Ulysse Nardin‘s latest tourbillon is a creative and visually intriguing interpretation of the Executive Skeleton Tourbillon. While the original model exposed as much of its mechanical complexity as possible, the Executive Tourbillon Free Wheel is even more ruthlessly pared back, with only the crucial components, such as the barrel, tourbillon regulator, power reserve display and wheel trains seemingly floating on the dial, unencumbered by any visible support.

Available in 18k rose or white gold, the Executive Tourbillon Free Wheel is 44mm in diameter and features a prominent, highly domed sapphire glass, making it considerably more wearable given the slim case band, which makes it seem significantly thinner than it is. And the brand’s signature integrated, triple lugs have been slightly modified for a more streamlined profile, with a broader, brushed center lug flanked by thin polished outer lugs.

Underneath the “box-shape” crystal is a black dial made of black slate stone on the rose gold model, or a black honeycomb grid dial for the white gold version.

The dial forms the stage on which the gears sit in an elevated position, along with several boomerang-shaped bridges that support the tourbillon and power reserve indicator. Most of the vital moving parts, including the large barrel at 12 o’clock, appear to hover over the dial.

As a result, while it is fitted with a sapphire case back, the back of the movement is essentially a full plate, virtually blank save for a few jewels set in gold chatons.

While the display back may lack detail, the movement is notable. It’s the newly developed, in-house and hand-wound UN-176, which offers an impressive seven-day power reserve. And the flying tourbillon is  naturally equipped with Ulysse Nardin’s hallmark anchor escapement, made entirely from silicon.

Like Girard-Perregaux’s Constant Escapement, the Ulysse Nardin Anchor Escapement relies on the unique elasticity of silicon to provide constant force. It consists of a circular silicon frame that holds the lever in place.

And instead of a pivot, two perpendicular, buckled blades of silicon on both sides of the frame converge at the pivot point of the lever. Both the buckled blades flex between fixed ends, ensuring a very precise and constant transmission of action between the escape wheel and the balance regardless of the torque from the mainspring.

Price and Availability 

While the GMT complication and high-end 9F quartz movements have been synonymous with Grand Seiko, they have never been combined, until now. Grand Seiko has just added a second time zone function to its top of the line quartz calibre, creating the 9F86, which makes its debut in a trio of Grand Seiko Sports models.

The 9F GMT has all the impressive features of the basic 9F movement, including an instantaneous date and zero-backlash seconds hand. But the GMT function is just like that found in mechanical Grand Seiko movements, with an independently adjustable hour hand set via the crown.

The 9F GMT watches have the same 39mm steel case with crown guards and 100m water-resistance. At 12.1mm high, the case is slightly thicker than that of the time-only quartz Grand Seiko, but not by much. That’s because the 9F86 movement is not merely a second time zone module added on top, instead it has a redesigned movement base plate and wheel train, along with a shorter cannon pinion to attach the hands.

Limited to 800 watches, the flagship model is the Grand Seiko 9F GMT 25th Anniversary limited edition (ref. SBGN001) to mark the 25th year of the 9F movement, joining the other anniversary edition unveiled earlier this year. It’s powered “Special” quartz movement that boasts a specially selected quartz crystal that allows the movement to run within +/-5 seconds a year – denoted by the golden star at six o’clock.

Featuring the nighttime half of the 24-hour track and GMT hand in bright yellow, the limited edition has a “metallic charcoal” dial stamped with a motif inspired by the traditional Seiko quartz logo. But at five o’clock (or 25th minute) on the dial, the pattern actually incorporates a subtle “9F” and “25”.

The other two 9F GMT models will be part of the regular collection. The ref. SBGN003 has a black dial with a red GMT hand, while the ref. SBGN005 has the dial in metallic blue.

These are fitted with standard 9F movements, rated to +/-10 seconds a year.

Price and availability 

The Grand Seiko 9F GMT limited edition (ref. SBGN001) will arrive in stores October 2018, priced at ¥399,600 with Japanese tax, or €3600 including European tax.

And the regular edition models (refs. SBGN003 and SBGN005) are slated for January 2019 delivery, priced at ¥356,400, or €3200.

Just over a month ago, Omega repeated the success of last year’s online-exclusive Speedy Tuesday, with the second instalment of the series, the Speedmaster “Ultraman” selling out in under two hours.

Named after a social media hashtag coined by Robert-Jan Broer, founder of Dutch watch blog Fratello Watches, the first Speedy Tuesday was highly anticipated, but disappointed on some counts, namely with long delayed deliveries as well as issues with the colours on the dial. Omega fixed all of that with the Speedy Tuesday “Ultraman”, with the first watches being delivered in third week of August, free of any reported issues.

#SpeedyTuesday

The original Speedy Tuesday might have taken itself quite seriously, being inspired by the experimental Alaska Project III wristwatch of 1978 – developed to satisfy NASA’s need for a timekeeper that could survive extreme temperatures – the latest Speedy Tuesday is orange, black and dedicated to a Japanese superhero who transforms into a giant alien to defend Earth from other giant aliens.

Speedy Tuesday parts one and two

Unlike the black and silver Speedy Tuesday of 2017,  “Ultraman” is striking in black and orange. The colours pop, and give the watch a greater sense of fun than the average Speedmaster. The contrast between the colours is enhanced by the matte, grained surface of the dial.

So even though the watch feels exactly like any other Speedmaster Professional – since the case is exactly the same – it looks a great deal more interesting.

The watch is inspired by the Speedmaster Professional “Ultraman” (ref. 145.012) of 1968, which was essentially a standard Moonwatch with an orange central seconds hand (and bona fide “Ultraman” watches are known to bear serial numbers within a fixed range). It got the nickname from the fact that made a prominent appearance in the 1971 television series The Return of Ultraman.

Ultraman consequently makes an appearance on the Speedy Tuesday edition, with a caricature of the superhero’s head printed on the constant seconds register at nine o’clock. Being tone on tone and fairly indistinct in form, the Ultraman head is not especially noticeable on the wrist, though it glows orange when illuminated by UV light (a small UV torch is provided with the watch).

Also a nod to the television show is the three-minute segment in orange on the minute counter, explained by the fact that the titular hero could only be a giant alien for three minutes before reverting to his human form.

Though the Speedy Tuesday “Ultraman” doesn’t take itself too seriously with its pop culture inspiration, it has enough smartly executed throwbacks to vintage Speedmasters to satisfy high-minded collectors. In fact, the subtle inclusion of elements from “pre-Moon” Speedmasters is perfectly attuned to the zeitgeist of today’s collecting, where vintage watch enthusiasts obsess over minor details.

The first on the list of its vintage detailing is the stepped dial. It’s not quite as pronounced as that on a vintage Speedmaster, but obvious nevertheless. Interesting, the hour markers on the “Ultraman” are painted into shallow recesses, whereas on most other Speedmasters, new and old, they are painted onto the dial.

A Speedmaster ref. 105.012 from the 1960s

Also draw from vintage Speedmaster is the “dot over 90”, or “DON”, aluminium bezel insert, as well as the retro Omega logos on the dial and crown.

The rest of the watch is pretty much stock Speedmaster Professional. The 42mm steel case has the same alternating brushed and polished finish on its signature lyre-lugs, though the case back has some extra commemorative engraving.

Underneath the back is the Omega cal. 1861, the hand-wound movement based on the Lemania cal. 1873 that’s been used in the Moonwatch since 1969. It’s a fairly simplistic, but robust and reliable, cam-based chronograph movement that’s long in tooth but so strongly associated with the Moonwatch that it’ll probably never change.

The “Ultraman” also departs significantly from last year’s Speedy Tuesday in its packaging. While the 2017 edition came wrapped a modestly sized leather roll, the “Ultraman” arrives in an impractically large octagonal box modelled on the table used by the Ultraman team in the television show. Underneath the insert to hold the watch sits a spare leather strap (which is a superior choice to the NATO strap that leaves the watch quite bulky) and strap tool that has a built-in UV light. Though a steel bracelet isn’t part of the package, the various bracelets for the Moonwatch will fit.

Priced at US$7100, or S$9180, the Speedy Tuesday Ultraman costs about 10%, or US$600, more than last year’s edition. That increase is probably due to the instant sellout of the first edition, rather than any material increase in cost of production. That being said, the “Ultraman” is still a much more attractive watch, because it smartly blends Speedmaster history with a bit of fun.

Correction August 30, 2018: The calibre inside is the 1861, not the earlier generation 861. 

The extraordinary imagination of MB&F has produced some of the most elaborate timekeeping contraptions, from spaceships to creepy crawlies. Needless to say, robots have been a recurring subject, starting with the brand’s first clock, Melchoir, and continuing with the schizophrenic Balthazar to the benevolent Sherman. And now MB&F has introduced Grant, a robot clock sitting on three wheeled tracks that can transform.

Named after the American M3 Lee “Grant” tank of the Second World War, the compact but weighty 2.34kg clock is designed by MB&F and once again built by Swiss clockmaker L’Epée 1839. Fashioned from steel, nickel-plated and palladium-plated brass, Grant stands on three continuous rubber tracks and is made from 268 components.

Grant is powered by L’Epée’s in-line eight-day movement, with time displayed on a shield across its back. Like the previous robot clocks, it has a glass dome on the robot’s head that protects the balance and escapement. The regulator is equipped with an Incabloc shock protection system to reduce risk of damage when the clock is moved.

The movement is wound on the dial side of the clock with a double-depth square socket key, which is mounted on the robot’s right hand, doubling up as a cannon.

However, what distinguishes Grant from MB&F’s earlier robot clocks is its ability to transform. In its lowest position, the dial is horizontal and almost parallel with the table. The dial can also be set at 45 degrees for an optimal viewing angle as a desk clock, and also vertical at 90 degrees.

Grant measures 166mm tall at its tallest standing position, and just 115mm high when flat.

Price and Availability

Grant is priced at SFr22,200 and is available in Nickel, Black, and Blue, each limited to 50 pieces.

Switzerland’s biggest watch conglomerate the Swatch Group has just announced Nivachron, a cutting edge, non-magnetic alloy for hairsprings developed in collaboration with a surprising partner, high-end watchmaker Audemars Piguet. Though the announcement does not explicitly says so, it appears Nivachron is an alternative to silicon, having most, or perhaps all, of silicon’s properties while retaining the malleability of a metal alloy.

The new alloy has “exceptional paramagnetic characteristics”, according to the Swatch Group. Nivachron has a “complex composition” with a “titanium base”, which allows it to reduce the effect of magnetism “by a factor of 10 to 20”, depending on the movement it is used in. In addition, Nivachron also boasts resistance to ambient temperature changes as well as shock.

Not much has been revealed about the cooperation between the Swatch Group and Audemars Piguet, however, the name of the alloy indicates a major role played by Swatch Group subsidiary Nivarox-FAR, the biggest producer of tiny movement components, including those of the escapement and hairspring. Also, all of the trademark registrations for “Nivachron” available online are in the name of Nivarox-FAR and the Swatch Group.

The development of Nivachron is notable in that the material is a metal alloy, rather than silicon, which has been the most popular paramagnetic material for hairsprings in recent years. While silicon has all the ideal properties for a hairspring, it is relatively fragile and prone to breaking when handled improperly during assembly or servicing. Nevertheless it has been adopted by various Swatch Group brands, including Omega (where it’s named Si14), Breguet, Blancpain and Tissot, as well as Rolex and Patek Philippe. That made it seem like silicon was on its way to dominance, but Nivachron might be an alternative.

To celebrate the upcoming centenary of Bauhaus – the Staatliches Bauhaus school was founded in Weimar in 1919 – Nomos has introduced a limited edition series of its bestselling Tangente model. The Bauhaus anniversary line-up totals nine watches, but is actually three models, each available in three case sizes.

Nomos’ commemoration of Bauhaus’ centenary is perhaps ironic, or even tongue in cheek, since the brand’s design ethos is often wrongly characterised as Bauhaus. Instead it is actually inspired by the Deutscher Werkbund, an early 20th century design movement that aimed to combine artisanal crafts and mass production. Being a predecessor of Bauhaus, the Deutscher Werkbund is visually similar, which is why they are often confused.

Nonetheless the formalism and pragmatism of Bauhaus can be felt in the Tangente, the first wristwatch by Nomos and arguably its signature timepiece, characterised by thin, angular lugs and large, alternating hour markers.

The limited edition features a cream dial that is described by Nomos as “sketch paper”, matched with black numerals and hands. Aptly, each watch features a pale primary colour to mimic watercolour on sketch paper, which takes the form of a red, blue or yellow minute track. Each version in three sizes – 33mm, 35mm, and 38mm.

As with all Nomos limited editions, the tweak in design is subtle yet meaningful and distinct enough to distinguish itself from the current Nomos lineup. Hidden behind a solid caseback is the hand-wound Alpha, Nomos’ first in-house calibre that is loosely based on the Peseux 7001 and offers a 43-hour power reserve.

Price and Availability

The Nomos Tangente ‘A Century of Bauhaus’ Limited Edition in red, blue or yellow is priced at US$1660 (33mm), US$1800 (35mm), and US$1930 (38mm). Each version is limited to 100 pieces, making the entire run 900 pieces. Delivery starts in September 2018.

Synonymous with the town of Schaffhausen, IWC was strategically sited when it was founded in 1868, in order to take advantage of the hydropower offered by the nearby Rhine Falls, the largest waterfall in Europe.

As the company celebrates its 150th year, it has just raised the curtains on a 13,500 sq m manufacture in the nearby Merishausen. The expansive Manufakturzentrum sees IWC unite 11 departments previously spread out across different locations in Neuhausen and Schaffhausen, including the production of in-house calibres, movement components as well as watch cases. Completed after just 21 months of construction, the new factory is a natural step in the brand’s rapid growth over the past decade, with IWC now the biggest pure-play watchmaker in parent company Richemont’s stable.

With a capacity of about 400 employees, the 139m long and 62m wide building was designed by chief executive Christoph Grainger-Herr, who prior to taking the top job, was IWC’s “Brand Architect”. Mr Grainger-Herr’s creation was inspired by modernist exhibition pavilions, which means lots of glass and linear forms. The space boasts a glass facade of 2200 sq m, letting in plenty of natural daylight.

Ergonomically designed workstations enable the brand to not only strengthen its workflow and processes but also offer an element of pageantry as it plays host to visitors from around the world. Like many modern watch factories, Manufakturzentrum has been constructed to be both a production facility and a platform for the brand to showcase its technical side

Christoph Grainger-Herr

Visitors will first be greeted by a 9m high entrance lobby which leads to movement component production, where a total of 1500 different parts for IWC’s range of calibres are made, including main plates, bridges, rotors, springs, levers and parts for complications. That’s followed by the movement assembly department. Through the glass façade, visitors can follow all the production process step by step. Raw materials (primarily bars of metal) and case production are located at the basement.

The southern wing

The reception

A visitors’ tour

The production of movement components

Movement assembly

Metal bar storage and case production in the basement

Sustainability is also at the heart of the new complex. The rooftop was designed with solar panels and water is drawn from two groundwater sources. To effectively reduce energy consumption, automatic lighting control coupled with LED lights are installed.

A sensor-controlled sunshade system automatically controls the lowering and raising of awnings depending on the intensity of sunshine and prevents the building from being heated up unnecessarily.

Like the company’s headquarters in Schaffhausen, the new facility will run on hydroelectric power, just as when the brand was founded 150 years ago.

Austrian watchmaker is well loved for its affordable, sensible watches, and the Chrono-Felix is just that – a hand-wound, single-button chronograph priced at just over US$7000. The Chrono-Felix is also the first chronograph by Habring² powered by the brand’s proprietary A11C-H1 chronograph movement (the Doppel Felix from earlier this year is powered by the same base calibre, but it was a split-seconds).

Like many of Habring²’s recent watches, the Chrono-Felix is smaller and slimmer than its earlier timepieces. The steel case is 38.5mm wide and 10.5mm high, relatively compact proportions for a modern chronograph wristwatch. It’s fitted with a domed sapphire crystal and rated to 30m.

The dial is a grained silver with black markings, with the “12” available either in red or black. And the hands are offered either in glossy black or blued steel.

A movement of one’s own

As with all of Habring²’s other proprietary movements, the A11B has its origins in the ETA Valjoux 7750, long the base movement of choice for Richard Habring. When he was at IWC in the 1980s and 1990s, Mr Habring used 7750 as the base for all manner of complications, most notably for his signature split-seconds and also a compact flying tourbillon.

But when ETA announced in 2011 that it would no longer supply movements and components, Habring² embarked on a journey towards self-sufficiency. Habring² used the basics of the robust 7750 as a starting point, but tweaked and improved the design, including “[optimising the movement] for production in small quantities”.

That resulted in the time-only A11 movement, found inside the Felix wristwatch of 2014. All of the components inside the A11 are produced by independent parts suppliers, with nothing coming from ETA. The hairspring, for instance, is made by Carl Haas, a German producer of wires and composites.

Similarly, the A11C-H1 chronograph movement is Habring²’s own. According to Habring², “we have modified [the lever and wheel works] to certain extent… [making it] easier to produce, easier to finish, easier to service”. At 6.5mm in height, it’s notably thinner than the 7mm high Valjoux 7760 (which is the manually-wound version of the 7750).

Habring² has also decorated the movement to an appealing degree, with circular graining on the bridges and perlage on the base plate, along with a blued steel chronograph cam. All of the steel levers for the chronograph are finished with straight graining and bevelled edges.

However, Habring² is careful to point out at the initial run of Chrono-Felix watches will contain A11C-H1 movements that still rely on chronograph wheels from ETA. That is only because Habring² still have a stock of these components, but once they run out, the A11C-H1 will be made up of parts exclusively from Habring²’s own suppliers.

Price and availability 

The Chrono-Felix is priced at €6250, with deliveries starting in September 2018. It’s available either direct from Habring² or any of its retailers.

Unveiled at Baselworld last year, the Rado HyperChrome Captain Cook was just about the most surprising launch from the brand in years. While Rado is best known for its shiny, sleek and all-ceramic watches, the Captain Cook combined faithful 1960s styling with solid specs and a reasonable price tag. Now Rado has introduced the Tradition Captain Cook MKIII, which is based on another 1960s Captain Cook, this time the tonneau-case version.

While the HyperChrome Captain Cook was an out-and-out remake of the vintage original, the Tradition Captain Cook MKIII is expressly a reinterpretation. The watch has a case in lightweight titanium that makes it easy on the wrist despite the large dimensions – 46.8mm wide, 48.3mm long and 13.9mm high. The fit is also helped by the short, almost non-existent lugs that allow the watch to wear like a smaller timepiece.

And unlike the HyperChrome which had a 100m depth rating and no screw-down crown, the Tradition Captain Cook is a more serious-minded diver’s watch, equipped with a screw-down crown and 220m water resistance.

Inspired by the domed PlexiGlas on the original, the watch is fitted with a “box-type” sapphire crystal. Like many dive watches of the 1960s and 1970s, it features an internal, uni-directional bezel for measuring elapsed time that is operated via the crown at two o’clock. The inner bezel has fully luminous markings, as well as its first 15 minutes in bright yellow to time decompression stops.

The dial has been entirely redesigned with large, sword-shaped hands and applied indices, a distinct departure from the chunky, oblong hands and markers found on the original. The minute hand, just as crucial in a dive watch, is also in yellow.

The Tradition Captain Cook MKIII is powered by the ETA C07.621, the day-date version of a calibre used by several Swatch Group brands; Mido dubs it the Calibre 80 and Tissot, the Powermatic 80. It is essentially an ETA 2836 with an extended, 80-hour power reserve thanks to a redesigned mainspring barrel, low friction escapement and 3Hz balance. The escapement parts are made of ARCAP, a copper, nickel and zinc alloy that is extremely anti-magnetic, as well as low friction.

Price and Availability

The Rado Tradition Captain Cook MKIII Automatic (ref. 764.6030.3.117) is priced at US$2550.

Sotheby’s upcoming Hong Kong watch auction boasts a watch that has long been the stuff of myth and legend – a Rolex Daytona powered by an El Primero movement and featuring a 950 platinum case.

While vintage, manual wind Rolex Daytonas have been all the rage recently, contemporary Cosmographs with automatic movements are arguably as interesting. And relative to the improbable prices that vintage Daytonas go for, relatively good value for money.

In the realm of contemporary Daytona watches, the most valuable model without precious stones is the Daytona “Chairman” or “Deep Blue”. This yellow gold ref. 16528 is fitted with a metallic blue dial, which was apparently made as a prototype but never put into production. As the story goes, the loose dials were then gifted to business partners and senior management of Rolex. Phillips sold one last year for SFr552,500, or about US$561,000, fees included.

The watch going on the block at Sotheby’s just might top that.

A rare alloy

While Rolex did introduce the platinum Daytona ref. 116506 in 2013 to mark the 50th anniversary of the model, the earlier generation “Zenith” Daytona in platinum has long been the subject of whispered rumours. But it is very real.

Having its own model reference of 16516, the watch is likely unique with this dial combination. According to Sotheby’s watch department chief Sam Hines, the watch is believed to be one of just five El Primero-powered Daytonas ever made with a platinum case; all five were commissioned by former Rolex chief executive Patrick Heiniger and four were given away to friends and associates.

Made for the chief

Mr Heiniger was only its third chief executive in Rolex’s history, having taken over from his father, Andre, who led Rolex for almost 30 years after founder Hans Wilsdorf’s death. Together, father and son ran Rolex uninterrupted for almost half a century, or half the company’s existence in fact.

Mr Heiniger was appointed managing director in 1992, and abruptly departed “to pursue personal interests” in 2008, much to the surprise of the industry. While there are speculation at the time his departure was linked to the losses related to the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme – which Rolex publicly denied – Mr Heiniger passed away in 2013 at the age of 62, after having been photographed looking gaunt not long before.

Though it has been a decade since Mr Heiniger left the top job at Rolex, the company today is in large part due to his insistence on vertical integration, which turned Rolex into the impressive industrial giant it is.

Patrick Heiniger (Image Jake’s Rolex Magazine)

While his corporate strategy is evident in the sprawling Rolex facilities in Geneva and Bienne, his personal inclination towards platinum watches was equally well known. Almost every photo of Mr Heiniger shows him in a characteristically wide necktie, and when his watch is visible it was inevitably a platinum Rolex Day-Date (either the 36mm or the large Day-Date II) with the distinctive “Ice Blue” dial that debuted during his tenure. Consequently, a Cosmograph Daytona in platinum – the chronograph was the most complicated Rolex at the time – seems like the most sensible thing.

On the surface the platinum “Zenith” Daytona looks like the same in white gold, not unlike the Daytona ref. 6265 in white gold that sold for US$6m last year, which looked very much like the steel version.

The dial is a black Tahitian mother of pearl with Arabic numerals, the same dial that was also available on white gold models. In the hand the watch is weightier than a gold Daytona, though not substantially.

It takes a closer look to reveal its unique nature. For one, the reference number that’s engraved between the lugs is unique and hitherto unknown. The final digit “6” indicates platinum; in contrast, the common 18k yellow gold Daytona is ref. 16518, with “8” indicating yellow gold. The other set of numbers between the opposite lugs is the serial number, which starts with “A”, placing it as a 1999 watch.

Then there are the hallmarks. They are visible are on the back of the lugs, and also on the inside of the case back.

The oval Rolex France hallmark.

Interestingly, the crown and screw-down pusher also appear to be platinum, as there is no colour difference between them and the case.

The movement inside is the standard Rolex cal. 4030, a modified Zenith El Primero running at 28,800 beats per hour (compared to 36,000bph in the Zenith version).

Service marks scratched on the inside of the back appear to indicate it was serviced twice before, including at Rolex in Geneva in December 2006.

And then there is the platinum folding clasp, which is as unique as the watch, since it was made for no other model. The “U” code on the clasp indicates it was produced in 1998 or 1999.

All of the crucial bits of the original packaging are included with the watch, including the warranty certificate and hang tag, both correctly numbered. The certificate is stamped “Rolex France”, along with the country code “110” for France.

Notably, both the date and stamp are in green ink.

But just as interesting as the watch itself is the story behind it, which is why the case back is engraved “Francesca-Romain” and “16.10.1999”.

The Italian connection

Exceptionally rare and historically important watches are only occasionally accompanied by well documented provenance. Due to client confidentiality, Sotheby’s can only say that this watch was consigned by the family that originally received it as a gift from Mr Heiniger. But as it turns out, a bit of investigation reveals the full story behind the watch.

The watch was made as a gift for Francesca Gobbi and Romain Sardou, on the occasion of their church wedding that took place in Paris on October 16, 1999. The wedding was covered in the media, and images of the church wedding as well as dinner party are still available online. According to French news magazine Paris Match in 2016, the Sardous live in Paris and have three children.

A novelist and television scriptwriter, Mr Sardou hails from a French family prominent in the arts that has produced singers, writers and actors. His father, Michel, is a singer, as was his grandfather and great-grandmother, while his mother was an actress. Photos of Mr Sardou over the years show him wearing the Daytona, which explains why it is visibly well worn.

Romain Sardou pictured in 2007 (Photo by Eric Fougere/VIP Images/Corbis via Getty Images)

And in 2014 (Photo by Eric Fougere/VIP Images/Corbis via Getty Images)

But the Rolex connection lies with Ms Gobbi. Her family owns Gobbi 1842, a famous Milanese watch store that started as a watch repair workshop in the 19th century before becoming a retailer in the 1930s.

While it is likely Mr Heiniger had a notable personal relationship with the Gobbi family, there’s also the fact that Gobbi 1842 has been an important Rolex retailer for decades. And Italy was, and perhaps still is, the biggest market for Rolex in Europe.

The fact that the country plays an outsize role in the Swiss watchmaker is evident in the fact that its chief executive from 2011 to 2014 was Gian Ricardo Marini, formerly the head of Rolex Italia. Born in Milan, Mr Marini is also the son of one of the three founders of Romalo, the Italian distributor for Rolex until 1993 when Rolex acquired the operation.

The Rolex Daytona in platinum, ref. 16516, will be sold at Sotheby’s Important Watches auction that takes place in Hong Kong on October 2, 2018. It is expected to sell for over US$500,000, or HK$4m.