Wholly watchable: Four brilliant watches this season

By Suchetana
Oct 15, 2018

Any haute horology enthusiast looking to expand their collection should perhaps give Swiss watchmaker Breitling’s latest wrist candy, the Navitimer Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph 43 Boutique Edition, a once-over. The first design to spawn from its partnership with online men’s style portal MR PORTER, this eye-catching timepiece boasts a sleek silver fascia ringed by an anthracite contrast chronograph. Fitted with an in-house calibre B01 movement, it’s limited to only 1,000 pieces, making this an almost instant collector’s item. www.breitling.com


Navitimer Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph 43 Limited Edition

Swiss watchmaker Hublot celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival with four brightly coloured watches poetically called the Spirit of Big Bang collection. The open real estate of the watches reveal the HUB1770 hand-wound skeleton movement, charmingly enhanced by a quartz dial. The entire lunar cycle has been captured within the surface of these timepieces, thanks to two alternating moons visible through a semi-transparent, sand-blasted disc. A small seconds sub-dial sits pretty at 9 o’clock, with a large date display on a double analogue disc perfectly positioned between 12 o’clock and 3 o’clock accentuating its impression of depth and astronomy. www.hublot.com


Spirit of Big Bang Moonphase King – in pink

Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin has added another stellar watch to its Fiftysix collection – the Fiftysix Tourbillon. Just 6mm thick and equipped with a 22- carat gold peripheral rotor, the movement is entirely visible thanks to a transparent caseback. According to the makers, apparently the tourbillon alone demanded more than 12 hours of meticulous work, thanks to its minute hand-crafted detailing. Each element of its distinctive design is a knowing nod to the original iconic Fiftysix model created in 1956. www.vacheron-constantin.com


Fiftysix Tourbillon

French haute jewellery house Chaumet‘s latest offering to haute horology comes in the form of three eye-catching models of jumping hours Complications Créatives watches designed by Kenyan artist Evans Mbugua. Set in white gold with brilliant-cut diamonds, each of the watches evokes a lush picture of Africa. With giraffes, crocodiles, frogs, etc adorning the surface of the watches – each handcrafted and hand-engraved – the miniature real estate of the timepieces transforms us to a primitive world. www.chaumet.com


Tresors dAfrique – Éspiegleries – in blue