Watch Stops 2011: BaselWorld – Bell & Ross Goes Blue, and Red

Vintage has its advantages, as Bell & Ross reverts back to the air force blues we all know so well in its new BR03 Blue Ceramic piece. The bold 42mm self-winding watch is so eye-catching thanks to the allure of its color. The ceramic blue is a matte finish – exactly what you would expect from this instrument house. It offers hours, minutes, seconds and date. The index, and hands are coated in a photo luminescent material and the antireflective sapphire glass is lined with a tinted mineral crystal – something we’ve only seen done by a very select few watch brands.  Water resistant to 100 meters, this watch is a beauty. It retails for a cool $4,500.

Stepping up a notch, the brand also releases its Radar watch in red this year – again with a tinted dial. Retailing at $5,900, the watch features a red disk that indicates the hours on the outer edge of the dial, the minutes are indicated by a disk in the middle of the dial, and an always-constant rotating seconds disk moves along the inner ring on the black dial for a real radar effect. Inspired by the air traffic control radar instruments, the BR 01 Red Radar offers a wonderful graphic display of time that emulates a radar screen magnificently. Instead of hands, the disks track the time as red beams in a technical challenge that Bell & Ross’s engineers tackled and conquered. Just 999 pieces of the 46mm watch will be made.    It houses a self-winding ETA 2892 movement and is water resistant to 100 meters.

 

Watch Stops 2011: Blancpain Releases 30-Minute Time Zone watch

A classic beauty to behold, a stunner on the wrist and a mechanical marvel  to top it off, this Blancpain Villeret Time zone 30 Minutes  Demi-Savonette (half-hunter) caseback watch is a half-hour time zone  timepiece – a rare find in today’s world. This watch enables travelers to countries such as India, or Venezuela, where there is a half-hour time zone – to track the time as easily as one tracks it anywhere else in the world. The watch is simple to use with all adjustments off of the crown.  The elegant guillcohe’d dial offers day/night indicator at 9:00, reference time at 12:00 and half-hour time zone and seconds are in the center. It houses a 321-part automatic caliber with 28 jewels. The elegant Villeret case is crafted in 18-karat red gold.

 

Watch Stops 2011 : BaselWorld — Harry Winston Releases Histoire de Tourbillon 2

Ever since Harry Winston explored new territory with its Opus series, the brand launched into new realms of watchmaking investigation – offering new alloys and creative new movements. Now, Harry Winston unveils its Histoire de Tourbillon 2, meant to embrace the visionary spirit of the brand in a daring and distinctive manner. The watch features a bi-axial flying tourbillon with two concentric carriages to create a striking visual effect. Housed within an outer carriage completing one full turn in 120 seconds, the internal carriage containing the balance, balance-spring and escapement that revolves in just 40 seconds. The watch consists of eight sapphire crystals, revealing the tourbillon coupled with running seconds at 9:00, the hours with day/night indication at 2:00, and the minutes at 6:00. It is crafted in 18-karat white gold in a 48.5mm case. Only 20 pieces will ever be made.

 

Watch Stops 2011: BaselWorld — Dior Does Diamonds Right

Not that you wouldn’t expect a grand House like Dior – one of the most commanding icons in the haute couture world – to do diamond and gemstone timepieces superbly … but this year, Dior has pulled out all the stops. The brand has unveiled an entirely new collection that is at once both fascinating and alluring. Called VIII – named for the street number in Paris that is its home – the collection offers both diamonds and gemstones as adornments on its timepieces.  There are several lines in the new series, including the Dior VIII 33mm Automatic Lunettes Baguettes – set with baguette diamonds or colored sapphires on the case, and with an inner ring of diamonds on the high-tech ceramic timepiece. Additi onally, and ever more enticing, there is a stunning series with diamonds set on the dials in high-jeweled forms that emulate couture styling and in renditions of bubbles or other majestic designs. We will have more to come on this series shortly!  

 

Watch Stops 2011: BaselWorld — Corum Brings Golden Bridge to New Era

Since the first mechanical Corum Golden Bridge watch was unveiled to the world in 1980 it has been a shining star – an acclaimed masterpiece due to its mysterious appeal and clean look.  The exceptional baguette movement with innovative linear  construction wrote watchmaking history.

 Now, the brand releases the first automatic variation of the timepiece in limited editions in white gold or red gold. This self-winding Golden Bridge movement is equipped with a platinum linear oscillating weight. The exclusive new Corum Caliber C0313 automatic linear-winding baguette movement was more than four years in the development stages. This 194-part caliber, with 40 hours of power reserve, features a mainplate and bridges   made from 18kt gold. The movement consists of Teflon-coated rails for the linear oscillating weight, beryllium copper contact zones, and ceramic ball bearings for the reverser system to ensure unidirectional winding. To accommodate the new caliber, the Golden Bridge Automatic features a tonneau-shaped case that is slightly larger than its siblings and thus, slightly ergonomically curved for excellent comfort. All crystals are antiglare. The watch is being built in a limited edition of 130 pieces in red gold and 70 pieces in white gold.

 

Watch Stops 2011: BaselWorld – Carl F. Bucherer Brings Out the Manero Chrono-Perpetual

Combining just the right complexities for today’s busy executive, Carl F. Bucherer unveils the limited edition Manero Chrono-Perpetual in rose gold ($46,200) or in stainless steel ($31,000). The automatic watch (housing the caliber CFB 1904) offers chronograph, flyback, perpetual calendar, date indication, day, month, leap year and moon phase indicator.  It is chocked wit h49 jewels and 50 hours of power reserve. Cased in a 42.5mm 18-karat rose gold beauty, the watch is finished with a Louisiana alligator strap. Just 100 pieces will be made in rose gold and 150 pieces in steel. This is one watch that will keep you on time 365 days a year in definitive style.

 

Watch Stops 2011: BaselWorld – Chopard Dons Diamonds Like Never Before

BaselWorld is shimmering. If there was an economic recession – it may not be so evident walking the halls here this week. Everywhere one turns, diamonds and gemstones adorn the finest timepieces from the best brands.

New from Chopard is the Luma high jewelry watch. The dial is adorned with a carpet of brilliant-cut diamonds. The 18-karat white gold case is set with 122 brilliant-cut diamonds, weighing 9.17 carats, as well as 557 small brilliant-cut diamonds. The white gold bracelet is set with an additional 615 brilliant-cut diamonds weighing 18.33 carats. This is a definite must-have beauty!

Watch Stops 2011: BaselWorld — Hermes and the Man in the Moon

Hermes this year is dedicated to offering watchmaking function as well as form, and has a host of important pieces this year. One key model is the classically elegant Arceau Grande Lune watch – offered with either a black or white dial. Part of the iconic saddlery-inspired Arceau line, the new piece features an alluring moon phase indication, along with complete calendar functions of day, date and month readout. This sophisticated watch houses a Dubois-Dupraz mechanical movement and is accented with a genuine alligator strap. It should be really reasonably priced since it is housed in steel and will definitely let one walk around in classically chic style that offers a nod toward retro feel and mechanical prowess.

Watch Stops 2011: BaselWorld — Louis Vuitton Releases Minute Repeater

Although it won’t be available until late November of this year — and it is only being created first in a limited edition and then on demand — this amazing new Louis Vuitton minute repeater, dual time-zone watch by Louis Vuitton has gusto and powerful appeal. Unveiled here at BaselWorld, the watch offers – on demand – the hours, quarter hours and minutes and is beautifully ornamented — revealing the works via a sapphire crystal and dial-less front. The futuristic design offers a well-appointed design visible through a sapphire caseback, too. Blackened bridges, and a LV plate beneath 4:00 that can be customized are just a few key points. The watch, which should retail for around $300,000, was one year in the development stages, and is the work of the dream team of Louis Vuitton and the masters behind the famed Spin Time watch. More details will follow soon.

Watch Stops 2011: BaselWorld – TAG Heuer Release a McLaren Marvel

Tag Heuer is no newcomer to the world of automotive adventures. We’ve been loving this brand’s strong Monaco and Carrera watches since it burst onto the racing world scene long before it even had “Heuer” attached to its name. Made even more legendary on the wrists of celebs such as Steve McQueen in historic movies, and on today’s race car driving  icons, TAG Heuer just exudes racing rigor in its DNA.

As such, it comes as no surprise that the brand, along with McLaren Automotive, would venture forth to team up once again and combine their performance-oriented zeal in another unique timepiece.  Those in the know may recall the first venture of the two – dating back almost a decade now to 1993 when they released the McLaren F1 road car and subsequent watch. Now, the new TAG Heuer Carrera MP4-12C Chronograph features an exclusive design that builds off of the high-performance McLaren car.

The watch, built in a limited edition of 1,000 pieces, is available for purchase only at McLaren showrooms and on www.mclaren.com. It  features a carbon-based dial (inspired by the MP4-12C’s carbon fiber chassis) with sapphire crystal inserts to reveal the movement (or engine) – a high-tech marvel used for the first time in a TAG Heuer watch.  The Dubois Depraz Caliber 4900 automatic flyback chronograph with semi-perpetual calendar offers big date and month indicator. The chronograph case is ultra light-weight titanium grade 2 and the strap is alcantara (the same as the interior leather of the car). While this watch is pretty to look at in pictures, it’s even better on the wrist.