A trend that brought last year’s Geneva Salon haute horlogerie with simpler and more traditional watches definitely was continued this year, when they were overcome with such models. The Swiss watch industry crisis has been overcome as established by numerous models with high complications and sports models. To thin and ultrathin watches are not only Piaget specialty that shows the other brands like A. Lange & Sohne, Cartier, Audemars Pikuet (…) And the Asian market, which has mainly allowed overcoming the crisis, sparked a new trend consequently this year in Geneva after a long time we were able to see the clocks with less body, apparently intended for slightly smaller hands and wrists. Geneva was in full flourish this year, and we’ve selected for you some beautiful models.
Audemars Piguet Millenary Minute Repeater
Audemars Piguet introduced a new Millenary Repeater, the most important complication made of titanium, due to the required acoustic performance of the Repeater and when speaking of the Repeater, it is prominent that it is precisely this brand specializes in making them, because the first Minute Repeater A. Piguet made in 1892. This most recent run with AP’s manually wind caliber 2910, and has a power reserve of up to 165 hours, credit to two large barrel that can be seen through the transparent background of the case. Huge housing of 47 mm is made of light brushed titanium. The clock has features of hours, minutes, seconds and a minute repeater, and goes with the hand sewed belt of crocodile skin but is not waterproof. Especially for those who are already inquiring about this model only note that Millenary will be made in only eight copies.
Cartier De Calibre
Cartier introduced a fresh in-house automatic movement known as 1904-PS MC. It powers the new men’s Calibre de Cartier line. The interest group features twin barrels to provide a steady flow of power to the escapement, and the regulation system allows for fine modification to increase timekeeping accuracy. A stop-seconds system makes possible synchronization to a reference signal. Cartier also paid close consideration to the winding system. Ceramic ball bearings at the center of the rotor make sure excellent shock resistance and durability. Cartier discarded reversers in favor of a pawl system to speed winding, and a bi-directional full-size rotor assures maximum winding efficiency. The movement measures 25.6mm in diameter and 4mm thick and it beats at 28.800 vph. The power set aside is 48 hours. The rotor and upper bridges are finished with traditional Côtes de Genève, and the main plate, that is hidden from view, is circular-grained.
IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Eight Days
The Portofino stands for stylishness and class, but above, for simplicity. Consequently the Portofino has been seen as IWC’s entry-level watch for a long time. This is no longer the case with its Hand-Wound Eight Days that traits an in-house manufactured caliber 59210 movement. We expect that this ref. 5101 of the Portofino collection will be quite wanted after as soon as it’s available. IWC takes a lot of pride in what it does thus the beautiful catalogs it publishes every year. Not too long ago, IWC started moving away from using third-party mechanical movements for this new as it is the caliber 59210 movement that is a perfect example of the watchmaker’s fine in-house craftsmanship.
Piaget Emperador Coussin Tourbillon Automatic
This model is a influential expression of the Piaget genetic heritage: unique capability in the field of ultra-thin watchmaking, joint with a determination to develop consistently innovative and creative complicated calibres. Drawing upon the characteristics of both Piaget Calibre 600P – the world’s thinnest hand-wound tourbillon movement – and Piaget Calibre 1208P – the world’s thinnest self-winding movement prepared with a micro-rotor – Calibre 1270P, Piaget’s first ultra-thin self-winding tourbillon movement measuring just 5.55 mm thick, provides a combination of technical and aesthetic innovations. The new Piaget Emperador Coussin Tourbillon Automatic Ultra-Thin watch features the slimmest profile on the market with a case measuring only 10.4 mm thick. Hence completely in tune with Piaget’s major breakthroughs and innovations that have had a lasting influence on the world of Haute Horlogerie.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso Tribute to 1931
It was only a matter of time before the onset of Jaeger-LeCoultre did a “heritage” version of their already “in the past” Reverso watch. A ageless classic, the Reverso has come in dozens of versions, becoming one of the brand’s most signature timepieces. As the name of this new “Tribute” watch proposed, the original Reverso watch was released in 1931. The idea behind it was actually to be a timepiece that could be worn while playing polo – but that would also be less vulnerable to damage given that watch crystals were made of glass back then. Now In 2011 Jaeger-LeCoultre will release two versions of this Grande Reverso Ultra Thin Tribute to 1931 watch. They will actually be in larger “Grande” Reverso cases being 46mm tall and 27.5mm wide. Thickness is just 7.2mm, which goes with the svelte “Ultra Thin” moniker. The case will actually be available in steel or 18k pink gold. One version will be a limited edition and the other not. The limited edition model will have just rod style hour markers done in gold, while the standard model will have baton hour markers mixed with Arabic numeral at “12″ and “6″ o’clock.
Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph
For 2011 Montblanc will expose a few versions of this Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph Anniversary Edition watch. The dial has many subtle changes to it, and the result is something beautifully refined and extremely high-class in appearance. The dial itself is guilloche machine impressed. The case is about 43mm wide and is available in either 18k rose gold, white gold, or platinum (the platinum version has an 18k white gold crown). Inside the watch Montblanc their uses their MB R110 manually wound movement. This is sort of skeletonized version of the R100. It has the time, a date disc, and a 60 minute monopusher chronograph that has a column wheel and a vertical clutch. It also has a power reserve of about 72 hours. The chronograph discs appear magnificently simple and straight forward, with the skeletonization located between them – revealing parts of the movement workings. Montblanc redid the time dial to enhance legibility. This course sort of inset the date, making it a disc rather than a hand. A small arrow under the “Anniversary Edition” label indicates the accurate date. The original model suffered from a bit of a legibility problem in this area – but this design offers a distinct improvement. The dial still features blued steel hands, and exposed palette synthetic sapphires to add color to the look. The rose gold version will be availablein market as a set of 190 pieces, 90 pieces in white gold, and the platinum model will have only 20 pieces available. Montblanc really ups the worth of the entire Nicolas Rieussec range by having this beautiful version available in the collection Expect prices in the $30,000 – $40,000 range for the gold models, over $50,000 for the platinum model.
