Baselworld watch fair 2018 is back again and we take a look at some of the new watches being launched this year. Our favourites are definitely the Voutilainen 217QRS, The Czapek et Cie Guilloche, the Ferdinand Berthoud chronometer and the Schwartz Etienne Roswell 08. Though we have to give it to Daniel Strom for the most “out there” watch with the In Memoriam HR Giger.
HARRY WINSTON EMERALD
Harry Winston has a legacy as one of the world’s most important purveyors of diamonds, and the Swatch Group is keeping that heritage alive. Jewelled watches remain an important part of the company, including the new Emerald watch with diamonds, combined with the soft touch of pink sapphire. The Art Deco lines of the eight-sided case, set with 53 brilliant-cut diamonds, are a tribute to the emerald-cut, the favorite diamond shape of Harry Winston, who founded the company in 1932. The emerald shape is repeated on the dial as an outline composed of 44 brilliant cut diamonds set into a background of white mother-of-pearl. The frame is accented by pink sapphires, set at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock and a larger, emerald-cut pink sapphire at the 12 o’clock position. The matching pink satin strap wraps around the wrist twice, reflecting a current trend in ladies’ watches.
Movement
Quartz HW1040
Functions
Hours and minutes
Case
18k white gold, 17.8 mm x 24 mm, set with 53 brilliant-cut diamonds. Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides. Water-resistant to 3 bar (30 m/100ft)
Dial
White mother-of-pearl, 44 brilliant-cut diamonds, 3 brilliant-cut pink sapphires, 1 emerald-cut pink sapphire
Bracelet/strap
Pink satin double tour, 18k white gold pin buckle set with 11 brilliant-cut diamonds
HUBLOT BIG BANG UNICO RED MAGIC
Hublot’s R&D department and Metallurgy & Materials laboratory has developed a new process of creating bright colored ceramic. It took Hublot four years to develop and industrialize the process, which involves using heat and pressure in a way that sinters the ceramic without burning the pigments. This new material is much denser and therefore harder and more resilient than conventional ceramic. It was used to produce every case component of the Big Bang Unico Red Magic, in a color that was chosen to symbolize power, passion and glory. Black highlights include the bridges, pushers and lug screws, which are made of polished titanium and black PVD. There are also black highlights in the red rubber strap. This is a 500-piece edition, with the caseback engraved “LIMITED EDITION” and “No XXX/500.”
Movement
In-house mechanical automatic, Unico HUB 1242 column-wheel chronograph, 330 components, 38 jewels, 28,000 vib/h, 72-hour power reserve
Functions
Hours, minutes, seconds, flyback chronograph, date
Case
Case and bezel of patented red ceramic with a polished finish, 45mm diameter and 15.45mm thickness. Anti-reflective sapphire crystal front and back. Water-resistant to 100 metres (10 bar/330ft)
Dial
Openworked, with indexes, minute and seconds counters, numerals, hands and flange all color-matched to the red ceramic case, in a matt finish. Minute and small seconds counters at 9 and 3 o’clock respectively. Date at 3 o’clock
Bracelet/strap
Black and red lined structured red rubber, with a black PVD titanium folding clasp with black ceramic insert
CHRONOMÉTRIE FERDINAND BERTHOUD CHRONOMÈTRE FB-1R.6-1
The latest Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud watch is inspired by marine chronometers, for which the 18th-century watchmaker is famous. Driven by a fusee-and-chain mechanism, this regulator features an original display of each function, split over the dial. Hours are displayed in an arched window at 2 o’clock, and minutes are shown in a subdial at 12 o’clock. A complicated power reserve display dominates an opening in the space between 8 o’clock and 10 o’clock on the dial. The seconds are directly linked to the 60-second tourbillon, which is featured on the caseback side, along with the mobile-cone power reserve system. The dial is nickel silver that is given a vertical satin-brushed finish and then black rhodium-plated. It is a 20-piece limited edition.
Movement
Hand-wound mechanical Calibre FB-T.FC-R, with a one-minute tourbillon and fusee-and-chain mechanism, equipped with a differential gear that enables the balance wheel to continue oscillating during winding. With a 53-hour power reserve. COSC certified chronometer
Functions
Hours, minutes, seconds, power reserve indicator
Case
Carburised stainless steel, reinforced by a thermo-chemical process involving the diffusion of vapour-phase carbon, for a surface hardness of 1200 Vickers. Carburised stainless steel screw-down caseback with glare-proofed sapphire crystal and two lateral portholes to view the chain-and-fusee mechanism. Diameter 44 mm, thickness 13.95 mm. Water-resistant to 30 metres (3 bar/100ft)
Dial
Black rhodium-plated nickel silver, satin-brushed by hand. “CHRONOMÈTRE VAL-DE-TRAVERS SUISSE” inscription
Bracelet/strap
Rolled-edge, hand-sewn alligator with length-adjustable double-blade titanium folding clasp or pin-buckle on request
