With the industry’s gaze shifting back westwards to the cosmopolitan elite of Europe, we’re seeing a fresher, more contemporary take on even the most conservative of brands. Parmigiani, for example, whose Métrographe was named after the sort of metropolitan go-getters they’d failed to attract before. Now their newfound youthfulness seems to be just right, with the Métrographe offering a more dynamic design thanks to new indications such as the logarithmic tachymeter scale and revisited counter proportions. Inside, though, things are as serious as ever: a precision auto chronograph, decorated painstakingly and adjusted precisely.
£TBC, http://parmigiani.ch
If you can afford this watch then you can afford the airfare to buy one – the three versions are respectively exclusive to IWC’s Paris, Milan and Munich boutiques, limited to 150 each. They’re reboots of a 1995 Portugieser which boasted ‘split-seconds’ functionality, meaning a third push-button at 10 o’clock stops the running second hand, allowing a previously invisible hand beneath it to ‘split’ and continue timing a second event. The name ‘rattrapante’ is French for ‘catch up’, as another push of the button causes the stopped second hand to fly forward, and continue timing as one second hand.
£9,650, http://iwc.com
Meet two poster boys for complexity: the tumbling tourbillon cage and the chiming minute repeater, both rendered even more frivolous by virtue of their obsolescence – one a solution to gravity squashing the balance spring of a pocket watch; the other, a means of telling the time at night. As hardcore as horology gets, and Vacheron’s hand-finishing is astonishing.
£POA, http://vacheron-constantin.com
This will be one of the cheapest watches to be found at the SIHH, but ‘cheap’ it most certainly isn’t; incredible value being more to the point, given that there’s a second time-zone and remaining-power indicator into the bargain, thanks to movement-maker Soprod’s rock-solid complication module, mounted atop one of ETA’s finest base engines. Like a Shelby tune-up of a Ford V8, if you like, all packaged up by a chunky chassis of a 43mm steel case and a handsome dial. Maybe it’s economies of scale, maybe it’s by being more honest than most, but either way, it’s incredible Baume & Mercier manage to do this for just over three grand.
£3,100, http://baume-et-mercier.co.uk
With cutbacks to mechanical innovation and investment in new collections, watchmakers are turning to novel ways of packaging up their wares – and it’s bronze that seems to be having a moment. Quite right too, given its warm, flattering colouration, toughness and the tendency to patinate uniquely as it oxidises. Montblanc’s 1858 collection is the latest, with this single-pusher chronograph leading the charge – driven by a gorgeous manual-wind movement, hand-crafted at the brand’s Minerva facility. There are cheaper mechanical chronographs, yes, but one look through the caseback at the Calibre MB M16.29’s column-wheel mechanism, silky horizontal coupling and pendulous balance wheel is all you need to understand that pricetag.
£27,500, http://montblanc.com
In 1957, Valentin Piaget revolutionised the watchmaking world by launching the ultra-thin ‘9P’ movement. To mark the anniversary of what’s now known as the ‘Altiplano’ (named in tribute to the plateau of the Andes Cordillera mountain range) two limited editions in midnight blue are launched at SIHH this January, picked out with the old Piaget logo and a new crosshair dial feature that sets off the retro charm beautifully – like a fine pinstripe on a tailored suit., ,
£21,500, http://piaget.com
There are few brands as steeped in the murky depths of history as Panerai. Quite literally, as Rolex made very few diving watches for the Italian naval equipment manufacturer from the 1930s onwards, and little was documented. Even the modern incarnation of the brand is still learning about itself, commemorating the facts with special editions such as this, fitted with a unique 12-sided bezel and inscribed with the name of a luminous material, Brevettato, which was applied to watches presented to Royal Italian Navy authorities rather than military operatives per se. We can’t wait to see what’s dredged up next.
£7,900, panerai.com
This is arguably Germany’s finest watchmaker, up there with the likes of Switzerland’s Patek Philippe or Vacheron Constantin, and they love to show you how clever they’ve been in the mechanics department (the exquisite hand finish, precision timekeeping and elegant dial designs are all a given). This year sees the first refresh of their flagship Lange 1’s Moon Phase version since its arrival in 2002, and it comes with a particularly practical new feature: not only does a gold disc represent the wax or wane of the moon, but the blue sky it tracks across turns dark or light depending on the time of day., ,
£TBC, http://alange-soehne.com
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