Everything began by a ‘mass’ or ‘service’ on Tuesday April 10, the day before the opening of BaselWorld. At the end of the day, a small elegant crowd gathered at the Elizabethan Kirche in Basel, squeezing together on the church benches under the high and colourful stained glass windows. But contrary to what normally happens during a church service, stylish and trendy waiters passed among the ‘faithful’ with trays of drinks and appetizers. And, it was not a priest who spoke but rather Herbert Gautschi, the new CEO of Vincent Bérard SA, a prestige brand acquired six months ago by the Timex Group, thanks to Gautschi’s efforts.

Luvorène movement by Vincent Bérard, Basel 2012

Joe Santana, CEO of the Timex Group, followed him, keeping the same tone of the evening: in his opinion, watchmaking is a “spiritual experience” and he was drawn to Vincent Bérard because of its “authenticity”. Four white domes then rose up, revealing four dancers; films symbolizing the four elements and the four seasons were shown; a curtain was drawn back and we could see the back of the church where a veri-table ‘watch priest’, Vincent Bérard, was sitting cross-legged on a platform. “The act of creation is of divine nature,” he affirmed, concluding his homily by a lively “Be happy! I said.” Other panels then slid away, displaying the objects of the ritual: the new Luvorène 1 collection.
Directly inspired by its remarkable carriage clocks, the Four Seasons, especially since the particular form of their cases is shaped like a pillar of the Strasbourg Cathedral (remaining in the spiritual theme), the Luvorène 1 wristwatches are equipped with a magnificent mechanical movement entirely developed by Vincent Bérard. This calibre features five bridges in the form of a stepped cam and a winding crown at 9 o’clock, leaving a small opening at 3 o’clock through which can be seen the balance beating freely since it is “mysteriously freed from its escapement.” (Europa Star will return in more detail to this realization in the next issue.)
In any case, this ‘mass’ was the perfect introduction to the spring watch shows this year, and for several reasons. The fact that a group like Timex, known mainly for its mass production, would invest in the haut de gamme and ultra niche sector is highly significant of a major repositioning towards the high-end that we are seeing today. And, the prominence, or even the ‘sanctification’ of the artisan-artist master watchmaker is one of the other great trends of the moment. People are falling over themselves at the present time to obtain the services of the most talented independent watchmakers.

The great journalistic ‘mass’
Wednesday morning, things started by another grand ‘mass’, the BaselWorld ritual opening press conference. The liturgy offered a series of triumphant examples: the summits reached this year by Swiss timekeeping whose exports have never been so high and which continue to climb (an increase of 18.8 percent during the first quarter of 2007); the number of exhibitors (2,109 in all, including 422 Swiss brands); an investment project for the transformation of the BaselWorld halls (CHF 350 million for this rather staggering venture entrusted to the star architects, Herzog & de Meuron, who also designed the great stadium in Beijing, among others); and, on the ‘dark side of the Force’, the explosion of counterfeit items (whose quality is getting better and better), estimated to be around 48 million fakes, causing damage to the Swiss watch industry to the tune of CHF 800 million.
Another subject that was discussed – we will come back to it later because it is an important and complex issue – is the expected strengthening of the criteria necessary in order to obtain the famous ‘Swiss Made’ label, a topic which continues to divide the industry.
The mass having been conducted, the believers of luxury could then begin their walk through the increasingly sumptuous corridors of BaselWorld in order to attend more private and personalized services.

Preaching the gospel
One of the first services of the day was offered by a true voice of the ‘gospel’. From high on his Hublot booth, surrounded by journalists, a highly enthusiastic Jean-Claude Biver triumphantly announced the creation and sale (to the Monegasque jeweller Tina Zegg) of its ‘Million Dollar BB’, a Big Bang entirely encrusted with invisible-set diamonds. It is actually a technical feat, since the diamonds are held in place as if by magic on a single-block gold case that disappears under the avalanche of sparkle.
Beaming and booming, Jean-Claude Biver declared that his creation outshone the “Fabergé Egg” by its “invisible visibility”, and that it was the “Mount Everest of stone setting”. There seemed to be a lot of direct orders and the number of Million Dollar BBs was rising: “I am told that a second one was ordered, then a third, and a fourth… it’s crazy.”
During this time, the stone-setter in question, Claude Sanz, owner of Bunter SA, commented from the bar at the booth: “With 2,000 hours of work in 5 micron dimensions, using 494 Top Wesselton diamonds, I told him we would make only one!” But, Biver quickly put his arms around Sanz’s shoulders and demonstrated his power of persuasion.
A week later, Biver sent journalists a text message with the triumphant news: “We made sales of CHF 152 million at BaselWorld. It’s so wonderful. I am so happy and wanted to share this with you.”

True new technical inventions were scarce
This celebratory news would set the general tone of the Spring Shows: (very) large sales, affirmed marriage between watchmaking, jewel-lery, and decorative arts but, paradoxically, very few really new technical innovations in the purely timekeeping sense. Curiously, it seemed that the higher the sales rose, the lower was the creative daring. From a technical point of view, 2007 will be a year of ‘consolidation’ of knowledge rather than one of new advances (with a few exceptions that are discussed later on).
Without a doubt, it was necessary to digest the considerable investments made over the previous years, in terms of research and development as well as in terms of integration and verticalization of the production tools.
Chopard, for example, demonstrated this point. Carl-Friedrich Scheuffele, during his press conference, explained that he “was not going to present great new technical pieces this year: that would be for 2008. We are too busy with our chronograph movement, the tests and adjustments necessary for its industrialization, and for setting up our unit for making steel cases.” Another realm that the brand is active in, like so many others, is opening new stores. Soon there will be 100 Chopard boutiques around the world. The brand’s industrial and commercial concerns explained very clearly why there is an ebb in technical innovation this year.

Million Dollar BB by Hublot, L.U.C Chronogarph by Chopard, Assioma Multi Complication Squelette by Bulgari

Fineness and grand class
Let’s take another example, Patek Philippe. Actually, this year, the venerable Geneva manufacture did not present any great new technical innovations. But, with new versions of its timepieces, with slight alterations, and with definite adjustments, the brand showcased great fineness and refinement, as well as attention to decoration, in its new Chronometro Gondolo, for example. Of course, Patek Philippe has created a new manual-winding form movement (the first since the 1930s) for this creation, but what was most remarkable about this model, widely appreciated during BaselWorld, was above all its exquisite delicateness and the beauty of the guillochage on its dial. Swimming against the tide, without making a fuss and with great class, Patek Philippe demonstrated that after years of obvious one-upmanship, watchmaking is perhaps moving ahead slowly but surely, with more distinction and excellence…

Carving out their own paths
In fact, the majority of large established brands essentially concentrated this year, in one way or another, on their respective ‘fundamentals’, striving therefore to carve out more deeply their own paths.
We noticed this, for example, at TAG Heuer, which endeavoured primarily to deepen and reaffirm its sports identity – perhaps in the announced perspective of the fight between it and Longines, a brand that is returning strategically to its own sports roots, leaving Omega to battle the likes of Rolex (on this subject, see the articles by Malcolm Lakin and Keith Strandberg). We also observed this at Zenith, which, strengthened by the success of its lavish Defy, has multiplied the number of ‘extreme’ models with a clear predilection for bold combinations of pink gold and hi-tech materials. Breguet was another example, as it strengthened its advantage in the remarkable Tradition collection, with its magnificent fusée Tourbillon Tradition (see later in this article).
We could cite many more examples. But, in fact, isn’t this relative pause in creativity also a sign that watchmaking has reached a certain level of maturity? The general landscape has been greatly redesigned over the last decade, and there are no more major shake-ups expected in the months and year ahead. Nothing of any consequence seems to be on the sales block. It is therefore quite logical that each brand would like, above all, to consolidate its own positions and to fully benefit from the current and crazy watchmaking ‘bubble’.

The watch ‘bulbs’
‘Bubble’? Sometimes, while wandering the corridors of the Shows, we are reminded of the famous ‘tulip bulbs’ that took over Holland in the 17th century. At its height, just before it burst, speculation in tulips did not really involve the physical flowers or their bulbs, but was conducted in improvised bourses dealing with transactions and exchanges of orders and certificates for future deliveries… A bit in the same way, at BaselWorld and the SIHH in Geneva, order books were filled with products to come, to be produced and delivered in the future – models still in the virtual stage, ‘bulbs’ of watches that had not really sprouted from the ground (how many samples and prototypes did we not handle during the Shows?).

Verticalizations and investments
But let’s end this analogy, and move back to the stands where various ‘services’ continued to be conducted.
A strict Pastor, who loves numbers, Francesco Trapani, CEO of Bulgari (and also nephew of Paolo and Nicola Bulgari, along with whom he holds 52 percent of the group) announced a 12 percent increase in revenue for 2006, with a net profit of 143 million euros. “From the status of watch designer, we are passing gradually to that of a true watchmaker,” he explained (Europa Star details the watchmaking integration of Bulgari in its next issue), announcing an “exceptional peak” of investment of 100 million euros in 2007, notably in the continuation of its watch verticalization.
This timekeeping identity will affirm itself in 2007, primarily with two lines: the Assioma Multi Complication Skeleton and the new Assioma D (for ‘diamonds’), a prestige line that will be supported by a very intense campaign. Moreover, in the realm of investments, four new stores will be opened in New York, Rome and Tokyo. Two stores will open in Tokyo, a Bulgari Tower and a Twin Store, which should boost sales even more on this market, that, with 25 percent of revenue, is the largest for the group. The Bulgari group is also expanding its genetic diversification with the inauguration of a new concept in Milan: a store intended exclusively for accessories.

Sailing on the high seas
Verticalization – or at least a particular form of ‘indirect’ verticalization – was also on the menu at Corum. Michael Wunderman, the brand’s young president, announced to an overflowing crowd at his booth that the “collaboration with Vaucher Fleurier SA (which is part of the same group as Parmigiani) was going to be strengthened and that it was going to give birth to new common projects”, which would materialize in the form of new movements specifically and exclusively intended for Corum. But contrary to Hermès, which just purchased a direct share of Vaucher, this enhanced collaboration does not involve a stake in the manufacture. Nonetheless, it is emblematic of the gradual strengthening of the direct link between this movement maker and a number of different brands looking to reinforce their autonomy in this strategic sector.
Moreover, Michael Wunderman proudly announced that Hublot would enter into the America’s Cup race with the Swedish Victory Challenge. Decidedly, the America’s Cup has become the swankiest watch club of the moment, with Louis Vuitton as the official timer of the qualifying heats that bear its name. Also in the race are Audemars Piguet (Alinghi), TAG Heuer (Team China), Girard-Perregaux (BMW Oracle), Hublot (Luna Rossa), Omega (New Zealand Emirates), and Sector (Mascalzone), etc.
This year and in this way, Corum is also strengthening its flagship marine product, with the new and very powerful Admiral’s Cup Challenge 44. It is also re-launching its famous Marées movement with the Admiral’s Cup Tides 48, and we cannot forget the very elegant and more democratic Admiral’s Cup Competition 40.
From the sea, competition, and the regattas, we also went to see Seiko, whose stand was even placed under the sign of the sail. This year, the Japanese brand decided to place its bets on the Velatura line, with its refined design inspired directly by yachts, and for whom the brand presented two new calibres: a Kinetic Direct Drive with 30 days of working reserve, also offering a manual-winding version with an indicator showing the electrical energy generated by the movements of the crown; and a Yachting Timer, equipped with presets of 5, 6 or 10 minutes, a chronograph, and an alarm function. In this marine device, Seiko has not forgotten its sponsoring aspect, and has established a global partnership with the very spectacular and rapid Class 49 that will be presented for the first time at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Seiko is also strengthening its Spring Drive flagship line with the presentation of a very lovely Spring Drive Chronograph. Reminding us of their legitimacy and expertise in the domain of chronographs, with notably the automatic mechanical calibre 6139 dating back to 1969 equipped with a column wheel and a vertical clutch pinion, or even the Kinetic Chrono dating to 1999, the watchmakers at Seiko developed this chronograph equipped, all at the same time, with the ‘tri-synchro regulator’ (one of the major characteristics of the Spring Drive), the column wheel, and vertical pinion on their movement 6139. The 416 parts making up this movement are all hand-assembled by nine Japanese master watchmakers, giving the world’s only chronograph whose hand slides without a jerk… just like time itself.

A spectacular tease for a coming revolution
Since we are in the domain of chronographs, let’s remain there with a watch that, for the little that we know, was one of the only true new technical innovations seen at the Shows – the still very mysterious but already fascinating Memoire 1 by Maurice Lacroix. It should be mentioned that Maurice Lacroix purposely maintained the suspense for this revolutionary product by organizing a life-size ‘tease’.
First act: the journalist is invited personally to the stand and is received by Philippe C. Merk, CEO, and Sandro Reginelli, Product Director, in a sort of cabin with only a few seats. With delight, Philippe Merk starts a rather mysterious video in which we see first the ‘souvenirs’, ‘life moments’ that float in space, followed by free-flowing balls on rails with mechanical claws that seize these ‘instants’ and insert them into a circular mech-anism that holds them… (the film can be seen on www.memoire.ch). OK! From there a small showcase slowly comes into view on a table in which a Memoire 1 watch is suspended: a product with rather large, ultra-contemporary forms, equipped with only two hands – minutes and seconds – and an hour indication in a window. But hardly do we have time to study it than it disappears automatically. That is all for the moment. We learned only that it is the only mechanical watch with a memory! Extremely complex under its apparent simplicity, the Memoire 1 displays the hour (in a window), the minutes, and seconds. By activating a pushbutton located in the crown at 3 o’clock, the watch automatically passes into the chronographic mode: the hands and the hour disk return to zero to allow the chronograph to start. But during the measure of the time intervals via the chronographic function, it is possible to return at any time to the time display, thanks to the same pushbutton – the hands thus return to their place to show the current time, by catching up to it – then they return to the timing function, which is also mechanically kept correct. During this procedure, nothing is lost; everything is in the watch’s memory. And, when the chronograph is stopped permanently to return to the time display, the chronographic information is stored in the memory and can be consulted at any time.
Exceptional, no? We won’t learn anything more for the moment about this whole new type of complication. Maurice Lacroix will gradually release additional information, but will not reveal the watch and its mechanism entirely until November 21 in Shanghai. (The watch is already protected by several patents.) This development is the fruit of the ‘Atelier Maurice Lacroix’.
“Gradually,” explains Philippe Merk, “we are transforming the substance of our brand. We have become a veritable manufacture, but that is not enough. We don’t want to become the largest, but we want to propose large ideas, incarnated in products that will make a big impression. This is how we envision the role and legitimacy of a real manufacture. In-house, we have created a visionary atelier intended to develop striking innovations that, gradually, will migrate towards normal collections. Memoire 1 is the first obvious example of the change in substance.” So, mark your calendars for next November (as for the other models presented by Maurice Lacroix, see the article by Malcolm Lakin).

Admiral’s Cup Challenge 44 by Corum, Opus VII by Harry Winston, Yachting Timer by Seiko

Opus VII
On the topic of unusual complications, an imperative appointment is provided each year by Harry Winston for its annual Opus. This year, after Félix Baumgartner, Greubel & Forsey, Christophe Claret, Vianney Halter and Antoine Preziuso, among others, it is the young Andreas Strehler who has been designated to create the Opus VII. Even though relatively unknown to the general public, this talented young man is very prolific. Among other things, he is credited with the chronographic movement launched last year by Maurice Lacroix, as well as the Chronoscope from Chronoswiss and the exceptional Perpetual Calendar by Moser. However, the proposition made to him by Hamdi Chati, CEO of Harry Winston Timepieces, to work on an Opus, was particularly exciting for him because, as he stated, “Opus is the best thing for a watchmaker because it gives you carte blanche, the liberty to create. But the demands are great in the sense that you have to necessarily create something that is completely different.” To do so, Andreas Strehler combined two of his options: on one hand, the alternative display that he had exper-imented with in his pocket watch, ‘Zwei’, indicating the hour and minute or the date and month by a simple push of a button by using just two hands; and on the other hand, a simplified hour and minute movement that he had developed by using only very large gear trains. The Opus VII is the result of the combination of these two avenues of research, giving “a piece of art that keeps the time, but that only gives it on demand,” as he said himself. The alternative display of the hour, the minute or the power reserve (60 hours) is achieved by pressing a pushbutton integrated into the winding crown. This indication is combined with an entirely visible and seemingly extremely simple (large) gear train, held in suspension under a uniquely delicate bridge, shaped in the form of a butterfly. Thanks to the large size of the gears, Andreas Strehler was able to do without the seconds wheel. The result is a work of art with an exceptional lightness that draws its evocative power not from its decorative nature but from special work conducted on the watch mechanism itself.

Fusée tourbillon
In the same vein, but with a totally different style, we found a similar beauty – in the sense that it was truly watchmaking in nature – in Breguet’s latest fusée Tradition Tourbillon, a great success. Here also, we found an oversize element: the tourbillon itself occupies nearly half of the surface area of the movement. With a 16 mm carriage, it has a titanium balance in order to make it as light as possible. The transmission of energy is achieved using a chain device (the links are made in-house, as we were quickly informed) that passes from the double spring barrel to the fan-shaped rollers of the conic fusée, thus guaranteeing constant torque, whatever the degree of winding.
The power reserve (50 hours) is directly connected to the barrel by a pivot and a reducing differential (thus, without an additional gear train). Thanks to the extremely fine bezel and a rounded-edge glass, the view of the various apparent levels of the movement is absolutely spectacular, revealing a lovely sandblasted decoration in the form of a mechanical apotheosis.
On the question of tourbillons, the brand that bears the name of its inventor – Breguet filed the patent in the month of Messidor (tenth month) of the ninth year of the Revolutionary Calendar, or in other words, June-July of 1801 – produced several exceptional examples, notwithstanding the craze of tourbillon production over the last few years. (Rest assured, the tourbillon folly has calmed a bit this year or, without a doubt, the device has become quite commonplace, to the extent that any brand can be asked: “But how is it that you don’t have a tourbillon?”) Besides the fusée Tradition Tourbillon, Breguet presented this year a lovely Tourbillon Messidor, with a skeleton movement, with the particularity of offering a mysterious tourbillon. In fact, it is a sapphire plate, set with gears, that moves the tourbillon, thus giving it the spectacular appearance of flying in the void.

Legitimate self-celebration
While Breguet (SA) celebrated Breguet (Louis-Abraham) in this manner, Greubel Forsey cel-ebrated itself in all legitimacy with its ‘Pièce de l’Invention 1’, or an exceptional timepiece destined to celebrate the 30-degree double tourbillon, the first invention of the duo. We know the experimental development platform and the gradual production of Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, (E.W.T. stands for Experimental Watch Technology), who are now on their fourth invention. Still in its developmental phase, this invention revolves around the regulating organ, itself, and addresses the problem of compensation, while presenting a balance spring and balance in diamonds. The Invention No. 3, an inclined 24-seconds tourbillon, is in the pre-production phase. The Invention No. 2, a spherical quadruple tourbillon will be released later this year. For the Invention No. 1, the 30-degree double tourbillon, 80 pieces have been produced. A series of 11 pieces with plain gold dials are being currently introduced, as well as a very beautiful special edition named ‘Secret’ which hides the double tourbillon from view.
The recent acquisition by the Richemont Group of a 20 percent stake in Greubel Forsey – a partnership that has been prepared during two years – will allow the creative duo to “benefit from Richemont’s structures” while letting them have greater creative freedom. “The advantages of independence, without the disadvantages,” they concluded. We will come back to them later.

Tradition Tourbillon by Breguet, “Pièce de l’Invention 1” by Greubel Forsey, Fifty Fathom by Blancpain

Tourbillon or carrousel?
On the subject of tourbillons, let’s rapidly move to Blancpain, which presented a project that has been in the works for two years now: a carrousel! The battle of the experts – namely tourbillon or carrousel – was started a few years ago, notably concerning the tourbillons proposed by Blancpain. We won’t get into the details of the quarrel since that would require pages and pages, but we will say simply that, according to some people, these were not true toubillons because their balance was not at the centre of the carriage. In a toubillon, the pivot of the mobile carriage is on the same axis as the pivot of the balance. Thus, the mobile carriage is an integral part of the gear train. In a carrousel, the mobile carriage is not on the same line and is carried by a separate wheel. When this gearing is disconnected and the carriage stops turning, the watch continues, however, to function, contrary to a tourbillon, which is ‘interdependent’.
To stop this Byzantine quarrel, Blancpain called upon Vincent Calabrese, a great defender of carrousels that he considers “technically superior to other tourbillons”, even if the two serve the same function of compensation. “To make a carrousel,” declared Vincent Calabrese, “is more difficult than to make a tourbillon. The number of component parts is greater and the calculations are more difficult because it is, in fact, a differential.” To visually distinguish between them, it is necessary to look at the seconds wheel, which is fixed in a tourbillon (the escapement turns around it), while it is movable in a carrousel. (One of the only existing carrousels currently available is the Freak watch developed by Ludwig Oechslin for Ulysse Nardin.) We will speak more about this next year when Blancpain introduces its Carrousel, which will be presented in an automatic version. No doubt, a lot of ink will be used by the experts on discussing this as well.
But furthermore, Blancpain presented a complete renovation of its Fifty Fathom collection, the first modern diver’s watch, created in 1953. An undeniable success, it proposes a whole series of ‘professional’ watches that are both sporty and extremely elegant and refined. They also feature water-resistance to 300 metres, anti-magnetic properties, robust screw-in case backs, fabric and rubber bracelets, and flyback chronograph models that can be activated under water.

The gentrification of the sports watch
This ‘gentrification’ of the sports watch (in this regard, see the article by Keith Strandberg in this issue) is one of the major trends of the 2007 Shows. We think of King Rolex, of course, with its new model, Yacht-Master II (see the article by Malcolm Lakin) that made a great impression – and that will soon become the Must in the world’s yachting clubs – but we also think of the road cleared by some independents, such as that of Vogard. For four years now, Michael Vogt has been developing, refining, and diversifying his line of travel watches, that allows the time zone to be changed by a simple rotation of the bezel. Another feature, the 24 zones display of Daylight Saving times. New this year is the Supertraveller model that indicates the time in 36 cities. Increasing the number of special timepieces for golfers, pilots, or for this year, the titanium and carbon fibre ‘Black F1’ which displays the F1 circuits around the world, Vogard is also proposing an extraordinary range of bracelets including one carved in exceptional rubber.
Another example of a ‘small’ brand following its own road with dogged determination is the designer Giuliano Mazzuolo and his very successful Manometro, that was presented at the Show in a Chronographic version. With decentralized pushbuttons on the left and a crown at 2 o’clock, it offers clear reading and ergonometric ease in use that is rarely achieved. Soon, we will be able to discover his latest creation, Contagiri, with winding taking place on the bezel.

Black F1 by Vogard, Chronograph by Giuliano Mazzuolo, C1 Chronograph by Concord

Genetic transformations
Contrary to preceding years, the re-launches from scratch (not to be confused with launches of new brands) were not too numerous this year. We noticed the 180-degree turn taken by Concord. The brand will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2008, and the Movado Group (the owner of Concord for the last 30 years) has decided, after the success of Ebel’s ‘return to the roots’, to concentrate on this brand. “The mess-age was diluted. There was no united corporate identity because Concord differed from one market to another. To sum it up, Concord had become, little by little, an empty shell,” stated the ambitious Vincent Périard, the ‘geneticist’ of the brand who was named to the top spot in 2006 (he also created the company Brand DNA after a stint in the communication division of Audemars Piguet).
In less than ten months, the new team had redone everything: the visual identity, the stand at BaselWorld, the packaging, marketing, and...the product. The slogan sums up the state of mind: ‘The watch. Reconstructed’. Launched with a series of teasers, the C1 begins with 24 models. It was presented as the first step in the reconstruction in progress. It evokes a work of engineers that defines their territory: design, strength, and daring, all coming together to meet “a high qualitative demand.” It is an understatement to describe the C1 as ’monumental’ with its case composed of 42 parts, measuring 44 mm in diameter, and 16.70 mm in thickness. A masterpiece, the COSC-certified C1 Chronograph can be classed in the Hummer category of watchmaking, with its use of military lexicon: its assembly method ‘optimizes the robustness and absorbs shocks’, the ‘bastions’ straddle the bezel, the ‘spectacular’ glass is 3.3 mm thick, and the hands are ‘muscular’. High in testosterone and dressed in steel, composite material and vulcanized rubber, the power C1 ‘goes to the assault of time’.
It’s impossible to not think that this watch is looking to overshadow the Big Bang. In terms of production, the stated goal for 2007 is to achieve 1000 pieces, while not exceeding 6000 pieces over time. Distribution is to be completely reconfigured. The revisited older collections will continue for a while on Concord’s major markets while being gradually phased out with the introduction of the new C1, C2, etc. The new team, based in Bienne, still has the size of a commando, but already the ambitions of a battalion.

Return of decoration
The spectacular transformation of Concord is emblematic of a type of watchmaking that has the wind in its sails: powerful pieces, with abnormally enlarged graphic elements, shock-resistant, using a mix of materials, etc.
Yet, on the other side of the fence, we found a whole other trend that makes up a large part of a renewed form of decorative art. This ‘return of decoration’ is becoming more and more evident in timekeeping. We saw several beautiful examples at BaselWorld, and this trend was elegantly confirmed at the SIHH in Geneva.
This return of decoration can be carried out with great refinement, with attention to detail, or it can be more spectacular in appearance. For example, the new team that has taken over the destiny of Bédat has not broken with what has already been done; on the contrary, they have conserved the same inspiration and have dug deeper into the ‘decorative’ domain in a very sophisticated manner. The play of colour has become more subtle, stone settings have become more delicate, the enhancement of the lines has continued into the extensive choice of bracelets and materials.
Another, but totally different, example of this decorative trend is the rather particular timekeeping offered by Bunz. With its Moontime 3 collection, Bunz has reached a definite watchmaking maturity with pieces that do not re-semble any other. At the top of the dial, a gold moon in the shape of a sphere turns on itself to indicate the lunar phases below a mother-of-pearl sky with two large numbers, all sitting on a sea of diamond pavé. Without a doubt, this approach has its origins in the German brand’s jewellery vocation, allowing it to have quite a different view than is seen on the traditional Swiss watch landscape. As such, it follows a different road, with pieces that are original, refined, and designed entirely for their decorative effect. The new Chinese entrepreneurs, it seems, are just wild about these new timepieces.
A quite different approach, but one that is just as ‘decorative’ could be admired at De Witt, especially in a surprising collection composed of watches whose dials are made of silicon plates. Extremely fine, fragile, and breakable, these plates undergo some 20 operations. They are cut out, tinted, and placed in a dial composed of not less than 47 elements. Thanks to their internal structure that somewhat resembles a meteorite, these silicon dials have an absolutely unique brilliance and shimmer, both figuratively and literally as each dial is different. They enrich the brand’s pieces that are already quite complex, as much in the architecture of the case as in the displays and complications that De Witt loves so much. (We will return to these timekeepers in a later edition of Europa Star.)

An event: the Masks of Vacheron Constantin
The summit of the trend towards decoration was discovered at the SIHH in the exceptional collection of Masks proposed by Vacheron Constantin. It was, with no contest, one of the highlights of the 2007 Spring shows. A priori, the idea seemed a little crazy, and ran the risk of being kitsch. It involved putting miniscule three-dimensional reproductions of ‘primitive’ masks on the dials of the brand’s watches.
But this disconcerting idea was soon dispelled when you saw the final product. Combining art, science, and extreme attention to detail, the result is truly superb and nearly gives you goose bumps just looking at it. There is something almost ‘sacred’ about these masks, an im-pression reinforced by the text of the French poet, Michel Butor, engraved around them, set on sapphire crystals. Tinted by a metallization process, these crystals let you guess what the movement is: an in-house automatic calibre that, thanks to four small disks, displays the hours, minutes, day, and date in four windows, thus freeing the centre of the dial for the masks. An initial series of four watches has been made, inspired directly from the masks on display in the fabulous primitive art collection of Geneva’s Barbier-Mueller Museum. They include a Chinese funerary mask, a frontal mask from Alaska, a facial mask from the Congo, and a theatrical mask from Indonesia. A total of three series comprising four different masks each will be produced over three years, giving twelve different types, for a total production of 300 pieces sold in special cases holding the four-watch set.
This magnificent work of art can be credited to the talent of an exceptional engraver, Olivier Vaucher, who is a true ‘sculptor’ of miniatures. (For more details, see our Cover Story)

888 by Bédat & Co., Academia Silicium Grande Date by de Witt, Lady Féerie by Van Cleef & Arpels

Poetry and games: the winning jackpot
The same Olivier Vaucher was at work for Van Cleef & Arpels, which presented its 2007 collection under the sign of ‘poetry and fairies’. Vaucher was responsible for the charming little fairy of the Lady Arpels Fairy watch, in which the fairy’s wand served as the hour hand. Decorative art was also in evidence at Van Cleef & Arpels in their diamond sculptures such as the ‘Fleurette’ line where an ingenious stone-setting technique gave the impression of a true flower that was composed of only one stone. The brand’s poetic complications, such as the Lady Arpels Seasons collection, employed a disk that turned in a nearly imperceptible fashion over 365 days, gradually revealing the painted motifs on the disk.
In the same vein of ‘mobile’ watchmaking, we passed from the decorative to the frankly ‘playful’ in the proper sense of the ‘game’ with the very surprising and very complex Vintage 1945 Jackpot Tourbillon by Girard-Perregaux. For the first time, high precision mechanics are placed in the service of the random number. The brand dared to mix a tourbillon under a golden bridge with a slot machine device activated by a small lever placed on the side of the case. When the lever is pulled, a rack slides towards the top of the case and activates three gold rollers which are painted and lacquered with the five symbols that adorned the first slot machine, the ‘Liberty Bell’, invented at the end of the 19th century. The rack descends slowly and, at two-thirds of its course, activates stoppers that block the rollers one after the other. It also activates a chime that is reminiscent of the slot machines in a casino. Of the 125 possible combinations, only one – the three bells – means you have hit the jackpot.
Emblematic of the current state of Swiss watchmaking that garners one ‘jackpot’ after another, the Vintage 1945 Jackpot Tourbillon by Girard-Perregaux also demonstrates that by mixing the serious with the infantile, you arrive at a sort of mechanical ‘jubilation’.
Also, we must mention that Girard-Perregaux, quite in form this year, presented many new models from its best collections, whether it was the Vintage, with a new movement designed for changing the axis of the small seconds displayed between 9 and 10 o’clock, the Richeville tonneau, which demonstrates its flexibility, or even various special editions such as the obligatory America’s Cup, in the collection Laureato, with DLC dressing (for Diamond Like Carbon), or a Laureato Regatta with a flying tourbillon and a count-down chronograph.

Vintage 1945 Jackpot Tourbillon by Girard-Perregaux, Duomètre à Chronographe by Jaeger-LeCoultre, Centigraphe Souverain by F.-P. Journe

The search for chronometry
But not all is pure fun and games with the important mechanical watchmakers. The search for the best chronometry is also on the menu. As witness to two different approaches, we found the works of Jaeger-LeCoultre and François-Paul Journe.
Let’s begin with Journe. He presented, in his Geneva manufacture, the long-awaited Centi-graphe Souverain, measuring a 100th of a second. Visually, there are three counters with a red time scale and a black tachymetric scale: at 10 o’clock, a rapid seconds hand turns around the dial in one second against a scale divided into hundredths, thus allowing the timing of an object – very theoretically – moving at the speed of 360,000 km/h; at 2 o’clock, a hand rotates around the dial in 20 seconds against a scale divided into seconds; at 6 o’clock, a hand makes the turn of the dial in 10 minutes against a scale divided into minutes. The three counters also include a tachymetric scale expressed in km/h. The Centigraphe thus can read the displacement speed of objects ranging from a snail to a rocket.
Contrary to the Calibre 360 from TAG Heuer, in which the chronographic movement to 1/100th and the hour and minute movements are dissociated, each with its own barrel, the Centigraphe by Journe has only one and the same movement. But the barrel spring is disarmed on the two sides, with the arbour connected to the chronograph gears and the barrel itself connected to the movement. The chronographic function is thus isolated from the movement itself and its operation has no effect on the amplitude of the balance, thus preserving the chronometric performance of the watch. This very ingenious system – already experimented by Journe in his Grande Sonnerie and duly patented – is activated by a very ingenious lever – also patented – located at 2 o’clock on the middle case and replacing, in an ergonometric manner, the traditional pushbuttons, themselves heirs of the fob chronographs.
The very pure Duomètre à Chronographe presented by Jaeger-LeCoultre also seeks the best chronometry possible. Here, too, the activation of the chronographic function does not interfere with the watch’s performance. The technical solution, however, is different. As Europa Star explained in detail in the supplement devoted to this realization (see Europa Star 2.07), the Duomètre à Chronographe is equipped with only one balance that energizes two distinct mechan-isms. Each of these two mechanisms has its own gear train, fuelled by its own barrel. There is no interaction between the two gear trains that operate in an autonomous manner, totally independent of each other. The only element that they share is the time base, which furnishes their common regulating organ. But this double movement, whose first application was in the form of a chronograph, can also be employed in other complications. The future will tell.

First watch requiring no lubricant
Decidedly in form, even in multi-form, Jaeger-LeCoultre has deepened its traditional mechanical timekeeping knowledge and has thus opened new avenues for the future of its Master Compressor Extreme LAB. This automatic watch features a tourbillon, double time zone, and jumping date between the 15 and 16 of each side of the tourbillon. It is also equipped with a Calibre 988C, requiring no lubricant and resistant to temperatures ranging from -40 degrees +60 degrees Centigrade. A large number of new materials have been employed: carbo-nitride Easium that replaces the traditional jewels; a black crystalline diamond in place of the lift of the pallet jewels; a silicon escapement wheel; graphite powder in place of grease for the barrel; arms of the oscillating weight in carbon fibre; segment of the oscillating weight in platinum iridium, etc. This does not even count the various treatments of the surface. The geometry of this movement has been entirely re-worked in view of acquiring better performance, while the case has gone really hi-tech with aluminium, Ticalium, carbon, silicon carbo-nitride, titanium, flexible polyure-thane, and on and on. We will come back to this in more detail, discussing this prototype that inaugurates a new era in watchmaking. Nothing less.

Strategies
Still at the SIHH, JeanRichard focused on establishing the brand in markets outside of Europe, in order to be able to immediately position itself where it is today: a young brand, quality-orien-ted, ‘original but without folly’, 100 percent mechanical (50 percent of its turnover comes from in-house calibres, including the JR 1000), offering useful complications without however entering full force into haute horlogerie. An example of this strategy is the operation conducted jointly with the Italian motorcycle brand, MV Agusta, which is a true motorcycle manufacturer, making everything in its own factories. This relationship is a way to share their common values. The result is the ‘JR for Agusta’, a sleek timepiece in pink gold, titanium or steel (see ‘The year of the sports watch’ by Keith Strandberg).
Another strategy is the one being used by Parmigiani, which presents a flagship collection every year. The current one is the Kalpa’graph, the first in-house chronograph movement. The underlying purpose, we were told, is to “reach a younger clientele” with a less expensive entry-level product (although, the starting prices are in the neighbourhood of CHF 17,000). This younger looking appearance is immediately noticeable in the Kalpa XL as it plays with the brand’s codes, has very modern styling, and incorporates counters in the form of inverted 8s encircled in red. This model testifies to the brand’s gradual rise in strength. We will also come back to this later in the year.

Extreme Lab. by Jaeger-LeCoultre, Paramount Time Square by JeanRichard, Kalpagraph by Parmigiani

Private services
Space is unfortunately lacking here to discuss everything we saw at the spring shows, but the articles that follow by Malcolm Lakin, Sophie Furley, and Keith Strandberg partially make up for this lack. In addition to the large ‘masses’ conducted at BaselWorld and the SIHH, there were a number of private ‘services’, both large and small. The WPHH of the Franck Müller Group saw the appearance of a new name in watchmaking (but a name that is more than 100 years old in the diamond trade), Backes & Strauss, with magnificent watches, perfectly proportioned and ideally diamond-set, that complete the palette of timepieces offered by the Franck Müller Group. We also noted the rise in strength of Rodolphe, offering new models with a strong and recognizable design (we will discuss them later in the year), as well as the very particular design approach of Pierre Kunz in the realm of haute horlogerie (we will return to this brand as well in the future).
Other ‘chapels’ were scattered around the large Geneva hotels, causing journalists to run from one to the other. But in view of the affluence seen everywhere, ‘The SIHH effect’ seemed to act as a real stimulant. We could admire the latest creations of the haut-couturier Antoine Preziuso, the fine proportions of watches from Jean-Mairet & Gillman, and the sumptuous tourbillons of Jean Dunand. We were also able to discover the powerful forms of Volna, or even try to see the latest from Richard Mille, the ‘wonder story’, where we had to elbow our way through the crowds.

Piccadilly by Backes & Strauss, Instinct Chrono by Rodolphe, Pierre Kunz

The announcements of the Swatch Group
During this time, the Swatch Group, not wanting to let all the star billing go to the brands of the Richemont Group, organized a press conference in its building located on the Rhône. In a relaxed setting – you could understand why after seeing the numbers – Nick Hayek Jr enumerated the success of the group in terms of products, markets, industrialization, marketing, and distribution. The ‘double digit’ numbers rained down. The emphasis was on Omega’s move upmarket with its new movement, ‘Hour Vision’, presented as ‘the most beautiful industrial movement in the world’ (a manner to compete with Rolex, against whom the war has visibly been declared).
Hayek also mentioned that a new 14-line chronograph would be introduced during the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. In fact, China is a major target in the next few years with the opening, at the end of 2007 or beginning of 2008, of the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, incorporating six floors in Shanghai’s Bund area (Europa Star already mentioned this last fall). This location is perhaps the best in all of China, in one of the jewels of the Chinese Art Déco style, with a very interesting ‘ma foi’ concept. It will include the boutiques of Breguet, Blancpain, Omega, and Swatch, plus three floors transformed into bedrooms and ateliers for artists from all over the world who can come and live there at no charge for six months. On the sixth floor will be a restaurant with a view over the future of China.
The Spring shows may be over, but the story continues.

Alexandre III Chronograph by Jean-Mairet & Gillman, RM015 by Richard Mille, Swatch Art Peace Hotel

Source: Europa Star June - July 2007 Magazine Issue