New releases – Ralph Lauren Polo Sport Collection

Waterproof to 50 m, the 42 mm steel case features an aluminium rotating bezel. The dial’s azure matte blue and black lacquered base is adorned with white super luminova indexes. Made by Selllita, the self-winding Caliber RL200 has a 38-hour power reserve. A version with a green bezel and an orange rubber strap is also available.

 

 

Vintage library - La Suisse Horlogère (1949)

ENGLISH (il testo italiano è in fondo alla pagina) 

This 32-page brochure was created by the Swiss Chamber of Watchmaking - the employers’ association that also published the quarterly magazine “La Suisse Horlogère”.

 

 

The author is Pierre Huguenin, who starts by telling a brief history of watchmaking since the Middle Ages. 

The following sections deal with materials, style, waterproofness, movements, accuracy, and servicing.

 

All in all, a fine and richly illustrated example of popularization aimed at both the sales people and the general public. Its only defect being a common practice of the contemporary trade press: the brand names of the watchmakers were erased from the dials of the featured timepieces, presumably to avoid free advertising. No harm done: the modern-day collector will be more than happy to guess the missing names …

 

ITALIANO 

Questo opuscolo di 32 pagine fu realizzato dalla Camera Svizzera dell’Orologeria, l’organizzazione padronale che pubblicava anche la rivista trimestrale “La Suisse Horlogère”. L’autore è Pierre Huguenin, che comincia con una breve storia dell’artigianato orologiero dal Medio Evo. Le sezioni seguenti trattano i materiali, lo stile, l’impermeabilità, i movimenti, la precisione e la manutenzione. Nel complesso, un esempio di divulgazione riuscito, riccamente illustrato e diretto sia al personale di vendita sia al pubblico. L’unico difetto è una pratica diffusa nella stampa specializzata dell’epoca: i nomi delle marche sono stati cancellati dai quadranti degli esemplari illustrati, presumibilmente per evitare la pubblicità gratuita. Poco male: il collezionista di oggi sarà felice di provare a indovinare i nomi mancanti…

 

 

New releases – Daniel Roth Extra Plat Souscription

This model pays homage to the brand’s roots and founder. Limited to 20 pieces, this edition is faithful to the original model of the 1990s in style and craft, but new in terms of mechanics, with the DR002 movement within having been developed and manufactured in house at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. The latter also made the solid gold dials, engine turned by a single artisan in a process that required 10 hours of work per dial. The 18k yellow gold case retains the double ellipse form, but with a centered godron along its outline for a balanced profile. 

 

 

New releases- Anywhere Arborea

This limited edition of 15 platinum pieces reinterprets Henri Rousseau’s iconic painting "The Virgin Forest at Sunset." Each one of the 575 miniature alveola – unique in size and shape – is hand-painted. The watch allows its wearer to know the length of the day and the times of sunrise and sunset for a location of their choice, anywhere in the world. The 39 mm case hosts the manual winding Caliber C030, featuring a 72-hour power reserve.

 

 

Watches at auction - World records

In 2024, Phillips Watches sold 1,790 lots at auction with 25 timepieces selling above US$1 million. Among them were the three examples pictured below.

 

This 18ct gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona with ‘Paul Newman Lemon dial’, brown ‘tropical’ subsidiary registers and outer track sold for over US$2.8 million and set the world auction record for Reference 6264. The Geneva Watch Auction XX, November 2024.

 

 

This world time Patek Philippe Ref. 2523/1 in yellow gold features two crowns, a guilloche dial and metallic city ring. It sold for US$1,934,840. The Geneva Watch Auction, May 2024.

 

 

This magnetic ‘water clock’ by Cartier dates to circa 1929 and came with the original presentation box. It is made of marble, silver, lapis lazuli, nephrite, coral, mother-of-pearl, enamel and jade. It sold for US$1,917,657, setting a world record for this kind of timepiece. The Hong Kong Watch Auction XVIII, May 2024.

New releases – Suchy & Söhne Belvedere

The Champagne & Bordeaux models are the latest additions to the Belvedere collection. The moving date window advances day by day. The 40.8 mm 316L, pearl-blasted steel case is water resistant to 10 ATM and hosts the automatic Caliber CSS201, based on a Dubois-Dépraz movement and equipped with a gold-plated oscillating weight. The latter features a micro engraving of the Vienna Belvedere Palace.

 

 

New releases - ZRC Q157 Phénix

This 200-piece limited edition of the GF42168PH diving watch was made to celebrate the brand’s partnership with the expedition aiming to find the wreck of a French Navy a submarine disappeared on June 15th, 1939. The machined 316L stainless steel case is waterproof up to 300 meters depth. A luminescent SLN Old radium X1 paint adorns the hour and minute hands as well as the hour markers on the unidirectional bezel with a bright blue insert coordinated with the dial. Its case back is decorated with an engraving representing a mythical phoenix. The movement is the Sellita SW-300 caliber.