Actress Margot Robbie Joins Watch Brand Richard Mille

Photo by Dennis Leupold for Opus reps

Actress Margot Robbie will partner with luxury watch brand, Richard Mille to produce a collection of women watches of which the proceeds will be donated to charity. 

“The watch we are working on embodies Richard Mille’s vision of horology; it’s beautiful, unique and modern. I can’t wait for everyone to see it,” Robbie said.

They will donate proceeds from the new products to Youngcare, a foundation committed to helping young Australians with high-care needs the opportunity to live with choice, independence and dignity.

Robbie, 27, is known for both her beauty and her ability to excel at high profile roles. She is perhaps best known for her breakout role in Martin Scorsese’s 2013 hit, The Wolf of Wall Street, in which she stars as the female lead opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. Her performance in the film garnered praise from critics and audiences—most notably for her authentic Brooklyn accent from the Aussie native.

The Wolf of Wall Street paved the way for other opportunities for Robbie. Roles included starring opposite Will Smith in Focus, a lead role in sci-fi thriller Z for Zachariah, starring as “Jane” in David Yates’ The Legend of Tarzan, as well as the iconic “Harley Quinn” in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad.

Photo by Dennis Leupold for Opus reps

This new partnership between Margot Robbie and Richard Mille “complements the very contemporary spirit of the collection in which Margot will bring her creative energy and her own interpretation of femininity as she participates in the design of several models,” the watch brand said in a statement.

Women the watch brand has partnered with in the past, include actresses Michelle Yeoh and Natalie Portman.

Robbie grew up on the Gold Coast of Australia and eventually moved to Melbourne where she began acting professionally at the age of 17. She appeared on Neighbors, Australia’s longest-running television serial, from 2008-2010. In 2011, Robbie moved to the United States to pursue her career and was cast in the television series, Pan Am.

Robbie can be seen next in Simon Curtis’ Goodbye Christopher Robin. She recently wrapped production on Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya, which she stars in as Tonya Harding, and served as a producer under her production company, LuckyChap Entertainment. Robbie will soon begin production on Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots in which she will star as “Queen Elizabeth.”

Richard Mille is known for producing tonneau-shaped timepieces with high complications that use high-tech materials and modern crafting techniques. In addition to celebrity endorsements, the company partners with athletes ranging from Formula 1 racers to tennis stars, creating watches designed to be used in their athletic pursuits. 

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Collectors See Value In Richard Mille Watches At Sotheby’s Hong Kong Auction

Richard Mille RM008

The appeal of contemporary independent watchmaker, Richard Mille, continues to grow. Demand has now extended to the auction market, where his rare, expensive and technically advanced timepieces are earning a following among collectors. 

All four Richard Mille watches (including a women’s watch) on offer sold at the Sotheby’s Hong Kong Important Watch Sale with two of them among the top five lots. It was one of the main stories at April 5 auction where collectors were attracted to a variety of established and contemporary brands. 

“Collectors’ interest has become increasingly diverse, with the top ten lots comprising not only traditionally sought-after brands, but also complex models and those by independent watchmakers,” said Jessie Kang, Sotheby’s head of Watches, Asia. “Unique designs and rare pieces remain popular, with all four Richard Mille watches on offer sold. Bidding from 33 countries was vibrant, with many new buyers in the sale room and a number of Sotheby’s existing clients exploring the field of watch collecting for the first time.”

The top lot wasn’t a watch but a clock and art object. The Cartier “Flamingo and Lotus Automaton Clock” sold for $537,924, above estimate. It features a bejeweled flamingo and lotus set on an 18k yellow gold rectangular base set with onyx and gray mottled hardstone. One of four large round lapis lazuli buttons activates the lotus automaton. The top of the base is in mother-of-pearl with a large yellow diamond and diamond-set lotus. Its ten petals open to reveal the dial, all on nephrite leaves. The large flamingo standing on one leg is covered with brilliant-cut diamonds. Its plumage set with square-cut sapphires, rubies and emeralds, with the beak made of pink hardstone and onyx. Sapphire eyes are the final touch. 

The top lot among watches was the Richard Mille RM008, a pink gold tourbillon split seconds chronograph (top photo) that sold for $383,053. This highly complicated watch is powered by the manually wound caliber RM-008/1 with a one-minute tourbillon carriage visible at 6 o'clock with compensation balance, semi-skeletonized matte charcoal dial, two subdials for constant seconds and 30-minute register, outer scale calibrated for tachymeter, fan-form power reserve indicator at 11 o'clock position and torque indicator at 1 o'clock. It’s all housed in an 18k pink gold tonneau-shaped case.

The third lot of the sale fell to one of the most popular brands on the auction market, Patek Philippe, with a pink gold minute repeater perpetual calendar, reference 5013, which sold for $352,611, within its estimate. 

A Jaeger-LeCoultre white gold Spherotourbillon watch with date, flyback seconds and power reserve indicator, was the fourth highest seller, fetching $281,509. 

Rounding out the top five was the Richard Mille RM 015 “Tourbillon Perini Navi.” It’s inspired by the sailing vessels of the yacht builders Perini Navi of Viareggio. The white gold tonneau-shaped semi-skeleton Tourbillon timepiece fetched an above-estimate, $273,466.

The sale at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre took in more than $7.4 million, with 75.2% sold by lot and 84.8% sold by value. A total of 303 lots were on offer.

“We are pleased with the solid results and the healthy sell-through rate of the sale,” Kang said. 

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Three Richard Mille Watches Celebrate 50th Anniversary Of Racing Legend Jean Todt

RM11-03 Jean Todt 50th Anniversary

Jean Todt has an ongoing 50-year automotive career winning racing championships as a co-driver and an executive in charge of racing teams for Peugeot and Ferrari. He and Richard Mille also are good friends. 

To help the French native celebrate his 50th year in the high-performance automobile industry, Mille created three watches, each bearing Todt’s name and his favorite colors. 

The RM 11-03 Jean Todt 50th Anniversary (top photo) is a flyback chronograph inspired by automobiles and their history. Powered by an automatic caliber in grade 5 titanium, it is protected by a new blue and white Quartz TPT case. Extremely resistant and light, this composite is obtained by stacking 600 layers of silica only 45 microns thick, which are then saturated with an exclusive Richard Mille blue resin. The assembly is then heated to 120 degrees Celsius before being machined in Richard Mille’s factory. 

The watch was unveiled and presented to Todt during a celebration of his career this past September at the Chantilly Arts & Elegance, an international automobile competition and rally in the tradition of the Concours d’Elegance hosted by Richard Mille. It is available in a limited edition of 150 pieces.

RM 050 Jean Todt 50th Anniversary

The same Blue Quartz TPT is used for the case of the RM 050. This caliber houses a split-seconds chronograph regulated by a tourbillon. The extreme skeletonization of the bridges and baseplate, combined with the use of titanium and carbon nanofiber resulted in a movement weighing only 9.5 grams. It is limited to five pieces.

RM 056 Jean Todt 50th Anniversary

This same caliber for the RM 050 is used for the RM 056, which is housed in a sapphire case. Its construction and curvature required very long machining times. This case required no less than 1,000 hours of machining, including 430 hours devoted to grinding and 350 hours of polishing. It is limited to three pieces. 

In 1966, Todt began his career as a co-driver culminating in 1981 when he and Guy Fréquelin won World Rally Championships. The following year he was appointed Peugeot’s director of Racing and founded Peugeot Talbot Sport, which won World Rally Championship titles in 1985 and 1986, as well as first place in the general classification at the four editions of the Paris-Dakar Rally between 1987 and 1990. In 1990, he became director of Sporting Activities of the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group, overseeing Peugeot’s participation in the World Sports Car Championships, which Peugeot won in 1992. It also claimed two victories at the 1992 and 1993 Le Mans 24 Hours.  

In 1993 Jean Todt left Peugeot to become manager of Ferrari’s Racing Division. During his tenure, Scuderia Ferrari won 14 Formula One world titles and 106 Grand Prix victories. He eventually became CEO of Ferrari. In 2009 he left Ferrari and was elected president of the FIA, a position he currently holds. He also serves as a United Nations Special Envoy for Road Safety, and is founder of the ICM, an institute devoted to medical research for brain and spinal cord disorders.

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Richard Mille Unveils The World’s Lightest Chronograph

The Richard Mille RM 50-03 McLaren F1 Split-Seconds Tourbillon Chronograph weighs 40 grams (1.41 ounces), which the watchmaker says makes it the world’s lightest mechanical chronograph ever on the market. Its weight achievement is due to the use of ultra-light and high-strength materials for the case and the movement.

For this timepiece, Richard Mille teamed with McLaren-Honda, one of the best-known builders of racing cars and a company known for its work with ultra-lightweight and high-strength alloys. The watch had its first full public showing at the recently concluded Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH).

The bezel and caseback feature Graph TPT, a Carbon TPT material whose physical properties have been improved by the injection of graphene, a nanomaterial six times lighter than steel but 200 times more resistant, according to the watchmaker. 

Richard Mille collaborated with The University of Manchester (where graphene was first isolated by Professor Andre Geim in 2004 who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for its discovery), McLaren Applied Technologies and North Thin Ply Technology, to produce a watch case machined with what it calls an improved form of Carbon TPT. 

The RM50-03 caliber has a “record-breaking” weight of just seven grams, according to the watch brand, achieved through the combination of high-tech materials and skeletonization. The baseplate and bridges are made of corrosion resistant and rigid grade 5 titanium. Some of the bridges of the split-seconds chronograph are made of Carbon TPT, as is the transverse carriage that supports the caliber with the barrel and tourbillon bridges. Attached to the caseback, this carriage circumvents the need for a casing ring, allowing the movement to be integrated into the case. The company says the caliber, despite its ultra-light-weight, was tested to be resistant to shocks of 5,000 Gs and has a 70-hour power reserve. 

The split-seconds mechanism features a new Richard Mille column wheel that now has six columns, as opposed to eight in previous versions. The watch brand says this optimizes simultaneous movement, maximal function locking and greater adjustment durability. The helical spring was replaced by a blade on the split seconds wheel of the RM 50-03.

The pusher at 8 o'clock starts or stops the seconds hand of the chronograph. The pusher at 4 o'clock stops the split seconds hand and allows an intermediary time to be read off while the chronograph is engaged. When this pusher is pressed again, the split-seconds hand catches up with the chronograph hand and simultaneously continues its course. The pusher at 10 o'clock resets the hands.

A torque indicator displays the tension of the mainspring and makes it possible to optimize the winding of the watch. A function indicator displays winding, hand setting or the neutral position—similar to the gearbox on a car—when the watch crown is pulled out. A hand at 4 o'clock displays the selected mode: W (Winding) – N (Neutral) – H (Hand Setting).

Outside of its light weight and new advancements, RM 50-03 retains all of the codes of a Richard Mille watch, including the signature Tourneau-shaped case. In addition to the fabric strap, it is available in a rubber strap injected with graphene.

The watch will be available as early as June in a limited edition of 75 pieces and a price of $980,000.

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Slowing Watch Sales Bring More Variety At SIHH 2016

The prototype Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Nuit Lumineuse watch with diamonds that light like stars using a mechanical power source

SIHH, the second largest gather of the Swiss watch industry, was held January 18 - 22 as reports emerged confirming that watch sales have slowed. The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said Tuesday that exports for 2015 declined 3.3 percent year-over-year to 21.5 billion Swiss francs ($21.1 billion). This coincided with Richemont’s third quarter earnings statement two weeks earlier, which reported that sales fell by 4 percent year-over-year at constant exchange rate to 2.92 billion Swiss francs ($2.86 billion).

The blame for the decline range from the combined austerity measures and stock market turbulence in China, the effects of a strong Swiss currency (particularly in Europe) and the introduction of the Apple Watch, which may have resulted in the steep decline of watch exports in the 200-franc to 500-franc price range. Even the Paris terrorist attacks had a major impact on watch in the “City of Light,” according to reports. And 2016 is looking like another year of softer sales.

One thing that hasn’t changed is silly stories in the consumer press that tout complicated timepieces as being “insane” and a layered, carbon-fiber writing instrument that uses a mechanical movement to expose and retract the nib as a “crazy ass pen.”

Back to the matter at hand, despite slowing sales the mood at SIHH was largely positive. The 24 watch brands presented more than enough new items in a number of styles and price points to leave retailers and trade journalists satisfied. One UK retailer told me that prices were more “realistic” this year.

The Parmigiani Senfine concept watch movement with 45-day power reserve

Among the biggest developments, two were for products that were not yet available to the public. The Parmigiani Senfine concept movement, which boasts a remarkable 45-day power reserve, and the Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Nuit Lumineuse watch, which has diamonds that light like stars using a mechanical power source (top photo).

Richard Mille RM 50-02 ACJ Tourbillon Spilt Seconds Chronograph

The other big release was the RM 50-02 Tourbillon Spilt Seconds Chronograph ACJ Chronograph, made in a partnership with the exclusive Airbus Corporate Jets division of the Airbus Group. It incorporates design details and materials of the ACJ aircraft. It’s limited to 30 pieces and has a price tag of more than $1 million.

A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon

A. Lange & Söhne, which has mastered the ability to create highly technical movements and house them inside beautifully balanced dials, introduced the latest edition of its highly praised Datograph chronograph timepieces, the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon. This newest version from the proudly German company combines the Datograph chronograph with a flyback function and Up/Down power reserve indicator and the typical Lange outsize date; with a perpetual calendar with a moon-phase display; and a tourbillon exposed on the sapphire-crystal caseback and the open tourbillon bridge. 

This year, for the first time, the established 15 brands (11 owned by the Swiss holding company, Richemont) at SIHH were joined by nine watch artisan-creators and independent workshops. They all showcased their unique approach to watchmaking. One brand, Ralph Lauren, pulled out of the show this year.

MB&F Sherman table clock in gold

MB&F, perhaps the most successful of the new group, not only introduced its latest “horological machine” but also unveiled its latest in artistic and creative table clocks. Called “Sherman,” it is once again made in partnership with Swiss clock manufacturer, L’Epée 1839. It is in the shape of a boyish robot, with movable arms and hands, and tank-like caterpillar tracks for feet. It was inspired by the US Sherman tank and MB&F’s founder, Maximilian Büsser’s on-going quest to revisit his childhood. The balance and escapement of L’Epée’s eight-day, in-line movement is located under the transparent dome of Sherman's head.

The Roger Dubuis Blossom Velvet ladies timepiece

Finally, Roger Dubuis declared 2016 to be the “Year of the Velvet Diva” by focusing on a collection of ladies watches called, Velvet. The five-watch collection combines high jewels powered by robust automatic movements.

For more highlights from what is rightfully touted as the watch industry’s most luxurious and exclusive watch show, stay turned to this blog.

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From the Artistic to the Mechanical, Ladies Watches at SIHH 2014

Ballon Bleu De Cartier Floral-Marquetry Parrot Watch

After a detour into mechanical movements and masculine looks last year, the 16 luxury brands at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) for 2014 returned largely to watches for ladies that highlight artistry and jewelry. That’s not to say there aren’t many mechanical timepieces on offer at this year’s show. What there is, however, is more variety than in previous years. The new releases this year give women have a choice between pure beauty, high-end mechanics or both.

Ballon Bleu De Cartier Floral-Marquetry Parrot Watch
This year, Cartier has taken up what it says is a new craft in watchmaking: floral marquetry, along with jewelry, to create a colorful parrot on the dial of this watch with a blue and the orangey-yellow plumage, a deep black of the beak, an emerald green eye and sparkling white diamonds in the background of the dial and on the crown on the 18k white and pink gold watch.

To create this dial (top image), flower petals were gathered and colored. Then each petal was stuck onto a thin piece of wood and cut into the desired shape using a marquetry saw. The material contrasts with the shine of the onyx beak and emerald eye. The grey and black feathers surrounding the eye were created with miniature painting.

The 42mm watch is powered by the Cartier Caliber 049. It is available in a limited edition of 20 pieces.

Parmigiani: The Tonda Pomellato
This watch collection is a partnership between Swiss luxury watch brand Parmigiani and Italian luxury jewelry brand Pomellato. Three of the four watches in this line are based on Pomellato’s “Arabesque” collection, characterized by an openwork lace-like design in rose gold, which gives way to transparent elements with colored gems.

The Arabesque style of the Pomellato ring that provided the inspiration of the watch design.

The Arabesque pattern was reproduced using two distinct treatments. First, the dial received an opaline surface treatment. Then the arabesque pattern is superimpose through a silkscreen printed transfer which covers the opaline. A second sand-blasting treatment is then applied, which adheres to all the surfaces not covered by the transfer. The result is the pattern, which has the appearance of a shadow, that seems to be flush with the dial. The watch is powered by the automatic Caliber PF701. The 39mm 18k rose gold case set with 28 round diamonds along the bezel.

Piaget Rose Passion
This is a classic “secret watch” in 18k white gold set with a total of 707 brilliant-cut diamonds and one pink sapphire. The timepiece comes with a white satin strap. The petite dial of the watch can be hidden within the rose-shaped bejeweled watch case.

Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Fabuleux Ornements – Ottoman architecture
This piece is part of a four-watch collection that showcases several of the brand’s skeletonization and engraving skills and reflects a different culture and moment in history. For this piece Ottoman architecture was the inspiration. A pink-gold lattice motif is perched on a mother-of-pearl base. The gold grid-work in scrolling patterns is studded with half-pearl beads.

However, this watch is more than just an elaborately sculptured pretty face. It is powered by the in-house manufactured and engraved Caliber 1003SQ. The hand-wound movement with 117 components is exceptionally petite, just 21.1mm in diameter and 1.64mm thick.

Richard Mille Tourbillon Natalie Portman
This timepiece is created in partnership with Oscar award-winning actress Natalie Portman, who is also a worldwide partner of the brand. The aesthetic focus of this watch is a diamond-encrusted stylized spider that appears trapped in a tonneau-shaped, diamond-covered case. The abdomen of the spider supports the bridges of the tourbillon (made of grade 5 titanium), and its legs support the two winding barrels. The RM19-01 manual winding tourbillon caliber is assembled around a black rhodium-plated, 18k white gold black sapphire set baseplate, a first for Richard Mille. It is available in a limited edition of 20 pieces. It will be worn by the actress at events worldwide.

Ralph Lauren Stirrup
The stirrup name refers to the shape of the case. This year the designer came up with two new medium-sized editions of the watch line—in steel and the one pictured in 18k gold with the case and chain-link bracelet covered in more than 1,900 diamonds in 20 different sizes. It is powered by the caliber RL057 quartz movement.

Lady Arpels Zodiac Taurus Extraordinary Dial
This is one of a collection of 12 watches that replicate the Western Zodiac signs created by Van Cleef & Arpels. The colorful dial depicts a white gold and diamond pavé Taurus the Bull on top of translucent enamel in the shape of leaves with blue flowers made of lapis lazuli with white-gold stars with a small diamond in the center of each. The 38mm white gold case has a bezel set with round diamonds. It has a hand-wound mechanical movement and is available in a limited edition of 22 pieces.

Ballon Blanc de Cartier
This jewelry watch has a mother-of-pearl flinqué (hand-engraved) dial and blue-steel, sword-shaped hands. A single round diamond at 4 o’clock stands out among other smaller round diamonds that encircle the bezel. The 24 mm 18k pink gold case is finished with a bracelet consisting of five rows of smooth 18k pink gold beads.

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Watches at SIHH Show Advancements in Design, Function and Application

Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph 100

When watch brands talk about case and bezel design, new uses for materials and minor additions to tradition timepieces you know that the Swiss watch industry has entered a cooling off period. Maybe that’s a good thing as the high-flying sales of recent years, primarily due to China’s phenomenal economic expansion, couldn’t possibly last forever.

The recently concluded Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva was a case in point as the industry may be preparing itself to a world economy with more stable growth through all regions. Don’t get me wrong, there were still plenty of innovative watches to be seen at this year’s event. I listed seven or my favorites among the 16 watch brands (12 of which are associated with luxury conglomerate Richemont) who display at what’s been called the world’s most luxurious and exclusive watch event. These timepieces stood out for their advancements in design, function and application.

Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph 100
At SIHH, the company introduced the TimeWalker Chronograph 100 (top photo), with a hand-made movement made by the Montblanc-owned Villeret manufacturer. This pushes the price of this popular watch to 50,000 euro ($68,000). Formerly known as Minerva, the Villeret watch company in the Swiss town of the same name is known for its hand-made watch movements, built in an old-world Swiss style. Montblanc bought the company in 2006, changed its named and used its watchmaking techniques and philosophy to produce high-end luxury timepieces under the Villeret name.

SIHH 2014 marked a turning point for Montblanc as it introduced several new branded products with high-performance Villeret movements, led by TimeWalker Chronograph 100. This change seemed to have happened overnight. The person most often credited for this is Jérôme Lambert, the former Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO who took the same position with Montblanc just six months ago.

The TimeWalker Chronograph with the MB M66.25 caliber can measure intervals to the nearest 100th-of-a-second, a feat that Villeret (as Minerva) pioneered in 1916. The watch has a large, red chronograph hand that completes a full 360-degree circuit on the main dial in one second. The manually wound movement uses one balance for the time indication and a separate balance for the chronograph. The watch display depicts hours and minutes from the center with a subdial for the seconds at 9 o’clock. Counters for 60 elapsed seconds and 15 elapsed minutes are at 6 o’clock. The watch is housed in a case made of a mix of titanium, stainless steel and carbon fiber. The watch, limited to 100 units, will be available in the fall.

Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Planétarium Poetic Complication
Leave it to the French luxury house to create a watch that is beautiful, efficient and teases the imagination. This new timepiece aspires for no less than the heavens above and returns to earth with the solar system that fits on a wrist.

The timepiece provides a miniature representation of the movement of six planets around the sun and their position at any given time—Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn—which can all be seen from Earth with the naked eye. The movement of each planet is true to its length of orbit: it will take Saturn over 29 years to make a complete circuit of the dial, while Jupiter will take almost 12 years, Mars 687 days, Earth 365 days, Venus 224 days and Mercury 88 days.

The unnamed self-winding mechanical movement contains 396 separate parts and is equipped with an exclusive module developed in partnership with the Christiaan van der Klaauw, a Dutch brand known for its hand-made astronomical clocks and watches.

The watch displays the time using 24 hour indicators located at the outer edge of the dial. The hour markers are divided further into 15 minute intervals. A shooting star made of pink gold rotates around the clock marking the correct time. The story continues on the back of the watch, where the oscillating weight is engraved with a starry composition. The day, month and year are set using two push buttons and viewed through two apertures on the dial. In addition, a “lucky day” can be set by the owner using a rotating bezel. On a date set with a red triangle against a graduated calendar, the Earth will move to a position directly below the star engraved on the sapphire crystal. The brand says it’s a sign of good luck.

A selection of hard stones are used to depict the planets: turquoise for the Earth, serpentine for Mercury, chloromelanite for Venus, red jasper for Mars, blue agate for Jupiter and sugilite for Saturn. They are positioned around a sun in pink gold. Each of these elements, along with the shooting star, is fixed on its own aventurine disc. The deep blue dial is sprinkled with gold to depict stars.

Piaget Antiplano 38mm 900P
The luxury watch and jewelry brand is known for its thin watches. This year the company received a lot of attention through its introduction of the Antiplano 38mm 900P, the world’s thinnest mechanical watch at 3.65mm. The company manages this by merging the ultra-thin case with the ultra-thin movement. Specifically, the hand-wound movement, instead of being stacked as is typical, is spread across the bottom half of the dial.

The movement has a total of 145 parts, including some wheels that are a mere 0.12mm thin. The back of the case also serves as the mainplate. To save millimetres, the entire mechanism and the hand-fitting system are contained within the thickness of the balance-wheel itself, thus entailing an off-centered display of the hours and minutes as a subdial. Working within this confined space, Piaget devised a suspended barrel hanging from a single bridge on the dial side, contrary to classic barrels that are also fixed to the mainplate side. This unusual device doesn’t deter the performance of the mechanism, which has a power reserve of about 48 hours.

In addition, instead of fitting the hands above the bridges, Piaget has placed them underneath, thereby freeing up space between the cannon-pinion and the crystal. This eliminates any deformities to the hands of the watch due to the effects of unintended extra pressure.

Richard Mille RM 037
It’s difficult for me to imagine the man and the brand, Richard Mille, being behind on anything. However, his declaration of 2014 of being the year of woman is behind the same declaration I made a year earlier. Despite this, the company is arguably the most forward-thinking in the Swiss watch industry. It is known for using techniques and materials from the aeronautics and car racing industries to build timepieces that are groundbreaking in application, use and design. Mille is certainly forward-thinking enough to know that there are at least some women who want to wear exceptional mechanical timepieces.

The RM 037 collection pretty much mirrors what he has done for men’s watches in a smaller package. The skeleton movement baseplate with bridges is made of black PVD treated grade 5 titanium. There’s a large date at 12 o’clock created from two skeletonized, rotating discs, and a function selector that allows the wearer to choose between winding, neutral or hand-setting, without pulling the crown in different positions. Two pushers resembling drops of water are placed between 10 and 11 o’clock (date adjustment), and 4 and 5 o’clock (function selector). The action chosen appears in a small window (H-N-W) between 3 and 4 o’clock. The CRMA1 caliber movement combines satin finishes with chamfered, blasted, brushed and polished areas, including rare black polishing. The crown is impossible to dislodge, according to the company. The case is available in 18k red with scratch resistant ceramic bezels in white or black, or full cases in 18K red or white gold, accompanied by a stone setting and dial variants in precious and semi-precious materials such as diamond, onyx, pearl and jasper.

Greubel Forsey QP à Équation
The “watch inventors” have come up with another highly complicated timepiece piece called the QP à Équation. The company says it has reinvented the perpetual calendar by integrating the “Equation of Time” as well as other practical functions and indications that improve clarity. The priority was to simplify the displays and make it easier to set the perpetual calendar by using a bi-directional winding crown. If the timepiece has stopped for several days, simply pull out the crown checking the selection indicator near 2 o'clock. Turn the crown back and forth to change the calendar and all the different indications change by themselves.

The Equation of Time is the difference between solar time and mean time, which can vary from a few seconds to as much as 16 minutes during the year. The Equation of Time is the conversion factor between solar and mean time. The solar time is located at the back subdial.

The most frequently sought information, namely the day, date and month, is displayed on the front dial. Information that is less often required is on the back of the timepiece. In addition to the Equation of Time, the seasons and the current year in four figures is on the back of the timepiece on two superimposed transparent discs. The first disc is driven by the date wheel and has a scale in minutes indicating the difference between solar and mean time. The second disc, which goes around once a year, has a figure shaped like a manta ray, and divided into four sections in red and blue to show whether the Equation of Time is positive or negative.

The watch is contained in a white gold case that measures 43.5mm in diameter and is 16mm high. It includes a 24-second tourbillon inclined at 25 degrees. It's not often a tourbillon function gets second billing.

Calibre de Cartier
The French luxury house introduced several brands at SIHH, but the one that attracted the most interest is its mechanical diver’s watch, which represents a return to the sports category of watches for the brand after a long absence.

The Calibre de Cartier is water resistant up to 300 meters. To prevent any accidental rotation or alteration of the dive-time indication, the bezel only turns in one direction. It can be adjusted to 30 seconds with a clear sound while turned. The markers signaling each 5 minute period are clearly indicated. The thickness of the watch was reduced to 11mm, without jeopardizing the integrity of its diver’s functions. The in-house 1904 MC movement is further enhanced with a fine regulating system and a stop-second mechanism.

Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Mécaniques Ajourées
The iconic brand has released several new models for SIHH 2014 that features its multi-layered skeleton process that the company refers to as “openwork.” In the case of the Métiers d’Art Mécaniques Ajourées collection I’m focusing on, the openwork technique is combined with Grand Feu enameling.

Vacheron has been using its openworked process on its watches 1924. However, this collection represents the brand’s first openworked version of an iconic in-house movement, the caliber 4400. An artistic three-dimensional appearance is achieved by carving the caliber in curved lines, removing half the material and leaving interlocking pieces that looks like lace. The carving and finishing process takes about three days for each caliber. The Grand Feu enameling appears as a ring around the dial in either black, blue or grey.

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Some of the Best Luxury Watches from SIHH

Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours

The recently concluded Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) tradeshow in Geneva, featured only 16 luxury brands but their output of quality timepieces provided a showcase for innovation, craftsmanship and design that remain the hallmarks of the Swiss watch industry. Below are a few examples of some of the timepieces that were on display.

Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Calibre MB R220

Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours
The hour display of this watch (top and above photos) is made possible by Montblanc’s new Calibre MB R220, which has a patented mechanism consisting of two rotating discs positioned one atop the other, to show not only the individual 12 hours, but to also indicate whether its day or night. The Arabic numerals 1 to 12 are on the upper disc, which is situated above the bicolor day/night disc. The 12-hour disc rotates continually, while the day/night disc turns in intervals and at variable speeds to produce the desired color change (blue for the night, black for the day) in the cut-out numerals. This motion is controlled with the aid of a Maltese cross-shaped mechanism consisting of two cam-like wheels. In addition to this double-disc mechanism, four other disc displays rotate. The day of the week is shown in a window at the 9 o’clock and the date appears in an aperture at the 3 o’clock. This is the latest version of the collection named after the inventor of the chronograph.  

A. Lange & Söhne Grand Complication
The German watch brand has developed a timepiece with a host of complications that include chiming mechanism with grand and small strikes; minute repeater; a monopusher type split-seconds chronograph, with minute counter and rattrapante function and jumping seconds accurate to a fifth of a second; perpetual calendar with date, day of week, month in four-year cycle; and moon phases. The movement is a Lange manufacture Calibre L1902, manually wound. The white enamel dial reveals a railway-track minute scale and the four characteristic, symmetrically arranged subsidiary dials. This exclusive collectors' item is housed in a 50mm pink gold case comes. It is available in a limited edition of six watches.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grand Complication
The mechanical heart of this 44mm timepiece is its three advanced functions, forming what is considered in the industry as the basis of a Grande Complication movement. Its traditional selfwinding movement combines minute repeater, split-second chronograph and perpetual calendar functions. It’s also equipped with a minute repeater mechanism, enabling it to sound the hours, quarters and minutes on demand. And it houses a perpetual calendar complication that also displays lunar cycles. It affords the possibility of performing timing operations and reading off intermediate or “split” times due to the split-second complication, which is an Audemars Piguet signature in its Grande Complication models. The selfwinding Calibre 2885 has 648 parts. It is available in a titanium case (pictured) or an 18K pink gold case. Both models are limited to three pieces each.

Richard Mille RM58-01 Tourbillon World Timer
The 12-year-old watch brand is an infant when it comes to the venerable world of the Swiss watch industry, but it has grown up at lightning speed with technical innovations and partnerships with athletes in sports ranging from track and field to soccer to auto racing. This manually winding movement has hours, minutes and a 10-day power reserve shown on an indicator at 2 o’clock. The caliber RM58-01, 34mm in diameter, is supported on a baseplate of grade 5 titanium, a material also utilized for the bridges. The tourbillon, positioned at 9 o’clock and oscillating at a frequency of 3Hz, is accommodated in a four-part case made from titanium and red gold. The shot-blasted, satin-brushed and polished rotating bezel bears the names of 24 world cities, symbols of the international 24 time zones on its brown upper flange. The RM 58-01 does not need any adjusting push-piece to change from one time zone to another. The time is set by rotating the bezel anticlockwise, making adjustment a quick operation. All the traveler needs to do is position the name of the city where he or she has just landed at 12 o’clock, which automatically sets local time and the time in the other 23 world cities due to the 24-hour scale engraved on the flange. The black and white disc distinguishes day from night for the user automatically, so there is no possibility of confusion. The timepiece, produced as a limited edition of 35 timepieces, was made in partnership with Jean Todt, a French motor sport executive, who wanted a watch to travel the world with. Profits from the sale of this watch will be transferred to two key initiatives close to Todt’s charities: the Global Campaign for Road Safety and the ICM Brain and Spine Institute, which he co-founded.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Quatuor
This deep grey watch is made of silicon, chosen for its low weight and its incomparable hardness. It is half the weight of titanium, which is half the weight of steel, yet it is four times harder. Silicon has a similar atomic structure to diamond and working with it requires just as much skilled expertise. The brand also boasts a technological advancement in which four carefully positioned sprung balances work in pairs to compensate immediately for the rate variations caused by the changes in position of the watch when worn. “What the tourbillon achieves during the course of a minute, the Excalibur Quatuor achieves instantly,” the brand says. A classic watch operating at a frequency of 4 Hz is considered to be highly precise. But the Excalibur Quatuor operates at a frequency of 16 Hz. As each balance oscillates four times per second, the frequency of the watch is multiplied by four as the balances do not oscillate simultaneously. The ticking of a classic watch is replaced by what which the brand describes as “the gentler sound of truly high precision.” The timepiece is limited to a production of three pieces. There is a pink gold version of the watch that has a run of 88 pieces.

Cartier Montre Rotonde Double Mystery Tourbillon
Cartier unveiled its new movement at SIHH: the 9454 MC Double Mystery Tourbillon, certified by the Geneva Seal. The flying tourbillon, which turns once on its own axis every 60 seconds, appears to be floating completely free in space, with no visible connection to any gear train. The illusion is complete when the same tourbillon cage performs a second rotation at a rate of one turn every five minutes. The slate-colored dial is made of galvanised, guilloché, silvered open-work grill. The watch hands are sword-shaped in blued steel. It’s all contained in a 45mm platinum case with the crown set with a sapphire cabochon.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Complete Calendar – Moon Phase, Blue Dial
This is one of a series of Clifton watches released by the Swiss watch brand at SIHH This version of the line, the 43 mm Clifton Complete Calendar, has a blue, sun satin-finished dial. The case back has been opened up to allow lovers of fine mechanics to observe the components of its automatic movement (Dubois Dépraz 9000). Its calendar display is mounted upon an alligator strap, which is closed by a triple folding clasp with security push-pieces.

Parmigiani Tonda Woodstock
In order to project a colorful and musical dynamism, the Swiss watch brand turned for the first time to the refined and delicate art of marquetry. This ancient process consists of cutting out and assembling veneers—wooden veneers in this case—on a flat surface in order to create a decoration for the timepiece. The Tonda Woodstock’s special dial is designed with a Gibson guitar motif with an American flag in wood marquetry.

Piaget Emperador Coussin Ultra-Thin Minute Repeater
Thin is in at Piaget and Emperador Coussin unveiled at SIHH shows it continues to set standards in its development of ultra-thin complications housed in ultra-thin cases. This 48mm 18k pink gold watch boasts the Piaget 1290P, which the brand says is world’s thinnest mechanical self-winding minute repeater movement (4.8 mm). The case itself is also considered the world’s thinnest at 9.4 mm. Details of the movement finishes include sunburst guilloché bridges, bridges hand-beveled and hand-drawn with a file, blackened and polished screws.

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