1 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 40th Anniversary (entire collection)

READ MORE

I attended the 22nd annual Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie -- the world's most exclusive watch show -- in Genvea, Switzerland this past January. During the "invite only" show I had the unique opportunity to view virtually every new piece from all 18 exhibiting luxury watch brands: Audemars Piguet, A. Lange & Sohne, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Girard-Perregaux, Greubel Forsey, Jaeger-LeCoultre, JeanRichard, Montblanc, Panerai, Parmigiani Fleurier, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin and Van Cleef & Arpels. Below is my summary.

READ MORE

First introduced in 1994, the Lange 1, with its signature off-center dial, is the most iconic timepiece in the A. Lange & Sohne collection. Last month in Geneva, Lange revealed the most complicated Lange 1 timepiece ever - the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar.

Today is Leap Day (February 29th - as it is a leap year), so it is fitting that this timepiece's perpetual calendar function automatically corrects for the extra day (apart from perpetual calendars - mechanical timepieces require the date to be manually corrected).

READ MORE

Parmigiani Fleurier, located in Fleurier, Switzerland - was founded by Michel Parmigiani in 1976. As a tribute to 1950, Michel's birth year, a special 60 piece numbered edition timepiece was created and revealed at SIHH 2012 - the Parmigiani Tonda 1950 Edition Spéciale.

The dial is exquisite, revealing glimpses of the mechanical gear trains through its circular grille. You can even see a portion balance wheel as it oscillates. The grille is produced using a unique finishing process which includes lithography, molding and electroplating. Indexes are diamond polished and applied to the dial. Delta-shaped hour and minute hands feature luminescent treatment. A dial at 6 o'clock displays the seconds.

READ MORE

For JeanRichard's final showing at SIHH (they will be exhibiting at Baselworld beginning in 2013), the La-Chaux-de-Fonds watchmaking house introduced two new collections, the Highlands which was discussed here, and the Diverscope LPR.

The Diverscope LPR is a diver's watch with a linear power reserve indicator; but unlike most power reserve indicators which display the remaining power reserve on subdial, this one displays it inside the 12 o'clock Arabic numeral. Like a typical fuel gauge, it displays full to empty, vertically.

READ MORE

One of the more interesting timepieces revealed by Parmigiani Fleurier at SIHH this year was the Transforma Rivages Chronograph Carbon and Titanium. It is a watch that can transform from: a watch, to pocket a watch and to a table clock. Push pins on the lower lugs allow the case to be detached for use as pocket watch or table clock.

The case is 43 mm by 12.8 mm and is made of carbon and titanium. Functions include hours, minutes, small seconds, day indication and chronograph. The movement is a self-winding in-house caliber PF334. The case back is engraved with "Special edition 100" and the individual number. The dial is in graphite with a circular satin finish, world map decoration and carbon counters with a thin diamond-polished flange. Luminescent Delta-shaped hands. Carbon-stamped black calfskin strap with titanium folding clasp.

READ MORE

At the Salon International de La Haute Horology in Geneva, January 2012, Van Cleef & Arpels revealed its most technical complication yet - the Poetic Wish (ladies' and men's version). Each version features a retrograde time hours and minutes indication and a 5-minute repeater.

On demand, with the turn of the crown at 2 o'clock, three automatons depict a scene on the dial. The figure (man or woman) moves towards the center of the dial with the hours, accompanied by a mother-of-pearl cloud coming from the opposite direction. When they meet, a shooting star emerges and shows the minutes (a kite takes he place of the star in the ladies' version). These actions are enhanced by the chiming of the hours and minutes.

READ MORE

For 2012, Baume & Mercier further solidified their new marketing initiatives which have been underway for the past few years. This year at SIHH a few new men's references were introduced within the core Capeland chronograph collection, including the redesigned vintage inspired 44 mm flyback chrono (Ref. 10006), the 44 mm chrono with a new blue dial variation (Ref. 10065) and the 42 mm chrono which is now available with a steel bracelet (Ref. 10062).

READ MORE