Round-UpWatches And Wonders 2022: World-Timers And GMT Watches Make An Impact
With the world’s current largest watch fair underway, we’re bringing you highlights of all the latest novelties being unveiled at Watches and Wonders 2022 in Geneva. Here are a few time-zone watches that are making a mark this year
May We Recommend
It’s that time of the year again, when the biggest names in watchmaking come together to present their latest and finest. While Watches and Wonders is physically taking place at the venue in Geneva after three years, digital sessions are allowing those who can’t yet travel the chance to witness the unveiling of some terrific new timepieces. This time, we take you right into the trends of the year, by showcasing watches from the more prominently seen genres, and how they’re taking their brands’ stories forward. Watches with secondary or multiple time zones have been quite popular over the years, but more so in recent times. It’s now become a necessity to keep track of times in other zones not just while travelling across zones, but also to plan and schedule correspondence via video and conference calls and so on. This feels particularly important during this time, when considering the Switzerland-India time difference is essential, while planning our coverage of Watches and Wonders. This year, we’re seeing some exquisite new watches with detailing and decoration that is far from humble, but done with elegance, while we’re also seeing some very functional timepieces that might only serve as upgrades. We see both ends of the spectrum among these multiple-time-zone watches, including world-timer Watches and GMTs. From Jaeger-LeCoultre’s breath-taking depiction of the Earth to Parmigiani’s extremely pared-down GMT function, take a look…
The Jaeger-LeCoutre Master Grande Tradition Calibre 948
In keeping with the ‘Stellar Odyssey’ theme that they have going this year, paying homage to celestial events, Jaeger-LeCoultre have unveiled a number of watches with astronomical complications and those that feature celestial bodies and their movements. Featuring the celestial body that we call home is this Grande Tradition from their Stellar Odyssey theme, which focuses on the movement of our planet that defines the time of day, which differs from place to place. This world-timer features a stunning depiction of the Earth, and a new interpretation of the maison’s universal time calibre. The domed, partially open-worked dial features exquisite enamel work of the champlevé variety, superimposed—along with a lattice of longitudes and latitudes—over a lacquered wavy guilloche pattern in blue. The dial has been created by master artisans at the manufacturer’s ‘rare handcrafts’ department. With its main timekeeping, world-timer and 24-hour indication, this beauty also features a universal flying tourbillon. It runs on the calibre 948, which was the first to combine a flying tourbillon with a world-timer, and it can be seen through the sapphire crystal caseback of the 43mm white gold case. This is a limited edition of 20 pieces.
Parmigiani Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante
From the elaborate to the pared-down, here’s a very minimalistic rendition of a secondary-time-zone watch, but only in terms of its display and functionality. Among this year’s extension of the Tonda PF collection that the Fleurier-based brand have unveiled is this three-hand timekeeper, with the third hand not for the seconds, but for the secondary reference time. The ‘rattrapante’ aspect of this watch refers to the nature in which the secondary-time-zone hand gets concealed—not unlike a secondary chronograph seconds hand of a rattrapante chronograph—when not in use. Pressing the pusher at the eight o’clock position reveals the secondary hand, while the pusher set into the time-setting crown conceals it under the primary hour hand. Meant for purists who prefer a cleaner display of basic features, when secondary functions are not required, this is probably as minimalistic a GMT watch as you can find. This ‘world first’, as Parmigiani are calling it, comes with a dial featuring the brand’s signature barley-corn pattern, and the minimal ‘PF’ (Parmigiani Fleurier) logo that they adopted last year with the PF collection.
Grand Seiko Evolution 9 Spring Dive GMT
For the first time, Grand Seiko have released sporty timepieces in their Evolution 9 collection, which had only included dressier watches up until now. And a part of this new sport watch edition of the collection are multiple GMT watches, with and without a chronograph feature. Running them are Seiko/Grand Seiko’s revolutionary Spring Drive calibres, which are mechanical movements with quartz regulators, presenting the best of both types of timekeeping. The timepieces feature three-hand timekeeping, a power reserve indicator, and a central GMT hand corresponding to a 24-hour secondary-time-zone scale on the bezel. In terms of their look, these sportier Evolution 9 watches have a more robust appearance, with wider lugs and a bolder design language. While this new Evolution 9 GMT comes with a stark black dial, there is also a version that reflects Grand Seiko’s more artistic side, with its abstract interpretation of an element of nature. This white, delicately-textured dial is inspired by the morning mist in the Shinshu region of Japan—the location of Grand Seiko’s manufacturing facility where all their dials are made. This version presents a beautiful contrast between the sporty and the elegant sides of the Japanese brand.
IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Top Gun Ceratanium
Technically, this particular Timezoner was not unveiled first at this edition of Watches and Wonders. However, it is definitely a part of the story that the Schaffhausen-based brand are presenting at the fair in 2022. They’re all about their ceramic colours this time, presenting new hues—the green Woodland and the stark white Lake Tahoe—in addition to existing ceramic successes from their past. These include their jet black, their sand-coloured Mojave Desert, and their grey Ceratanium. The latter is actually a proprietary innovative material first developed in 2017, and is essentially titanium that is heavily treated to various extremes, during the manufacturing process, which gives the lightweight metal a ceramic-like surface. Mimicking the properties of pure ceramic, the surface becomes hard and scratch-resistant, while the material itself retains the lightweight quality of titanium. This Timezoner edition from IWC’s expanding series of ceramics in various hues features the brand’s innovative world-timer complication. While the central hands indicate the time in the zone set at the 12 o’clock position, the bezel can be pressed down and rotated to bring any reference zone to 12 o’clock. This changes the central time according to the zone that’s set, as well as the 24-hour indicator below 12. A handy world-timer, it also has markers on the bezel to show the zones where daylight saving time comes into play—and helping account for the difference—making this extremely useful throughout the year.
We’re bringing you more from Watches and Wonders 2022, as we highlight the latest trends, innovations and revelations. Watch this space for more updates.
