Another year, another show, another successful conclusion to those two weeks in springtime that bring watch and jewellery buyers from every corner of the globe to Basel and Geneva.
From that point of view, 2008 was no different to many other years, but what made it stand out in my memory was that the world at large was supposedly going through a major financial crisis. Rogue traders were losing millions of dollars through reckless investments, banks were being bailed out of trouble by governments or being taken over by the competition and some of their CEOs were being fired with obscenely huge redundancy payments. Amidst this, mortgage loan institutions hit the man in the street as they foreclosed for non-payment. Strangely enough, one of the worst hit places in the world was Las Vegas with one in 75 households being affected.

Rumours v. Results
It wasn’t surprising therefore that rumours were abound prior to the official opening of Basel that the Americans wouldn’t be attending and that several Asian retailers were only going to attend to cancel the orders they’d placed in a buying frenzy after the end-of-year sales.
But unlike Las Vegas, it appears the gamble of attending these shows paid off: at BaselWorld with its 2,087 exhibitors, there were 106,800 visitors – an increase of 5 percent over last year – and at the SIHH, with its 16 exhibitors, there were 14,000 visitors, an increase of 8 percent over 2007.
Jacques Duchêne, President of the Exhibitors Committee at BaselWorld, said: “2008 has been an excellent year. The Show has gone very well and we are extremely satisfied. It proves how high-quality luxury products are always in great demand.”
The President of the Swiss Exhibitors Com-mit-tee, François Thiébaud, stated: “Anyone who believed the reports of economic doom and gloom ahead of the Show has been misled: it may have been cold outside, but the sun certainly shone in the halls.”
Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublot, (recently taken over by the LVMH Group) claimed the Show was “Fantastic!” and was happy with the volume of orders. TAG Heuer too, via their International Communication Director Françoise Bezzola, said that the volume of orders had far exceeded expectations. Which leads one to believe that there had been doubts in people’s minds as to this year’s sales. At the SIHH, where sales figures are as difficult to unearth as that elusive pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, we were informed that the volume of orders reflected the thriving ‘Fine Watch’ sector – whatever that means. But we can assume that business was good.

The roving begins
As Europa Star’s Roving Editor, I did exactly that. But this year I had a mere four and a half days at BaselWorld to unearth all the goodies that I needed to write my article. Needless to say, with 353 watch brands exhibiting it was a daunting task that lay before me, so I abandoned my tie, put on those walking shoes and began to rove.

Paul Picot
My first port of call was Paul Picot. Eric Oppliger, the Managing Director and guiding light of the brand, welcomed me in his usual convivial manner and gave me a personal viewing of their latest creations. Concentrat-ing on three major collections Technograph, C-Type and Atelier, Paul Picot has moved up-market and concentrates on producing high-quality timepieces that are 100% Swiss Made. The new powerful looking 48mm Titanium C-Type Chronograph is a perfect example: the titanium and 18 carat rose gold model is an eye-catching combination of black and gold with its bold Arabic numerals on both the bezel and dial. It is equipped with a base Valjoux 7753 self-winding chronograph movement, with two superimposed dials with luminescent numerals and indexes. The upper dial is made of carbon and the lower dial is guilloché. With its screw-down crown and pushers, black rubber strap and anti-reflecting sapphire crystal, the watch is the perfect tool for those aficionados looking to dive to 300 metres and for landlubbers it makes a powerful sartorial statement. The rose-gold version is in a Limited Edition of just 200 pieces, but for those not lucky enough to obtain one, there is a titanium version with a black bezel and a titanium model with a silver-plated bezel, both at less than half the price of the gold model.
There were two surprises concerning the Technograph. The first was that Inter Milan has chosen to celebrate its 100th anniversary as a football club by having special models of the Technograph made in stainless steel, 18 carat rose or white gold with the club’s logo nicely embossed on the dial. Using the self-winding Valjoux 7750 Calibre chronograph movement, the Technograph displays hours, minutes, seconds and date and has a domed sapphire crystal. Water-resistant to 100 metres it is completed by a leather crocodile strap.
The other surprise is the Technograph Wild model. With the same movement as the other Technographs, this model is the result of some lengthy research and boasts a genuine inno-vation: a dial of genuine slate. Slate is a particularly difficult material to use since it is brittle and doesn’t lend itself to being cut and shaped. However, after a couple of years of trial and error a solution was found to make the necessary incisions for the date aperture and the chronograph counters. The result is a stunning effect of a matt grey textured slate dial contrasting elegantly with a highly polished stainless steel case. As one of the first watches I’d seen at the show, it became my benchmark with which to measure other brands’ new models.

Chopard
This year, I managed to get into the Chopard Press Conference and I wasn’t disappointed. The brand is now manufacturing 75,000 watches a year and is aiming to produce 10,000 of its own movements at its Fleurier manufacture by 2011.
The handsome new L.U.C Chrono One Flyback is its first ‘manufacture’ chronograph and with its 12-hour and 30-minute counters at 9 and 3 o’clock respectively, small seconds at 6 o’clock and a date aperture between 4 and 5 o’clock, it is an elegant, but classical edition to the brand’s collection. However, the L.U.C Tourbillon Steel Wings is a sight to behold. With its open-worked dial the tourbillon carrying the blued steel seconds hand is the main feature, although the hour circle in gold somehow manages to highlight the other technical features such as the power-reserve indicator and the Côtes de Genève decoration. There are also two new Mille Miglia 2008 models: the GT XL Chrono Speed Black and the GT XL GMT both at 44mm.
Renowned perhaps above all for its ladies’ watches and jewellery, there’s a new Happy Sport Mark II Chrono All Black with diamonds either on the bezel or famously scuttling around the dial. A magnificent Jewellery Watch in 18 carat white gold set with trapeze-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds totalling some 24.18 carats with a luscious white gold curvex bracelet set with 80 square-cut and 290 round diamonds. However, the eye-catcher in the ladies’ collections is the Xtravaganza Watch in white gold with a spiralling bezel and oval dial both set with a multitude of diamonds (4.19 carats) and completed by an elegant satin strap with a diamond-set buckle. The watch is equipped with a quartz movement and is water-resistant to 30 metres, although you’d have to be a little crazy to go scuba diving wearing it.

Longines
BaselWorld wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t get a few minutes with Walter von Känel, the good-humoured, larger than life President of Longines which this year was over coffee and a croissant in the Swatch café accompanied by Daphné Stauffer, the brand’s International PR Manager. After the usual pleasantries, von Känel, accompanied by his inevitable note pad and pen, began by writing: 08 = Consolidation. He explained that there were too many new elements in 2007 despite the fact that it was an extraordinary year for Longines. The brand was now concentrating on consolidating their watches in their three main collections: the Longines Sport, Master and Les Elégantes.
First on the list was the Longines Master Collection Retrograde in stainless steel. There are two models, one with three retrograde functions – day, date and second time zone on a 24-hour scale, and one with four retrograde functions – day, date, seconds and second time zone. Both are equipped with self-winding mechanical movements (L697 and L698) that were specially created for Longines by ETA and have a power-reserve of 46 hours and are water-resistant to 30 metres. The models come in two sizes: 41 and 44mms.
My personal favourites, however, are the models in 18 carat rose gold. With the same features mentioned above, the gold versions give the watches a gloriously harmonious retro look that gives added value to their superb technical features. The dials are in stamped silver-finished ‘barleycorn’ and the blued steel hands make readings simple. Completed with sapphire crystal casebacks, dark brown alligator straps and water-resist-ance to 30 metres, these timepieces will remain classics amongst the classics.
In the Sport Collection, there is a new Conquest Ceramic series that must be mentioned and in particular the black chronograph version. The watch and basis of the bracelet are in stainless steel, however the bezel and the central links on the bracelet are in black ceramic. Equipped with a Valjoux 7750 self-winding mechanical movement with a 46-hour power reserve, the watch has a black lacquered dial with two chronograph counters – 30-minute at 12 o’clock and 12-hour at 6 o’clock with a central seconds hand – and a small seconds counter at 9 o’clock with a date aperture at 3 o’clock. And to ensure it is quite suitable for sports, it is water-resistant to 300 metres. There are other 3-hand models in white or grey ceramic with dates that are very pleasing on the eye.
As is now the custom, three new Limited Edition (20 of each model) Art Deco watches drawn on models from 1917-18 were launched. In 18 carat white gold and set with Top Wesselton WS diamonds, the cases are engraved with floral motifs and equipped with a Calibre L805 hand-wound mechanical movement with a 28-hour power reserve. Completed with scratch-resistant sapphire crystals and white satin straps Les Elégantes will grace the wrists of but a few lucky ladies.

De Grisogono
Just after 4 o’clock on Press Day there was a major ‘happening’ on the first floor of Hall 1: the inauguration of the new De Grisogono booth – and what an event it turned out to be. Opened officially by Sophie Ritter, Show Director BaselWorld, the 560 m2 booth was designed around the company’s symbol and the black diamond made famous by Fawaz Gruosi’s use of it. In a tribute to the once derided gemstone, the façade of the booth was chamfered and embellished with 960 tiny incandescent lights evoking black diamonds inset with white diamonds.
A rounded glass staircase decorated with imitation wrought ironwork led to the upper floor boasting offices and a VIP lounge and directly behind the staircase there was a glittering cascade of water. The lower floor was made up of a central section where all the watches and jewellery were in elegant display drawers and set around these, a dozen or so niches for customers. Needless to say, the booth was a flurry of activity throughout the fair and getting a hands-on presentation of the watches by Jasmine Gorre-Borai took a superhuman effort of searching and foraging amongst the hundreds of new items on show.
The horological talking point of de Grisogono was the new Meccanico dG. Comprising 651 components, the watch has two distinct time zones, the first in a traditional analogue display and the second, on the lower half of the dial, a digital reading created by a sophisticated mechanical mechanism of mobile micro-segments driven by a set of 23 cams. Available in titanium or 18 carat red gold and combinations of the two, the rectangular watch is a hefty 56 x 48mm. Completed by a sapphire crystal caseback that reveals some of the complex black-finished movement, the Meccanico dG comes in Limited editions of 177 pieces.
Another watchmaking feat was the OtturatOre. This complex timepiece displays on demand seconds, moon phases, and a power reserve, achieved by a unique system whereby a sequential display selector and a mobile bi-directional dial allows the wearer to choose whichever of these indications he wishes to observe whilst obscuring the others from view. The selector functions by pressing a pair of mechanical pushpieces and in a few milliseconds it actions fifteen functions. This groundbreaking technology uses a De Grisogono/ Soprod 9015 movement with a 44-hour power reserve. All in all, a remarkable piece of watchmaking that underlines Fawaz Gruosi’s philos-ophy of creating timepieces that are not only a pleasure to look at, but also highlight the complex art of modern timekeeping. An imaginative round jewellery pendant watch decorated with diamonds and worn around the neck on a long 18 carat gold chain, a folding Desk Clock and Travel Clock, along with several new versions of standard models such as the Instrumento Small pavé made up De Grisogono’s sensational 2008 presentation.

Delma & Delbana
The Delma and Delbana brands have existed since 1924 and 1933 respectively and during that time established their credentials as producers of quality watches at affordable prices. However, Fred Leibundgut of Delma and Daniel Kessler of Delbana (both brands come under the Delma Watch Group), have injected new life, creativity and enthusiasm into their products.
Fred Leibundgut presented the new Delma Castello Chronograph and Castello Automatic watches and the Lady D Rectangular. The Lady D is a very contemporary, elegant watch in either stainless steel or rose gold-plated versions – set with or without full-cut diamonds. As Fred explains, “The new collection reflects Delma’s rich watch tradition and our constant quest for elegance. With the expanded Lady D line, we are defining another benchmark in elegance.”
As for the Castello Collection, he sees it as both a challenge and an opportunity to strengthen the brand’s market position. “We want to achieve a higher profile and we have invested accordingly in the design of our new products. With this in mind, we have given our timepieces a more succinct look.”
The Castello Automatic Chronograph achieves this with its stainless steel case and black PVD bezel. The watch uses a Valjoux 7750 day-date movement with Côtes de Genève decoration, pearled bridges and a power reserve of 45 hours. The watch is water-resistant to 50 metres and retails reasonably at just over 2,000 Swiss francs.
Delbana launched three new watches that will “… appeal to a young, stylish audience,” Daniel Kessler says. Counting on the fashion-conscious ladies to associate with the evocative names such as Malaga, Ibiza and Dakar, Delbana’s signature models underscore the brand’s design philosophy and what it terms as ‘fashionable sophistication’.
Their new Melbourne sports chronograph on the other hand has a more robust appearance with a dominant bezel with minute gradu-ations. Fitted with a Ronda quartz chronograph movement, the stainless steel or rose or yellow gold-plated bezel contrasts agreeably with the rubber strap. Delbana watches range in price from 150 to 350 Swiss francs.

Eberhard & Co.
For some unfathomable reason, I hadn’t visited Eberhard & Co. since the brand first introduced the Chrono4 eight years ago, so I decided to right that wrong. I was greeted warmly by Mario Peserico, the brand’s General Manager, and given a hands-on look at the latest collection. I wasn’t disappointed.
Firstly, I was shown the new Chrono4 Grand Taille (43mm). That’s the one where the four counters sit in a row between 4 and 8 o’clock and read from left to right: minutes, hours, 24 hours and small seconds. Available in either stainless steel or 18 carat red gold with a diameter of 43mm, the chronograph readings are easy to read.
Next came the Extra-Fort Roue à Colonnes Grande Date. A well designed chronograph in 18 carat white gold, the start and stop functions of the watch are operated by the column wheel that prevents the accidental setting to zero whilst timing. The silvered dial has fine guilloché work and there is a sapphire crystal caseback.
Last, but far from least, the 8Days Grande Taille (41mm). Introduced eight years ago, it was the first wristwatch to have an 8-day autonomy via its patented winding element comprising two overlapping springs with a combined length of one and a half metres – as compared to a standard watch spring of around 30 centimetres. Through an opening in the caseback, it’s possible to see the bridge of the large going barrel with its skeleton figure ‘8’ and the long second spring in action. The 8Days is equipped with a hand-wound mechanical E & Co. 896 movement on a base Peseux 7001. There is a power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock, small seconds at 6 o’clock and the stainless steel watch is water-resistant to 30 metres.

Frederique Constant
One of the success stories of recent years is that of Frederique Constant. Founded in 1988 by Peter and Aletta Stas, the brand has successfully developed in both creativity and production. Having enjoyed a particularly healthy development of between 25 to 50 percent annually over the last fifteen years, the brand expects to produce and sell somewhere in the region of 95,000 watches in 2008.
In 1994, we had the launch of the Heart Beat watch, which was intended to give an insight into the mechanical movement. Since then the Heart Beat has become a signature of the brand, a feature that has since been copied and used by many other watch brands.
With the creation of its Heart Beat Manufacture movement and the opening of new production facilities in Plan-les-Ouates, outside Geneva, Frederique Constant launched itself into the rarefied milieu of a ‘manufacture’ and last year, the brand introduced a silicium escapement wheel for its movements resulting in a more precise, trouble-free mechanical watch.
This year, Peter Stas introduced his Manufacture Tourbillon with a silicium escapement wheel. Based on the Heart Beat manufacture Calibre, the tourbillon was developed entirely in-house. The movement is an automatic Calibre FC-980 with a one-minute tourbillon, the cage of which comprises 80 parts and is individually numbered from 1 to 188 for this Limited Edition. The rose gold watch has a silvered dial with Clous de Paris decoration and Roman numerals with hours, minutes, seconds and day/night indications.
The launch of this attractive manufacture timepiece emphasizes the brand’s constant search for both perfection and, most import-antly, production self-sufficiency.

Façonnable
The success of the Façonnable watch collections is due to the perceptive marketing of Michel Benatar, the brand’s Director and designer. He has habitually produced watches that are eye-catching, original, reasonably priced and which always took into consideration the current trends in the fashion world.
As he explains, “Fifteen years ago, ‘fashion’ was a bad word within the watch industry. But over the years we created watches that were very fashionable and, consequently, we were successful. But we always felt the need to explain what we were doing, explain the complexities of our innovations – such as the technical complication of placing a gemstone on the hands of one of our watches, or the fabulous system we have for interchangeable straps.
“But we’ve turned a corner now, we no longer have to explain why a watch is good. Consequently our outlook has changed. We’re now asking ourselves how can we be more international, with models that are longer lasting and that keep selling without too many changes.”
Currently, sales of Façonnable watches are 70 percent men’s and 30 percent ladies watches and of those, 70 percent are sports models and 30 percent are what they term as classics.
Following its success with the LSI in stainless steel and rubber, there is now a LSI Town that maintains its intriguing ‘mattress’ pattern but with a stainless steel bezel, leather strap and elegant satin finish with a mother-of-pearl dial. The Rotunda collection, which is con-sidered ‘classical’ by the brand, now has a Clous de Paris dial with steel platforms fixed by axial rubies, Breguet hands and a Swiss movement with a Big Date at 12 o’clock.
With their ‘longer lasting’ concept in mind, the Faço Lounge has a classic mix of sporty, yet elegant appearance. The square watch comprises and contrasts stainless steel and polycarbonate, with straps in either water-resistant leather or vanilla perfumed rubber and is equipped with a Swiss made ‘Big Date’ movement with small seconds at 6 o’clock. Water-resistant to 50 metres, it comes in two sizes, 46mm for the men’s model and 40mm for the ladies with three finishes – stainless steel, rose-coloured steel, set with diamonds – and three colours, black, brown and white.

Breitling
With its massive aquarium this year full of sea bream as a backdrop, Jean-Paul Girardin, the Vice President of Breitling introduced to me the brand’s latest offerings – which were designed for land, sea and air – and Bentley.
First was the new 49mm Chrono-Matic with its familiar 60s and 70s look but with revised details such as the rotating pinion bezel being of black rubber-moulded steel and a new woven steel bracelet. Next came the redesigned Cockpit and Cockpit Lady models in stainless steel or gold with their bold Roman numerals and the option of gem-set bezels for the ladies.
The Avenger Seawolf Chrono, operational to a depth of 1,000 metres, is a superb piece of technical know-how. Most chronographs cannot be activated while diving, but Breitling has developed a magnetic pushpiece principle that involves controls operated through the metal of the case thus avoiding any direct contact between the pushpiece and the movement. The watch is fitted with a decom-pression valve and in addition to the totalizers, which includes 1/10th of a second, the watch has a special yachting 10-minute countdown graduation for regatta starts.
In their Breitling for Bentley collection there is a new, stunning GMT Chronograph that in addition to its timing functions indicates 24 cities with a second hour hand that rotates once every 24 hours and a central seconds hand that performs one sweep in 30 seconds thus enabling a reading to within 1/8th of a second. Available in either stainless steel or 18 carat red gold and equipped with a Breitling Calibre 47B self-winding movement (COSC certified) this timepiece is a fabulous addition to Breitling’s stable of mechanical timepieces.

Century
One company that always manages to surprise me as to what can be achieved with a block of sapphire is Century. Philip Klingenberg, like his father before him, has a passion – “Creating new watches. I always want something new,” he admits. And this year was no exception. There were four beautiful watches: Prime Time Egos Chronograph GMT Pavé, Mogul, Leela Divya and Poème. Although the latter two are delightful additions to the Century collections it was the Mogul and the diamond-set Prime Time Chronograph that had me oohing and ahing.
The brand’s craftsmen have cut the Mogul with 190 facets and it forms a crown of golden light around the red gold diamond-set watch with its mother-of-pearl dial. Two red gold ‘claws’, each set with 18 diamonds, link the sapphire case frame to a neat white alligator strap.
However, the outstanding creation is the Prime Time Egos Chronograph GMT Pavé. It is a 12-sided sapphire block that houses a red gold case in which there is an automatic COSC-certified chronograph with GMT function. The dial is set with diamonds and the counters are in mother-of-pearl with a date aperture at 3 o’clock. The red gold lugs attaching the watch to the chocolate brown crocodile leather strap are set with 88 diamonds of which 44 are baguettes. The watch is a magnificent feast of creativity and highlights the originality of Century’s watchmaking.

Other success stories
The outstanding success of the BR 01 series of watches by Bell & Ross looks like continu-ing with the Limited Edition manual winding BR 01 Tourbillon Phantom (46mm), an all black model with carbon fibre mainplates and a black gold tourbillon carriage, with a 120-hour power reserve. Additionally, we now have the BR 02 Chronograph (see Europa Star 02/2008) and the exciting Limited Edition BR Instrument Minuteur Tourbillon in pink gold. With a XXL case measuring 44 x 50mm it boasts hours, minutes, small seconds, minuteur with flyback functions (2 graduations – 60 minutes and 10/10th of hours) and 3-day power reserve indicator functions.

Hermès is really making headway into the mechanical watch arena with its Arceau skeleton, the Cape Cod Email Grand Feu and the Clipper Chrono and are now adding some beautiful jewellery pieces – a couple of which are smothered in diamonds. However, a stainless steel watch called H-Hour Oxford with a white dial and white strap with an orange line running through both highlights what can be done with pure lines, simplicity of design and … a quartz movement.
Another brand developing in leaps and bounds is Louis Erard. Under the guiding hand of Alain Spinedi, it has moved from zero production in 2003 when he took over the brand and, against horological opinion, launched it into the middle price range market. Offering quality Swiss mechanical timepieces with both classical and contemporary features at ultra-reasonable prices he has proved to any doubters – and certainly to himself, if he had any doubts – that he was right, since he hopes to attain sales of 17,000 watches this year from his current stock of 20,000 movements that he has available.
With the ‘chocolate’ coloured watches dominating, the Louis Erard watches that I found the most appealing were the 1931 Chrono (44mm) and three models with skeleton dials: 1931 Small Seconds, 1931 Moon Phase and the 1931 GMT Big Date – all of which have a counterpart with a normal dial.
Most people know about the success story of Guess watches. However, last year Sequel AG, a member of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, was founded in Zug Switzerland with the exclusive rights for the distribution of Gc Watches worldwide. Headed up by the glamorous and indefati-gable Cindy Livingston, Gc Watches are Swiss Made timepieces, and to the surprise of many, the brand has leapt into the top ten highest selling Swiss Made watches (unit shipments) in just one year. “We have a major opportunity in the future with Gc Watches,” Cindy Livingston explains, “and we have set our sights on a much higher target. We have an incredible Gc brand team in Paris headed by Virginie Riot-Billet, and her passion for detail and proven eye for the essentials of style, have created a highly successful collection of timepieces.”
The collection is unquestionably eye-catching. For example, there is the powerful looking Gc SE-2, a rectangular chronograph with two counters and date with a ‘chocolate’ dial and leather strap, stainless steel bezel and rose gold PVD crown, pushers and lugs. But the winners have to be the two Diver Chic Ceramic watches – one set with a diamond bezel and the other with pink sapphires. Both have Swiss quartz movements with day and date counters and multi-layer dials. With automatic watches now in the wings, Gc Watches with their attention to style, quality and a highly competitive price ratio, are going to be a horological force to be reckoned with. (See Keith W. Strandberg article ‘Accessible luxury: Gc celebrates 10 years’ in this issue.)
Snow in BaselWorld didn’t have any reference to the weather but to the new IceLink watch collection. Big is beautiful and bling is in as far as this Geneva-based company is concerned. As they state, their watches are ‘Los Angeles Outside – Swiss Inside’. Just take a look at the audacious model in 18 carat white gold with its six carats of VS G-H diamonds and the diamonds floating in the IceFuel© at left centre on the watch. Wear that on a cold winter’s evening and it will warm the cockles of your heart and blind the opposition!

Launched in 2007, Marvin Watches began with an interesting collection of men’s watches with either quartz or mechanical movements in the 600 to 4,000 Swiss franc range. Before this year’s Basel they had distributors in 16 countries and by the end of the fair were additionally covering most of Europe.
With intriguing features on the watches that date back to the origins of the brand (1850) and some relatively unconventional yet contemporary dials combined with the introduction this year of very prominent white leather straps, the collection has taken on a new aspect that should please male aficionados looking for a handsome watch with a difference.
Ebel, Wyler Genève and Bédat & Co. all had new models in keeping with the image they are projecting. Ebel has efficiently returned to its roots with its new Beluga and 1911 collections, Wyler Genève are extending their oversize Chronograph, GMT and Tourbillon timepieces and Bédat & Co introduced a very feminine oval-shaped stainless steel or gold watch with elongated Roman numerals and an automatic ‘round in a cushion’ shaped stainless steel for the male of the species.
Universal Genève, under the guiding hand of Vincent Lapaire, is slowly and surely regaining its horological reputation by producing fascinating mechanical watches that actually make a statement. The new Microtor Cabriolet with its reversible rectangular case and an axis at 12 o’clock is a good example. The dial side has readings for hours, minutes, seconds and a date disc at 6 o’clock with an opening that shows three days with the current date highlighted by a red triangle. Equipped with a proprietary automatic movement Calibre UG 101 with an off-centre micro-oscillator visible when the watch is swivelled through the sapphire crystal caseback, this timepiece will surely become a brand classic.

Keeping international politics out of the watch business is essential and even more so with ‘The Beijing Dream’. This ultra-creative timepiece by Vo!là was conceived by Roger Khemlani, who with his wife Serena, have made their presence felt at BaselWorld the last three years with a series of eye-catching watches that deserve more than a passing glance.
This year, using the award winning ‘bird’s nest’ concept of the new Olympic Stadium in Beijing, the Beijing Dream is a complex interlacing of micro steel mesh that is woven to re-create the stadium. The twelve hour markers are indicative of the exit lanes at the stadium and the 46 brilliant-cut diamonds set on the inner rim illuminate time and supplant the floodlights. With its sapphire crystal and Chinese silk brocade hand stitched on an Italian leather strap, the Beijing Dream was one of the watches at the Fair with the Wow factor. (See Trends Gallery) The big news that Carl F. Bucherer will now produce its own mechanical movements was covered in Europa Star 2/2008, but in ad-dition to the already established Patravi collection coming out with a new brown look (and very handsome the watches are too) and the new Patravi TravelTec FourX, the attention grabber for me was the stunning ladies’ Alacria Royal Limited Edition.
In 18 carat white gold and set with either 36 orange or blue sapphires, or 36 rubies ac-companied by a handful of full-cut diamonds on both the case and dial and the bracelet, this watch is a masterpiece of stone-setting and heralds the brand’s artistic and technical prowess. As Thomas Morf, the brand’s CEO explains, “There is no fast track development into brand development. As a forward-looking company with a contemporary role we have enjoyed a healthy growth since our launch in 2001 and last year we sold 16,000 watches through our 300 points-of-sale around the world. With the majority of our watches designed with men in mind the technical aspects of the watches are important in our continued development – as is the long-life span of the watches.” But he hasn’t forgotten the ladies as is clear with the Alacria models.
Last, but far from least, Maurice Lacroix has devoted much time and energy to creating its Memory 1 – the mechanical watch with a memory. However in the frenzy of its launch, the brand’s other new timepieces got a little overlooked. There’s a Masterpiece Calendrier Rétrograde and a Masterpiece Double Rétrograde in stainless steel – both of which are superbly crafted and typical of the brand’s development of the mechanical masterpiece. The same timepieces are available as a Limited Edition in 18 carat pink gold, equipped with ML 150 and ML 151 Calibre movements.
For the ladies, there is the Starside Collection: Eternal Moon, Magic Seconds and Sparkling Date. All equipped with mechanical movements in stainless steel cases, they are set with 65 diamonds, have lacquered or mother-of-pearl dials amid a satin or stainless steel bracelet. The Eternal Moon model illustrated, has hours, minutes and seconds and date indications with hands, weekday and month indications in apertures at 5 and 7 o’clock and a moon phase indication with disc at 12 o’clock. Wonderfully informative, yet as easy going on the eye as the ladies who’ll be wearing them.

Geneva
After a catnapping train ride from Basel to Geneva and a comfortable night’s sleep in my own bed, SIHH beckoned. With just 16 exhibitors, the ambience is totally different to the hustle and bustle of BaselWorld. Here tranquillity plays a significant role and one has the impression that time is not of the essence – despite it being sold in myriad forms and quantities.
Since my colleagues were also covering the show, I concentrated on just three major brands: Cartier, Montblanc and Van Cleef & Arpels. Needless to say, I did the rounds and have to say that IWC, Parmigiani, Piaget, Panerai, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Audemars Piguet all had mouth-watering new models.

Cartier
The brand that wins my plaudits at the SIHH has to be Cartier. First amongst an embarrassing list of riches comes the Santos Triple 100. It is an extra large and highly innovative 18 carat white gold timepiece in the typical Santos image but with a mechanism in the crown that turns the slats of the dial into three different images: a classic Santos face with Roman numerals; a completely pavé dial set with round diamonds and black sapphires culminating in a chess board configuration; and the pièce de résistance, an engraved tiger’s head. This surprising timepiece is equipped with a Calibre 9610MC hand-wound skeleton movement with a 72-hour power reserve vis-ible through the sapphire crystal caseback.
From the Cirque Animalier de Cartier, three animals were highlighted: a panda, an el-ephant and a tiger. Words are insufficient to explain the silk-like feel of the stone-setting with an abundance of white diamonds, black sapphires, emeralds and yellow diamonds. White, pink and yellow gold, guilloché and enamelling added to the richness of these fascinating watches.
And to finish, there was a 46mm Ballon Bleu Flying Tourbillon that will keep the horological purists happy.

Montblanc
You probably won’t remember Nicolas Rieussec, but he invented the ‘Time writer’ in 1821, an early form of the chronograph. Inspired by his work, Montblanc has created the Star Nicolas Rieussec Monopusher Chrono-graph (43mm) which is equipped with the brand’s first Manufacture movement, the Calibre MBR100, a hand-wound chronograph with twin barrels and a stop balance wheel. The 60-second and 30-minute chronograph counters are situated at 5 and 7 o’clock and cleverly use rotating discs with fixed hands. The monopusher is situated on the case at 8 o’clock and the hours and minutes are on an off-centre dial with a central date hand. There is a 72-hour power reserve via its twin barrels which can be seen through the sapphire crystal caseback. This Limited Edition is available in platinum and 18 carat white, red or yellow gold. A superb timepiece that celebrates Montblanc’s first in-house movement.
The brand proposed two new models in two sizes in the excellent Collection Villeret 1858. The first is a very nostalgic looking Seconde au Centre Retour-à-Zero which is equipped with a manually wound Minerva 13-18 or 16-18 Calibre movement depending on the size (41 and 47mm respectively) and has a return to zero function activated by pulling out the crown. Hours, minutes and large seconds functions on a gold hand-guilloché dial. The second is the Chronographe Email Grand Feu equipped with a Minerva Calibre 13-21 or 16-29 again depending on the size – 41 and 47mm. The chronograph pushbutton is at 2 o’clock and the dial is in gold with Grand Feu champlevé enamelling. The 47mm model comes in 18 carat white gold as a Limited Edition of just 8 pieces and the 41mm version is in 18 carat rose gold and is a Limited edition of 58 pieces.
These new timepieces by Montblanc are clear statements that the brand is, after only ten years of genuine watchmaking activity, going to be a very innovative and competitive manufacturer in what is already a crowded landscape.

Van Cleef & Arpels
Under the banner of Jewellery Watches and Poetic Complications, Van Cleef & Arpels presented a particularly elegant and creative collection of watches – for both ladies and men. For the men, Midnight in Paris (that’s not a perfume) is a round watch in 18 carat rose gold that offers a magnificent dial reproducing the Paris sky that turns imperceptibly over 365 days. On opening the case back cover, surrounded by a piece of meteorite, is a calendar by which you can actually choose the sky on a particular day. Also available in 18 white gold, the watch is equipped with a Swiss mechanical movement. There is also a Midnight Tourbillon Pont des Arts with the tourbillon situated at 12 o’clock and a motif evoking the famous bridge at 6 o’clock.
For the ladies, there was a whole host of beautiful models typical of Van Cleef & Arpels’ DNA: Lady Arpels Jour et Nuit, Bella, Atlantide, Folie des Prés. Particularly attractive is the sumptuous Fleurette model in either a square or rectangular format in 18 carat white gold with a lacquered black dial spectacularly set with brilliant-cut diamonds and a diamond-set floret at both 6 and 12 o’clock. All in all, a feast of imaginative watchmaking that will have brightened the brand’s star in the midst of Richemont’s firmament.

Conclusion
There’s a saying in France that there is no such thing as a bad wine – simply some are better than others. Well, that adage also holds true for the Basel and Geneva Shows.
It was an excellent year, overall perhaps more one of consolidation than breathtaking innovation, nevertheless it was one that seemed to prove the fatalists wrong and underlined the fact that the watch industry and trade is one helluva healthy environment.
To quote Irving Berlin’s song, “There’s no Business like Show Business, like no business I know!”

Source: Europa Star June - July 2008 Magazine Issue