October 16, 2019

MODEL TIMEKEEPING

by AHMED SEDDIQI & SONS

A watch with one hand? How about a watch with no hands? Or maybe one that looks like a Lamborghini? Introducing the latest watchmaking marvels now available across the Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons network

Much has been said about the extraordinary longevity of the mechanical watch industry. But just as extraordinary is the apparently bottomless reservoir of ideas coming from contemporary manufacturers. This fall, Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons welcomes a raft of startlingly inventive new pieces. Here are half a dozen to wonder at.

H. Moser & Cie Swiss Alp Minute Repeater Concept Black

It’s hard to know what the eye falls on first with Moser’s latest invention. Is it the glossy black dial with no hands, hour markers or logo? Is it the tourbillon at 6 o’clock? Or is it that it looks like an Apple Watch? What’s less likely is that it focuses in on the small lever secreted into the side of the case. This activates a minute repeater, a mechanical complication that chimes the time on demand. Historically, minute repeaters were created so you could tell the time in the dark, before the advent of electricity, but here Moser has made the chiming device the [I]only[I] means of telling the time. Brave, bold and completely brilliant.

Romain Jerome Arraw Star Twist

Spectacular though this still life image may be, it can’t convey the new Arraw Star Twist’s signature move, namely Romain Jerome’s spinning bezel system. The bezel, like the case, is made of high-quality Grade 5 titanium, and set with 16 amethysts, 16 rose sapphires and 16 blue sapphires. This rotates with the movement of your arm, creating a whirling galactic effect. That in turn complements the ‘Purple Spiral Galaxy’ dial, which is created by adding four layers of paint and a fifth layer of transparent coating to a mother-of-pearl base, and then decorated with 11 diamond hour markers. Intended as a ladies’ watch first, it’s 39mm in diameter, and only 100 will be made.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Huracán

The full-throttle partnership between high-end Genevan watchmaker Roger Dubuis and the Lamborghini Squadra Corse, the Italian automotive marque’s motorsports division, continues to produce some astonishingly visceral designs. The base of this model is Roger Dubuis’ Excalibur, already an explosive, muscular watch, now given some added grunt. It’s powered by the skeletonised, in-house RD630 calibre, created especially for the partnership with Lamborghini Squadra Corse, and featuring a strut‑bar bridge that takes its cues from the Huracán super car’s V10 engine. The titanium case measures 45mm across, and the twin-barrelled movement has a 60-hour power reserve.

MeisterSinger Pangaea Day Date

Accurately communicating the time, the day and the date using only one hand might seem a stretch, and in a way it is – MeisterSinger, the German brand founded in 2001, has never pretended its watches do anything more than give a rough impression of the time. The thinking is that we would all benefit from taking a slightly more relaxed approach to timekeeping – what is five minutes here and there? Powered by a Swiss automatic movement, the Pangaea Day Date is more precise with the day and date, which are clearly indicated by two rotating discs that align with a red arrow at the 12 o’clock point.

Ressence Type 1 Slim

Belgian brand Ressence’s ingenious ROCS, or Ressence Orbital Convex System, continues to astound, not quite a decade on from launch. It shows the time, and in this case also the day, using a series of dials within a dial, all of which rotate independently and are powered by a traditional mechanical movement. It’s also crownless, instead adjusted using a lever on its case back. This new model, the Type 1 Slim, is thinner than the first company’s first-generation pieces, with a Grade 5 titanium case that’s shaved down to a very wearable 11mm.

Concord Saratoga

The distinctive aesthetic of Concord’s Saratoga has been given a green injection this year, a vivid move that’s in keeping with the verdant trend sweeping through watchmaking at the moment. The Saratoga’s defining looks come from the curved, softened facets of its octagonal bezel, and from its crown, which is covered with a specially designed protection device, a nod to the watch’s sporty intentions. The case is 40mm in diameter, water-resistant to 30 metres and cast in steel (as is the watch’s handsome link bracelet) and houses a Swiss quartz movement.