TEMPTED TO SPLURGE. Just when the going got tough, the watch industry flexed its muscles to entice the global audience again with well-crafted métiers and creativity. Chris Andre reports

The entrance of Hall 1

There’s simply no better day than today in the watch world, as the possibility for innovation and reinvention are virtually limitless. This notion was in the air from the very first day until the end of Baselworld 2016, which took place from March 17 to 24 in Basel, Switzerland.

This year’s chilly spring brought with it a lot of anticipation and curiosity prodded by the many changes happening within the industry. Not only did the rise of smartwatches galvanize many “accessible luxury” houses to respond proactively, the more elaborate focus on in-house movements stirred up serious discussion. But even before stepping a single foot in the exhibition venue at Messeplatz, I noticed how everybody else was looking wide-eyed at their smartphones on the side of the road.

A vintage Mercedes-Benz car for the Uber x Zenith collaboration

When I opened the Uber app on my phone I finally found out that Zenith launched an exclusive collaboration with the ride-sharing company for this occasion. There were four very special vintage cars dedicated to take Baselworld participants to the venue, free of charge. I luckily snagged a ride in a classic 1960s Jaguar whose interior sported sexy red leather. In this time of economic ennui, don’t we all need a little something to pick us up?

Hot Connections

Still hot on everyone’s radar was the arrival of connected watches. Keeping their word to unveil their own take on the trend were TAG Heuer and Breitling. The former actually did way more than that. Before their three-story booth at the entrance of Hall 1 was a showcase of the TAG Heuer Connected watches in multiple colors as well as a Virtual Reality section that allowed attendants to experience driving a Formula One race car.

Hublot’s Big Bang Sang Bleu

Interconnectedness seemed to be TAG Heuer’s MO as the brand was the one to really spearhead this particular evolution in the Swiss watch industry. As a matter of fact, the brand pushed the boundaries even further by introducing the most affordable tourbillon watch on the market today: Give a warm welcome to the Carrera Heuer-02T. Priced at only US$15,000, the beautiful timepiece embodied the brand’s directive to be “disruptive”—a mantra often cited by Jean-Claude Biver, the aggressive and ingenious CEO of TAG Heuer.

Guido Terreni, Luke Evans, Jean-Christophe Babin and Olga Kurylenko
at the Bulgari press conference

These two different directions—one toward interconnectedness and the other toward innovation in traditional watchmaking—were also present in the most recent ventures by Breitling. Standing tall with a hotel-like booth and a humongous aquarium at the front, this independent brand has successfully launched the Exospace B55 Connected, a fancy and fully-functional connected watch. At the exhibition, however, Breitling reserved their biggest song and dance for their latest and newest breakthrough, the Superocean Heritage Chronoworks.

The Rolex booth

While the watch looked rather unassuming at a glance, it served as a strong reminder of how dedicated the company is in pursuing the best movement for chronographs. It was also the first creation of the Chronoworks team, founded two years ago under Breitling to tinker with their in-house movements. This kind of message would, to the eyes of a potential client, become another enticing factor to see Breitling as a brand that is still number one for aviation-inspired timepieces.

Alan Shearer, Jérome Boateng, Ricardo Guadalupe and David Trezeguet

Speaking of aviation, Bell & Ross is another equally aspiring contender. Bruno Belamich, co-founder and designer for the brand, has been branching out to other fields in recent years, and has thus taken in more and more references beyond airplane cockpits or jet engines. The supercar theme marked a point of departure for BR’s direction with its new pieces, namely the BR 03-94 AeroGT and the BR 03-92 AeroGT. To take things up a notch, Bell & Ross even shared the specifications of the AeroGT, a re-imagined sports car inspiring those watches.

Those two weren’t the only masterpieces on display, mind you. The brand’s tour de force this year was the BR-X1 Tourbillon Sapphire. With an all-sapphire case, the inner beauty of the timekeeping instrument was completely revealed, literally. It exemplified the maturity of craftsmanship, which the brand had already begun to experiment with since years before, quite notably with the BR 01 Skull Bronze released in 2015, although the trend of bronze watches was still at its infancy at that time.

In a Material World

In 2016, however, bronze shone bright. Tudor, which had been churning out vintage designs for their bestselling Heritage collection, came up with quite an unexpected novelty. The Heritage Black Bay Bronze packed in extra oomph with a bronze case that appears slightly golden under the light. Unlike how Bell & Ross showcased a bronze timepiece the year before, Tudor did not include a “patinated” specimen. Vintage is one thing, but old and transformed is quite another.

From the Swatch group, the sense of material reinvention spruced up the collections of Rado and Omega. Always big on ceramic cases, Rado made a smart exception with the square-ish novelty titled HyperChrome 1616. The silver-toned hardened titanium model looked nothing like Rado’s regular offerings, and it was definitely a sight for sore eyes after countless round timepieces.

Visitors at the Vulcain booth

Omega did many new things, too. From watches with rubber injected into the bezel—as featured in the new Seamaster models—to premiering more and more watches with the newly celebrated Master Chronometer movement, the collections shown remained very much in line with what the brand is known for. There were no big exceptions, and all designs featured round cases only. Then again, the level of detailing only sunk in after observing these pieces for a time—and when it did, it certainly made a strong impression. For instance, how can one not feel awestruck looking at the exquisite interpretation of the rich burgundy and classy Chesterfield sofa that was applied to the leather strap of the platinum Globemaster Annual Calendar limited edition?

Ribbon cutting at Baselworld

That luxurious strap, however, found its rival in Hublot’s quintessential elegant watch for men which was produced in collaboration with shoemaker extraordinaire Berluti. The Hublot Classic Fusion Berluti timepieces—both of the models on offer—blazed a new trail for the use of leather as a dial base.

A master of material fusion, Hublot has exercised their incomparable craftsmanship that pioneered so many new creative solutions. Take, for instance, the Big Bang Tutti Frutti Linen. What on earth spurred a watchmaker to ever dream up a watchcase made out of linen? These ladies’ watches are also equipped with a plug-and-pull strap mechanism that allows effortless changing of the watchband. Then, there was also a completely new watch designed in collaboration with tattooist Maxime Buchi from Sang Bleu. The design is simply phenomenal, a geometrically rich masterpiece that, for some, calls to mind the works of the late Gérald Genta.

A beautiful booth showcasing a ladies’ watch

Although Hublot’s major theme this year fell in line with the tenth anniversary of the All Black concept (which has now been replicated by many other brands for their own collections), the pièce de résistance at Baselworld this year was the Big Bang Unico Sapphire timepieces. Conceptually similar to Bell & Ross’ sapphire watch, Hublot’s versions came in two opposing colors: black and white. Each was made thoroughly see-through, down to the strap and the movement elements. To wear one on the hand—as I had the privilege to try—felt magical.

As if all of those were not enough, Hublot ingeniously devised an eye-catching choreography for their watch displays at their booth. The giant LED screen on top played a short clip several times a day, featuring a robot that performed a dance, which the watch displayed below sort of joined in by dipping in and out according to the beat. You may think you can touch the watch, but the mechanism will immediately hide the watch in a split second whenever a sensor detected an object or hand approaching. When other brands were busy polishing their services to exude a finer sense of luxury, Hublot topped that luxe appeal with a little bit of humor and play.

Monsieur de Chanel’s front dial and case-back

Unoriginal Scene

On the second floor of Hall 1, La Montre Hermès, a high-end brand that’s often associated with a sense of play, was rather serious this year with anything tiger-themed. The favorite Slim d’Hermès timepiece remained as the center of attention, but the French maison was paying tribute to the late artisan Robert Dallet, who lent his wonderful drawings and sketches of tigers to the brand’s scarves and, now, watches. Hermès’ insistency on offering pocket watches was rather intriguing, and it might seem to be a point of difference that separates the house from other luxury watchmakers with a non-watchmaking background.
That distinction should not be a reason to take those luxury brands half-heartedly. Case in point: Bulgari. Year after year, they never rest on their laurels, even after breaking the record for the thinnest tourbillon watch back in 2014. The seminal Octo collection just cemented that achievement with yet another incredible feat: the world’s thinnest minute repeater. The Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater is, in fact, really, really thin. And more impressively, it doesn’t look like a “gadget” when worn on the wrist. In short, there was no longer any reason to see Bulgari as a second-class player on the field of horology.

A major surprise that really changed the whole game, however, came from Chanel. Notably strong with their ladies’ watches, the French brand officially announced their first watch dedicated to men. The aptly named Monsieur de Chanel appeared fresh, sporting a unique front dial proposition with a 240-degree retrograde minute and a large hour digit display.

Sparkling decorations at the Citizen booth

The thing is, the Monsieur de Chanel is not just Chanel’s first men’s watch. It’s also the first that embodies the brand’s in-house movement, which was designed by the house and produced by Romain Gauthier, a talented independent watchmaker that is partly owned by Chanel. The watch’s case-back shows off the full glory of this new creation. The DLC-coated Calibre 1 movement oozes strong masculine vibes owing to its black tone and sunburst pattern, and yet one could easily spot the signature marks of Chanel. Released in white and beige gold—the latter is an alloy exclusive to the brand—this men’s watch fetches an astronomical price of at least US$34,500 per piece. Chanel surely seems ready to contend with Switzerland’s finest.

Given the current economic situation, it might appear rather untimely for such luxurious timepieces. Then again, it doesn’t mean that people would love watches any less, especially looking at how attractive and creative the new pieces are. Boy, aren’t we all tempted to splurge a little?

Baselworld 2016: Where Time Keeps Ticking

2016,

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