WATCHMAKING SINCE 2000 – IN ESSENCE
GMT PUBLISHING
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THE MILLENNIUM WATCH BOOK Editorial committee: Brice Lechevalier Joy Corthésy Suzanne Wong David Chokron Olivier Müller Layout: Etc Advertising & Design SARL (www.etcdesign.ch) Lithography: Images3 (www.images3.ch) Translation: David Buick (EN), Marie Le Berre (FR) Editing: Susan Jacquet, Marie Le Berre, Brice Lechevalier, Joy Corthésy Project coordination: Joy Corthésy, Célia Morel Cover: Éric Giroud (www.ericgiroud.com) Printed by MUSUMECI S.p.A a socio unico (www.musumecispa.it) © Copyright GMT Publishing For more information on The Millennium Watch Book, visit www.the-watch-book.com and follow us on Instagram @themillenniumwatchbook Printing limited to 4,000 copies ISBN: 978-2-8399-3062-8
IMPRESSUM
FOREWORD
THE QUEST FOR DEPTH OF FEELING
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BRICE LECHEVALIER, EDITOR
ack in 2019, when I first had the idea of publishing a book about the watches of the third millennium to mark the year 2020, none of us had any inkling that it would be the year of COVID-19 – and the worst year for the history of watchmaking in decades. When the coronavirus outbreak overtook us in the spring of 2020, the book was two-thirds complete, but the prospects for funding it suddenly looked as grim as the economic outlook. We had to consider whether we should put the project on hold and postpone the launch – but it did not take us long to reject the idea. Indeed, we felt that pressing ahead would be a fitting symbol of the extraordinary resilience that characterises the watchmaking we all know and love. We were also keen for the release of The Millennium Watch Book to coincide with the 20th anniversary of GMT Magazine, founded in 2000 by yours truly, and of the WorldTempus.com website which joined it in 2001. Furthermore, this work, packed with mechanical delights, offered at least one potential source of good memories of 2020, the first year in the third decade of the third millennium. Not only does it summarise the very best in watchmaking since 2000; it also reflects the convergent strengths of 30 enthusiastic experts, witnesses to the extraordinary creativity of designers over the past 20 years. Over the past 20 years, we have shared our passion with hundreds of people working behind the scenes or in the front rows of this formidable manufacture of miniature treasures, and have had the chance to admire thousands of watches. Although it is not possible to list them all in 300 pages, this book is dedicated to them. As this our first book, and we usually produce print or online magazines, I ask for some lenience: we’ve spent a whole year researching and writing, but in exceptional circumstances. We’re bound to have forgotten some names, innovations, models, and successes. Over and above their mechanical features, successful watches provoke deep feelings; our overriding aim has been to pay tribute to these timepieces, and to those who have brought them to life. Most importantly, we can share the knowledge garnered by our community of specialists, all lovers of top-of-the-range watches, and give a guided tour of the outstanding overview of contemporary watchmaking this knowledge provides. In a nutshell, welcome to the start of a journey through time – one that lasts 300 pages, and 20 years. So (folding) buckle up!
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CONTENTS
8 RADAR
The definitive timeline of all things major in watchmaking from 2000-2020.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2000
Icon, legend, vintage; these words all apply to the Rolex Daytona, and that’s why it is our watch for the turn of the century.
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TEN TRENDS
In an industry marked by longevity, we look at the trends that have endured and indelibly marked the last 20 years of watchmaking.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2001
New watch, new brand, new design, new materials: Richard Mille and his RM 001 defined the year 2001.
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THE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE CHRONOGRAPH
No movement has gone through more upheaval in the last 20 years than the chronograph. From extreme precision to its reattribution as Louis Moinet’s invention, the chronograph remains one of the most coveted movements of the 21st century.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2002
In 2002, Audemars Piguet brilliantly demonstrated its ability to challenge its aesthetic codes with the Royal Oak Concept.
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THE REIGN OF THE LUXURY SPORTS WATCH
A rise to full glory for the all-steel, high-end watch.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2003
The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, a dignified piece of military equipment, encapsulates this battleground year.
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THE PUSH FOR COMPLICATIONS
Faster, better and stronger: the new millennium ushered in an era of mega-complication.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2004
How does Seiko’s Grand Seiko Spring Drive SBGA001 reflect the year 2004?
Rolex
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TOURBILLON, THE COMPLICATION OF THE CENTURY
The seminal mechanism and its emergence from actual anonymity to becoming a byword for a “great timepiece”.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2005
In 2005, thanks to the Big Bang, Hublot became a brand representing watchmaking 2.0.
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PERFORMANCE & PERFECTION
From material innovations to high-frequency escapements – how 21st century watchmakers pushed the limits of an 18th century technology.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2006
For 2006, Vacheron Constantin’s Overseas Dual Time: a traveller, capable of accompanying those who cover great distances.
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WOMEN’S WATCHES, EVER-EVOLVING
An evolution of women’s watches – no longer just a smaller man’s piece, but a market in its own right.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2007
A watch with star quality, style, fashion and presence: the Cartier Ballon Bleu represents the year 2007.
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HIGH JEWELLED TRIUMPHS
From amazing high jewelled sculptural watches to complicated jewellery pieces for women, no watch is off limits when it comes to creative diamond and gemstone techniques.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2008
The Da Vinci is a magnificent tribute to a watch gone under the radar for far too long, born to face the 2008 crisis.
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THE GOLDEN AGE OF INDEPENDENTS
A study of the unprecedented explosion of independent watchmakers.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2009
The Zeitwerk of A. Lange & Söhne is a bridge between the world of digital displays and the traditional techniques used in fine watchmaking.
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150 DIAMETERS
Bigger isn’t always better. A look at the rollercoaster of changes in case diameters and what that says about the industry and its consumers.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2010
Feminine, capable of telling a story and endowed with the same strong present in the women who marked 2010: Van Cleef & Arpels’ Le Ponts des Amoureux.
160 STRAP LINES
Integrated, interchangeable, and customisable – the many facets of our straps and bracelets.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2011
In 2011, the Panerai PAM 382 Bronzo made its mark on contemporary watchmaking.
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MATERIALS: A REVOLUTION IN STRUCTURES AND ETHOS
From spirograph to nanograph, carbon, silicon and even sapphire, this millennium has been marked by a revolution in materials.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2012
Creating a legend, Tudor launched its iconic Black Bay.
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THE SILICON REVOLUTION
From research to mainstream, the stages and uses of the miracle material.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2013
A sexy and sporty diver’s model: the Deep Sea Chronograph Cermet from Jaeger-LeCoultre reflects the year 2013.
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WATCHMAKING PATENTS, BETWEEN PROTECTION AND INSPIRATION
From an expert in patents, a look into the evolution of the patenting process that has shaped horology in surprising ways.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2014
The Urwerk UR-105 from this year should not be regarded as a watch, but as an enjoyable mechanical toy.
Vacheron Constantin
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202
THE CHANGING WORLD OF WATCH RETAIL
The revolution of watch retail has contributed to a much wider market for vintage and pre-owned watches.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2015
Omega’s Speedmaster Silver Snoopy has held a special place among collectors since its launch for the landmark anniversary.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2016
In 2016, with the Carrera 02-T, TAG Heuer showed that provocation can be a joyous and rewarding exercise in watchmaking.
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WHAT HAS STAYED THE SAME
A look into what hasn’t changed – which tells us more about the watches we love than we could ever expect.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2018
Colour can totally change the way we perceive an object, as demonstrated by the 2018 Patek Philippe Aquanaut.
226 WHO’S WHO
Portraits of industry figures who have indelibly marked the last two decades of watchmaking, written by those who know them best.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2019
The Zenith Defy Inventor, a watch that looked to a brighter future.
274 222 ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2017
Of Italian origin and made with great taste, Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo reflects the year 2017.
TWENTY YEARS OF GPHG WINNERS
Celebrating its 20th edition in 2020, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève shares a comprehensive list of previous award-winners.
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH 2020
The watch of 2020 should symbolise the defiance and courage that are really needed to move forward in this special year, such is the Streamliner from H. Moser & Cie.
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RADAR
RADAR 2005
2007
2006
• First edition of Salon Belles Montres de Paris • First edition of the Salón Internacional Alta Relojería (SIAR) is held in Mexico • Omega celebrates the 50th anniversary of its Speedmaster • Rolex launches new collection Yacht-Master II
• Richemont acquires Fabrique d’Horlogerie Minerva SA, assigning it as the movement Manufacture for Montblanc • Karl-Friedrich Scheufele acquires the naming rights and creates Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud, launching the FB 1 in 2015 • Meccaniche Veloci is founded
• 100th anniversary Rolex • 175th anniversary Jaeger-LeCoultre • 140th anniversary IWC Schaffhausen • Rebellion Timepieces and Ateliers Louis Moinet are founded • Ralph Lauren, with the Richemont Group, launches its Watches & Jewellery division • Hodinkee.com is founded • The LVMH group acquires Hublot
• 225th anniversary Girard-Perregaux • Jaeger-LeCoultre celebrates the 85th anniversary of the Reverso • Patek Philippe celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Nautilus • 170th anniversary Ulysse Nardin • SIHH creates the “Carré des Horlogers”, exclusively for independent watchmakers
2016
2009
2008
• Armin Strom inaugurates its Manufacture • Laurent Ferrier is founded
2015 • 25th edition of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva • 260th anniversary Vacheron Constantin • Apple launches the Apple Watch • Frederique Constant launches the “Horological Smartwatch”, the first Swiss Made smartwatch • First edition of Dubai Watch Week
2017
• Baselworld turns 100! • 195th anniversary Bovet • Franck Muller celebrates the 25th anniversary of its Manufacture • Seiko launches separate, high luxury brand named Grand Seiko • Paul Newman Rolex Daytona sells for $17.8 million at Philips auction • Omega celebrates the 60th anniversary of its Speedmaster • Walter Lange, responsible along with Günther Blümlein for the revival of A. Lange & Söhne, and Roger Dubuis, master watchmaker and co-founder of the eponymous brand, pass away
• Vacheron Constantin 250th anniversary • Blancpain 270th anniversary • First Only Watch charity auction • MB&F and Romain Gauthier are founded • Baume & Mercier 175th anniversary • First issue of the magazine Revolution is published • Hublot launches the Big Bang • Ralf Tech launches the WR 1, focusing all its activities on watches in 2008
2014 • 175th anniversary Patek Phillippe • Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication pocket watch sells for CHF 23 million at Sotheby’s auction • Bulgari attains first world record for the thinnest automatic movement; five more world records for thinnest calibres would follow each year until 2020 • The Kering group acquires Ulysse Nardin
• Jaeger-LeCoultre celebrates the 50th anniversary of its 1968 Memovox • Richemont acquires Watchfinder & Co. • IWC Schaffhausen inaugurates its new Manufacture • Montblanc celebrates the 160th anniversary of Minerva Manufacture • 30th anniversary Frederique Constant • Audemars Piguet celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Royal Oak Offshore • Bucherer acquires Tourneau in the USA, thus becoming the largest multi-brand luxury watch retailer in the world • Trilobe is founded
2018
RADAR
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2001
2000
• The first Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève is held • Launch of WorldTempus.com • Roger Dubuis completes construction of its Manufacture in Geneva, Switzerland • Richard Mille and Golay Spierer are founded • Harry Winston introduces the Opus Series • Breguet celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Abraham-Louis Breguet’s tourbillon • Ulysse Nardin launches Freak • The Patek Philippe Museum opens its doors in Geneva • Günter Blümlein, who presided over the renaissance of A. Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre and IWC, passes away
• First GMT Magazine published for the Basel fair • Audemars Piguet 125th anniversary • Swatch Group announces intent to stop supplying movements to other companies • Bulgari acquires Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth • Richemont Group acquires Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC Schaffhausen and majority of A. Lange & Söhne • Creation of the online community Paneristi.com
2003
2004 • TAG Heuer celebrates the 40th anniversary of its Carrera • Antiquorum 30th anniversary • Cartier celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Santos • Gübelin 150th anniversary • Greubel Forsey is founded
2010 • ArtyA, Cyrus and HYT are founded • Nicolas Hayek Sr, patriarch of the Hayek family and former head of Swatch Group, passes away • Luigi Macaluso, who headed the Sowind Group and revived Girard-Perregaux (acquired a year later by the Kering group), passes away
• Tissot 150th anniversary • Richemont fully acquires Van Cleef & Arpels and A. Lange & Söhne • Cabestan and DeWitt are founded
2002 • Panerai inaugurates new Manufacture in Neuchâtel • Frederique Constant buys Alpina • De Bethune is founded
• Kerbedanz is founded • First Rolex (Ref. 4113 Split-Seconds Chronograph) to pass CHF 1 million mark at auction (Christie’s) • The LVMH Group acquires Bulgari • TheWatchesTV.com is launched • More giants of watchmaking pass away: Gerald Genta, famous watchmaker and designer behind the iconic Royal Oak and Nautilus watches, George Daniels, watchmaker and inventor of the co-axial escapement, and Rolf Schnyder, owner and former CEO of Ulysse Nardin
• After a 12-year legal battle, the Swiss Competition Commission (Comco) gives Swatch Group’s movement unit, ETA, the green light to phase out providing movements to other companies • 275th anniversary Jaquet Droz • 100th anniversary of the first Seiko wristwatch • 125th anniversary Bucherer • Mauron Musy is founded • First edition of Watches & Wonders Hong Kong
2019 • A. Lange & Söhne celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Lange 1 • TAG Heuer celebrates the 50th anniversary of its Monaco • Zenith celebrates the 50th anniversary of El Primero automatic chronograph movement • The Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime for Only Watch 2019 sells for CHF 31 million, becoming the most expensive watch ever sold at auction, during Only Watch 2019 (auctioned by Christie’s) • The Musée d’horlogerie in Le Locle celebrates its 60th anniversary • Genus is founded
2011
2012 2013
• Audemars Piguet celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Royal Oak • Czapek & Cie. is founded • TAG Heuer launches the Mikrogirder 2000, with a chronograph speed of 1/2,000th of a second
• Chanel celebrates the 20th anniversary of the J12 • 40th anniversary Hublot • Patek Philippe inaugurates new Manufacture building with a limited-edition Calatrava • Watches & Wonders (formerly SIHH) is cancelled • Baselworld is cancelled, effectively ending the historic watch trade show • Geneva Watch Days, a decentralised and self-managed multi-brand watch event, is created • The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève creates the Academy for its 20th edition
2020
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH
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ONE YEAR, ONE WATCH
2000 BY: SERGE PANCZUK
ROLEX
DAYTONA 116520
UNIQUE
WHY ROLEX?
Flashback to the year 2000: the 20th century was drawing to a close. We were on the threshold of a new millennium that will outlast us all. From January 1, 2000 onwards, there would be those born in 19-something – and everybody else. Henceforth, Gen Z would be taking the place of the Millennials. The year 2000 had long been a milestone in the collective imagination: the subject of dreams, paintings, and designs. In 1900, they imagined 2000 with air travel, deep-sea exploration, underground cities, time machines, and mobile houses. Which all goes to show that some predictions can be trusted. Watchmaking is all about measuring the passing of time – and the year 2000 began with the fear of the Y2K Bug. The world was afraid of collapsing because computers wouldn’t be able to read a date. How ironic! In the end nothing happened, and computer scientists everywhere breathed a sigh of relief. But let’s get back to watchmaking: the challenge before us is to choose 21 watches that tell the story of the years 2000-2020. Where should we start? 2000 is a unique year, so the watch in question must be equally unique. The timepiece had to be the symbol of watchmaking’s past as well as its future. Like the magical number 2000, it must evoke something for everyone. It absolutely had to have a legendary name. And it must be one that has endured, so that it can take us by the hand, guide us along the path, and still be there in 2020. All that left only one possibility: the Rolex Daytona. At the time, Rolex was already an iconic brand, on the verge of achieving world domination. The Cosmograph, now regarded as the ultimate Daytona model, was a ‘baby-boomer’ chronograph, presented at Basel sporting a new movement – the 4130 – made for the first time by Rolex. Gone were the Valjoux and Zenith movements of the 20th century. In that extraordinary year, the Daytona, first released in 1963, became a Rolex product through and through, looking to the future – and the rest is history. Little-noticed when it first arrived, only attracting much greater scrutiny later, today it’s come to symbolise a new order in watchmaking. Having also become impossible to get hold of, it’s now the epitome of ‘frustration marketing’. The dawning century of watchmaking would come to be defined by many words: icon, legend, vintage, Manufacture, product placement, auction, star, China, and globalisation. All of those were to apply to the Daytona. And that’s why it’s our watch for the year 2000.
The Geneva-based brand is the best-known in the world. Its aura comes from its incredible ability to resist both change and ageing. In and of itself, it’s the perfect counter-example of the era commencing in 2000. At a time when everyone was talking about growth, booms, crises, and globalisation, Rolex didn’t budge, remaining true to its principles and confident in its vision. And that’s precisely its strength. Rolex is a solid rock, a reference point, and a reassuring name. It invented watchmaking marketing – and yet made non-communication a profitable strategy in a world that was on the cusp of placing too much value on image alone.
THE ROLEX DAYTONA 116520 As the first Daytona fitted with an in-house calibre, the 116520 was when Rolexes became 100% inhouse-made. It wasn’t until the end of the millennium that Rolex produced its own chronograph movement, and that was a sign. In doing so, Rolex strengthened its independence and its ethos of mechanical perfection. In addition to the new, superbly-fashioned movement (albeit hidden behind the watch’s spartan caseback), Rolex was discreetly changing other components, too: the dial, hands, and strap were subtly given a new design. By getting rid of the El Primero in favour of its own calibre, Rolex sought to close a chapter of its history: “Queen 16520 is dead. Long live Queen 116520”. But that was not to be. On its ‘death’ in the spring of 2000, the Daytona Zenith became an overnight legend. Rolex had just invented another form of marketing: immortality marketing.
THE TAKE FROM THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE Lucifer likes the ‘dark side of the force’ aspect of Rolex: it’s the brand of the powerful and symbolises – despite itself – a world of money and excess. More seriously, the Daytona 116520 is an unassailable watch; even its weaknesses are strengths. That said, it does have a few minor faults that have always bothered me a little. First of all, there’s that silver circle round the counters, and all the wording on the dial. I think simplifying the dial would be a great way of Rolex coming more into line with its image of simplicity and discretion. But that wasn’t how things played out in 2000. We’ll just have to wait until 2023 – when the Daytona turns 60.
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DIX TENDANCES
THE METAPHOR BY: DAVID CHOKRON
WATCH
Chopard – L.U.C Engine One H (2013)
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TEN TRENDS
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Graham – Chronofighter Vintage GMT (2017)
emiotics is based on the idea that everything is a message. Seen thus, a watch can be a discourse, an explanation, a claim, or an allusion: in short, a form of storytelling. And when it comes to telling a story in a roundabout way, what more powerful and appropriate rhetorical device could there be than the metaphor? Fonderie 47 used steel from AK-47s retrieved from war zones to make watches, thus drawing attention to the proliferation of firearms. Romain Jerome produced many a dial with a sprinkling of moon dust, space capsule components, or steel recovered from the wreck of the Titanic, thus carving out a place for the brand within History itself. The succession of Horological Machines created by upstart brand MB&F offers no end of possible interpretations: allusions to Goldorak, the Lamborghini Miura, fighter plane engines, orbiters and spaceships, rockets, jellyfish, and more besides. Dreamlike expressivity, suffused with the exotic and firing the imagination, is its hallmark. Urwerk is mining a similar vein, enthusiastically producing watches with a decidedly otherworldly air.
Hublot – Techframe Ferrari 70 Years Tourbillon Chronograph (2017)
Antoine Preziuso – Tourbillon Meteorite (2001)
Urwerk – EMC (2013)
LITERALLY Endless possibilities open up when inspiration takes the form of a tribute, with design expressed in terms that clearly reference the source universe. Respectively, Clerc’s Hydroscaph and Omega’s Ploprof really do resemble a diving chamber and a diving bell. To start its Chronofighter chronographs, Graham installed an actual trigger from a fighter plane’s joystick. Some brands have contented themselves with the merely outrageous, like Azimuth’s robot watch. But no world has proved to be as fertile – or as promising – as the world of cars. Rotors in the form of wheel rims vie for pole position with dials in the form of rev counters or chequered flags. Giuliano Mazzuoli went so far as to imitate a tyre pressure gauge. Hublot borrowed the shape of Ferrari’s monocoque cockpits for its Techframe series cases. In some instances, the engine’s appearance presides over the entire aesthetic appearance of the watch, as with Roger Dubuis, through the brand’s partnership with Lamborghini; in Chopard’s Engine Ones; and more especially at Richard Mille. Sometimes the metaphor becomes more literal still. The recent surge in meteorite dials signals the desire to look heavenwards – all the more effective when accompanied (as is often the case) by moon phases and other astronomical indications. When Antoine Preziuso decided to send its creations on a metaphorical interstellar journey (followed a few years later by De Bethune), it did so using solid chunks of meteorite to produce a case that was unique by definition, albeit virtually impossible to fashion. De Bethune added form to substance with the extreme streamlining – and tiny drag coefficient – of its Dream Watch 5 Meteorite. None of these designs, concepts, or attempts at storytelling were imaginable before the mid-Noughties.
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TEN TRENDS
THE TOOL BY: DAVID CHOKRON
WATCH
Breitling – Avenger Chronograph (2019)
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THE MILLENNIUM WATCH BOOK COLLECTION SUMS UP EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WATCHMAKING SINCE 2000.
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ollowing this editorial approach to contemporary fine watchmaking, a new volume, on a specific watch category, will be published every year until 2030. These coffee table books are born out of a collective effort to gain a better understanding or to rediscover, the world of watches from 2000 to 2020. Prepare half a linear meter on your bookshelves to welcome this collection that is all about passion!
WHAT READERS SAID:
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ALWAYS AT YOUR DISPOSAL!
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