SpotlightBaselworld 2018 Preview: A Glimpse Of What’s To Come

Set in the eponymous town of Basel in northern Switzerland, Baselworld is the watch and jewellery show that defines the landscape of the watch market for the rest of the year. And we’re not talking only about luxury watches or Swiss watches. Unlike the Salon International De La Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), which showcases only brands that are premium and higher up on the luxury scale, Baselworld is home to exhibitors from all segments and from around the world. Having said that, the range of brands at Baselworld from the luxury and prestige segments is as wide as you can imagine. From the prestigious Patek Philippe and the pioneering Breguet to the iconic Omega and the grand Rolex, the products showcased by the high-end names at the fair always baffle one and all.

For the Baselworld 2018 edition, there have been a few pre-event announcements that have already got the conversation started. In fact, a few brands even had the buzz going on their 2018 releases before SIHH in January. Take a look at the announcements of new products that we are particularly looking forward to seeing at the fair.

The Hublot Big Bang Unico Red Magic With Vibrant Ceramic

Hublot’s all about the ‘art of fusion’, and after creating their own gold alloys, hardened carbon fibre and leather-and-rubber fusions, this year, they’re all set to present some vibrant ceramic. Yes, ceramic in watches isn’t something new. It’s been used extensively by Rado, Chanel, Dior, Panerai, and even Hublot in the past. However, there haven’t quite been any drastic colour variations beyond blacks, whites and other neutral tones, barring some exceptions. Now though, Hublot’s research and development has led to ceramic in a rich, vibrant hue like red for the first time. And not just that; with extreme density, it’s even harder than conventional ceramic. Moreover, the watch we’ll see it in incorporates this material in every component of the case. The limited edition watch is in a 45mm case, housing a Unico HUB124 in-house movement, and features an open-worked display. The brand calls the vivid red the ‘first coloured ceramic’, which implies that there could be other rich hues as well. Won’t that be vibrant!

Coloured Ceramic And A Bronze Combination From Rado

We can already see some strong emerging trends in materials. Rado will also showcase some coloured ceramic, by way of their new True Thinline watch in green ceramic, and a beautiful, mother-of-pearl dial in green with underlying patterns of leaf veins. The textural splendour of this watch is heightened with the use of gold hour markers applied on the underside of the sapphire crystal glass, adding depth. This lush green is sure to be among the strongest colour trends of the year.

And then there’s bronze that Rado is incorporating for the first time in the new edition of their HyperChrome Chronograph Automatic. Here, they’ve combined their signature high-tech ceramic in matte black with bronze-plated elements and bronze inserts on the sides of the case. The combination of black and bronze is mirrored on the face of the dial, where rose gold-plated numerals are applied on a black dial. The chronograph push-pieces and hands, the crown and central timekeeping hands are all visually in-sync.

Oris: The New Carl Brashear And A Teaser

There’s more of bronze in store for us with the new Carl Brashear from Oris, which we already offered you a sneak peek of in our SIHH coverage. It’s a diver’s timepiece in bronze – only the second one ever made by Oris. The first was the predecessor of this watch, which also paid tribute to the heroic Carl Brashear, the first African-American and first amputee master diver of the US Navy.

Aside from the Carl Brashear, Oris is set to surprise us with a new edition of one of their classic pieces. “We will bring an update of a very traditional, classic line,” teased Rolf Studer, CEO, Oris, when I had interviewed him a few months ago. “I can’t tell you which one, but I can tell you that it’ll be very exciting.” He also added, “We generally focus on men’s watches, but this year, there will also be something interesting for women.”

TAG Heuer’s New Partnership With Aston Martin And 55 Years Of The Carrera

Every year, a few brands end up marking milestones of various kinds. This year, one of them will be TAG Heuer, celebrating 55 years of the Carrera collection. A major pillar for the brand, and a strong representation of its association with motorsports, the Carrera collection will see an evolution in this anniversary year, with the new Heuer 02 Calibre manufacture movement. The new calibre will be seen in four new Carrera chronograph models, each in a 43mm case, either in steel, rose gold or ceramic. The steel versions are either with a blue bezel and blue leather strap or with a black bezel and brown leather strap. The black ceramic version comes with a black ceramic bracelet, while the gold model has a black leather strap. All models have skeleton displays, with distinctive hour markers, hands and chronograph counters.

Another huge development for TAG Heuer this year is their new partnership with Aston Martin. As official partners of the British luxury automobile manufacturers, TAG Heuer is unveiling two special edition watches – one a Carrera and the other a Formula 1. Both these watches are from the brand’s automobile-related collections, as they draw direct inspiration from the colours, patterns and other elements of Aston Martin’s sports cars.

Grand Seiko Celebrates 25 Years Of Caliber 9F

Last year was big for Grand Seiko, as it went from being one of the more premium collections of Seiko to becoming an independent brand. This year, the celebration continues, as Grand Seiko will be marking 25 years of their flagship movement, the Caliber 9F. The ultra-precise quartz movement took five years to develop and perfect before it was introduced in 1993. And this year, there will be two limited-edition watches that will commemorate the 1993 timepiece.

One is an update on that first 9F model, but with Seiko being replaced with Grand Seiko as the only branding on the dial, which has an added visual dimension with a patterned texture. While this one has a day and date indication, the second piece – a dressier watch modelled after a 1967 Grand Seiko watch – only shows the date. Framed in a gold box, the date window matches the applied hour markers and hands, as well as the bezel, which is in 18-carat gold. In 39mm and 40mm respectively, these watches commemorating one of the highest regarded quartz movements ever, are in limited editions of 1,500 and 600 pieces respectively.

The Raymond Weil Maestro Goes Blue

We spoke about the strong trend of blue in watches a few months ago, after which the overwhelming amount of blue we saw at SIHH made it official. Now it seems like we’ll see some blue in Basel too, and that’s not just because of the Baselworld colours – white and blue. One set of watches in blue this year will be the Raymond Weil Maestro Blues, which pays tribute to the blues music. The brand known for their inspirations from the world of music, best presented through their Maestro collection, will showcase one version of the Blues watch in a steel case, and the other in rose gold PVD. Both are powered by the same automatic movement behind the dial and its wave pattern inspired by the sound waves of the blues music. The steel version gives us a glimpse of the balance wheel at 12 o’clock.

A Never-Seen-Before Avatar Of The Breitling Navitimer

Breitling is in a new set of hands this year, with a new CEO, Georges Kern – who was with IWC earlier – and a new creative director, Guy Bove. Everyone’s looking forward to seeing the first collection of Breitling under Kern. For now, the fresh perspective that Kern and Bove bring to the brand is already quite discernible, through the new edition Navitimer 8, a visibly distinct departure from the Navitimers we’ve seen so far. This sharp evolution of the collection comes in the form of a cleaner design for one of the most iconic series of aviation watches ever. The inner-bezel slide rule is gone, which instantly clears up the dial in a big way. So for those who found the Navitimer too cluttered, this is good news.

The other significant development is the replacement of the hour markers with Arabic numerals – a simple change that gives it a more contemporary look. The numerals do bear a striking resemblance to those used by IWC on their Big Pilot watches. However, for those who liked the Navitimer as it was, the good news is that this new edition doesn’t replace the existing designs, as Kern informs. It is just an addition to the line. The new Navitimer 8 comes in five versions – two chronograph versions, one with the date and the other with day and date indicators; two automatic versions, one with date and the other a Day-Date; and finally the Navitimer 8 Unitimer, which has a multiple time zone display. These five watches will be available in various combinations of colours and gold, steel and leather.

Among the other watches that will be unveiled at Baselworld 2018, there will be the new Carl F. Bucherer Manero Peripheral in a larger, 43mm gold case. We are also expecting a new edition from Favre-Leuba, as the brand’s CEO, Thomas Morf indicated that they’ll release a new version of their Raider Bathy. “A tribute to the original Bathy of the 1960s, this diver’s watch will have some cool new mechanical features,” said Morf. “Other new models we’re going to present will be the Raider Sea King and the Raider Deep Blue in 41mm, which will fill the gap between our offerings from 37mm to 44mm in the Raider collection.” On the other hand, there will be Blancpain’s new Villeret Quantième Complet GMT, with a complete calendar and moon phase display in an updated dial design.

All of this is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s going to be tons more to talk about once we get to the fair, and after. So watch this space for more on the absolute latest in timekeeping, coming soon. 

Which new watches from Baselworld 2018 are you most excited to check out? Do scroll down and share your thoughts in our comments section.