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Ceralume or Purple Rain?

EDITORIAL

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October 2024


Ceralume or Purple Rain?

What these recently developed or reinvented materials have in common – as we explore in our latest issue 5/24 (read it here) – is that they show watchmaking is about more than just vintage reissues. As the nostalgia wave begins to recede, cutting-edge R&D is taking centre stage once more. And it’s about time!

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ome have names as futuristic as their chemical composition: Neoralithe, Superlite X, Super-Myrox, Ceralume, Carbonium, Ceramos or Elux. Others opt for more poetic titles like aqua blue sapphire, Purple Rain or diamond powder.

What these recently developed or reinvented materials have in common – as we explore in our latest issue 5/24 (read it here) – is that they show watchmaking is about more than just vintage reissues. As the nostalgia wave begins to recede, cutting-edge R&D is taking centre stage once more. And it’s about time!

Despite the current financial uncertainty, research laboratories operate on a different timeline from publicly traded companies: what’s short-term for the former is long-term for the latter. Much of the innovation comes from suppliers, who are under renewed pressure to innovate for survival, despite often serving as a ‘pressure valve’ or adjustable variable in the watch brands’ spreadsheets.

We’ll undoubtedly see some brands adopt the proverbial ostrich position: panicking, slashing R&D and marketing budgets, and sabotaging existing contracts with partners and suppliers. This myopic approach will slowly but surely erode their market share, while more established, more astute or less risk-averse players will reap the benefits.

Ceralume or Purple Rain?

As some retreat, others boldly step forward – and for good reason. Take, for instance, the staggering 63 complications in Vacheron Constantin’s Les Cabinotiers – The Berkley Grand Complication watch. With 2,877 components, this wildly ambitious model represents a flood of ingenuity, as Pierre Maillard explains later in this same issue. It took three master watchmakers no fewer than 11 years to achieve this feat. That’s truly a different timescale.

Seeing this timepiece on our cover is like witnessing a new chapter in horological history unfold before our eyes. It’s a narrative that remains impervious to current economic hiccups, because it’s written for eternity.

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