WatchTime Magazine - June 2014

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June 2014
www. watchti me. com
Display until July 15, 2014
TESTS
ARNOLD & SON
ARRIVES
A JURA
JOURNEY
3 9 NE W WAT CHE S F ROM SI HH
BREITLING
vs OMEGA
A COMPARATIVE TEST
AMERI CA S #1 WATCH MAGAZI NE
BREITLING
vs OMEGA
A COMPARATIVE TEST
VACHERON
CONSTANTIN
NOMOS
DIVE
WATCHES
DEFINED
Bonus
Digital
Content
WT_0314_Cover_03_Proof 07.04.14 15:53 Seite 1
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14 WatchTime June 2014
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
Youre off to Great Places!
Youre off and away!
S
omehow, the beginning of the delightful poem,
Oh, the Places Youll Go, by Theodor Seuss
Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss), came to mind as I con-
sidered the contents of this issue. Two articles in par-
ticular take us to places that, on our own, we would
never go. Fortunately, two great WatchTime guides
get us there.
The first places are the insides of two big-name
chronograph watches: Omegas Speedmaster Dark
Side of the Moon and Breitlings Chronomat GMT
Blacksteel. Our guide is veteran watch tester Jens
Koch, part of our Germany-based watch-testing
team. In our cover story, Koch conducts an in-depth
comparison of the two watches. The story is the lat-
est in our series of what we internally call
supertests. For these, our tester works with a
watchmaker who literally takes the watch movement
apart so that Koch can examine the insides of the
movement and report what he finds. For these tests,
our team works with Wempe Jewelers in Germany,
whose watchmakers are familiar with an array of
watch movements.
Our first supertest, in the December 2012
issue, was performed on the Audemars Piguet Extra-
Thin Royal Oak 39 MM. The second was on the
Panerai Radiomir 8 Days Ceramica in the October
2013 issue. Kochs story, Dark Side vs. Black Steel,
chronicles what he and Florian Pikor, Wempes
chronograph specialist, discovered inside the two
famous, in-house movements: Omegas co-axial
Caliber 9300 and Breitlings Caliber B04. The story is
loaded with interesting details about these watches
that you will find nowhere else, as well as numerous
photographs of the disassembled watches and move-
ments. Ive made this point before, but it bears
repeating: in a watch world awash in soft, brand-
friendly, superficial watch tests and reviews on
the web and in print many paid for by the brands
themselves were sticking with rigorous, independ-
ent, in-depth tests written for the benefit of our read-
ers, not our advertisers. Youll see the WatchTime
difference in the story beginning on page 94.
The other great place that were off and away to
is a section of the Jura Mountains that is off the beaten
track. In truth, all of the Jura, which runs roughly
from Geneva to Basel along the border between
Switzerland and France, is off the beaten track. Reg-
ular readers know that it is, with Geneva, the histor-
ical center of Swiss watch manufacturing. Our exec-
utive editor, Norma Buchanan, as part of her series
on Swiss watchmaking centers, has in past issues
taken us up to the Jura watchmaking towns of La
Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle, as well as towns
below the mountains, like Geneva and Bienne. In her
story The Jura Triangle in this issue, Buchanan
focuses on an important but often overlooked watch-
making region: the villages, too small to be called
towns, clustered in the Saint-Imier valley that runs
down from La Chaux-de-Fonds to Bienne, and in the
surrounding mountain valleys and plateaus. Its a
beautiful, remote region that is steeped in watch leg-
end and lore (the founders of Breitling and TAG
Heuer got their starts there), and remains a vibrant
production center. Its home to the Swatch Group
powerhouse Longines, Montblancs Minerva manu-
facture, and numerous other watch brands and com-
ponent suppliers. Buchanans mountain trek begins
on page 154.
I started this missive with the opening of lines of
Oh, the Places Youll Go. The poems final lines
are also apt:
So
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen OShea,
youre off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So get on your way!
Oh, the Places
Youll Go!
EDITORS
Letter
Joe Thompson
Editor-in-Chief
We disassemble Omegas Caliber
9300 (above) and Breitlings
Caliber B04 (below).
The Longines factory and
headquarters in Saint-Imier
WT_0314_E!%,)*+L",,"*_02 07.04.14 17:16 S"%," 14
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CONTENTS
WatchTime, May-June, 2014
COVER STORY
94 DARK SIDE VS. BLACK STEEL
By Jens Koch | Both have trendy black cases. Both have
manufacture movements. But which is better? In our
comparative test, the Omega Speedmaster Dark Side
of the Moon and the Breitling Chronomat GMT
Blacksteel go head to head.
TESTS
128 MATCH POINTERS
By Mike Disher | We test Vacheron Constantins
Patrimony Contemporaine Retrograde Day and Date,
an automatic watch with twin retrograde calendar
hands pointing to the day and date.
150 GOING FOR GOLD
By Jens Koch | Nomos is known for its affordable
manufacture watches. With its new, white-gold Lux
model, the Glashtte-based brand aims higher: its price,
$20,500, puts it in the same tier as high-end brands like
Patek Philippe and A. Lange & Shne. We test the Lux to
see how it measures up.
94
WT_0314_TOC_05 07.04.14 11:16 S#* 16
CONTENTS
June 2014
FEATURES
48 REDISCOVERING AMERICA
By Joe Thompson | At SIHH, it was clear that Chinas
watch slump has Swiss producers making eyes at
America again. WatchTime talked to Swiss watch
executives about the renewed importance of the
U.S. market.
58 THE NEW WATCHES FROM GENEVA
Every new watch year begins in Geneva with the Salon
International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH). Here are
new watches unveiled by the 16 SIHH brands, along
with new offerings from DeWitt and Clerc, who also
exhibited in Geneva during the fair.
58 A. Lange & Shne
60 Audemars Piguet
62 Baume & Mercier
64 Cartier
66 Greubel Forsey
68 IWC
70 Jaeger-LeCoultre
72 Montblanc
74 Panerai
64
48
62 92
76 Parmigiani
78 Piaget
80 Ralph Lauren
82 Richard Mille
84 Roger Dubuis
86 Vacheron Constantin
88 Van Cleef & Arpels
90 Clerc
92 DeWitt
WT_0314_TOC_05 07.04.14 11:16 Seite 18
CONTENTS
June 2014
110 BREITLING MILESTONES
By Gisbert L. Brunner | Pilots rely on Breitlings
chronographs, but calendars, world timers and divers
watches also are part of the brands 130-year history. In
this chronology, we trace the origins and development of
major Breitlings like the Chronomat and the Navitimer.
136 A DIVE WATCH DEFINED
By Mike Disher | What makes a watch a dive watch? Its
not as simple as you might think. According to ISO
requirements, a dive watch has to pass a battery of tests
before its worthy of the name.
140 ARNOLD ARRIVES
By Jay Deshpande | With its rapidly growing collection
of manufacture movements, Arnold & Son is a
little brand generating big buzz. We visit the
La Chaux-de-Fonds-based brand to learn about its
watches and its parent company and movement
supplier, La Joux-Perret.
154 THE JURA TRIANGLE
By Norma Buchanan | A cluster of tiny Jura villages,
forming a rough triangle from the Saint-Imier Valley to
the French border, played a huge role in watch history.
We trace the path of Jura watchmaking from the early
1800s to the present day.
110
140
154
WT_0314_TOC_05 07.04.14 11:17 Seite 20
CONTENTS
June 2014
DEPARTMENTS
& COLUMNS
14 EDITORS LETTER
Heavy thoughts from an intellectual lightweight
24 WORLD OF WATCHTIME
See the global reach of WatchTime and its partners
26 ON WATCHTIME.COM
A glimpse at whats on our site to keep you up to date
on the latest watch news
32 WATCHTALK
Fantasy Rolex watches, Swiss watch-export data,
year-end reports from the Swatch Group, LVMH,
the Movado Group and Fossil, the death of the last
radium girl, and more
46 WATCH QUIZ
Many famous athletes have watch companies in their
corners. Test your knowledge of celebrity athletes and
the brands that sponsor them.
168 FACETIME
A photo mlange of readers and their watches
170 LAST MINUTE
Are luxury mechanicals a risky business for Swiss
watchmakers?
ON THE COVER: The Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the
Moon and the Breitling Chronomat GMT Blacksteel. Photo by
Marcus Krger
128
150
WT_0314_TOC_05 07.04.14 11:17 Seite 22
1.800.441.4488 - Hermes.com
la montre herms tames time, mastering its measurement.
one press on the pushbutton and the chronographs second hand starts moving,
the counter hands hot on its heels. beneath the dial ticks the steady beat of the manufacture
h1925 mechanical movement, embodiment of the houses high standards.
precision and elegance meet and merge, reminding us that each second is truly unique.
dressage
herms. time reinvented.
WATCH_ppcoplcd 1731.1 4/4/14 11:19 AM Page 1
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WT_Md#a_W'(%d,#d_09 07.04.14 11:21 S#* 24
ON WATCHTIME.COM
Visit our website for more information about the
world of fine watches. To read the stories shown
here, go to watchtime.com/on-watchtime.
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WT_0314_('-a+c"+#&e_03_P)(( 07.04.14 11:25 Se#+e 26
Editor-in-Chief/Associate Publisher Joe Thompson
Executive Editor Norma Buchanan
Managing Editor Dara Hinshaw
Technical Editor Mike Disher
Associate Editor Jay Deshpande
Digital Media Editor Mark Bernardo
Art Direction/Design Publishers Factory, Munich
Contributing Writers Gwendolyn Benda
Gisbert L. Brunner
Rdiger Bucher
Maria-Bettina Eich
Jens Koch
Alexander Krupp
Alexander Linz
Martina Richter
Gerhard Seelen
Thomas Wanka
Neha S. Bajpai
Aishwarya Sati
Translations Howard Fine
Magdalena Grau
Joanne Weinzierl
Photographers Robert Atkinson
Nina Bauer
Marcus Krger
Nicolas Lieber
OK-Photography
Eveline Perroud
Maik Richter
Nik Schlzel
Zuckerfabrik Fotodesign
THE MAGAZI NE OF FI NE WATCHES
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WT_0314_Ma)*"ad 07.04.14 11:26 S#* 28
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WATCH_ppcoplcd 1673.1 4/2/14 1:29 PM Page 1
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WT_0314_Masthead 07.04.14 11:26 Seite 30
WATCHtalk WATCHtalk
Y
ou could look it up, as Casey
Stengel would have said. Before
Baselworld, the website Mono-
chrome, led by Frank Geelen, a
watchtime.com contributor, came up
with a list of five watches it predicted,
and hoped, Rolex would introduce at the
fair. (The predictions were posted on
watchtime.com two weeks before the
fair.) As it turns out, Monochrome was
right an odds-defying 60 percent of the
time. Heres a rundown of the websites
hits and misses:
CORRECT PREDIC TION #1:
A RED AND BLUE GMT-MASTER II
Monochrome wrote: ... the so-called
Pepsi GMT-Master is still high on every-
ones wish list. Last year, Rolex intro-
duced the blue/black GMT-Master II,
which quickly gained the nickname Bat-
man GMT. This year, we will hopefully
see the Pepsi GMT, featuring the classi-
cal red/blue configuration, as seen on the
GMT 1675. No technical nor aesthetic
changes, except for the new Cerachrom
bezel in red and blue.
Monochromes dream came true.
Rolex introduced a GMT-Master II
whose bezel has a red and blue
Cerachrom insert manufactured in a sin-
gle piece, a worlds first. The watch has a
40-mm white-gold case. Price: $38,250.
CORRECT PREDICTION #2:
THE RETURN OF THE SEA-DWELLER
Monochrome wrote: When Rolex
replaced the old Sea-Dweller 16600 with
the humongous Deepsea, it didnt cause
that much of a stir. At first, most enthusi-
asts were perhaps a bit confused. How-
ever, a bit later, when they realized the
beloved Sea-Dweller was discontinued,
disappointment took over. Many Rolex
enthusiasts would love to see a renewed
Sea-Dweller that holds the middle ground
between the Submariner 116610 and the
Deepsea.
Lets imagine a 40-mm Submariner
case, with a ceramic bezel, no magnifier
on the date, a helium escape valve on the
left side and a depth rating of 1,200 me-
ters (or 4,000 feet). That would be more
than enough, and it would beat the Tudor
Pelagos (thus ensuring that the old master
would no longer be letting the young
Padawan lead). And please Rolex, no
more engraved inner-rings like the one on
the Deepsea!
No need to imagine any longer: the
new Sea-Dweller Rolex introduced at
Baselworld, the Sea-Dweller 4000, is water
resistant to 4,000 feet, has a ceramic
bezel, no magnifier on the date, and a
helium escape valve, just as Monochrome
called it. To top it off, it has no engraved
inner ring. The case is made of 904L steel
and is 40 mm in diameter. Price: $10,400.
CORRECT PREDICTION #3:
A BLUE-DIAL MILGAUSS
Monochrome wrote: We heard rumors
that the version of the Rolex Milgauss
with black dial and normal sapphire
crystal will be discontinued, meaning that
only the model with black dial and green
WATCHtalk WATCHtalk
Seeing Red
(and Blue)
A prescient website bats .600 predicting
Rolexs 2014 models, including a red and blue
GMT-Master II.
The new Sea-Dweller 4000
Rolexs new red and blue GMT-Master II

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WT_0314_Wa)c!Ta$#_05 07.04.14 17:14 Se")e 32
WATCHtalk WATCHtalk
crystal and the one with the white dial
will remain in the collection. So, how
about adding a blue-dial Milgauss?
How about it, indeed. Rolex did
introduce a Milgauss model with a blue
dial. The new watch has the same green
sapphire crystal used for one of the exist-
ing black-dial versions of the watch (a
detail that Monochrome, despite its prog-
nosticating skills, did not foresee). The
dial, seen through the green crystal, takes
on what Rolex calls a magnetic hue of
blue. The case is 904L steel and 40 mm in
diameter. Price: $8,200.
INCORRECT PREDICTION #1:
A DAYTONA WITH PANDA DIAL
AND RED DAYTONA LETTERING
Monochrome wrote: Cerachrom bezels
seem to be the latest trend for Rolex.
They have some superior properties,
including being virtually scratch-resistant
and the ability to keep their color forever
without fading. They are almost impos-
sible to replace with after-market parts,
which is an advantage for Rolex.
So lets imagine a revival of one of
the coolest watches that Rolex ever
made, the Daytona 6263 Big Red. In
short: Panda dial, red Daytona text,
screwed pushers, and a black bezel. It
would have the same case as last years
platinum Daytona, but in stainless steel
and with a ceramic bezel in black. Add to
that the famous white face with black
subdial configuration, which Rolex
enthusiasts have nicknamed the Panda
dial. To stay as close to the original 6263
as possible, wed remove the five lines of
text on the current dial and replace it
with simply Rolex Oyster Cosmo-
graph. How cool would that be?
Very cool. But Monochrome was cold
on this prediction. The company did
introduce a new Daytona though, with a
platinum case, baby blue subdials, pav
diamond dial, and a bezel set with 36
baguette diamonds. Not exactly what
Monochrome had in mind.
INCORRECT PREDICTION #2:
A STEEL SKY-DWELLER
Monochrome wrote: We would love to
see a stainless-steel version of the Rolex
Sky-Dweller, the most complicated time-
piece in the entire Rolex watch collection.
Rolex, like many other luxury watch
brands, tends to first introduce its new
models in gold and follow up with stain-
less-steel versions a year or two later.
According to Forbess latest
ranking of the worlds
1,645 billionaires, who is
the worlds richest watch
executive?
Q&A
Johann Rupert, the executive
chairman of the Richemont
Group, is worth $7.6 billion.
On the billionaire list he was
ranked #173.
Still a pipedream: Rolex did not
introduce the steel Sky-Dweller
shown in this digitally enhanced
image. Too bad, says Monochrome.
So far this Daytona, shown here in a digital
rendering, exists only in the minds of Rolex fans
like those at Monochrome.
The new blue-dial version of the Milgauss
Chances that Rolex will ever introduce a
stainless-steel Sky-Dweller are slim, how-
ever; the Rolex Day-Date, for example,
has only ever been made in precious
metals. However, we dream of seeing a
stainless-steel Sky-Dweller, preferably
with an anthracite dial, as imagined here.
In fairness, Monochrome admitted
this one was a long shot. Rolex launched
some new versions of the gold Sky-
Dweller, with different dial and strap vari-
ations, but no steel model. If you see one
next year, remember where you read
about it first. (For complete coverage of
Baselworld, see the upcoming July-August
issue.)

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WT_0314_WatchTalk_05 07.04.14 17:14 Seite 34
Senator Chronometer Regulator. Aesthetics, elegance and precision. An officially certified chronometer combined with the classic display of a regulator. The
dominant position is taken by the minute hand at the center, while the other hands are smaller and positioned in off-center areas of the dial. To learn more about
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Our spirit of excellence.
Senator Chronometer Regulator.
WATCH_ppcoplcd2684.1 7/16/13 1:14 PM Page 1
WATCHtalk WATCHtalk
Swing Time
P
anerai has introduced a pendulum
table clock based on a design by
Galileo from the mid-1600s. The
Panerai clock has two brass mainplates
that hold the escapement and mainspring
between them. The pendulum hangs off
the clocks right side. A square winding
arbor protrudes from the spring barrel
through the front mainplate and can be
wound with a key. The power reserve of
the clock is eight days. The dial has
Roman-numeral hour markers and
black-lacquered hands.
The Panerai Pendulum Clock stands
14.4 inches tall and rests on a mahogany
base. Its glass case has an aluminum
frame and a door that can be opened to
wind and set the clock. Since a pendulum
clock must be on even ground to work
properly, the clock has adjustable feet
and, underneath its engraved nameplate,
a bubble level that can help confirm that
the clock is horizontal so that its pendu-
lum will swing evenly.
Galileo came up with the idea for the
first pendulum clock, but he went blind
before he could finish making a working
model. His son Vincenzo took up the
project, but he died before it was done. A
drawing of Galileos clock survived, and
in 1887 the Florentine clockmaker
Eustachio Porcellotti used it to make a
clock like the one Galileo imagined. It
was this clock, now in the Museo Galileo
in Florence, that served as a model for
the Panerai clock.
Panerai is making the clock in a
limited series of 30 pieces. It costs
$43,200.
The company has also launched a set
of measuring instruments that underline
Panerais link to the sea. In 2007, Panerai
purchased the Eilean, a 70-year-old
yacht, and began a restoration that took
over 40,000 hours. When the revamped
Eilean made its first voyage in 2009, it
was equipped with special maritime
instruments designed by Panerai. Now
Panerai has introduced a limited-edition
set of instruments based on those in the
yacht.
One is a simple clock with hours and
minutes hands ($5,100). Another is a
thermometer graduated in degrees Celsius
($4,400). The third is a hygrometer,
which displays the percentage of humid-
ity in the air ($4,400). And the fourth is a
barometer featuring a center knob with
the Officine Panerai logo for adjusting
the skeletonized setting hand ($5,200).
The nautical instruments
include a barometer,
hygrometer and
thermometer.
Each measures 5.5 inches by 5.5
inches and is made of brushed 316L
stainless steel. The cases are secured with
four hexagonal screws. Each instrument
has a black dial printed in the style of a
Panerai wristwatch. Below the center of
the dial is the Eileans logo, featuring the
dragon insignia of the Scottish shipyard
where the boat was built.
The instruments are available
through Panerais boutiques.
JAY DESHPANDE
The pendulum
clock has an
eight-day
power reserve
and can be
wound with a
key that fits
over the
square arbor.
WT_0314_Wa)c!Ta$#_05 09.04.14 18:39 Se")e 36
PATRAVI SCUBATEC
Discover the world 500 meters below
its surface. The Patravi ScubaTec divers
watch offers a multi adjustable clasp
and an automatic helium release valve
to ensure ultimate comfort and worry
free equalization of pressure. Created
with the highest grade of stainless
steel, its rugged ceramic bezel and blue
illuminated hands and dial markers
ensure perfect readability, even at the
deepest depths.
BOUND TO TRADITION DRIVEN BY INNOVATION
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WATCH_page_template 3/26/14 8:14 AM Page 1
WATCHtalk WATCHtalk
lems spiraled out of control. Their teeth
fell out; their jaws rotted away; some
would develop sarcomas of the chin and
other malignancies. Nevertheless, it took
years for the public to become aware of
radiation poisoning.
Keane was one of the lucky ones, in a
strange way: she was not very good at
her job. After two months working at
Waterbury, her supervisor told her she
was not completing her dials fast enough
and urged her to find another job. The
work hadnt appealed to Keane. She didnt
like to use the lip-point technique for
sharpening her brush, saying that the ra-
dium paint was bitter and unpleasant.
She went on to take an administrative job
at the company, and did office work until
she retired. Still, even from those few
weeks of contact with the radioactive
substance, Keane would lose all of her
teeth in her 30s. She continued to have
pain in her gums for the rest of her life.
Keane was born in Waterbury in
1906, the daughter of Irish immigrants.
She remained in Connecticut, marrying
Timothy Keane, a police officer. She sur-
vived breast and colon cancer. Keane is
survived by her niece, Patricia Cohn,
with whom she lived for the last 13 years
of her life in Middlebury, Conn.
The plight of the radium girls, a dark
chapter in the history of American man-
ufacturing, would ultimately lead to new
regulations for industrial safety and a
greater awareness of occupational dis-
ease. Luminous material on watch dials
today is most often Super-LumiNova, a
nontoxic paint composed of strontium
aluminate.
J.d.
When did watch
manufacturers stop using
radium on watch dials?
Q&A
In the late 1960s. However,
the deadly technique of lip-
pointing ceased in the late
1920s after a lawsuit was
brought by a group of
workers suffering from
radiation poisoning.
Swiss Watch
Exports Edge
Higher
S
wiss watch exports last year rose
1.9 percent, to 21.8 billion Swiss
francs ($24.5 billion), according to
the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry
(FH). That modest increase marks a slow-
down from the year before, when watch
exports increased 11 percent. The lower rate
of growth in 2013 was due to declining sales
in Hong Kong and mainland China, Swit-
zerlands largest and third-largest watch
markets, respectively. (See Rediscovering
America on page 48 for more on Swiss
watch sales to these markets.) Exports to
some European countries, notably Germany
(up 9 percent), Italy (up 4.6 percent) and
the U.K. (up 18.2 percent), were chiefly
responsible for the overall increase. Wrist-
watches account for nearly 95 percent of
Swiss watch exports; other products, chiefly
movements, make up the remaining 5 per-
cent. Wristwatch exports alone grew 2 per-
cent, to SF 20.6 billion.
Since the recession year of 2009, the
value of Swiss wristwatch exports has
increased 67 percent.
Because Switzerland exports the vast
majority of its watches, export data pro-
vides a reliable assessment of the countrys
watch production and sales.
Obituary:
Mae Keane,
Last of the
Radium Girls
Mae Keane
I
n the summer of 1924, Mae Keane, then
18 years old, took a job at the Waterbury
Clock Co. in Waterbury, Conn. The
renowned watch company (which later
became Timex) was looking for young
women to do delicate work on the dials of its
watches. For eight cents per dial, Keane and
her co-workers would paint a luminous sub-
stance onto the hour indexes. They were
taught to dip their brushes into the paint,
then sharpen the bristles to a point with
their lips. Many of the girls enjoyed the
work, and they were young and healthy as
ever. But the paint was made of a mixture of
zinc and radium, and it would have terrible
effects on these dial painters.
When Mae Keane died on March 1 of
this year, she was the last of Waterburys
radium girls. She lived to the age of 107 in
relatively good health, but many of the girls
she worked with that summer were not so
lucky. By the end of the 1920s, 15 of those
women had died. Similar stories emerged
from factories in New Jersey and Illinois.
Even if they lived longer, their health prob-
h
a
r
t
f
o
r
d

c
o
u
r
a
n
t
Source: FH
12
14
16
18
20
22
09 10 11 12 13
SWISS GROWTH SLOWS
Swiss Watch Exports
(billion Swiss francs)
WATCHtalk WATCHtalk
The Long and Winding Road
I
n the future, our cars wont just
drive themselves, theyll wind our
watches for us.
It may sound like science fiction,
but thats the idea that Rinspeed,
which designs avant-garde, lavish, and
often outlandish concept cars, pre-
sented at the Geneva Motor Show in
March. Rinspeeds new concept car,
the XchangE, is a driverless vehicle
with an integrated watch winder
designed by the Carl F. Bucherer watch
company.
Rinspeed founder and CEO Frank
M. Rinderknechts concept focuses on
how passengers can enjoy business-
SWITZERLAND)S TOP 15 MARKETS
2013 S'i$$ Wa%ch E("!#%$ i Val&e
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4,125.0
2,239.9
1,446.5
1,306.4
1,229.0
1,191.0
1,155.0
1,135.5
952.7
934.1
537.0
431.0
425.0
352.4
287.6
% C$a(#"
-5.6
+2.4
-12.5
+9.0
+4.6
-9.6
+5.7
+1.0
+18.2
+9.2
+11.4
-1.1
+1.7
+6.6
+4.7
Switzerland exported a total of 28.1
million wristwatches last year, a decrease
of 3.6 percent. The average export price
of a Swiss watch rose to SF733 ($821)
from SF693 ($776).
Mechanical-watch exports continued
their boom. Last year, Switzerland ex-
ported 7.47 million mechanical watches,
an 8.2-percent increase over 2012. It was
the most mechanical watches Switzerland
has exported since 1982, and represents a
73-percent increase over the banner year
2008 that preceded the Great Recession.
Since 2010, when the Swiss watch indus-
try rebounded, the number of mechanical
watches exported has risen 51.3 percent.
In unit terms, mechanical watches made
up just 26.6 percent of exports last year.
Measured by value, though, they accounted
for 77.7 percent of the total.
The unit growth for mechanical-
watch exports outpaced their growth in
value last year. The value increased 4.5
percent, to 16.0 billion Swiss francs
(about $18 billion). The average export
price of a Swiss mechanical watch was
SF2,143 ($2,400), down from SF2,217
($2,483) in 2012 and SF2,612 ($2,925)
in 2008.
Quartz-watch exports declined in unit
terms, falling 7.3 percent, to 20.6 million.
By value, they decreased by nearly 6 per-
cent. The average export price of a Swiss
quartz watch rose slightly last year, from
SF219 ($243) to SF223 ($250).
class-style travel when they dont need to
have eyes on the road. To that end, the
XchangE has a variety of features to make
road travel luxurious.
Among them is the watch winder, which
is embedded on the adjustable steering col-
umn. The winder, inside an engraved globe,
holds the Patravi TravelTec chronograph
watch. Whenever the car stops moving and
idles, the globe turns, winding the watch.
In addition to Bucherer, more than 20
firms from a variety of industries partnered
with Rinspeed to develop technologies for
the XchangE, which is Rinspeeds 20th
concept car. It is valued at over $1 million.
J.D.
18:30 18:30 18:30 18:30 19:00 19:00 19:00 18:30 18:30 18:30 18:30 19:00 19:00 19:00 19:00 19:00
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Satel l i te ti me i n j ust 3 seconds
i n any ti me zone on earth
Eco- Dri ve SATELLI TE WAVE F100
2
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WATCHtalk WATCHtalk
SWATCH GROUP
Net sales for the Swatch Group in 2013
grew 8.5 percent to 8.46 billion Swiss
francs ($9.47 billion). Watch and jewelry
sales, which include sales of watch move-
ments, were up 8.8 percent, to SF8.17 bil-
lion ($9.15 billion). The results include
sales from Harry Winston, which the
Swatch Group acquired in early 2013.
The purchase brought the number of
brands marketed by the Swatch Group to 20.
Sales by the companys electronic sys-
tems division declined about 4 percent, to
SF299 million ($334.8 million). In a pre-
pared statement, the company pointed
out that it achieved its gains despite the
extremely adverse currency situation.
The overvaluation of the Swiss franc, es-
pecially against the U.S. dollar and the
Japanese yen, had a negative impact on
second-half sales of more than SF100
million, the Swatch Group said.
Net income grew 20.2 percent to
SF1.93 billion ($2.16 billion) and operat-
The Year That Was
Several publicly held watch companies have
announced their financial results for last year.
Heres a rundown.
ing profit rose 17 percent to SF2.31 bil-
lion ($2.58 billion). The operating profit
margin was 27.4 percent compared to
25.4 percent in 2012. The company said
that the SF402 million ($453 million) in
damages that Tiffany & Co. paid the
Swatch Group as a result of their legal
fight accounted for about three percent-
age points of last years profit margin.
LVMH
Sales for the LVMH watch and jewelry
division declined 2 percent in 2013, to
2.78 billion euro ($3.83 billion). The
division nonetheless showed organic
growth of 4 percent. The divisions chief
watch brands are TAG Heuer, Hublot,
Bulgari and Zenith. Watch and jewelry
sales accounted for just under 10 percent
of LVMHs total sales of 29.15 billion
($40.23 billion). LVMH sales grew 4 per-
cent, or 8 percent if measured in organic
terms.
Profits from the watch and jewelry
divisions recurring operations increased
12 percent for the year, to 375 million
($517.5 million). Watches and jewelry
contributed about 6 percent to the
companys total profit from recurring
operations.
In a prepared statement, the company
noted that the divisions directly owned
boutiques did very well during the year
and that LVMH is continuing to hone
distribution of its brands in multi-brand
stores.
FOSSIL GROUP
Net sales for the Fossil Group passed the
$3-billion mark last year, climbing 14
percent to $3.26 billion. Watches
accounted for 77 percent, or $2.51 bil-
lion, of those sales. They increased 17
percent over 2012. The company also
sells leather goods, jewelry, and other
accessories.
Net income grew 10 percent to
$378.2 million. Operating income was
up 15 percent to $561.6 million.
For the current year, the company
expects net sales to increase about 8 to 10
percent. Fossil markets 15 watch brands,
including 10 licensed fashion brands and
five brands it owns outright: the flagship
Fossil brand, Relic, Michele, Zodiac and
Skagen. It gets about three-quarters of its
sales from its wholesale operation and
the remainder from its Fossil and Watch
Station stores.
MOVADO GROUP
Net sales for the Movado Group
increased 12.8 percent to $570.3 million
for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31. Net
income was down 11 percent, to $51.54
million. In the fourth quarter, the com-
pany recorded a pre-tax charge of $7.8
million associated with its decision to
de-emphasize the ESQ brand. Later this
year, the company will reallocate retail
space from ESQ to its better-performing
Movado brand and expects to write
down inventory and other costs as a
result. Excluding that charge, net sales
increased 13.3 percent, to $578.1 million.
For the current year, the company
expects sales to increase about 11 percent
to $640 million and net income to
increase to about $63.5 million.
Source: Swatch Group
5
6
7
8
9
09 10 11 12 13
SWATCH GROUP
Net Sales
(billion Swiss francs)
Source: Fossil Group
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
09 10 11 12 13
FOSSIL GROUP
Net Sales
(billion dollars)
WATCHtalk WATCHtalk
I
ts time to make plans to attend one of
this years Inside Basel.Geneva (IBG)
events. Now in their ninth year, the
events offer watch collectors and aficio-
nados a chance to try on watches from
major luxury watch brands, to see a multi-
media presentation about the new watches
introduced at the Baselworld and SIHH
watch shows, and to meet fellow watch
enthusiasts.
The events are a joint venture between
WatchTime and noted watch collector Jeff
Kingston, and will be held in Chicago,
New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
They consist of two parts. Part one is a
cocktail reception where attendees are
able to spend time examining the watches
of the watch-company exhibitors, talking
to watch company executives and socializ-
ing with other watch aficionados.
Part two is a sit-down, seasonal, gour-
met dinner, accompanied by a selection of
fine wines, during which Kingston reviews
IBG 2014 Dates Set
2014 IBG Dates
& Chicago, Fida%, Sep". 5
& Ne$ Yok, Monda%, Sep". 22
& Lo! Angele!, Monda%, Sep". 29
& San Fanci!co, Th#!da%, Oc". 2
Fo infoma"ion and "icke"! go "o
$a"ch"ime.com/ibg
the watch highlights of this years Basel-
world and SIHH shows. His presentation
includes videos he has shot in watch-
company workshops and at the Basel-
world and SIHH fairs.
Information about ticket prices, loca-
tion and the time of each event will be
posted at watchtime.com/ibg, where you
can also buy tickets. A list of the watch
companies that will exhibit at the events
will be posted on the site. If you purchase
your ticket by July 1, and use the code
EARLYBIRD when making the purchase,
you will receive a $20 discount.
Tickets are sold on a first-come, first-
served basis. Last year all the events were
sold out, and waiting lists were long, so
those wanting to attend are encouraged
not to delay.

h
e
c
h
l
e
r

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e
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r
WATCHquizs WATCHquiz
Attention sports fans: match the athlete on
the left with the watch brand that sponsors
him or her on the right. Note that some
brands sponsor more than one athlete.
Whos
Whose?
1. Eli Manning
2. Gary Player
3. Rory McIlroy
4. Ian Poulter
5. Tiger Woods
6. Kobe Bryant
7. Guillaume Nry
8. Maria Sharapova
9. Rafael Nadal
10. Phil Mickelson
11. Yadin Nicol
12. Sergio Garcia
13. Arnold Palmer
14. Lebron James
15. Danica Patrick
16. Darren Clarke
17. Tom Watson
18. Steffi Graf
19. Michael Schumacher
20. Greg Norman
21. Roger Federer
22. Derek Jeter
23. Russell Coutts
24. Aurlien Ducroz
25. Li Na
A n s w e r s : 1 L ; 2 B ; 3 D ; 4 B ; 5 A ; 6 C ; 7 G ; 8 I ;
9 M ; 1 0 A ; 1 1 J ; 1 2 D ; 1 3 A ; 1 4 B ; 1 5 K ; 1 6 B ;
1 7 A ; 1 8 H ; 1 9 B ; 2 0 D ; 2 1 A ; 2 2 E ; 2 3 I ;
2 4 F ; 2 5 A
What watch brand sponsors tennis champ Rafael Nadal?
A. Rolex
B. Audemars Piguet
C. Hublot
D. Omega
E. Movado
F. Alpina
G. Ball Watch
H. Longines
I. TAG Heuer
J. Casio G-Shock
K. Tissot
L. Citizen
M. Richard Mille
WT_0314_Q,$/_02_P)((! 07.04.14 11:28 S$+ 46
GENEVA 2014
The Scene at SIHH
WT_0314_SIHH_I(,*)_S,)*/_05_P*))" 07.04.14 11:30 S!%,! 48
June 2014 WatchTime 49
REDISCOVERING
AMERICA
At SIHH, it was clear that Chinas watch slump has
Swiss producers making eyes at America again.
by JoE thompson
F
or Swiss watch producers, America is back. Not back as in
booming or back on top. No, the U.S. watch market is
recovering, not booming, and it is still a distant second to
Hong Kong on the list of top markets for Swiss watches.
But the U.S. is back big time on the radar of Swiss watch
brands. Behind the scenes, the big story at SIHH (Salon Interna-
tional de la Haute Horlogerie) held in January in Geneva was
the sudden but sure shift of Swiss sentiment in favor of Uncle
Sam. Not since Americas luxury-watch bull run in the middle of
the last decade, when exports surged 47 percent between 2003
and 2007, has Switzerland shown such enthusiasm for the U.S.
market.
The main reason for the sudden sharp interest in the U.S. is
the sudden sharp nosedive in luxury-watch sales in China. In
2013, Swiss watch exports to China fell by 12.5 percent. After
a lackluster 2012, China recorded the worst result across the
board, Switzerlands Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry
noted in its review of 2013. Whats more, the Swiss suffered a
wicked one-two punch: exports to Hong Kong, joined at the hip
to China, dropped 5.6 percent. The 2013 results presented the
Swiss with a classic good news/bad news scenario. The good
news is that only four of the top 30 markets fell in export value.
The bad news is that two of the four were #1 Hong Kong and
#3 China. As a result, Swiss
exports were up slightly for
the year (1.9 percent) to 21.8
billion Swiss francs ($24.2
billion), a new record.
Chinas fall from the
worlds best performing mar-
ket in 2010 and 2011 to the
worlds worst in 2013 caught
the Swiss by surprise. Swiss
producers expected, even wel-
comed, the slowdown in
Chinas overheated economy in 2012 and last year. What they
did not foresee was that Chinas new regime would launch an
anti-corruption campaign that would tar and feather luxury
wristwatches as emblems of unpatriotic decadence. That surprise
sent Swiss watch exports into a tailspin. Ironically, the number
of Swiss watches exported to China through the first eight
months of 2013 was up 9 percent. The value of those exports,
though, dropped 17 percent, as hordes of bureaucrats replaced
their Vacheron Constantins and Blancpains with cheaper, more
politically correct watches from Longines and Tissot.
The consequent pileup of luxury-watch inventory in China
has the Swiss searching for alternatives. With markets #1 and #3
on the skids, #2, which fell out of favor for many brands during
the Great Recession of 2008-2009, is looking pretty good again.
THE U.S. MARKET, with Swiss-watch export growth of 2.4
percent in 2013, is not a hot spot. But it is a warm spot an
extremely large warm spot that is getting warmer. Thats
enough to inflame the hearts of Swiss CEOs. Last year marked
Americas fourth consecutive year of growth since the cata-
strophic collapse of the market in 2009. Swiss exports here last
year amounted to SF2.24 billion ($2.49 billion), still shy of the
AFTER CHINA, THE STRONGEST
FUTURE GROWTH FOR THE
SWISS WATCH INDUSTRY CAN BE
EXPECTED FROM THE U.S., WHICH
HARBORS VAST POTENTIAL.
EmiliE GachEt, Global REsEaRch, cREdit suissE
WT_0314_SIHH_Intro_Story_05_Proof 07.04.14 11:31 Seite 49
GENEVA 2014
The Scene at SIHH
record SF2.44 billion set in 2007. But they are headed in the
right direction (and are about SF1 billion better than 2009s dis-
mal SF1.47-billion figure).
From the Swiss perspective, everything about the U.S. econ-
omy these days is headed in the right direction. With the stock
market at record levels, economic growth up, the real estate
market finally improving and unemployment down, the Swiss
like what they see. Many Swiss watch CEOs at SIHH told
WatchTime that they believe the U.S. has turned the corner and
is poised for a new growth spurt. They are counting on the fact
that America historically rebounds strongly after setbacks.
America was the biggest surprise at the show in absolute
numbers, said Montblanc CEO Jrme Lambert at the end of
SIHH. We doubled the number we had forecast for the show.
We thought that number was a little bit optimistic for the U.S. and
we doubled it. Sales were around five times more than last year.
Daniel Riedo, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, said, The U.S.
market is the one we will focus on in the near future. We feel
that the U.S. market now is requiring more classical pieces. The
number of collectors and connoisseurs is growing there.
Vacheron Constantin CEO Juan-Carlos Torres, whose
brand sits at the top of the luxury-watch pyramid in China,
acknowledged the shift in sentiment about the U.S. Everybody
knows the cake is there, and they want a piece of the cake,
Torres said. He is very bullish about the U.S. market. I believe
that the USA can be the number one market again. It cannot
beat the entire Asia region. But it can be bigger than Hong Kong
again. (Hong Kong deposed the U.S. as Switzerlands top mar-
ket in 2008.)
The new upbeat Swiss view of the U.S. market is perhaps
best expressed in a Credit Suisse report on the Swiss watch mar-
ket issued last October. The report called China a short-term
Source: FH
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
UPS AND DOWNS OF THE BIG THREE
S-#)) -a*c" .'&(*) #% ,a$+ *& H&%! K&%!, USA a%d C"#%a 2009-2013
09 10 11 12 13
(SF b#$$#&%))
Hong Kong
09 10 11 12 13
USA
09 10 11 12 13
China
I BELIEVE THE U.S. CAN BE THE
NUMBER ONE MARKET AGAIN,
BIGGER THAN HONG KONG.
Juan-Carlos Torres, Ceo, VaCheron ConsTanTin
Source: FH
15
10
25
20
5
04 05 06 07 08
SWITZERLAND%S WILD RIDE
Ann!al percenage change in "al!e of #ach e$pors,
2004-2013
09 10 11 12 13
0
-10
-15
-5
-20
-25
risk for the Swiss watch industry. Looking ahead, Credit
Suisse said its economists developed a model that identifies
export markets for the Swiss watch industry that are likely to grow
or contract in the future. After China, the strongest growth can
be expected from the U.S., which harbors vast potential.
For those based in the U.S. market, the shift in tone at SIHH
was startling. Hugues de Pins, CEO of Vacheron Constantin
North America, summarized it succinctly: Its amazing, he
said.
One senses that the Swiss are weary of the roller-coaster ride
of the last six years. After the thrills and spills of the boom mar-
ket, followed by the deep global recession, followed by the rocket-
like rise of Greater China and now its sudden slump (see chart
below), a few years of steady, stable, predictable, single-digit
growth would be a relief. The fledgling recovery in the U.S. a
capitalist market they know (if not love) and where they know
what to expect promises a reprieve.
SLOW, STEADY growth is, in fact, the forecast for the Swiss
watch industry in 2014. Watch exports should continue to
grow in 2014, FH President Jean-Daniel Pasche told
WatchTime at SIHH. Both the FH and Credit Suisse predict that
exports this year will beat 2013s 2-percent increase. Growth in
THE U.S. MARKET IS THE
ONE WE WILL FOCUS ON IN
THE NEAR FUTURE.
Daniel RieDo, Ceo, JaegeR-leCoultRe
the watch industry is likely to pick up during this year, Credit
Suisse says. We expect stronger growth in 2014 than in 2013.
The anticipated recovery in the United States is one reason.
A pickup in the long-stagnant European markets is another.
Over the past two years, European markets have posted some
shocking increases in Swiss watch exports: Germany and the
United Kingdom up 45 percent, Italy up 21 percent, Spain up 19
percent, Portugal up 41 percent, Belgium up 80 percent.
Chinese tourists are a big factor. But Swiss watch executives say
that local demand is improving. In addition, both the FH and
Credit Suisse predict that China and Hong Kong will perform
better this year, even if the rate of growth is likely to be more
moderate, the FH says. Finally, the Swiss will also get some
relief from the overvalued Swiss franc in 2014. Credit Suisse
says that the Swiss franc continues to weaken gradually in real
terms, which should help exporters.
As for SIHH, attendance at the by-invitation-only event was
robust (up 9 percent from 2013, with 14,000 visitors) and the
mood bullish. The show is dominated by the Richemont Group,
with its 11 maisons (A. Lange & Shne, Baume & Mercier,
Cartier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc, Panerai, Piaget,
Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin, and Van Cleef & Arpels).
Joining them are two brands in which Richemont has shares
Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewelry (50 percent) and Greubel
Forsey (20 percent) and three independent brands (Audemars
Piguet, Parmigiani Fleurier, and Richard Mille).
(Continued on page 56)
GENEVA 2014
The Scene at SIHH
WATCH_ppcoplcd4383.1 11/18/13 10:48 AM Page 1
Baume & Merciers
Message to China
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Baume & Merciers new Clifton
1892 Flying Tourbillon (above
right) is based on a Baume
pocketwatch that took top
honors at the Kew chronometry
competition in 1892.
GENEVA 2014
The Scene at SIHH
SWISS MADE
Visit us at JCK Booth #PC305
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Available June 1, 2014
Greubel Forseys Art
Piece 1 Golden Sails
contains a micro-
sculpture in the case.
Product trends this year were in line with recent years. Per-
haps the biggest trend at the show was the intensification of the
thinness trend of the past two years. Piaget unveiled a new
ultra-thin watch, the Altiplano 900P, that is just 3.65 mm thick.
CEO Philippe Lopold-Metzger triumphantly announced that
the firm has changed its slogan. Before, we said we were a mas-
ter of ultra-thin, he said. Now we say [we are] the master of
ultra-thin. Of Piagets 35 in-house calibers, 23 are ultra-thin,
Lopold-Metzger says. Cartier billed its new dive watch, the
Calibre de Cartier Diver, as the thinnest diving watch on the
market. The show even had its own thin war, reminiscent of
the quartz-watch thin wars between Japan and Switzerland in
1979 and 1980. This one involved dueling ultra-thin minute-
repeater watches. Vacheron Constantin introduced a manual-
wind minute repeater, the Patrimony Contemporaine Ultra-
Thin Calibre 1731, with a case thickness of 8.09 mm. However,
Jaeger-LeCoultre answered with the Master Ultra Thin Minute
Repeater Flying Tourbillon, also called the Hybris Mechanica
11, which is a sliver thinner at 7.9 mm but which has an auto-
matic movement and a flying tourbillon. (All three watches
appeared in our 7 Stars from SIHH story in the April 2014
WatchTime.)
Tourbillons, of course, are now a staple of the haut-de-
gamme market; 10 of the 16 brands at the show presented new
tourbillon models, including Baume & Mercier. Its Clifton 1892
Flying Tourbillon was probably the biggest surprise of the show
since it is such a dramatic departure from the brands normal
affordable quality positioning. (To find out why B&M intro-
duced a $57,000 tourbillon watch, see Baume & Merciers
Message to China sidebar.)
Another trend was celestial watches. They include moon-
phase watches (Montblanc had two new ones) and watches offer-
ing views of the sky. Langes Richard Lange Perpetual Calendar
Terraluna has a moon-phase display that shows the Northern
Hemisphere sky with 2,116 stars. The dial of Van Cleef &
Arpelss unusual Midnight Planetarium watch shows six plan-
ets, made of semiprecious stones, orbiting the sun in time with
the real orbits of the planets in our solar system. (Both watches
were shown in our 7 Stars from SIHH story in the last issue.)
The Midnight Planetarium is representative of another trend
that is becoming more prominent: the wristwatch as objet dart.
Van Cleef with its Poetic Complication series and Vacheron
Constantin with its Mtiers dArt series have been in the fore-
front of a trend to create watches with extraordinary dials that
are themselves miniature works of art. The trend is growing.
Cartiers new Ballon Bleu de Cartier Floral Marquetry Parrot
watch features a dial with an image of a parrot made out of rose
petals. Greubel Forsey added a new wrinkle. Its Art Piece 1
Golden Sails watch contains a micro-sculpture of a full-masted
sailing ship created by British micro-sculptor Willard Wigan.
The ship is exhibited in the side of the watch; you need an opti-
cal device to see it.
The parrot on the dial of Cartiers Ballon Bleu Floral
Marquetry watch is made out of rose petals.
(Continued from page 52)
GENEVA 2014
The Scene at SIHH
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
A. LANGE & SHNE
A. LANGE & SHNES headliner this
year is the Richard Lange Perpetual Cal-
endar Terraluna (see 7 Stars from SIHH
in the April issue), and as is the brands
custom, an enormous replica of that
watch graced its SIHH booth. However,
Lange CEO Wilhelm Schmid told us that
another new watch almost served as the
brands centerpiece: the 1815 Tourbillon.
The tourbillon has long been some-
thing of a contradiction. It is offered as
the ultimate in timekeeping precision, yet
because of its construction, a tourbillon is
difficult to synchronize with a reference
time source due to the lack of stop-
seconds and zero-reset functions. Langes
new 1815 Tourbillon solves those prob-
lems. When the crown is pulled out, the
balance inside the tourbillon cage stops
and the seconds hand jumps to the zero
position. The watch can then be perfectly
synchronized with a reference source or
signal. Both the stop seconds and zero-
reset systems are patented.
The 1815 Tourbillons case measures
39.5 mm in diameter and 11.1 mm high.
It will be available in rose gold, priced at
$164,100, and in a limited edition of 100
pieces in platinum, priced at $201,300.
At the other end of the price spec-
trum, Lange also launched a new 1815
three-hand reference in a 38.5-mm case,
which is a bit smaller than the current 40
mm. The case is also slightly thinner, at
8.8 mm, compared with 8.9 mm for the
current model. Fear not, lovers of larger
watches the 40-mm model will not be
discontinued.
The overall aesthetic remains
unchanged, as does the solid-silver dial
and the three-quarter-plate L051.1
movement. The movement consists of
188 parts, many of which are hand-
decorated. The plates and bridges are
made of untreated German silver, which
takes on an attractive patina over time.
The balance cock is hand engraved,
meaning that no two are exactly the
same. The movement runs in 21 jewels at
21,600 vph and has a 55-hour power
reserve. Five of the jewels are set in gold
chatons. The new 1815 will be offered in
rose gold and yellow gold, at $24,800,
and in white gold, at $26,000.
The new, 38.5-mm version of the 1815
The 1815
tourbillon
WT_0314_SIHH_L&,-&)$_05_P+**# 07.04.14 11:41 S"&-" 58
THE ROYAL OAK OFFSHORE Chrono-
graph 42MM got a tweaking this year to
make it look more up to date. Audemars
Piguet calls it the 26470 evolution (the
new 26470 models will replace the exist-
ing 26170 models). The company said
the made-over models were distin-
guished by a more technical, sculpted aes-
thetic. Black ceramic has replaced rub-
ber in the crown and push-pieces, and the
push-pieces have been enlarged. The min-
utes and hour hands are broader than
before, and are faceted to make them
more luminous. A ribbon of polished
metal has been added to the edges of the
hour markers and to the subdials and the
date window. The watch now has a trans-
parent back to show off APs in-house
Caliber 3126 with its 22k-gold rotor.
There are six models in the 26470
family: four in steel and two in rose gold.
The steel models are $25,600 on a rub-
ber strap and $26,000 on an alligator
one. The rose-gold versions are $40,700
on an alligator strap and $69,200 on a
bracelet.
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
AUDEMARS
PIGUET
The updated
Royal Oak
Offshore has a
transparent
caseback.
The new 26470
version of the
Royal Oak
Offshore comes in
steel (below) or
rose gold (right).
Ceramic has replaced rubber for the crown
and push-pieces.
WT_0314_SIHH_Listing_05_Proof 07.04.14 11:41 Seite 60
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
THIS BRAND UNVEILED several new
additions to its Clifton collection, which
it launched last year. Among them was a
steel-cased chronograph model, powered
by the ETA 7750 and available on an
alligator strap (black or brown) or steel
bracelet. The case is 43 mm in diameter
and has a sapphire back. The black-strap
version has blue hands; the brown-strap
and bracelet versions have golden ones.
The case is water resistant to 50 meters.
Price: $3,800 on a strap and $3,900 on a
bracelet.
Another new Clifton model is the
Retrograde Date Automatic, which also
comes in a 43-mm steel case. The move-
ment is a Soprod 9094, which has a power
reserve of 42 hours. There is a power-
reserve display at 6 oclock and sapphire
crystals on the front and back. The strap
is brown alligator. Price: $5,700.
BAUME &
MERCIER
Front and back
of the Clifton
chronograph
The Clifton
Retrograde
Date Automatic
OUR WATCHES SHOW MORE
THAN JUST THE TIME.
Armin Strom has been producing skeleton
watches for more than forty years, with
every single part intricately and individually
embellished by hand. As a result, the
beauty of the technology is always visible
when checking the time.
arminstrom.com
GRAVITY WATER
MANUFACTURE CALIBRE
AMR13 16
PARTNER Beverly Hills, CA: David Orgell (310) 273 6660
Boca Raton, FL: Les Bijoux (561) 361 2311
Frisco, TX: Timeless Luxury Watches (214) 494 4241
Las Vegas, NV: Radiance (702) 590 8725
Naples, FL: Exquisite Timepieces (239) 262 4545
Santa Clara, CA: Lustre Inc. (408) 296 3686
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
CARTIER MADE BIG NEWS at both
ends of the haute horlogerie spectrum this
year. At the high end was the $204,000
Astrocalendaire (see 7 Stars from SIHH
in the April issue). For those seeking some-
thing a bit more affordable (relatively
speaking), and a bit more sporty, theres
the new Calibre de Cartier Diver. It gener-
ated much talk at the show: Cartier and
Diver arent words youd expect to find
in the same name.
The new Diver looks the part, but it is
not just a pretty face. Its a genuine ISO-
6425-certified divers watch. This is a
claim few others can make. In a nutshell,
the ISO standard covers bezel and dial
construction and markings; legibility;
magnetic, shock, and chemical resistance;
and strap and spring-bar strength. It also
says the watch must be water resistant to
100 meters and must provide a way for
the diver to tell whether the watch is run-
ning (this requirement is usually satisfied
by a luminous seconds hand).
CARTIER
To meet the standards, Cartier
designed a new watch case from the
ground up. The case is stronger and ben-
efits from a thicker sapphire crystal, yet it
measures only 11 mm thick. The divers
bezel rotates in 120 increments con-
trolled by three clicks, enabling half-
minute adjustments. The dial and hands
are well supplied with Super-LumiNova
to make them easy to read under water.
The Diver is powered by Cartiers in-
house Caliber 1904 MC, featuring
ceramic ball bearings in the bidirectional
automatic winding system and twin
mainspring barrels to deliver consistent
torque as the mainsprings wind down.
The Calibre de Cartier Diver in stain-
less steel on a rubber strap will retail for
$8,200. Choosing a steel bracelet raises
the ante to $8,900.
For situations requiring a bit more ele-
gance, Cartier launched the 43.5-mm
Rotonde de Cartier Day and Night. The
eponymous display, indicated by an artisti-
cally rendered sun and moon, occupies the
entire upper half of the dial. The moon-
phases are indicated by a retrograde hand
that sweeps across the lower half of the
dial. Cartiers in-house Caliber 9912 MC
animates the displays. The movement is
decorated with straight graining and with
the prominent beveling found in Cartiers
Fine Watchmaking collection. The Day
and Night will be available in some Cartier
boutiques, priced at $42,500 in rose gold
and $45,500 in palladium.
The Rotonde de Cartier
Day and Night
The Calibre de Cartier
Diver
800.348.3332
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
THIS YEARS BIG WATCH from
Greubel Forsey is the QP quation. You
can read about it in 7 Stars from SIHH
in the April issue.
Another new watch is known officially
as the Platinum GMT, but calling this
watch simply a GMT is like calling the
Concorde a plane. The miniature Earth at
8 oclock rotates in the same direction,
and at the same rate, as our planet, pro-
viding the owner with an instant indica-
tion of the time around the world. A
glance tells you that it is time to rise in
Shanghai, time to leave the office in New
York, and time for bed in London.
GREUBEL FORSEY
Parked next to the globe is a 24-sec-
ond tourbillon inclined at 25 degrees rel-
ative to the plane of the dial. A second-
time-zone display, set by the adjacent but-
ton, appears at 10 oclock. Turning the
watch over reveals a disk showing the
time in 24 time zones. The disk rotates in
synchronicity with the globe and pro-
vides more precise world-time data. The
case measures 43.5 mm by 16.14 mm.
Some may wish to hold the world in
the palms of their hands. For others, hav-
ing it on their wrist will do just fine. For
them, the Platinum GMT is priced at
$630,000.
Greubel Forsey also introduced the
Double Tourbillon Technique 30 Bi-color,
which is available in two case materials:
platinum and 5N rose gold. Each case
measures 47.5 mm by 16.84 mm, and
each features a movement with a deep
black chrome finish. ADLC-plated titanium
plates engraved with text summarizing
the brands philosophy highlight the sides
of the case.
Each version is produced in an edition
of 22 pieces. Enthusiasts may recall that
an earlier version of this watch won the
2011 International Chronometry Com-
petition in Switzerland with the highest
score yet recorded 915 out of a possible
1,000 points. The Double Tourbillon
Technique 30 Bi-color will be priced at
$620,000 in platinum and $595,000 in
5N rose gold.
The Platinum
GMT
The Double
Tourbillon
Technique 30
Bi-color
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
EACH YEAR AT SIHH, IWC updates one
collection, and 2014 is the year of the
Aquatimer. The 2014 models have a
prominent new feature IWC calls the
SafeDive System. It consists of an easily
grasped external bezel that controls a
rotating internal bezel with a divers
scale. A clutch allows the internal bezel to
rotate only counterclockwise, in 1-
minute increments. To help prevent con-
fusion, the new Aquatimers also feature
Super-LumiNova in two colors: blue for
the time display and green for dive times.
IWC
SCHAFFHAUSEN
Included among the new models is
IWCs first wristwatch in bronze, the
Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Expe-
dition Charles Darwin. It is equipped
with IWCs automatic, in-house Caliber
89365. The 300-meter water-resistant
case measures 44 mm by 17 mm and fea-
tures IWCs quick-change strap system.
The price is $11,100.
Diving deeper into the new lineup, we
discover the Aquatimer Automatic 2000,
which, as you might guess, has 2,000-
meter water resistance. Inside the 45-mm
The Aquatimer
Deep Three
The Aquatimer
Automatic
2000
The Aquatimer
Chronograph
Edition Expedition
Charles Darwin,
with a case made
of bronze
titanium case ticks IWCs manufacture
Caliber 80110 featuring the patented
Pellaton winding system with its accom-
panying shock protection. IWC says the
design of this watch is reminiscent of the
Ocean 2000, created by Ferdinand A.
Porsche in 1982. The Aquatimer Auto-
matic 2000 is priced at $10,100.
The new Aquatimer Deep Three in
titanium is the third generation of IWC
divers watches with a mechanical depth
gauge. During a dive, the blue depth indi-
cator shows the current depth while the
red indicator remains at the greatest
depth attained, down to a maximum of
50 meters. IWC says the Deep Three pro-
vides a complete backup system to a dive
computer. The Deep Three is priced at
$19,100.
The timepiece chosen for an elite unit of the German Navy must fulfill extraordinary requirements.
Seebataillon GMT
This is why in cooperation with the soldiers of the upcoming Seebataillon (Marine Battalion),
an extremely robust watch with a second time zone has been developed that both in design and
functionality is well-equipped for every mission to be undertaken by this new unit of the German Navy
whether on land, see or in the air. And its also why this new watch bears their name: The Seebataillon GMT.
For more information please contact:
Mhle-Glashtte USA 727-896-8453 www.muehle-glashuette.de F F
E.D. Marshall Jewelers Scottsdale, AZ | Topper Jewelers Burlingame, CA | Feldmar Watch Co. Los Angeles, CA | Leo Hamel Fine Jewelers San Diego, CA
Partita Custom Design San Francisco, CA | Ravits Watches & Jewelry San Francisco, CA | Right Time Denver & Highlands Ranch, CO | Exquisite Timepieces Naples, FL
Old Northeast Jewelers St. Petersburg & Tampa, FL | Little Treasury Jewelers Gambrills, MD | Continental Diamond Minneapolis, MN
Joseph Edwards New York, NY | Martin Pulli Phliadelphia, PA | Marvin Scott & Co. Yardley, PA | Jack Ryan Fine Jewelry Austin, TX
Timeless Luxury Watches Frisco, TX | Foxs Gem Shop Seattle, WA | Trident Jewels and Time St. Thomas, USVI
complications: a chrono-
graph and a GMT or sec-
ond time zone, indicated
via a second hour hand.
The case measures 46 mm
by 14.3 mm, and the
crown features JLCs
patented compression key
system. A half turn of the
key compresses one of the
crowns four toric (donut-
shaped) gaskets and locks
it in a secure position that
prevents the crown from
being moved inadvertently.
The case is water resistant
to 100 meters.
The displays are highly
visible and are laid out very
clearly. The bright red
chronograph seconds hand
adds some spice. The
small, round dial aperture
below the Jaeger-LeCoul-
tre name is a day/night in-
dicator.
The movement is JLCs
automatic in-house Caliber
757. It runs in 45 jewels
and twin barrels provide
65 hours of autonomy.
The Master Compressor
Chronograph Ceramic is a
limited edition of 500
pieces, priced at $15,600.
Those seeking some-
thing a bit more elegant
might consider the Jaeger-
LeCoultre Grande Reverso
Night & Day. This is a rar-
The Grande
Reverso Night
& Day in
rose gold and
in steel
JAEGER-LECOULTRES BIG WATCH
this year is the Hybris Mechanica 11,
which we covered in our 7 Stars from
SIHH story in the April issue.
Among JLCs other new models was
the Master Compressor Chronograph
Ceramic. This watch features two useful
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
spice. The small, round dial aperture
below the Jaeger-LeCoultre name is a
day/night indicator.
The movement is JLCs automatic in-
house Caliber 757. It runs in 45 jewels
and twin barrels provide 65 hours of
autonomy. The Master Compressor
Chronograph Ceramic is a limited edition
of 500 pieces, priced at $15,600.
Those seeking something a bit more
elegant might consider the Jaeger-
LeCoultre Grande Reverso Night & Day.
This is a rarity, a Reverso with an auto-
matic movement, and, JLC says, it marks
the first time the company has put an
automatic into a slim, classic Reverso
case (until now Reverso automatics have
had larger cases, e.g. the Reverso
Squadra). The Night & Day case meas-
ures 46.8 mm by 27.4 mm by 9.1 mm.
The watch bears the classic Reverso
visual elements. The silver dial wears
three different guilloch patterns and
large Arabic numerals. Blued, faceted
baton-style hands mark the hours and
minutes. Where you might expect to find
a seconds subdial youll find instead a
day/night, or 24-hour, indicator, decorated
with contrasting guilloch patterns on its
upper and lower halves.
The movement is the automatic man-
ufacture Caliber 967/B. It is 4.05 mm
thick, with 200 parts. It runs at 28,800
vph in 28 jewels and has a power reserve
of 42 hours. Like all JLC watches, this
one has passed JLCs 1,000 Hours Con-
trol quality-assurance test.
The Reverso Night & Day is priced at
$19,200 in rose gold and $9,750 in steel.
The Grande
Reverso Night
& Day in
rose gold and
in steel
The Master
Compressor
Chronograph
Ceramic
JAEGER-LECOULTRES BIG WATCH
this year is the Hybris Mechanica 11,
which we covered in our 7 Stars from
SIHH story in the April issue.
Among JLCs other new models was
the Master Compressor Chronograph
Ceramic. This watch features two useful
complications: a chronograph and a
GMT or second time zone, indicated via
a second hour hand. The case measures
46 mm by 14.3 mm, and the crown fea-
tures JLCs patented compression key
system. A half turn of the key compresses
one of the crowns four toric (donut-
shaped) gaskets and locks it in a secure
position that prevents the crown from
being moved inadvertently. The case is
water resistant to 100 meters.
The displays are highly visible and are
laid out very clearly. The bright red
chronograph seconds hand adds some
JAEGER-
LECOULTRE
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
MONTBLANC launched two new
chronographs at SIHH. Each generated
buzz, but for different reasons. One
watch is a modern, high-tech piece that
breaks new ground technically and aes-
thetically. The other is a study in tradi-
tional watchmaking.
The TimeWalker Chronograph 100
uses a patented system to time events to
the nearest 1/100 of a second. The move-
ment has two balance wheels: a large one
for regular timekeeping that oscillates at
18,000 vph, and a smaller one for the
chronograph that operates at 360,000
vph, or 50 Hz. The chronograph has its
own mainspring barrel, which provides
45 minutes of power reserve, while the
timekeeping barrel runs for 100 hours on
a single wind. The movement is made by
MONTBLANC
the Montblanc Manufacture in Villeret.
(Known as Minerva before and for awhile
after it was purchased by the Richemont
Group in 2006, it became Montblancs
high-end movement-making facility.)
Minerva sparked interest in high-speed
chronographs when it launched its first
mechanical 1/100-of-a-second stopwatch
in 1916.
The TimeWalker Chronograph 100
will be produced in a limited series of 100
timepieces priced at approximately
$66,000.
Montblancs other new chronograph
is part of the Meisterstck Heritage Col-
lection, a new family of four watches
issued to celebrate the 90th anniversary of
the brands well-known pen. Known as
the Meisterstck Heritage Pulsograph,
this watch features a 5N-rose-gold case
measuring 41 mm by 11.8 mm. The
movement was inspired by Minerva Cal-
iber 13.20, a chronograph caliber dating
to 1923. The new movement is a mono-
pusher with a column wheel and horizon-
tal coupling. The plate and bridges are
fabricated from nickel silver, then rhodium
plated. The bridges are beveled by hand
and manually polished. All levers and
springs are manually beveled along their
edges. All functional surfaces are individu-
ally and manually adjusted. The chrono-
graph bridge is engraved with the name
Minerva Villeret.
The Pulsograph case is set with a
diamond cut in the shape of Montblancs
six-pointed star emblem. This watch will
be launched in the fall in a limited edition
of 90 pieces and priced at approximately
$36,000.
The TimeWalker
Chronograph 100
The Meisterstck Heritage Pulsograph
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
THE NEW OFFERINGS from Panerai
included the Radiomir 1940 Chrono-
graph, whose case is based on a transi-
tional design Panerai employed beginning
around 1940. In another historical hat-tip,
the case, 45 mm in diameter, sports a 2.8-
mm-thick Plexiglas crystal. The dial is a new
design with a tachymeter scale. The con-
tinuous seconds are located at 9 oclock
and a 30-minute counter is at 3 oclock.
The case is water resistant to 50 meters.
The movement is the OP XXV cal-
iber, developed on a Minerva 13-22 base.
Minerva began supplying Panerai with
movements in the 1920s. The hand-
wound movement features a column
wheel and a swan-neck regulator. Several
PANERAI
components are individually chamfered
and polished. The balance wheel vibrates
at a classic 18,000 vph.
The Radiomir 1940 Chronograph is
available in platinum (PAM 518) for
$78,000, rose gold (PAM 519) for
$58,500, and white gold (PAM 520) for
$61,200.
If your interests tend toward simpler
fare, theres the Luminor Base 8 Days
Acciaio with a black sandwich dial. This
is one of five new Luminor models fea-
turing the P.5000 in-house, eight-day,
manual-wind movement. The transparent
caseback provides an excellent view,
though most of what youll see is a massive
plate. It makes a better door than a win-
dow, as they say, but it provides great
structural rigidity.
The movement runs in 21 jewels at
21,600 vph, or 3 Hz. The variable-inertia
balance is supported by a sturdy bridge
that is fixed by two screws.
The eight-day power reserve is
achieved by coupling two spring barrels,
with toothed rims, in series. Panerai says
the twin assembly enables longer, thinner
springs to be used, resulting in a longer
duration and greater uniformity in energy
delivery.
Panerai tells us that the price for the
Luminor Base 8 Days Acciaio is currently
set at $7,800, but that may change by the
time the watch becomes available.
The Luminor
Base 8 Days
Acciaio
The Radiomir
1940
Chronograph
METAL TWISTED G-SHOCK
TRIPLE G RESIST
VIBRATION RESISTANCE
SHOCK RESISTANCE
CENTRIFUGAL FORCE RESISTANCE
metal twisted g-shock
A fusion of resin and metal encompassed in a case that
has our trademark shock resistance with extraordinary
elegance results in the perfect combination of
our technologies and impeccable craftsmanship.
MTGS1000BD-1A
2014 CASIO AMERICA, INC.

GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
THE NEW METRO COLLECTION from
Parmigiani Fleurier was inspired, the
company says, by the skyscrapers of New
York. It contains mens and womens
watches. The mens model, available in
several variations, is a chronograph called
the Tonda Mtrographe. It contains a new
automatic movement, the PF315, pow-
ered by two series-coupled barrels, and
has a power reserve of 42 hours. There
are 30-minute and 12-hour counters at 9
and 6 oclock, respectively, and a window
cut into the hour counter showing the
dates for yesterday, today and tomorrow
(in case the minutes hand is hiding todays
date). The case is 40 mm and has a subtly
asymmetric shape: the lugs on the left do
not extend as far along the edge of the
case as those on the right, which reach all
the way to the crown. There are sapphire
crystals on the front and back. The watch
comes with either a black or tan calfskin
strap, paired with a black or white
grained dial, respectively, or a steel and
titanium bracelet paired with a black dial.
The leather straps are made by Herms
(which owns a stake in Parmigianis sister
company, the movement maker Vaucher.
Both Parmigiani and Vaucher are owned
by the Sandoz Family Foundation.) Price:
$12,200 on a strap and $12,900 on a
bracelet.
PARMIGIANI
FLEURIER
The new Tonda
Mtrographe
chronograph
comes in
bracelet and
strap versions.
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
PIAGET
Chteau de Malmaison, where she lived
after her divorce from Napoleon Bona-
parte. (Piaget is donating money to
restoring the Malmaison rose garden.)
The watches in the collection include
one hand-wound model, powered by Cal-
iber 430P, with a grand feu cloisonn
enamel painting of a rose ($77,500 for
the model shown here). The other watches
are all quartz and all heavily bejeweled.
One of them, a secret watch, has a cover
that lifts up to reveal the dial ($186,000).
Another features 16 rose petals formed
by baguette diamonds and pink, yellow
or orange sapphires ($207,000). Still
another has a dial surrounded by a frieze
of birds and rosebush branches
($53,500).
Above and left: three
diamond Rose
Passion watches. One
(above) has yellow
sapphires, another
(far left) a pink
sapphire. All have
quartz movements.
A hand-wound
Rose Passion
model with
cloisonn
enamel dial
THIS BRANDS BIG (or, rather, wafer-
slim) new introduction for men was the
Altiplano 900P, the thinnest mechanical
watch in the world. (See 7 Stars of SIHH
in the April issue.) For women, it was a
collection of watches and jewelry called
Rose Passion, which pay tribute, Piaget
says, to the world-class rose garden that
Empress Josephine cultivated at the
WT_0314_SIHH_L&,-&)$_05_P+**# 07.04.14 12:00 S"&-" 78
LAST YEAR RALPH LAUREN
launched its first tourbillon
watch. This year the brand fol-
lowed up with another: the Black
Safari Flying Tourbillon. Its
movement, Caliber RL167,
was made by the Geneva
high-end movement maker
La Fabrique du Temps,
owned by luxury-goods
giant LVMH. The watch
is self-winding and has
a gold-plated micro-ro-
tor. The case, 44.8 mm
in diameter, is steel
with a shot-blasted,
black finish. On the pe-
riphery of the dial theres
a ring of brown elm burl
wood, inspired by the inte-
rior of a vintage Bugatti car
owned by the designer Ralph
Lauren. (For that reason, the
watch bore a different name, the
Automotive Flying Tourbillon,
when it was first shown to the
press two months before SIHH.)
Price: $80,000.
The brand also introduced
two new watches with COSC-
certified automatic movements. One is
the Sporting Classic Chronometer
($4,100), with a 44.8-mm steel case and
seconds subdial at 6 oclock, and the
other is a 39-mm version of the RL67
Chronometer ($3,200), which had been
available only in a 44.8-mm size. Its case
is steel that has been treated to give it a
look the company calls aged. Both
watches have convex sapphire crystals
and screw-in crowns bearing the initials
RL.
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
RALPH
LAUREN
The Black Safari
Flying Tourbillon
The Sporting
Classic
Chronometer
The RL 67
Chronometer
WT_0314_SIHH_L&,-&)$_05_P+**# 09.04.14 18:42 S"&-" 80
The nest design
Made in Glashtte, Germany:
Metro
Find out more about this and other models at
nomos-store.com and nomos-glashuette.com
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
THIS YEAR RICHARD MILLE invites us
to forget about time by strapping on its
new RM 63-01 Dizzy Hands. The watch
keeps time normally until the pusher in
the center of the crown is depressed once.
At that point, the sapphire glass dial
begins to slowly rotate counterclockwise
while the hour hand moves clockwise,
both at different speeds. The motion ren-
ders the time display quite incorrect,
freeing the owner from the bonds of
time. When the joyous interlude comes
to an end, the owner simply depresses the
pusher again, and the dial and hands
resume their duties, displaying the cor-
rect time.
RICHARD MILLE
The mechanism powering the RM 63-
01 is Caliber CRMA3, a new movement
developed by Richard Milles engineers in
Les Breuleux. They reinvented principles
taken from chronograph design to
achieve creative results. A column wheel
actuates the dials rotation and a hammer
reinstates the timekeeping functions. The
movement is housed in a 5N-rose-gold
case that measures 42.7 mm by 11.7 mm.
The RM 63-01 Dizzy Hands will retail
for $120,000.
The company describes another of its
new watches, the RM 60-01 Regatta Fly-
back Chronograph, as its first technical
watch for navigating the seven seas. The
watch is powered by the RMAC2 caliber
with flyback chronograph, annual calen-
dar with oversize date, and UTC func-
tion. The RM 60-01 case measures 50
mm by 16.33 mm.
To calculate ones location, the UTC
indicator is directed towards the sun
using the UTC pusher located at 9
oclock, then the bezel is turned so that
the UTC hand lines up with the actual
local time engraved on the bezels circum-
ference. When set in this manner, the
compass headings North, South, East and
West on the bezel will be correctly
aligned. Mille says the RM 60-01 differs
from other, similar watches in that it can
be properly oriented in the Northern and
Southern hemispheres without any addi-
tional calculations.
The RM 60-01 Regatta Flyback
Chronograph will be priced at $150,000.
The 60-01
Regatta
Chronograph
Flyback
The RM 63-01
Dizzy Hands
WT_0314_SIHH_L&,-&)$_05_P+**# 07.04.14 12:01 S"&-" 82
WATCH_ppcoplcd4503.1 11/27/13 1:44 PM Page 1
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
ROGER DUBUIS
WHEN THE ROGER DUBUIS brand was
introduced in 1995, Hommage was its
first collection. Roger Dubuis has now
revamped the Hommage family as the last
step in a brand-wide rejuvenation project.
At SIHH the brand unveiled 10 new
Hommage watches, including those
shown here: an automatic and an auto-
matic chronograph. The automatic con-
tains the in-house RD620 movement,
which, like other Roger Dubuis move-
ments, is fitted with a micro-rotor. The
dial has the same deep-guilloch sunray
pattern and tapered, elongated Roman
numerals as the other Hommage watches.
There is a small seconds subdial at 9
oclock.
The chronograph contains Caliber
RD680, also made in house, which incor-
porates a column wheel. The running sec-
onds are shown at 9 oclock and there is a
30-minute counter at 3 oclock. The cases
of both watches are 42 mm and, like all
Hommage models, available in rose or
white gold. Each bears a new design feature:
the metalized signature of brand-co-
founder Roger Dubuis on its caseback,
which is made of sapphire. (Other models
have the signature on the metal surrounding
the sapphire window.) Prices: $31,100 and
$33,400 for the rose-gold and white-gold au-
tomatic, respectively; $51,400 and $54,900
for the chronograph. Both models bear the
Geneva Seal, as do all the brands watches.
Front and
back of the
Hommage
automatic
The Hommage
chronograph
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
The Malte
Tourbillon
Openworked
Front and back
of a Mtiers dArt
Mchaniques
Ajoures watch
The Patrimony
Traditionnelle
14-Day
Tourbillon
Openworked
AFTER CONCENTRATING on womens
watches at last years SIHH, Vacheron
Constantin turned its focus back to men
this year, and also threw a spotlight on
the art of skeletonizing. The brand
launched one new openworked model
available in four bezel variations: the
group is called the Mtiers dArt
Mcaniques Ajoures collection
(ajoure is French for openworked). It
also brought out new skeleton versions of
two tourbillon watches, the Malte Tour-
billon and the Patrimony Traditionnelle
14-Day Tourbillon.
According to Vacheron, the inspira-
tion for the Mcaniques Ajoures collec-
tion came from 19th-century European
railroad stations, with their arches and
airy vaults and their distinctive railway
clocks with Roman numerals. The move-
ment in these watches, Caliber 4400 SQ
(for squelette), is described by the com-
pany as hand-sculpted, featuring man-
ual beveling, engraving, and straighten-
ing, fine interior angles and contrasting
brushed and polished finishes. The bezels
come in black, gray, or blue, all in grand
feu enamel (all versions are $75,200).
There is also a high-jewelry model with
baguette diamonds on the bezel. The cases
are white gold and 40 mm in diameter,
and the movement bears the Geneva Seal.
The Malte Tourbillon Openworked,
outfitted with the skeletonized Caliber
2790 SQ, is decorated with a triangle pat-
tern. All 246 movement parts have been
hand drawn and chamfered. The case is
platinum and fitted with a sapphire dial
with slate gray dial ring. The watch has a
date and power-reserve display. Price:
$252,300.
The Patrimony Traditionnelle 14-
Day Tourbillon Openworked (Caliber
2260 SQ) features Gothic-inspired lat-
ticework. As its name suggests, it has a
power reserve of two weeks. Thanks to
the openworked components, you get a
good look at the four stacked barrels
that are responsible for that feat. Price:
$362,300.
VACHERON
CONSTANTIN
Made in Switzerland / Modied ETA 2836-2 automatic movement with Big Day-Date
complication by Johannes Jahnke / 38 hour power reserve / 43mm, Hand-polished, 316L
stainless steel case / Anti-reective sapphire crystal / Exhibition case-back / Italian leather
strap with Bader deployment
Swiss movement, English heart
PPCO placed_1746 4/8/14 11:16 AM Page 1
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
WELL-KNOWN WATCHMAKER Jean-
Marc Wiederrecht, whose company
Agenhor has been designing and making
complicated movements for Van Cleef &
Arpels for eight years, has come up with
another one. Its a jumping-hour, dual-
time movement incorporated in a watch
called the Pierre Arpels Heure dici &
Heure dailleurs (the time here and the
time elsewhere). It is the first complicated
watch in the Pierre Arpels collection.
The watch name appears prominently on
the right side of the dial. The local time
and the time in a second time zone are
shown in windows at 11 oclock and 5
oclock, respectively. The minutes are
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS
shown by a retrograde hand and an
arced scale on the left side of the dial.
When the hand reaches the 60-minute
marker, it flies back to 0 and the two
hour indicators jump simultaneously to
the next hours.
The watch is an automatic, wound by
means of a platinum bidirectionally
winding micro-rotor. The case is white
gold and 42 mm in diameter. It has a
transparent sapphire back through which
you can see the movement, whose bridges
are decorated with a snailed pattern. The
rotor bears a blue lacquered design that
mirrors the piqu pattern on the dial.
Price: $37,200.
The micro-rotor
is decorated
with a blue
piqu pattern.
The two hours
disks jump
forward
simultaneously
at the end of
each hour.
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
FOUR YEARS AGO, Grald Clerc,
founder of Clerc Genve, launched a new
divers watch called the Hydroscaph. It
quickly became the firms best-selling col-
lection and the face of the brand. The
newest member of the family is the
Hydroscaph Limited Edition Central
Chronograph. Its a 60-minute chrono-
graph timer that uses four central hands to
give standard time (via large hour and min-
utes hands) and chronograph timing (via
thin chrono minutes and seconds hands).
The central chronograph allows for
easy reading of the chronograph hands.
Activating the broad pusher at 2 oclock
starts the central chronograph seconds
hand and the minutes hand, in a differ-
ent color. The pusher at 4 oclock stops
the chronograph. Timing is measured to
the 1/5-second using the scale around
the perimeter of the dial. The watch also
features a small seconds subdial at 3
oclock, a date window at 6 oclock and
CLERC GENVE
An exploded
view of the
watchs 103-
part case
a 24-hour day/night indicator at 9
oclock.
A distinguishing feature of the watch
is its rugged steel case with lateral protec-
tors that extend its diameter to 49.9 mm.
Made of 103 parts, it is the most com-
plex on the market, Clerc Genve says; it
is water resistant to 500 meters. A notable
feature is the locking octagonal rotating
bezel, set by a crown at 10 oclock inte-
grated into the case. A retractable flap on
the crown locks the bezel to avoid any
movement of the bezel during a dive.
Powering the watch is the C608 auto-
matic movement, produced exclusively
for Clerc by Dubois Dpraz. It has a 4-Hz
frequency, a 44-hour power reserve and
47 jewels.
The watch comes in three versions:
stainless steel ($9,300), black diamond-
like carbon (DLC) ($9,300), and rose-
gold and black DLC ($16,000). Clerc will
produce 500 pieces in each finish. Each
watch is numbered on the caseback.
GENEVA 2014
The New Watches
AS YOU MIGHT GUESS from the
watchs name, the most prominent fea-
ture of DeWitts new Full Moon is its
moon-phase display. The watch is the lat-
est addition to the firms Twenty-8-Eight
collection.
The entire dial of the Full Moon is
designed around the unusual moon-
phase indicator on the bottom half of the
dial. The skeletonized left side of the sil-
ver dial, with its view of the layered
movement, represents the earth as seen
on a topographical atlas, says the brands
founder, Jrme de Witt. The right side of
the dial consists of aventurine glass,
whose speckled deep blue color suggests
a star-studded night sky. Positioned
between the two is the moon-phase mod-
ule, developed and manufactured entirely
by DeWitt. A rose-gold-tone aperture
(designed to suggest a telescope) extends
over a rotating disk made of aventurine.
On it are two moons made of white
DEWITT
mother-of-pearl. The wearer can track
the phase of the moon as it passes
through the aperture. Its an exact
moon, not a jumping moon, says Ron
Jackson, director of DeWitt America,
noting that the moon-phase disk is driven
by the hour wheel.
The case is 43 mm in diameter and
12.25 mm thick. It is made of grade 5
titanium and is water resistant to 30
meters. On the side of the case are impe-
rial columns, a signature look of the
brand. The polished crown, also made of
titanium, is decorated with DeWitts styl-
ized W logo. That logo is also
engraved on the caseback. Powering the
watch is an automatic movement (Cal-
iber DW.0161) with a 28,800 vph fre-
quency and a power reserve of 42 hours.
Price: $30,600.
DARK
SIDE
Two chronographs robed
in black and powered by
in-house movements go
head to head in our
comparative test.
BY JENS KOCH
WT_0314_B*$,&$("_.+_O'"a_04_P*))! 07.04.14 12:22 S$, 94
BLACK
STEEL
WT_0314_Breitling_vs_Omega_04_Proof 07.04.14 12:27 Seite 95
lack cases are all the rage. So are in-house chronograph move-
ments. Omega and Breitling combine both in two new watches
that here go head to head: the Speedmaster Dark Side of
the Moon, from Omega, and Breitlings Chronomat GMT
Blacksteel.
The Breitling Chronomat was introduced in the 1940s, but
the watchs styling has been continually updated. The Chrono-
mat GMT Blacksteel has a martial look to it: the gigantic, dark,
matte-finished, 47-mm case is more than 18 mm thick; the
screwed push-pieces and the rotating bezel, with its four applied
cursors, look extremely sturdy. The watch weighs a hefty 209
grams. When you wear the Blacksteel, you almost feel as though
you belong to a special-ops task force.
The steel of the case is called black, but it really looks
more like dark anthracite. The DLC (diamond-like carbon)
coating is relatively scratch-resistant, but it is thin, and harsh
treatment can leave silver-colored scratches on it.
The Omega Speedmaster has an illustrious and often-told
history: unveiled in 1957, it was chosen for NASAs manned
spaceflight program in the 1960s. The high point of the watchs
space career came in 1969, when Buzz Aldrin wore this model
over the sleeve of his spacesuit while strolling across the lunar
surface.
This new rendition of the Speedmaster is more elegant than
other versions thanks to its black case and dial, both made of
zirconium dioxide ceramic. The white-gold hands and the
applied white-gold indexes, which are coated with Super-Lumi-
Nova, look more luxurious than the white hands and applied
luminous indexes on other Speedmasters. The black bezel and
its tachymeter scale dont contrast very strongly with the black
case. Chrome nitride, which forms an uncommonly hard and
very adherent coating, is used for the silver-gray lettering thats
inset along the ceramic bezel.
The Speedmaster signature and the tip of the elapsed-
seconds hand provide tasteful red accents. The styling as a
whole looks handsome and tidy. Despite its large diameter of 44
mm, this watch is an unobtrusive presence on the wrist. Thats
not surprising, really, because as any physicist will tell you, the
absence of all light is the essential nature of the color black. Per-
haps thats why the designers opted to give this watch a shiny
dial. The reflective surfaces of its face and bezel, together with
the polished edges of its case, add some liveliness to this other-
wise somber watch.
The Speedmaster weighs a scarcely perceptible 91 grams, so
its wearer could easily forget that hes wearing it. (The Chrono-
mat weighs more than twice as much.) Highly domed crystals
on the front and back conceal the watchs thickness: it looks
slimmer than its 15.8-mm height would lead you to expect.
Breitling crafts its watchs back from lightweight titanium.
This skims a few grams off the overall weight, but hides the in-
house chronograph movement. This is not unusual for Breitling:
The levers and column
wheel are clearly visible in
the Breitling B04.
COMPARATIVE TEST
Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon vs. Breitling Chronomat GMT Blacksteel
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COMPARATIVE TEST
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most of its models have windowless metal
backs. The fully threaded Breitling back
was no obstacle for master watchmaker
Florian Pikor, of Wempe in Hamburg,
Germany, who helped us with this test.
(Pikor is both a chronograph specialist
and Wempes deputy workshop director
for watches.) But the challenge was some-
what greater when Pikor faced the task of
removing the Speedmasters ceramic
back, which includes a viewing window.
After learning from Omega that the back
is snap-fit, Pikor deftly separated the
breakage-prone ceramic back from the
rest of the case with no harm done.
ITS OBVIOUS THAT the architecture of
a steel case cannot simply be transferred
unaltered to a ceramic case. The fully
threaded back on the steel version of the
Co-Axial Speedmaster couldnt be used
on the Dark Side of the Moon because
cutting threads into ceramic is a difficult
task. Some manufacturers therefore glue
or press an inner metal case into the outer
ceramic housing, cut threads into the
inner case, and then screw a metal back
into the threaded periphery. Omega didnt,
instead opting for the snap-fit back. Nor
does the case have a movement-holder
ring or a tube for the crown. Special
clamping screws affix the movement
inside the case so the movement can be
removed from the rear. Nothing but an
insulating ring prevents moisture from
penetrating the opening for the crown.
The back is insulated with green Viton,
which is nearly immune to chemical cor-
rosion. This watch resists pressure to only
50 meters, which makes it half as water
resistant as the steel version: the Dark
Side of the Moon is not built for water
sports.
The Chronomat GMT Blacksteel is
much better in this respect: its water
resistant to 500 meters. The back, crown,
and chrono buttons are all screwed. You
could even keep the watch on your wrist
while leaping from a 10-meter diving
board. Removing the back gives you a
clear view of Caliber B04, which is the
GMT version of chronograph Caliber
B01, which Breitling introduced in 2009.
The B04 is somewhat less buttoned-up
than the movement in the Omega watch,
Caliber 9300, which debuted in 2011.
Breitlings movement lets you see its col-
umn wheel and many of its levers, and it
even reveals some of the chronographs
wheels with their zero-return heart-
pieces. Omegas bridges cover nearly
everything, although three milled open-
ings offer at least a partial view of the col-
umn wheel. Nonetheless, Omega
achieves a very high-quality appearance
thanks to the brands own spiraling deco-
rative pattern, beveled and polished
edges, and blackened screws with matte-
finished heads. In the Breitling move-
ment, the levers are stamped from sheet
metal and dont look very handsome
despite being polished. Like the 9300, the
B04 has screws with polished heads and
its flat surfaces are adorned with decora-
tive patterns.
EMBELLISHMENTS ARE NICE, but
theyre not as important as the funda-
mental architecture and engineering of the
movement itself. Our two candidates
share several common features here: each
movement has a bidirectionally winding
rotor, an elegant column wheel (Omegas
has an unorthodox, star-like shape) and mod-
ern vertical coupling. The power reserves
of both watches outdo ETAs standard of
46 hours: Breitlings single barrel has a
power reserve of 70 hours; Omegas two
serially arranged barrels have a power
reserve of 60 hours and provide greater
regularity in the power flow.
Even before Pikor disassembled the
movements, it was apparent that Omega
uses a sturdy bridge for its balance while
The bridges conceal almost
everything in Omegas
handsomely decorated
Caliber 9300.
COMPARATIVE TEST
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COMPARATIVE TEST
Breitling uses a conventional balance
cock borne at only one end. Omegas
movement has newly shaped Nivachoc
shock absorbers, which are reputed to
provide better centering for the balance
pivot. Breitling equips its movement with
shock absorption not just for the balance
but also for the escape wheel, which
makes the Blacksteel better able to cope
with hard knocks.
The fine adjustment mechanisms dif-
fer, too. The B04 has an eccentric screw
that moves the tail of the regulator.
Omega opts for index-free fine adjust-
ment via white-gold weight screws on the
balance: these facilitate finer regulation
and allow the balance spring to breathe
freely throughout its entire length. For
aesthetic reasons, the balance gets a black
chrome coating, which is a good match
for the rest of the movement and for this
watch as a whole.
More of the horological landscape
comes into view after we remove each
watchs rotor and the bridge for its auto-
matic-winding mechanism. The under-
sides of the bridges are unembellished, but
this is usual for watches in this price class.
Breitlings movement is easy to service: the
SPECS
!MEGA $"EEDMA$%E#
DA#K $IDE !F %HE M!!
Manufacturer: !4,.( $A,
$:B47D09:8(99, 96, CH-2504 B0,55,,
$=0:@,83(5+
Reference number:
311.92.44.51.01.003
Functions: H6;89, 405;:,9, 94(33
9,*65+9, */8656.8(7/ =0:/ *64)05,+
*6;5:,8 -68 60 ,3(79,+ 405;:,9 (5+ 12
,3(79,+ /6;89, +(:, +0973(?
Movement: A;:64(:0* 05-/6;9, C(30),8
9300, C!$C *,8:0C,+, 28,800 <7/,
54 1,=,39, 9:67-9,*65+9 -;5*:065, :=6
)(88,39, 0<(*/6* 9/6*2 ()9687:065,
G3;*?+;8 )(3(5*,, C5, (+1;9:4,5: <0(
=,0./: 9*8,=9 65 :/, )(3(5*,, *6-(>0(3
,9*(7,4,5:, 60-/6;8 76=,8 8,9,8<,,
+0(4,:,8 = 32.5 44, /,0./: = 7.6 44
Case: '08*650;4 +06>0+, *,8(40*, *;8<,+
9(77/08, *8?9:(3 /(9 5658,D,*:0<, *6(:05.
65 )6:/ 90+,9, 95(7-C: )(*2 =0:/ =05+6=
6- 9(77/08,, =(:,8 8,909:(5: :6 50 4
Strap and clasp: C6(:,+ 5?365 9:8(7 =0:/
*,8(40* 7865.,+ );*23,
Rate results:
D,<0(:0659 05 9,*65+9 7,8 24 /6;89
(&0:/ */8656.8(7/ 9=0:*/,+ 6--/65)
D0(3 ;7 +4 / +4
D0(3 +6=5 +2 / +2
C86=5 ;7 +2 / +3
C86=5 +6=5 +1 / 0
C86=5 3,-: +3 / +2
C86=5 80./: +2 / +2
G8,(:,9: +,<0(:065 6- 8(:, 3 / 4
A<,8(., +,<0(:065 +2.3 / +2.2
A<,8(., (4730:;+,:
F3(: 7690:0659 261A / 257A
H(5.05. 7690:0659 248A / 247A
Dimensions: D0(4,:,8 = 44.25 44,
/,0./: = 15.8 44, =,0./: = 91 .
Variations: $:(053,99 9:,,3 ($8,700)
Price: $12,000
The Omega has neatly
crafted and suitably thick
chronograph wheels. m
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gear-train bridge can be removed together
with the automatic-winding subassembly,
which is accessible via a second bridge
thats screwed to the gear-train bridge
from below. The chronograph wheels are
also positioned under a separate bridge.
After these parts are removed, the zero-
return heart-pieces and the chronograph
wheels come into view.
With Omegas watch, on the other
hand, a watchmaker must first remove
the bridge for the automatic-winding
mechanism and then unscrew the large
chronograph bridge before he can access
the chronograph wheels and the zero-
return heart-pieces. Now we can see that
Omega has fabricated all its components
from thicker stock than Breitling has.
This makes the parts not only sturdier but
more expensive-looking than the some-
times thin wheels in Breitlings movement
(which were nonetheless nicely polished).
Omega also shows greater meticulous-
ness in manufacturing and assembly so
that fewer tool marks and scratches can
be found on its movement than on
Breitlings. Furrows and striations were
discernible on some of Breitlings compo-
nents, especially when we looked at them
through a loupe.
Breitling deploys its patented self-
centering system for the zero return. This
eliminates laborious adjustments during
the assembly process. Omegas levers
have somewhat less friction to overcome,
so the push-pieces require a bit less force
than their counterparts in Breitlings
watch.
BOTH MANUFACTURERS rely on verti-
cal coupling: it offers less to see than in
classical horizontal coupling, but it func-
SPECS
B#EI%LI!G CH#"!"A%
G% BLACK$%EEL
Manufacturer: B7+/92/4- AG,
$).2').9.':8897'88+ 2, CH-2540
G7+4).+4, $</9>+72'4*
Reference number: B041310 BC78
Functions: H5:78, 3/4:9+8, 83'22
8+)54*8, ).7545-7'6. </9. )5:49+78 ,57
30 +2'68+* 3/4:9+8 '4* 12 +2'68+*
.5:78, *'9+ */862'=, 8+)54* 9/3+ >54+
Movement: A:953'9/) /4-.5:8+ C'2/(+7
B04, C"$C )+79/@+*, 28,800 ;6., 47
0+<+28, 8956-8+)54*8 ,:4)9/54, K/, 8.5)1
'(85769/54, G2:)=*:7 ('2'4)+, @4+
'*0:893+49 ;/' +))+497/) 8)7+< '4*
7+-:2'957, 70-.5:7 65<+7 7+8+7;+,
*/'3+9+7 = 30 33, .+/-.9 = 7.2 33
Case: DLC-)5'9+* 89'/42+88 89++2, ):7;+*
8'66./7+ )7=89'2 .'8 4547+A+)9/;+ )5'9/4-
54 (59. 8:7,')+8, ,:22= 9.7+'*+* 8)7+<-/4
9/9'4/:3 )'8+(')1, <'9+7 7+8/89'49 95
500 3
Strap and clasp: #:((+7 897'6 </9. DLC-
)5'9+* 89'/42+88-89++2 8',+9= ,52*/4- )2'86
9.'9 /4)2:*+8 ' 3+).'4/83 95 2+4-9.+4
9.+ )2'86 /4 1-33 89+68
Rate results:
D+;/'9/548 /4 8+)54*8 6+7 24 .5:78
(&/9. ).7545-7'6. 8</9).+* 5,,/54)
D/'2 :6 +1 / 0
D/'2 *5<4 +2 / 0
C75<4 :6 -1 / -5
C75<4 *5<4 +3 / +1
C75<4 2+,9 +3 / 0
C75<4 7/-.9 -1 / -4
G7+'9+89 *+;/'9/54 5, 7'9+ 4 / 6
A;+7'-+ *+;/'9/54 +1.2 / -1.3
A;+7'-+ '362/9:*+:
F2'9 658/9/548 296? / 268?
H'4-/4- 658/9/548 270? / 240?
Dimensions: D/'3+9+7 = 47 33,
.+/-.9 = 18.35 33, <+/-.9 = 209 -
Variations: &/9.5:9 DLC )5'9/4-
($8,570)
Price: $10,210
Limited edition of 1,000 pieces
The Breitling
movement has
thinner, less sturdy-
looking wheels and
slight scratches on the
bridges, but its layout
makes it easy
to servce.
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tions better because it enables the
elapsed-seconds hand to begin moving
immediately without an initial stutter.
Two pincer-like levers separate the two
laterally beveled coupling disks, which
are pressed against one another by a
spring when the pincer opens.
When Pikor removes the Omegas
balance bridge, a special feature becomes
more clearly visible: the co-axial escape-
ment. Unlike other calibers Omega has
used, which were ETA or Frdric Piguet
movements retro-fitted with the co-axial
escapement, the 9300 was designed from
the very start to incorporate the co-axial.
The escapement works with three func-
tional levels and performs more efficiently
than the retro-fitted movements. Unlike a
standard Swiss lever escapement, the co-
axial escapement separates the functions
of arresting and releasing, thus prevent-
ing undesirable sliding friction on the pal-
let stones. Less energy loss and better oil
retention are the welcome consequences.
Only a very thin film of oil is applied to
the escapement. The accuracy of the
timekeeping is also enhanced by the sili-
con balance spring, which is relatively
resistant to shocks and almost entirely
unaffected by magnetism. Omega is the
only brand that uses silicon balance
springs on a large scale.
Breitling improves the precision of the
B04 by pairing each balance with its bal-
ance spring at the factory. The brands
engineers devoted much attention to the
date display, which jumps instantaneously.
This feat is achieved via a sprung lever on
the dial side of the movement. The spring
accumulates tension hour after hour
before it suddenly releases its stored ener-
gy to advance the date display at the stroke
of midnight. Omegas date display, on the
other hand, begins to switch around 10
p.m. and doesnt complete its leisurely
advance until a few minutes before midnight.
COMPARATIVE TEST
Breitlings column wheel
(left) has a traditional
shape (some tool marks
are visible); Omegas an
unconventional one.
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THE BREITLING WATCH has a jumping
elapsed-minutes counter. Omega chose a
different way to organize its elapsed-time
counters: rather than using one counter
for 30 minutes and another for 12 hours,
Caliber 9300 has a single combined counter
at 3 oclock on which up to 60 elapsed
minutes and 12 elapsed hours are tallied.
This doesnt improve the legibility
very much: the hands differ in length to
prevent your mistaking one for the other,
but the printed numerals refer to the
elapsed hours only. The elapsed interval
can be read just like the time of day, but
the elapsed minutes arent as readily dis-
cernible as they are on Breitlings counter.
It tallies just 30 minutes so the spaces
between adjacent minutes markers are
twice as large as on Omegas display. To sum
it up: the Breitling is better if you want to
time intervals of 30 minutes or less, but
the Omega is better if you want to meas-
ure intervals of several hours duration.
The process for setting the time and
date is the same on both watches: pulling
the crown out to its second position stops
the seconds hand while you reset the hour
and minutes hands in the conventional
manner. The hour hand for the second
time zone on Breitlings watch goes for-
ward or backward along with the ordi-
nary hour hand. If you pull the crown out
to its first position and then turn it, the
hour hand will move in hourly increments
and the date display will switch when the
hour hand passes midnight. The date will
automatically jump either forward or
backward depending on whether the hour
hand passes midnight clockwise or coun-
terclockwise. This arrangement isnt quite
as convenient as a rapid-date-reset mecha-
nism, but it enables you to change the
hour without changing the positions of the
seconds and minutes hands. This is handy
when entering another time zone or
springing forward in spring or falling
back in autumn. The hour hand for the
second time zone remains motionless dur-
ing this resetting maneuver.
Omegas balance
with regulating
screws, silicon
hairspring, co-
axial escapement
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COMPARATIVE TEST
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WT_0314_B*$,&$("_.+_O'"a_04_P*))! 07.04.14 13:04 S$, 106
COMPARATIVE TEST
This version of the Chronomat GMT
can even show the time in a third zone:
unlike the unlimited version of the
Chronomat GMT, which has a unidirec-
tionally rotating bezel marked with a
minutes scale, the Blacksteel is equipped
with a bidirectionally rotating 24-hour
bezel that clicks into place in hourly
increments. Using it in conjunction with
the 24-hour scale on the dial tells you the
time in a third zone.
The movements in both watches are
COSC certified. Before we disassembled
them, we checked their timekeeping accu-
racy on a timing machine. Breitlings con-
testant performed with very slight devia-
tions: all values were within a range of 1
and +3 seconds per day. The average gain
was 1.2 seconds. Even with the chrono-
graph switched on, both the greatest
deviation of rate (6 seconds) and the
average deviation (1.3) were quite small,
although the strong amplitude declined
to low but still acceptable levels in the
hanging positions.
Those results were excellent, but
Omega outdid them. The 9300s greatest
deviation among the several positions
was a mere 3 seconds; the average daily
gain was 2.3 seconds. The situation didnt
change significantly after the chrono-
graph was switched on: here the greatest
deviation of rate was 4 seconds and the
average daily gain was 2.2 seconds. The
amplitude remained incredibly stable:
Caliber 9300 lost only 14 degrees of arc
when the chronograph was switched on
and the watch was shifted from flat
positions to hanging orientations.
Breitlings amplitude declined four times
as much.
The picture isnt quite as clear when
legibility is considered. Each watchs dial
is protected by a sapphire crystal with
nonreflective coating on both sides.
Omegas dial is tidy, but glaringly reflec-
tive. Breitlings dial has numerous indica-
tors and scales, so you may need a few
seconds to find what youre looking for.
Omegas dial gleams more brightly at
night, but Breitlings dial also lets you
read the time quite well in the dark.
OMEGA GAVE an entirely new strap to
its Dark Side of the Moon. Its made of
tough coated nylon fabric, with cowhide
on the underside and a rubber overlay
SCORES
OMEGA SPEEDMASTER
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
S)'a& a$d c"a(& (#a,. 10 &%!$)():
The c$a(ed #-!$# '(&a% a#d i(' ce&a"ic
c!a'% a&e ha#d'$"e a#d +e!! c&af(ed. 8
O&e'a)!%$ (5): The c&$+# a#d %)'h-
%iece' a&e ea'- ($ $%e&a(e; (he h$)&
ha#d ca# be &e'e( i# h$)&!- i#c&e"e#(',
+hich "ae' a &a%id-&e'e( f)#c(i$# f$&
(he da(e )##ece''a&-; (he '(&a% i' a bi(
c)"be&'$"e ($ )'e. 4
Ca(e (10): The ce&a"ic ca'e ha' a
'a%%hi&e bac, &e'i'(' 'c&a(chi#g a#d i'
#ea(!- c&af(ed, b)( i( c$)!d ha*e g&ea(e&
+a(e& &e'i'(a#ce. 9
De(!$ (15): C$!$& "a((e&': (hi' c!a''ic
+a(ch !$$' &ea!!- c$$! i# b!ac; (he dia!
i' bea)(if)!!- 'i"%!e. 14
Le!b!"!)- (5): The dia! i' g!a&i#g!-
&e0ec(i*e, b)( $(he&+i'e (he +a(ch i'
ea'- ($ &ead b$(h da- a#d #igh(. 4
Wea'!$ c%#f%') (10): Thi'
c$"%a&a(i*e!- !igh(+eigh( +a(ch fee!'
*e&- c$"f$&(ab!e $# (he +&i'(. 10
M%+e#e$) (20): The b&a#d.' $+# +e!!-
e#gi#ee&ed ch&$#$g&a%h "$*e"e#( ha'
a &e/#ed c$-a,ia! e'ca%e"e#(, 'i!ic$#
hai&'%&i#g a#d &eg)!a($&-f&ee /#e
adj)'("e#( "echa#i'". 18
Ra)e 'e(*")( (10): C$)!d 'ca&ce!- be
be((e&; *e&- '!igh( de*ia(i$#' i# a!!
%$'i(i$#' a#d e,(&e"e!- '(ab!e a"%!i()de 10
O+e'a"" +a"*e (15): The %&ice i'
a%%&$%&ia(e a#d (he +a(ch i' !ie!- ($ be
*a!)ed b- c$!!ec($&'. 12
TOTAL: 89 POINTS
The Breitling
watch is 2.75
mm wider and
2.5 mm thicker
than the Omega.
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with holes for the broad prong on the
buckle, which is made of ceramic. The
strap loops are also made of rubber. This
material is a good match for the watch
and has an appropriate high-tech look,
but makes it a bit difficult to coax the
prong through the hole in the strap and to
guide the strap through its loops.
We found it much easier to open and
close Breitlings folding clasp using its
two safety buttons. This clasp has
received the same dark matte coating as
the case. Its built-in extension mechanism
is quite practical; it lets us add up to 6
mm in single-millimeter steps. Breitlings
clasp has very narrow gap widths and is
precisely crafted. Its disadvantages are
sharp edges and corners when the buckle
is open: you wouldnt want to let the
sleeve of a woolen sweater come into
contact with them. On the wrist, too, this
clasp is much more palpably present than
the Omega clasp. Huge capital letters
spell BREITLING all along the strap, a
detail some will love and others loathe.
Both test watches sell for more than
$10,000: $10,210 for the Breitling and
$12,000 for the Omega. Breitling charges
an additional $1,640 for the blackened
case. Omegas surcharge is $3,300, but
for that money you also get a ceramic
case, dial, and clasp; applied gold indices
and gold hands.
Omegas movement is the better of
the two. It is superior in its craftsman-
ship, its embellishments, and above all
the engineering of its co-axial escapement
and silicon balance spring. Breitlings cal-
iber is certainly not a bad piece of work,
but it doesnt offer quite as good a cost-
benefit ratio.
These two brands black models tread
diametrically opposite paths. Omega cre-
ated an elegant version of its tool watch,
while Breitling converted its elegant
watch into a tool watch. After all the
numbers are crunched, the victors laurels
go to the Omega; but if youve got big
wrists, youll have plenty of fun with
Breitlings black beauty.
SCORES
BREITLING CHRONOMAT
GMT BLACKSTEEL
S,*a) a' c%a+) (&a/. 10 )($',+):
We!!-c'af)ed '*bbe' ()'a% a#d (afe).
f$!di#g c!a(% ,i)h %'ac)ica! e-)e#(i$# 8
O)!*a,$(' (5): G'ea)e' f$'ce i( #eeded
)$ $%e'a)e )he(e %*(h-%iece( )ha# )$
%'e(( O"ega0( b*))$#(; )he h$*' ha#d
ca# be 'e(e) i# h$*'!. i#c'e"e#)(; )he
da)e a*)$"a)ica!!. j*"%( ahead ,he#
)he h$*' ha#d %a((e( "id#igh). 5
Ca+! (10): The DLC-c$a)ed ()ai#!e((-()ee!
ca(e i( #ea)!. "ade a#d )he be/e! i(
e!ab$'a)e!. c'af)ed; )he ca(e i( high!.
,a)e' 'e(i()a#) b*) ha( a# $%a&*e bac. 8
D!+$#' (15): The fa(hi$#ab!e Ch'$#$"a)
i( )'a#(f$'"ed i#)$ a "i!i)a'.-().!e
(%ecia!-$%( ,a)ch. 13
L!#$b$%$,0 (5): The "a#. (ca!e( a'e a bi)
c$#f*(i#g, b*) )he )i"e i( ea(. )$ 'ead. 4
W!a*$'# c(&"(*, (10): A +e'. !a'ge
a#d +e'. ,eigh). ,a)ch; )he c!a(%
%'e((e( ($"e,ha) *#c$"f$')ab!.
agai#() )he i#(ide $f )he ,'i(). 6
M(.!&!', (20): A g$$d, ()*'d.
ch'$#$g'a%h "$+e"e#) ,i)h a c$!*"#
,hee! a#d a# i#()a#)a#e$*(!. j*"%i#g
da)e di(%!a. 17
Ra,! *!+-%,+ (10): G$$d 'a)e
%e'f$'"a#ce 9
O.!*a%% .a%-! (15): C$#(ide'i#g i)(
fea)*'e(, i)( %'ice i( ($"e,ha) high. O#
)he $)he' ha#d, .$* ge) a ,a)ch )ha)
be!$#g( )$ a !i"i)ed edi)i$#. 11
TOTAL: 81 POINTS
Omegas ceramic
pronged buckle;
Breitlings DLC-coated
and satin-finished
folding clasp
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BY GISBERT L. BRUNNER
Pilots rely on Breitlings
chronographs, but calendars,
world timers and divers watches
also are part of the brands
130-year history.
BREITLING
MILESTONES
WT_0314_B(e#*%#&!_M#%e)*'&e)_07_P('' 07.04.14 13:14 Se#*e 110

1941
CHRONOMAT
Launched in 1941, the Chronomat was based on a patent
document that Breitling submitted in 1940: patent number
217012 granted protection for an instrument-style wrist-
watch with a circular slide rule. This clever system made it
quick and relatively easy to perform various measurements
and mathematical operations, e.g., the conversion of speeds
or distances from one unit of measurement to another, multi-
plication, division, and cross-multiplication. This new time-
piece attracted many aficionados in sports and industry, and
technicians appreciated its special features, which made their
work easier. Later versions of the Chronomat with different
cases and dials were the earliest ancestors of Breitlings leg-
endary Navitimer. The watch shown here contains Venus
Caliber 175. A special feature of this watch is a counter for 45
elapsed minutes a detail welcomed by soccer fans.
Early wristwatches were styled after pocketwatches: their
cases were round, they had soldered-on lugs to hold the strap,
and the winding crown was at 12 oclock. The chronographs
push-piece, which started, stopped and returned the chrono-
graphs hands to zero, was typically integrated into the
crown. Breitling, then based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, was one
of the first companies to separate the winding crown and the
chronographs push-piece, as shown in this model, which
dates from about 1915. The crown was moved 90 degrees to
the right, to 3 oclock, and the push-piece was placed above.
Breitling took the next step in 1934, when it introduced a sec-
ond push-piece so the elapsed-time measurement could be
momentarily stopped and later resumed.
1915
CHRONOGRAPH WITH
SEPARATE PUSH-PIECE
WT_0314_Breitling_Milestones_07_Proof 07.04.14 13:14 Seite 111
MILESTONES
Breitling
In 1942, Breitling gave the Chronomat a moon-phase display
at 12 oclock. (The first wristwatch with a moon-phase indica-
tor appeared in the 1920s.) Venus was Breitlings most impor-
tant movement supplier during this time, and the Chronomat
Moonphase used Venuss hand-wound Caliber 184. The watch
also had a date indicator that was concentric with the moon-
phase display and a counter for 12 elapsed hours. The Chrono-
mat Moonphase was available in either steel or gold.
1942
CHRONOMAT
MOONPHASE
In the 1940s, many chronograph makers relied on Valjoux
bauches. Not Breitling. In the prior decade, Breitling had
started to use Venus calibers in most of its watches. This
enabled Breitling to be among the first brands to have access
to the newly developed Venus Caliber 179, which was 31.6
mm in diameter and 7.2 mm high. Breitling used this caliber
to power its Duograph split-seconds chronograph, which
debuted at the Basel watch fair in 1944. The Duograph was
equipped with a counter for 45 elapsed minutes and also had
a patented button in the crown to operate the split-seconds
hand. It was produced in rather small quantities because the
mechanism for the split-seconds hand added about 50 per-
cent to the chronographs price. Although this model was
produced for nearly 20 years in both classic and water-resis-
tant versions, it is considered a rarity.
1944
DUOGRAPH
MILESTONES
Breitling
The 35-mm steel Datora chronograph
became a bestseller soon after its debut in
1945, partly because it had a full calen-
dar, which was mounted beneath the dial.
The day of the week appeared in one win-
dow, the month in another, and a central
hand indicated the date. The calendar
mechanism required manual correction
on the last day of any month with fewer
than 31 days. Two buttons on the left side
of the case were used for speedy resetting
of the displays. A counter for 12 elapsed
hours was one of the special features of
the watchs movement, the hand-wound
Valjoux Caliber 72c VZHC, which was
produced until 1974. The movement was
29.5 mm in diameter and 6.95 mm high.
The balance had a frequency of 2.5 Hz.
Breitling offered the Datora in a standard
version and a water-resistant one; the lat-
ter had rounded buttons.
1945
DATORA
Chronographs, and especially Breitlings
chronographs, have generally appealed
mostly to men. But the exception proves
the rule, and the Quadra, introduced in
1946, with its petite 26-by-26-mm case,
is that exception. The movement was
Valjouxs hand-wound Caliber 69 DX,
which debuted in 1936. It was Valjouxs
first miniature caliber: just 23.35 mm in
diameter and 5.65 mm high. A classic col-
umn wheel controlled the start and stop
functions. The push-pieces were posi-
tioned very close to the crown. The dial
included a pulsometer and a central
tachymeter scale. A woman who didnt
like the square case could opt for a round
one; both versions used the same move-
ment. Valjoux produced only 3,964
examples of this caliber before produc-
tion ceased in 1966.
1946
QUADRA
Breitling showed cosmopolitan flair with
its introduction of the Unitime in 1951, a
watch that had a world-time display
instead of a chronograph. The grooved
bezel could be rotated to reset the city
ring under the crystal. When the refer-
ence city for the current time zone was
moved to 12 oclock, the hours around
the globe were shown by the two-tone
24-hour ring, which had oppositely run-
ning teeth coupled to the automatic
movement. Central hands showed the
time in the local time zone, while a win-
dow at 3 oclock displayed the date in
that zone. Felsa supplied the basic move-
ment, Caliber 711, which was self-wind-
ing via a bidirectional rotor.
1951
UNITIME
MILESTONES
Breitling
Dont be misled: this watchs name, which was trademarked
in 1955, has nothing to do with the navy. The Navitimer,
which debuted in 1952, was designed to help pilots coordi-
nate time and navigation: it was equipped with calculating
functions. Advertisements described this multifunctional
device, which contained the hand-wound Caliber Venus 178,
as a personal onboard instrument. The built-in slide rule
enabled aviators to multiply and divide, convert nautical
miles to land miles, and calculate averages, fuel consumption,
average gain of altitude, and distances during ascent and
landing. Fumbling with paper and pencil while in flight could
be at least partially eliminated. Since it was introduced, the
Navitimer has undergone various changes, mainly to its case
and the calibers it housed, i.e., hand-wound, hand-wound
with date, or self-winding, but no one has ever tampered with
its most distinctive feature: its circular slide rule.
1952
NAVITIMER
What Breitling unveiled for pilots in 1954
differed from the Chronomat and the
Navitimer in almost every respect. The
styling of the case and dial was strictly no-
frills: legibility was the priority. The black
dial with large luminous numerals includ-
ed nothing that wasnt absolutely neces-
sary. The window at 3 oclock was espe-
cially noteworthy: rather than showing
the date, this aperture contained a digital
counter to tally up to 15 elapsed minutes.
Other features included a rotating bezel:
calibrated for 12 hours, it could be used to
quickly set the time for a second zone or
to remind the wearer of upcoming
appointments. Breitling used a modified,
hand-wound Caliber Venus 178 in this
watch. The watch later evolved into the
model called the Co-Pilot.
1954
PILOTS
CHRONOGRAPH
MILESTONES
Breitling
Breitling was not immune to the influences of the 1960s.
Although round watches didnt disappear entirely, it was
impossible to ignore the trend toward styles with straight or
only slightly curved lines. Along with square and rectangular
cases, the pillow-shaped case enjoyed a renaissance and was
adapted to suit the new eras technical capabilities. Refine-
ments like cut-off corners and faceted edges were added.
Breitling unveiled a synthesis of a pillow-shaped and circular
case in 1967. Automatic chronograph movements were not
yet available, so daily manual winding was needed to power
Caliber 730, which had a counter for 45 elapsed minutes and
a date window. There were pulsometer and tachymeter scales
on the circumference of the dial, which was marked with
applied hour indexes.
1967
NEW DATORA
With a steel Navitimer Cosmonaute
around his wrist, astronaut Scott Carpenter
and his space capsule Aurora 7 orbited
the Earth three times after a rocket car-
ried them into space on May 24, 1962.
Containing a hand-wound Caliber Venus
178 that had been specially modified for
Breitling, this watch had an hour hand
that required 24 hours to complete one
circuit of the dial. The 24-hour gradua-
tion was vital to distinguish day from
night. The modified display for the hours
did not have any effect on the practical
slide rule, which could be used, for exam-
ple, to convert back and forth between
kilometers and land or nautical miles.
The Navitimer facilitated the drafting of
navigation plans, helped to calculate fuel
consumption and the time for the next
radio call, and served to determine the
location or the direction of travel. It was
a useful instrument for all pilots.
1962
NAVITIMER
COSMONAUTE
45mm Case 316 L Stainless steel, Depth Gauge measure 50M/165Ft Below Sea level,
Unidirectional Sapphire Luminous Bezel inlay, Chronograph with 1/20 second indicator,
AM/PM 24-hour indicator at 9 oclock, Sapphire Crystal AR Coated, Superluminova hands
and hour markers, Water resistant 200m/660 Ft Professional Diver Bracelet
www.deepbluewatches.com 212-213-5128 info@deepbluewatches.com
DEEP BLUE DEPTHMETER PROFESSIONAL
MILESTONES
Breitling
Chronograph movements with column wheels to control the
stopwatch function are costly. Breitling was painfully aware
of this in the 1960s, when sales of such high-priced move-
ments were declining. Fortunately, the bauche maker Venus
was still offering its 14-ligne hand-wound Caliber 188. The
movement could perform the same functions as a chrono-
graph with a classic column wheel, but a coulisse accom-
plished the necessary switching and also reduced produc-
tion costs. Breitling assembled large numbers of these move-
ments. At the companys production facility in La Chaux-de-
Fonds (headquarters had been moved to Geneva in 1952), an
assembly line with six sequential work stations made it possi-
ble for 100 movements to be assembled simultaneously.
Breitling used the Venus 188 in several models, including the
Superocean, which was introduced in 1968. This chrono-
graph, designed for professional divers, was water resistant to
200 meters and could measure elapsed seconds, but couldnt
tally elapsed minutes or hours. Its dial and hands were
designed to be easily read in the dimly lit depths of the sea. Its
bezel could be rotated and was calibrated for individual
minutes.
1968
SUPEROCEAN
Sales of chronographs declined markedly during the second
half of the 1960s. Breitling and its competitor Heuer formed
a partnership to develop the first automatic chronograph and
hoped that its launch would help counteract the downturn.
The adventure began in 1965, when the two firms, along with
Bren Watch and Dubois Dpraz, signed a contract to develop
the watch; they called the venture Project 99. Bren was taken
on as movement supplier because of its experience with
micro-rotors. No other type of self-winding caliber could per-
mit the rearward and thus service-friendly installation of the
specially developed chronograph module because the small
oscillating weight didnt interfere with the two arbors of the
elapsed-time counters. Furthermore, the date ring was posi-
tioned directly under the dial. Modular architecture also
made it possible to install the crown on the left side, where it
clearly showed that this was a self-winding watch. Breitling
and Heuer were responsible for the design, the dials, the cases
and the other components. The first prototypes of Caliber 11,
which ran at 19,800 vph, were available in the spring of
1968. The official launch of the Chrono-Matic, the worlds
first automatic chronograph with micro-rotor, took place
simultaneously in Geneva and New York on March 3, 1969.
When the curtains rose, the project had already consumed
about half a million Swiss francs.
1969
CHRONO-MATIC
MILESTONES
Breitling
Although Breitling was making quartz watches in the early
1980s, the company, which had been purchased by the Schneider
family in 1979 and moved to Grenchen, wanted to prove that
it still knew how to build mechanical chronographs. The firm
wanted to celebrate its 100th birthday with a mechanical
comeback. Research in the companys archives discovered the
time-honored name Chronomat. The pilots of the Italian
Air Forces aerobatic demonstration team known as the Frecce
Tricolori (Tricolor Arrows) adopted this timepiece as their
official wristwatch. Chronograph fans throughout the world
followed suit and the Chronomat of 1984 soon became
Breitlings bestseller. Raised markers on the Chronomats
bezel made it easier to grip and protected the sapphire crystal
against shocks and blows. The marker at 15 minutes could be
switched with the one at 45 minutes so intervals could be
measured either forward or back. The case had a double-
insulated crown and water resistance to 100 meters. Various
components of automatic Caliber Valjoux 7750 were
improved to increase their ability to withstand stress.
1984
NEW CHRONOMAT
The Emergency, which debuted in 1995, was designed to save
lives in critical situations. It was developed in collaboration
with professional pilots. Breitling equipped the flip-open case
of this big titanium watch with a micro-transmitter set to the
international air distress frequency of 121.5 MHz. The trans-
mitter could send signals via an extendible wire antenna if the
wearer needed help. Once activated, the transmitter would
repeatedly emit a 0.75-second impulse every 2.25 seconds. If
transmitted from flat terrain, the signal could be received
within 160 kilometers (99.4 miles) of the disaster site by
search planes flying at an altitude of 6,000 meters (19,685
feet). Two lithium batteries provided enough power to keep
the transmitter operating for 48 hours. The electronic time-
measuring module, which could measure elapsed intervals to
the nearest 1/100 of a second, also had a countdown func-
tion, an alarm, and a time display in a second zone. This
information was shown in digital form. Pilots in aerobatic
squadrons from many nations chose to wear these watches.
1995
THE EMERGENCY
Boasting a sturdy steel case, the multi-
functional Breitling B-1 was also created
in cooperation with professional pilots.
The best-equipped timepiece in Breitlings
Professional line, the B-1 was introduced
in 1998. In addition to an analog time
display, this watch also had two liquid-
crystal displays. The movement was the
quartz Caliber ETA E20, which had been
developed exclusively for Breitling, and
had an alarm, a chronograph with inter-
mediate and additive stopping, count-
down timing, a second time zone with its
own alarm, UTC (Coordinated Universal
Time), and a perpetual calendar. Boldly
styled hands and a specially illuminated
display that wouldnt interfere with
night-vision goggles guaranteed error-
free legibility. Breitlings designers also
included the time-honored slide rule,
which could be operated by turning the
bezel.
1998
BREITLING B-1
A watch that remains popular for five
decades deserves an appropriate celebra-
tion. And thats what Breitling organ-
ized to commemorate the legendary
Navitimers 50th birthday in 2002. A vin-
tage logo with two stylized aircraft was
added to the dial. But in all other details,
designer Eddy Schpfer paid meticulous
attention to the Navitimers original
styling, beginning with the slide rule and
continuing to the subdials, which were
arranged in traditional V-formation. But
due to the use of a modularly structured
self-winding movement from Dubois
Dpraz, the continually running seconds
were displayed at 3 oclock and 30
elapsed minutes were shown at 9 oclock.
The balance ran at 28,800 vph, so only
three short strokes were placed between
each pair of longer full-second indexes.
Each movement underwent an official
chronometer test before it was housed in
its 41-mm case, which was available in
stainless steel, yellow gold or white gold.
2002
50 YEARS OF
THE NAVITIMER
Stainless steel was given a coating of
highly resistant carbon for the Blacksteel
version of the Avenger Skyland chrono-
graph, unveiled in 2007. DLC (diamond-
like carbon) coating adheres to stainless
steel very well. DLC had proven its merits
on surgical instruments and in auto rac-
ing. It had also been used to lengthen the
lifespan of tools like drills and milling
machines. But Breitling could only get
enough parts from its supplier for 50 cases,
so many weeks passed before the entire
limited series of 2,000 watches could be
produced. The watch, an automatic, had
a unidirectional rotating bezel and was
water resistant to 300 meters.
2007
AVENGER
SKYLAND
BLACKSTEEL
Aficionados had long awaited the debut of Breitlings first
manufacture movement, which was launched in 2009, in
time for the brands 125th anniversary. Caliber 01 is a
chronograph movement with a diameter of 30 mm, a height
of 7.2 mm, and a rotor to wind its mainspring. A pair of gears
conveys the rotors energy to the barrel, which stores enough
power for more than 70 hours of operation. A column wheel
controls the chronographs functions; the push of a button
triggers a vertical friction coupling to connect the gear train
and the chronograph mechanism. The patented self-centering
system has an innovative heart-piece to return the chrono-
graph hands to zero. To facilitate servicing, the total number
of components was reduced to 346. An innovative regulator
system to alter the active length of the balance spring enables
a watchmaker to adjust the rate to match the personal wear-
ing habits of each watchs owner. The balance spring and its
Glucydur balance have a frequency of 4 Hz. Each movement
is required to pass all COSC tests before it is housed in the
Chronomat, whose case has been redesigned. The divers
bezel can be rotated in only one direction and has 240 teeth
so it snaps into place very smoothly. The push-pieces and the
crown are screwed.
2009
CALIBER 01
Breitlings headliner for 2012 followed in the footsteps of its
world-timer Unitime, which made its debut in 1951. From a
technical and functional standpoint, the new watch, the
Transocean Chronograph Unitime, was light-years ahead of
its historical predecessor. The improvements began with the
self-winding manufacture chronograph movement and con-
tinued with the mechanism under the dial. All indicators
could be set and adjusted, either forward or backward, via
the crown. When a traveler reaches his destination, he rotates
the new reference city to 12 oclock. This action triggers the
central hour hand, the date display and the 24-hour ring to
reset themselves automatically; only the minutes and seconds
hands continue to run unaffected. The technicians also
thought of daylight saving or summer time: they included lit-
tle sun symbols on the city ring that could be used to make
one-hour corrections. Breitling offers the city ring with the
cities names written in several languages. The 46-mm case is
water resistant to 100 meters and, like all Breitling watches,
is COSC certified.
2012
TRANSOCEAN
CHRONOGRAPH UNITIME
MILESTONES
Breitling
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of BASELWORLD and SIHH
WT_0314_Vac#)('_05_P)((! 07.04.14 13:22 S$+ 128
We test Vacheron Constantins
Patrimony Contemporaine
Retrograde Day and Date,
with its twin retrograde
calendar hands.
By Mike Disher
Photos By roBert Atkinson
very watch tells stories, about the manufacturer, and the owner.
Our test watch tells at least two stories about Vacheron
Constantin. One is based on the twin retrograde displays, and
the other is told by the movement behind those displays. This is
the Patrimony Contemporaine Retrograde Day and Date. For
simplicitys sake, well call it the Bi-retrograde.
To get the inside scoop on the Bi-retrogrades development,
we went to Vacherons creative director, Christian Selmoni. The
story picks up in 2004, when the brand launched the Patrimony
Contemporaine, Ref. 81180, a two-hand, manual-wind dress
watch that set the aesthetic tone for the collection. According to
Selmoni, after that launch, Vacheron wanted to develop a com-
plicated model in the collection. Selmoni told us: The bi-retro-
grade indication of day and date was a great opportunity for the
design team, possibly a perfect blend between complication the
twin-retrograding mechanism and the pure, elegant design of
the Patrimony Contemporaine. I would say that we wanted an
alternative, creative way to display a very classic complication.
According to Selmoni, Vincent Kauffmann, the designer of
the watch, wanted to maintain the Patrimony Contemporaines
balanced aesthetics, as opposed to an asymmetrical layout. So
he decided to spread the day and date displays across the
dial. The result, said Selmoni, is a design that looks very mod-
ern and radical and remains pure, almost minimalistic, thanks
in part to a decision to increase the case diameter from 40 mm
to 42.5 mm, which was rather large for a dress watch in 2007.
The increased diameter also made the Bi-retrograde a substan-
tial presence on the wrist, which we like.
E
WT_0314_Vacheron_05_Proof 07.04.14 13:23 Seite 129
TEST
Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Contemporaine Retrograde Day and Date
Kauffmanns decision to spread the displays also improved
legibility. Retrograde dates, in particular, are often cramped and
difficult to read. The large displays also presented technical
challenges. One was solved by fashioning the retrograde hands
from a light alloy to help them fly back as quickly as possible,
and to reduce vibrations when they stop.
The fully polished case features front and back sapphire
crystals with a nonreflective coating. The styling is clearly Patri-
mony Contemporaine, yet when viewed from the side, the 10.4-
mm thickness cant help but be noticed. This is due to the height
the retrograde components add to the movement. Vacheron dis-
guises the added thickness well by curving the sides of the case
inward toward the back of the watch. This curve also comes in
handy when its time to pull out the crown. The crown is set
into the case, and the curve allows the crown to be pulled out
from below with a fingernail. The caseback is snap-on, giving it
a clean look, though some may consider this construction a bit
economical in this price range. Water resistance is 30 meters.
The lugs are on the petite side and steeply curved, ending
below the caseback. This allows the case to hug the wrist. At
110 grams, this watch is no featherweight, and we enjoyed the
feel of it on the wrist.
The retrograde displays are set via two push-pieces set into
the side of the case. The one at 9:30 adjusts the day of the week,
and the one hidden between the lugs at 12:30 corrects the date.
Vacheron includes a corrector pen with the watch. If you need to
set the watch while away from home, you may find yourself
searching for a corrector-pen substitute. Each push advances the
day or date one position. The date display does not account for
months having fewer than 31 days, and the owners manual
warns against setting the day or date between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.
The Bi-retrograde is secured to the wrist with an attractive,
well-padded, hand-stitched alligator strap with large scales and
a matte finish. The edges are burnished and the lining is soft.
The extra padding is needed to balance the substantial case. The
padding makes the strap a bit stiff out of the box, but it softens
up with wear. The strap measures 22/20 mm in width and it fits
the Bi-retrogrades curved spring bars. Vacherons standard
strap for this watch measures 115/75 mm in length, and the long
strap measures 125/83 mm in length.
The folding buckle is very well made and quite attractive.
Polished and matte surfaces, along with complex shapes, con-
firm a high level of workmanship. The buckle is also extremely
secure, which is a plus and a minus. The buckle is held in the
closed position by friction, and rather a lot of it, as opposed to
a locking mechanism with push buttons. The high-friction clo-
sure means the buckle is less likely to pop open when you dont
want it to, but then its also less likely to pop open when you do
want it to.
Vacheron also deviates from standard practice by attaching
the normally adjustable end of the strap to the buckle with a
tiny screw. Usually, the holes in the strap slip over a small pin on
the buckle. Vacherons approach means the strap is much less
likely to separate from the buckle when youre taking the watch
off, but it also means that you cannot easily adjust the strap for
SPECS
%ache"n cn#$an$in !a$"imn'
cn$em!"aine "e$"g"ade da'/da$e
Man"fac!"rer: %(*/,865 c659:(5:05, 10
c/,405 +; $6;8)03365, ch-1228, !3(5-3,9-
;(:,9, #=0:@,83(5+
Reference n"mber: 86020/000"-9239
F"nc!ion: h6;89, 405;:,9, +(:,, +(? 6-
:/, =,,2
Mo#emen!: a;:64(:0* manufacture
c(30),8 2460 =0:/ g,5,<( #,(3 (%(*/,865
c659:(5:05 manufacture c(30),8 2450
)(9, =0:/ 05-/6;9, )0-8,:86.8(+, 46+;3,),
283 *64765,5:9, )0+08,*:065(3 (;:6-
4(:0* =05+05., 222-.63+ =05+05. 86:68,
28,800 <7/, 27 1,=,39, g3;*?+;8 )(3(5*,,
B(: n0<(86> )(3(5*, 97805., K0- 9/6*2
786:,*:065, 76=,8 8,9,8<, = 43 /6;89,
+0(4,:,8 = 25.6 44, :/0*25,99 = 5.4 44
Cae: 5n 869, .63+, 95(7-65 )(*2, +64,+
9(77/08, *8?9:(3 =0:/ 5658,B,*:0<,
*6(:05., 9(77/08, +0973(? )(*2 =0:/ 565-
8,B,*:0<, *6(:05., =(:,8 8,909:(5: :6 30 4
S!rap and clap: a330.(:68 3,(:/,8 9:8(7
=0:/ 5n-869,-.63+ +,736?(5: );*23,
Ra!e re"l!:
d,<0(:0659 05 9,*65+9 7,8 24 /6;89
d0(3 ;7 +5.4
d0(3 +6=5 +2.8
c86=5 ;7 -5.2
c86=5 +6=5 +2.8
c86=5 3,-: +5.1
c86=5 80./: -7.1
g8,(:,9: +,<0(:065 6- 8(:, 12.5
a<,8(., +,<0(:065 +0.6
a<,8(., (4730:;+,:
F3(: 7690:0659 331A
h(5.05. 7690:0659 290A
Dimenion: d0(4,:,8 = 42.5 44,
/,0./: = 10.4 44, =,0./: = 110 .
Varia!ion: &/0:, .63+ (",-.
86020/000g-9508)
Price: $49,600
Timing !e! performed b% Wempe
Je$eler, Ne$ York Ci!%
size, for example when your wrist swells on a warm day.
Adjusting the strap requires a watchmakers screwdriver, a keen
eye, and a steady hand. All in all, if we were purchasing this
watch, we would opt for a strap with a traditional pin buckle.
The Bi-retrogrades movement is Vacherons in-house Cal-
iber 2460, or 2460 R31 R7, to be precise. This movement con-
The designers
decision to spread
the days and dates
across the dial
improves legibility.
TEST
Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Contemporaine Retrograde Day and Date
sists of an in-house automatic 2450 base caliber with a bi-retro-
grade module added to the dial side. It pains us to use the m
word here, because it is often associated with cost-cutting. Be
assured that quite the opposite is true in this instance. The com-
ponents that power the retrograde displays evidence many
hours of highly skilled attention.
Selmoni told us that the 2450 and 2460 calibers were created
by the late Bernard Guillaume-Gentil, the head of technical
research and development for Vacheron, and that the move-
ments reflect Guillaume-Gentils extensive knowledge and expe-
rience. Caliber 2460 is based on an earlier in-house design
Caliber 1126, which was used in the Reference 47245, and par-
ticularly in the model 47247 launched in 2002. That reference
was a limited edition of 247 pieces in platinum with open-
worked dial that revealed the beauty of the retrograde date
mechanism. (The Reference 47247, shown on the opposite
page, didnt have the retrograde days of the week.)
Caliber 2460 has earned the Geneva Seal. Beyond geographic
requirements, the Seal establishes standards for construction,
finishing, functionality, and timekeeping. Some of the require-
ments include a fully jeweled movement, decorated plates and
bridges with polished chamfers, jewels set in polished holes with
polished sinks on the bridge side, chamfered going-train wheels,
and burnished pivots and pivot shanks. Complications are tested
to ensure that they function as intended. The power reserve is
THE COMPONENTS
BEHIND THE DIAL
ARE IMPRESSIVE.
The case disguises
its thickness well.
tested to ensure it meets the manufacturers claim. Timekeeping
is checked after the movement has been cased up. The time-
keeping test lasts seven days and is performed on a machine that
rotates once a minute for 14 hours, then holds one position for
10 hours. The required accuracy works out to approximately
8.6 seconds per day.
All watches bearing the Geneva Seal are sold with a copy of
the certificate, which provides the case and movement serial num-
bers. The movement is also stamped. On our test watch, the Seal
can be seen on the back of the mainplate, near the balance wheel.
When youre looking through the Bi-retrogrades sapphire
caseback, the winding rotor is the first thing that catches your
eye. Its solid 22k-gold mass winds in both directions. It is deco-
rated with an engine-turned Maltese cross design with a
brushed sunray finish at the edge. In a lone nod to modernism,
the rotor spins on ceramic ball bearings for increased smooth-
ness and decreased wear.
Caliber 2460 is adjusted to five positions. It runs at 28,800
vph in 27 jewels, regulated by a flat Nivarox hairspring and a
smooth Glucydur balance. The power reserve is 43 hours.
This movement exhibits a very high level of finish through-
out. Indeed, the components hidden directly behind the dial are
perhaps the most impressive. Both sides of the mainplate are
decorated with perlage, while the bridges are decorated with
very well executed Geneva stripes, which are perfectly aligned
across the bridges. The jewels and screws are set in polished
holes with polished countersinks. The screw heads are polished,
and the grooves beveled. The bridges are decorated with very
fine hand beveling. Looking at the movement through a loupe,
we noted that the thin chamfers are highly polished, allowing
them to reflect other movement components. Though the watch
does not have a seconds hand, it does have a stop-seconds or
hack function, and the mechanism is among the finest exam-
ples we have seen. On the whole, this movement creates the
impression that it is overbuilt.
Behind the dial, the retrograde displays are controlled by a
main driving wheel that includes two finger pieces. One drives a
star-wheel for the day, and the other a star-wheel for the date.
Both star-wheels are connected with a dedicated cam featuring a
rack-indexation of the days and dates. This system returns the
retrograde hands across arcs of nearly 180 degrees in less than
1/10 of a second, which requires a significant amount of energy.
That energy is supplied by dedicated springs, each sized to pro-
vide just the right amount of force. Each component is hand-fin-
ished to a very high standard, with polished chamfers on every
curve and there are lots of curves. Even the springs evidence
very fine craftsmanship.
Vacheron elected not to include a free-sprung balance,
choosing instead a smooth Glucydur balance wheel and a fine
adjustment system controlled by a small screw. Consistent with
the rest of the movement, the execution is first-rate. We asked
Selmoni about the decision not to use a free-sprung balance, and
he told us: We dont use only one single system for the balance
design it can depend on the technical specifications and
requirements of each caliber. However, our solutions are all
respecting the criteria of the Geneva Hallmark.
The lack of a seconds hand prevented us from checking the
timekeeping on the wrist. On the Witschi machine, the greatest
deviation of rate was rather large, at 12.5 seconds (+5.4 seconds
dial up, -7.1 seconds crown right), though the average deviation
was quite good, at +0.6 seconds. The average amplitude in the
flat positions was 331 degrees and in the vertical positions it
was 290 degrees. The complete timekeeping results appear in
the Specs box.
What does the Patrimony Contemporaine Retrograde Day
and Date tell us about Vacheron Constantin? It tells us that the
brand often produces timepieces that are at once traditional and
The open dial of
this earlier model,
the 47247, shows
the movement off
to great effect.
The attractive
buckle takes some
oomph to open.
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non-conformist, and that it produces beautifully finished move-
ments. We like the fact that the Bi-retrograde is both an elegant
dress watch and a substantial presence on the wrist. Selmoni
told us that this watch is one of Vacherons bestsellers, and we
can see why. Yet if we could wave a magic wand, we would
endow this watch with a more user-friendly buckle and a free-
sprung balance. At $49,600, the Bi-retrograde is certainly not
inexpensive. However its not the type of display that deter-
mines value, but how the display is executed, and Vacherons
execution is first rate. If you appreciate elegant yet unconventional
timepieces from top-tier manufacturers, the Retrograde Day
and Date may be for you.
The display back
reveals perfectly
aligned Geneva
stripes.
Much of the value
lies in the
retrograde
mechanisms finish.
SCORES
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contemPoraine retrograde day/date
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TOTAL: 81 POINTS
Scan here to take a tour of the Bi-retrograde.
$00,://333.3a0c$0%)!.c+)/?,=43173
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What makes a watch a dive watch?
One leading source offers a definitive answer.
By Mike Disher
n the watch world, when we ask What is
a ?, the search for the answer often
begins with one source: Berners Illustrated
Professional Dictionary of Horology, and
thats where todays lesson begins. Berners
defines diving watch as a watch
designed to withstand immersion to a
depth of at least 100 m and to satisfy
requirements specified in ISO standard
6425. So, theres your answer. If it is not
certified under ISO 6425, it isnt a dive
watch. That was easy.
Or maybe not. The problem is that
very few so-called dive watches are
claimed to satisfy all of the ISO 6425
standards. Where does that leave us? Are
there only a handful of real dive watches
in the world?
Without doubt, the waters surround-
ing the question of what it takes to make
a true dive watch are deep and murky.
Our goal today is not to settle that debate
(as if we could). For this exercise, we will
also ignore dive computers, the acknowl-
edgement of which would end this article
right about here. We will also leave aside
watches intended for diving with mixed
gas. Rather, well take a look at what the
ISO thinks it takes to make a dive watch.
The standards may raise some issues you
have not previously considered. Once
you know whats what, you can decide
for yourself what it takes to make a dive
watch, and whether you need one that is
ISO certified.
ISO 6425 has been around in its cur-
rent form since 1996. Given the popular-
ity of dive watches, you would think the
standards would be well known among
watch enthusiasts, but they are not, prob-
ably because they are not as widely used
as COSCs chronometer standards. They
are also rather long, a bit technical, and
rarely reprinted in full.
The meat of the official guidelines is
found in sections 6 and 7. These spell out
the physical requirements for dive watches
and the methods for testing them.
The watch must be equipped with a
device that allows the user to pre-select a
period of time of up to 60 minutes. This
may be a rotating bezel or a digital dis-
play. The device must be protected from
inadvertent manipulation. A bezel must
have a scale showing 60 minutes with
markings showing every 5 minutes.
Markings on the dial must be coordinated
with those on the pre-selecting device,
and must be clearly visible.
The time must also be clearly visible,
and the minutes hand must be clearly dis-
tinguishable from the hour hand.
(Clearly is a favorite ISO word.) The
time set on the pre-selecting device must
WT_0314_D$-Wa+c#*_03_P)((! 07.04.14 13:30 S$+ 136
be clear, as must an indication that the
watch is running. On analog watches,
this is usually satisfied by placing lumi-
nous material on the seconds hand. Finally,
battery-powered watches must have a
visible low-battery indicator. Each of
these must be visible at 25 cm, or about
10 inches, in the dark.
There are also requirements govern-
ing salt-water resistance and reliability
under water. The resistance to salt
water test requires that the watch be
placed in a sodium chloride solution of 30
grams per liter, which is about the same
as seawater, and kept there for 24 hours
at 18 to 25 degrees C, or about 64 to 77
degrees F. After the test, the case and
accessories are inspected for changes (such
as oxidation) and moving parts are tested
to make sure they still function properly.
The reliability under water test
calls for the watch to be immersed in
about 12 inches of water (not salt water)
for 50 hours, again at 64 to 77 degrees F,
after which the watch is examined for
correct function. (Note that this is not the
water-resistance test that is discussed
below). Both before and after the relia-
bility under water test, the watch is sub-
jected to a condensation test to determine
whether any moisture has penetrated the
case. The watch is placed on a plate and
heated to between 40 and 45 degrees C,
or about 104 to 113 degrees F. When the
watch reaches the temperature of the
plate, a drop of water at 64 to 77 degrees
F is placed on the crystal. After one
minute, the crystal is wiped off, and any
watch with condensation on the inside of
the crystal fails the test, as this result indi-
cates a leak.
ISO 6425 incorporates both ISO 764,
which governs antimagnetic timepieces,
and ISO 1413, which covers shock resist-
ance. ISO 764 requires that a watch be
placed in a magnetic field of 4,800
amperes along three different axes for 1
minute each and maintain its accuracy to
within +/-30 seconds per day as measured
before and after the test. So, for example,
if the watch was +12 seconds per day
before the test and +40 seconds after, it
would pass.
The shock-resistance standard is
intended to simulate the shock a watch
WT_0314_DiveWatches_03_Proof 07.04.14 13:30 Seite 137
DIVE WATCHES
ISO Standards
receives if it is dropped from a height of
one meter onto a hardwood floor. The
test involves delivering two shocks one
to the 9 oclock side of the case and one to
the top or face of the watch. The shock is
delivered by what looks like a croquet
mallet suspended between vertical sup-
ports so that it swings like a pendulum.
Between the supports, at the bottom, is
what looks like a large, rubber golf tee.
The mallet, which has a plastic head
weighing 3 kg or about 6.6 pounds, is
raised to a height of one meter and
released. The head hits the watch, which
sits on the rubber tee, at a speed of 4.43
meters per second, delivering a shock
equal to about 5,000 Gs. To meet the ISO
standard, after the test the watch must
keep time to within +/-60 seconds per
day, compared with its rate before the
test.
The next requirements deal with
resistance to external forces. The first test
applies to the spring bars. With the strap
closed, the inside of the strap is subjected
to an outward force equal to 200 new-
tons in each direction. This subjects each
spring bar to about 45 pounds of force.
To make sure the crown and any other
setting devices dont leak, the watch is
subjected to 125 percent of its rated
depth pressure for 10 minutes while a
force of five newtons, or a little over one
pound, is applied to the top of the crown.
Both before and after this test, the hot-
plate condensation test described earlier
is carried out to ensure that there is no
leak. Note that the ISO guidelines do not
explicitly require a screw-down crown.
Any construction that passes the test is
acceptable.
The next requirement is resistance to
thermal shock. The watch is immersed in
hot water (104 degrees F), then cool
water (41 degrees F), then hot water
again. The watch spends 10 minutes at
each temperature, and the transition time
from one temperature to the other cannot
exceed 1 minute. Both before and after
the three immersions, the hot-plate con-
densation test is applied to make sure no
moisture has entered the watch.
The final test is water resistance at
overpressure equal to 125 percent of the
rated depth. The hot-plate condensation
test is performed at the beginning to con-
firm that there is no moisture in the
watch. The watch is then immersed in a
pressure tester and, within 1 minute,
pressure equal to 125 percent of the rated
depth is applied. After two hours, the
watch is quickly depressurized by reduc-
ing the pressure to 0.3 bar, or three
meters, within 1 minute, and pressure is
maintained at that level for one hour. The
watch is removed and dried, and the hot-
plate condensation test is performed
again.
To meet the ISO 6425 guideline, this
overpressure test must be performed on
every watch. The other tests can be satis-
fied by testing a statistically significant
sample of watches. This is an important
difference compared with the less-
stringent ISO 2281, used for watches that
are merely water resistant. That ISO
guideline does not require testing every
watch to its rated depth, but only a sam-
ple. The next time you see an account of
a watch rated to 100, 200 or even 300
meters failing at lesser depths, pay atten-
tion to whether the watch is an ISO 6425
diver or an ISO 2281 water-resistant
model.
Finally, the ISO standards include an
optional test for air-tightness at an over-
pressure. The watch is subject to air pres-
sure of two bar, or about 29 psi, and the
flow of air entering the watch is meas-
ured. Comparable methods, for example
using inert gasses, are permitted. The
standard states, a bit vaguely, that
watches giving a high flow of air shall be
eliminated from the test immediately.
The ISO standards provide that a
watch that passes all of the tests may be
marked with the word Divers followed
by the depth rating, for example Divers
300m (or similar terms in other lan-
guages). Watches that have not passed the
ISO test may not be marked Divers.
Note that the manufacturer is not
required to put any specific mark or lan-
guage on the watch to indicate that it sat-
isfies ISO 6425.
Cartiers new Calibre
Diver meets all ISO
6425 requirements, and
it is marked Divers
Watch 300 M.
This Seiko Sportura
model does not meet
ISO 6425 standards,
and it is marked
water resistant.
WT_0314_DiveWatches_03_Proof 07.04.14 13:30 Seite 138
With its rapidly growing collection of
manufacture movements, Arnold & Son
is a little brand generating big buzz.
By Jay DeshpanDe
t seemed to come out of nowhere.
Arnold & Sons arrival at Baselworld
last year caught many watch aficionados
off guard. Suddenly, the small brand had
an impressive array of new models. Each
had an original manufacture movement
designed specifically for that watch. Each
was highly complicated in innovative
ways. There was the Ultra Thin Tourbillon
Escapement (known as UTTE), with a
movement that broke records for thinness,
and the Time Pyramid, with its dramatic
see-through dial. Connoisseurs and indus-
try insiders were impressed. Arnold & Son
is so small, they said. How are they doing
it? Where are these watches coming from?
ARNOLD
ARRIVES
WT_0314_A)'(&d_05_P)((! 07.04.14 13:37 S$+ 140

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The Time Pyramid,
introduced at
Baselworld last year
WT_0314_A)'(&d_05_P)((! 09.04.14 17:42 S$+ 141
PROFILE
Arnold & Son
Arnolds secret is its owner, Manufac-
ture La Joux-Perret. This movement and
module supplier makes it possible for
Arnold to do what few small brands can:
forgo a gradual ramp-up, and instead
start big and bring out watches that make
a splash. La Joux-Perret acquired Arnold
in 2010. Since then the brand has focused
on producing all manufacture move-
ments, designing highly complicated
watches, and presenting a complete col-
lection fast.
The Basel buzz might make Arnold
sound like the new kid on the block, but
the story of this brand goes farther back.
The revamping didnt happen overnight.
WatchTime visited the factories of the
movement maker and the brand, housed
in the same building in La Chaux-de-
Fonds, and spoke with Frdric Wenger,
CEO of Arnold and La Joux-Perret, to
learn more about the relaunch of Arnold.
UNTIL 2010, Arnold & Son was one of
two brands being marketed by the British
Masters Group. But the group had fun-
neled most of its resources into its other
brand, Graham. As a result, Arnold had
come to a standstill, Wenger says.
Wenger, the CEO of La Joux-Perret since
2003, was also a minority shareholder in
British Masters. They were hardly doing
anything, he says. Its hard for a small
company to have two brands.
For La Joux-Perret, Arnold presented
the perfect opportunity. LJP has about 50
customers, and they include some of the
biggest names in the watch industry. But
Wenger and his team felt that something
was missing. In producing technology for
CEO Frdric Wenger, right, and Sbastien Chaulmontet in the Arnold factory
other companies, they didnt have the
opportunity to explore their own design
ideas. We were suppliers without power
to make things happen, Wenger says.
LJP would suggest some of its more dar-
ing ideas to clients, but no one wanted to
take the risk. Over time, it became clear
that LJPs creative freedom and control
would be stifled until it had its own
watch company. So in May 2010, La
Joux-Perret bought the rights to the
Arnold name, as well as its small inventory
of products, and Wenger became CEO of
both companies. (British Masters became
Graham London, which has offices in the
same building as LJP and Arnold.)
The Arnold name is one of the most
famous in watch history. John Arnold
(1736-1799) was among the greatest
British watchmakers of all time. (See

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WT_0314_A)'(&d_05_P)((! 09.04.14 18:43 S$+ 142
John Arnold, Great Briton sidebar.) He
was the first to produce marine
chronometers in large quantities and he
made watches for the court of King
George III. Arnold was also a friend of
Abraham-Louis Breguet, whose first
tourbillon appeared in an Arnold watch
in 1808 as a tribute to his British
colleague.
THE FIRST ARNOLD WATCHES under
LJP ownership came out in 2011. It was
two years later, at Baselworld 2013, that
the brand really caught collectors eyes.
One watch they noticed was the Time
Pyramid, based on the triangular design
of classic British table clocks. The watch
arranges the bulk of the movement in the
bottom half of the dial. The balance
wheel is placed at 12 oclock, with noth-
ing on either side of it. The watch has a
skeletonized design and ample open
space, without a conventional mainplate.
(Sbastien Chaulmontet, who is in charge
of movement development for Arnold
and LJP, says that he wanted the wearer
to see the direct contact between the
wheels and the lack of any straight bridge
to hold them together.)
Beneath the dial are two barrels that
give the watch its 90-hour power reserve.
Although the barrels appear to be sym-
metrical, only one of them connects
directly to the movement. Chaulmontet
says that the purpose of this serial
arrangement is to prevent timing errors
that occur as the mainspring winds
down. By having a mother barrel feed
energy to the child, the Time Pyramid
extends the period during which the
spring supplies power most evenly. Each
barrel has its own power-reserve indica-
tor on the dial. Despite all this, the watch
is a thin 8.6 mm. It has a diameter of 44.6
mm and, to add to its symmetry, the
recessed crown is at 6 oclock. The Time
Pyramid costs $29,850 in steel and
$40,350 in rose gold.
Arnold and La Joux-Perret, along with
Graham London, share a building in
La Chaux-de-Fonds.
The HM Perpetual
Moon
The UTTE

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WT_0314_Arnold_05_Proof 07.04.14 13:39 Seite 143
PROFILE
Arnold & Son
The UTTE also turned heads at Basel-
world last year. Its movement is just 2.97
mm thick. Arnolds main design goal,
though, wasnt thinness as such, but
rather a dynamic, 3-D look. The UTTE
has a spherical tourbillon cage that rises
higher above the dial than the hands do.
The watch has two mainspring barrels,
giving it a 90-hour power reserve. It is 42
mm in diameter and is available in palla-
dium ($59,950) or rose gold ($69,000).
(For more on the UTTE, see WatchTimes
test, The Thinner Spinner, April 2014.)
Another new watch was the HM
Perpetual Moon, which has a prominent,
large and realistic moon on its dial, which
is decorated with guilloch. This design
was first hand-engraved, then copied for
the series. The moon-phase is accurate
enough that it will only deviate one day in
122 years. A second moon-phase display
on the back of the movement makes for
easier setting. The Perpetual Moon costs
$15,300 in steel and $28,500 in rose
gold.
Lastly, Baselworld 2013 saw the
introduction of a new version of the
brands first tourbillon, called the TE8
Mtiers dArt I. It features a specially
designed, hand-engraved pattern, which
evolves, changing in size and angle, as
it moves from the center of the mainplate
to the outer edge. Only eight copies of
this watch will be produced, and Chaul-
montet says that Arnold will not use this
engraving design ever again. At
$131,900, it was Arnolds most expen-
sive watch to date.
By the end of 2013, Arnold & Son
had 10 manufacture calibers. Arnold has
also brought out several special editions,
including the three-piece East India Set,
featuring three different hand-painted
mother-of-pearl dials. Chaulmontet says
that five more new movements will be
introduced this year. Arnold launched the
first of them a few weeks before Basel-
world. The TEC1 is a tourbillon and
Arnolds first chronograph, an automatic
called the A&S8305. It has a 55-hour
power reserve. The DTE, also unveiled
shortly before Baselworld, is a dual-time
watch with two separate tourbillon
escapements and gear trains. Each time is
set independently by one of two crowns.
The movement, the manual-wound
Caliber A&S8513, has a 90-hour power
reserve; its two mainsprings can be
wound via the crown at 2 oclock. The
DTE is limited to 28 pieces. (Information
on Arnolds other Baselworld 2014
watches was not available at press time.)
To go from zero to 15 distinct move-
ments in only a couple of years is impres-
sive, especially for such a small brand.
(Arnolds annual production is about 700
watches.) The company wont maintain
that pace, Chaulmontet says. Its goal was
to create all the calibers it needs to make
a complete line of watches in the brands
early years. As Arnold approaches that
goal, the introductions will slow.
Through the back of
the TE8 Mtiers dArt
I, one can see the
evolving engraved
pattern.
The Time Pyramid

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John Arnold, Great Briton
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Breguet added a
tourbillon to
Arnolds No. 11
chronometer and had
it engraved in honor
of his friend.
John Arnold
The movement of Arnolds ring watch was only 1/3
inch in diameter.
DEVELOPING A WATCH brand has
long been a dream for Wenger. Before
his La Joux-Perret days, Wenger
worked for a boutique investment
bank in Zurich. But he wanted new
challenges. After a few years if youve
done so many IPOs and so many M&A
deals, it starts to be always the same,
Wenger says. When you lead a whole
company, you have much more: prod-
uct development, people management,
financial aspects. Its just broader. In
2001 he invested in the watch movement
supplier Jaquet SA, becoming the com-
panys director. When founder Jean-
Pierre Jaquet was arrested for robbery
and counterfeiting in 2003, Wenger took
over as CEO. The company was renamed
Manufacture La Joux-Perret in 2004.
Arnold benefits from LJPs years of
experience. It has worked with a wide
range of watch companies and suppliers,
from small independents to the big groups
The new TEC1
The new DTE
_
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k
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O
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5
O
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THE
NEW
SHOP
OPEN
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IT NOW!
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has a new shop find issues,
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subscription information:
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WATCH_146.1:Layout 1 4/10/14 9:51 AM Page 1
Cents and Sensibility
T-0 /* #$. bac&"-*0)d a. a ba)&-, La
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like Swatch and Richemont. Today, most
of its base movements come from Sellita
(LJP does not itself make a base move-
ment). LJP creates modules for Sellitas
chronograph SW 500 movement, and uses
Sellita bases to make specialty complica-
tions for many of its other clients. In LJPs
factories, some 100 to 150 different com-
ponents and modules are being produced
at any given time. Orders range from
small, single-component runs of a few
hundred to series production in the hun-
dreds of thousands. Each year LJP also
makes 400 to 500 tourbillon movements
for clients like Corum and Herms.
Building up Arnold has meant that La
Joux-Perret has to funnel many of its
resources to the brand. But since Japans
Citizen Group purchased La Joux-Perret
in March 2012, funding hasnt been such
a concern. Citizen is a watch-world giant
(its watch and clock divisions sales for
fiscal 2012 amounted to $1.48 billion).
Citizens ownership has not changed
the approach in La Chaux-de-Fonds,
however. It doesnt affect our daily busi-
ness so much, Wenger says. According
to him, the focus of their relationship so
far has been on information sharing.
Citizens production is very automated;
La Joux-Perrets much less so. But each
world can learn from the other,Wenger
observes.Weve certainly opened their
views to things they didnt see before.
That probably will have an impact on
their product development over time.
And we visit their factories and see some
automated processes that we never
thought could be automated.
PROFILE
Arnold & Son
GOLD
GOLD
GOING for
WT_0314_N)')+_05_P*))! 07.04.14 13:49 S$, 150
Nomos is known for its affordable
manufacture watches. With its
new, white-gold Lux model, the
Glashtte-based brand enters a
higher price range.
By Jens Koch
Photos By niK schlzel and nomos
F
or years, Nomos built simple, hand-wound watches and
was known for value. Gradually, the company, based in
the German town of Glashtte, augmented those basic
models with additional features: a date display, automatic
winding, a power-reserve display and even a world-time indica-
tor. As it did so, Nomos steadily lifted the upper limit of its price
range. The logical next step was gold watches with finely
embellished movements which is just what Nomos provides in
the Lux.
Both its case and its movement are tonneau shaped. The outer
part of the dial frames the time display in robins egg blue. As
Nomos points out in a press release, the styling of the dial,
including its blue color, recalls a Bauhaus-inspired kitchen clock
that Max Bill designed for Junghans in 1957. The blue is a good
match for the watch as a whole. It also softens the otherwise
severely geometric architecture of slim, straight hands and
indexes. (There is also an all-white-dial version of the watch.)
The Lux is instantly identifiable as a Nomos: its dial and hands
call to mind the Orion, a round watch that is one of Nomoss
best-known models. The Lux case looks very compact, and the
rounded corners and edges feel nice to the touch. The crystal has
a slightly convex bulge. Slender stirrups anchor the strap, giving
space between it and the case. They conceal sprung crosspieces
that can be opened without tools by moving the little slides on
the underside of the strap.
The time is perfectly legible. The narrow hands contrast well
enough with the dial, but their widths are nearly identical; and
the hour indexes are only slightly longer than the minutes
indexes. The watch is very comfortable: the strap feels soft and
supple; the buckle isnt unnecessarily bulky. The watch is pleas-
antly light in weight and no sharp edges can be seen or felt. But
with its smooth back, this watch has a tendency to slide around
on a narrow wrist.
Nomos offers only two options for the strap: black or dark
brown horsehide. The Horween Tannery in Chicago supplies
this long-wearing leather, tanned over the course of six months.
Nomos also uses this so-called shell cordovan leather, taken
from the horses hindquarters, for the straps on its other models,
but the Lux strap is more thickly padded for a fuller look than
the straps on the other watches.
The white-gold buckle is new, too. When its closed, the rear
crosspiece comes to rest atop the strap, where it doubles as a belt
loop. This practical detail is a handsome visual echo of the slen-
der strap lugs. Like the case, the clasp is meticulously polished,
although scrutiny through a loupe discovered slight tool marks
on the buckles underside. Careful examination of the case finds
milled notches, which help a watchmaker lift off the snap-on
back and bezel. The craftsmanship as a whole is quite good.
Its particularly impressive on the movement. Caliber DUW
2002, made in house, conforms to the tenets of traditional
Glashtte watchmaking: it has a three-quarter plate, screwed
gold settings, a swans neck fine adjustment mechanism and a
hand-engraved balance cock. The screw balance and decorations
also show signs of excellent craftsmanship: the screws are blued,
their heads are polished, and the edges of flat components are
beveled and polished. The crown wheel, which is visible through
the transparent caseback, boasts a Glashtte sunburst pattern
and is positioned at the center of a sunray motif that radiates
across the plate. This decoration looks very handsome, but
through a loupe one can see vertical stripes left on the plate when
the circular graining was milled. A hidden message in cursive
WT_0314_Nomos_05_Proof 07.04.14 13:50 Seite 151
TEST
Nomos Lux
SPECS
NOMOS L"
Manufacturer: N1/14 G.#4*=55' SA,
R1.#0& S%*8'350'3 KG, F'3&+0#0&-A&1.2*-
L#0)'-P.#5; 2, D-01768 G.#4*=55',
G'3/#0:
Reference number: 920
Functions: H1634, /+065'4, 4/#.. 4'%10&4
Movement: H#0&-8160& manufacture
C#.+$'3 D! 2002, 21,600 72*, 23
,'8'.4, 4512-4'%10&4 (60%5+10, 4%3'8
$#.#0%', 48#0>4 0'%- ?0'-#&,645/'05
/'%*#0+4/, 218'3 3'4'37' = 84 *1634,
&+/'04+104 = 28.8 9 32.6 // 9 3.6 //
Case: !*+5'-)1.& %#4', %#/$'3'&
4#22*+3' %3:45#., 40#2-10 $#%- 8+5*
4#22*+3' 8+0&18, 8#5'3 3'4+45#05 51 30 /
Strap and clasp: H134'*+&' 453#2 8+5*
8*+5'-)1.& 2310)'& $6%-.'
Rate results:
D'7+#5+104 +0 4'%10&4 2'3 24 *1634
D+#. 62 +5
D+#. &180 -1
C3180 62 +1
C3180 &180 +3
C3180 .'(5 +2
C3180 3+)*5 0
G3'#5'45 &'7+#5+10 1( 3#5' 6
A7'3#)' &'7+#5+10 +1.7
A7'3#)' #/2.+56&':
F.#5 214+5+104 263<
H#0)+0) 214+5+104 227<
Dimensions: 36 // 9 40.5 //, *'+)*5 =
8.95 //, 8'+)*5 = 77 )
Price: $20,500
The blue dial recalls a
Bauhaus-inspired kitchen
clock from the 1950s.
writing comes to light when one examines the manual engraving
on the balance cock. It reads, Mit Liebe gefertigt in Glashtte
(Made with love in Glashtte). The two directions for fine
adjustment nach (loss) and vor (gain) are also engraved by
hand. The window occupies nearly the entire caseback, and
through it one can read the gold-filled engravings that give the
caliber number, jewel count, serial number and company name.
The two barrels are positioned under the jewels, which lack
settings. The barrels give the movement an ample 84-hour power
reserve. Our tested watch proved its mettle and kept running for
the promised 3 days.
The Lux has a stop-seconds function that enables the wearer to
set the watch precisely to a time signal. Pulling out the crown
stops the balance, and hence the seconds hand. The crown is
well shaped, making winding and setting easy.
Caliber DUW 2002 is not new. (DUW stands for
Deutsche Urhrenwerk, or German watch movement.) It has
been available since 2006, and was first used in a watch mar-
keted under the name of the German retailer Wempe. (The
watch is still available, although Nomos no longer sells move-
ments to Wempe.) Nomos finely adjusts the movement in six
positions and according to chronometric specifications,
although it is not officially certified. The Lux we tested passed
the timing tolerances required for chronometer certification, but
only barely: on our timing machine, the daily deviations in the
various positions ranged between -1 and +5 seconds, so the
greatest deviation among the several positions was 6 seconds.
The average deviation was a pleasingly low +1.7 seconds, but
the amplitude waned in the flat positions.
The price for the Lux, $20,500, approaches the prices that
Patek Philippe and A. Lange & Shne charge for three-handed
dress watches. For that sum, youll get a fine timepiece, but you
wont get the impressive cost-benefit ratio of Nomoss basic
models like the Tangente. Image usually plays a big role in this
upper price tier, and Nomos hasnt yet earned a correspondingly
refined image. Furthermore, the Wempe Chronometerwerke
Glashtte, which has the same movement as the Lux, also in a
gold case, costs 40 percent less than the Lux.
Nomos has remained loyal to its tradition. The Bauhaus-
inspired styling of this brands other watches continues in the
Lux, although its tonneau case and blue dial wont appeal to
everyone. Were enthusiastic about the case, strap, buckle and
the Glashtte-style manufacture movement, although scrutiny
through a loupe disclosed a few slight traces of neglect. The
cost-benefit ratio is not as impressive as in other Nomos models,
but you still get a lot for the price. The bottom line: if youre
fond of this watchs Bauhaus design and its pastel blue dial, your
money will buy you a high-quality watch.
The three-quarter-
plate movement
conforms to
Glashtte
watchmaking
traditions.
SCORES
NOMOS LUX
S+)a( a&d c$a*( (%a.. 10 ('#&+*):
The ob#!" !"ap and "he a""ac"i$el' !lim
(b#" no" pefec"l' poli!hed) ponged
b#ckle go %ell %i"h "hi! %a"ch)! !"'ling. 8
O()a+#'& (5): Thank! "o "he co%n)!
!hape and "he !"op-!econd! f#nc"ion, i"
i! ea!' "o %ind "he %a"ch and !e" i" %i"h
"o-"he-!econd acc#ac'. 5
Ca* (10): The %ell-caf"ed ca!e i!
hand!omel' o#nded and ha! a cambeed
!apphie c'!"al. 9
D*#"& (15): Thi! de!ign doe!n)" !#i"
e$e'one)! !"'le, b#" i")! inag#abl'
hamonio#! and %ell balanced. 13
L"#b#$#+/ (5): The ho# and min#"e!
hand! ae "oo !imila "o each o"he and
"he ho# inde&e! ae "oo !ho". 3
Wa)#&" c'%!')+ (10): A !#pple !"ap
and lo% o$eall %eigh" make i" ea!' "o
foge" "ha" 'o#)e %eaing "hi! %a"ch,
%hich ha! a pe!k' "endenc' "o !lide
ao#nd on nao% %i!"!. 8
M'-%&+ (20): All "he !pecial fea"#e!
of Gla!h(""e %a"chmaking, along %i"h
plen"' of handcaf"!man!hip, ae e$iden"
in "hi! *ne calibe. 16
Ra+ )*,$+* (10): The mo$emen"
pefomed %i"h good indi$id#al a"e
e!#l"! and lo% a$eage de$ia"ion, b#"
"he ampli"#de! co#ld ha$e been highe. 7
O-)a$$ -a$, (15): The high pice ge"!
'o# a high-q#ali"' %i!"%a"ch, b#" "he
e!ale $al#e i! !pec#la"i$e fo a Nomo!
%a"ch in "hi! ne%, highe-piced
ca"ego'. 12
TOTAL: 81 POINTS
The Lux also
comes in a
version with an
all-white dial.
The village of Tavannes.
In the center is the old
Tavannes Watch Co.
factory building.
WT_0314_J-*a-T*%a(#'!_06_P*))" 07.04.14 14:07 S!%,! 154
THE
JURA
TRIANGLE
A cluster of tiny Jura villages, forming
a rough triangle from the Saint-Imier
Valley to the French border, played a
huge role in watch history.
By Norma BuchaNaN
WT_0314_Jura-Triangle_06_Proof 07.04.14 14:07 Seite 155
SWISS WATCHMAKING CENTERS
The Jura Triangle
n 1854, 14-year-old Edouard Heuer, smart,
ambitious, and in search of a career, left
his hometown of Brgg, at the foot of
Switzerlands Jura Mountains. He didnt
head for one of Switzerlands big cities,
Geneva, Zurich, or Basel, or to bustling
Bienne, right next to his hometown.
Heuer went to a village called Saint-Imier.
By then, the road to Saint-Imier was
well trodden: watchmaking had been
blossoming there for several decades and
was a magnet for job seekers. Heuer, who
went on to found the company that
became TAG Heuer, now based in La
Chaux-de-Fonds, had been preceded by a
parade of young comers. Best known to
us is Auguste Agassiz, who in 1832 had
just finished a banking apprenticeship in
Neuchtel. He went to Saint-Imier to
work at a watch company called Comp-
toir Horloger Raiguel Jeune and soon
afterward founded the company that
would one day dominate Saint-Imier,
Longines.
Between 1850 and 1890, the villages
population tripled to 7,500 people.
Another famous founder got his start
there: Lon Breitling, who opened a
chronograph workshop in Saint-Imier in
1884. It became Breitling SA, now based
in Grenchen.
By the end of the century, half of the
working population of Saint-Imier was
employed in the watch industry. The
towns population had grown nine-fold
since 1800.
Saint-Imier, which now has a popula-
tion of just under 5,000, is the largest
town in the Saint-Imier Valley, which sits
between La Chaux-de-Fonds to the
southwest and Bienne to the east. The
valley, in Canton Berne, is formed by the
Suze River as it descends from the Jura
Mountains and empties into Lake Bienne.
A handful of musically named, but
now largely unsung, villages also sit in the
valley along the Suze: Sonvilier (where
Chopard founder Louis-Ulysse Chopard
started his company in 1860), Villeret,
Sonceboz, Cormoret, Courtelary, Cortbert
and Corgmont (the cor in the last four
is derived from the Old French word for
farm house). Just a few miles to the
east and north, respectively, are Tavannes
and Tramelan. Still further north, toward
the French border, are the villages of Le
Noirmont and Saignelgier (see map on
pages 158-159).
All were once watch towns. Some still
are. They form a rough triangle with the
Suze River as its base and Saignelgier as
its peak. The towns of the triangle are
tiny but they loom large in the Swiss
watch industry, past and present. Just as
the watchmaking cities of La Chaux-de-
Fonds, Bienne, Le Locle and Geneva are
all pillars of that industry, so is this con-
stellation of villages.
Nowadays, Longines, impossible to
overlook because of its huge, gleaming,
white factory, is the largest watch company
in the triangle. Saint-Imier now has nine
watch-industry suppliers, and this past
November, COSC, the Swiss chronome-
ter testing agency, opened a facility in the
town (it had had one there until the
quartz crisis forced its closing in the
1970s). Next door in Villeret is the factory
known until recently as Minerva and
now called Montblanc Manufacture.
Nivarox, the balance-spring-making sub-
sidiary of the Swatch Group, also has a
factory in Villeret. Elsewhere in the
region are facilities owned by movement
maker Dimier 1738 (sister of the Bovet
brand) and the watch brands Armand
Nicolet and Auguste Reymond (all in
Tramelan); the movement maker Soprod
(in adjacent Les Reussilles); the Paul Picot
brand (Le Noirmont); the private-label
company Roventa-Henex (Tavannes); and
Maurice Lacroix, Aerowatch and another
I
Soprod factory (in Saignelgier). Richard
Mille has its headquarters in Les
Breuleux, in the middle of the triangle.
Makers of components and watch-produc-
tion machines and suppliers of services like
finishing and plating dot the entire region.
WATCHMAKING ARRIVED in the Jura
triangle in the first half of the 18th century,
when mountain farmers took it up to
supplement their incomes during the win-
ter. Watch manufacturing was organized
under a system of divided labor known as
tablissage, in which paysans horlogers
(farmer-watchmakers) specialized in
making a particular component or
performing a particular function, like
polishing or beveling. At the hub of the
operation was an entrepreneur, often a
watchmaker himself, who managed the
work flow, financed production, oversaw
final assembly and sold the finished
watches. He was known as the tablis-
seur. His company was often called
a comptoir.
In Saint-Imier and the other nearby
towns, there were many tablisseurs.
Edouard Heuer worked for one, Kierner
& Sons, before becoming an tablisseur
himself. Agassiz also worked for an tab-
lisseur at the start of his career.
In Saint-Imier you can see vestiges of
the old tablissage days. On Place du 16-
Mars is the building where Breitling started
his watch business, as an tablisseur. At
Rue du Temple 4 is the site of Auguste
Agassizs first comptoir, which was
destroyed by fire in 1856. Agassiz then
moved his business to the street now
known as Rue Agassiz.
In the mid-19th century, the watch
industry here began a dramatic change.
The tablissage system started to yield to
a new way of making watches, in which
most of the manufacturing processes
were gathered under one roof and per-
formed by machines, often powered by
water. The first such watch factory in the
area, an bauche factory, began operating
in 1834 in Corgmont, and it was pow-
ered, like many that followed it, by the
Suze River.
Other industries, notably textiles and
metal-working for arms, nails, locks,
and the like were already using power
from the Suze. But those industries were
fading in the face of foreign competition.
As they died, the factory owners turned
to watchmaking, the Juras rising star.
The regions industrialized watch pro-
duction had its roots across the border in
the French Jura, in the town of Beau-
court. There, in about 1770, Frdric
Japy, a former student of the famous Le
Locle watchmaker Abraham-Louis
Perrelet, built an bauches factory that
turned out tens of thousands of pieces per
year, which Japy sold to the tablisseurs
in the Swiss Jura. His success inspired
others. In 1793, a factory opened in
Fontainemelon, near La Chaux-de-
Fonds, and over the next decades grew to
Saint-Imier is the biggest town in the Saint-Imier Valley, in the Jura Mountains northeast of
La Chaux-de-Fonds.
The Longines factory and headquarters in Saint-Imier
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The Jura Triangle
giant size. (In 1838, its owners bought the
already-failing Corgmont factory, just
four years after it had opened.) From
there, mechanized production spread to
other Swiss towns, especially those along
the Suze.
The factories lured workers from the
back-breaking, low-paying work of the
farm. They also provided jobs for immi-
grants and their descendants. Political
agitation in Canton Neuchtel in the
1830s and 40s had forced many people
in the canton to leave for the Saint-Imier
Valley; these exiles found work making
watches.
IN 1867, a new factory opened in Saint-
Imier, on a piece of meadowland called
Les Longines (long meadows). The fac-
tory was a successor to Auguste Agassizs
comptoir. In 1852, Agassizs nephew,
Ernest Francillon, had joined the comp-
toir. He took over from his uncle as its
head in 1861 and decided to modernize
its production methods by moving all its
watchmaking functions under one roof
and using energy from the Suze to
power them. That way, Francillon
believed, he could cut production
costs and compete better in
major watch markets,
including the U.S.
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The Jura Triangle
His was a daring move: the tablis-
sage system was still the norm in the val-
ley and many Imeriens had a stake in pre-
serving it. In 1867, Saint-Imier alone had
47 watch companies and subcontracting
companies employing 1,600 people.
But Francillon forged ahead. In 1866,
he bought a failed metal-working mill on
the Suze and on that site, and an adjoin-
ing parcel of land, built a watch factory.
In 1867, he erected a second factory
building next to the first. That year, he
began labeling his watches with the name
he had taken from the meadows:
Longines.
Francillon hired a 22-year-old engi-
neer, a cousin of Auguste Agassiz named
Jacques David, to set up the new factory.
It began producing watches in 1868.
But problems plagued the company,
so much so that at one point, in the early
1870s, Francillon thought he would have
to liquidate it. The first watches that
came out of the new factory barely ran;
their escapements were faulty and had to
be revamped. The company was mired in
debt, much of it due to the expensive new
factory.
Its biggest problem, though, lay
across the Atlantic: Longines was falter-
ing in the American market, which in
1873 accounted for a whopping 80 per-
cent of its total revenue.
The culprit was the newly powerful
U.S. watch industry. Waltham, founded
in 1850, and Elgin, founded in 1864,
were by the mid-1870s producing about
200,000 watches per year. Their watches
werent just plentiful; they were cheap.
Worse yet, they were very well made: bet-
ter than what Swiss companies could pro-
duce for the same price.
Their secret was a system of mecha-
nized mass-production that came to be
known as the American system of man-
ufacturing. It produced uniform, and
uniformly good, interchangeable compo-
nents. Thanks to that system, the U.S.
watch industry was elbowing the Swiss
industry out of America. Swiss watch
exports to the U.S. fell from 18.3 million
Swiss francs in 1872 to SF4.8 million four
years later.
Oddly, the Swiss had little sense of
how far the U.S. industry had come, and
felt no urgency about taking it on. Amer-
icans were making watches, they knew,
but who cared? The Swiss had the art of
watchmaking sewn up, they thought.
What could the newbie Americans know
about the skills they had mastered to a
fare-thee-well?
The Swiss learned the truth in 1876 at
the Centennial Exposition in Philadel-
phia, where U.S. watch companies
showed off their watches and their sys-
tem for making them.
That year, at the request of Francil-
lons sales agent in New York, who had
more than 4,000 of the companys watches
sitting unsold in U.S. stores, David
crossed the Atlantic to see the U.S. indus-
try up close, visiting both the exhibition
and the companies themselves.
A map of Saint-Imier showing the piece of land, Es
Longines, where the Longines factory was built.
Breitling founder Lon
Breitling started his watch
career in Saint-Imier in 1884.
A bust of Ernest
Francillon in Place du
March in Saint-Imier
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When he returned to Switzerland, he
reported back to the Intercantonal Society
of Jura Industries on what he had seen.
His observations echoed those of
Edouard Favre-Perret, the Swiss repre-
sentative to the Philadelphia exhibition,
who had written a now-famous paper on
the technological advances on display
there. The paper, and a subsequent
speech Favre-Perret made in La Chaux-
de-Fonds, exploded in the Jura like a
bombshell.
David got to work modernizing his
factory, less than a decade old, incorpo-
rating the lessons hed learned in America.
The companys fortunes soon
changed. By the 1880s, Longines was
making a complete range of machine-
made, in-house movements. By the end of
the decade, it was producing chronome-
ters that won certification by the Neuchtel
Observatory. In 1889, it won a Grand
Prize at the Exposition Universelle in
Paris.
On Rue Agassiz, number 15, theres a
mansion that offers a glimpse of the com-
panys gilded-age prosperity. It is the
stately but unostentatious Villa Savoye,
built in 1900 by the Longines factorys
general manager of manufacturing,
Maurice Savoye. He was the third gener-
ation of Savoyes to hold management
posts at the Longines factory. (A street in
Saint-Imier, Rue Baptiste-Savoye, is
named after his father.)
The rest of the Swiss watch industry
adopted the new methods, too, with a
haste and efficiency that surprised their
American counterparts. After the Chicago
Worlds Fair in 1893, the Waltham News
reported, according to a 1947 book on
the history of Longines by Francillon
descendant Andr Francillon, The
progress made by the Swiss in watchmak-
ing is absolutely astounding. The Swiss
did not adopt centralized production to
the extent Americans did they contin-
ued to use outside suppliers for more oper-
ations than U.S. firms did but their
modified, hybrid form of industrial pro-
duction was nothing like the tablissage
system it replaced. That system disap-
peared entirely in the early 20th century.
Francillon and David are heroes in
Saint-Imier. Both have streets named after
them, and there is a bust of Francillon in
the Place du March at the center of the
village next to one of Pierre Jolissaint, a
politician responsible for bringing the
railroad to the Saint-Imier Valley in 1874.
The Francillon bust dates from 1906, six
years after Francillon died, at age 65.
The Villa Savoye, built in
1900 by a Longines factory
manager, is a landmark
building in Saint-Imier.
Workers leaving the Longines factory, 1911
JACQUES DAVID
BROUGHT TO
SAINT-IMIER A NEW
WAY TO MAKE
WATCHES AND
BECAME A HERO.
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THE MECHANIZATION of the Longines
factory provided a model for the nearby
towns. In some, big watch factories came
to dominate the economy and culture.
One such town was Tavannes.
There, in 1890, a Le Locle-born
watchmaker named Henri Sandoz founded
the Tavannes Watch Co. Sandoz had been
a precocious watchmaking student and
was running his own business by the time
he was 18. He was 25 at the time of the
Philadelphia exposition. Sandoz heard
the news and headed to the U.S. to see the
American system for himself. While
there, he filled a notebook with some
2,000 sketches of machine tools.
His dream was to start an American-
style factory in his hometown. But Le
Locle already had a big watch factory,
Zenith, with a powerful and autocratic
watch baron, Georges Favre-Jacot, at its
helm.
So Sandoz went to Tavannes, which
had no watch companies. Luckily for
Sandoz, it wanted one. The town was in
an economic crisis caused chiefly by the
arrival of the railroad. Local farmers
were being undersold by foreign competi-
tors who could now ship food to the
region. The local government intervened
to help save the local economy. It built a
factory that Sandoz rented, filled with
American-made machines, and ultimately
bought.
The company was financed by two
firms owned by the Schwob family, who
were members of the moneyed elite in La
Chaux-de-Fonds. The Tavannes Watch
Co., as Sandoz named the firm, soon
became one of the biggest watch factories
in Switzerland. By 1913, the year Sandoz
died, it was making 2,500 watches per
day, a rate that puts it in the same ball-
park as Rolex today. By 1929, it was
making 4,000 watches per day and was
claiming in advertisements to be the
biggest watch company in Europe. Some
of its watches were sold under the name
Tavannes; others under the Cyma brand.
The company also sold movements to
other watch manufacturers.
The original building is still standing,
near the train station. Two floors are
occupied by the private-label watch com-
pany Roventa-Henex. A metal-polishing
company, along with offices for a church
and a charity for children, occupy other
floors. Next door is the building, now
empty, that housed the former Tavannes
Machine Co., a sister company to the
Tavannes Watch Co. It made machinery
for the watch industry. The smell of
machine oil still lingers inside, nearly 40
years after the company closed its doors.
The Tavannes Watch Co. transformed
the town. Its population quadrupled
between 1891 and 1913. The company
built the Hotel Terminus, still standing,
especially for its customers. New apart-
ment buildings went up to accommodate
watch company workers. A movie the-
ater, the Royal, also used primarily by
The Cadrans Flckiger SA dial company in Saint-Imier
Saint-Imiers Cinema de la Paix, built in 1919 A monument to Tavannes Watch Co. founder Henri Sandoz in Tavannes
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company employees, opened in 1917. It
is still in use today. Another building,
also still standing (on the Grand Rue),
served as a kind of community hall for
workers. It housed a dining hall, library,
bathing facilities, and the like.
A well-known architect is associated
with Tavannes in the early 20th century.
He is Ren Chapallaz, an adherent of the
Heimatstil school of architecture, which
focused on local architectural styles like
that of Swiss chalets. Chapallaz, based in
La Chaux-de-Fonds, had been a teacher
of Le Corbusier. Henri Sandoz hired him
to work on several projects in Tavannes.
There, he designed part of the Tavannes
watch factory, plus a villa for the Sandoz
family; a group of 10 workers cottages,
each with a garden; and an atelier for
himself, near the Sandoz villa. In 1907,
two years after arriving in Tavannes, he
fought with Sandoz for unknown reasons
and left the town. All his buildings are
still standing and are considered must-
sees for anyone visiting Tavannes.
Watch factories were being built else-
where in the Jura triangle. Several were in
Tramelan. The Auguste Reymond factory
was founded there in 1903 and was soon
making some 200,000 watches a year
and employing 200 people. The company
still makes watches in Tramelan. The
Record Watch Co. also opened that year
(but is now closed). It occupied a building
now called the Tamerlan. A few years ear-
lier, the Horia factory (also now defunct)
had been founded. It made precision
parts for the watch industry.
The growth of factories had some
unwelcome consequences throughout the
Jura. One was a rise in alcoholism:
employees now received weekly wages in
cash, and there was no shortage of fellow
workers with whom one could stop for a
few drinks after a tedious day at the fac-
tory. Local businessmen accommodated
them: at one point, there were 50 bars in
Saint-Imier alone, one for every 150 of
the towns inhabitants. In 1877, a Swiss
pastor founded a temperance organiza-
tion called the Blue Cross, which held
meetings in churches throughout the Jura
triangle and set up sobriety-friendly
establishments like Saint-Imiers Temper-
ance House, where workers could enjoy
MECHANIZED PRODUCTION SWEPT
THROUGH THE JURA TRIANGLE IN
THE LATE 19TH CENTURY. SOME
WELCOMED IT; OTHERS DIDNT.
Roventa-Henex
SA now occupies
part of the old
Tavannes Watch
Co. building.
The house that
architect Ren
Chapallaz built
for the Sandoz
family in
Tavannes
This building in Tavannes provided watch-company workers with a dining hall,
bathing facilities and other amenities.
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an invigorating cup of coffee in lieu of a
shot of whiskey.
Despite all the new factories, some
remnants of the old-fashioned tablissage
system remained. Even the largest com-
panies continued to depend on a few out-
side suppliers. In Courtelary, you can visit
one of them: the Langel stamping company,
which opened in 1917. (It closed in 1997,
when its last employee retired. Not even
the quartz crisis brought it down.) The
factory, whose many customers included
the Tavannes Watch Co., is filled with
vintage machines that look as if theyll
start clanging and thumping again as
soon as the next shift of workers arrives.
In the attic, theres a surprise bonus: a
small airplane built by the companys last
owner, Pierre Langel. (For information,
contact the Jura Bernois Tourist Bureau,
which also offers tours of Saint-Imier,
Tavannes and Tramelan.)
LANGEL NOTWITHSTANDING, Jura
watch factories large and small came to a
grinding halt in the 1970s when the
quartz revolution took hold. Half of
Saint-Imiers workers lost their jobs and
the towns population was cut by one-
third. The Tavannes Watch Co. stopped
selling movements in 1982 (the Tavannes
watch brand had been discontinued in
the 1960s; it and the Cyma brand were
sold to an investor in 1978); the Tavannes
The Jura Triangle
The Royal movie theater in Tavannes was built
in 1917.
Tramelan is an historically important watch town and is still home to several watch companies.
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Machine Co. closed in 1976; the Moeris
Watch Co., founded in Saint-Imier in
1901, was shut in 1978.
Longines survived: it was the flagship
brand of a conglomerate called ASUAG,
founded at the start of the Great Depres-
sion when the Swiss watch industry needed
to pool its resources and cut costs. (In
1983, ASUAG merged with another con-
glomerate, SSIH, to form SMH, now
known as the Swatch Group.) But there
was devastation throughout the Jura: the
quartz crisis cost the entire Swiss watch
industry about two-thirds of its jobs.
The mechanical-watch renaissance of
the late 1980s brought new life to watch-
making in the Jura triangle. Money
poured in. Cartier built a gorgeous new
factory in Villeret, designed by celebrity-
architect Jean Nouvel. The brand later
relocated its facility to La Chaux-de-
Fonds, and the factory now belongs to
the Swatch Group, whose Nivarox-FAR
subsidiary makes assortments there.
Also in Villeret, the Minerva company,
once a prominent maker of chrono-
graphs, caught the eye of the Richemont
Group in 2006. Richemont turned it into
a maker of high-end movements for its
Montblanc brand. It is housed in a build-
ing once owned by Blancpain. (The first
watchmaking member of the Blancpain
family, Jehan-Jacques Blancpain, opened
a watchmaking atelier in Villeret in 1735.
Blancpain watches were made in Villeret
until the brand was purchased in 1981 by
the movement-maker Frdric Piguet in
partnership with Jean-Claude Biver.)
In Tramelan, two ex-Swatch Group
executives in 1999 started a company
called Progress Watch, whose claim to
fame was its affordable tourbillons,
used in watches retailing for well under
$100,000. Progress filed for bankruptcy
A building in Tramelan now called the
Tamerlan was once the Record Watch
Co. factory.
The Horia factory in Tramelan made
precision parts for the watch industry.
The old Auguste Reymond building in Tramelan. The Arsa and
Unitas on the facade were, respectively, the companys watch
and movement brands.
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WT_0314_J-*a-T*%a(#'!_06_P*))" 09.04.14 18:45 S!%,! 165
in 2001, but five years later an ex-phar-
maceuticals executive, Pascal Raffy,
bought its successor, named SST. It is now
known as Dimier 1738, and is still based
in Tramelan. In Saint-Imier, the Flckiger
& Fils dial company, founded in 1905,
and still occupying a handsome building
on Rue Jolissaint, was rescued from finan-
cial ruin when Patek Philippe bought it in
2004. And Longines, the regions grande
dame, is going great guns in its stately
manse by the Suze, where it makes more
than a million watches per year.
As in the olden days of tablissage, the
triangle is sprinkled with companies sell-
ing parts or services to other suppliers or
to the brands themselves. Theyre firms
like EMP bauches Micromcanique
Precitrame, in Tramelan, which was
founded in 1983 when the Swiss watch
industry was restructured in the early
1980s in response to the quartz crisis. It
makes both CNC transfer machines and
movement blanks.
Or like Brodbeck Guillochage, in
Saignelgier, where Georges Brodbeck sits
The Langel stamping factory in Courtelary was built in 1917. It is open for tours
arranged by the Jura Bernois Tourisme bureau.
This factory in Villeret, designed by noted architect
Jean Nouvel, was built by Cartier and is now
owned by the Swatch Group.
at one of his 32 vintage guillochage
machines (nine in Saignelgier; 23 in other
towns), decorating dials for luxury brands
throughout the Swiss watch industry.
One of these brands is a little, and little-
known, high-end brand named Rudis
Sylva. Its founder, watch-industry veteran
Jacky pitaux, also owns a small hotel,
featuring a gourmet chef, in the remote
and tiny village of Le Bochet, a few miles
southwest of Saignelgier and a stones
throw from the French border. The hotel,
the Espace Paysan Horloger, caters to
watch tourists: in the basement is a small
museum displaying watchmaking machines
(including one of Brodbecks guilloch
machines) and other artifacts from Jura
watch history.
From the hotel, you can travel by car,
by bike, or on foot to the nearby villages.
Some, not surprisingly, have watch-industry
connections. Les Bois, southwest of Le
Bochet, boasted 600 watchmakers in
1900 (its population was 1,450). Le
Creux-des-Biches, to the northeast, was in
1888 the scene of a clash between union-
ized and non-unionized factory workers
as industrialization spread, starting a new
chapter in the watchmaking book the vil-
lages of the Jura are still writing.
AS IN OLDEN DAYS,
SMALL SUPPLIERS
STILL POPULATE THE
JURA TRIANGLE.
Montblanc Manufacture, known until recently as Manufacture
Minerva, in Villeret
The independent guillocheur Georges Brodbeck at work in his atelier
in Saignelgier
The Cortbert Watch Co. once occupied this building
in the village for which it was named.
FACEtime
Robin Henry at the Durban Botanical Gardens in
Durban, South Africa, wearing his TAG Heuer
1000 Professional
Derrick Hicks shows off his Omega
Speedmaster.
At the Houston Auto Show,
Jim Wurzburger wears his IWC
Aquatimer Chronograph. His son
Jakob wears the TAG Heuer
Formula 1 that his father wore
in college.
Tommie Hawkins with his Rolex GMT-Master II
Mihai Lobont wears his Omega Planet Ocean on the beach on Australias Gold Coast. His wife Alex
wears a Saint Honor Haussman.
WT_0314_Fac,$'_02_P*))! 07.04.14 14:44 S$, 168
Facetime
Galleries
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"aken a" an e$en", plea!e
!pecif& %hen and %hee i"
%a! held. Onl& clea image!
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Facetime
Social Media
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John Stark and his son Jacob
enjoy a Washington Wizards
game. John wears a Panerai
PAM 359.
On a cruise in the southern Caribbean, Lynn Cutolo
wears her recently acquired Hublot Classic Fusion.
In the Mojave Desert, Mark Danzo poses with his Rolex Explorer II (Ref. 216570) in his Ultra4 racer.
WT_0314_Fac,$'_02_P*))! 09.04.14 18:48 S$, 169
LASTminute
BY JOE THOMPSON
Credit Suisses Curious Question
I
ts been a long time since Ive heard any-
one in Switzerland worry about the
future of the countrys mechanical
watch. Early in my career as a watch jour-
nalist, that was common. My first report-
ing trip to Switzerland was in 1979, in the
thick of the quartz-watch revolution.
Swiss executives then openly fretted about
the mechanicals survival. The consensus
view was that the mechanical watch was
doomed and would soon join the buggy
whip on historys scrap heap. Time marches
on; old worlds and old technologies
inevitably yield to the new.
That didnt happen, of course. The
Swiss and their trusty tick-tock pulled off
one of the most spectacular and surprising
recoveries in the history of technology.
Today the Swiss mechanical watch has
achieved iconic status as an emblem of
both high art and science.
Imagine my surprise, then, while
reporting for my article Rediscovering
America in this issue (see page 48), to
come across this in a Credit Suisse Eco-
nomic Research report on Switzerlands
top industries in 2014:
We regard the watch industrys medium-
term opportunity-risk profile as above
average. Major potential demand still
exists, particularly in emerging-market
countries with high expected growth in
prosperity. There are challenges, however.
In particular, the question of whether the
mechanical watch can continue to defend
its role as a status symbol going forward
will be crucial.
The Credit Suisse report did not elabo-
rate. It simply raised, for the first time in
nearly three decades, to my knowledge,
the question of the mechanical watchs
future, and left it hanging.
At Baselworld in March, I asked an
astute Swiss-watch-industry observer a
question about the Credit Suisse question.
Yves Vulcan is the owner and CEO of Dar-
wel SA, a marketing and public relations
firm in Lausanne that works closely with
dozens of Swiss watch companies. Has he
heard anyone in the industry raising ques-
tions about the viability of the Swiss
mechanical watch? I asked. He stared at
me for a long time while he thought about
it, and then said simply, No.
Little wonder. The Swiss mechanical
watch remains on a remarkable roll. Over
the past five years, the number of mechan-
ical watches sold has doubled (see chart).
Exports of mechanical watches rose from
3.74 million in the recession year 2009 to
7.47 million last year. In 2013 alone,
mechanical exports rose 8.2 percent to the
highest quantities since 1982. Switzerland
produces three quartz watches (73 percent
of production) for every one mechanical
(27 percent). But in value, Swiss mechani-
cals account for an astonishing 78 percent
of the countrys total watch exports. Put
another way, mechanicals account for
nearly 80 centimes (cents) of every Swiss
franc the Swiss watch industry makes.
Switzerlands wristwatch exports amounted
to 20.67 billion Swiss francs ($23.5 bil-
lion) in value in 2013. Mechanical watches
brought in SF16.07 billion ($18.2 billion)
of it. Stated simply, the luxury mechanical
watch defines the Swiss watch industry.
Without it, Switzerland simply is not a
watch power.
Which brings us back to what Credit
Suisse characterized as the particular
challenge it says the industry faces: can it
defend its role as a status symbol going
forward? Just why Credit Suisse raises
the question is not clear. (No author is cited
for the analysis of the watch industry; the
report covers 30 Swiss industries and is
written by nine different Credit Suisse
researchers.)
Perhaps the Credit Suisse team is con-
cerned about the prospect of a smartwatch
revolution transforming the watch indus-
try the way Apples iPhone redefined what
a phone is and transformed the phone
industry.
Perhaps Credit Suisse is responding to
the sudden and unexpected stigma Chinas
new regime has slapped on luxury watches
as part of its anti-corruption campaign.
Today, around 30 percent of [watch] ex-
ports go to Greater China, Credit Suisse
notes in its report. Developments there
have a strong impact on the industry.
Or perhaps Credit Suisse is simply
reminding the industry of something that
we tend to overlook in the wake of the
mechanical-watch renaissance of the past
quarter-century: that in an era of atomic
timekeeping, the mechanical wristwatch is
living on borrowed time. That measuring
time by winding a mainspring is a 400-
year-old technology. That there are few
examples in the modern world of a 400-
year-old technology surviving, let alone
thriving as the basis of an $18-billion
industry at wholesale. Whatever the origin
of Credit Suisses curious question, it
serves as a warning to the Swiss (and us)
never to take the mechanical-watch golden
goose for granted.
How long can the luxury
mechanical watch keep ticking?
Source: Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry
3
4
5
6
7
8
09 10 11 12 13
SWISS MECHANICAL
WATCH EXPORTS
(million units)
2
WT_0314_La+,M#&-,_03.)/( 07.04.14 17:52 S#, 170

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