Watches

IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN

IWC Schaffhausen’s Portofino collection was introduced in 1984, bringing timeless elegance and laid-back Italian aesthetic to the watchmaker’s portfolio. One of the newest members of this family is the Portofino Hand-Wound Tourbillon Rétrograde, a piece that represents the collections’ sophistication. This traditional gold timepiece is the first of this range to feature a tourbillon, with the balance, pallet and escape wheel mounted on a cage that rotates on its own axis every minute.The flying minute tourbillon’s constant rotation acts against gravity to ensure the watch’s rate and accuracy.

Housed in a 45mm 18-carat red gold case, the hand-wound IWC 59900 calibre boasts an eight-day power reserve that is displayed at 3 o’clock. The silver-plated dial also features a retrograde date display.

Adding a touch of finesse, the hands are gold-plated and the appliqués are made of solid gold. Through the see-through sapphire glass back, you can view the calibre, decorated with Geneva stripes. Completing this classic but innovative timepiece is a dark brown alligator leather strap by Santoni, which has a vibrant orange underside.

GRAHAM

Tracing its origins to British clockmaker George Graham, the watch company that bears his name boasts an irreverent with that colours its creations up to this day — who else would be audacious enough to name an entire collection after the swordfish? Unveiled in 2004 with a truly unorthodox identity, the admittedly arresting Swordfish collection is directly inspired by this highly migratory predator, which uses technical prowess and unconventional design to swim in bigger seas. But rather than taking its cues from the fish’s long bill, Graham’s designers looked at their eyes — most ingeniously, swordfish are able to warm up their eyeballs to better see their prey in the cold waters of the deep sea. On the dial of the Graham Swordfish, homage is duly paid to this unusual ability with two 20% magnifying glasses over the hour and minute counters that stare out questioningly at the onlooker.

The Graham Swordfish’s new iterations for this year are presented in steel and bronze — generously sized 46mm cases are completed with sunburst dials, Super-LumiNova indices and moisture-wicking straps. Through the sapphire crystal caseback, you can also see the steady dance of the G1710 automatic movement, which boasts a 48-hour power reserve. The Graham Swordfish comes in a number of interesting colour combinations, in particular, an olive green that is especially well suited to the copper case. The effect is quite unusual — and therefore, quite like Graham.

GIRARD-PERREGAUX

Undoubtedly the star of Girard-Perregaux’s coterie of 2019 novelties, the Bridges Cosmos is a beguiling blend of mechanical particles and poetic paradoxes. The centrepiece of the brand’s Earth to Sky theme, this watch is equipped with a multitude of complex complications — aside from recording the passing of time, the Bridges Cosmos also features a tourbillon, sky chart and world-time complications — and reveals finishes of a previously unknown beauty.

Offset hours and minutes appear at 12 o’clock while a tourbillon spins beneath a large black titanium bridge at 6 o’clock. A sky chart takes its place at 9 o’clock, while at 3 o’clock, a terrestrial globe serves as a day/night and GMT indicator, which relies on a titanium and laser-engraved scale model of the earth enriched with details like hollow oceans and raised continents. This entire scene is staged against a tinted sapphire crystal glass. Invisible in broad daylight and dotted with luminescent hydroceramic particles, it offers a time-lapse view of the sky by night.

The 47mm case of Girard-Perregaux’s Cosmos is carved from bead-blasted titanium and topped with a sapphire crystal dome that acts like an astronomical telescope. Beneath this beats the new in-house manual-winding Calibre GP09320, and this whole celestial performance is completed with a blue alligator leather strap.

BELL & ROSS

The name Bell & Ross needs no introduction. Founded in 1992 by two friends, Bruno Belamich and Carlos Rosillo, Bell & Ross continues to push the boundaries of horology, all the while basing it on the brand’s unshakeable pillars of form, function and innovation. Its new BR05 collection, for example, is deserving of all the anticipation. A luxurious yet robust automatic sports watch, the BR05 is beautifully masculine — sensuously rounded dial framed by an angular 40mm case. Its main variations are sculpted from stainless steel although a gold model is also available, but all are complemented by sunray dials in black, grey or blue.

For greater legibility, large appliqué numerals and indices have also been thoughtfully Super-LumiNova-ed. The openworked caseback allows admirers to gaze at the BR-CAL.321 movement, wound by a 360° oscillating weight, while the integrated and remarkably flexible bracelet takes wrist ergonomics to an altogether higher level. For those whose active lives revolve around water, a sporty black rubber strap is also available.

On the whole, Bell & Ross’ trademark artistry and attention to detail remain strong as ever in the newborn BR05 and, although it was designed with the active, urban lifestyle in mind, it is clear to see that the aesthetes and design-conscious among us have equal reason for admiration.

ARNOLD & SON

The year 1764 proved to be a particularly momentous one for the English court. It was here that an eight-year-old prodigy by the name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed privately for King George III and Queen Charlotte for the first time. That same year, a promising young watchmaker, a Cornishman by the name of John Arnold, presented a special ring containing a half-quarter repeater to the British sovereign.

Although Arnold had established a small workshop along London’s Strand two years prior, where he gained immediate recognition for successfully repairing a repeating watch owned by William McGuire, a renowned watch connoisseur, it was the royal audience that sealed his position as a watchmaker to the gentry. Today, the preeminent English timekeeper lives on through horological reinventions presented under the brand Arnold & Son.

One of the most talked-about pieces this year belongs to the maison’s much sought-after Time Pyramid collection. For 2019, it debuts the Time Pyramid Tourbillon, armed with the new hand-wound A&S8615 Calibre with a 90-hour power reserve. Naturally, the new movement greatly enhanced chronometric precision while the skeletonised pyramid-shaped tourbillon is a visual masterpiece in itself, appearing to float mesmerisingly between two sapphire crystals and a movement built on three levels.