Alpina was one of the watchmakers that supplied wristwatches to the Kriegsmarine, the World War II German navy. Marked “KM” on the dial, short for Kriegsmarine, these military-issue watches were small, typically 33mm in diameter, but distinctive, with silvery-white dials and black Arabic numerals.
WWII original at left, KM-710 on the right
While the WWII Alpina watches were marked “KM 592” on the dial, a reference to the calibre 592 inside, the modern remake is named after the calibre AL-710. The new Alpina KM-710 adopts the look of the original KM watch, but reinterpreted as a distinctly modern watch in a larger size with an added date indicator.
Alpina’s designers managed to convey the vintage style without merely reproducing the original. Unlike other vintage remakes that have a date window that’s incongruous with the retro look, the KM-710 smartly uses a sub-dial to indicate the date. While the reduced size of the numbers on the sub-dial means it is slightly less legible than a window display, the sub-dial date blends in much better.
The Super-Luminova on the dial and hands is beige to mimic the look of vintage watch dials, while the sapphire crystal is domed, again to replicate the look of Plexiglas crystal on the original KM watches.
The stainless steel case, however, is a modern 41.5mm in diameter and water-resistant to 50m. Inside is the AL-710, Alpina’s in-house automatic movement with a 42-hour power reserve.
The Alpina KM-710 is priced at €2495 including 19 percent tax, equivalent to US$2780.
Richard Mille occupies a special position in the watchmaking landscape, capturing perfectly the zeitgeist of the ultra-rich. And the RM 50-02 ACJ, a new release from SIHH 2016, exemplifies that. The design is the product of both Richard Mille and Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ), two firms that share the same target audience. ACJ is the division of the European plane maker that turns its aircraft into flying palaces, having lavished its aesthetic sensibility on the RM 50-02, which is powered by the most complicated movement Richard Mille uses in its wristwatches.
The RM 50-02 ACJ is the sort of watch that would appeal to a millionaire who loves Iron Man and Philipp Plein clothing; it looks like an obvious, expensive and high-tech gadget. Its size alone is striking, being very large at 42.7mm wide and 50.1mm long, resembling a section of a plane fuselage, with a sapphire crystal shaped like an aircraft window, set against a white ceramic plate. But because it’s made of titanium – both the case and movement bridges – the RM 50-02 is lightweight.
Up close the watch reveals a riot of colours and detail that’s typical of Richard Mille. Most of the movement is skeletonised, while the dial is a clear sapphire disc, revealing the mechanics of the watch. The stark white of the case is jazzed up with brightly coloured details on the dial in orange, yellow, red and green. And several bridges are an unusual bronze colour, the result of an anticorrosion coating that’s used for aircraft parts.
But the look belies the traditional construction of the calibre. The movement has been styled to look high-tech and gadgety, with grooves and notches on the components. But the irony is that the calibre is largely constructed (by Audemars Piguet subsidiary Renaud & Papi) in a traditional manner. A time travelling watchmaker from 1950 would probably be able to overhaul it.
The movement has an immediate nerd appeal, with overwhelming visual complexity as well as the depth that is typical of a split-seconds chronograph (since the mechanism of the chronograph needs to be stacked up).
Though the movement is recognisably old school in construction, its finishing is modern in a manner that will disappoint traditionalists. Many of its components are cleanly finished with straight or circular graining that helps with the modern look.
The gadgety ornamentation continues on the case, which has its sides adorned with arrows and ridges plus an extra-large, multi-level crown topped with the ACJ logo. And the case even uses Torq Set screws to hold the front and back plate together. Distinguished by their spiral slots, these high-end screws are also used in Airbus aircraft.
The RM 50-02 ACJ is limited to 30 watches with a price tag of US$1.05m. That number is defies gravity and economic reality, but Richard Mille’s prowess and appeal is truly singular.
To offer a lot for comparatively little money has been Montblanc’s credo of late, and that’s something exemplified by the Heritage Chronométrie Collection Chronograph Annual Calendar. It packages two complications – an annual calendar and a chronograph – inside a classically styled and relatively affordable package.
The look is traditional, with four sub-dials for the calendar and chronograph. It’s intuitive to read, though the small font on the sub-dials can be challenging to decipher.
While simply executed for the most part, the dial has enough detail to make it attractive, including applied hour markers and different finishes on each section. The look is more appealing than the price would imply.
Likewise the case is efficiently constructed, but with a little detail, like a bevel on the length of the lugs.
While it is fully featured and pleasing to the eye, the Chronograph Annual Calendar is – as should be expected – built on a budget.
An annual calendar needs to be set once a year at the end of February, because it can only hand 30 or 31-day months on its own. This is found inside an annual calendar module, essentially a self-contained capsule with the mechanism, that is added on top of the base movement. Ditto for the chronograph mechanism, which is another module. More sophisticated movements have integrated constructions – everything is a indivisible whole – but watches with such movements cost five to ten times as much.
Both modules sit on a Sellita SW300, an automatic movement that’s a copy of the robust ETA 2892 (which has had its copyright expire long ago). Sellita’s advantage over ETA is that it is functionally identical, but costs less to buy. It does the job admirably well, though the display back is too revealing; a solid back would have kept the mystique a little longer.
The obvious question then becomes: is it better to do as much as possible, or to do less but do it better? For the same money as the Chronograph Annual Calendar in 18k red gold, the Minerva 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter made by the same company is a simple chronograph in a stainless steel case, but with an impressive level of decoration on the movement.
The answer lies with the buyer. A watch like this is not a holy grail, rather it’s a step along the way to nirvana. So a collector with several complicated watches would do better to go for something simpler but finer. But someone in the early stages of the hobby will find a the value proposition of the Chronograph Annual Calendar compelling.
Pricing
The Heritage Chronométrie Collection Chronograph Annual Calendar $10,450 or €9500 in steel, and $20,700 or €18,900 in red gold.
Lake Como is famous enough that the name is immediately evocative, of George Clooney, James Bond, holidaying oligarchs, la dolce vita. But the lake, shaped like an upside down “y”, is also home to one of the world’s greatest classic car contests, the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.
Dedicated to cars from the 1920s till the 1980s, the Villa d’Este concours is one of the highlights of the automotive calendar, taking place on the carefully manicured lawn of the Villa d’Este hotel. The event has a long history, having been first put on in 1929, with a postwar hiatus before being revived in 1995.
The boat ride to the Villa d’Este
Unlike auto shows that focus on new automobiles – think lime green supercars and car show girls in cavernous halls – events like the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este offer a carefully curated selection of remarkable classic cars competing for the top prize.
Chief executive of Lange Uhren Wilhelm Schmid
While the vintage automobiles on show at Villa d’Este are immensely valuable, many are worth millions, the event isn’t garish or preening. Rather, it is nuanced and refined; cars are judged on originality, condition, restoration, and provenance – qualities a watch collector can immediately appreciate. One of the prizes given out at the event is “For the most sensitive restoration”.
The winner of the event’s top prize, the “Best in Show”, went to a 1954 Maserati A6 GCS with coachwork by Pininfarina and a participant in the 1955 Mille Miglia. Its remarkable lines were the work of Aldo Brovarone, then the chief designer at Pininfarina. Interestingly, however, the design was originally intended for a company that went bust before the car made it into production. Subsequently Brovarone’s boss, Battista “Pinin” Farina, put the design on a Maserati.
The best of show at the awards dinner. Credit A. Lange Söhne
Alongside a trophy, the “Best in Show” winner also received a one of a kind Lange 1 Time Zone in white gold, with “Como replacing Berlin on the cities disc, as well as a thoroughly unusual hunter back engraved with the coat of arms of the Villa d’Este.
“Cars of the stars”
Some of the classic cars on show had glittering past owners, including a pair of Ferraris once owned by Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood. Also on show was a one-off silver Testarossa Spider (the only one actually made by Ferrari and not a coach builder) originally constructed for Gianni Agnelli, the industrialist whose family controlled Ferrari.
And the winner of the event’s public prize, the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este, went to a dirty green 1933 Lancia Astura II Serie Berlinetta that was first owned by Vittorio Mussolini, the Fascist dictator’s second son.
Alongside the classic cars were a half dozen concept cars, including the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo that was inspired by the video game of the same name, as well as the gorgeous styled and deliciously named Alfa Romeo Disco Volante.
Your correspondent was a guest at the 2016 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este thanks to A. Lange & Söhne, one of the event’s sponsors (the title sponsor is BMW). Here’s a pictorial report on the proceedings.
Characterised by geometric details and bright colours, Alain Silberstein’s watches were avant-garde in his heyday during the 1990s. Though his namesake brand went bust in 2012, Silberstein has designed watches for other independent brands, including the fresh off the press MB&F LM1 Silberstein.
The second collaboration between MB&F and Silberstein – the first was the HM2.2 Blackbox of 2009 – the LM1 Silberstein tweaks the style of the original LM1, giving it a distinctly Silberstein look.
Though the case is 42.5mm, smaller than the 44mm original, the LM1 Silberstein feels similarly hefty. Though the feel is similar, the form is totally different, with the Silberstein case having a straight side, rounded edge and no bezel, evoking Silberstein’s own watch cases. And the case band at six o’clock is engraved “Le vrai bonheur est d’avoir sa passion pour métier”, Silberstein’s motto which translates as “Having your passion as a profession is true happiness.”
Other elements like the triangular red hour hands, six-pointed crown are also distinctively Silberstein. Additional unusual features include the bowl-shaped sub-dials and most notably, a clear sapphire crystal bridge for the oversized balance wheel, meant to provide an unimpeded view of the oscillating balance.
The movement inside is identical to that of the ordinary LM1, though decorated with frosted finish instead of Cotes de Geneve, a look first found on the LM101 Frost.
Three variants are available – red gold, titanium or black-coated titanium – each limited to 13 pieces.
Prices before taxes: titanium and black titanium editions cost SFr79,000 each (about US$80,000), while the red gold is SFr88,000 (about US$89,000).
Correction June 8, 2016: Edited to show case diameter of 42.5mm.
Traditionally dominated by brands of Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont, including marques like Cartier, IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre, the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) takes place each year in January in Geneva (on January 16 to 17, 2017). Next year’s SIHH will grow to include the brands of Kering, Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin.
Being a more posh and exclusive event than the rival Baselworld trade show in March, SIHH also expanded to include niche independent brands this year. Five more will join the Carré des Horlogers, the area set aside for independents, in 2017: Grönefeld, MCT, Ressence, Romain Jerome and Speake-Marin. The independent brands that joined SIHH for the first time in 2016 will all remain, bringing the total to 14.
At the same time, the velvet rope around the halls of SIHH will be dropped on the final day of the five day fair. The public will be allowed into SIHH on Friday. Democratisation of the event is a prudent move, giving the slowing appeal of fine watches.
In the eight years since Richard Mille recruited Spanish tennis champion Rafael Nadal as a brand ambassador, the Swiss watchmaker has conceived a string of ultra-light wristwatches for Rafa to wear on court. A year after the US$775,000 RM 27-02 Tourbillon, Richard Mille has announced the RM 35-02.
Like many other Richard Mille watches, the case of the RM 35-02 is made of a high-tech carbon composite – either black NTPT Carbon or Quartz-TPT Red. Made by Swiss materials specialist North Thin Ply Technologies (NTPT), these composites have a distinctive striped surface that’s a result of the layered sheets of carbon inside. Because the blocks of material are machined against the grain, the result is the striking motif on the case.
The case is a largish 49.94mm from top to bottom, and 44.5mm wide. Thickness is 13.15mm. Inside is the calibre RMAL1, a self-winding movement made by Vaucher.
Its bridges and base plate are made of titanium, coated in black and partially open-worked, in typical Richard Mille style. In terms of technical features, the calibre has double barrels (power reserve 55 hours), a free-sprung balance wheel, as well as a rotor with variable winding efficiency (to cater for the wearer’s physical activity; Rafa presumably needs the lowest setting).
The RM 35-02 is priced at approximately US$145,000 or S$200,000.
Correction June 4, 2016: Edited to state movement is made by Vaucher.
An oft quoted expert on the watch industry, Rene Weber has been studying the Swiss watch industry as an analyst at Swiss bank Vontobel for over 20 years. The annual Vontobel Watch Report put together by Mr Weber and his team covering the state of the Swiss watch industry is amongst the most widely consumed pieces of literature in the business.
Mr Weber has been covering the luxury goods and watch industry since the 1990s, having joined Vontobel in 1986 after a stint at Credit Suisse. He is a Managing Director at Vontobel, a private bank headquartered in Zurich. Here Mr Weber shares some of his thoughts on the business of fine watches, including the prospect of consolidation amongst companies and the outlook for independent watchmakers in the distant future.
SJX: Thank you for agreeing to this. You’re a long time observer of the Swiss watch industry, having followed it for over 20 years. In your opinion, who are the three key personalities who have shaped the business?
RW: Of course, the first one is Nicolas Hayek, who brought Swatch Group and the Swiss watch industry back from the quartz crisis, but also the further progress [made] under his son and successor Nick.
Then I would also mention Johann Rupert, who created Richemont, the other leading player in the Swiss watch industry that owns a lot of the top high-end brands like Cartier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Piaget.
And for me, Jean-Claude Biver also belongs to the key personalities [of the industry] as he has established Blancpain as a high-end brand, brought Hublot into the top 20 league and recently has brought growth to the TAG Heuer brand.
Rene Weber
SJX: In the recent Vontobel report on watchmaking, you name Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille and Hublot as enjoying positive growth, unlike their competitors, citing their small exposure to China as a crucial reason. Do you have other thoughts on these three success stories?
RW: All of them are in the top-end of the Swiss haute horlogerie in terms of pricing but also have a unique look in their watches, which is supported by successful marketing. Though in terms of pricing they are in the luxury part of the Swiss high-end universe, each has a totally different story.
AP has already a long-established reputation, whereas Hublot’s success story is less than 10 years old. In terms of units AP [Vontobel estimates 40,000 per year] and Hublot [estimate of 40,000] are comparable to each other, whereas Richard Mille [estimated at 3200] is much smaller but focuses even more at the top end of the watch industry.
SJX: Luxury houses like Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Hermes are all attempting to compete in the men’s complicated watches segment – what do you think of their chances?
RW: All three brands have women as their more important clients and therefore their watch offerings are also very much directed to this target group. This is especially true for Chanel, which just recently came up with a male watch. Hermès, thanks to its cooperation with movement maker Vaucher, equips its watches with its own movements and has clearly gained in reputation with this.
We believe that all three brands have its niche in the watch market, but this segment of men’s complicated watches will always be a small part of their portfolios.
SJX: What are your thoughts on the longevity of niche independent watchmakers like F.P. Journe, MB&F and the like? Will they become the Patek Philippe of the next century?
RW: No, we do not expect that one of the smaller high-end brands will move up to the league of Patek Philippe; the current leading high-end brands will continue to play a major role in the watch industry.
We even believe that a lot of small and mid-sized brands will have problems in competing as they do not have the financial power but also do not have the distribution network of the bigger groups and brands.
SJX: The mid-sized family-owned brands like Breitling, Frederique Constant – you predicted consolidation in the Vontobel report, can you tell us a bit more?
RW: The brands you mentioned are in strong family hands and I do not expect a change short-term, and we also believe that these two brands have found its niche to stay successful.
In terms of consolidation, we believe that the big groups have the financial power to buy some other high-end brands, but the groups are not interested in all of them but rather would focus on some specific names if they are available. We believe that the big groups would be interested in most of the top high-end brands like Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Chopard and Breitling, but all of them are in firm family hands.
Consolidation will take place more likely with some brands disappearing from the market as they cannot afford to stay in the market anymore. There are a lot of possible candidates, which are mostly tiny and not known to consumers. We have one example with the brand Vogard, which sold its patent for a world time movement to IWC, and the brand was closed down in 2015.
Richemont, the Swiss luxury conglomerate that owns Cartier, IWC and Panerai, just posted its full year results for the year to March 31, 2016. The numbers were lacklustre, sending Richemont’s shares down as much as 5.6 percent.
Operating profit fell 23 percent, worse than analysts’ predictions. Sales were flat globally, with similar numbers in the Americas and Middle East. Europe was a bright spot, growing ten percent, but mainly in the first half, with the second half blighted by terrorism.
Asia-Pacific sales were down 13 percent. That was mainly due to Hong Kong and Macau continuing their downward slide, though Mainland China grew ten percent.
Wholesale continued to decline, falling seven percent meaning that authorised retailers were ordering less product. This implies inventory reduction (or inventory not moving), with retailers being cautious.
And those trends continued into April, the month after the full year. Described as “difficult,but as anticipated”, sales fell 15 percent in April.
Ticking to a slower beat
The watch business performed notably poorly, with sales falling by eight percent. Operating profit fell 29 percent. Watchmaking was also hit by one-off charges, likely relating to layoffs.
In contrast, jewellery and leather goods sales grew eight and nine percent respectively.
What’s next?
Despite the depressed situation, Richemont still has over €5.3 billion in net cash, hoarded while times were good. And operating cash flow remains healthy. Richemont will definitely survive, though some of its management might not. There’s plenty of speculation as to who will retire this year.
What does it mean for the buyer?
Generally it means goods things for the watch buyer. Most watch brands are reacting in a predictable manner: introducing significantly lower priced or entry-level timepieces. That strategy obviously works: IWC has moved quite swiftly and aggressive in this direction, resulting in “growth across channels”.
And the poor wholesale performance (Richemont’s sales to authorised retailers) also means that retailers are more keen to reduce their inventory. That implies better prices to be had for the consumer – opportunities abound.
A wrist chronograph able to measure 1/100th of a second, the Centigraphe was conceived at the behest of Jean Todt, the former boss of Ferrari’s Formula One team. Thirty percent of the profit from the sale of each Centigraphe goes to the Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinièhe (ICM), a Paris-based brain and spine research institute, co-founded by Todt. The Todt connection also explains the Centigraphe “F”, a special edition version with a bright red dial inspired by Ferrari’s livery.
Since the launch of the Centigraphe in 2004, over €1m has been raised for the ICM. And now that sum is about to grow considerably larger (the last one-off Journe wristwatch sold for charity raised SFr650,000) with the upcoming auction of a one-off Centigraphe on May 31, 2016.
The Centigraphe ICM is fitted with a blue mother of pearl dial that bears the ICM logo at 12 o’clock. Nacre is only found on a handful of limited editions as well as a series of watches only sold at F.P. Journe boutiques.
The rest of the watch is identical to the standard Centigraphe, with the platinum case measuring 40mm. The calibre 1506 inside is hand-wound, with its bridges and base plate in 18k red gold.
Centigraphe F
This Centigraphe will be sold in the evening of June 8, 2016 at the ICM gala dinner in Paris. For more information, please contact the ICM.
Correction June 6, 2016: Name of model corrected to “Centigraphe F”.
Update June 24, 2016: The Centigraphe ICM sold for €120,000, or abouttUS$136,000.
