SIHH-2017, Day 4: Da Vinci Code, Complications And Lightest Watches

Quote of the Day -

Patrick Hoffman © Ulysse Nardin Press Office

Patrick Hoffman, CEO of Ulysse Nardin

“We started to deal with the“move”from Basel to Geneva relatively recently. We started talking about the last time we participate in Baselworld in 2016, and from 2017 we will be at SIHH, about a year ago. After so many years in Basel, the move was not so easy for us. And this is not only a new stand, logistics and so on. First of all, these are the "stolen" three months of the production cycle, because the Basel exhibition takes place in the spring, and the Geneva salon in January. It was very difficult to keep up with all the new products, but we did it: three new calibers, 39 new models … and the reaction of retailers and the press to them is very positive. And I like our stand at SIHH better!"

Watch of the day -

Tourbograph Perpetual "Pour le Mérite", A. Lange & Söhne

This is a watch for collectors, and even for collectors A. Lange & Söhne. For those who already have 100, 200 or even 300 in their private collection, like one Japanese admirer of the German brand, A. Lange & Söhne complex watches. Probably, in their collections there are already models "Pour le Mérite" of the past years. Perhaps the first watch with a fusé chain adapted from a pocket to a wrist one (and A. Lange & Söhne were the first in this), created after the brand's revival and presented in 1994 in the very first collection. And the Tourbograph with a fusea from 2005, and the super-aesthetic three-pointer from 2009, and the Richard Lange Tourbillon "Pour le Mérite" from 2011. They are the first to receive the platinum Tourbograph Perpetual “Pour le Mérite” for € 480,000.

This watch with five classic complications (tourbillon, perpetual calendar, fusée, chronograph and split chronograph) can only be assembled by two masters at the Glashütte manufactory (four more are currently being trained). The mechanism, enclosed in a 43 mm case 16.6 mm thick, consists of 682 parts, but, as the company jokes, one of these parts is a fusée, that is, a chain, and there are 638 parts in it.

As the CTO of the company, Anthony de Haas, told us, the founder of the modern brand A. Lange & Söhne Walter Lange personally approved the entire SIHH-2017 collection. Unfortunately for the last time. The second day of this Salon was marked by the sad news of his death.

Collection of the Day -

Da Vinci IWC

“In the updated collection, we return to the round case shape, like the 1985 Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar,” explained the head of the IWC company. Georges Kern. "This transition from a traditional keg to a perfect circle symbolizes our commitment to classic design and perfect proportions." The new Da Vinci in a round case is an attempt to create a watch, if not for every taste, then for every wallet: there are both entry level models and haute horlogerie works (among the latter - a men's perpetual calendar with a chronograph, homage to the same watch of 1985, and interesting tourbillon with retrograde date). There are no such complex watches in the women's part: five models have an automatic movement and three - an indication of the lunar phases. The cases of all ladies' watches with a diameter of 36-37 mm in steel or rose gold are decorated on the back with the engraving “Flower of Life” by Leonardo da Vinci.

IWC is trying its hand at online retail. On the site, you can choose a watch from the latest collection and place a pre-order by filling out the form and specifying the boutique for delivery. There is a real chance to demonstrate the novelty to friends and colleagues 2-3 months earlier than it officially arrives at the Moscow boutique.

Trend of the day -

Ultra lightweight materials

Working with innovative materials is becoming a good form for many watch brands. Increasingly, they are being introduced to facilitate hours. Thus, having signed a 10-year contract with MсLaren, the Richard Mille brand has presented a “wrist car” RM50-03 / 01. From the car to the new chronograph, first of all, the striving for maximum lightness of design, for which they used graphene, new for watchmaking. The watch weighs only 40 g including the strap, making it the lightest mechanical chronograph on the market. The weight of the movement, consisting of 600 parts, is only 7 g.

It can compete with another ultralight movement - the 7.5-gram caliber, installed in a new skeletonized case made of multi-layer carbon Excalibur Spider Carbon, Roger Dubuis. For the first time, the caliber platinum, bridges and tourbillon top carriage are also made of carbon.

Another innovative material for the case was offered by Officine Panerai. BMG-Tech metal glass is a high-tech alloy of aluminum, titanium, nickel, copper and aluminum, which is then instantly cooled. Because of this, the atoms do not have time to line up in a regular crystal lattice, as in ordinary metals, and retain a chaotic structure. BMG-Tech is lightweight and tough, resistant to corrosion and magnetic fields. Cases made of a material such as Luminor Submersible 1950 BMG-tech 3 days automatic will last for decades and will look like new.

1 of 4 © Press Office Officine Panerai © Press Office Officine Panerai © Press Office Officine Panerai © Press Office Officine Panerai

Art object of the day -

Métiers d'Art Copernicus celestial spheres 2460 RT, Vacheron Constantin

The astronomical series includes three watch models. The image on the dials of the heliocentric system of Nicolaus Copernicus is executed in three versions: in the technique of hot enamel, engraving on gold and laser engraving on sapphire glass. Constellations are located around the golden sun, and the Earth's disk makes a leisurely rotation in an ellipsoidal orbit at a speed of one revolution a year.