THe TB88 by Arnold & Son. A complcation that unlike conventional mechanical watches, measures time in complete seconds instead of fractions dependent on the balancy frequency.
For those who aren’t familiar with Harry Winston, every year the brand launches a truly innovative mechanical monstrosity that would leave anyone drooling. This year marks their 12th release which has been created in collaboration with watchmaker Emmanuel Bouchet and it really lives up to the hype of the series – The money shot in the watch is when the hour and minute markers roll 180 degrees. It is hard to explain the visual effect so the best thing to do is watch the video presentation at the top. The price is approximately $260,000.
An amateur photograph of the watch uploaded by Worldtempus on twitter
The Spacemaster Z-33 is the latest addition to the Omega Speedmaster series. It’s meant to be a wristwatch designed specifically with modern pilots in mind and marks a break away from the traditional Omega case for pilot watches. Functionally, the watch allows professional pilots to log up to ten flights and visualize the logs with a date-hour indication. This, apart from the regular alarm, perpetual calendar, chronograph, countdown timer and a dual timezone display.
The new V-Tec Gamma is this year’s addition to the Ventura collection. It’s a larger size than previous models and features the same digital module Ventura is famous for including the EasySkroll interface. The model will be available from June 2012 onwards and is priced at approximately 1000 USD.
Italian Architect and Designer Andrea Morgante has always been inspired by organic engineering, that is, the influence of shapes found in nature on his work. So when he was offered to do a wristwatch for Alessi, he couldn’t help but apply the ribbed look of a tray he designed previously thus creating a watch where grooves permeates through it entirely, from the bracelet to the case and then to the glass.
Every year for the past decade, Issey Miyake has released a single wristwatch designed by a prominent designer. This year, the eleventh new series is called simply, the ‘W’ and it has been created in collaboration with Japanese car designer Satoshi Wada. Satoshi’s design milestones include designing the A5 for Audi and a long history with Nissan.
The watch is intended to be a minimal no-nonsense design and it features a quartz chronograph movement but has a second hand that moves instantly like that on an automatic watch with the same button click feel of an automatic movement. Those who’ve worn an automatic watch would probably appreciate this.
Billed as the ‘watch that understands time zones’, Seiko has created the first solar powered GPS watch that receives GPS signals and identifies the time zone, time and date data using four GPS satellites. The watch updates automatically once a day and also on demand. It’s named after the company’s 1969 predecessor which was the world’s first quartz watch. It will be released in the fall of 2012 with a price of around 2000-3000 euros. There will be five models with one special edition limited to 2500 units.
Standing out in between their regular line up at Baselworld 2012 was Rado’s new science fiction inspired R-One which i took an instant liking for. The R-One is an automatic chronograph that is limited to 300 units – Black High-tech Ceramic, Tron inspired blue luminous, a Dome-shaped sapphire crystal which covers a very interesting longer watch face and lots of references to teleportation in their press release in case you missed the science fiction angle.
Here’s a trend that I’m a big fan of – Singular vision indie watch brands. In today’s connected world of the internet where anyone can be a taste maker and curate images on their blog or tumblr, it isn’t too far fetched to have for-seen a trend of small indie watch brands that are more restrained, curated edits with a singular feel. Examples of this includes the logo-free UniformWares, the Digitally inspired Void, the Tough and ambitious Tsovet and now Autodromo – a more delightful restrained addition to the never ending range of automotive inspired wristwatch brands.
This is MB&F’s contribution to this year’s Only Watch event – a collaboration with Chinese artist, Huang Hankang. Only watch is a charity auction that happens every two years to be benefit research into duchenne muscular dystrophy. Many well known haute horlogerie brands contribute one-offs to the auction. This year’s edition will take place in Monaco on the 22nd of September 2011.
