as a numbered and limited edition under its sought-after Cartier Privé label, a “collector’s collection,” as the brand calls it.
New to Privé this year, the Tank Normale offers seven takes on Cartier’s defining timepiece, the 1917 Tank. They include an hour/minute version—in yellow gold with a brown alligator strap or in platinum with a black alligator strap—that takes its proportions and beveled sapphire crystal from the original, as well as a complicated and skeletonised model that features a 24-hour complication marked by a sun and crescent moon, in either yellow gold or platinum (the latter available with or without diamonds). And in a groovy nod to 1970s style, the collection for the first time includes two models that come on yellow gold or platinum bracelets.
Case Size: 32.6 mm x 25.7 mm for the basic Tank Normale; 35.2 mm x 27.8 mm for the skeletonised version
Case Material: 18k yellow gold and platinum
Power Reserve: 36-38 hours
Straps: Alligator straps in grey, brown, blue, and black, and 18k yellow gold and platinum bracelets
Clash [Un]Limited
![Cartier Clash [Un]Limited](https://robbreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CAR_CRWJMB0004_CCS_01_01_TC_2404939.png?w=300)
Between its stylish mix of round and square shapes, and intriguing juxtaposition of faceted corners and beveled dials, the new Clash [Un]Limited watch evokes the legacy of Jeanne Toussaint, the legendary designer who, as director of Cartier’s high jewelry department from 1933 to 1970, “dared to provoke glittering collisions between preciousness and the industrial aesthetic of ball bearings,” according to a press release.
All five quartz-powered variations of the Clash [Un]Limited revel in contrasts (say, between brushed and satin finishes), but none as unexpectedly as the coloured stone version, which comes in an enchanting gem-set case distinguished by surprising pairings of brilliant white diamonds, bright red coral, and mint green chrysoprase.
Case Size: 18.4 x 32.7 mm for the small models
Case Material: 18k yellow, rose, white and purple gold
Straps: 18k yellow, rose, white, and purple gold bracelets
Santos-Dumont
Cartier’s sextet of new Santos-Dumont styles includes a trio of manual-wind XL models in platinum, rose gold, and yellow gold. The standout features are dials decorated with Roman numerals cut directly in jasper, jade, and dumortierite, to match the colours of the cabochons on the winding crowns.
For anyone who enjoys gazing at a complex movement, the Santos-Dumont Skeleton watch—available in a case made of yellow gold, rose gold, or steel—is just the ticket.
Case Size: 46.6 mm x 33.9 mm for colourful versions, 31 mm for skeleton edition
Case Material: 18k rose gold, 18k yellow gold and platinum
Straps: Alligator straps in green, blue, grey, burgundy, and brown
Santos de Cartier
The storied Santos line now includes three models featuring deeply saturated dials in green and navy blue, coated in a thin layer of tinted lacquer and applied by hand.
Case Size: 35.1 mm for the two medium models, and 39.8 mm for the large
Case Material: Steel
Straps: Interchangeable straps in steel and alligator
Tank
For more than a century, the Tank watch by Cartier, not to mention the family of timepieces it spawned, has adorned the wrists of the global elite. No wonder the Maison is perpetually recreating it. This year sees updates to three classic Tank models: the Tank Américaine, the Tank Française, and the Tank Louis Cartier.
The Tank Américaine was born in 1989 when the maison introduced a slender version of the model in a gently curved case reminiscent of the Tank Cintrée. For 2023, the house revisited the Tank Américaine in 11 new styles (nine featuring quartz movements) designed to be even slimmer. Available in all-gold and steel with a leather strap, rose gold and diamonds with a leather strap or diamond-paved white and rose gold with a metal bracelet, the Tank Américaine is proof that thin is perennially in.
The Tank Française made its debut in 1996 in a chic metal bracelet style. Now, the quartz-powered steel watch features a revamped bracelet with a gentle curve to fit all wrists. Note the diamond-set brancards, which play off the model’s polished finishes and sunray-brushed dial.
In 1921, Cartier widened the Tank’s case, refined its brancards and softened its edges to create the Tank Louis Cartier. New for this year is an LC model in yellow or rose gold on an alligator strap with a graphic motif on the dial rendered in three shades of gold—an homage to the Tank Must dials of the 1970s. The Tank Louis Cartier also comes in two minimalist coloured dial editions: one in lacquered burgundy and the other in a Platonic green, both encased in yellow gold. All three models feature the manual winding 1917 MC movement.
Case Size: 28 mm x 15.2 mm for the Tank Américaine mini, 35.4 mm x 19.4 mm for the Tank Américaine small, 44.4 mm x 24.4 mm for the Tank Américaine large, 25.7 mm x 21.2 mm for the Tank Française small, 32 mm x 27 mm for the Tank Française medium and 33.7 mm x 25.5 mm for the Tank Louis Cartier
Case Material: Steel, 18k yellow gold, 18k rose gold, 18k white gold
Straps: Alligator straps in dark blue, dark brown, red, grey, taupe and green
CHANEL
J12 Eclipse Box Set
Taken together, this set of seven watches, each a piece unique, is the horological equivalent of a solar eclipse. From the first watch, in all white ceramic, to the seventh watch, in all black, the timepieces—which come equipped with automatic calibers certified by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute—are gradually eclipsed by a black band that grows wider with each successive model.
Case Size: 38 mm
Case Material: Matte black and white ceramic
Power Reserve: 70 hours
Straps: Matte black and white ceramic bracelet
Monsieur de Chanel Tourbillon
The fragment of meteorite that forms the dial of this striking black ceramic timepiece isn’t its only distinctive element. Set atop the cage of the flying tourbillon—marking the first time the Monsieur watch has featured the complication—is a lion head décor plate depicting the maison’s emblem. With the passing of each second, it spins in all its leonine majesty.
Case Size: 42 mm
Case Material: Matte black ceramic and steel
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Straps: Black nylon strap with black calfskin trim and lining
CHOPARD
Chopard L.U.C 1963 Heritage Chronograph
Hand-wound chronographs are prized among collectors, and Chopard’s contribution to this elite genre, a 25-piece limited-edition flyback chronograph with Geneva Seal certification, is likely to disappear fast. The L.U.C 1963 Heritage Chronograph has a minimalist, no-date dial, and a case made of Lucent steel, Chopard’s proprietary steel alloy made of 80% recycled elements. Vintage details include the car-dashboard-style hour markers from 05-60 for chronograph minutes and seconds, along with mushroom-shaped pushers and eco-green dial with matching stitching on the strap. Modern technology allows for a sapphire caseback through which to admire the decorated movement, the star of the show (sapphire crystals weren’t around in the ’60s). The Chopard hand-wound flyback chronograph caliber L.U.C 03.07-L is chronometer certified, with a 60-hour power reserve. Finishes include rhodium-plated bridges, yokes, levers and column wheel, circular graining for the base, straight-graining for the chronograph components and a Côtes de Genève motif on the bridges.
Case Size: 42 mm by 14.55 mm
Case Material: Lucent steel
Power Reserve: 60 hours
Straps: Brown calfskin, green lining, green bridle stitching with pin buckle
Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph
Chopard loves its traditions, and the annual Mille Miglia collector’s edition is one of is most enduring. Chopard has been timing the scenic race from Brescia to Rome since 1988 and co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele has personally taken part in the race every year since, covering more than 30,000 competition miles. This year’s edition, the 36th in the annual series, is slightly smaller than others, at 40.5mm, which makes it a little more wearable (and perfect for a ladies’ wrist!).
The case, bezel and crowns are made of Lucent steel, a Chopard alloy that it says is 50% harder than conventional steel. There are four dial colour options, matched to the paintwork and interiors of classic cars: Verde Chiaro (light green) and Rosso Amarena (cherry red), Nero Corsa (racing black) and, on a two-tone steel and gold model, Grigio-Blue (grey blue). A tachymeter scale is essential for calculating speed and distances, and plenty of Grade XI Super-LumiNova helps to navigate after dark. A slim bezel maximises the depth of the dial.
Case Size: 40.5 mm by 12.88 mm
Case Material: Lucent steel or Lucent steel and 18k rose gold
Power Reserve: 54 hours
Straps: Black rubber with 1960s Dunlop racing tire motif or calfskin leather.
Chopard Imperiale
The lotus flower is the signature motif of Chopard’s Imperiale collection. The model was launched in 1994, and the lotus motif has appeared in various ways on its dials, cases, crowns and movements ever since. In 2017, Chopard won the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in the jewelry category with the Lotus Blanc, with diamond-set petals opening and closing at will on the dial. The new Imperiale depicts the lotus flower with overlapping petals within a polished rose gold lacework. Some of the gold petals are engraved and satin-brushed. These openworked petals are positioned against a disk that rotates once every 24 hours to represent night and day. After midnight, the star-studded sapphire dome representing night gives way to morning light represented by a white diamond sky. It was created using several artisanal techniques, starting with a mother-of-pearl disk that is lacquered in a cerulean gradient that, at night time, is decorated with seven gold-powder stars. Sapphires in six gradient shades of blue express the transition from day to night. Snow-set diamonds represent the daytime sky. The steady motion of the disk is driven by the L.U.C 96.30-L, with a 65-hour power reserve. Case, horns, bezel and inner dial ring are set with diamonds.
Case Size: 36 mm by 10.15 mm
Case Material: 18k rose gold
Power Reserve: 65 hours
Straps: Seamless blue pearlescent alligator with 18k gold pink buckle
Alpine Eagle 41 XPS
Chopard has been beefing up its Alpine Eagle collection recently, instilling the sporty model with complications and high watchmaking finishes. The new 41 XPS is a chronometer-certified, with a small seconds indicator, and is finished to the standards of the Poinçon de Genève. The ultra-thin (8mm) case is made of Lucent steel A223, which Chopard ays is ultra-resistant and takes a high polish, and it’s made of 85% recycled materials. Double barrels driving the flagship caliber L.U.C 96.40-L ensure a 65-hour power reserve. The “monte rose pink” dial is named for the second-highest mountain range in the Swiss Alps, and their characteristic pinkish shimmer. It resembles the salmon tint that is so popular in high-end sports watches at the moment. The finish is inspired by the eagle’s iris. It can be admired on a larger plane than previous models, since the bezel of this one is trimmed back.
Case Size: 41 mm by 8 mm
Case Material: Lucent steel A223
Power Reserve: 65 hours
Straps: Lucent steel A223 bracelet
GRAND SEIKO
Grand Seiko Masterpiece Collection Spring Drive 8-Day SBGD213
Every ounce of Grand Seiko’s watchmaking prowess is on display in the new SBGD213: a Spring Drive-powered masterpiece, it’s hand-set with 5.62 carats’ worth of diamonds, and 1.25 carats of blue sapphires. Housed in a truly magnificent, highly angular, Zaratsu-polished platinum case recalling the lion—Grand Seiko’s spirit animal, so to speak—it features 112 diamonds along its upper surfaces and a further 60 baguette-cut stones along the bezel. Even the crown is inset with a brilliant-cut sapphire that matches perfectly the deep blue colour of the dial.
Speaking of the dial: blue sapphires and baguette diamonds—each of which has been set by hand between pairs of 18K white gold rails—form the hour and minute indices. Executed by the Shinshu Watch Studio in the Shiojiri facility in Nagano prefecture, they make for a stunning display, and are further joined by an additional 48 diamonds and 12 blue sapphires around their periphery. Flipping the watch over reveals the Spring Drive movement sat beneath a sapphire caseback: With its one-piece bridge and Mt. Fuji-inspired design, the Caliber 9R01 is accurate to an impressive +/- 10 seconds per month and offers an 8-day power reserve due to three barrels arranged in sequence.
Case Size: 44.5 mm
Movement: Grand Seiko Caliber 9R01 Hand-Wound
Power Reserve: 8 days
Grand Seiko Masterpiece Collection Hand-engraved Manual-winding Spring Drive Limited Edition SBGZ009
A special limited-edition model within the Masterpiece Collection, the new SBGZ009 features a stunning, fully engraved case executed by hand in the town of Shiojiri by elite Grand Seiko craftsmen. Inspired by a forest of white birch trees at the foot of the North Yatsugatake Mountains in the eastern part of Shinshu, it’s housed in a 38.5mm platinum case and paired to a silver dial.
Superb craftsmanship characterises this timepiece: each case is polished to a distortion-free sheen via the Zaratsu technique, after which it’s hand engraved with individual grooves by engravers at the Shinshu Watch Studio. A silver dial in the brand’s beautiful birch pattern is joined by 14K white gold, diamond-cut hour markers, plus a handset with curved minute and seconds hands and a minute track that’s carved into the dial periphery. Powered by the manually wound Spring Drive Caliber 9R02 with an 84-hour power reserve, it’s accurate to an incredible one second per day, and comes paired to a black crocodile strap with three-fold clasp and push button release.
Case Size: 38.5mm
Movement: Grand Seiko Spring Drive Caliber 9R02
Power Reserve: 84 hours
Grand Seiko Evolution 9 Collection Tentagraph SLGC001
A truly notable release, the Evolution 9 Collection Tentagraph SLGC001 is Grand Seiko’s first mechanical chronograph. An entry within the Evolution 9 sports watch collection, it’s powered by the 9SC5, which chirps along at 10 beats per second and features dual barrels for a power reserve of three days, even when the chronograph is in operation—making it, according to GS’s research, the 10-beat chronograph with the longest power reserve on the market. Tested for 20 days to ensure that it meets the Grand Seiko Standard of +5 to -3 seconds per day, it’s also highly accurate and thoughtfully engineered.
Housed in a Zaratsu-polished 43.2mm titanium case with a box-shaped sapphire crystal featuring anti-reflective coating, paired to a matching bracelet with a three-fold clasp with push button release, and complemented with a screw-down crown and a sapphire case back, the Tentagraph has a handsome dial to match its impressive construction and movement: Executed in a blue “Mt. Iwate” pattern, it boasts a triple-register chronograph display, a date window at 4:30, beautifully polished, applied indices and hands, and a black ceramic bezel with a tachymeter scale. Not bad for a first effort at a mechanical chronograph!
Case Size: 43.2 mm
Movement: Grand Seiko 9SC5
Power Reserve: 72 hours
HUBLOT
Big Bang Integrated Tourbillon Automatic Full Texalium-Carbon
Whether one loves or hates its case silhouettes, there’s simply no denying that Hublot is at the cutting edge of what it terms “the art of fusion”—integrating disparate materials that come together in a cohesive whole to tell a uniquely contemporary horological story. This year, this fusion has been put on full display in the form of the Big Bang Integrated Tourbillon Automatic Full Texalium-Carbon, a watch that surely knows few equals with regard to aesthetics, engineering, or creativity.
Measuring 43mm in ultra-lightweight carbon fiber, the watch is coated in Taxalium, a material that integrates fiberglass in a resin core with a thin layer of aluminum for increased impact resistance. Paired with a specially fabricated Texalium and carbon fiber strap that weighs just 26 grams and features individually machined and finished links, the Integrated Tourbillon Automatic is powered by the HUB6035 Manufacture Calibre movement, which features a micro-rotor and tourbillon as well as a 72-hour power reserve. With its mesmerizing looks, incredible engineering, and lightweight construction, it’s surely one of the standout references in the Big Bang lineup.
Case Size: 43 mm
Movement: Hublot HUB6035 Manufacture Calibre Automatic
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Big Bang MP-13 Tourbillon Bi-Axis Bi-Retrograde Titanium
2023 marks the entry of several firsts into the Hublot catalog, the latest of which is impossible to miss: the new 44mm Big Bang MP-13 Tourbillon Bi-Axis Bi-Retrograde Titanium is an absolute bruiser of a watch combining—for the first time in the brand’s history—a tourbillon and retrograde display in one timepiece. And not just any tourbillon, mind you: Hublot’s status as a completely integrated manufacture has allowed it to develop a bi-axis tourbillon entirely in-house, a considerable horological feat. (The tourbillon makes one rotation every minute on one axis, and one rotation every 30 seconds on its second axis).
Skeletonised and suspended without the use of an upper movement bridge, this impressive complication—and the HUB6200 manually wound movement housing it—is visible via anti-reflective sapphire crystal on both sides of the case. An impressive 96-hour power reserve ensures that the mesmerizing tourbillon can run for days without the need for winding. Limited to just 50 numbered pieces, it’s made of satin-finished and polished titanium and comes paired to a black rubber strap.
Case Size: 44 mm
Movement: Hublot HUB6200 Manufacture Calibre Manual Winding
Power Reserve: 96 hours
Big Bang Square Unico Sapphire
Building upon the success of 2022’s Square Big Bang Unico, Hublot is expanding the collection with a unique sapphire variant meant to showcase the brand’s tremendous savoir faire and expertise with cutting-edge materials. Part of a limited run of 250 pieces, this impressive, transparent timepiece has a water resistance of 50m despite the challenges of engineering not only a square case but one machined from multi-layered sapphire. Powered by an in-house movement dubbed the HUB1280, it features a 72-hour power reserve, automatic winding, and a column wheel flyback chronograph complication. All of this impressive clockwork can, of course, be admired via the watch’s openwork dial and sapphire case.
Fitted to a rubber strap with a titanium deployant clasp, the Big Bang Square Unico Sapphire is further joined by two sister references in black or white ceramic, which are powered by the same movement, but aren’t limited editions. Each watch features the “One Click” system, meaning its straps can easily be swapped out for other Hublot bracelets.
Case Size: 50 mm
Movement: Hublot HUB1280 Manufacture Calibre Automatic
Power Reserve: 72 hours
IWC
IWC Ingenieur Automatic 40
IWC is reviving the Ingenieur Reference 1832, along with the man who created it, Gerald Genta, the maestro of watch design. The Ingenieur (“engineer” in French) was IWC’s ultimate answer to the Asian-invasion of affordable quartz watches and the decline of traditional gold dress watches in the 1970s. An early version of the Ingenieur was introduced in the late ’50s, but the model really came into its own when IWC decided to enlist Genta in the 1970s to redesign it according to the spirit of the times. His brief was to create a robust yet elegant steel sports watch that would be accessible and unique. In 1976, Genta delivered the SL ref. 1832 Ingenieur in a 40mm steel case with an integrated steel bracelet, a checkerboard-pattern dial and a distinctive screw-on bezel with five recesses. Because 40mm seemed huge at the time, the watch was nicknamed the “Jumbo.” Genta had already designed Audemars Piguet’s now-iconic Royal Oak by then, and would go on to design Patek Philippe’s legendary Nautilus a year later. The new Ingenieur Automatic 40 is a tribute to the original 40mm Jumbo. Updates include a slightly curved case ring and a redesigned bracelet with closed links and no visible pins. On the original bezel, the screws were decorative, but on the new one, the five screws secure the bezel to the case ring, so they have a technical function as well. The dial has the same grid pattern as the original. Dial options include black, silver-plated or aqua. All contain the IWC-manufactured 32111 caliber with a power reserve of 72 hours.
Case Size: 40 mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Straps: stainless steel bracelet with butterfly folding clasp
MONTBLANC
1858 Unveiled Secret Minerva Monopusher Chronograph Limited Edition
In 1858, Charles-Ivan Robert opened a workshop on the site of an ancient mill in the Swiss village of Villeret. In homage to his fascination with Roman mythology, he named it Fabrique d’Horlogerie Minerva. The firm survived the ravages of the 1970s, clinging to its independence until 2006, when it was acquired by Financière Richemont and transferred to Montblanc.
In the intervening years, the German brand has used Minerva’s legacy as a springboard for contemporary creations in its 1858 collection—chief among them the new 1858 Unveiled Secret Minerva Monopusher Chronograph, available in a limited edition of 88 pieces. Equipped with a historic hand-wound Minerva MB M16.29 movement that’s been flipped over so its complexity is visible on the dial, the watch comes in a steel case with a black coating brushed with quartzite and limestones from the nearby mountains, lending the watch a uniquely distressed look that belies its elegance.
Case Size: 43 mm
Case Material: Distressed steel
Power Reserve: 50 hours
Straps: Black nubuck alligator leather strap
1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen The 8000 Limited Edition
The Nepal-born mountaineer Nimsdai Purja is the inspiration for Montblanc’s new limited edition Geosphere automatic chronograph, a limited edition of 290 pieces that features a worldtime complication complete with two 3D globes—the Northern Hemisphere at 12 o’clock and the Southern Hemisphere at six o’clock. The former bears 14 orange dots, marking the location of the world’s 8,000+-meter peaks.
On the back of the watch’s 44 mm titanium case, a 3D coloured laser engraving depicts the list of the 14 peaks, the name of the watch, two inspirational quotes from Nimsdai and three Himalayan prayer flags for good fortune. Last but not least, the watch comes with an interchangeable anthracite textile strap that borrows its design from a rope, a tool that no mountaineer can do without.
Case Size: 44 mm
Case Material: Titanium
Power Reserve: 46 hours
Straps: Interchangeable anthracite textile strap
PANERAI
Panerai Radiomir Annual Calendar
Famed for its simple, time-only military watches, Panerai has been steadily expanding its offerings to include more complicated pieces executed in new, forward-thinking materials. New this year is a complication that has never before been part of the Panerai oeuvre—namely, an annual calendar. Housed within a 45mm Radiomir cushion case with “wire”-type lugs and onion crown, the PAM01363 features Goldtech construction, combining platinum and copper for a red appearance. Its sun-brushed blue gradient dial is an exercise in legibility, with a day-date display at 3 o’clock, a running seconds display at 9 o’clock, and an outer, rotating month disc with a fixed arrow at 3 o’clock as an indicator. Of course, the famous Radiomir “sandwich” dial is also present and accounted for.
Also available is a special Experience edition, the reference PAM01432. Purchasing this Platinumtech-cased beauty with its sun-brushed burgundy dial will get you a ticket to a Panerai-led experience in Rome, with “events that combine artisanal know-how, culture, and tours of historical sites.” Whichever reference you spring for, you’re getting an incredible, complicated timepiece powered by the P.9010/AC automatic movement, with 40 jewels, dual barrels, and 316 components.
Case Size: 45 mm
Movement: Panerai P.9010/AC Automatic
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Panerai Radiomir California PAM01349
While Panerai has long produced a version of its famed “California dial” Radiomir in the positively enormous size of 47mm, it has never ventured smaller. This year, the Italian-founded military outfitter has finally seen fit to shrink this model down to something that’s (slightly) more wearable for someone with a sub-8-inch wrist: Please join us in welcoming the 45mm Radiomir California PAM01349! With a deep green dial, this one is a playful twist on the typical “California” formula.
Taking inspiration from the historical reference 3646, it features the famous half-Roman, half-Arabic numerals of the “California” look, plus an outer railroad minute track and a lumed, blued steel sword handset. Cased in Brunito eSteel—a type of recycled metal with its origins in different industries—the watch features brand new hand finishing that gives it a cool, vintage look. It’s powered by the hand-wound Calibre P.5000 with an 8-day power reserve, and comes paired to a calf leather strap in dark brown with contrast stitching.
Case Size: 45 mm
Case Material: Brunito eSteel
Movement: Panerai Calibre P.5000 Hand-Wound
Power Reserve: 8 days
Panerai Radiomir Otto Giorno
Available in two compelling colours, the new Radiomir Otto Giorno recalls some of the earliest Panerai models made exclusively for military use in the 1930s. Housed in a 45mm e-Steel case whose PVD exterior is hand finished for a unique, vintage-inspired look, the watch features most of the characteristics that fans have come to expect from the typical Panerai diver: a highly legible “sandwich” dial with ample lume; a cushion case with “wire” lugs and an onion crown; and a hand-wound movement with an ample power reserve—in this case, the Calibre P.5000 that can run for eight days when fully wound, which lends the piece its name in Italian.
Both the dark brown (PAM0347) and blue (PAM01348) gradient dials transition from a darker edge to a lighter center, echoing the grainy, colour-changed appearance of certain early aluminum Panerai dials. Paired to Cuoio Toscano calf leather straps that match their respective dials and are meant to take on a distinct patina with time, each is a fitting tribute to the legacy of this most distinctive of specialist, legacy watchmakers.
Case Size: 45 mm
Movement: Panerai Calibre P.5000 Hand-Wound
Power Reserve: 8 days
Panerai Radiomir Quaranta in Goldtech
Did we mention that Panerai’s focus this year is on the Radiomir collection? (Well: Panerai’s focus this year is on the Radiomir collection.) So without further ado, here’s one more Radiomir release to tickle your vintage-inspired fancy: the Quaranta in Goldtech. Godltect is Panerai’s own proprietary blend of gold, platinum, and copper that shines in a bold red colour—and nowhere does it look better than constituting the case of this most contemporary of Radiomirs.
Shrunk down from its 47mm origins, the Quaranta is so named for its 40mm size. At just 10.15mm thick—the slimmest in the brand’s entire oeuvre—it makes for a highly wearable, everyday watch…provided you can pull off a hulking hunk of gold on an everyday basis. Paired to an elegant alligator strap and fitted with a radially brushed, white “sandwich” dial, it’s powered by the impressive Calibre P.9000, an automatic movement measuring just 4.2mm tall and boasting a three-day power reserve. Positioned as a genderless, versatile piece for any type person on any occasion, it’s certainly a stunner and a fabulous example of Panerai’s adaptation of military-born tech into a contemporary guise.
Case Size: 40mm
Movement: Panerai Calibre P.9000 Automatic
Power Reserve: 72 hours
PATEK PHILIPPE
Patek Philippe Calatrava 6007G-001, 6007G-010 & 6007G-011
Patek Philippe just released three new Calatrava references, each with a white gold case, ebony dials and its own accent colour: red, yellow, or pale blue, rendered on the seconds track, seconds hand, indexes, and the stitching of the matching leather strap. The intriguing dials feature a crosshatch pattern reminiscent of carbon fiber, which matches the treatment on the strap, giving each of the trio a distinctly sporty feel.
Case Material: White gold
Straps: Leather with yellow, red, or blue stitching
Movement: Self-winding calibre 26-330 S C
ROGER DUBUIS
Roger Dubuis Monovortex Split Seconds Chronograph
Roger Dubuis watches seem to exist in two parallel universes. On the one hand, every single watch is finished in excruciating detail according to the traditional finishing conventions outlined by the Geneva Seal. On the other hand, every watch has the aesthetic of a hyper-modern, colourful, openworked, technically futuristic superwatch. They always look as if they have somehow exploded into being, in a good way. Roger Dubuis is also known for its tourbillons, and the Monovortex Split Seconds Chronograph has one of those, positioned on 360-degree conical trajectory. It also has a turborotor: a cylindrical oscillating weight that rotates perpendicular to its axis. The caliber RD114 movement also drives a split-seconds chronograph controlled by a double-column wheel. And there’s an angular, isotoxal-shaped minute counter, a tripartite hand that Roger Dubuis calls the (120° Rotating Minute Counter, with arms that carry the tens digits (0,1 or 2) while pointing out the units digit. The case is made of a mineral composite fiber (MCF that is 99.95 percent silica, made via a sheet molding compound (SMC) process. Duguis says it is 13 percent lighter than SMC carbon. Certainly not your average traditional wristwatch.
Case Size: 47 mm
Case Material: Mineral composite fiber (MCF)
Straps: Bi-material fabric
TAG HEUER
Carrera Plasma Diamond d’Avant Garde
Remember that stunning, diamond-encrusted TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Diamont d’Avant Garde from 2022? Well, there’s another one this year—and it’s even more diamond-y. The new Plasma sets artificial diamonds all throughout the bezel, bracelet, dial, crown, and more, making for a stealthily blingy watch—and we say “stealthy” because the entire case is black aluminum—that nevertheless delivers a serious horological punch in the form of the Calibre Heuer 02T Nanograph COSC movement with tourbillon.
A whopping 15.5 carats of lab-grown diamonds—124 of ‘em, for those who are counting—encrust every available centimeter of this timepiece. (Even the indices are diamonds!) Housed in a 44mm sandblasted aluminum case with a 2.5-carat diamond crown, its dial is composed of three polycrystalline diamond plates that form a sparkling surface against which a set of rhodium-plated hands indicate the time. The aforementioned Calibre Heuer 02T Nanograph boasts 65 hours of power reserve and extensive hand finishing, making this Plasma one heck of a statement piece, both outside and in.
Diameter: 44 mm
Movement: TAG Heuer Calibre Heuer 02T Nanograph COSC Automatic
Power Reserve: 65 hours
Aquaracer Professional 200
TAG Heuer’s Aquaracer line is most typically associated with the high seas, representing as it does the famous chronograph maker’s take on the contemporary dive watch. However, utility and flair are, as we know, most decidedly not mutually exclusive. To wit, the new Aquaracer Professional 200—two solid-gold takes on the brand’s popular aquatic timepiece. Available in 18K 5N rose gold or 18K 3N yellow gold, both are thoroughly modern divers powered by the brand’s new manufacture movement, the COSC-certified Calibre TH31-00, which boasts an 80-hour power reserve and comes complete with a five-year warranty.
The first such Aquaracer models with solid gold cases and bezels, each 40mm sports watch features a contrasting, DLC-coated crown and a DLC-coated Grade 2 titanium caseback with a sapphire window. Water resistant to 200m and featuring striking fumé gradient dials (blue on the yellow gold model and black on the rose gold), they come paired to blue or black rubber straps with DLC Grade 2 titanium folding clasps. A liberal application of SuperLumi-Nova ensures visibility below or above the waves, making the Auqaracer Professional 2000 an excellent everyday option for summertime adventures.
(Meanwhile, if solid gold is too much gold, you may be interested in two new bi-colour editions of the gold Aquaracer Professional 200, available with bezel inlay, crown, and dial detailing in 18K yellow or rose gold. Two models at 40mm are powered by the automatic TAG Heuer Calibre 5, while two ladies’ models at 30mm feature fumé mother of pearl dials with diamond-set indices, and are powered by the automatic Calibre 9 movement.)
Diameter: 40 mm
Movement: TAG Heuer Calibre 5 Automatic
Power Reserve: 38 hours
Carrera Chronograph
The story of the Carrera Chronograph continues apace with the introduction of several new models this year. Two of these are fresh colourways that bring (even more) automotive influence to a watch designed way back in 1963 and named after the famed Carrera Panamericana race that took place in Mexico: Available in black or blue, each watch boasts bright orange pops of colour that recall the speedometers on vintage race cars. Measuring 42mm in stainless steel, each also features a triple-register chronograph with recessed hour and minute totalisers, a running seconds totaliser above 6 o’clock, a lumed sword handset, and an outer 1/5th-second track positioned along the rehaut.
Uniquely, both models have date windows placed in different spots on the dial: the blue variant’s date is situated within the running second’s display above 6 o’clock, while on the black model, it can be found below 12 o’clock, recalling certain vintage Carrera “Dato” models. Paired to matching calfskin leather straps in blue or black, each is powered by the automatic Calibre Heuer02 movement, is water resistant to 100m, and features a display caseback.
Case Size: 42 mm
Movement: TAG Heuer Calibre HEUER02 Automatic
Power Reserve: 80 hours
Carrera Chronograph “Glassbox”
Perhaps the most exciting TAG Heuer release of the year for diehard Carrera fans, the new TAG Heuer Carrera “Glassbox” models are the direct descendants of the original 1963 racing chronograph—vintage reissues aside. Jack Heuer famously suffused his original Carrera watch with subtle midcentury influences found in the likes of Oscar Niemeyer’s architecture, or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s furniture, giving this small chronograph the subtleties and thoughtful touches that made it a horological classic. Likewise, the new 39m stainless steel “Glassbox” models—so called because their sapphire crystals resemble the profile of the acrylic crystals used on original 1960s watches—feature a bevy of thoughtful touches:
The curved sapphire crystal effortlessly flows over a tachymeter scale that runs along the dial edge, allowing the scale to be read from a wider variety of vantage points. This edge curves inward to reveal a 1/5th-seconds track along a flange that frames the applied dial indices, while a triple-register chronograph in recessed totalisers blends into a blue dial, or pops against a black main dial in a “panda” effect. A lumed sword handset and a date at 12 o’clock (black dial) or 6 o’clock (blue dial) finish the contemporary look. Powered by the automatic TH20-02 caliber—an updated version of the Heuer 02 chronograph movement with elevated finishing and bi-directional winding—round out this most excellent update to a true classic.
(There’s also a tourbillon-equipped version housed in a 42mm version of the Carrera case, powered by the automatic Calibre TH20-09 Automatic COSC movement and boasting a dual-register chronograph display. Paired to a blue calfskin strap, it’s a notable model within the greater catalog—and all the more special because of TAG Heuer’s positioning as more of an entry-level brand that doesn’t typically delve too far into such elite complications as the tourbillon.
Case Size: 42 mm
Movement: TAG Heuer Calibre TH20-09 Automatic COSC
Power Reserve: 65 hours
ULYSSE NARDIN
Ulysse Nardin Freak One
Ulysse Nardin Freak One
Ulysse Nardin is introducing the ultimate Freak in honor of the game-changing watch it launched in 2001. Designed by notable watchmaker and physicist Dr. Ludwig Oechslin, the Freak represented a fresh expression of watchmaking. It had no dial – just an open view of the movement. Nor did it have hands- time was indicated by a one-hour carrousel tourbillon that pointed to an index as it rotated. And instead of a crown, time was set by winding a device on the caseback that was connected to a system built into the bezel. The new Freak One recaptures the spirit of the original 2001 Freak and adopts the best innovations introduced in the eight variations that have appeared since. It is regulated by a silicon hairspring first introduced in 2008, along with an escapement treated with shock-resistant DIAMonSIL, was first applied to the Freak in 2007. It repeats the iconic notched bezel of the original 2001 Freak, the open gear train of the Freak Cruiser of 2013, and the legibility codes of the 2018 Freak Vision. The black DLC-coated titanium and rose gold detailing echoes other recent Freak iterations, such as last year’s Freak S.
Case Size: 44 mm by 12 mm
Case Material: Black DLC-coated titanium
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Straps: Black textured rubber, black alligator two-tone rubber
VACHERON CONSTANTIN
Traditionelle Tourbillon Retrograde
It’s a retrograde year for Vacheron Constantin. The display, which requires extreme precision, is a longtime tradition for the brand, a complication in itself that became popular in the 1920s. Vacheron is applying it to three new models this year. The first is the Traditionelle Tourbillon Retrograde, which combines a tourbillon with a retrograde date display. The movement, automatic caliber 2162 R31, is visible on the openworked dial and given a slate grey NAC surface treatment that contrasts with the traditional features of the watch. The date is tracked on a retrograde arc across the top half of the dial. Once the arrow hand reaches the 31, it jumps back to the beginning at the next date change, starting at 1 again. The watch retains the main design codes of the Traditionelle line, including stepped round case and lugs, a fluted caseback, a slim bezel, a railway minute-track, bi-faceted Dauphine hands and gold baton-style hour-markers. It is finished to Geneva Hallmark standards.
Case Size: 41 mm x 11.07 mm
Case Material: 18k pink gold
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Straps: Gray alligator
Patrimony Retrograde Day-Date
The combination of platinum case, salmon dial and double retrograde is enough to tell you that this is a watch will be a fast sell-out. This boutique-only edition won’t last. The dial is classically minimalist, with needle-thin central hour and minute hands and eccentric details like long pointed hash marks at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, pearled 18k white gold minute markers and an 18k gold Maltese cross, the brand’s logo, at 12 o’clock. The date/day retrograde arcs at top and bottom are marked by skeletonised blued steel hands.
Case Size: 42.5 mm x 9.7 mm
Case Material: Platinum
Power Reserve: 40 hours
Straps: Blue alligator
Overseas Moonphase Retrograde
This is Vacheron’s first sports watch with a retrograde display, and a very rare example of a retrograde moon phase arc. The moon phases are displayed through a 6 o’clock aperture and also read on a graduated from 0 to 29½, indicating the number of days elapsed since the last new moon. It’s a precision moon phase, requiring a one-day correction only once every 122 years. The retrograde date arc above is subtle, with a blue hand over the background of a blue dial. The watch retains the signature features of the Overseas collection: six-sided bezel evoking the Maltese cross, fluted crown, polished and satin-brushed finishes, translucent lacquered dial, luminescent hour-markers and hands. it is Geneva Hallmark certified.
Case Size: 41 mm x 10.48 mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Power Reserve: 40 hours
Straps: Stainless steel; calfskin leather; blue rubber
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS
Van Cleef & Arpels Planetarium Automaton
One of Van Cleef’s introductions for 2023 is a universe unto itself. Following on the groundwork laid by its Planetarium watches, introduced in 2014, and a massive automaton clock unveiled at Watches and Wonders last year, is a new edition of the Planetarium Automoton clock that offers a new combination of materials. This version is complemented with a black Aventurine glass dial, which helps to make the sparkling sun at the center and the seven planets that revolve around it look like they’re floating in outer space. It’s even accompanied by a special melody created in partnership with Swiss musician Michel Tirabosco.
Dimensions: 50 cm x 66.5 cm
Power Reserve: 15 days
Movement: Automaton and mechanical movements including a planétarium and 11 other modules such as hour/minute display, perpetual calendar
Van Cleef & Arpels Floraison du Nénuphar Automaton
This is the first of two unique automaton clocks Van Cleef & Arpels dedicated to nature and created with the help of the Francois Junod workshop. On command, they both open their floral crowns and reveal a butterfly hidden within the petals of the blooom atop the piece. This model, the Floraison du Nénuphar, hides its butterfly completely inside its lotus-like flowers. Once it opens, the butterfly appears to hover, and flaps its wings in a natural motion for a few seconds before returning to the interior of the flower, which closes around it to complete the spectacle. It tells time with a ring on the outside of the base of the clock, around which a winged figure revolves to mark the time.
Dimensions: 27 cm x 21.5 cm
Power Reserve: 8 days
Movement: Automaton and mechanical movements
Van Cleef & Arpels Éveil du Cyclamen Automata
This clock’s animation is similar, but the flowers that surround the butterfly reveal a little more than its fellow new debut. At the touch of the button, their stems fall away and allow the enamel-painted insect inside to float above the petals momentarily, where it also flaps its wings before disappearing inside the pink enamel petals once more.
Dimensions: 27 cm x 21.5 cm
Power Reserve: 8 days
Movement: Automaton and mechanical movements
Perlée
Van Cleef & Arpels relaunched its Perlée collection last year with a new motif: beaded gold. It resembles the art of granulation, in which gold balls soldered onto a gold surface, but on the Perlée collection the effect is cast, so the row of beads is already solidly attached to the surface of the gold and then finished and polished by hand. Five new models in this delicately feminine collection (four with a 23mm case and one with a 30mm case) have decorative dials of pavé-set diamonds, guillochérose gold or guilloché mother-of pearl. Each comes with an interchangeable alligator strap along with second option from the collection. There is also a jewelry bracelet, composed of articulated gold beads.
Case Size: 23 mm or 30 mm
Case Material: 18k white or rose gold
Movement: quartz
Straps: Alligator or 18k gold bracelet
Precious Dance
Van Cleef takes the gold beaded motif to yet another level with this series of six pendant watches. The locket-like pendants are like small pocket watches, with gem-set cases that swivel open to reveal the time. Three are set with the big three precious gems: either sapphire, ruby or emeralds, in either rose or yellow gold, with matching gold chains. The cases of three others are set with ornamental stones. Bezels are ringed with diamonds and the dials are mother-of-pearl.
Case Material: 18k gold
Movement: quartz
Straps: 18k gold chain
Ludo Secret and Hexagone Macaron Secret
The Ludo bracelet, with its tightly worked mesh-like links, is a signature Van Cleef & Arpels creation, first introduced in 1934, nearly a century ago. The flexible, brick-pattern meshwork culminates in a belt-buckle-like motif that is set with either diamonds or pink sapphires, which makes for an outstandingly creative dial surround. The Ludo Hexagone Macaron secret watch, inspired by an archival creation from 1941, has a cover entirely blanketed with mystery set emeralds. It is surrounded by arcs of large, prong-set diamonds set claw-style for intense light return. Emeralds are also set into the bracelet links for a final, elegantly assertive touch.
Case Material: 18k gold
Movement: quartz
Straps: 18k gold
Lady Féerie Rose
The magical, mysterious, enchanting fairy is a signature motif for Van Cleef & Arpels, and the Maison never seems to run out of ways to interpret the delicate sprite – often in the service of poetic complications. Here, she is interpreted in shades of pink in the form of translucent plique-à-jour and opaque enamel, along with pink sapphires. She points her magic wand to numerals on a retrograde arc to read the minutes, while the hours appear in a mother-of-pearl jump-hour window that appears to emerge from the white enamel clouds on which the fairy is poised. Her wings, head and body are formed with diamonds, which are also set into the bezel.
Case size: 33 mm
Case Material: 18-karat rose gold
Movement: Self-winding mechanical
Straps: Alligator
ZENITH
Zenith Pilot Automatic
While you may more readily associate the pilot’s watch with Swiss brands such as IWC and German marques like Laco, Zenith has a longstanding history in the vertical that runs more than skin deep: It was way back in 1888 that the maison first filed a trademark for the French term “Pilote”—and subsequently, the English term “Pilot”—to be used on watches designed for those who would brave the skies. This year’s Pilot Automatic, then, represents a brand new, thoroughly contemporary chapter in the firm’s pilot’s watch saga: Measuring 40mm in stainless steel or black ceramic, it’s an exercise in the marriage of vintage-inspired tropes with modern watchmaking.
Both versions of the Pilot automatic feature rounded cases topped by flat-top, rounded bezels; the steel version boasts vertically satin-brushed surfaces and polished chamfers, while the black version is microblasted. Both likewise feature a modern take on the oversized “onion” crown of vintage pilot’s watches, which remains easy to manipulate—even with gloves on—and is devoid of crown guards. With its black opaline dial executed in horizontal grooves to echo the look of a vintage, corrugated metal plane, the Pilot Automatic still features large Arabic indices, an outer, white minute track, and a highly legible sword handset—echoes of classic pilot’s watches of years past.
Powered by the automatic Zenith El Primero 3620 movement with high-beat, 5Hz frequency and 60-hour power reserve, the watch comes paired with two straps: a black Cordura-effect rubber strap and a khaki Cordura-effect strap. Both feature triple-folding clasps with black PVD coating.
Case Size: 40 mm
Movement: Zenith El Primero 3620 Automatic
Power Reserve: 60 hours
Zenith Pilot Big Date Flyback
Reserved and utilitarian as the Zenith Pilot Automatic is, Zenith must have felt there was room to riff on its revamped pilot’s watch collection and add a touch of je ne sais quois—which is precisely what the maison did when designing its Pilot Big Date Flyback. The name gives it all away: This awesome, modern take on the pilot’s watch trope includes an outsize date function, plus a chronograph with a flyback complication. Best of all: it doesn’t quite look like anything else on the market.
Measuring 42.5mm in black microblasted ceramic or stainless steel, it puts Zenith’s decades of chronograph-making expertise front and center by incorporating the El Primero 3600 movement, which has been modified specifically for these new references into the Caliber 3652. Automatically wound and beating at 5Hz, it powers an outsize date above 6 o’clock on the dial, as well as a flyback function, which allows the chronograph seconds hand to be reset to zero and re-engaged without a series of time-sucking button presses. And while the ceramic version is its own animal, the steel version pays tribute to the “Rainbow Flyback” chronograph from 1997, which was the brand’s first El Primera-based flyback model.
Case Size: 42.5 mm
Movement: Zenith El Primero 3652 Automatic
Power Reserve: 60 hours
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Show Stoppers
The Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance—a beauty pageant for priceless classic cars—returns for another instalment at the city’s most intriguing, and unlikeliest, venue.
The logic behind staging a prestige automobile show on an island may, at face value, seem warped—history tells us that cars and water do not play nicely. The rationale twists further when said piece of land is a former shipyard that is, aesthetically, more workhorse ute than classic Ferrari.
Scratch beneath the surface, however, and the decision to plant the Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance on Cockatoo Island for the second year running begins to make locational sense: the steel arch of the emblematic bridge acting as photogenic backcloth; the UNESCO World Heritage site’s previous guises as 19th-century penal colony and eminent boat-building facility fleshing the show’s historical bones; the theatre of watching collectors delicately coaxing their four-wheeled artworks off a rusty roll-on/roll-off barge in the islet’s wharf before showtime. (After all, if owning a car in this stratosphere isn’t about projecting drama, then what’s the point?)
Throw in an endless endowment of free Champagne for guests and VIP transport from the mainland via superyacht, and it barely matters that the three-day jamboree is, in the words of founder and curator James Nicholls, “a logistical nightmare”.
“People love the energy, the adventure” says the Anglo-Italian, a broadcaster, writer and photographer whose extensive resume includes various stints as a concours judge across the world. “There’s a great contrast between the luxurious motor cars and the industrial environment. The Turbine Shop [a timeworn, hanger-like space used to display the vehicles] is where ocean-going liners and propellers were built. People interested in cars are also interested in that kind of thing but it’s just a backdrop. Cars are the main focal point.”
The concours d’elegance concept (“concours” means “competition” in French) can be traced back to 17th-century Paris, when aristocrats would flaunt horse-drawn carriages in local parks during summer months. Animals eventually gave way to automobiles, and the gatherings mutated into more organised contests in which these new-fangled contraptions were, in somewhat prescient fashion, judged solely on the appearance. The trend spread throughout European high society, before reaching America in 1950 with an inaugural pageant at Pebble Beach, California—a concours which has since evolved into a behemoth of the species, now billing itself as “the world’s most prestigious car show” and drawing 214 vehicles and spectators in the low five figures at the last annual meeting. Other concours are thriving globally, from spectacles in Lake Como in Italy (the longest running event, launched in 1929) to Udaipur in India. Vanity, it seems, remains in vogue.
Among this storied company, Sydney’s interpretation is playing catch-up. But Nicholls insists the local variant—launched in 2019, having occupied three other citywide locations—has no intention of locking horns with competitors. Not numerically, at least.
“In 2024, we had 500 people over the three days; this year we’ll aim for 750. But we’re never going to become a 20,000-people show,” he says. “We want it to be bespoke and beautiful, so people don’t have to queue for a glass of Champagne. You can talk to the car owners, and everyone feels like a VIP.” The overarching aim is to become a “destination event” on the socialite calendar, on par with the Melbourne Cup or the Australian Grand Prix.
While keen to keep paying visitors guessing, Nicholls offers Robb Report a sneak peek into some of the 44 objets booked to occupy the coarse, exposed-brick viewing hall, ranging from turn-of-the-century rarities to modern-day exotics: a 1905 Eugène Brillié 20/24 HP Coupé Chauffeur, believed to be the only one of its ilk left; a 1955 Porsche Speedster 356 “Pre A”, examples of which are valued in excess of $750,000; a Lamborghini Miura 3400, a model famed for its starring role in the opening sequence to 1969’s The Italian Job movie; a 2021 Audi R8 Spyder, an iteration that is no longer being produced and thus quietly accruing kudos.
Up to seven “classes” will be open, including categories solely for Porsche Speedsters and pre-war Australian coachbuilt cars. Two 1930s Bugattis are slated for appearance, one of which is, as this article is being written, on a boat somewhere, on its way to Australia. A panel of seven judges, led by the first ever female concours head assessor, who also adjudicated in 2024, will select the overall “Best in Show” winner—scored last time out by a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM, a model line with a $24 million price tag attached. And in a progressive play designed to lure the oil-shunning generation, an “electric elegance” section will debut. Nicholls estimates the combined value of all this precious metal at around $80 million.
While it would provoke an illicit thrill to discover that frenzied super-collectors were slyly puncturing rivals’ tyres or keying priceless bodywork—skulduggery has plagued other pageants, from dog show Crufts (canine poisoning) to Miss World (rigging allegations)—the entrants are, in keeping with the show’s refined, English-garden-party profile—a gentlemanly bunch. To a point. “They like meeting up, the community that’s here, but they do get competitive,” says Mark Ussher, the Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance managing director, and on-the-ground organiser. “They care about their cars but they’re investors as well as collectors. If they win a concours anywhere around the world it adds value to the car.”
Which makes it doubly important that, surrounded by all that deep Harbour water, everyone remembers to put their handbrake on.
The Sydney Harbour Concours D’Elegance runs from February 28th-March 2nd 2025; sydneyharbourconcours.com.au
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We Cherrypicked the Best Elements of Luxury Resorts to Create the Ultimate Fantasy Hotel
Everyone has a favourite hotel—but what if you could create your own? We envision the ultimate place to stay, combining elements of the world’s most noteworthy openings.
Forget fantasy football—what about a heavenly hotel? Imagine you could create one from scratch, cherrypicking the best aspects of the world’s most noteworthy recent openings and reopenings, combined into the perfect, impossible property. That’s what we’ve done, from the best rooftop restaurant for supper to the only beach club where’s it’s truly worth basking in the sun, this is the world’s ultimate hotel. The only thing we can’t arrange: the chance to check in.
FACADE Capella Sydney
Australia
It took seven years to turn this local landmark—the building once housed the departments of education and agriculture—into a luxury hotel. A honey-coloured jewel in a precinct awash with appealing sandstone facades, its crowning glory, literally, is the gleaming, four-storey glass addition that perches atop the structure like an architectural tiara.
SUITES
The Surrey, a Corinthia Hotel
New York City
After a full reimagining by Martin Brudnizki and its new operators, Malta-based Corinthia Hotels, this Upper East Side stalwart’s signature suites now include a quartet inspired by Central Park bridges. Mouldings nod to the structures’ architectural details, while hand-painted sketches inside the grandes armoires evoke the Ramble-adjacent Bow Bridge.
RESTAURANT
Le Rooftop at Royal Mansour Casablanca
Morocco
Relax on the 23rd floor of this Art Deco-inflected skyscraper hotel and you’ll not only enjoy astonishing views over the water and toward the towering Hassan II Mosque, but you’ll also find yourself rubbing elbows with the coolest crowd in the city. Snag a sofa on the terrace before sundown and linger all evening.
LOBBY
Peninsula London
England
Hong Kong’s Peninsula hotels are renowned for their fleet of high-end classic cars—a personal passion of billionaire owner Sir Michael Kadoorie. No wonder he struck a deal with Surrey’s Brooklands Museum for his latest opening in London: not only is the Claude Bosi-operated restaurant named in its honour, but the institution also makes available a rotating selection of outstanding vintage vehicles—most recently, a Bentley Blower and a Napier-Railton—for display in the eatery’s dedicated lobby, close to the Concorde nose installed overhead, sourced from Kadoorie’s personal collection.
BEACH CLUB
Borgo Santandrea
Italy
The dearth of standout beaches is the Amalfi Coast’s dirty secret, so this is a remarkable asset: walk down through the terraced, lemon-tree-filled gardens of this Gio Ponti-inspired hotel bolted to the steep cliffs by Conca dei Marini, and you’ll stumble upon its own beach club attached to the property. The restaurant sits in a renovated boathouse; feel free to snip some herbs from the mismatched pots filled with sage and basil.
SPA
Meritage Resort and Spa
Napa Valley
The naturally formed 2,044 m² Estate Cave, located 12 m underground, was already spectacular—its extensive menu of treatments includes both cave-stone massage and guided breathing and meditation sessions—but the $37 million rehab of this establishment thankfully doubled the size of the adults- only pool in front of Spa Terra.
POOL
One&Only Za’abeel Dubai
UAE
This gravity-defying infinity pool, sitting atop the cantilevered link between the hotel’s two towers, has a clubby vibe, swim-up bars and sunken seating pods—and the fact that it’s Instagram catnip doesn’t hurt either.
Photos by ADRIAN GAUT; BORGO SANTANDREA; PENINSULA LONDON; WILL PRYCE.
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17/01/2025
Hole In One
The Citizen Kanebridge VHG Golf Open Returns to The Southern Highlands This February.
The third annual Citizen Kanebridge VHG Golf Open Day is happening again this year at Citizen Kanebridge Lodge in the Southern Highlands on Friday, February 21. Players will tee off from 8 am for a day of unrivalled bucolic hospitality in the spirit of friendly competition.
The Open unites forces with the operators of Mount Broughton in Sutton Forrest to stage the popular day, in which teams of four enter to enjoy 18 holes of unadulterated fun.
Players will meet at the clubhouse, where—golf aside—they will be served breakfast, lunch and liquid refreshments throughout the day before heading back to Citizen Kanebridge Lodge for a special dinner, fun awards ceremony and more drinks.
Located just 10 minutes from the Citizen Kanebridge Lodge in Berrima, the stunning Mount Broughton course gives players—male and female, and ranging from amateur to semi professional—the chance to compete in a golf day with plenty of high-jinks and food along with way.
The event is part of the new offering from Citizen Kanebridge, a private membership club based in Sydney. Citizen Kanebridge allows members to have access to the Robb Report Club(RR1) based in the United States of America, Citizen Kanebridge Lodge in the Southern Highlands of NSW, and The Royal Automobile Club of Australia (RACA) in Circular Quay, Sydney.
Members interested in Golf Open Day, may enquire by reaching out to leanne@citizenkanebridge.com.au. For more information on Golf Open day, you can download the information brochure here.
Love golf? jump to our golf connoisseurship package from the Spring 2024 issue of Robb Report ANZ.
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17/01/2025
Ace Tennis Apparel
Bring your A-game this summer as you slip onto the centre court in style
Since the 70’s, and the advent of the professional circuit and tennis coverage on TV, players have recognised the value of looking distinctive and acting distinctively to attract an audience and sponsors. The male superstars of that era—Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, John Newcombe, Ilie Nastase and Vitas Gerulaitis—dazzled audiences not only with their athleticism and guile but also with their logo-laden plumage. Nastase’s bad-boy Adidas stripes, Borg’s headband and pinstripe Fila top and John Newcombe’s pastels and handlebar moustache were competitive points of difference that were as much a part of their weaponry as their serves. In the intervening decades, on-court apparel has served double fault after double fault and commercial interpretations of those looks have been even more egregious. But if today’s luxury purveyors have anything to do with it, ‘tennis fashion’ may no longer be an oxymoron.
Look and feel your best on the court with Robb Report’s selection of ace tennis apparel.
Gucci ‘Jannik Sinner’ duffle bag; $3,000; Gucci.com
Brunello Cucinelli nylon sweatshirt vest in white or grey $3,043; brunellocucinelli.com
Brunello Cucinelli calf skin leather tennis bag in cream; $12,967; brunellocuccinelli.com
Gucci terry tennis shorts $2,600; gucci.com
Ralph Lauren linen short sleeve shirt in white; $229; ralphlauren.com
Loro Piana logo baseball hat in cream, $1,200; loropiana.com
Brunello Cucinelli grained calfskin and washed suede runners, $2,200; brunellocuccinelli.com
Penhaligon’s Racquets (recently discontinued so buy now), $249; penhaligons.com
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How Perfumer Francis Kurkdjian Learned to Bottle the Zeitgeist
The vaunted French nose has spent 30 years devising best-selling fragrances for the world’s leading luxury brands. Can he work his magic reimagining the world’s best-selling fragrance, Dior Sauvage?
The perfumer dips a tester into one of the tiny glass vials aligned on the desk in front of him. There are dozens of them, with labels identifying various dilutions of compounds such as methyl geranate, phenyl acetate, and akigalawood. He brings the paper to his nose and inhales. “Once in a while, I try to introduce my palette to new ingredients, to see if they’re interesting enough to create something with,” Francis Kurkdjian says. “Most of the time, they’re not.” With that, he tosses the strip into the trash.
To be a perfumer is to be a lifelong learner. Science advances, ingredients run out, regulations governing what you can use (or can’t) change. But Kurkdjian’s high standards and boundless curiosity have helped the 55-year-old become one of the industry’s best-known and most prolific noses, as those in the profession are often called. Since 2021, he has been Dior’s perfume creation director; before that, he cofounded his own house, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, and spent more than 25 years helping other companies articulate their olfactive identities. His hundreds of commissions—Jean-Paul Gaultier’s Le Male, Kenzo World, and Carven Pour Homme among them—have generated many millions of dollars for luxury’s leading lifestyle companies. Along the way, his increasing renown has helped bring perfumers from behind the scenes and into the spotlight.
“It’s a profitable business when you make a name for yourself, without a doubt,” says Robert Burke, CEO of luxury consultancy Taylor/Burke Communications. “In the past, brands oftentimes didn’t talk about who their perfumer was—it used to be a little more like a private label. Now, it’s a selling point.” And selling is the operative word. According to Statista, a sort of Google for market researchers, the global fragrance market will reach nearly $60 billion in revenue in 2024. Last year, LVMH reported that its perfumes and cosmetics division, of which Dior is the biggest player, moved over $8.2 billion worth of products.
In September, Kurkdjian will unveil his most significant project to date, and his first men’s fragrance for Dior: Sauvage Eau Forte. It’s a follow-up to Sauvage, a sensual and uncommonly long-lasting men’s eau de toilette designed in 2015 by Kurkdjian’s predecessor, François Demachy. And the stakes for this new flanker (the industry term for an iteration of a flagship scent) couldn’t be higher. Since 2022, the original Sauvage has been the world’s best-selling fragrance, men’s or women’s, surpassing even longtime champ Chanel No. 5. It’s estimated a bottle of Sauvage is sold every three seconds.
Still, selecting a fragrance is a deeply personal, even emotional, decision. Kurkdjian’s challenge was to make a big tent even bigger by offering a new—but not radically different—vision of something millions of men around the world already wear.
He started the project—where else?—at a desk covered in vials. Though a team of two associate perfumers works just down the hall from his office in Paris, one gets the sense that Kurkdjian prefers solitude. When I later ask one of his friends if Kurkdjian is shy or just French, they respond, “He’s shy. And French. Double whammy.”
But one-on-one, Kurkdjian is supremely self-assured, armed with the type of confidence you expect to see in a surgeon or first responder. “I don’t feel the pressure, to be honest, because I decided not to feel the pressure,” he says, in reference to the various demands of his role, including devising bestsellers, overseeing the other perfumers, managing Dior’s relationship with its flower growers in Grasse (the raw-materials capital of the French fragrance industry), and even training store associates how to express his ideas. “It’s not a job you can handle if you’re afraid, because fear is unproductive.”
Fortunately for Kurkdjian, he comes from brave stock. On both sides of his family are relatives who immigrated to France from the former Ottoman Empire early in the 20th century to avoid political persecution; his maternal great-grandmother and grandmother only narrowly escaped the Armenian genocide.
To instill a sense of pride in their heritage, Kurkdjian’s parents took him and his two siblings to the Armenian Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paris every week. He still attends regularly. “When I’m in my final box, that’s where I’ll go,” Kurkdjian says, with a slight smile at his own gallows humour.
But the family also put a premium on a French sense of personal style and savoir faire. He remembers his mother buying fabric used in past-season Chanel collections to make her own suits. It didn’t hurt that one of her best friends, Françoise, was a petite main who once made dresses in Dior’s couture atelier. After Kurkdjian’s mother died in 2013, Françoise, now 87, became a surrogate aunt—but she has long been a link to the man whose memory Kurkdjian is now tasked with upholding. Because she worked closely with Monsieur Dior himself, Kurkdjian still calls her “whenever I need to fact-check something.”
As a teenager, Kurkdjian stole spritzes of his father’s small selection of classic colognes, which included the fresh, citrusy Dior Eau Sauvage, released in 1966 and unrelated (in the olfactory sense) to the 2015 scent, as well as the suave, vanilla-forward Pour un Homme de Caron. His mother wore perfume in what was then a novel way: different scents for different occasions, seasons, and moods, instead of a single signature. “She was loyal to my father, but she was never loyal to perfumes,” Kurkdjian jokes.
At first, he thought he’d be a ballet dancer—“I wanted to be Nureyev,” he says—but he failed the rigorous entrance exam to the Paris Opera Ballet School. Then, for a time, he thought he could be a couturier, until he came to grips with the fact that he couldn’t draw.
When he was 14, he became fascinated with a collection of perfume samples his sister had put together. A few years later, Kurkdjian saw a magazine article about fragrances that sealed the deal. He remembers feeling jealous of the perfumers on the page and wanted to join their ranks. “I was choosing my life,” he says, before paraphrasing a quote from Jean-Paul Sartre: “‘Choosing not to choose is still choosing.’ And this is, like, almost tattooed in my brain. I don’t know if I always make good decisions, but I make decisions.”
In 1994, two years after Kurkdjian graduated from ISIPCA, a fragrance school in Versailles, the industry was dominated by a small handful of huge companies. Designers in need of new scents would send out requests for proposals, and perfumers would enter a knock-down, drag-out fight to win the bid. Thirty years later, not much has changed.
“They still make perfumers compete against each other, even within the same house,” says Dawn Goldworm, an olfactive expert who has been friends with Kurkdjian for over 20 years. “So at Firmenich, you have a lot of perfumers competing against each other on projects,” she explains, referring to the leading French firm, “but they’re also competing against perfumers at Givaudan, International Flavors & Fragrances, and Takasago. It doesn’t really create a collaborative spirit.”
A chance meeting with the executive who owned Jean-Paul Gaultier’s fragrance license would produce one of the industry’s most consequential partnerships. At the time, Kurkdjian was just 25 years old and had enrolled in a master’s degree program at Paris’s Institute of Luxury Marketing. Gaultier was soliciting bids from the major houses for a new men’s fragrance. His brief was to evoke the seductive side of clean sweat, something Kurkdjian later described as “the idea of sensuality where you want to practically bite into a man’s skin.” The exec gave him three weeks to submit a formula as a sort of training exercise; Kurkdjian had never designed a fragrance outside the classroom. He took the assignment anyway—and won.
His composition used lavender, mint, vanilla, and a hint of cumin to conjure the musky aroma the designer was after—and it beat designs from far more experienced perfumers. Housed in a torso-shaped bottle clad in a striped sailor motif (Gaultier’s idea), Le Male quickly became a sensation, notable for how different it was from other men’s scents on the market, which generally conformed to generic ideas about masculinity: You could smell either clean, like a fraternity pledge getting ready for Friday night (à la Davidoff’s Cool Water or Issey Miyake’s L’eau d’Issey Pour Homme), or powerful, in the vein of an old-money financier (think Creed’s Green Irish Tweed). Le Male was far more nuanced—a little sweet, a little floral, yet undeniably masculine. Released in 1995, it was perfectly positioned for the metrosexual trend of the late ’90s and early aughts, which heralded changing ideas about what it meant to be a man.
“It was a unique combination of the freshness of lavender with the warmth of the vanilla and amber in the base—it was very modern smelling,” says Sebastian Jara, a fragrance consultant in San Francisco. Though Kurkdjian’s initial formula has since spawned 55 flankers, Jara notes that people still wear the original. “It’s one of the icons of the perfume industry,” he says.
Le Male also made Kurkdjian an overnight star in his field. “Most perfumers at 25 don’t have the breadth or the facility to do a global bestseller,” Goldworm says. “Francis is an anomaly, because he’s just brilliant.”
But Kurkdjian learned early that success can come at a cost. In short order, a rumour went around Paris that his formula was selected only because he was sleeping with Gaultier.
“It was not true,” Kurkdjian clarifies, obviously still hurt by the accusation, even if it was partly based on a simple misunderstanding: “Jean-Paul had a boyfriend at the time whose name was the same as mine—Francis.” He believes the rumour stuck because “in France, people don’t like success. Success is always suspicious.”
Though he should have been on top of the world, he began avoiding industry events, socialising only with a tight circle of trusted friends. Even now, decades later and at the height of his powers, the lesson still lingers. Kurkdjian will go as far as to confirm that he’s gay, but he won’t divulge anything else about his romantic life to the press.
His work is another story, and Le Male opened the door to plenty of it. It helped him land a job as a perfumer for Quest, a Dutch-owned company later acquired by Givaudan, where he created a string of best-selling and critically acclaimed bottles: Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea, in 1999; Lancôme’s Miracle Homme, in 2001; Narciso Rodriguez for Her, in 2003. He even devised two scents for Dior’s halo line of fragrances, La Collection Privée, in 2004.
It wasn’t just his early successes that made Kurkdjian stand out. Perfumers are a small community, by some estimates numbering as few as 200 professionals. “Many people use the analogy that there are more astronauts than perfumers,” says Linda G. Levy, president of the Fragrance Foundation, a New York-based trade group.
“There’s a stereotype of who [can be a perfumer], and perhaps a lack of welcoming into the industry,” she says. Though that has begun to change, when Kurkdjian’s star was on the rise, his peers were mostly straight, older men descended from families in or near Grasse whose members had made fragrances for generations. Kurkdjian was a young gay man with no connection to the industry, outperforming the other guys and making it look easy.
One factor has long leveled the playing field: Most perfumers aren’t widely credited for their work. It’s something that seemed unfair to Marc Chaya, a finance and strategy executive who was a partner at Ernst & Young in 2004, the year he met Kurkdjian at a birthday party for a mutual friend. “When I learned that he was the man behind some of these beautiful perfumes that I already had in my collection, I was very intrigued and surprised,” Chaya says.
They became fast friends, quickly learning they had a lot in common: They were both gay and wildly successful; Chaya, who’s Lebanese, saw overlaps in their families’ histories. And they were both hungry to work for themselves instead of making heaps of money for other people. “I guess we met at a time where we were both looking for something, and we found an answer in each other,” Chaya adds.
In 2009, the two formally became business partners, launching Maison Francis Kurkdjian, for which Chaya serves as CEO. From its inception, Chaya ensured Kurkdjian would receive credit for his compositions, because his name would be on every distinctively faceted bottle.
“We know fashion designers by their names, but we know fragrances by the name of the fragrance,” says Lana Todorovich, president and chief merchandising officer at Neiman Marcus, the first retailer to carry the maison’s fragrances in the United States. “They were both on a pretty significant mission to actually bring to light the incredible talent of perfumers.”
Chaya, who stayed with the company after LVMH acquired it in 2017, believes there’s still a way to go. “I’m not sure that many people know who Alberto Morillas is. I’m not sure that many people know who Calice Becker is, or who Jean-Claude Ellena is, or Christine Nagel,” he says, referring, respectively, to the creators of Calvin Klein’s CK One, Dior’s J’adore, Terre d’Hermès, and Jo Malone’s Wood Sage & Sea Salt. “It’s about time we respect what they’ve done.”
Kurkdjian has long compared what he does, especially for other brands, to being an actor. The briefs are like scripts, and exploring a new fragrance’s mood or avatar lets him step into identities he wouldn’t otherwise occupy—say, the modern London gentleman with a classic sense of style (Mr. Burberry) or the off-duty mogul just trying to put his workweek behind him (Armani Mania).
The job gives Kurkdjian a far bigger stage than he ever would have had as a ballet dancer. He calls leading Dior’s fragrance department the role of a lifetime—one he has been able to make entirely his own. “It’s not even work,” he insists.
Still, he takes pains to keep the businesses separate. Some of that is down to confidentiality, but other aspects stem from personal preference. Take flowers, for example. “I don’t put them so much at the forefront in my own house, but at Dior, they’re part of the founding act,” he says, referencing Christian Dior’s love of gardening and his practice of modeling dresses after various blooms. “They’re the DNA of the brand. So at Dior, I love working with flowers.”
He calls the Sauvage franchise “the story of lavender being the core flower of masculine perfume,” which he attributes to its use in traditional British shaving tonics. It’s the shared ingredient among all five iterations of the scent. (In addition to the fresh, citrusy, and woody original eau de toilette, François Demachy, Kurkdjian’s predecessor, made three more concentrated flankers that play up different elements of the flagship.) But if the original is smooth and urbane, Kurkdjian’s Sauvage Eau Forte is both fresher and more complex: a little green, a little peppery, with an earthy undercurrent like a warm breeze rolling through a desert oasis. Dior has leaned heavily into the imagery of water in its marketing for the scent, because Eau Forte uses water as its base instead of alcohol. The result—in addition to its opaque white appearance—is that the initial expression lasts longer than traditional scents, which tend to evolve over the course of the day.
During a span of about 10 months, Kurkdjian created 120 versions of the scent before arriving at the final formula. Though he won’t say which ingredients hit the cutting-room floor, the ultimate makeup includes a “cold spice” accord (it smells of elemi, cardamom, and black pepper), bleached lavender, and musky, woody notes. What he will say is that he rarely steps foot in the lab. He’s old-school, still writing out all his recipes with pencil and paper and handing them off to be mixed by one of his team. (“I am super lazy,” he admits. “And when you are lazy, you need efficiency, because you need things to run fast.”)
It’s one of several charming idiosyncrasies he has developed. He no longer drives because the traffic in Paris has gotten so bad that he can’t safely satisfy his need for speed. Every morning, instead, he’s driven to one of his two offices—Dior or Maison Francis Kurkdjian—around seven o’clock.
He hasn’t worn fragrances since he was in perfume school, where he was taught not to distract his nose from the formula in front of him. Occasionally, he’ll give scents he’s working on a test run or put something on for the odd party. Otherwise, his brain starts to work—and not in the good way. “Like, ‘Is that good enough? You should have done that. Why don’t you try this?’ So it’s not fun.”
He confirms the rumour that his nose is insured, though he won’t say for how much, which is one of many indications as to just how vital his role is to the bottom line. LVMH’s 2023 investor report lists four strategic priorities across its fragrance and beauty business. No. 2 is: “Focus on developing Parfums Christian Dior in harmony with couture.”
“I think it’s telling that that’s how important Christian Dior perfumes are in the entire portfolio of brands,” says Burke, the consultant. “For a brand like Dior, the fragrance category is absolutely key and a significant part of the business.”
So, yes, there’s serious money at stake. But despite the aggressive revenue targets, his ambitious schedule (he’s already working on fragrances for 2026), and the knowledge that thousands of people depend on his success, Kurkdjian tries not to take his work—or himself—too seriously.
“It’s important to put everything in perspective,” he says. “It’s just perfume. We’re not saving lives. We’re trying to make life even more beautiful.”
Scents of Occasion
Francis Kurkdjian is a firm believer in the olfactive wardrobe, the notion that you can be scented 24/7 for a range of moods and purposes. Here’s how five of his notable formulas square with what’s already in your closet.
The Wool Topcoat: Mr. Burberry Eau de Parfum
You might not wear this earthy, spice-laden fragrance year-round, but it’s an indispensable and versatile layer in the fall.
The Oxford-Cloth Button-Down: Maison Francis Kurkdjian Amyris Homme
Rosemary, cedar, and the titular Caribbean shrub combine to create an eau de toilette that’s as crisp and comforting as a clean white shirt.
The Peak-Lapel Tuxedo: Christian Dior La Collection Privée New Look
Kurkdjian’s only Dior project without flowers is filled with soapy aldehydes, amber, and frankincense—the scent of masculine chic, bottled.
The Cashmere Crewneck: Maison Francis Kurkdjian Grand Soir
Soft, warm, and uniquely enveloping, this eau de parfum’s amber-vanilla accord has an alluring edge thanks to notes of resinous benzoin.
The Dressing Gown: Carven Pour Homme Eau de Toilette
A refined and relaxed blend of violet leaf, sandalwood, sage, and vetiver, codesigned with perfumer Patricia Choux.
Hero photo by Tiphaine Caro
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