In Tune With Time

Charmaine Fernz finds out what makes trendy watches tick

From being just timepieces, watches are today fashion accessories and even status symbols. New suave and stylish pieces are hitting the market on a regular basis. Their styles range from the rugged and simple to the opulent and ornate. Omega, Cartier, Esprit, Gucci are some of the brands doing the rounds.

From the House of Cartier comes the Divan Watch. The extra-wide precision design of this new watch allies the measurement of time with the virtues of volume. The design seems perfectly classical, with a rectangular dial, a wide strap and Roman numerals. The other attributes of this yellow gold model would include the Quartz movement calibre, a silver-grained dial and hands made of blue steel; a yellow gold faceted crown, sapphire cabochon; matte chocolate alligator strap, two-tone stitching; ardillon buckle in yellow gold and last but not the least, water resistance up to 30m/100 ft.

The next on line is the Lanieres Collection juxtaposing links of gold. Watches in the Lanieres Collection are somewhere between a ribbon and a bracelet that delicately espouse the wrist. The gleaming chains, in yellow, white or pink gold, seem to have a life of their own, and seem perfectly attuned to the movements of their wearer.

This collection includes the Mini Tank Allongee Lanieres watch that is covered in 18-carat yellow gold set with diamonds. The characteristics of this watch is the Guilioche dial with a silvered square motif, 12 Roman numerals, grey hands, bracelet three links wide made of yellow gold, quartz movement and the water resistance.

We now take a look at the Roadster watch with Roman numerals, silvered dial and concentric ellipse decorations. The unusual characteristic of this watch is the luminous inner ‘rail track’ minute circle. A watch-maker’s piece indeed, this unique time-piece has hands with luminous coating, a date indicator at 3 ‘o’clock, two interchangeable straps, an 18-carat yellow gold bracelet and a black alligator strap. Other features include interchangeable adjustable buckle made of yellow gold, workshop-crafted mechanical movement with automatic winding mechanism. It is also water resistant up to 100 meters.

The Baignoire watch for women is a model that is truly emblematic of the House of Cartier. Case and hands in polished yellow gold, a dial with a brushed silver finish, this perfect piece is available in two colours and two finishes. The watch is offset with a naturally extended ivory toile brossee strap.

We now move on to the house of Gerald Genta, who has earned world renown by designing masterpieces like the Audermars Piguet’s Royal Oak watch, Omega’s Constellation watch and Cartier’s Pasha watch.

His master-timepiece is The Retro Classic, probably the only one of its kind, whereby with the use of the retrograde movement, a single hand is used to indicate the ‘minutes’ that appear on the upper curvature of the watch and the ‘hour’ is displayed in the window that is placed at the 6 ‘o’clock position. The special feature in this unique watch is that the ‘minutes’ hand, after travelling from ‘0’ to ‘60’ jumps back to ‘0’ in a split second and the hour in the window changes simultaneously. In horology, this is called a ‘Jumping Hour’ mechanism and is extremely difficult to produce. Another unique characteristic is its full steel for both ladies and gents.

Bell & Ross, named after two Frenchmen, Bruno Bellamich (designer) and Carlos Rossillo, (managing director), are widely known as the manufacturers of watches for ‘men of extremes’. Practically all models are designed and constructed with four key aspects in mind - readability, performance, precision and water-resistance. Each and every aspect serves a pre-defined purpose and function. The French watch designing team has once again produced a watch that places a firm imprint in the field of superior Swiss watch-making. Called the ‘Fusion’, the model combines classic quality Swiss watch-making style with a multifunctional movement that provides eight precise measurements like analog (classic) and digital.