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WATCH YOUR TIME |
If 1980s skeleton watches failed to catch the broad
zeitgeist, the idea became something of a badge of hon-
our for a handful of smaller makers over the follow-
ing decade as they sought to preserve the, then highly
uncertain, future of mechanical watchmaking. Gerd-
Rüdiger Lang, a watchmaker from Munich who founded
Chronoswiss in 1983, is the best known of these. Lang
wrote the book on chronographs and was something of
a visionary, introducing then radical ideas such as see-
through casebacks. He focused on the user experience,
gaining the support of a growing band of collectors eager
for the rich horological content of his watches whether
in terms of clever movements (including a world first
automatic chronograph) or designs such as the Regulator
which replicated the separated hours, minutes and sec-
onds of observatory reference clocks. The 1995 Opus
gave the automatic chronograph the skeleton treatment
and, notably, this was free of the excess engraving and
embellishment, though it’s busy enough thanks to the
complexity of the movement, the different coloured met-
als and the oeil-de-perdrix (partridge eye) finish on what
remains of the movement plates and bridges. Despite all
that, the watch had a technical feel that would become
a template for future designers.
The Heart Beat is another interesting piece, released
a year before the Opus by Frederique Constant, now
part of Citizen group. This simple Breguet-esque watch
shows the balance wheel through an opening in the dial.
Technically, it was no big deal, but it proved a key sell-
ing point for the young brand, tapping into the desire
of prospective buyers to see the watch “in action”, a
phenomenon the industry eventually woke up to – at
this point, see-through casebacks were still a rarity and
looked down on by the likes of Patek Philippe on the
(legitimate) grounds that too much light could harm the
delicate oils within the movement.
Two linked developments and one bombshell pulled
skeleton watches into the spotlight as the millennium
turned. The first was the rising popularity of tourbillons.
Both Audemars Piguet and Blancpain produced tour-
billon watches with the cage visible through the dial in
the 1980s, an idea that began to pick up the following
decade with the likes of Breguet, Girard-Perregaux and
Vacheron Constantin all following suit. This normalised
the idea that you should be able to see something of
the intricate horology you had just invested in, though,
magisterially, Patek Philippe’s tourbillons remain firmly
hidden behind closed dials.
The second was the late 1990s emergence of a new
generation of independent watchmakers following a
trail blazed by the likes of Franck Muller and Daniel
Roth. Free from the restrictions of working in an estab-
lished grande maison, makers such as Vianney Halter,
Christophe Claret, Urwerk and Greubel Forsey began
to redefine what a watch could be. The bombshell was
Richard Mille.
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1. AUDEMARS PIGUET Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Grande
Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie. Featuring a sapphire dial
showcasing the automatic calibre 2956 and its remarkable fin-
ishing, harmonised with the colours of the case, this 41 mm model
crafted in sand gold and black ceramic (case middle) marks the
brand’s anniversary, bearing the “150 YEARS” logo on the caseback.
2. BREGUET Tradition Chronographe Indépendant 7077. Within
the Tradition collection, renowned for offering an open view of the
movements, it’s the chronograph’s turn to feature Breguet blue.
This highlights the chapter ring, the Clous de Paris guilloché dial,
and the arcs of the 20-minute counter and power reserve indi-
cator, housed in a 44 mm white gold case.
3. PATEK PHILIPPE 6159G-001. A contemporary interpreta-
tion of the retrograde perpetual calendar, this white gold model
features a grey metallic sapphire dial with a black gradient that
reveals glimpses of the movement. The 39.5 mm case is adorned
with the brand’s iconic Clous de Paris motif on the bezel and
around the sapphire caseback.
4. TAG HEUER Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph. This
Monaco watch (41 × 41 mm) houses a split-seconds chronograph
movement — the automatic calibre TH81-00 — clearly visible
through a sapphire dial and a futuristic case featuring sapphire
crystal bezel and caseback surrounding a textured TH-Titanium
case middle, an innovative material developed in-house.
5. ULYSSE NARDIN Diver [AIR]. An openworked watch built for
extreme conditions: it is the world’s lightest mechanical diving
watch. Featuring a skeletonised automatic movement primarily
crafted from titanium, a 44 mm case combining titanium and car-
bon fibres (water-resistant to 200 metres), and an elastic strap,
it weighs less than 52 grams.
6. PIAGET Altiplano Skeleton High Jewellery Métiers d’Art.
A skeletonised movement set with diamonds and sapphires (cali-
bre 9P), combined with a Grand Feu cloisonné enamel decoration
in a 40 mm case. This exceptional creation, limited to 8 pieces,
bears the joint signatures of Piaget’s Ateliers de l’Extraordinaire
and enamel artist Anita Porchet.
TECH