USA Edition 2026 – The New York Times

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Sorry Isaac.

225 years ago, Abraham-Louis Breguet outsmarted Isaac

Newton’s law of gravity by inventing the Tourbillon.

His innovation is now used by watchmakers around the

world. Ever since, Breguet has continued forging the way.

breguet.com

New York · Los Angeles · Boston · Chicago · Las Vegas · Miami · San Francisco · Dallas

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Contents

EDITORIAL

Time multiplier

BREGUET

ROLEX

CHOPARD

BVLGARI

SPORT

Conquest of the Skies

TAG HEUER

CARTIER

AUDEMARS PIGUET

CLASSIC

How the Wrist Reinvented the Watch

LOUIS VUITTON

PANERAI

GALLERY

Up in the air

CHANEL

VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

ETHICS

Towards sustainable luxury

GLASHÜTTE ORIGINAL

CITIZEN

TECH

The Time of Travel

BLANCPAIN

RADO

TIFFANY & CO.

ZENITH

JAEGER-LECOULTRE

USA Edition – Sunday October 25 2026

This advertising supplement is produced by Watch Your Time Holding and did not involve

the reporting or editorial staff of The New York Times.

Reproduction, even partial, of material published in Watch Your Time is strictly prohibited.

advertising supplement are the responsibility of the Watch Brands.

WATCHYOURTIME .COM

Born and raised in the Pyrenees, France, Cédric

Bihr completed a degree in neuroscience in Paris

in his early twenties. While on his way to becom-

ing a researcher specialising in whale behaviour,

he discovered a love of writing through a master’s

degree in scientific journalism. He has worked for

National Geographic, Libération and Terre Sau-

vage, following researchers in the Amazon rain-

forest, searching for whales in Canada and doc-

umenting life in a floating village in Cambodia.

Carrying a camera everywhere he goes, it was on

these assignments that Cédric discovered how to

capture the other side of the story. While maintain-

ing a deep connection to reportage and his scientific background, he has since photographed

fashion, portraiture and advertising. He now divides his time between New York, Paris and

Los Angeles. Cédric Bihr has been published in Le Monde d’Hermès, M le Monde, Vogue, 25

Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, HTSI FINANCIAL TIMES, New York Times Style Magazine, Wallpaper,

Monocle and has shot advertising campaigns for Hermès, Chaumet, Fred, Boucheron…

The Watch Your Time 2026 shoot team: Photographer: Cédric Bihr, 1st Assistant: Pablo

Azevedo, 2nd Assistant: Stan Rey Grange, 3rd Assistant: Loïc Zybach – Videographer: Ivan

Isker – Stylist: Fernando Damasceno, Assistant: Patrycja Matysiak – Hair & Make Up: Camille

Arnaud – Models: Nia Liebler and Elliott Reeder, Casting Director: D.A. Casting – Set Design:

hellodecogva – Retouching: Purple Grain – Production: Milana Keller @eightysixparis.

Photographic compositions by Émilie Erbin @JR Associée, pages 44 to 46 – Creative Direc-

tor: Mohamed Ali Saadi – Set design: Marie Noëlle Perriaud.

IMPRESSUM: Publisher-founder Christian Llavall-Ubach – Publication Director Isabelle

Boudringhin, editions@watchyourtime.com – Watch Consultant Éric Dumatin – Editor-

in-Chief Marie Le Berre – Editorial team Arthur Frydman, James Gurney, Roberta Naas,

Paloma Reccio, Maya Castel, Christophe Roulet, Victoria Gomelsky – Translation James

Gurney – Graphic Design Graphic StudioFunk, Geneva – Photoengraving Bombie, Geneva

– Printed in the EU (TBC).

CHOPARD Alpine Eagle XP TT. Alpine

Eagle, Chopard’s collection of contempo-

rary luxury sports watches, welcomes a

model with an openworked mainplate and

bridges, offering a clear view of the L.U.C

96.17-S movement, a mere 3.3 mm high.

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Time multiplier

rivate aviation is a perfectly tuned

machine these days with each compo-

nent precisely in its place. And the accu-

racy is striking, the quiet efficiency of a Geneva

– Los Angeles flight touching down at the exact

scheduled minute is remarkable given the distance

and the vagaries of wind and weather. The paral-

lels with fine watchmaking are drawn instinctively.

The earliest pilot’s watches, which emerged in the

early 20th century, were born of aviators’needs:

instant legibility and absolute reliability as mas-

tering the skies meant mastering time.

Business aviation, for its part, has undergone a

marked shift in recent years. Today, its real appeal

lies less in notions of luxury and comfort than in

its capacity to expand time. “People are primarily

looking to save time,” says David Alivertti, Sales

Director at Swiss Private Jet in Geneva. “This mode

of transport has also become far more democra-

tised. It is now considered just another viable

option, even if the sector remains premium.” It’s

the simplicity of arriving directly at the edge of the

tarmac, of clearing security while the luggage is

loaded. Within minutes, you are ready for depar-

ture. The long waits fall away: “If all goes smoothly,

you can be on board in a matter of minutes. Direct

flights are possible to almost any destination and

the time saved is considerable, and you leave when

you choose.”

Lunch in the sun on the terrace at the Cipriani in

Venice? A few laps in a GT car at Circuit Paul Ricard?

Several meetings in a single day? All entirely feasi-

ble. It is even possible to combine multiple desti-

nations, including those with airports not served

by commercial airlines or, at the very least, not

reachable on a single flight. Such advantages have

driven demand sharply upwards. The global fleet

of business aircraft — predominantly jets — has

grown from around 10,000 active aircraft in 2000

to approximately 22,000 in 2025. This is an his-

toric expansion, underpinned by the increasing

value placed on executive time and productivity.

On board, the atmosphere is correspondingly

more purposeful. “In the vast majority of cases,

people are working. There is always internet access.

Many use the time for meetings, though it is equally

possible to rest. Depending on the size of the air-

craft, beyond the conference table there may be a

cabin with beds.” Switzerland, meanwhile, enjoys

a strong reputation in the sector — for security,

quality of service and its strategic location. “It sits

at the crossroads of Europe’s financial and indus-

trial destinations.” ■

Editorial by Maya Castel

E D I T O R I A L

PHOTO © CÉDRIC BIHR | TROUSERS & SHIRTS – BRUNELLO CUCINELLI | TRENCH – BURBERRY

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GREGORY KISSLING | CEO BREGUET

Master of the Art

of Watchmaking

F O C U S

Following last year’s 250th anniver-

sary celebrations, Breguet continues

to refine its identity under new CEO

Gregory Kissling. On the menu: fresh

momentum for the Tradition collection

and a festival of tourbillons.

It is no easy balancing act. How do you keep

a watchmaker founded in 1775 relevant without

compromising the qualities that make it unique?

“The Maison Breguet draws on two and a half cen-

turies of heritage, shaped by the countless tech-

nical innovations conceived by Abraham-Louis

Breguet,” says Gregory Kissling, who became CEO

at the end of 2024. “Maintaining the delicate bal-

ance between watchmaking tradition and inno-

vation is essential.”

That symbiosis of heritage and innovation

is beautifully illustrated by the new Tradition

Seconde Rétrograde 7037 (38 mm) and Tradition

GMT 7067 (40 mm). Staying true to the collection’s

design language, itself inspired by Abraham-Louis

Breguet’s Souscription and montres à tact watches

of the late eighteenth century, both models place

the movement on the dial side, offering an entirely

different perspective on the mechanics within.

These new models also place renewed empha-

sis on movement aesthetics. Breguet intro-

duces an Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) process,

using nanometre-thin coatings applied through

chemical vapour deposition. “The process creates

color effects that open up entirely new possibili-

ties,” says Gregory Kissling. The result is a striking

new visual identity for the movements, with deep

blue, anthracite and jet-black tones highlighting

the distinctive architecture of the Tradition col-

lection. The effect is reinforced by the guilloché

barrel cover and the meticulous finishing of every

component. The same attention to detail extends

to the dials. The Tradition Seconde Rétrograde 7037,

offered in white gold or platinum, and the 7097 in

rose gold, pair white or black grand feu enamel

with traditional Arabic numerals, while the plati-

num Tradition GMT 7067 features a dramatic grad-

uated green grand feu enamel dial whose colors

shift subtly with changing light. Completing the

line-up, the diamond-set white-gold Tradition 7038

is distinguished by a black aventurine dial whose

sparkling surface contrasts beautifully with the

movement’s dark finishes.

The second theme of the year unsurprisingly

“revolves” around the tourbillon, Abraham-Louis

Breguet’s landmark invention, patented on 26

June 1801 and destined to become one of haute

horlogerie’s most celebrated complications. Two

hundred and twenty-five years later, Breguet hon-

ours that legacy with several new creations show-

casing different aspects of its expertise. The new

Classique Tourbillon 7357 provides the clearest

tribute, revisiting the reference 3350 introduced

in 1989 as the brand’s first tourbillon wristwatch.

Elsewhere, Breguet continues its exploration of

grand complications with the Marine Tourbillon

Équation Marchante 5887, the Tradition Tourbillon

7047 and the Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255.

As Gregory Kissling concludes, “Our objective today

is to restore Breguet’s visibility and return it to the

position it deserves.” Rightly, in watchmaking’s

pantheon.■ Éric Dumatin

1. BREGUET Tradition Seconde Rétrograde 7038.

Set with 58 diamonds around its 37 mm white-gold bezel,

this is the first Tradition to feature a black aventurine

glass dial. Beneath it, the automatic calibre 505SR com-

bines deep black ADLC-treated frosted bridges and main-

plate with a retrograde seconds display at 10 o’clock.

At its center, the barrel cover carries a sunburst guilloché

motif echoed on the half-crown oscillating weight visible

through the sapphire caseback.

2. BREGUET Classique Tourbillon 7357. Inspired by the

manufacture’s first tourbillon wristwatch of 1989, this

35 mm model celebrates the 225th anniversary of the tour-

billon patent. Its hand-wound calibre 187B, an enhanced

version of the renowned calibre 558, is housed in either

platinum or, as shown here, Breguet Gold. Guilloché

decoration takes center stage, with Clous de Paris and

Grain d’orge (barleycorn) motifs on the dial and a new

pattern inspired by the Swiss summit of Dent de Vaulion

adorning the mainplate on the reverse. It also bears the

Breguet hallmark.

16 | WATCH YOUR TIME – USA | FOCUS

F O C U S

The Hundred

Year Epic

Rolex marks the centenary of the Oyster,

a watch “born from an intuition” that

became the blueprint for the modern

wristwatch and one of the defining

icons of twentieth-century horology.

It is the story of one of watchmaking’s

most remarkable journeys.

By Christophe Roulet

At Rolex, even a second matters, a rationale

that explains the installation of an atomic clock

at its Geneva headquarters. The Rolex Rubidium

Atomic Optical Clock was researched and devel-

oped over several years with CSEM, the Swiss

Centre for Electronics and Microtechnology. The

remarkable feature of this “little marvel”, which

uses rubidium-based technology, is its extraor-

dinary performance, said to be up to sixty times

greater than that of existing atomic clocks. Its

stability is without equal. The clock drifts by less

than one tenth of a billionth of a second per day,

equivalent to losing under one second over the

course of a million years. As a result, the first two

Rolex Rubidium Atomic Optical Clocks already con-

tribute to the calculation of Coordinated Universal

Time (UTC), a first for an optical atomic clock. One is

installed in Geneva, another at Switzerland’s Federal

Institute of Metrology (METAS) in Bern, while a third,

destined for Rolex’s Biel facility, will shortly join the

network of around 450 atomic clocks that under-

pin UTC. The implications extend beyond scientific

research. As Rolex explains, “the Manufacture now

regulates and certifies its watches using its own sec-

ond. Thus, for Rolex, it is no longer simply a mat-

ter of keeping time accurately, but of defining it.”

As a claim taken in isolation, that could be dis-

missed as Swiss presumption, but Rolex has earned

the right to make it. Throughout the twentieth cen-

tury, the company pursued a single ambition: to

manufacture watches on an industrial scale while

achieving exceptional standards of precision, reli-

ability and robustness. If the new atomic clock rep-

resents the extreme expression of that intent, the

true heart of the story is the Oyster. Celebrating

its centenary in 2026, the Oyster has built a global

reputation unmatched by any other single watch,

while Rolex consistently ranks among the world’s

most respected and trusted brands. That standing

is no accident. Continuous improvement under-

pins every aspect of the company’s work, but inno-

vation, despite the substantial resources Rolex

invests in it, is adopted only when it delivers a

genuine benefit. At Rolex, meaningful innovation

is always judged over the long term.

The Best Wristwatch in the World

Among Hans Wilsdorf’s many talents, one

stands out: his way with words. The co-founder

of the company that launched the Rolex brand in

1908 famously told a gathering of watch retailers in

January 1927: “Gentlemen, we make the best wrist-

watch in the world!” That bold statement followed

the launch of the Oyster a few months earlier. The

watch embodied Hans Wilsdorf’s vision of a time-

piece designed for a rapidly modernising world, one

capable not merely of accompanying that trans-

formation but of becoming one of its symbols. To

achieve that ambition, however, there had to be

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the performance to match. The Oyster delivered

on this with exceptional precision and, above all,

complete water-resistance, solving two of watch-

making’s most persistent challenges.

Precision came first. At a time of accelerating

change, wristwatches were still uncommon and

widely dismissed as decorative jewelry rather than

serious timekeepers – the compact movements

within being thought too fragile to deliver genu-

ine accuracy. Wilsdorf disagreed. He made preci-

sion his first priority, and history proved him right.

By the 1910s, Rolex watches were already earning

distinction at leading chronometry observatories,

most notably Kew, whose award of a prestigious

Class A certificate confirmed that a Rolex could rival

the finest precision instruments of the day. There

nevertheless remained the problem of the case. As

Hans Wilsdorf repeatedly reminded his technical

teams: “We must create a case whose waterproof

construction permanently protects our precision

movements from dust, perspiration, water, heat

and cold. Only then will the perfect precision of

the Rolex watch be assured.”

Rolex tackled that challenge with equal deter-

mination. Its first solution, introduced in 1922,

proved less than perfect, so Rolex returned to the

drawing board and developed the ingenious sys-

tem of a screw-down bezel, caseback and wind-

ing crown secured to the middle case. The Oyster

waterproof case was born, a breakthrough that

permanently protected the movement from the

elements and laid the foundations for lasting pre-

cision. To prove the Oyster’s capabilities beyond

doubt, Hans Wilsdorf conceived a brilliant pub-

licity coup. He entrusted one to Mercedes Gleitze

for her attempt to swim the English Channel. The

feat was as much human as horological, attract-

ing enormous attention from the British press.

The original Oyster had just one weakness: man-

ual winding required the crown to be unscrewed,

momentarily compromising its waterproof integ-

rity. Several years of development produced the

free-rotor “Perpetual” self-winding system, intro-

duced in 1931. The result was a watch that com-

bined precision, waterproofness and autonomy,

making Wilsdorf’s original vision a reality.

→

1. ROLEX Oyster Perpetual 41. Created to mark the Oys-

ter’s centenary, the Oyster Perpetual 41 features a Role-

sor construction, combining Oystersteel for the case and

bracelet with yellow gold for the bezel and crown. Spe-

cial details include a “100 Years” inscription at 6 o’clock,

green “Rolex” lettering and square hour markers, along

with a crown engraved with the number “100”. The watch

is powered by Rolex’s automatic calibre 3230 and carries

the brand’s Superlative Chronometer certification.

18 | WATCH YOUR TIME – USA | FOCUS

F O C U S

Proof Positive

Without question, the Oyster Perpetual fun-

damentally changed the course of watchmaking.

As Rolex puts it, chronometric precision remains

essential, most watches are now water-resistant

and the vast majority of mechanical watches are

self-winding. The Oyster set the industry stan-

dard. The qualities of the Oyster were subse-

quently something that Rolex made a point of

demonstrating, another Wilsdorf masterstroke.

What began with Mercedes Gleitze evolved into a

guiding philosophy that could be summed up in a

simple phrase: “proof through testing”. The Oyster

Perpetual soon found its way onto the wrists of

explorers, scientists, athletes, pilots, sailors, moun-

taineers, astronauts and divers, all of them put-

ting their Rolex watches to the test in some of the

world’s harshest environments, from the ocean

depths to snow-covered peaks and even the edge

of space. This “open-air laboratory” generated

invaluable practical experience, enabling Rolex’s

engineers continually to refine their watches in

pursuit of timepieces ever better suited to the envi-

ronments for which they were intended.

The achievements of these remarkable men and

women are almost too numerous to list, each rein-

forcing the reputation of the Rolex on their wrist

as an indispensable piece of equipment. Following

the historic descent of the bathyscaphe Trieste

into the Mariana Trench in 1960, with an experi-

mental Rolex Deep Sea fixed to the exterior of the

vessel, Jacques Piccard sent Rolex a now-famous

telegram: “Happy to report that your watch is as

precise at 11,000 meters as it is at the surface. Best

regards.” Beginning in the 1930s, the Oyster accom-

panied no fewer than fourteen Himalayan expedi-

tions over the following two decades, including the

one that led to the conquest of Everest by Edmund

Hillary and Tensing Norgay on 29 May 1953. At the

head of the expedition, Sir John Hunt wrote in his

report: “The Rolex Oyster watches [...] performed

wonderfully, and we came to regard them as an

important part of our high-mountain equipment.”

The list goes on. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual has

proved itself in every corner of the world to become

the archetype of the tool watch. Over the years,

the model has grown in stature, evolving from a

timepiece renowned for its intrinsic qualities into a

true collection of watches designed for every envi-

ronment and sustained by continuous innovation.

Alongside Rolex’s classic collections, including the

Datejust, Day-Date, Sky-Dweller and the recently

introduced Land-Dweller, came purpose-built

models such as the Submariner, Explorer, GMT-

Master, Milgauss, Air-King, Cosmograph Daytona,

Sea-Dweller, Yacht-Master and Deepsea. These

“professional” models have each been developed

and refined with their own dedicated functions to

meet the uncompromising performance standards

required by Rolex.

“All of the future and the world lay

open before it.”

Modern Rolex is the heir to this extraordi-

nary Oyster legacy. Technically, that inheritance

is reflected in standards that become ever more

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exacting. This year, Rolex has strengthened its

Superlative Chronometer certification by introduc-

ing three additional assessment criteria: resistance to

magnetism, reliability and long-term durability. These

join the four standards established in 2015 covering

precision, water resistance, self-winding efficiency

and power reserve. As Rolex explains: “This certifica-

tion is rigorously verified by independent Swiss organ-

isations recognized internationally. It guarantees the

outstanding performance on the wrist of every Rolex

watch across the seven areas of expertise that now

define watchmaking excellence according to Rolex.”

On the human level, Rolex continues to support

athletes “who shape the history of their sport through

their skill, discipline, technical excellence and ability

to inspire future generations”. From equestrianism

and golf to motor sport, tennis and sailing, the brand

has become an integral part of elite competition. It

has also established a significant presence in the arts,

supporting those “who keep creativity alive, inspire

emotion and contribute every day to the development

of culture around the world”.

Rolex wouldn’t be Rolex without its long-stand-

ing commitment to what it describes as “great human

endeavours” alsoalso continues, particularly proj-

ects dedicated to understanding and protecting our

planet. Since 2019, these initiatives have been brought

together under the Perpetual Planet program, an

ambitious long-term commitment to environmen-

tal stewardship.

Perhaps the entire Rolex story can be distilled

into just two words: Oyster Perpetual. They repre-

sent a century of watchmaking history, a century

of innovation and a century of human endeavour.

Rolex celebrates that remarkable legacy this year with

the Oyster Perpetual 41 in yellow Rolesor, combin-

ing a yellow-gold bezel and winding crown with an

all Oystersteel bracelet. The watch includes details

marking both the centenary and the enhanced

Superlative Chronometer certification introduced

for 2026. Above all, it embodies Hans Wilsdorf’s belief

that with the Oyster Perpetual “All of the future and

the world lay open before it”. A century later, that pre-

diction has proved remarkably accurate. ■

1. ROLEX Oyster Perpetual 36. The Oyster Perpetual 36

joins the centenary celebrations with a Jubilee dial. Its

vibrant composition, built around the letters of the Rolex

name, reinterprets the Jubilee motif first introduced in

the late 1970s. The watch features an Oystersteel case

and bracelet, Superlative Chronometer certified auto-

matic calibre 3230.

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22 | WATCH YOUR TIME – USA | FOCUS

F O C U S

Ahead of the times

What began as the boldest of gambles

has become a remarkable reality. In

just 30 years, Chopard Manufacture

has established itself as one of the

most respected names in contempo-

rary haute horlogerie.

Thirty years ago, Chopard Co-President Karl-

Friedrich Scheufele made what seemed a reck-

less bet for a company still regarded primarily as

a jeweler: to develop and produce movements

in-house. Chopard Manufacture was duly estab-

lished in Fleurier in 1996. Three decades later, with

the anniversary celebrated at Watches & Wonders,

Scheufele’s foresight is clear. In-house movements

have become the ultimate expression of watch-

making expertise, and Chopard’s are among the

most admired.

Independence first

“We started modestly with Michel Parmigiani,

developing our first movement for series produc-

tion,” recalls Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. “That intro-

duced me to Fleurier and its watchmaking heritage,

before we established a production unit there with

just five people. We built everything from scratch.”

Behind that understated account lies one of con-

temporary watchmaking’s great success stories.

At a time when the Swiss industry was still recov-

ering from the quartz crisis, creating an indepen-

dent manufacture was, to put it politely, finan-

cially hazardous and outside commercial logic.

Scheufele carried on regardless. “The ultimate aim

was gradually to achieve watchmaking autonomy

and, in doing so, strengthen Chopard’s position

as an independent family-owned company. And

that was priceless.”

That philosophy was present from the outset

in the L.U.C 96.01-L. Ultra-thin, micro-rotor driven

and equipped with Chopard’s Twin double-barrel

system, the movement carried both COSC certifica-

tion and the Geneva Seal, immediately establishing

a distinctive technical identity. More importantly,

it created a foundation that remains central to the

manufacture.

That continuity is expressed most symbolically

by the L.U.C 1860 Chronomètre unveiled in Geneva.

Its “ideal” 36.5 mm case, delicate guilloché dial and

movement derived from the seminal 96.01-L make

the anniversary watch a statement of intent. Certified

by both COSC and the Geneva Seal, it demonstrates

that elegance underpinned by impeccable engineer-

ing remains central to the L.U.C identity. Alongside it,

the L.U.C XPS Prussian Blue reveals another aspect of

the manufacture’s maturity; its deep Prussian-blue

dial, restrained case and ultra-thin 3.30 mm high

automatic L.U.C 96.12-L calibre combine classicism

and modernity with unusual ease. Delicate, discreet

and persuasive, this is an invitation to discover true

fine watchmaking.

Together, the two watches chart the whole tra-

jectory of Chopard Manufacture, a progress defined

by patient, methodical and coherent expansion.

Chopard has built a complete mechanical universe,

a repertoire encompassing tourbillons, perpetual

calendars, chronographs, minute repeaters and

world time. Today the manufacture employs more

than 220 people and produces 15 base calibres from

which over 150 variations have been developed.

It is an extraordinary vindication of the wager made

30 years ago. ■ Éric Dumatin

1. CHOPARD L.U.C 1860. For 2026, Chopard is celebrat-

ing the 30th anniversary of Chopard Manufacture with a

L.U.C 1860 visible through a sapphire caseback that clearly

recalls the original. The watch is housed in a 36.5 mm

Lucent Steel™ case and features a hand-guilloché gold

dial. The Bleu Areuse dial color evokes the river that flows

through the Val de Travers near Chopard’s manufacture

and the watch carries both COSC chronometer certifica-

tion and the prestigious Geneva Seal.

2. CHOPARD L.U.C XPS Prussian Blue. Another watch

celebrating the Manufacture’s 30th anniversary, the

L.U.C XPS Prussian Blue combines a 1930s-inspired sec-

tor dial with a rich Prussian blue finish. Housed within a

40 mm Lucent Steel™ case is the automatic twin-barrel

L.U.C 96.12-L, another descendant of the original 96.01-L.

It is COSC-certified and also visible through the sapphire

caseback.

KARL-FRIEDRICH SCHEUFELE | CO-PRESIDENT OF CHOPARD

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F O C U S

LAURA BURDESE | CEO BVLGARI

Bell’impulso*

At Bvlgari, continuity is the strategy

and with a distinctly long-term out-

look too. That was confirmed with

the appointment, last July, of Laura

Burdese as the company’s new CEO

and is reflected in the brand’s 2026

launches.

Over the years, Bvlgari has carefully constructed

its horological identity, though always with a cer-

tain panache. Continuity remains one of the com-

pany’s defining principles, as Laura Burdese makes

clear following her appointment as Jean-Christophe

Babin’s successor last July. So, does a change of lead-

ership signal a new direction? “Beyond any individ-

ual appointment, Bvlgari is driven by a long-term

vision,” she says. “We draw inspiration from our

heritage, and we combine the art of jewelry artistry

with Swiss watchmaking expertise.”

A Universal Octo Finissimo

More than simply another variation, the 37 mm

Octo Finissimo Automatic marks a significant new

chapter for a collection that has become, in lit-

tle more than a decade, emblematic of contem-

porary watchmaking. Beneath its more compact

proportions lies a movement that required three

years of development: the manufacture BVF 100

micro-rotor calibre. Just 2.35 mm thick, it brings

the Finissimo concept into an almost universal case

size range, nicely attuned to today’s preference for

more wearable proportions. More impressive still,

its overall volume has been reduced by around

20 percent compared with the movement used in

the 40 mm model. That achievement owes much to

the miniaturization expertise Bvlgari developed for

its Serpenti calibres, notably the manually wound

BVL 100 Piccolissimo (12 × 2.50 mm) and the auto-

matic BVS 100 Solotempo (19 × 3.90 mm).

This technical crossover between Bvlgari’s wom-

en’s and men’s collections perfectly illustrates Laura

Burdese’s vision. “Rather than competing with one

another, our watchmaking and jewelry divisions are

completely complementary. They are the two heli-

cal strands of the same DNA. Particularly in today’s

market, our priority is to reinforce what makes us

different and to express our creativity. The new

Octo Finissimo is an excellent example. Its distinc-

tive, highly architectural design answers a genu-

ine demand while creating new opportunities for

Bvlgari among both women and men.”

Watchmaking Legitimacy

If Octo Finissimo expresses Bvlgari’s watch-

making expertise, Serpenti continues to embody

the brand’s eternal feminine. Alongside the lavish

new Serpenti Seduttori models, two further inter-

pretations of the maison’s iconic serpent demon-

strate Bvlgari’s ability to unite design, craftsman-

ship and innovation. With the Serpenti Tubogas

Studs Capsule, Bvlgari revisits one of its boldest

signatures by combining gold and steel. Even more

dramatic is Serpenti Aeterna, which transforms

the serpent into an almost abstract artistic form.

Crafted in fully gem-set rose gold, it distils the rep-

tile to its purest symbolic expression.

“That is what defines Bvlgari,” Laura Burdese

concludes. “We have earned a reputation for chal-

lenging convention, while developing excep-

tional expertise in shaped watches and high jew-

elry. Over the past few years, Bvlgari has also

established genuine watchmaking legitimacy.”

■ Éric Dumatin

*Beautiful Impulse

1. BVLGARI Octo Finissimo 37 mm. Reduced to a uni-

versally wearable 37 mm, the Octo Finissimo has been

comprehensively updated inside and out. Visible through

the sapphire caseback, the new automatic calibre BVF

100 measures just 2.35 mm thick and features distinctive

radiating Geneva stripes across its bridges and mainplate.

Shown here in full yellow gold, the case, dial and bracelet

are all crafted from the precious metal.

2. BVLGARI Serpenti Seduttori Automatic. Powered by

the miniature Lady Solotempo BVS100 automatic calibre –

just 19 mm in diameter, 3.90 mm thick and weighing only

five grams – the Serpenti Seduttori welcomes two new

pink-gold interpretations. The version shown here is lav-

ishly set with diamonds, from the bezel with its 36 bril-

liant-cut stones (0.6 carats) to the bracelet, which carries

a further 117 brilliant-cut diamonds totalling 2.8 carats.

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E co - D rive | P O WE R E D B Y A NY L I G H T

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BREGUET Type XX Chronographe

2075. Inspired by the civilian Type

XX introduced in 1955, this flyback

chronograph faithfully retains its

38.3 mm proportions. The Breguet

Gold case houses the hand-wound

calibre 7279, while the sapphire

caseback reveals a finely executed

hand engraving featuring the leg-

endary Breguet 19 aircraft in flight.

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SPORT | WATCH YOUR TIME – USA | 27

o, who better than the author to attest

to the pilot’s urgent need for precise

and reliable cockpit instruments, wrist-

watches included.

Born in Burbank, California, Richard Drury

served on active duty in the United States Air

Force from 1965 to 1988 before transferring to

the reserves. His was a life spent in the air, a

career that was crowned by the Silver Star, one of

the United States military’s highest decorations.

As we know, it was the needs of pilots like him

that drove innovation in the watch industry –

a relationship that was there from the very start of

precision timekeeping, the military always requir-

ing precise, robust instruments that kept pace

with the technology of war.

And this reasoning holds true for clothing and

personal kit, most particularly for watches, which

so often had a vital role to play in executing tactical

and strategic plans. Obviously, what applies to the

coordination of ground operations or navigation

at sea becomes more urgent and elevated where

aircraft are concerned. As Captain Drury noted,

the pursuit of perfection, however legendary it

may seem to us, has nothing to do with romance;

it is simply a matter of life and death.

Until now, aviation has been the epitome of

advanced military capability, fast, complex and

utterly reliable, qualities that must extend to every

cockpit instrument, watches included. By measur-

ing everything related to time, watches delivered

functions vital to aerial navigation in the broadest

sense — from flight endurance and the duration

of target operations to orientation and the time

zones crossed en route.

Where military watches were generally defined

by robustness, precision and the immediate leg-

ibility of a strongly contrasted dial as with lumi-

nous hands, indices or numerals against a black

dial, those used in flight often needed something

more: finer divisions of time and measurements

that could be triggered on demand such as chro-

nograph functions and, even more usefully, chro-

nographs fitted with a flyback function.

→

This quotation, a starkly appropriate

starting point for reflection in this article

on pilot’s watches, comes not from a writer

or historian, but from a pilot who lived

through the great age of military aviation,

an era in which the significance of air

power advanced rapidly having proved

decisive in the Second World War.

“A pilot lives in a world of perfection or

does not live at all.”

Richard S. Drury (1943 – 2024) in My Secret War (1979)

By Paolo De Vecchi, Watch Editor

S P O R T

Conquest

of the Skies

PANERAI Luminor PAM01735.

Drawing heavily on the iconic

1960s reference 6152/1, this

hand-wound model embraces a

distinctly vintage aesthetic. The

47 mm case, domed crystal and

ivory dial that gradually dark-

ens towards the edge all evoke

the appearance of prized trop-

ical dials.

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Longines patented the first flyback chronograph

in 1936. With a single pusher action, rather than

the usual three, the flyback feature stops, resets

and restarts the chronograph in one step, allowing

successive measurements without losing a frac-

tion of a second. This was ideally suited to aerial

navigation, which is conducted in segments and

where seconds lost can have dire consequences.

The value of the flyback was made explicit by

the French Ministry of Defence whose Type 20

specifications, set out in the early 1950s, made a

point of requiring the function.

Among the watches it selected was the Breguet

Type 20, which gave rise to a civilian version the

Type XX, a model with successors that are still

part of the collection today.

IWC’s Pilot’s Watches had their own distinctive

features, again in response to government spec-

ifications including the soft-iron inner cage that

functions as a Faraday cage responding to shield

the movement from magnetic fields, a shatter-proof

crystal and lubrication that could work at tempera-

tures from – 40°C and + 40°C, no small advantage

in the unheated cockpits of the day.

While IWC began producing Pilot’s Watches in

1936, its most celebrated example came in 1948:

the Mark 11, commissioned for the Royal Air Force

and produced until the early 1980s, it was also

supplied to other Commonwealth armed forces.

A civilian successor, the Mark XII appeared in 1994

and, like the Type XX, it launched a long line of

pilot’s watches and is now the Mark XX.

Breitling — official supplier to the Royal Air

Force from 1936 and to the US Air Force from 1942

— made its mark in 1952 by fitting a slide rule to its

emblematic Navitimer. The device handles mul-

tiplication, division and proportions, along with

calculations of distance, time and speed, making

calculations to work out fuel consumption, range

or flight times simple and precise – tasks that are

now satellite-linked and automated.

→

1. ROLEX Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona. The

legendary chronograph is presented for the first time in

Rolesium, combining Oystersteel with platinum. A new

anthracite Cerachrom bezel complements the white

enamel dial, while the automatic calibre 4131, fitted with

a yellow-gold oscillating weight, can be admired through

the sapphire caseback. Superlative Chronometer certified.

2. RICHARD MILLE RM 41-01 Tourbillon Soccer.

Designed specifically for football, this hand-wound tour-

billon combines a patented flyback chronograph with a

match-period indicator and twin goal counters, allowing

every stage of the game to be tracked mechanically. Two

editions of 30 pieces are offered, including the dark-blue

Quartz TPT® version shown here.

3. AUDEMARS PIGUET Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding

Chronograph. The 43 mm flyback chronograph receives a

fresh look with a titanium case complemented by a black

ceramic bezel, crown and pushers. A smoked-green PVD

Méga Tapisserie dial is paired with an interchangeable

gray-green rubber strap, while the automatic calibre 4401

is revealed through the sapphire caseback.

4. CHOPARD Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph Patina.

Chopard combines DLC-treated Lucent Steel with an arti-

ficial wearing process for the first time, creating a patina

inspired by the authentic worn look of historic racing cars.

The 40.5 mm automatic chronograph features a sapphire

caseback and a copper-colored dial beneath a vintage-style

box crystal. Limited to 100 pieces.

5. BREITLING Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Tribute to

Concorde. Limited to 593 pieces, this Navitimer celebrates

the legendary Concorde with a blue dial inspired by the

stratosphere as seen from the aircraft, white sub-dials and

slide rule recalling the aircraft’s French nickname, “l’oi-

seau blanc” (White Bird) and commemorative engravings

including “Tribute to Concorde” on the caseback.

6. TAG HEUER Carrera Split-Seconds Chronograph.

TAG Heuer’s manufacture split-seconds chronograph

appears in an all-new 42 mm titanium case fitted with

glassbox crystals. The automatic TH81-01 calibre is visi-

ble both through the sapphire caseback, where its signa-

ture chequered motif can be seen, and through the trans-

parent sapphire dial itself.