timepieces designed for the fairer sex achieve an even more glamorous status this year
Bvlgari Lucea Tubogas
Two become one in 2018’s rendition of Lucea. Since its launch four years ago, Lucea has connected the idea of jewellery and wristwatch through its dramatic use of light and gems. This year, Bvlgari adds its famed tubogas bracelet to the mix, giving it a sensual, slinky character. Five models, in either 28mm or 33mm cases, are fitted with the iconic bands of the tubogas – a symbol of jewellery making and of the Italian maison’s famed Serpenti.
Graff Mastergraff Floral Tourbillon 38mm
Master craftsmen from Graff used the exquisite gardens of the Delaire Graff Estate in South Africa as the key elements in the new and fascinating MasterGraff Floral Tourbillon 38mm. Within the 38mm white gold case, flowers dance in a hypnotic, balletic rotation. This animation is offered with a choice of pink, blue, purple and white mother-of-pearl flowers, all of which are achieved by cutting into white gold and laying enamel onto each petal before a final painted finish is applied – a labour which requires up to 50 hours for a single dial. As is customary, diamonds complete the vision with a total of 4.49 carats for that inimitable Graff sparkle.
Breguet Reine De Naples 8908
That sultry allure of Tahitian mother of pearl becomes the canvas for this year’s Reine de Naples. The entire layout harks back to the first wristwatch by Abraham-Louis Breguet, who made the timepiece for Caroline Murat, the Queen of Naples circa 1810. Over two centuries later, the namesake timepiece bears the same oblong shape of its ancestor, but now with a self-winding calibre and a 26.5mm by 28.45mm case set with 128 brilliant-cut diamonds. To add further versatility, this version is fitted with a black satin strap and diamond-set folding clasp which may be substituted by a rose gold bracelet.
Chopard Happy Sport
To celebrate the silver anniversary of Happy Sport, Chopard draws upon its watchmaking expertise, endowing this year’s iteration with its in-house mechanical self-winding movement, the 09.01-C. This movement is special in that it was designed to fit the 30mm watch case of Happy Sport, which is available in four versions; a gem-set steel case, steel-and-rose-gold, 18k rose gold and a gem-set 18k rose gold with matching dials. On the face, the same spirit of audacity from 1993 is revealed in the quintet of freely moving diamonds under rhodium-plated hands.
Hublot Big Bang One Click Sapphire
Sapphire cases have gained traction in recent years, even if their production is an exhaustive one. The one big advantage chiefly is of sapphire being the second hardest material in the world, conferring high levels of scratch resistance. Meanwhile, the material’s transparence introduces copious amounts of light into the timepiece as in the case of the Hublot Big Bang One Click Sapphire 39mm (SFr50,000, S$67,000). For the first time in a decade, this collection sports an all-sapphire case which holds the HUB1710 manufacture automatic movement. A fusion of aluminium oxide and titanium oxide results in pink (SFr65,000, S$88,000) and sky-blue hues (SFr75,000, S$101,000) as alternative case colours.
Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Jewellery
A recurring theme at Baselworld this year, jewellery watches have come to the fore, offering plenty of precious content and intrinsic value for its potential owners. In the case of the Seamaster Aqua Terra Jewellery (SFr29,900, S$40,000), its 38mm case is forged from 18k Sedna gold which Omega created to guarantee a longer lustre.
The same gold is used for the hands which point at hour markers consisting of marquise-cut rubies. Powering the timepiece is the Master Chronometer Calibre 8807, referencing the ultra-high standards which Omega applies upon any movement which bears the Master Chronometer name.
Chanel Mademoiselle Prive Skeleton
Mademoiselle Prive has always represented all of Gabrielle Chanel’s most cherished symbols. The high artisan work which has gone into this line – embroidery, marquetry, enamelling, engraving and gem-setting – has produced some significant timepieces in the past. None of the timepieces in this series, however, has been able to boast a fine watchmaking movement until this year, with the birth of the Calibre 2.1 Camelia Skeleton.
This manual-wound movement was conceived by the Chanel Watchmaking Studio and developed and assembled at Chanel’s Swiss manufacture. Adding the necessary radiance on a 37.5mm case of 18k white gold is the effervescence of 185 brilliant-cut diamonds on the movement’s bridges and plates.
Patek Philippe Chronograph 7150
It was exactly a decade ago when Patek Philippe introduced a chronograph for feminine wrists. The key to this segment was an entirely new movement developed for the Ref 7071 Ladies First Chronograph – a classic construction of column wheel, horizontal clutch and manual winding. This year, the same calibre CH 29-535 PS is now installed into a new case which sees a 38mm round rose gold case replacing its cushion-shaped predecessor. Diamonds naturally frame the dial, with 72 on the bezel and another 27 set into the rose-gold prong buckle. This timepiece also possesses great technical prowess with an instantaneous 30-minute counter featuring six horological innovations and, as is customary of Patek Philippe, plenty of little details such as guilloched chronograph pushers and fluted strap lugs which evoke warm memories of an olden-day craft perfected over time.
