I had to pleasure of attending the 2015 Baselworld, The World Watch & Jewellery Show held in a small town known as Basel in Switzerland. At the fair, I attended approximately forty product presentations by renowned, developing and independent brands.
I have collated a list of my favourite thirty time pieces at Baselworld 2015 and here they are in no particular order:
1. Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Gravity
Limited to just 40 pieces in celebration of their 40th anniversaty, Maurice Lacroix introduced the timepiece.
2. Rado Centrix Automative
Subtle, minimalistic and chic are the key words when it comes to the design of these simple, pared-down ceramic beauties. The new face of Rado has a new face of its own: large open dials for easy readability and an unobscured view.
3. HERMÈS Slim D’Hermes Perpetual Calendar
Everything about this watch excited me. From the 39.5mm dial, to the stencil arabic numerals and gorgeous moon phase at 3 o’clock, HERMES have delivered a beauty.
4. Ulysse Nardin Anchor Tourbillon
This incredible 44mm model incorporates the constant Ulysse Anchor Escapement, a constant force escapement with a design that breaks completely with the traditional watchmaking approach. A break-away current, the kind of waters where Ulysse Nardin loves to sail.
5. Hublot Big Bang Chronograph in Magic Gold
To mark the 10th year of the Big Bang logo, Hublot presented a number of timepieces at Baselworld to celebrate the milestone. the favourite amongst the bunch, was this beautiful Chronograph in Magic Gold. Limited to just 250 pieces, the ribbed black rubber strap allows for a comfortable wear.
6. Raymond Weil Maestro Frank Sinatra Limited Edition
The maestro Frank Sinatra Limited Edition watch pays homage to the legendary artist and his iconic persona. With restraint, elegance and precision, the timepiece evokes a sense of admiration for the entertainer’s illustrious career.
7. Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Chronograph Ref. 5905P & split-seconds chronograph Ref. 5370
By melding forward-looking design and sought-after horological complications, Patek Philippe has created a totally new and unusual timepiece: the new Ref. 5270R Perpetual Calendar in Rose Gold.
Patek Philippe’s new Ref. 5370 split-seconds chronograph is a watch focused entirely on measuring the duration of transient events. This type of watch is part of the legacy of Patek Philippe: the manufacture’s very first wrist chronograph, presented in 1923, was already a split-seconds model.
8. Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Ref. 5524
With the new Ref. 5524 Calatrava Pilot Travel Time, Patek Philippe pays tribute to its heritage in pilot’s watches, documented by two hour-angle navigation timepieces from the 1930s that are on display at the Patek Philippe Museum.
9. Concord C1 Tourbillon
Providing a view into the mystical depths revealing the secrets of this iconic timepiece, the 47mm timepiece consists of a black dial and PVD-finished titanium case, harmonizes perfectly with a state-of-the-art carbon fiber sub-bezel.
10. Movado 1881 Automative
Movado proudly introduces a new generation of modern automatic timepieces with the launch of the men’s 1881 Automatic collection. These new watches powered by fine Swiss automatic movements are designed for those who have an appreciation for Movado’s distinguished design aesthetic as well as the intricate craft of mechanical time-keeping.
11. The Bulgari Octo
The complex art of simplicity. The sculptural Octo model focuses firmly on essentials and has established itself in just three years as one of the key brand symbols.
12. HYT H1 Azo Project
An encounter between Fine Watchmaking and fluid mechanics. One might say a utopia. Shattering all certainties, steamrollering conformity, the idea that led to the H1 was simple and consisted of two flexible reservoirs fixed to each end of a capillary.
13. HYT H3
Known for blurring the lines, HYT has once again defied the limits of what is possible. The sculptural H3 is essentially inspired by a fluid portrayal of time, a field which the young independent brand has not only conquered, but one which it has radically (re)created in all areas.
14. Harry Winston Histoire de Tourbillon 6
This High Watchmaking and High Complication by Harry Winston once again pushes the envelope in both technical sophistication and exclusivity. A genuine first in the history of horology, it combines two independent hour indications: one regulated by a tri-axial tourbillon and the other by a karussel.
15. Chopard L.U.C 1963 Tourbillon
The L.U.C 1963 Tourbillon is a concentrated blend of the very best in Chopard haute horlogerie. Its finely crafted dial is in Grand Feu enamel. Its tourbillon movement is COSC certified and boasts a nine-day power reserve.
16. Glashütte PanoMaticLunar
The characteristic off-centre displays in a well thought out spatial arrangement. The areas for hour/minute indicators and the small seconds display lie on a vertical axis within the left half of the dial, while the Panorama Date and the splendid moon phase display are positioned at the lower and upper right, respectively.
17. Glashütte Senator Cosmopolite
The ability to track the time of day in two time zones at once is made possible by an intricate set of finely engineered, integrated complications. The time zone wheel displays a choice of 37 world time zones, each indicated by the official IATA location code designating a key international airport in the zone.
18. Glashütte Senator Observer
The Saxon manufactory’s in-house dial manufactory has made extensive use of luminous surfaces to make the new Senator Observer easy to read in the absence of light: the elegant white gold hour and minute hands, bold Arabic numerals, and chapter ring hour indexes are all highlighted with green Super-LumiNova, a phosphorescent pigment that absorbs light by day and emits it at night
19. Jacquet Droz Grande Seconde Deadbeat
A masterpiece of watchmaking precision, the Independent (or “Deadbeat”) Seconds is a very rare complication created during the Age of Enlightenment, at a time when Pierre Jaquet-Droz was crisscrossing Europe to present his timepieces at the royal courts of a continent in an intellectual fever.
20. Jacquet Droz Éclipse
Featuring a silvered opaline version, this complication embodies the magic performed by the stars and the passage of Time. Behind their apparent simplicity, these two new versions of the Éclipse hide their complications: indication of the Moon phases, but also the day, month and date.
21. The Jacquet Droz Bird Repeater
The Bird Repeater Geneva boasts 8 animations, minuscule yet spectacular. Equipped with a Jaquet Droz RMA88 hand-winding movement and enjoying a 48-hour power reserve, The Bird Repeater Geneva models number just eight in total.
22. Laurent Ferrier Galet Traveller Globe
It is the culmination of a determined endeavour: Laurent Ferrier, master in the art of visual harmony, deploys the full measure of patiently acquired expertise on the new Galet Traveller Globe. The model is graced with a three-dimensional dial marrying gold and champlevé enamel.
23. MB+F Legacy Machine N°2
With its monumental central balance; superlatively finished movement; completely independent dual time zones; unique vertical power reserve indicator and elegant annular case, Legacy Machine N°1 (LM1) is a tribute to the great innovators of traditional watchmaking; and above all, an authentic three-dimensional MB&F Machine.
24. Blancpain Bathyscaphe Chronographe Flyback Ocean Commitment
Blancpain is proud to debut its first Ocean Commitment timepiece. The new limited edition Ocean Commitment Bathyscaphe Chronographe Flyback is the first in a series of limited edition diving watches which will be part of the Blancpain Ocean Commitment project.
25. Blancpain Tourbillon Carrousel
The subtle alliance between two timekeeping regulators gave birth to the caliber 2322V2. Paired with a bezel sculpted into an innovative form, one which is both aggressive and sporty, the case houses both a flying tourbillon and flying carrousel. The dial, designed with multiple levels, reveals all of the complexity of the open worked movement.
26. TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre 12 Automatice
This automatic chronograph has the appealing square case design of a classic Monaco, with more power under the hood: a Calibre 12 chronograph. Two square counters at 3 and 9 o’clock measure small seconds and chrono minutes. A sapphire crystal caseback reveals the Calibre 12 movement in action.
27. Bell + Ross BR-X1 Carbone Forgè
Limited to just 250 pieces, this amazing automative timepiece occupies a unique, yet very comfortable square face. With a skeleton dial, all movements and components are visible.
28. Omega Seamaster James Bond Limited Edition
In anticipation of SPECTRE the 24th James Bond film scheduled to release in 2015, OMEGA has created a limited edition Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M model inspired by the Bond family coat of arms.
29. Omega Speedmaster “Dark Side of the Moon” Vintage Black
The Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon “Vintage Black” stands out with brown indexes and hands, which complement the “vintage” Super-LumiNova. The brushed ceramic bezel has a “vintage” Super-LumiNova tachymeter scale and, as with the other new models in this family, the matt ceramic dial has been created using laser technology.
30. Omega Master Globemaster
The Globemaster is the first watch to be tested and approved according to this new process, which, in addition to measuring the perfor- mance of the watch in daily wearing conditions, ensures that it functions properly when exposed to strong mag- netic fields of 15,000 gauss.
