Eight spectacular watches launching at Baselworld
Chopard ramps it up in style
Fresh from taking top prize at the Oscars of watchmaking, the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, with its L.U.C Full Strike minute repeater, Chopard has pulled another surprise with the revelation this week of a spectacular super complication.
The L.U.C All-in-One lives up to its name by squeezing in 14 indications on two faces, including perpetual calendar, tourbillon and a panoply of astronomical complications. Most impressive is that it carries this off with a power reserve of a full seven days.
Besides this milestone for its watchmaking, Chopard has announced another in its ongoing promotion of ethical Fairmined gold. Going forwards, all Chopard's gold jewellery and watches will be made from Fairmined.
It's a significant gauntlet, laid down as a challenge to the rest of the watch and jewellery industry.
Chopard's L.U.C All-in-One, with tourbillon, perpetual calendar and astronomical indications, is being made in a 10-piece limited series. 020 7287 8710; chopard.com
Patek chimes in with the world's time zones
Watch collectors outside the US might have felt a pang of envy last summer when Patek Philippe unveiled a stupendous new creation to coincide with its New York exhibition of current and historic watchmaking, since the watch was only available in the States.
Minute repeaters and world timers being two of the brand's specialist areas, the appearance of a watch combining both in an unprecedented way was no small development - it's watches like this that become classics of the Patek oeuvre.
Now deep-pocketed Patek enthusiasts can breathe easy: a version is being made available internationally. Reference 5531R takes horology into new territory by chiming the time in any of 24 time zones when selected as the local time. That's a watchmaking first that required, according to Patek's technical director Phillip Barat, an entirely new mechanism, ensuring "it strikes the time for the selected time zone with a precision to the second".
The 5531R raises the world timer from a mid-level complication to haute horlogerie masterpiece in typically grand Patek style, including a hand-painted cloisonné enamel dial depicting the Lavaux vineyard terraces that rise above the shores of Lake Geneva.
In a rose-gold case, the watch is priced at ￡430,000; patek.com
Reno Air Races inspire Bell & Ross
Bell & Ross's breezy new chronograph is inspired by the world of single-seater aircraft competing in the annual Reno Air Races above the Nevada desert.
Co-founder Bruno Belamich has even conceived an aeroplane, the BR-Bird, as a template for the BRV2 94 watch's design cues: an airy white dial, racy orange and blue details and a slight 1970s feel, evoking the world of speeding single-prop aircraft in races that have been taking place for more than half a century.
Now all Bell & Ross needs to do is build the BR-Bird itself and take to the skies.
From ￡3,650; 020 7629 6464; bellross.com
Graff's Asian fusion looks street smart
Manga-influenced contemporary Japanese art isn't something you'd associate with a Swiss watch - but that's exactly what's on the dial of Graff's most ambitious métiers d'art timepiece to date.
Part of its new Master Graff Ultra Flat Tourbillon collection, the Takashi Murakami edition features the artist's vibrant work, remixing traditional motifs such as the lotus flower.
Price on application; 020 7584 8571; graffdiamonds.com
Bridging the gulf with Tag Heuer
Mention blue and orange to fans of 1960s and 1970s motorsport and they'll think of Gulf Oil, which sponsored legendary cars such as the Porsche 917 that battled it out in endurance races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And horophiles will recall Steve McQueen, who drove a Gulf-liveried 917 in the cult 1971 film Le Mans, wearing a Heuer Monaco strapped to his wrist.
In 2007 the brand (by then TAG Heuer), released a "Gulf-striped" Monaco to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first use of the blue and orange livery.
But it's only now that the partnership between TAG Heuer and Gulf Oil has been formalised to develop new watch editions - the first of which is the 2018 Gulf model, featuring a dial decorated with blue and orange stripes, and a left-hand winding crown, just like the 1969 original Monaco.
￡4,750; 0800 458 0882; tagheuer.co.uk
Omega touches down on the lunar surface
Omegahas this week revealed a new version of arguably the most celebrated chronograph of them all: the Nasa-sported Speedmaster.
Marking the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission - the first manned craft to orbit the Moon - the latest of Omega's "Dark Side of the Moon" ceramic-cased Speedies has a skeletonised dial, revealing movement bridges decorated via a process of laser ablation to resemble the Moon's surface itself. The dial side is lighter, while the back of the watch is darker.
On the reverse of the watch are astronaut Jim Lovell's famous words engraved: "We'll see you on the other side".
￡7,200; omegawatches.com
Hermès travels in style with new-generation Slim
After using its Slim d'Hermès design to bring some stylish new poise to simple round watches and to perpetual calendars, Hermès has announced this week what stands to be one of the most suave travel watch launches of 2018: the Slim d'Hermès GMT.
Standout features include the smoked-grey dial, off-set second time-zone with eccentrically positioned numerals (perfectly readable when aligned with the GMT hour hand, which is adjusted via a pusher), and a day/night display.
Rather more unusual, however, is the house's choice of material for the timepiece. The case has been made from palladium - an extremely rare metal in the world of watchmaking.
Inside is Hermès' ultra-slim manufacture movement, the automatic H1950m, with its distinctive micro-rotor, as well as an exclusive GMT module.
￡10,800; 155 New Bond St, London W1; 020 7499 8856; hermes.com
Breguet pares back a tourbillon classic
Breguet's extra-thin Classique Tourbillon is one of the wonders of the tourbillon genre, from the company whose namesake invented the mechanism and which now produces more tourbillon watches than anyone else.
A new version focuses the full attention on the off-centre tourbillon, thanks to a muted white dial in Grand Feu enamel. The technique involves repeated dustings of silica enamel powder being gradually fired in an oven at super-hot temperatures, to build up a perfectly smooth surface.
In the name of minimalist refinement, Breguet has also removed the power reserve display that on the original 2013 version attested to an impressive 80 hours of power.
The understatement of the dial is in contrast to the richly engraved movement decoration.
Price on application; 020 7355 1735; breguet.com