Hundreds of watch brands and tens of thousands of visitors have poured into the Swiss watchmaking capital of Geneva this week for an extensive program of events that revolves around Watches and Wonders Geneva, where 65 watchmakers large and small will introduce new collections. Rolex, Patek Philippe and Cartier take center stage, with a supporting cast of big name players and independents targeting collectors. In an unpredictable world, industry players hope that the week brings some stability to a sector in flux. Here is a pick of what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n
Heroes<\/p>\n
Masters of the Universe<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no question that low-volume, high-value watches are all the rage, as watchmaking continues to reorganize according to a more exclusive formula (over the past decade, Switzerland has halved its output, while reporting record revenues). That\u2019s given plenty of encouragement for both atelier-style independent makers and the giants of the traditional watchmaking establishment to go big on invention. The results? Otherworldly mechanical watches, astronomical prices and starry-eyed buyers.<\/p>\n
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Hybris Inventiva Gyrotourbillon \u00e0 Stratosph\u00e8re<\/p>\n
Just how much gravity impacts on the accuracy of a wristwatch remains up for debate. In theory, the action of it being worn compensates for most of the force that drags movement components out of position. But that hasn\u2019t stopped Switzerland\u2019s finest from looking for ways to mitigate it further. Jaeger-LeCoultre\u2019s latest Gyrotourbillon, its sixth in 22 years, rotates the movement\u2019s ticking escapement on three axes, which it says moves it into 98 percent of all possible positions, all but nullifying the negative effects of gravity on its accuracy. It\u2019s a study in watchmaking mathematics and the possibilities of micromechanics: the Gyrotourbillon alone has 189 components and yet weighs a barely there 0.78 grams. The watch is 42 millimeters and platinum cased, and includes guillochage, enamel and lacquer decorations. Hybris Inventiva is a new term, said to be reserved for watches that will \u201cchange the course of the maison\u2019s history.\u201d Only 20 will be made.<\/p>\n
Price on application<\/p>\n
Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater Tourbillon Skeleton<\/p>\n
Skeletonization may be commonplace, but historically it was a means for elite watchmakers to show off their workmanship. Simply put, it is a process of reduction, hollowing out a movement\u2019s bridges and plates to reveal its moving parts. The challenges are legion. As well as ensuring the resulting assembly doesn\u2019t become visual chaos, watchmakers must protect the movement\u2019s rigidity and function. The process also adds to the burden of presentation: According to the codes of fine watchmaking, each component, now under the spotlight, must carry meticulous surface finishes and edge-bevelling, much of which has to be done by hand. Vacheron Constantin is a master of the art and makes a virtue of it in this made-to-order piece, which skeletonizes the Geneva company\u2019s revered Calibre 2755. This brings a tourbillon and a minute repeater that chimes the time on demand. Vacheron says it took its crack Les Cabinotiers division a year to achieve \u2014 but it won\u2019t say who the lucky first owner will be.<\/p>\n
Price on application<\/p>\n
Panerai Luminor 31 Giorni<\/p>\n
One of the plainest advantages of the battery-powered quartz watches that were once thought to pose an existential threat to traditional watchmaking was that they didn\u2019t stop when you took them off for a day or two. Mechanical watches run off energy stored in a tightly coiled \u201cmainspring\u201d that releases energy over a comparatively short period of time, typically around 40 hours, even in contemporary examples. As long ago as the 1950s, Panerai began working on extending the power reserve of a mechanical watch, a legacy it has continued, becoming well known for its three, eight and 10-day watches. Those now look quaint alongside the Italianate company\u2019s latest, which offers 31 days of power. This monthlong reserve is delivered by four barrels arranged in sequence that house springs totaling 3.3 meters, or almost 11 feet, in length. The effort comes at the outset \u2014 the watch is hand-wound and it takes 128 crown turns to charge time, date and power reserve functions. The movement is skeletonized and framed in 44 millimeters of Panerai\u2019s Goldtech, and the watch is limited to 200 pieces.<\/p>\n
$107,000<\/p>\n
A. Lange & S\u00f6hne Saxonia Annual Calendar<\/p>\n
The German watchmaker A. Lange & S\u00f6hne, or Lange for short, makes around 5,000 watches a year, but it\u2019s widely accepted it could sell most of that number again, such is demand. Buyers sign up for a charming contradiction of understated aesthetics and lavish finishing, as well as the brand\u2019s unrepentantly Teutonic approach to fine watchmaking. Those qualities are front and center in this new annual calendar version of its classic Saxonia family, which makes time and date indications a visual priority (with irrefutable logic), gently relegating its day, month and moon phase displays so they have less prominence, without denting their legibility. If the dial is balanced, so too are the mechanics behind it. The handsome movement is new, designed to fit inside a very modest 36-millimeter case and to advance the oversize date at the end of 30 and 31-day months automatically without adjustment. The power reserve is 60 hours, but if left dormant for longer, indications can be skipped forward in unison using the pusher at 10 o\u2019clock. Another Lange lesson in complex simplicity.<\/p>\n
65,000 euros, or about $75,000<\/p>\n
Shoot for the Moon<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s galaxy of lunar-themed watches happens once in a blue moon. (Perhaps it\u2019s because life down here on Earth is such a muddle.) One is designed to be worn in space, another is scheduled to be left on the moon by the end of the year, while others have found poetic new ways of bringing the lunar phases to our wrists.<\/p>\n
IWC Pilot\u2019s Venturer Vertical Drive<\/p>\n
Unlike Omega\u2019s Speedmaster Moonwatch, IWC\u2019s latest tool watch has been designed for spaceflight. Conceived and tested in partnership with Vast, the company that aims to produce a commercial space station, the white ceramic watch has no crown, instead using a rocker switch to activate its functions, each then operated via a rotating bezel.<\/p>\n
$28,200<\/p>\n
Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Jour Nuit Phase de Lune<\/p>\n
Another from the Poetic Complications collection from Van Cleef & Arpels, this time a decorous piece with an on-demand moon phase display. At the push of a button, the dial springs into life, rotating a golden sun out of sight to reveal the moon in its current phase in layers of mother-of-pearl and aventurine. Clever mechanics mean that even during animation the watch tracks the moon\u2019s phases uninterrupted.<\/p>\n
$153,000<\/p>\n
Bremont Supernova Chronograph<\/p>\n