Nine independent watch brands will be part of SIHH 2016, the trade fair dedicated to haute horlogerie that takes place in January in Geneva. This brings the event full circle back to its origins in 1991.

Rumours have swirled for some months now but it is finally official. Nine independent watchmakers, ranging from the avant-garde to the traditional, will exhibit at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, the annual watchmaking fair in Geneva. Long dominated by brands of luxury conglomerate Richemont, the addition of these eight independents, amongst them MB&F, Urwerk and Voutilainen, adds texture to the event that takes place from January 18 to 22, 2016. Unlike Baselworld, its mass market compatriot that takes place in Basel, SIHH has always been an invitation-only event focused on mainstream brands. Greubel Forsey and Richard Mille joined the ranks of exhibiting brands in 2010, but SIHH is still widely seen as being a convergence of Richemont brands. Next year will see the addition of nine independent brands in an area titled Carré des Horlogers. The nine are: Christophe Claret De Bethune H. Moser & Cie. Hautlence HYT Laurent Ferrier MB&F Urwerk Voutilainen Together they replace Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewellery, which departs as it revamps its strategy under a newly appointed chief executive. The arrival of the notable nine brings a little of the magic that independent watchmakers have to the fair, a posh and formal affair with open bars and catered food. And it also helps strengthen the position of SIHH vis a vis Baselworld, since most independents at SIHH will likely show all their new products in Geneva. In some ways this represents a return to the origins of the event, which first happened in 1991. That year saw Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth as one of the five exhibitors (the others being Cartier, Piaget and Baume & Mercier). Franck Muller joined in 1992, and four years later Svend Andersen, Roger Dubuis, Paul Gerber and Jean Kazes were participants as well. A varying cast of independents continued to take part in the fair until 2003, when the sole independent left was Roger Dubuis (a brand that was in many ways the Richard Mille of its time). For visitors to the fair, primarily comprised of retailers, retailers and brand executives, these additions to the fair brings the convenience of being able to stay within the exhibition hall. In past years visiting independent brands required an excursion to the hotels along the lake.

Only Watch is a charity auction that takes place in November 2015, and for the first time Tudor is taking part. Its contribution is a one of a kind dive watch, Heritage Black Bay One  ref. 7923/001. Based on Tudor’s historically inspired dive watch, the Heritage Black Bay One has been tweaked to make it look even more vintage, with the look modelled on the rare Submariner ref. 7923 of 1954. Thanks to these fresh photos of the actual timepiece from Tudor, we get a sense of what the Black Bay One actually looks like.

Not an exact remake of a vintage watch, the Black Bay One is instead a blend of elements from the past. The dial is a gilt, with a glossy surface and the lettering as well as minute track in gold. “200m-660ft” is in red, something not found on the vintage Tudor Submariner, but reminiscent of Rolex dive watches like the Red Sub or Double Red Sea-Dweller.

Several features set this apart from the ordinary Black Bay, like the hands for starters. The hour and minute hands are pencil-shaped, while the seconds hand is tipped with a circle, hence the nickname “lollipop”. In contrast the regular production Black Bay has a “snowflake” hands. Another unique feature is the bezel that has five-minute markings and a red marker at 12 o’clock, lacking the 15-minute marking on the regular production Black Bay.

And then there’s the bracelet, which has a straight end. This feature is also found on the Heritage Ranger, while most other Tudor watches have fitted end links.

Like other Tudor Heritage watches, the Black Bay One is accompanied by extra straps, both NATO-style. One is in brown leather with a distressed finish, and the other is an Admiralty grey jacquard-weave band made the traditional way in France. And the Black Bay One is also packaged in a special box. Similar in size to the usual Tudor Box, but made of wood with a brass plate on the top.

The rest of the Black Bay One is identical to the regular production model: 41mm steel case with an ETA 2824 inside. It will be sold alongside 42 other one of a kind timepieces on November 7, 2015, at Only Watch in Geneva under the aegis of Phillips auctioneers.

IWC has just announced the Big Pilot’s Watch Edition “Patrouille Suisse”, a limited edition in sandblasted stainless steel that’s named after the aerobatic team of the Swiss Air Force. 

Patrouille Suisse is the aerobatic team of the Swiss Air Force, flying F-5E Tiger IIs painted in red and white livery. Its relationship with IWC dates back to the mid-1990s, when the watchmaker created a limited edition Mark XII for Patrouille Suisse. The latest Patrouille Suisse edition is the Big Pilot “Patrouille Suisse”, a variant of IWC’s signature oversized aviator’s watch featuring an unusual sandblasted case. Unlike most Big Pilots that have centre seconds, the recent “Le Petit Prince” being an example, the Patrouille Suisse edition has a symmetrical dial, with the seconds at nine and power reserve at three (exactly the same layout and movement as the Portugieser 7-day). The dial has a radial brushed finish in grey, the colour of all recent Patrouille Suisse editions.

The 46mm steel case is sandblasted, giving it a matte, grained surface. A finish typically found on titanium watches, the sandblasted case is unusual for a Big Pilot, which usually has a brushed case finish.

The case back is cast with a stylised motif with three F-5E Tiger IIs swooping across. Underneath is the calibre 51011, a self-winding movement with a seven day power reserve. This might just be one of the last models with a movement derived from the calibre 5000, which was replaced by the calibre 52000 family at SIHH 2015.

The Big Pilot’s Watch Edition “Patrouille Suisse” is a limited edition of 250 watches, each numbered on the case starting from “001/250”. In September it’ll be available at IWC boutiques and retailers with Switzerland, and subsequently at boutiques in other countries. The price is S$22,000 including 7% tax, equivalent to US$15,600. 

A recent arrival to watchmaking, Alexandre Meerson debuts the D15 MK-1 GMT, a twin time zone wristwatch powered by a movement from Vaucher Manufacture.

The son of a watch designer active in the 1970s, Alexandre Meerson recently took up his father’s mantle. Based in England, Meerson’s latest creation is the D15 MK-1 GMT, a dual time zone wristwatch with a movement from Vaucher, the specialist that’s the sister company of Parmigiani. The D15 MK-1 GMT is available with three dial colours – blue, white and black – while the 44mm case is offered in titanium, diamond-like carbon coated titanium or white gold. A second, central hour hand indicates another time zone, while the day and night indicator for home time is at nine o’clock. The sub-dial at six is for the date.

Voucher produces the base movement as well as does assembly and quality control of each timepiece. The rest of the components are made by suppliers, including complications builder Dubois Depraz which is responsible for the dual time zone module. 

Starting at US$18,600 for the titanium model, the D15 MK-1 GMT is a pricey timepiece, but not unexpectedly since Vaucher is amongst the highest cost and highest quality suppliers in Switzerland. 

An unassuming, rectangular wristwatch in the Omega Museum is one of its most historically important objects, having been the wristwatch of John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States. 

A famous Geneva watchmaker once ran a series of advertisements in the 1950s with the caption “Men who guide the destinies of the world wear Rolex watches”. The same can be said of its peer up north in Bienne, for John F. Kennedy owned an Omega wristwatch that he wore at his inauguration. This very Omega. Now part of the Omega Museum collection, this extra-thin, hand-wound Omega wristwatch in yellow gold was a gift to JFK from Grant Stockdale, a friend and political supporter whom Kennedy later appointed Ambassador to Ireland. Stockdale gave the watch to the then senator in early 1960, the watch was engraved “President Of The United States John F. Kennedy From His Friend Grant”. Later that year Jacqueline Kennedy wrote to Stockdale, thanking him for the “thinnest most elegant wristwatch”.

On November 8, 1960, the prediction on the back of the watch became a reality when John F. Kennedy became the 35th President of the United States. At his inauguration in January 1961, Kennedy was wearing this very Omega.

A photo from LIFE magazine of the inauguration showing the Omega on JFK’s wrist

In early 1962, Kennedy wrote to Stockdale, mentioning a planned trip to Ireland, which later took place in mid-1963. He ended the letter saying “I am now wearing the Stockdale watch. Again.” A facsimile of the letter is in the Omega Museum, along with the wristwatch.

The wristwatch eventually made its way into the Robert L. White Collection, a trove of items relating to JFK ranging from furniture to the President’s wallet. After White’s death, the collection was sold at auction in New York in 2005, with the Omega wristwatch acquired by the Omega Museum for US$350,000. Subsequently in 2008 Omega introduced a remake of the JFK watch in a tiny run of 261 pieces, identical to the original right down to the vintage-style buckle.

And in 2009, for the 40th anniversary of the 1969 Moon landing, Omega ran a series of advertisements with JFK’s image, with the permission of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. It depicts the President, along with his statement “We Choose to Go to the Moon.”

Equipped with a newly developed eight day, single-button chronograph movement, the IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Monopusher chronograph makes its belated debut at Watches&Wonders 2015.

Two years ago at SIHH 2013 the Portofino Hand-Wound Monopusher chronograph was in IWC‘s catalogue, but nothing was said of the watch and it was surreptitiously withdrawn (though it made an appearance early this year as a unique piece for charity). Perhaps to prove good things come to those to wait, IWC is officially introducing the Portofino Hand-Wound Monopusher at Watches&Wonders 2015. Featuring a single button in the crown to start, stop and reset the chronograph, the Portofino Hand-Wound Monopusher is equipped with the calibre 59360. It’s a hand-wound movement with an eight day power reserve, and based on the movement found in the Portofino and Portugieser eight days watches. One possible reason for the delay is that long power reserve movements are usually designed to operate with minimal amounts of power spread across extended periods, while a chronograph requires extra power once it’s running.

The chronograph mechanism is built on top of the base movement, which conveniently has a large and plain barrel bridge that can accommodate complications. It’s a compact and thin chronograph assembly measuring just 1mm high, thanks to the wide and flat parts of the mechanism.

The chronograph has a central elapsed seconds hand, and a minute register at 12 o’clock. Constant seconds is at six o’clock, with the power reserve indicator at nine.

The Portofino Hand-Wound Monopusher costs S$38,900 in white gold and S$36,900 in red gold.

Open from August 27 to September 6, 2015, History and Legend is an exhibition dedicated to Panerai history that includes 10 vintage wristwatches and instruments made for the commando frogmen of the Italian navy. The vintage exhibits span some 30 years, starting with the origins of the Panerai wristwatch with the Radiomir ref. 3646 in the 1930s to wrist compasses from the 1960s. These provide a tangible lineage for the modern Panerai timepieces, including all the Submersibles and also the Tourbillon GMT pocket watch.‘

Panerai was already a manufacturer of instruments for the Italian navy, and delivered the first prototype wristwatch to the navy in 1936. These were intended for the navy’s commando frogmen, most famous for their exploits on the Siluro a Lenta Corsa (SLC), a human torpedo. Nicknamed maiale, or pig, the SLC was steered to an enemy ship and its detachable warhead fixed to the ship’s hull. A full size replica of the SLC is on show at History and Legend.

The earliest watch on show is a Radiomir ref. 3646 Type A the dates from 1938, one of a small number of exhibition pieces made with an engraved bezel and display back. The Radiomir moniker comes from the radium used as luminous material on the dial, which is made up of two discs: the upper layer with the numerals and markers cut out, and another disc underneath coated with radium. What was originally a black dial has discoloured to a pale caramel colour (something collectors refer to as “tropical”), a process caused in part by the radium.

As with all other early Panerai, these were made by Rolex for Panerai. The Radiomir cases are essentially extra-large, 47mm Rolex Oyster cases with screw-down crowns, while vintage Panerai watches were either equipped with Cortebert or Angelus movements. The Radiomir above is equipped with a hand-wound Rolex calibre, based on an ebauche (movement blank) made by Cortebert, a movement manufacturer.

The other vintage Radiomir on display was made in 1940. Also a ref. 3646 manufactured by Rolex, this was made for divers of the German navy. The unsigned dial was intentional, to avoid identification of the origins of the watch or the navy unit if the diver wearing it was captured.

Panerai’s original specialisation was maritime instruments, including this pair of Bourdon-type pressure gauges from the 1940s. Worn on the wrist, they were used as a depth gauge by Italian navy divers. The one on the left was calibrated for 15m and used by assault divers, while the other could be used up to 30m and worn by divers conducting defence operations like minesweeping.

Panerai also made wrist compasses, filled with liquid and featuring luminous indications that meant they could be read even at depths of 5m, or 16ft. To avoid detection by the enemy, the compasses were initially covered with cloth by navy personnel, before a proper cover was devised.

Panerai remained in operation after the war, continuing with the business of wristwatches and instruments. Made for the post-war Italian navy, this prototype ref. 3646 is a transitional model that is the bridge between the Radiomir and later Luminor. It’s also the inspiration for the modern day Radiomir 1940. Instead of radium this uses the non-radioactive Luminor paint for the dial, while the movement is an Angelus with an eight day power reserve.

This Luminor Marina Militare ref. 6152 from the 1950s features the crown lock mechanism that is now the Panerai trademark. Equipped with a lever that secures the crown against the case and stem for water-resistance, this 47mm Luminor was a functional improvement over the Radiomir, doing away with the screw down crown. And in a testament to the longevity of Panerai’s relationship with Rolex, the movement inside a hand-wound Rolex movement.

Produced in 1956, this Radiomir Egiziano G.P.F. 2/56 is the prototype of the series of dive watches made for the Egyptian navy. Even larger at 60mm in diameter, the Egiziano features a rotating bezel with round five minute markers which later became the basis for the Submersible line. Only 50 Egizianos were ever made, all equipped with the eight day Angelus movement.

By the 1960s Panerai wristwatch production had ended as its contracts with the Italian and Egyptian navies concluded. It still manufactured instruments, including the wrist compasses and waterproof torches.

Conceived as a precise source of light, the ELUX flashlight was used for signalling rather than illumination. It has a rubber-coated metal body with a pressure compensation system and locking mechanism for the on-off button that prevents accidental activation at depth.

Panerai only crept back into watches beginning in the 1980s, remaining a niche watch brand until luxury conglomerate Richemont took over in 1997. The rest of the exhibits at History and Legend comprise modern day Panerai timepieces, including the new additions from SIHH 2015 as well as the Submersible line-up.

History and Legend takes place on the ground level of ION Orchard, outside the mall facing Orchard Road, from August 26 to September 6, 2015. It’s open daily from 11am to 9pm. Had hour guided tours are available at 3pm and 5pm, with registration required at the Panerai boutique in ION Orchard. Admission and guided tours are free.

Panerai Pocket Watch Tourbillon GMT Ceramica PAM446

Industrial designer Marc Newson has applied his talent to many objects, and not for the first time to a fountain pen. The Montblanc M is sleek, smooth and rounded, but with enough detail to make it interesting.

Now a designer at Apple, Newson’s relationship with Montblanc originates with his collaboration with Jaeger-LeCoultre that resulted in the striking Newson Atmos clocks. The current chief executive Montblanc, Jerome Lambert, used to hold the same position at Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Characterised by smooth lines, rounded edges and geometric shapes (think of the Apple Watch and Ikepod), Newson’s signature aesthetic is evident in the Montblanc M, which is reminiscent of fellow German pen maker Lamy’s products.

Like the typical Montblanc pen the M is made from glossy black resin. A magnetic closure keeps the cap aligned with the logo on the barrel, which has a flat end milled out inlaid with the Montblanc logo. The cap does not post, meaning it cannot be mounted on the end of the barre while writing.

The attachment for the platinum-plated, wire clip is hidden in the cap to keep its lines clean. And the section is ruthenium plated, giving it a dark grey colour. The nib is 14k gold, with “MN” engraved on it only for the first year of production.

The Montblanc M is available as a fountain pen for US$565, or as a rollerball or ballpoint for US$400. The fountain pen is a cartridge or converter filler. It’s also available as a touchscreen stylus or technical pen.

Meisterbund means alliance of masters, referring to the specialists that teamed up to create the Sinn Model 6200 Meisterbund I. Sinn designed the watch and made the dial, while the case was made by Sächsische Uhrentechnologie GmbH Glashütte (SUG). And Uhren-Werke-Dresden (UWD) was responsible for the movement. Consequently, all the key components of the Meisterbund I wristwatch – namely the case, dial, movement and hairspring – are made in Germany.

Frankfurt-based Sinn is best known for its tool watches created for pilots and divers, with many of its watchcases already made by SUG. Sinn’s owner, Lothar Schmidt, is a shareholder in SUG, which supplies submarine steel cases to Sinn, and also precious metal cases to Lange. In fact, SUG is located in Glashütte, just a stone’s throw away from the main Lange building.

Case production at SUG

The Meisterbund I has a 40mm rose gold case, with a hand-wound calibre from UWD inside. A maker of movements and components, UWD is the sister company of Lang & Heyne, with both part of Tempus Arte Group, a small German agglomeration of watchmaking firms. Like Lang & Heyne, UWD is based in Dresden.

Seemingly based on the hand-wound Unitas 6498, the UWD movement is hand-wound with a 55 hour power reserve. It has an adjustable mass balance and partially open-worked bridges. The same movement is used in the Elysium, made by Leinfelder, a Munich-based brand that is also part of Tempus Arte.

The Leinfelder calibre L-H01

The Meisterbund I is a limited edition of 55 pieces, available in spring 2016. Pricing will be announced then, but with the similar Leinfelder Elysium priced at approximately €16,000, expect this to be in the same range.

The perpetual calendar complication reached the wristwatch soon after it was popularised by troops during the First World War, albeit only in one of a kind timepieces. The first perpetual calendar wristwatch was a one-off timepiece made in 1925 by Patek Philippe, equipped with a movement made for a ladies’ pendant watch. And four years later Breguet completed a perpetual calendar wristwatch with a wristwatch movement. But those wristwatches only had the day, date, month and moon. Despite being de rigueur in modern perpetual calendar wristwatches, the leap year only arrived in the wristwatch in 1955, courtesy of Audemars Piguet.

That was the year Audemars Piguet introduced the reference 5516 perpetual calendar wristwatch, the first serially produced wristwatch with a leap year indicator. By comparison, the first such perpetual calendar from Patek Philippe was only produced in 1981 (and sold in 2013 for US$1.7 million). Only 12 of the ref. 5516 were made, and only nine of those had the leap year indicator. The first three of the ref. 5516 had the moon phase at 12 o’clock and the leap year display at six (Christie’s sold one example for US$314,000 in 2008), before evolving into the final iteration of the ref. 5516. Depicted below, the final version of the reference is arguably the most beautiful, with a visually balanced and functional two-tone dial.

Made in 1957 but only sold in 1969 – the long interval between the two was not uncommon for pricey, complicated watches in the mid-20th century – this ref. 5516 is in yellow gold. And this particular specimen, part of the Audemars Piguet museum collection, is double signed with “Tiffany & Co.” below the watchmaker’s label.

This has a striking two-tone dial, with sunken sub-dials finished with circular graining. The lettering on the dial is prominently raised, because it was made the old fashioned way. Instead of merely being printed, the lettering is created by filling recesses with enamel, a technique known as champlevé. Practically non-existent today, champlevé lettering never fades.

The ref. 5516 is powered by the calibre 13VZSSQP, one of the most important base movements for high-end watches in that era. The VZ series of movements were made by Valjoux, a movement maker now part of ETA. It’s best known for the mass market 7750 chronograph movement now, but it used to make much more refined calibres.  Thirteen lignes in diameter, the VZ series eventually evolved into the Valjoux 23, 72 an so on. These movements were used in a variety of watches from the best names in Swiss watchmaking, including the Patek Philippe refs. 1518 and 2499.

Rare and historically important, the ref. 5516 is just one example of why the perpetual calendar is arguably the most significant complication for Audemars Piguet.