Crazy for colour
If there is another watchmaker who is having a fun time, it is Alain Silberstein. This year, he celebrated his 18th year at Basel. Consistently following his own unique style of timekeeping, he gave himself total liberty, while maintaining his fundamental style (identical cases, same colour codes for the hands and pushbuttons). “I lashed out into colour,” he said with a smile at his own boldness. In this regard, Silberstein developed a new type of semi-industrial cloisonné enamel, with a laser treatment base, chemical engraving, applied lacquer and polishing. With it, he can cover his pieces with incredible coloured motifs in the form of ‘noodle style camouflage’. Soft and wavy multi-coloured shapes decorate the pieces of his collection. Fantasy, humour, and graphics combine to offer “watches that tell stories and recite poetry every day,” he explained, as if amazed by his own audacity, while reminding us that in times gone by, the facades of cathedrals were resplendent in lively colours. Then, before our eyes, Silberstein spread out ten or fifteen tourbillons, in a festival of liberated colour…

The ‘City of Haute Horlogerie’
It was on this colourful note that we bid farewell to BaselWorld. From the busy polychrome colours of the fair on the Rhine, we passed into another and radically different world, the SIHH in Geneva. Here it was all about sumptuous uniformity, and the inauguration, this year, of the ‘City of Haute Horlogerie’, as defined by Franco Cologni. An impressive beige décor, this elegant and large ‘city’ covering 24,000 square metres is placed on an orthogonal plan, with a vast avenue drawing a square, flanked by large galleries that house the sixteen stands of the sixteen brands that showcased their products at the SIHH. From the outside, there is nothing to tell one stand from another, except the name of the brand and the watches presented in the small window displays. But, on the inside, each freely expresses its own particular identity.

Strength of the manufactures
We began at Jaeger-LeCoultre for a short visit that ended up lasting nearly two hours. At the centre of its stand, Jaeger-LeCoultre set up a demonstration room showing technicians and watchmakers at work. On a nearby workbench, we discovered the new products of the manufacture, beginning with the Master Compressor Extreme World Chronograph. Jérôme Lambert, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, must be credited with giving the Master a new sparkle. Long identified only with the Reverso collection, Jaeger-LeCoultre was running the risk of becoming a ‘mono-product’ brand. That risk is no more. The Master line has regularly added new and innovative products, culminating in a chronograph with a 24-hour display on a “disc commanded by a two-armed hand that makes one rotation every 24 hours.”
Equipped with the automatic column wheel chronograph movement developed by the brand, the Extreme World Chronograph also comes with a new anti-shock system with an ‘air shock absorber’ that protects the movement from shocks and vibrations. The titanium case is supported on its underside by a bar and above by a bezel that absorbs these vibrations. Finally, besides the new compression pushbuttons that provide total security, the vertical clutch also protects the chronographic functions from perturbations.
Still in the Master series, we discovered an absolutely surprising piece with original audio properties, the Master Minute Repeater Antoine LeCoultre. Let us say for the moment that the mechanical and audio qualities of this timepiece, developed in collaboration with personalities from the musical world, are the fruits of a great deal of mechanical and acoustical research. (Europa Star will return to this very interesting piece in the next issue, 4.05).
Not far from that stand, Audemars Piguet unveiled its latest propositions, grouped into three categories: Royal Oak, of course, Complications, and the continuation of its ‘Women of the World’ operation initiated
in 2004.
The special attention to women is already apparent in the Royal Oak line, which is largely dedicated to feminine timekeepers this year: very finely set cases; the Royal Oak Lady Alinghi and its strong bracelet; a superb dial with a spiral motif or ‘fusion’ linking it to the world of haute couture in the surprising collection Oak Leaves, which pushes the envelope of floral designs integrating diamonds and precious gemstones to cover the case and the dial.
On the men’s side, the Automatic Royal Oak has been delicately modernized with such details as the hands, sapphire crystal, ergonomics, comfort, and security clasp. It is also equipped with a new automatic calibre, the 3120, with its 60 hours of autonomy. Following its adventure with Alinghi, which has become the new ‘Defender’ of the America's Cup, Audemars Piguet also proposes the Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi Polaris, featuring, as its name indicates, a rotating flange to orient oneself as a function of the sun (all you former Boy Scouts would appreciate this). Still, the essential of the watch is elsewhere - in the flyback chronograph adapted to the complex procedure for the start of the America's Cup race. At the first shot, the minute hand in the centre makes the revolution of the dial in ten minutes. At the second shot, the flyback function stops the timing, goes back to zero, and restarts instantaneously. At the third shot, a red disc appears progressively in a window.
Another interesting model from the manufacture is the Dual Time Millenary Maserati. It certainly seems that today’s watchmakers enjoy the car connection. Here, the relationship works well (which we cannot always say about other attempts.) The surprising design with its decentralized three-dimensional dial composed of four pieces with different angles (hours and minutes, second time zone, day/night indicator, date hand), and its car gauge-like power reserve display evoke the famous automobile.




Silberstein, Audemars Piguet



Jaeger-LeCoultre, Lange & Söhne


The hours of the world
A little further on, at A. Lange & Söhne, the big news was the Lange 1 Fuseaux Horaires. The masterpiece of the large German firm, the Lange 1, with its double barrel offering a three-day power reserve, its patented large date, and its very carefully executed movement, was the perfect choice for receiving such a complication. Of course, it is not the first dual time zone watch, far from it, but coming from Lange, we expected a particularly easy and elegant way to use this practical function. And, we were not disappointed. The ingenious mechanism allows the user to choose display priorities on one of the two decentred dials. In other words, if the traveller wants to maintain his home time on the main dial, the adjustment of the second time zone on the smaller dial can be easily made using a pushbutton and a rotational ring. If, on the other hand, the wearer wants to show the local time on the main dial, a simple adjustment with the time zone pushbutton fixes the hour on the secondary dial, while the local time is adjusted on the main dial by simply turning the crown. The large date, linked to the main dial, is automatically synchronized. Finally, a double day/night indicator associated with each of the hour indications prevents the traveller from wandering around in time.

TO BE CONTINUED...
In the forthcoming days, the rest of this lenghty survey will be added to our europastar website.

BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 1
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 2
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 3
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 4
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 5
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 6

Source: April -May 2005 Issue

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