Attractive timepieces
Independent watchmakers are stealing a march over corporate brands with the affluent increasingly opting for their attractive timepieces
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Serpent Calendar
Why you need it: This Britain-born watchmaker combines visual and technical elements into this watch. In addition to the central hour, minutes and seconds, a serpentine hand in the centre of the dial indicates the date. The ensemble of bright, heat-blued steel hands contrasts beautifully against the white dial. Since 2008, he has focussed all his energies towards Speake-Marin watches, where there is a tangible link to classical watch-making, but with a contemporary unique style and design. His team and he usually make only 500 watches each year
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Blackjack
Why you need it: The Swiss watchmaker created the Blackjack, an interactive one-of-a-kind watch, where you can play three casino games: Blackjack, roulette and dice. The roulette appears on the back of the watch. Christophe Claret has also introduced a baccarat and poker game models of the watch
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Chronomètre à Résonance
Why you need it: Among the brand’s timepieces, none is more distinctive than the Résonance. This mechanical watch with manual winding is entirely designed and produced in-house. Swiss watchmaker FP Journe commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Chronomètre à Résonance with a new edition, now featuring a 24-hour indicator. The company often designs brand new movements, even inventing completely new systems, like the resonance chronometer
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LEGACY MACHINE N°1
Why you need it: This Swiss watchmaker (Maximilian Büsser & Friends) introduced this timepiece as a tribute to the watchmaking traditions of the 18th and 19th centuries, through a type of product which they would have created had the company existed 100 years ago. “Gazing down through Legacy Machine N°1’s crystal clear bubble sapphire dome to the micro-mechanical fantasy below, it’s easy to imagine Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo looking upon the mythical underwater city of Atlantis,” the official website says. Just 33 pieces of the LM1 Platinum 950 were made
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Invention Piece 2
Why you need it: In 1999, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey began working on a new generation of tourbillon specifically designed to improve the timekeeping of the mechanical watch. In 2003, they unveiled the Greubel Forsey brand with their innovative Double Tourbillon 30°. The IP2 is offered in a unique edition of 11 pieces in platinum and 11 pieces in 5N red gold
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Tourbillon of Tourbillons
Why you need it: This new highly exclusive mega-complication was conceived, designed and produced by Italy’s Antoine Preziuso in collaboration with his son Florian. Five Tourbillon of Tourbillons timepieces are available in 2015—with a case version [Power GTS] gold, titanium and steel. The surname ‘Preziuso’ means ‘precious’ in Italian
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Dream Watch DW5
Why you need it: This watch combines artistic skills, innovation and creativity. De Bethune unveiled what they called an “artistic wrist sculpture”, which comes in the form of a smoothly curved titanium timepiece. Some experts suggest the DW5 could have found its inspiration from a miniature spaceship similar to the one seen in Disney’s 1986 movie Flight of the Navigator. With a width of just 1.9 inches and length of 1.5 inches, it is compact, but there is reduced space to display the time. Denis Flageollet and Italian designer David Zanetta established De Bethune in 2002, decades after creating watches for others
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Annual calendar
Why you need it: The Swiss Ochs Und Junior was founded in 2006, manufacturing watches designed by Ludwig Oechslin, the thinker behind some of the most awarded watches in the past 30 years. Oechslin’s annual calendar watch displays the date, month, weekday, day/night and time (interactive watch). Its analogue date display is more readable than the digital display from the same distance. And unlike large digital displays, the date is not a distraction when checking the time. Ochs Und Junior makes about 150 watches each year
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Voutilainen Tourbillon-6
Why you need it: This Finnish watchmaker started to work in Switzerland in 1990, but created his first watch four years later. He started to work as an independent watchmaker only in 2002, fabricating and making every component of watches on his own. The Voutilainen Tourbillon-6 is modestly sized. In a 39 mm wide case size, it is offered in solid platinum or 18K gold. A true limited edition, just six pieces were offered in 2014
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