Based in the Saxon town of Wechselburg, located about an hour from Dresden, Christian Klings is a German watchmaker who crafts his own timepieces. They are all classical in style and construction, significantly influenced by the likes of Breguet and Daners. His latest timepiece is the Open Version, a wristwatch commissioned by a noted collector.

The Open Version has a hand wound movement with the bridges of the movement reduced to beautifully shaped, tubular steel bridges. This reveals most of its mechanics, including the gear train, barrel and escapement.

While the base plate has a frosted, gilt finish, all the steel bridges are hand polished to a mirror finish. And four of the movement’s 19 jewels are secured by screwed chatons.

The cock for the fourth wheel

The raw parts of the Open Version watch

Most unusually, the central portion of the dial is a silk fabric, while the chapter ring and sub-seconds are solid silver. Naturally, the hands are blued steel. Like many of his other creations, the case has tear drop lugs, and is in white gold with a 40 mm diameter.  Klings’ repertoire also includes tourbillons, of which he has made several. Amongst his tourbillon wristwatches is the No. 18, a hand wound, one minute tourbillon with a power reserve display and moon phase.

Christian Klings Tourbillon No. 18

The time-only watches from Klings start from US$50,000, while his tourbillon wristwatches begin at US$120,000. Klings can be reached via his website.

Update August 31, 2016: Contact information for Klings added.

Working with Chinese contemporary artist Xia Hang, MB&F has created a limited edition Legacy Machine 1 with a micro-sculpture of an alien which functions as the power reserve indicator.

For the first limited edition of the Legacy Machine series, Maximilian Büsser has used the Legacy Machine 1 as a base and added a dose of Chinese contemporary art. Xia Hang, whose works are mainly sleek, polished steel sculptures, created a tiny alien figure for the LM1 Xia Hang. The alien functions as the power reserve indicator, sitting upright when the mainspring is fully wound, and slumping when the power reserve runs down. Based on a full size sculpture created by Xia Hang, the alien was machined from aluminium and then polished by hand to a mirror finish. Standing just 4 mm, or 1/8 ‘”, high, the alien takes the place of the vertical power reserve indicator in the original LM1 which was launched three years ago. MB&F’s collaboration with Xia Hang is its second such project with a Chinese contemporary artist, the first being the HM4 Flying Panda.

At full wind the alien sits up straight, Mr Up, and as the 45 hours power reserve diminishes, the alien starts to droop and turns into Mr Down. The alien takes it form from the “comma men” of Xia Hang’s sculptures, which he based on the shape of the punctuation mark.

Mechanically, the LM1 Xia Hang remains identical to the original, both in terms of size (the case is 44 mm) and function. But the LM1 Xia Hang has dial colours unique to this edition. The red gold version has a dark grey dial, while the white gold is in deep blue (a darker shade than the blue LM2 in platinum from late last year).

Both versions of the LM1 Xia Hang are priced at 99,000 Swiss francs before taxes, which is equivalent to about US$111,000. Each watch is delivered with a pair of stainless steel sculptures of Mr Up and Mr Down. For full technical details of the LM1, check out our extensive report.

The pair of sculptures which accompany each watch

Xia Hang

Coming Soon by Xia Hang

Glashütte Original’s signature inverted movement is now available as an automatic with extra-large date. Christened the the PanoMaticInverse, the new model will be launched officially at Baselworld 2014.

Unveiled in 2008, the Glashütte Original PanoInverse was novel because it displayed most of the movement on the dial side. Now Glashütte Original has applied the same formula to the new PanoMaticInverse, which has the addition of an oversized date and automatic winding mechanism, and will soon be shown at Baselworld 2014.  Though it is visually similar to the manual-wind PanoInverse, the PanoMaticInverse uses the newly developed Calibre 91-02. Decorated in what is now regarded as the German style of watchmaking, the movement base plate is finished with striping, and all visible screws are blued. 

Self-winding with a 42 hour power reserve and a solid gold rim on the rotor, the cal. 91-02 is also equipped with a double swan neck regulator. More of an affectation than a technical innovation, it accomplishes no more than the traditional swan neck regulator, the double swan neck has nonetheless become a trademark feature of Glashütte Original.

Besides the addition of automatic winding, the new PanoMaticInverse also features an oversized date display at two o’clock (where the PanoInverse has a power reserve display instead).

PanoMaticInverse – steel at left and rose gold

The PanoMaticInverse has a 42 mm case, available in either steel or rose gold. Excluding taxes, the steel retails for €12,000 (~US$16,400) on strap and €13,200 (~US$18,000) on bracelet. Rose gold will cost €24,000 (US$32,800).

Named after a Second World War British navy fighter aircraft, the Spirit Seafire is Speake-Marin’s first chronograph and comes just a few months after Spirit Wing Commander was presented, joining Speake-Marin’s line of sporty watches inspired by vintage British military timepieces.

The dial sticks to the aesthetic first established by the Spirit Pioneer, with a matte black base and raised, moulded SuperLuminova numerals and markers. And Speake-Marin’s topping tool logo forms the seconds hand at nine o’clock. But unlike its peers the Seafire has a busy dial, with lots of superfluous text and decoration.

Inside the 42 mm titanium case is a clone of the workhorse Valjoux 7750, possibly from Sellita or one of the other movement makers which are now filling the gap ETA has left when it cut movement supplies to third party brands.

While there is definitely a market for such a timepiece, the Seafire lacks the creativity seen in many other Speake-Marin timepieces. It retails for 7900 Swiss francs before taxes, which works out to about US$8900, an accessible but not bargain price in the highly competitive sports chronograph segment.

One of the major complications Cartier unveiled at SIHH 2014 is the Rotonde de Cartier Tourbillon Chronograph with eight day power reserve. The 9438 MC movement inside is actually manufactured by technical specialist Renaud & Papi, located a short drive away from the Cartier manufacture.

Though Cartier is now developing complicated movements in-house, it still collaborates with Renaud & Papi (R&P), a subsidiary of Audemars Piguet. That relationship goes back some way, because Cartier’s accomplished head of movement development, Carole Forestier, is an alumnus of R&P. Unlike the movement in the Cartier Earth & Moon which was developed jointly with R&P, the movement inside the Rotonde de Cartier Tourbillon Chronograph is a R&P calibre, made and completed by R&P then delivered to Cartier. With its titanium balance wheel and gold screws, and the recognisable tourbillon cage, the movement is distinctively R&P even from the front.

It is made up of 318 components, and twin barrels give it an eight day power reserve. The chronograph is of the traditional type, controlled by a column wheel and equipped with a lateral clutch. Though it is finished and constructed to very high standards, the movement is not innovative (like the Cartier Astrocalendar for instance), rather it is traditional, complicated watchmaking.

The same movement pictured in the Pasha de Cartier Tourbillon Chronograph

Visually, Rotonde de Cartier Tourbillon Chronograph is typical Cartier. The silver guilloche dial is paired with blued steel sword hands, and the Cartier secret signature is incorporated into the “VII”.

This is not the first time Cartier has used this movement, but it will probably be amongst the last as Cartier concentrates on in-house calibres. The Rotonde de Cartier Tourbillon Chronograph has a large and chunky 45 mm case in pink gold and is a limited edition of 50 pieces. Its retail price is €135,000 before taxes, equivalent to about US$186,000.

Water resistant to 2000 m and entirely in titanium, the IWC Aquatimer Automatic 2000 is the flagship dive watch of the revamped Aquatimer collection which was just unveiled at SIHH 2014.

IWC’s lineage of 2000 m rated dive watch started with the Porsche Design Ocean 2000 in 1982, and continued with subsequent GST and Aquatimer models. Introduced at SIHH 2014, the Aquatimer Automatic 2000 Ref. 3580 is the fifth in the 2000 m series. At 46 mm in diameter, the Aquatimer Automatic 2000 is the largest dive watch IWC has ever made. But the case is entirely titanium, which gives it some heft without turning it into a diving weight. The key feature of the Aquatimer Automatic 2000 (and also the rest of the new Aquatimer collection) is the SafeDive bezel. It is basically a notched external bezel linked to the internal timing bezel via clutch. So though the external bezel can rotate in both directions, it only turns the inner bezel counter-clockwise. The SafeDive bezel is clever, if a little elaborately engineered.

But the best feature of the Aquatimer Automatic 2000 is the wonderfully thick, domed sapphire crystal. It looks and feels like (and probably is) one of the most costly components of the entire watch. That being said, the crystal sits several millemetres above the bezel, which makes it prone to chips on its edge.

The large dial is black with a vertical stripe guilloche, perhaps inspired by the deck of a boat. Legibility is excellent, though the strong green tone of the SuperLuminova is an acquired taste.

A diving helmet is etched on the case back, under which sits the IWC cal. 80110, a manufacture movement loosely based on the gear train of the Valjoux 7750.

The case is well finished but not impressively so. All surfaces are finely brushed, with polished bevels on the lugs, and some polished surfaces on the bezel. But the case is mainly comprised of simple, straight lines, while the finer details of the bezel are not especially refined.

The Aquatimer Automatic 2000 is available only on a rubber strap, with the option of an extra-long version to fit over a wetsuit. Fortunately the quick-change mechanism for the strap is intuitive and easy to operate. Just press a button on the back of the strap and it comes right off. With a retail price of 13,900 Singapore dollars, equivalent to about US$11,000, the Aquatimer Automatic 2000 is a pricey but sufficiently well made dive watch.

Maurice Lacroix will soon unveil the Masterpiece Gravity, equipped with an in-house movement equipped with the pallet fork, escape wheel and balance roller in silicon.

At Baselworld 2014 the Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Gravity will make it début. This is the first wristwatch from Maurice Lacroix with a silicon assortiment (literally “assortment”), referring to the regulating organs of the movement like the balance wheel, hairspring and escapement. The Masterpiece Gravity uses silicium (French for silicon) for the double roller of the balance wheel, the pallet fork and the escape wheel, basically the parts of the movement that allow it to keep good time. Silicon is self-lubricating, hard and light, which makes it ideal for these components since they are in perpetual motion during wear, hence experiencing significant wear and tear.

Maurice Lacroix is not the first brand to do this, Patek Philippe’s Ref. 5550P Advanced Research has similar, and of course Omega equips many of its watches with the Si14 silicon hairspring.  The Masterpiece Gravity has a pocket watch inspired aesthetic, with the dial set off-centre, and revealing the escapement and part of the gear train. That visual effect is accentuated by the straight lines of the cocks for the balance and escape wheel, echoing early pocket watches. This pocket watch-inspired style is not new, Breguet did it first with the La Tradition, and more recently Audemars Piguet and Arnold & Son did the same. Available either with a brushed finish (the Classical model) or a black PVD coated finish (the Contemporary model), the case of the Masterpiece Gravity is 43 mm in diameter.  Both versions of the watch have domed, box-shaped sapphire crystals, which are more costly than the common flat crystal but give the watch a more depth and a slightly retro feel.

Beating at a slow 18,000 bph, which Maurice Lacroix says is optimal for the hard but brittle silicon components, the ML230 movement is hand-wound with a 50 hour power reserve. Pricing has yet to be announced but we will publish it once we have it.

To mark the brand’s 250th anniversary, Arnold & Son will unveil the Royal TEC1, a chronograph with flying tourbillon is powered by the proprietary A&S8305 movement.

250 years ago John Arnold was one of England’s leading horologists, making clocks and watches for both the British Navy and the King. Today the resurrected brand name marks that anniversary with a tourbillon chronograph, which will be officially unveiled at Baselworld 2014. Inside is the A&S8305 calibre, developed by Arnold & Son’s sister company La Joux-Perret. Self-winding with a 55 hour power reserve, the movement has a tourbillon at 12 o’clock and a column wheel-controlled chronograph.  A sub-dial at six records the elapsed minutes, while the elapsed seconds are in the centre. Because the tourbillon makes one revolution every minute, it also functions as the constant seconds hand. The rose gold case is 45 mm in diameter.

Arnold & Son’s strategy has been to create complicated timepieces priced lower than the equivalent of its competition, with the UTTE Tourbillon being a good example. So the Royal TEC1 retails for 92,448 Swiss francs, or about US$104,000, which is a substantial sum of money, but relatively less than what such timepieces usually go for.

Unveiled several years ago but modestly refreshed for Baselworld 2014, the Vincent Calabrese Régulus Flying Tourbillon has been reduced to the bare minimum in both components and size. As a result the movement floats serenely in the centre of the transparent case, with no visible attachments.

The bridges and base plate of the movement are made of solid gold, with Calabrese’s signature flying tourbillon at nine o’clock. A notable detail is the bird-shaped tourbillon cage, which is similar to that found in Blancpain tourbillons as those were also designed by Calabrese.

Displayed regulator style, the time is indicated with the minutes in the centre and the hours on the sub-dial at three. Time setting and winding are done via the crown mounted on the back of the movement, directly underneath the barrel. The case is entirely clear sapphire, with a diameter of 36 mm. The Régulus Flying Tourbillon starts at 180,000 Swiss francs, or about US$203,000. But this version with a sapphire case as shown retails for 225,000 Swiss francs, equivalent to about US$253,000. They can be ordered direct from Vincent Calabrese.

Calabrese was one of the co-founders of the AHCI in 1985, and though he is not as widely known as he once was, Calabrese is amongst the most talented independent watchmakers of his generation. He now works for Corum, for whom he created the Golden Bridge in 1980.  Vincent Calabrese can be reached via his website.

Miniature enamel painting is a rare skill even amongst independent artisans, and rarer still inside a watch factory. With its enamel workshop, situated in a small building away from the massive main manufacture, led by the talented Miklos Merczel, Jaeger-LeCoultre is probably the only watch brand which can boast of doing miniature enamel painting in-house.

The basics of miniature enamel painting are easy to understand: enamel paints are used to create a tiny picture, often a portrait, on an enamel base. But the painting is done by hand and requires an inordinate amount of nimble brushwork, done with an extraordinarily fine brush comprising a single hair.  The paints are typically metal oxides, which are fired in an oven to fuse them to the enamel base. Once completed, the painting is then covered with a layer of clear enamel to give it a glossy appearance.

Though the metier d’art craze of recent years often emphasises the brilliant colours and patterns of flinque enamel (with deep blue being a particular favourite) and other elaborate decoration, miniature enamel painting is no less demanding a technique.  First unveiled about a decade ago, the Grande Reverso Enamel shown here is part of a 12 piece set, each decorated a sign of the Zodiac depicted in the Art Nouveau style that is a house favourite at JLC.

This Reverso is enamel front and back. Made from white grand feu enamel, the dial is subtly accented with a blue railway minute track which matches the blued steel hands. Both the power reserve and seconds sub-dial are slightly recessed, an unusual feature for an enamel dial.

This particular watch depicts Libra, with its symbol of scales. And the motif also includes the Greek symbols for Libra and Venus, which is the ruling celestial body for Libra.

The miniature enamel painting is set into the yellow gold case, replete with subtle details. The details of the painting, colour, shading and texture, are so fine that they need to be savoured slowly.

The Grande Reverso Enamel uses the XGT case, the largest of the standard Reverso sizes. It retails for S$137,000, or about US$109,000.