610 articles · 158 videos found · page 1 of 26
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This year is an exceptionally special year for Christophe Claret. 2019 is the 30th anniversary of his Manufacture, and it is concurrently the 10th anniversary of his brand as well. For such an occasion, there must certainly be a watch that is worthy enough to stand up to the grandiose. Cue the new Angelico. ChristopheRead More
Deployant
Christophe Claret presents the Maestro Mamba, two new venomous pieces to rule the horological jungle. Leaving the joke away, the brand presents two watches inspired by the African jungle snake - the Mamba.
Deployant
Review of Christophe Claret Maestro, with price, hands-on analysis and live high resolution photographs.
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Review of Christophe Claret X-TREM 1 Pinball with hands-on analysis and live high resolution photographs.
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Review of Christophe Claret Layla with hands-on analysis, live high resolution photographs, and price.
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Chasing records for over a decade with the Octo Finissimo, Bvlgari takes the next step in the collection's saga, as it sizes down from 40mm to 37mm across. Not only does this mean re-engineering virtually every aspect...
Deployant
The Christophe Claret Espoir & Paix a piece unique for the 2015 edition of the Only Watch Charity Auction, featuring a green mirascope in the centre.
Revolution
Romantic, feminine and beautifully complicated, Christophe Claret’s new Marguerite for ladies delivers everything a women’s mechanical watch should be. Last year Christophe Claret unveiled his very first women’s watch-the Margot. This women’s complication was by far the belle of Baselworld 2014 with its movement designed exclusively for women, its feminine yet bold design, its playful […]
Revolution
Watchmaker Christophe Claret has chosen to play with a different perception of time in his latest project-a historical and archeological movie produced in collaboration with the film production company NVP3D. Through a 3D documentary, Christophe Claret and NVP3D’s Director Philippe Nicolet take the audience 2,000 years back in time to feature the amazingly rich patrimony […]
Revolution
It’s time once again for Only Watch –the biennial charity auction to benefit research into finding more effective therapies, and ultimately a cure, for muscular dystrophy. Hot off the presses is this contribution from Christophe Claret: a pinball themed version of his X-Trem 1 watch, which shows the time with two magnetically suspended steel balls. […]
Revolution
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For this year, Claret presents the new Anglico – the 10th Anniversary Piece, a dual time watch incorporating a tourbillon with a long detent escapement and a fusee system. Handwound 470 components in a 45mm in either red gold or titanium. CHF 238,000 and CHF 218,000 (excl tax) respectively. Each limited to 10 pieces. In theRead More
SJX Watches
Girard-Perregaux (GP) is starting the year with an ambitious new calibre inside the Minute Repeater Flying Bridges, the in-house GP9530. Also equipped with a tourbillon, the symmetrical, skeleton movement is a micro-rotor automatic, making for an exciting pairing of complications. Notably, even during GP’s heyday as a manufacture, it depended on specialists for its repeater movements. The GP9530 is the brand’s first in-house minuter repeating calibre (though it does borrow from an earlier striking movement created with the help of a complications specialist). The strikework is exposed on the dial, while the reverse reveals the winding mechanism under circular bridges. Initial thoughts In the past couple of years GP has been slowly making a comeback, after a few slow years, as a serious and motivated manufacture. The comeback started with the release of the reworked constant-force escapement and accelerated with last year’s unveiling of the workhorse GP4800 and the GP9620 skeleton tourbillon. This is in some ways a return to form. Historically GP was a powerhouse in this respect, making complicated movements under its own name as well as supplying movements, both complex and simple, to other high-end brands. At that time, however, GP still did source repeater movements from the likes of Christophe Claret. In time, the evolution of the industry reduced the need for such outsourced movements, and the marquee’s lustre dulled. The Minute Repeater Flying Bridges and its ...
SJX Watches
Matching sets are a motif of Phillips’ upcoming Hong Kong auction, with the most spectacular being the Concord Saratoga Splendour, a set of four minute repeating, high jewellery wristwatches representing the four precious stones – diamond, sapphire, ruby and emerald – each with a distinct movement made by Christophe Claret. Also on offer is a set of three watches from Glashütte Original with Meissen porcelain dials, and a Patek Philippe Pagoda quartet. Lot 857, a matching pair of Bovets depicting Hong Kong harbour by day and by night. Image – Phillips Such sets enjoyed popularity at the top end of the market during the 1980s and 1990s, often centred around the four precious coloured stones, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. Perhaps the ultimate example of the matched set is the most complicated Patek Philippe watch, the Calibre 89, that was originally launched as a set of four in yellow, rose, and white gold, and platinum. Unfortunately, many of these sets have since been split up. Can these three escape that fate? Lots 858 to 862 – Concord Saratoga Splendour Set Concord was one of a few brands that saw great, but ephemeral, success during the 1980s and 1990s, in the same vein as Gerald Genta, Ebel, and Corum. In 1995 Concord launched the Saratoga Exor, a minute repeating tourbillon with perpetual calendar and bimetallic thermometer, set with 15.85 carats of baguette diamonds. With a price tag of CHF2 million, it was probably the second most expensive w...
SJX Watches
Beginning in early April, Sotheby’s spring sale season in Hong Kong also marks the auctioneer’s 50th anniversary in Asia. One of the headline sales is Important Watches I, a 210-lot sale that spans notable complications, artisanal decoration, and of course, independent watchmaking. The indie line up includes heavy hitters from the likes of F.P. Journe, Richard Mille, and Philippe Dufour, but also a few potential value buys such as the Christophe Claret Blackjack 21. And in the mix are some surprises, like the FVF Tourbillon Superligero. The auction takes place on April 5, 2023. Registration for bidding and the full catalogue can be accessed here. Lot 2101: Gérald Genta Fantasy Retro Mickey Mouse in 18k white gold Gérald Genta was the first watch brand to place cartoon character in high-end watches, well before it became a fad amongst luxury watchmakers. The Fantasy collection depicted various Disney characters, usually combined with retrograde complications. Such watches are common enough that a few appear every auction season, but almost always in steel or occasionally yellow gold. This example, surprisingly, is entirely in 18k white gold, case and bracelet, making it very uncommon. While it will pass for steel at a distance, the heft of the case and bracelet is a giveaway. The case is 36 mm, compact by today’s standards but the typical size for a men’s watch in the 1990s and early 2000s. And the dial is mother of pearl – Genta was a pioneer in exotic dia...
SJX Watches
A simple yet unusual chiming complication, the hourstriker has been a fixture in the Ulysse Nardin line-up for almost three decades, starting with the San Marco Jacquemart developed by Christophe Claret. The hour striker complication has been paired with various automatons over the years, including tigers, horses, oil pumpjacks, and a copulating couple. Now Ulysse Nardin has stripped away the automaton, streamlined the design, and reworked the acoustics – with help from French speaker specialist Devialet – resulting in the Hourstriker Phantom. It’s the brand’s sleekest and most contemporary hour striker to date, and according to Ulysse Nardin, the loudest chiming wristwatch in the world. High-end audio help Founded in 2007 by a trio of Frenchmen, who named the company after 18th century French engineer Guillaume Vialet, Devialet is most famous for its white, egg-shaped Phantom Premier speaker that is compact, powerful and fairly expensive. Most notably, one of its founders, designers Emmanuel Nardin, is a member of the Nardin family that once owned Ulysse Nardin. The Devialet Gold Phantom Opéra de Paris speaker Devialet’s contribution to the Hourstriker Phantom was to boost its sound, accomplished in two ways. The first element being the attachment of the gongs to the movement. In an ordinary striking watch, the gongs are fixed with screws. On the other hand, the Hourstriker Phantom has its gongs secured by “torsion arms”, presumably small springs. A...
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Deployant
In this week's Throwback Sundays article, we look at six watches for Halloween, from MB&F;, Christophe Claret, Sarpaneva, Richard Mille, HYT and Corum.
Time+Tide
A brand CEO that says they hope their record gets beaten? Now you don't hear that every day.The post Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin talks about the importance of healthy competition, and coming out on top appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Cometh the crisis, cometh the man. Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bulgari, has grown in stature yet again over the last six months as Bulgari has taken a militant stance against COVID-19. Whether it’s delivering Bulgari hand sanitiser to hospitals to assist in their fight against this deadly virus, or delivering a fair with 16 of … ContinuedThe post 3 explosive quotes from emerging industry leader and Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin about Rolex, Baselworld and the future appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
Whether Geneva Watch Days takes place or not, and whether it’s deemed successful or not because of all the travel and quarantine restrictions, doesn’t change the fact that there was a good chance that it could have run very successfully. Which means Ian Skellern was wrong in calling Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin delusional for organizing it. And for that he apologizes.
Revolution
Bulgari’s Jean-Christophe Babin brings us through the brand’s 2017 offerings at Baselworld 2017.
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zenith christophe colomb academy hurricane gyroscope gymbal fusee chain
Revolution
One of the most unusual and interesting pieces of horological exotica I can remember ever seeing had a somewhat rocky start in life: the watch (or watches, as there are now several incarnations) made by Zenith and known as the Christophe Colomb. Zenith was going through a period of experimentation, under its former CEO Thierry […]
Revolution
Though it won’t be officially launched until Basel 2013 we thought this was too interesting to keep to ourselves –it’s the latest take on the Zenith “Christophe Colomb” series of watches (part of the Zenith Academy collection.) The Christophe Colomb watches place the escapement and balance in a gimbaled cage, so that no matter what […]
Quill & Pad
Despite feeling that Geneva Watch Days was wrong, hope, stupidity, and self-interest prevailed enough to cause Ian Skellern to hold off on canceling his accommodation in Geneva previously booked for the now-canceled Watches & Wonders 2020. He was hoping organizing brand Bulgari would cancel the event first and take the decision and uncertainty out of his hands. But it didn’t. Now’s the (well-overdue) time to say bye-bye to Geneva Watch Days 2020 in his opinion.
Revolution
Zenith recalls the pioneering days of exploration with its tourbillon alternative In 1916, Zenith produced a new escapement called the Echappement Colon - Colón being the Spanish word for Columbus, and échappement the French word for escapement. This Lépine-style chronometer movement was 20½ lines in size and was awarded three first prizes by Neuchâtel’s observatory […]
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