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Away from the Fairways | TEE TIME
EIGHT OF THE BEST
EVAN RAST UNVEILS THE STAR PIECES OF THE RECENT SALON DE LA HAUTE HORLOGERIE IN GENEVA.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept RD#1 Acoustic Research HKGOLFER.COM
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his year marks the 25th anniversary of the Salon de la Haute Horlogerie, or SIHH, a gathering of the most recognised watch brands, mainly from the Richemont Group. The annual show, held in Geneva, is the primary platform for the 16 exhibiting brands to launch new products and showcase their mechanical and artistic prowess in watchmaking. Here are eight of the year’s best innovations: A. LANGE & SOHNE ZEITWERK MINUTE REPEATER A. Lange & Söhne has come up with its first striking watch, the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater. The timepiece sounds the hours, ten-minute intervals and minutes, and can sound on demand when the side pusher is triggered. What’s impressive about this timepiece is that it’s a Zeitwerk, which means that the minute repeater function had to be developed around the “digital display” or the jumping numerals mechanism, which displays the time with an hour ring and two minute-discs instead of hands. The manually wound L043.5 calibre with constantThe annual show, force escapement is housed in held in Geneva, a 44.2mm platinum case with solid silver dial and rhodiumis the primary plated gold hands.
platform for the 16 exhibiting brands to launch new products and showcase their mechanical and artistic prowess
Striking star: the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater from A. Lange & Sohne 22
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ROTONDE DE CARTIER GRANDE COMPLICATION Since it star ted its Fine Watchmaking division in 2007, Cartier’s goal was to create a Grande Complication, the kind of timepiece that symbolises that a manufacture has ‘arrived’. This year, it celebrates this achievement with the Rotonde de Cartier Grande Complication. With a whopping 578 components, this timepiece took five years to develop, 20 weeks to produce and assemble and 10 weeks to decorate and finish. The result is an ultra-thin skeleton masterpiece with automatic movement that includes a perpetual calendar, minute repeater and flying tourbillon, earning it the title of the brand’s most complex creation. Apart from the functions, the watch also offers visual technics in that the minute repeater is prominently displayed on the dial, with the gongs and hammers in full view. The inertia flywheel is also shown on the upper bridge. The watch, which comes in a 45mm platinum case, carries the Geneva Seal and will be produced in a limited series of 60. HKGOLFER.COM
From left to right: the Rotonde de Cartier Grand Complication; the Timewalker Urban Speed E-Strap from Montblanc; Parmigiani’s Tonda 1950 Special Edition Meteorite; the Altiplano Chronograph from Piaget 24
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MONTBLANC TIMEWALKER URBAN SPEED E-STRAP While Apple fans eagerly await the release of the company’s smart watch line, Montblanc is a luxury watchmaker that has been quick to position itself on top of what is bound to be a fast-evolving trend. At SIHH, the brand introduced the TimeWalker Urban Speed e-Strap, a timepiece that looks very much like the tried and tested TimeWalkers we know and like, with a micro-blasted stainless steel case and ceramic bezel, but featuring an interchangeable e -Strap integrated with a touchscreen device that offers an ac tivit y tracker, which measures steps, calories burned and distance travelled; and smart notifications, which provides alerts to incoming calls, messages and mail. The device also acts as a remote control for the wearer’s corresponding smart phone and includes a camera trigger and music player controls. Lastly, the Find-Me function allows searching for the watch or phone within a
range of up to 30 metres, either by tapping on the e-Strap to locate the phone, or using the phone application to find the watch. The e-Strap is compatible with Samsung Galaxy and Note phones, selected android models and Apple iPhones. Equipped with an automatic movement, the collection extends to three new models, including a chronograph and a UTC. AUDEMARS PIGUET ROYAL OAK CONCEPT RD#1 ACOUSTIC RESEARCH Every year, Audemars Piguet comes up with cool and confident concept watches. While last year focused on tech materials, 2015 is centred on the improved acoustic quality of a minute repeater. The result of eight years of sound research that included a musician who makes stringed instruments, an academic consultant from the Geneva conservatory and a sound engineer, the Royal Oak Concept RD#1 offers a chime that is louder, clearer and cleaner than most minute repeaters, even HKGOLFER.COM
with its water-resistant case. The timepiece, which comes in a titanium case, also features a tourbillon and chronograph with 30-minute counter, in an edgy, open-worked dial with black counters. PARMIGIANI TONDA 1950 SPECIAL EDITION METEORITE Parmigiani presents its st ylish Tonda in one of the most interesting, but out of this world material: meteorite. The crystallike patterns seen on the dial of this line of watches were formed from the rapid change of temperature that the meteor rock is subjected to as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere, revealed through a series of acid baths. The material, which is harder than nor mal ro ck and therefore m ore difficult to machine, has an unpredictable structure, requiring more patience and care to work with. This Parmigiani Tonda 1950 Special Edition Meteorite features two versions, one in black and another in HKGOLFER.COM
Abyss blue. The model comes with an inhouse automatic movement, finely finished as expected of a Parmigiani timepiece, and housed within a 39mm titanium case. PIAGET ALTIPLANO CHRONOGRAPH Still in pursuit of its goal to complete an extensive range of record-breaking ultrathin movements and timepieces, Piaget presents a new addition to its iconic Altiplano collection. Setting a new record in ‘extra flat’ with the world’s thinnest hand wound flyback chronograph, the Piaget Altiplano Chronograph is equipped with a 4.65mm movement in a 8.24mm case. Like the rest of the series, the timepiece is very sleek and distinguished in design, with a clean dial highlighting the small-second and 30-minute counters at 3 and 6 o’clock and a second time zone at 9 o’clock. The timepiece boasts impressive levels of finishing, and comes in two versions, pink gold and white gold with diamonds on the bezel. HK GOLFER・FEB 2015
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Top models: the Vacheron Constantin Harmony Chronograph (top left) and the Excalibur Spider Skeleton Double Flying Tourbillon from Roger Dubuis
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VACHERON CONSTANTIN HARMONY CHRONOGRAPH To celebrate its 260th anniversary, Vacheron Constantin kicks off 2015 with a new collection called Harmony. The series comprises seven watches, which will be issued in limited editions. The timepieces are distinguished by a cushion-shaped case and design inspired by one of the brand’s first wristwatches, a chronograph created in 1928. The company designed new mechanical movements for the timepieces, which includes a tourbillon, dual time and ultra-thin grand complication. One of the most dapper iterations is the Harmony Chronograph, with the in-house manual-winding Calibre 3300 that offers a 65-hour power reserve. The silvered opaline dial displays the hours, minutes, and small seconds at 9 o’clock along with a monopusher chronograph function, pulsometric scale and power-reserve indication.
ROGER DUBUIS EXCALIBUR SPIDER SKELETON DOUBLE FLYING TOURBILLON With years of expertise in creating avant-garde and skeletonized movements, Roger Dubuis brought it’s A-game to SIHH with the launch of the Excalibur Spider Skeleton Double Flying Tourbillon. Just as the spider spins its web in countless ways, the new watches feature fascinating geometric motifs that go beyond the initial pattern of the Excalibur, expanding to the case, inner bezel ring, and even the Dauphine hands. The Excalibur Spider Skeleton Double Flying Tourbillon comes in a 47mm titanium and black DLC-titanium case, a variety of fiery red aluminium elements on the inner bezel ring, crown and case band, giving off a strong, sporty impact that reinforced by a variety of coloured strap options. The watch showcases the multilevel construction of the RD01SQ movement and is issued in a limited series of 188.
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