ABOUT TIME T H E WAT C H W O R L D W I L L D E S C E N D O N G E N E VA I N
A P R I L F O R T H E F I R S T M A J O R FA I R I N T WO Y E A R S . BEFORE THEN, THESE ARE THE HEADLINE STORIES F R O M T H E H O R O LO G I C A L Y E A R S O FA R
Words: Richard Brown
OMEGA SPEEDMASTER
A remidner: Omega’s original Calibre 321 – a hound-wound column-wheelcontrolled chronograph movement – powered the first Speedmasters and all subsequent Speedies selected by NASA for the Apollo space missions. Three years ago, on occasion of it being 50 years
since the first lunar landings, Omega began re-manufacturing the Calibre 321, placing it in a 42mm Speedmaster in platinum. And so to the latest chapter in the 321 story: this year’s Speedmaster Calibre 321 Canopus Gold, launched to mark the chronograph’s 65th birthday.
What’s new? A black Onyx dial, Grand Feu enamel-infilled numerals on the bezel, and a 38.6mm case (the original Ref. 2915 measured 38mm), which, along with the watch’s bracelet, bezel and hands, is constructed from Omega’s propriety white ‘Canopus Gold’. £69,500, omegawatches.com
PATEK PHILIPPE REF. 5236P-001
Here’s an oldas-stainless-steel question: why would anyone buy a watch in platinum? Isn’t it, after all, pretty much impossible for Joe Bloggs to spot the different between (very expensive) platinum and (much less expensive) stainless steel? In a word, yes. And isn’t tough-as-nails steel far harder, and therefore far more scratch
resistant, than dentable platinum? Um-hum, it certainly is. But all that’s to miss the point, isn’t it? Because platinum watches aren’t meant for Joe Bloggs, are they? Platinum watches are meant for those in the know. Because when you know, you know. And so to Patek Philippe’s Ref. 5236P001 In-line Perpetual Calendar. The elegant dress watch (it actually dropped
last year) sports a patented one-line display function and is available exclusively, you guessed it, in platinum. Tweaking a base movement to accommodate an energy-hungry perpetual calendar mechanism, the watch is the first Patek to display the day, date and month on a single line in an elongated aperture beneath 12 o’clock. So, now you know. £104,740, patek.com
