Round-UpThe Highs And Highs Of The Watchmaking World: A Look Back At 2019’s 10 Most Significant Developments
A whole lot happened in the watchmaking world in the year 2019—from anniversaries and grand openings to shattering records. There were milestones galore, and here, we neatly wrap up all the highlights for you
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Zenith Celebrates 50 Years Of The El Primero Movement
When you think of a watch movement with an exciting past, the Zenith El Primero 21 is probably the first one to come to mind. Designed all the way back in 1969, the brand celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019. ‘El Primero’ literally translates to ‘the first’ in Spanish and it was the first integrated automatic chronograph to hit the horological market. What made this movement special was that it beat at 36,600vph (vibrations per hour), or 5Hz—allowing for one to read intervals of 1/10th of a second—resulting in hitherto unheard of precision in timekeeping.
To commemorate this glorious era of watchmaking, when Zenith broke barriers and shook the status quo, the brand launched a 50th anniversary collection. This coveted and beautiful collection includes three gorgeous El Primero timepieces. One is the Zenith Defy El Primero 21, whose chronograph is capable of measuring 1/100th of a second, all thanks to the COSC-certified El Primero 9004 automatic calibre beating inside. The movement has a separate mainspring and balance wheel for the 1/100th-of-a-second timer. The timekeeping escapement of this mind-boggling chronograph beats at 36,000vph, while the second escapement vibrates at an astounding 50Hz or 3,60,000vph. The box also includes a reissue of the original 1969 El Primero timepiece—the El Primero A386 Revival—and an updated Chronomaster 2 El Primero, which comes with an updated movement.
To read all about the Zenith El Primero movement and its 50th anniversary, click here
Omega Celebrates 50 Years Of The Moon Landing And Reissues An Iconic Movement
There are some watches that shake up the horological world, but tend to go unnoticed by the general masses. However, there are some watches that are literally a part of history. This year, Omega commemorated 50 years of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, when the three astronauts on board—Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin—were strapped with an Omega Speedmaster. In honour of this epic moment in history, Omega unveiled two special edition watches. While one is a re-edition of a 1969 Speedmaster in 18-karat gold, the other depicts Buzz Aldrin climbing down from the spacecraft, and a footprint on the moon, seen on the dial and caseback respectively.
One of Omega’s icons also made a comeback this year, to the joy of horologists everywhere—the Speedmaster calibre 321, housed inside the Speedmaster Moonwatch 321 Platinum. First used in the Speedmaster in 1957, this historic calibre was developed in 1942. It powered the first watch worn on the moon, but its production was stopped in 1968. The Speedmaster Moonwatch 321 Platinum has a clear sapphire crystal caseback through which one can view a faithful recreation of the classic movement. The watch itself is a beauty to behold—with a bold 42mm case crafted with a platinum alloy, 18-karat white gold for the indices and hands, along with three meteorite (yes, meteorite!) sub-dials.
If you want to read more about the Omega Speedmaster Apollo 11 Anniversary Edition, click here. To read more about the Moonwatch, and how it shaped Omega’s Speedmaster timepieces, click here
TAG Heuer Marks 50 Years Of The Legendary Monaco
In the year 1969, the world was waiting with baited breath for its first automatic chronograph. In a race to the finish, the brands (then without the ‘TAG’) Heuer, Breitling and Büren (later known as Hamilton), along with movement makers Dubois-Depraz joined hands to create history. Zenith and Seiko had something brewing too. All three came out with their renditions, and there is some debate as to who actually came first. But debate aside, an icon was born out of this glorious era in watchmaking—the Heuer Monaco. This year, TAG Heuer celebrated the 50th anniversary of this legend—with five timepieces that represent five decades of watchmaking. With only 169 pieces available, these timepieces are a nod to TAG Heuer’s deep association with the world of motorsport, tailor-made for history and racing enthusiasts alike.
To read more about the TAG Heuer Monaco, click here
Patek Philippe’s Watch Becomes The Most Expensive Timepiece Ever Sold
Only Watch is a biennial watch auction of one-of-a-kind luxury timepieces, which have been donated by notable brands, the proceeds of which go to research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The eighth edition of the auction took place this year in Geneva, where Patek Philippe’s first and only Grandmaster Chime, crafted in steel, was sold for CHF 31 million. The watch has broken the erstwhile record of USD 17.8 million, which was held by Paul Newman’s own Rolex Daytona Paul Newman, becoming the most expensive watch ever sold! The Grandmaster Chime was released by Patek Philippe in 2014 to commemorate its 175th anniversary, and it is one of the most complicated wristwatches ever to have been designed—with 20 complications.
Bulgari Bags Its Fifth World Record With The Slimmest Mechanical Chronograph
When it comes to the thinnest watches in the world, Bulgari has it in the bag. For the fifth year in a row—after displaying immense watchmaking prowess with the world’s slimmest tourbillon and an unimaginably thin minute repeater—Bulgari has snagged yet another world record. The brand has created the slimmest mechanical chronograph, whose proportions beggar belief. With an octagonal case crafted in titanium and a dial and bracelet to match, this chronograph is only 6.9mm thick! The movement beating within is a paper-thin 3.3mm. Minimalist, light-weight, and elegant, the timepiece is an extraordinary example of the leaps and bounds the watchmaking industry has grown this year. We wonder how Bulgari will astound us next year!
To learn more about the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic, click here
Panerai Celebrates Its Association With Cricketer MS Dhoni By Launching Two New Watches
To the delight of cricket fans across the country, in 2018, Panerai announced that star cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who captained the Indian national team from 2007 to 2016, would be Panerai’s brand ambassador in India. This year, Panerai honours the association by releasing two new references dedicated to the icon—the Luminor GMT, which comes with an engraving on the steel caseback depicting the player and the outline of the Indian peninsula, and the Luminor Chrono Flyback, with the same engraving etched on the sapphire crystal caseback.
Hublot Opens Its First Flagship Boutique In India In The City Of Mumbai
On the 9th of October this year, Hublot opened its first flagship boutique in India, located in Palladium, Mumbai. This luxurious 45sq-m boutique, with eye-catching pop art paintings inspired by artists around the world, is a glorious representation of Hublot’s well-known motto—‘The art of fusion’. On display and up for sale are some of the brand’s most iconic collections, namely the Hublot Big Bang, the Spirit of Big Bang, and Classic Fusion, including some exquisite limited edition watches.
We had a chance to speak to Hublot’s CEO Ricardo Guadalupe, who enlightened us about their first boutique in India, the brand’s collaborations and his 15-year journey with Hublot. To read the interesting tête-à-tête click here
The Two Biggest International Watch Fairs Witness Some Changes
What’s in a name? The horological world seems to believe, a lot. The Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), one of the world’s biggest luxury watch fairs, which is owned by Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH), has completely rebranded itself. It will go by the name Watches & Wonders–Geneva now, with a brand new logo to boot. In 2020, the show is all set to have two components: The Salon, taking place in Geneva’s Palexpo as usual, and In the City, which will be free and open to the public. In other news regarding Watches & Wonders, the brands Audemars Piguet, Greubel Forsey and Richard Mille have announced that they will no longer be participating in the show. All three cited the evolving nature of the watchmaking market as their reason for leaving, along with how a salon-style model no longer works for the brands.
All was not well with Baselworld either. Breitling, Seiko and Grand Seiko, along with Casio have pulled out of Baselworld this year. This has been a big blow to the show after the Swatch Group (which includes brands such as Breguet, Omega, Longines, Rado and Tissot) announced its departure last year, among other brands such as Corum and Raymond Weil. But as they say, the show must go on! And we hope both the shows are as spectacular in 2020 as they are every year.
Mechanical Watchmaking Makes Even Greater Strides
It doesn’t come as a surprise to avid horologists that, recently, smartwatches have come out as a threat to the mechanical watchmaking industry. Offering a ton of helpful features, smartwatches present to the wearer the kind of functionality and ease of use that are almost peerless. One can recall the quartz crisis, when the precision and affordability of quartz watches almost spelled doom for the mechanical watch industry. However, just as the industry rose to the challenge in 1970s, so it has now.
Brands have responded to this threat by creating more and more exquisite and complicated watches that one could only dream of till a few years ago. There’s the Girard-Perregaux Bridges Cosmos, which has a sky chart, a globe for day/night and world time indication, as well as a tourbillon—all packed into one glorious package. Then there’s the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel, a charming rendition of the minute repeater, which features the brand’s fifth multiaxis tourbillon and replicates the chiming melody of the world’s most famous clock—the Big Ben. The mechanical watchmaking industry is definitely not bowing out from this stiff competition. And only time will tell what momentous experiments it dabbles with next.
Interested in reading more about the Girard-Perregaux Bridges Cosmos? You can click here. Did the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel pique your interest? Click here to read more
Ocean Conservation Remained The Watch Industry’s Focus
If you’ve been following the news, you know that the state of our oceans made headlines this year. However, it wasn’t all bad news. From shunning plastic straws and packaging and the ban of plastic microbeads, to a renewed vigour in terms of recycling this polluting material, the world truly came together to fight the menace of plastic. And watchmakers weren’t too far behind. Ocean conservation was a repeated theme in many timepieces that were released this year. Oris needs a special mention here, as it released the Clean Ocean Limited Edition, the Great Barrier Reef III and the Blue Whale Limited Edition—covering the three pillars of ocean conservation. They’ve included the three timepieces in the Oris Ocean Trilogy box set. Let us see what cause the watchmaking industry rallies behind next year!
To read more about how your favourite watchmakers helped save the oceans, click here
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BVLGARI Octo
103068
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Panerai Luminor
PAM01056
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Panerai Luminor
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Zenith Defy
95.9001.9100/78.R584
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01 733 7732 4185-Set
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Breitling Superocean Heritage
A133131A1G1W1
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Panerai Submersible
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