At the BaselWorld 2010, Chopard will present the new addition to its iconic L.U.C collection, the L.U.C Engine One Tourbillon watch. To celebrate the brand’s 150th anniversary, this watch will been released in a limited series of 150.

Just beginning from its shape, the watch’s first impression on me is like an engine block and mounted on silent blocks. It seems that this exceptional model makes a deliberate departure from the traditional principles of horological design, as it houses an exceptional movement completely conceived and manufactured by Chopard. Inspired by a car engine, the brand’s prestigious shaped hand-wound movement – L.U.C 1TRM caliber – fitted on shock-absorbing silent blocks, sports this new Chopard watch.

At a thickness of just 5.6mm, the mechanical movement is quite a feat considering its shaped form. In the mechanism, the brand’s exclusive “Variner” adjustment masses consists in three major parts: the escapement with its freely sprung balance, a hairspring featuring a Breguet terminal curve, and a tourbillon cage performing one revolution every 60 seconds. The movement provides a power reserve of 60 hours and beats at the frequency of 28,880 vph. In addition, the L.U.C 1TRM bears the COSC-chronometer certification. The watch case back reveals a sapphire exhibition window that allows to appreciate the beautiful finishing of the movement.

Back to the external design, the L.U.C Engine One Tourbillon watch features a unusually designed titanium case measuring 35.4*44.4mm, a nice combination of brushed and polished surfaces. To highlight the car-inspired theme, the case is completed with brushed flanks and distinctively curved lugs. There is a big winding crown placed between protective guards, offering most comfortable way to wind or set the timepiece. The water-resistance is 50 meters.

To create a one-of-kind three-dimensional effect and assure maximum legibility, the dial is shielded by a shaped sapphire crystal engraved with hour markers and indices. Divided into a satin area in the center and vertically striated outer areas, the dial underscores a unique skeletonized bridge for the tourbillon carriage, coupled with the power reserve indicator. Moreover, the subdial of the power reserve display is finished with an evocative automobile gas-gauge design.

This new Chopard model comes with a hand-sewn crocodile leather strap, fitted with a titanium buckle with the brand’s logo. This watch is really a exception in those presentable Chopard watches.

Technical Specifications

Movement
Hand-wound, manufactory-made L.U.C 1TRM tourbillon calibre, COSC-certified, 29 jewels, 28,800 vib/h, mounted on silent blocks and held by 3 lever-arms inserted into the case middle, 60-hour power reserve

Functions
Hours, minutes, seconds and power reserve indicator

Case
Brushed/polished titanium, 44.4 x 35.4 mm
Anti-reflective sapphire crystal front and back
Screwed open back
Water-resistant to 50 m

Dial
Arabic numerals engraved under the crystal then dyed in black
Tourbillon cage and small seconds at 6 o’clock
Power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock

Bracelet/Strap
Hand-sewn black alligator with godroons, titanium buckle

Retail
$50,000-150,000

The Swiss watchmaker Clerc is well known for their futuristic designs and chunky cases. At BaselWorld 2010, Clerc will present the Odyssey Lady Skeleton watch, a innovative milestone for the brand.

As a perfect combination of futuristic aesthetics and case construction, this horological masterpiece is sure to be a precious object for ladies in search for an extraordinary timekeeper. The Odyssey Lady Skeleton is no exception, ultra-modern and extremely feminine.

The new watch unites the essential functions of hours, minutes and seconds. Inside is the self-winding skeleton Clerc 604 calibre movement to sport all these functions. Embellished with 21 jewels, the movement reveals a balance wheel moving back and forth at the frequency of 28,800 vph. It also offers a power reserve of 42 hours.

Personally, the watch could have been made more feminine. The 37mm size may be quite large for a woman’s wrist. The 1.344 cts of Top Wesselton VVS diamonds are extremely bling, but a little more than lady-like. The case is a combination of 18k red gold and black titanium, and the skeleton dial serves to afford the wearer a look at the finely decorated movement. The hour markers and numerals are also adorned with TW-VVS diamonds, totaling to 0.12 carats.

Joining the remarkable watch to wearers’ wrists is a satin or black alligator leather strap. The watch seems depending too much on the precious stones and Skeleton construction, but in general, it is an attractive, feminine ladies watch.

At BaselWorld 2010, Raymond Weil will present the new Nabucco Va Pensiero Chronograph watch, the newest member of the stylishly-designed and highly-functional Nabucco collection. Sculptured in sandblasted titanium, the timepiece has received its name after the famous “Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate” chorus from Verdi’s opera “Nabucco”.

Featuring the elegantly powerful architecture, as well as sophisticated materials and timekeeping precision, Raymond Weil Nabucco Va Pensiero Chronograph is sure to be one of the highlights at the great event. The new timepiece is created as a emblem of freedom and independence.

Shielded by highly scratch-resistant synthetic sapphire crystal, the model incorporates a handsome case measuring 46mm, outfitted with a tachymeter-scale bezel that allows to calculate speeds. On the side of the case is a fluted screwed-down winding crown reliably protected by massive shoulders, screwed-down chronograph pushers and the date corrector. The screwed case back reveals a RW monogram. The water resistance goes to 200 meters.

Most striking in the watch is structural and textural peculiarities of the dial. In a textured pale grey background, the dial highlights a reaised central section in dark grey secured by three screws and completed with the small seconds sub-dial and chronograph 12-hour and 30-minute sub-dials. A round aperture between 4 and 5 o’clock tells the date. And all the hour indexes are shown in luminescent anthracite.

The movement for the new watch is a reliable ETA 7753 self-winding movement with a frequency of 28,800 vph. It provides a 50-hour power reserve, and sports continuous small seconds, elapsed hour and minute counters, as well as an easy-to-correct simple calendar function. Euipped with a centrally-positioned winding rotor personalized with Raymond Weil signature, the movement also accentuates bridges decorated with circular graining decorations.

Raymond Weil Nabucco Va Pensiero Chronograph comes with a saddle-stitched crocodile leather strap, fitted with a titanium folding clasp provided with double security release elements. In a word, I would imagine this watch is sure to stand out at BaselWorld 2010.

I like cars, and my dream cars has almost covered all the well-known brands. In general, the Aston Martin Rapide is my favorite. Now the prestigious watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre has collaborated with Aston Martin to offer a stylish solution for Rapide drivers who have been always in need of looking for car keys. With the extreme contemporary AMVOX2 Transponder Rapide, you have no need to fumble around for the lugging chunky and unattractive key fobs any more, as well as to buy a second luxury watch.

This high-tech timepiece is able to do double-duty as a car key. It enables you to unlock the car by simply touching between the 8 and 9, or touch between the 3 and 4 to lock. And by touching them both simultaneously, the “find me” function can be activated to make the headlamps light up for easy spotting.

In order to fit it into and around the workings of the watch without sacrificing style, the designers and engineers cost over 18 months to miniaturize the car’s transponder key. The watch and the car are perfect match. Anyway, you need £21,850 (or about $33,800) to solve the key-finding problem.

My favorite Zenith watch is the vintage El Primero unveiled at BaselWorld 2009. Indeed, the company had some other nice watches as well, but the majority of their designs seems going too far away from the mainstream. Zenith had begun to lose its following over the past five years, since too many ambitious watches were so off from the original Zenith look. However, in 2009, Jean-Frédéric Dufour, who previously worked for Chopard, Ulysse Nardin and the Swatch Group, started his turnaround strategy for the steadily deteriorate company: reducing the number of references and bringing the company back to the basics. As the key part of his recovery program, Zenith will present an completely new El Primero Chronograph watch, a excellent timepiece with contemporary look and the complication of Foudroyante, a very cool new jumping seconds function.

The new 4052B automatic calibre, a variation of the famous El Primero movement that was originally introduced in 1969, powers the new El Primero chronograph model. Like the original movement, the new one runs at the high rate of 36,000 vph. However, unlike the original this version is equipped with a foudroyante (jumping/flying seconds) function. And unlike any other foudroyante on the market, that I can think of, this one can display chronograph times with 1/10 of second accuracy, as opposed to 1/8th or 1/6th, like most jumping seconds chronographs. That is not all though, it can also display the jumping seconds differently than any other watch on the market. Instead of displaying a fraction of a second in a subdial, the measurement is displayed by a central hand. I think the new Zenith El Primero Chronograph Foudroyante will look amazing in person.

At the beginning of the year of Tiger, Angular Momentum has released a new Verre Eglomise style timepiece with a beautiful hand-painted tiger on the dial. A miniature Portrait of a roaring Tiger is painted on black ground on the reverse of the watch’s sapphire crystal. The image perhaps indicates what this year is going to be like. And I hope this year works out nicely for us.

As with the watch itself, this artistic yet masculine features a Angular Momentum Time Gallery style case in a diameter of 39mm. Inside the watch is a Swiss automatic mechanical movement. As a tradition of Angular Momentum watches, time is displayed on a disc that appears in a oval aperture. The disc makes a full turn each 12 hours. Perhaps this watch is not the top choice for lots of watch enthusiasts, but it is really timely for the new year and stylish in design.

In 2007, Pierre Dubois, Managing Director of Pierre Deroche, discovered these “movement blanks” at an antique dealer’s. Having fallen under their spell, he decided to give them a new lease on life in wristwatch form, thereby paying tribute to the great watchmakers who have forged the history of the Vallée de Joux. He also opted to make the least possible technical modifications.

Thanks to the encounter between Pierre Dubois and one of the most innovative artisans in the field of dial-making, the stunning crystal dial serves to admire the wealth of the historical movement: sandblasted on the dial side, and then metallized by PVD on the smoked parts. The voluminous hour-markers were then made by galvanic growth and coloured by 4N gold plating. This masterpiece was then housed within an imposing 55.5 mm rose gold case with a highly contemporary design.

In parallel, an instrument was developed by a luthier in the Vallée de Joux based on the principle of guitar soundboards. The extremely pure sound of the repeater strike is thus magnified when the BelCanto is placed on this base made from spruce wood from the forests of the region.

Technical Specifications

Limited Edition of 201 Pieces – 21 Pieces in Rose Gold and Titanium

Movement

Hand-wound PDR Calibre 4013 with “Maltese Cross” barrel-spring stopwork, originally made by LeCoultre & Co, modified by Numa Robert-Waelti (patent registered in 1894), 22 jewels, 18,800 vph, 2.5 Hz, Breguet-type balance-spring, balance with screws, circular-grained mainplate, bridges adorned with “Côtes de Genève”, sunburst barrel, chamfered and circular satin-brushed wheels, openworked hour and minute wheels and lower balance bridge, 30-hour power reserve.
diameter: 43.7 mm, 19 lignes, 9.2 mm thick

Functions

Hours, minutes, seconds, quarter repeater and one-minute column-wheel chronograph

Case

18-carat rose gold, 55.5 mm in diameter
18-carat rose gold pushers, crown and crown guard
back and upper bezel fitted with 2 sapphire crystals
repeater slide at 9 o’clock
water-resistant to 30 metres

Dial

Sapphire crystal
coloured by metallization; laser engraving
hour-markers created by galvanic growth
18-carat rose gold hour, minute and seconds hands

Strap

Crocodile leather, folding clasp with 18-carat rose gold cap and grade 2 titanium fold-out piece

I have to mention a watch released at SIHH 2010, although the event is month-old now. It is Atalante Flyback Chronograph, the latest Bugatti-inspired timepiece unveiled by Parmigiani.

With its unique design and technical virtuosity, the Parmigiani’s Bugatti Type 370 collection has been extremely sought-after among collectors and enthusiasts. As the new entrant of this classic collection, the Atalante Flyback Chronograph is avialable in red and white gold, with a limited number in platinum. It is Parmigiani’s first flyback watch.

I want to say the Atalante Flyback Chronograph model features a more traditional round case, compared with the highly unconventional Type 370. Taking inspiration from the Bugatti Atalante 57S Sport grill, the openwork dial offers glimpses of the mechanism below with several vertical embrasures. The chronograph pushers are located on the left. The “EB” emblem at 6 symbolizes the relationship between the brands. In a word, the overall aesthetic is far from staid.

Inside the watch is Caliber PF 335, based on the brand’s first in-house chronograph movement, highlighting an added flyback mechanism. A single press resets it instantly to zero and restarts the chronograph immediately when the chronograph hand is moving. In addition to the chronograph’s 30-minute counter and small seconds, the Atalante features two separate tachymetric displays. One on the bezel allows high speed events to be timed, and the other on the 30-minute counter can be used for slower events such as walking or running. The calendar is read via a window.

The Atalante Flyback Chronograph costs $59,000 in red and white gold. And A limited edition of 17 pieces in platinum goes to $93,000.

Technical Specifications

Parmigiani Bugatti Atalante Flyback Chronograph

Movement
PF 335
Automatic winding movement
50 hour power reserve
Calibre 13″‘ ¼ – Ø 30.3 mm
Frequency 4 Hz – 28,800 vib/h
68 jewels. Two series-coupled barrels
“Côtes de Genève” decoration, chamfered bridges
22 carat gold oscillating weight on gold models

Functions
Hour
Minute
Small seconds at 9 o’clock
Date under openworked dial
1⁄4 second chronograph (large seconds in center, 30 minute counter at 3 o’clock), flyback

Exterior
Round case: 43 mm. Thickness: 13.40 mm
Material: 18 ct white gold, 18 ct rose gold. Polished and satin-finished
Water resistance: 30 m
Shaped push-pieces at 8 o’clock and 10 o’clock
Bezel with tachometer.
Anti-reflective sapphire crystal
Crown: Ø 9 mm.
Open case-back
Consecutive number engraved on the case-back
Bezel set with 68 “brilliant” cut diamonds (Top Wesselton VVS, ~1.1 ct)

Dials
“Silver” openworked dial – Rhodium-plated applique indexes, Delta shaped hands with luminous coating
“Ivoire” openworked dial – Rhodium-plated applique indexes, Delta shaped hands with luminous coating
Flange at 3 o’clock set with 27 brilliant cut diamonds (Top Wesselton VVS, 0.4 ct)

Straps
Hermes alligator with 18 ct gold deployant safety clasp

To make new and interesting watch cases and dial designs is every watchmaker’s task and pursuit. The new Nina Ricci N030 watch proves that the possibilities are next to endless, especially with ladies’ watches. The watch employs two visual ellipses to create the watch dial and elongated lug structure. The plump little case is integrated with the crown at its apex and a neatly made dial in a few styles including machine engraving style decoration in white, mother of pearl, chocolate, mauve, or standard white. Other differeces between three variations includes the form of hour markers and the position of brand’s logo “NINA RICCI”.

This watch offers good readability, a characteristic that I really appreciate to be found in such a artistic watch. Apart from its practicability, the watch with its unique shape is sure to be a nice accessory for a feminine wrist. The case is available in steel and PVD coated rose gold finish. The diamond version model is decorated with 45 diamonds. There are more than six options for the strap. The watch owner can get a highly personalized timepiece, since the watch gives so many options. Inside the watch is Swiss Ronda quartz movement. I think all the brand need to do is to come up with a better name for the watch collection.

This Ernst Benz watch is a complete chinese watch, although it is designed and manufactured in Switzerland. While taking inspirations from Chinese numerology and the number 8, a continuous and perfectly symmetrical number that is a sign of prosperity and wealth in Chinese culture, the watch bears the name of ChronoScope PEK Limited Edition. The contraction “PEK” is for Peking, the historical name for Beijing and the airport code for Beijing Capital International Airport, which was the first official airport of the People’s Republic of China drawing the natural connection to Ernst Benz and aviation.

Dressed in the brand’s signature 47mm case with two different dial executions, the Noir (Black) and Vermilion (China Red) versions are limited to only 88 pieces hand-finished in brushed stainless steel; additionally an even more limited version of only 8 pieces per dial which be available in Black PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) coated brushed steel. Both unique dials feature a Traditional Chinese pattern for fire as well as incorporate Traditional Chinese characters for the numerals; with the 8th hour marker written as 08 signifying the importance of this momentous year. Other design elements include a specialized version of the Traditional Ernst Benz hands as well as the EB signature black PVD coated rotor for both the steel and black PVD designs.