WORLDTEMPUS - 7 March 2011Kristian Haagen
Baselworld is huge. The show covers 160,000 square meters of watch and jewelry exhibitors, not accounting for the satellite exhibitions. One of the watch brands showing new model nearby, not on the fairgrounds, was Anglo-Swiss watch brand Graham.
Graham Chronofighter Fortress
Graham is known for its “leftie” case designs, corresponding very well to the side of the road English vehicles drive on. One of my favorites of this year's show comes from Graham: the Fortress. This 43-millimeter watch salutes the early designs from Graham, as the company launched back in 1995. Big steampunkish hinges protect the crown as well as hold the chronograph buttons. One of the appealing details of this new watch is the pre-tint of the luminous hands and hour markers. This gives the model an instant vintage look – fantastic on this particular watch.
The Graham Chronofighter Fortress looks great with the pre-tinted luminous hands and markers. © Worldtempus/Kristian Haagen
Corum Legend 42
Another showstopper right at the front of Hall 1 was the Corum Legend 42. A simple three-hander watch – yet obviously a Corum thanks to the twelve-sided Admiral's Cup-shape of the bezel. The Legend 42 is offered in gold or steel, but I personally prefer the steel version with the rather comfortable bracelet adding a little 'bling' to the watch – subtly, however.
Breguet Technology
The brand that impressed me the most, however, was Breguet. Its talented engineers gave me a thorough yet easy-to-understand run through their silicium and magnetic elements inside the movement of the yet-to-be-announced grande complication. Both elements improve precision, which is incredible since not so long ago anything magnetic near any watch was a total no-no. Breguet has been able to harness the advantage of magnetism in the movement –only possible due to the many parts in the movements now made of silicon, which is unaffected by magnetism. 
Linde Werdelin SpidoSpeed
I was really impressed with the Linde Werdelin SpidoSpeed at Baselworld 2011. The Danish duo comprising the brand seems to follow its original concept of creating a great instrument watch that carries an external digital instrument for skiers, rock climbers and/or divers. This year Linde Werdelin introduced its first-ever chronograph, the SpidoSpeed. With a perforated case as seen on last years SpidoLite, this version has a different, yet still skeletonized, dial design and somewhat hidden chronograph buttons that undoubtedly took some time to develop in order to both make enough room for the digital instrument and allow fat fingers to operate the mechanical chronograph. Two thumbs up for my fellow Danes!
