Even the most dyed-in-the-wool, long-in-the-tooth trade-show veteran is left slack-jawed on entering Baselworld. The biggest date in the watch and jewellery calendar has always been a spectacular affair, but thanks to seven years of planning, 22 months of construction and a total investment of 430 million Swiss francs (Dh1.6 billion), a gleaming new extension now straddles Basel’s Exhibition Square, with swathes of jagged metallic cladding and a wormhole-like skylight bringing a touch of science fiction to Switzerland’s quaint medieval town.
Inside this parked-up Star Destroyer – think two or three Dubai airports bolted together with all their duty-free shops, luggage belts and cafes replaced by towering pavilions – 152,000 square feet of showground play host to 1,800 luxury brands, around which 150,000 visitors from more than 100 countries mingle, gawp, network and conduct billions of euros worth of business for eight days straight.
Rolex leads the charge, unsurprisingly, its 31m-by-40m footprint containing a vast three-storey stand that takes 150 lorries to transport and a month to build. Meanwhile, those booming bastions of the horological firmament, Patek Philippe, Bvlgari, TAG Heuer and Hublot serve as Baselworld’s gateguards – themselves guarded by frosty fembots and impassive security guards. The upshot? A jumbled-up jamboree of metallurgic and gemological fabulousness.
By all rights, the pervading mood should have been cautious this March, given the Russian slowdown, China’s ever-stricter gifting restrictions and, of course, the Swiss National Bank’s abrupt uncapping of the franc against the euro in January. But even in 2009, at the height of the financial slump, the atmosphere at Baselworld was infectiously optimistic, so by comparison things have never felt so upbeat, nor so varied in choice – from the coming of age of the women’s watch to the fine balance between horological fireworks and pared-back elegance. Of course, the imminent arrival of the Apple Watch has provoked a ripple of knee-jerk smartwatches from Switzerland, but there’s little to fear north of the US$500 (Dh1,800) mark.
In fact, despite – or, more likely, because of – our tech-riddled lives, the appeal of a finely crafted timepiece that can be repaired for centuries to come seems greater than ever. Here’s our pick of the 20 best new launches. You just need to decide what suits you best. Which, in a world of characters all clamped to identical smart devices, is a liberation in itself.
1. Bell & Ross Vintage Ww1 Edición Limitada
It’s rare that a brand falls in the centre of that unlikely Venn diagram crossing genuine military instrument and turtlenecked-architect style statement, but Bell & Ross manages just that with its pared-back, ultra-functional tool watches. So it’s nice to see the Chanel-owned watchmaker exhibiting considerable flair with this 99-piece bid for the horologically inclined cigar smoker (not such a rare Venn crossover, that one), which comes in a cabinet that doubles as a cigar humidor. With a sumptuous tobacco dial and red gold case that summons the dusty streets of Havana in a single blow, the real treat is to be found on the back: a beautifully finished, manually wound movement that’s good for five days of tick-tick-ticking.
2. Breitling Transocean Chronograph 1915
Precisely one century ago, Switzerland’s pre-eminent aviation pioneer (in terms of watches at least) created the world’s first single-pusher chronograph with its pushpiece separated from the crown, at 2 o’clock – that is where the thumb or forefinger naturally rest, and far easier to operate in the cockpit. To celebrate Breitling’s milestone is this deliciously retro watch fit for Biggles. Beyond the nostalgic stylings, the movement inside is nothing but forward-thinking, however – kitted with a two-tier column wheel activated by two stacked levers. Which, if you repeat that to a watch nerd, will sound very impressive indeed.
3. Bremont Jaguar MkI
Not only is Jaguar’s long-shelved C-X75 concept car making a comeback in the new Bond film this year, but the maker of its dashclock, Bremont, has revived its one-time partnership with its fellow British brand. This time it’s via a decidedly rose-tinted route: a watch that picks up on elements of the E-Type dashboard from the 1960s, right down to the red limit line on the rev counter. It’s a typically chocks-away slice of plucky Boy’s Own nostalgia from the youthful watchmaker, but make no mistake – this has been designed in collaboration with Jag’s legendary creative chap Ian Callum, and it’s powered by Bremont’s new proprietary automatic movement, partly crafted in Henley-on-Thames.
4. Nomos Glashütte Minimatik
Nomos is becoming the watch enthusiast’s worst-kept secret. Based in Germany’s sleepy Saxonian town of Glashütte, next door to Richemont’s A Lange & Söhne and Swatch Group’s Glashütte Original, this indie upstart combines killer Bauhaus modernism with hard-core horology at bafflingly affordable prices. And this new ladies’ watch (or men’s, to be honest) pushes things even further forward, both design-wise and in terms of craftsmanship, housing a new ultra-slim automatic movement beneath yet another exercise in less-is-more draughtsmanship. Its name could be the cutest going, too.
5. Omega Globemaster
New watch collection, catchy new name, no fuss, right? Well, not really, as the Globemaster is a deceptive distillation of almost every innovation that’s been pioneered chez Omega since the mega brand patented its revolutionary Co-Axial escapement in 1999. Borrowing its design cues from the Constellation watches of the 1950s, the tradition stops there; for within lies the first Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS)-certified master chronometer movement, which not only passes the usual 15-day precision test at Switzerland’s COSC facility, but functions properly when exposed to magnetic fields of 15,000 gauss. Other brands are welcome to apply for Omega and METAS’s new certificate, but – to paraphrase The Black Knight – few shall pass.
6. Bvlgari Diagono Magnesium
This is one of this year’s more unpredictable bids for the “horological smartwatch” niche (a tiny, perhaps imaginary niche, but you can never be too sure). Enhancing a traditional mechanical watch from the Italian jeweller’s Swiss factory is technology from WISeKey, which uses near-field communication to talk to your smartphone and authenticate the unlocking of your secure data – stored in a disused Swiss army bunker, buried in the mountains near the Bvlgari watch factory. Billed as an “intelligent way to push Swissness into the 21st century”, it’s clever because it doesn’t try to compete with Apple or Samsung – but, rather, takes the notion of a traditional watch in another, equally intriguing direction.
7. Tudor North Flag
Little brother no longer, Tudor positively strides out of Rolex’s shadow this year with one of the curviest curveballs of Baselworld: its own in-house movement. Apparently with little to no help from its parent company, despite the Rolex reputation for rock-solid workhorse mechanics, Tudor’s own “MT5621” powerhouse seems unfussy, unadorned and reassuringly robust. Much like its launch collection, in fact, whose old-school, work-it-out-with-a-pencil adventure-science vibe draws inspiration from the 1950s British North Greenland Expedition, on which several members wore Tudor watches.
8. Chopard Mille Miglia GTS Automatic
Quite apart from the fact that Chopard has been principal sponsor of Italy’s notorious 1,000-mile Mille Miglia road race for decades, you can practically smell the petrol and old leather simply by wearing one of its MM watches, thanks to the resolutely vintage styling, tyre-track straps and racy dial motifs. So it’s perhaps surprising that it’s taken so long for Chopard to kit out its most evocative and popular men’s line with an in-house movement. The new Grand Touring Sport collection does exactly that, however, and chronometer-certifies every watch, as well.
9. Harry Winston Project Z9
With Swatch Group custodianship bedding down nicely for Marilyn Monroe’s favourite diamond house, the watches are benefiting from Blancpain’s top-end powerhouses – such as this flyback chronograph with a high-beat silicon balance, the latest of Harry Winston’s sci-fi “Project Z” watches, encased in Zalium. No, it’s not as comic book as you might think – Zalium is an exclusive zirconium-based alloy that originated from the aerospace industry; it’s ultralight and non-allergenic, with a particularly slick dark grey colouration.
10. Hermès Slim d’Hermès
Hot on the heels of Mondaine’s Helvetica and Nomos’s beautifully scribed Minimatik, comes this third exercise in horological typography – something so quintessentially Hermès in all its Parisian whimsy and delicacy that it’s difficult to accept it’s not been in the brand’s oeuvre all along. The French graphic designer Philippe Apeloig designed a completely original suite of numerals for Slim, and the result feels at once harmonious, rigorous and chic, drawing heavily on the visual culture of Hermès.
11. Chanel J12-G10
One would never expect Chanel to slavishly follow trends, rather than set them, but this year’s dramatic refresh of its iconic, ceramic J12 does exactly that, deploying that horological hipster accessory of the moment, the military “Nato” strap. Full marks, however, for successfully fashioning up this one-piece doubled-back strap in combination with Chanel’s Chromatic ceramic case, and also for naming it correctly as the “G10” – a reference to the reference number that soldiers would quote to order theirs when prepping for deployment. The exact specification for this particular type of military strap, so beloved of trendies straddling Brooklyn and Hoxton, is detailed by the UK MOD Defence Standard, or “Def Stan”, 66-47 – a document that quotes a number of Nato stock numbers for variations of “Strap, Wrist Watch (Nylon)”.
When Raf Simons took the reins at Dior, we thought the days of his predecessor and arch-rival Hedi Slimane’s Chiffre Rouge watch collection were numbered. But, thankfully, this masculine but chic range inspired by the designer’s love of Rolex is alive and ticking – not least for this year’s delightful C05 refresh, reminiscent of an old sea chart. Flecked with gold dial details and the trademark red crown, it rewards less fashion-forward purists within as well, thanks to LVMH stablemate Zenith, which has supplied the automatic movement.
13. Longines Heritage Diver 1967
Ever since 2007’s Legend Diver – a gorgeous 1960s revival, faithful to a fault – Longines has annually reminded us of its surprisingly colourful past with the Heritage range. Admittedly, not such a tricky task for the brand’s designers, given the rich seam to be tapped downstairs in the Longines factory museum. This year’s reissue is another Sixties waterbaby, but it couldn’t look more different, principally thanks to that rich burgundy bezel, so luscious and well rounded that it practically begs to be paired with a cheeky Camembert.
14. TAG Heuer V4 Phantom
In a year of consolidation and evolution over revolution, TAG Heuer earns headline status by virtue of its sheer restlessness. The ever-exuberant LVMH watch boss Jean-Claude Biver has gone through the confused luxury brand like rinse aid, repositioning it rightly as the youthful entry point to Swiss watchmaking, just as it was in the 1980s – hence Cara Delevingne’s and David Guetta’s sudden appearance in its ads, and the announcement of a smart hook-up with Intel and Google (watch this space). So praise be for this curtain closer to TAG’s top-flight Haute Horlogerie department – a carbon-fibre version of its engine-block-inspired V4, driven via hair-thin belts, rather than intermediary cogs.
Best known for its reproduction of the Swiss Railways’ iconic Bauhaus platform clock, Mondaine is now making waves with its tribute to another Swiss design classic: the Helvetica typeface, which was, in fact, founded just outside Basel. This year’s big news was newfound “horological smartness”, thanks to the retrofit of some new fitness-tracker tech. But everyone’s favourite new Helvetica watch was a clever tribute to another railway, which happens to use the same font in its signage: New York’s Subway. Available in stitching that’s colour-coded to the principle lines – primary Pantone colours, in keeping with the system’s raw functionality – this is a graphic designer’s dream.
16. Breguet Tradition 7087
It’s been 10 years since Breguet launched its open- dial Tradition range, showcasing the beautiful brushed bridges at work, just as the brand’s titular founder did in the 18th century. And this remarkable, chiming minute repeater celebrates the milestone in considerable style. The “ding” and “dong” gongs are made of flat blades, attached directly to the bezel, so when the time is rung out by the hammers at 9 o’clock, the sound reverberates throughout the case and crystal.
17. Graff Mastergraff Structural Tourbillon Skeleton
There’s never been any doubt as to Graff’s provenance when it came to jewellery – the British brand has cut and set some of the world’s finest-ever gems for the world’s wealthiest. But the claim to watchmaking has always been questionable … until this year that is, thanks to a remarkable capsule of outrageous complications that somehow seem to capture the same outrageous artistry of Graff’s jewels. The architectural sense of space and structure of the Skeleton is simply breathtaking.
18. Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Ref 5524
Do not readjust your sets – this really is an oversized vintage-styled pilot’s watch from that bastion of understated classicism, Patek. It’s a bold and divisive move from a brand hardly known for its conquest of the skies, despite a couple of shelved developments buried in its Geneva museum. Even more confusingly, its navy-blue lacquer dial is said to resemble “the body paint of American fighter planes in the 1930s”. Whatever you might think of a white gold pilot’s watch from a dress-watch maker, it’s bound to be in hot demand (this is Patek Philippe, after all) and at least its two-time-zone function is handy for globetrotting pilots.
19. Zenith El Primero Chronograph Classic
It doesn’t get any more pure, restrained or grown-up than this chronograph – arguably the finest launch of Zenith’s 150th-anniversary collection. And still at a phenomenally good price, given that inside you’ll find the in-house-manufactured El Primero movement, ticking away at 5Hz (most are 4Hz) allowing stopwatch accuracy to a tenth of a second (rather than an eighth) – barely changed since its spectacular debut in 1969. Probably Baselworld’s most elegant launch, in this author’s opinion.
20. Maurice Lacroix Pontos S Extreme
Trendspotters were spoilt at this year’s Basel fair, to the point where there were so many trends that they’ve simply become standard specifications, from camo straps to matte-black cases to blue dials. But one big move was away from the perceived notion of luxury being lush and heavyweight; lightness is in, through evermore inventive ways of using ceramic, titanium or aluminium. So full marks to Maurice Lacroix for stretching to a high-tech material we’d never seen before: PowerLite. A cocktail of all the above, with a soupçon of magnesium and zinc, it looks and feels rather like unpainted Airfix. Which, for boys who like their toys, is a good thing.