Octo Finissimo Ultra: how Bulgari broke an eighth record
June 2022
The model is only 1.80 mm thick from the caseback to the top of the sapphire crystal – as thin as a 20 cent coin. On the 10th anniversary of the Octo (…)
Sapphire: the quest for transparency
INNOVATION
January 2022
Sapphire, used in watchmaking for almost a century, has become a high-tech material in its synthetic form. In an era of transparency, it is increasingly (…)
Displays: watches in ethereal suspension
INNOVATION
January 2022
The young “promotional magic” company Levita has just won one of the six 2021 Luxury Innovation Awards at the Luxury Innovation Summit held in Geneva at the (…)
Innovation: the lifeblood of watchmaking
REPORT
January 2022
Innovation doesn’t start with a blank page. It’s a historical accumulation – each successive stage building on the ones that came before. In watchmaking, (…)
The CSEM brings life to the dial
INNOVATION
January 2022
The use of a silicon module on the dial makes it possible to imagine a multitude of animations of the watch face. This technology developed in the CSEM (…)
Recycling self-luminous watches
INNOVATION
January 2022
Swiss microtechnology company mb-microtec is the inventor of a self-powered illumination technology called “trigalight”, used in watches. It has set up a (…)
Swatch’s new plastic
INNOVATION
December 2021
In 2020, Swatch began converting its collections to use a new bio-sourced plastic derived from castor oil. This new plastic is also combined with ceramic to (…)
Decoration: a new rainbow PVD
INNOVATION
December 2021
Swiss company Positive Coating has introduced a world first: colour gradients for watch components. A striking demonstration of this innovation can be found (…)
Breguet’s flexible hands: when innovation becomes poetry
REINE DE NAPLES
December 2021
Watch hands are rigid by nature and describe a perfect circle. And so the first watches were quite naturally round and the vast majority of them are still (…)
Silicon: the gateway to the future of mechanical watches?
INNOVATION
December 2021
In autumn 2022, the patent protecting the industrial production of silicon balance springs will enter the public domain. In the view of many players, (…)
Behind the scenes: Omega’s R&D in the 21st century
INNOVATION
December 2021
Co-Axial escapement, silicon balance spring, 18K Sedna gold: while continuing to draw inspiration from the 1950s, Omega has fully revamped both the calibres (…)
Why white platinum will topple rhodium in watches
INNOVATION
December 2021
Historically, ébauches have been rhodium-plated for a very long time. But now that rhodium has become the most expensive metal in the world, a genuine (…)
