Watchmaker show(time) at Geneva
More watch brands, more media coverage, more public, more fun and enthusiasm: the Geneva Watch Days show kept the promise made in 2020 during its first edition. Let’s take a closer look on the twelve new releases of this second edition…
Bvlgari
Octo Roma WorldTimer
Holidays are over but Bvlgari invites us to travel with this new release specially designed for globetrotters who are used to leapfrog over time zones. The new timepiece is as impressive as the rest of the Octo Roma collection and enables instant reading of the time in 24 cities around the world. A pair of rotating disks allows reading at a glance both local time and time at the wearer’s home country (and all around the world!). Interesting detail: the time in the Caribbean is not represented with Bermuda but with St. Barts since it’s the emblematic luxury destination in that part of the world. Some cities were chosen to be featured on the watch because of Bvlgari hotels located there.
Breitling
Top Time Classic Cars
It’s always showtime when Breitling reveals a new watch collection, and during this Genevan week the brand gave one of the most impressive shows.
Loud music (and V8 engine sound), bright lights (classic headlights), “guest-stars” appearance (including the enthusiastic CEO Georges Kern): everything was there to create a buzz and starts trending on social media! By the way, it was thanks to Georges Kern that, after the end of the event, the three new releases left Geneva for the shooting of a special video on Frank Sans C YouTube channel! Everybody knows it: I love American cars, specially the T-Bird 55…
No detail was spared: there was heavy sound, bright lights and even “guest stars” appearance! Which was expected since the Top Time Classic Cars capsule collection is inspired by true iconic cars: the Ford Mustang, the Chevrolet Corvette and the Shelby Cobra. The mechanical divas made their appearance during the unveiling of the three watches that pay tribute to them with their sport style (chronograph function and tachymeter), their bold colours (blue, red or green), and the logo engraved on their back.
If you want to know more about the technical features, you can read the data sheets on our websites.
Top Time Ford Mustang, Top Time Cobra Shelby, Top Time Chevrolet Corvette.
Gérald Genta
Arena Retro Mickey Mouse Disney
This is probably one of the most striking (and appreciated!) pieces from the Geneva Watch Days 2021 and there is a good reason for that! This watch is as charming as it is nostalgic. Connoisseurs obviously remember the Fantasy watches that were once designed by the genius Gérald Genta (who died just ten years ago): Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Scrooge had the mission of showing the time with their arms, baseball bats or golf clubs. Bvlgari now owns the Genta brand and decided to offer a successor that follows the same rules of its original collection, which means a monoretrogade automatic movement. An aperture shows the jumping hour while Mickey shows the minutes with his arm. Irresistible but with a big flaw: too limited, 150 pieces, there won’t be enough for everyone…
Ulysse Nardin
Marine Torpilleur Blue Enamel
The Swiss Maison, founded in 1846 by watchmaker Ulysse Nardin, built its reputation thanks to the quality of its marine chronometers. For its 175th anniversary, it was only natural to pay tribute to these emblematic pocket watches. Seven new commemorative timepieces from the Marine Torpilleur collection have been exposed at Geneva and it is impossible to deny that they follow the steps of their noble ancestors. The essence of deck watches can be found on either the most distinguished version, which is the Tourbillon, or on the moon phases, the two-toned dial “pandas” or this beautiful piece fitted with an astonishing blue enamel dial.
Greubel Forsey
GMT Earth
Beware: exceptional piece from an exceptional brand! The wide public might not be familiar with this watch manufacture founded in 2004 but watch amateurs know what they came for: Greubel Forsey only produces timepieces that praise the fine watchmaking and this new ultra-contemporary looking GMT Earth with black dial is no exception. Titanium carved, which enables an 117g weight, this model holds a rotating terrestrial globe inside a sapphire crystal bezel that indicates the universal time. We can admire our planet earth from different perspectives. On the functional aspect, let’s mention a Tourbillon 24 seconds, a second time zone, and universal time on 24 time zones with day-and-night indication. I wouldn’t be surprised if a special video were made on Frank Sans C YouTube channel. After all, CEO Antonio Calce and me do have some secrets to share.
Girard-Perregaux
Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges
Another anniversary celebrated at Geneva at the end of this 2021 summer. Girard-Perregaux celebrated its 230 years of history by paying tribute to its past while keeping up with the present. The watch unveiled during the Geneva Watch Days reminds an old invention that became one of the manufacture’s signatures: the famous Tourbillon with Three Bridges created in 1867. This commemorative version goes beyond since its designers added the term “flying”. Indeed, the bridges appear to float inside the dial even if they actually act as the mainplate that holds the geartrain, the barrel, and the tourbillon. The marker is affixed to the flange, which is attached to the case. A very aerial and contemporary design thanks to the black PVD treatment of the pink gold surfaces of the bridges that gives the watch a modern look.
H. Moser & Cie
Streamliner Perpetual Calendar
Famous for being a provocateur (let’s remember its Swiss Alp Watch that looked a lot like a well-known American smartwatch, or its cheese case watch, or even its “Mother Nature” watch that looked like a luxurious garden), also famous for making beautiful supernatural-looking colourful dials, H. Moser also masters the “less is more” philosophy. One look on its new timepiece is all it takes to convince oneself. A simple “three-hand-date” watch? Not at all! Despite its appearance, it’s actually a perpetual calendar! On this complication, which results from the fusion of two icons: the Streamliner collection and the Perpetual 1 movement; there is no need for many hands and counters for displaying day, date, month, and leap year. And yet, everything is there, with a manual-winding mechanical movement held inside a splendid cushion case: simple but complex.
Urwerk
UR-100 Electrum
Do not trust its modern, avant-gardiste, futuristic-like appearance. Indeed, its designers say it’s actually an antique. At least, if we’re talking about its case. Urwek designers told us “The Electrum is one of the original precious metals. It was the treasure of ancient peoples”. Ancient Greece, Amerindian civilisations, Ancient Egypt… all of them wanted this gold and silver alloy. However, this metal, originally used for coin minting, has progressively fallen into oblivion. The Maison has therefore decided to pay tribute to this legendary material by creating a 25-piece edition that will integrate the UR-100 collection. Its case was carved in an alloy of gold and palladium and displays a surface with concentric grooves. The hours are displayed via satellites and a new indicator makes its appearance: “After the 60th minute, the minute hand disappears and reappears as a kilometre-counter”, the creators explained. The complication illustrates the 555 kilometres travelled every 20 minutes by all of earth’s inhabitants (the average speed that the earth is rotating at the equator). Antiquity or science fiction?
Charles Girardler
1809 Blue Cobalt
We bet you don’t know this brand yet. And it is no surprise since it was created just three years ago by Patrick Ulm who, as he says it himself, has discovered the creations of a Swiss watchmaker from the 19th century named Charles Girardier during a visit to the Agatha Christie’s museum, in England! The brand was then created and, its model for women, the Tourbillon “Signature Mystérieuse Fleur de Sel” was instantly rewarded during the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2020. This year, Charles Girardier introduces a timepiece for men with the “1809 Cobalt Blue” with a 41mm diameter, a flying tourbillon, a blue Grand Feu enamel dial, and a Mysterious Signature at 12 o’clock made with a C and G that move and come back to the initial position. Impressive!
Arnold & Son
Luna Magna Ultimate I
Welcome to the gemstone universe with this remarkable watch unveiled by Arnold & Son. Connoisseurs weren’t oblivious to the existence of the three-dimensional moon concept of the Maison, but they will (re)discover it under a new light. Arnold & son call it “Haute Horlogerie interpretations”, a great definition if we consider their aesthetic choices: blue ruthenium crystal dial, white opal subdial, baguette-cut diamond bezel, three-dimensional moon (12mm diameter) set with diamonds and sapphires. The timepiece also features a second display for the lunar phase on the caseback. The in-house hand-wound calibre is such a sophisticated one that it only needs to be corrected every 122 years.
Louis Erard
Excellence Regulator
The concept of a regulator that separates the hour and the minute hands on the dial was once the symbol of extreme precision, and it became the expertise of Louis Erard. It is now the Maison’s both aesthetic and technical signature, as this new version attests. Designers made the bold choice of picking dials carved in gemstones like the lapis lazuli, the aventurine and the malachite. This beautifully coloured limited series of three timepieces manage to combine geological time and mechanical precision just the way the Maison wanted: “Every timepiece is unique because every dial tells the tale of the millions of years that shaped the gemstones”. Beyond its look and how it shows time, this limited series also has an attractive distinguished price (less than 3,000 euros).
Doxa
SUB 600T
Diving watches, with their sporty look, also made their appearance during the Geneva Watch Days, as we can see with this titanium reinterpretation of the emblematic Doxa SUB 600T that was launched in the 80’s. We can’t miss its pacific blue dial matching its rubber strap. Those who love this charming model will be happy to find the angular case and the crown set at 4 o’clock. Extreme performer with a water resistance of 600m this watch is also equipped with a unidirectional-patented bezel that shows the length (in minutes) and depth (in feet) of the dive. A watch that ensures its wearer can safely go back to the surface.