SpotlightRaymond Weil, Frederique Constant And Alpina – The Game Changers At Baselworld 2018

Raymond Weil played to their strengths with the new Baselworld 2018 collection, with their in-house movement and all their music associations. Last year, the independently-run Swiss watch manufacturer had introduced their first in-house movement, the RW1212, which we had talked about in detail here.

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This year, we got to see the beauty of it in a completely open-worked display. The new Freelancer RW1212 skeleton watch is stripped down to exhibit more than just the balance wheel. On the other hand, the movement was taken forward into the brand’s musical partnerships. The Freelancer RW1212 AC/DC edition pays tribute to the cult Australian hard rock band. This watch is in a steel case and features a texture on the dial, which mirrors the lightning stroke of the band’s emblem, also seen at 12 o’clock.

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Hitting a different note is the new Tango Bob Marley edition, which celebrates the iconic reggae musician, with accents in red, yellow and green, the colours of Marley’s signature flag. The Tango collection has yet another musical edition, in the form of the Tango Marshall, a collaboration with the makers of audio amplifiers and sound systems. This adds another feather to Raymond Weil’s numerous partnerships with musical manufacturers, which had started with their collaboration with Gibson.

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Even more music comes from Raymond Weil this year, with the Maestro Blues watches that celebrate the rhythm of blues music, which we had offered you a sneak peek of earlier. And then there was the new Shine Oval, which was the only watch from among the 2018 novelties, besides the Freelancer skeleton watch, which isn’t associated with music. The new Shine watch comes with the option to interchange bracelets and straps by the simple click of a button and the rotation of a disc on the caseback, which releases the bracelet from the case.

Intriguing Smartwatches By Frederique Constant And Alpina

While we’re talking about adaptability, one watch I was quite intrigued by was the Frederique Constant Hybrid Manufacture Watch. An interesting combination of mechanical and electronic features, this watch is powered by a self-winding mechanical calibre for its timekeeping functions, but also has electronic components that drive the smartwatch features this timepiece offers. At first, it seemed quite gimmicky to me, but on taking a closer look at the functions, I found it rather interesting.

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This Hybrid offers the most commonly used functions of a smartwatch – activity tracker, sleep monitoring, health analytics, world time features and much more. Additionally, it also keeps track of the performance of the mechanical part of the watch, alerting you when it’s time for servicing it and such. All of this can be accessed by downloading the Hybrid app on your smartphone.

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On similar lines is Alpina’s new AlpinerX, which performs certain ‘smart functions’ such as altitude, pressure and temperature measurement, UV indication, compass, GPS and more. It’s quite sporty with a PVD case and rubber strap, making it quite different from Frederique Constant’s Hybrid, even though it also offers features such as sleep monitoring and such. The sporty nature of this piece makes it quite similar to Tissot’s T-Touch watches.

From refining classical timepieces and enduring musical associations to watchmakers getting smarter this year, Baselworld 2018 is giving us a lot to write home about.

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