I must admit, I was surprised. In the battle of ‘exciting new halls at Baselworld’ versus the post-SIHH ‘climate of caution in the watch world’, the former won. By a margin.
Baselworld, which shut up shop a little under two weeks ago now, was a hit. I can’t speak for every brand and retailer present, but those I spoke to were pretty chipper. It seemed lots of shiny new stands, food you could describe, an air con system upgrade and a massive spike in visitors – up 17 per cent on last year – might just have made buyers more spendy and journalists more smiley.
The buoyant mood might also have had something to do with some nice watches – of which there were plenty. Here are my perfect half dozen.
Girard-Perregaux
1966 Column-Wheel Chronograph
Ok, some won’t understand why I’ve picked this over the Constant Escapement, which is fair, if you consider all science art. Personally, I don’t – the Constant Escapement is a mechanical marvel and the explanation of how it works fried my brain on the GP stand, but I’m afraid aesthetically it leaves me as cold as the new 1966 Column-Wheel Chronograph leaves me hot. That is to say, very. Kitted out with GP’s new in-house hand-wound GP03800 movement, the gloriously symmetrical 1966 is possibly the perfect chronograph design. Just look at it. It’s a watch I would do bad things for.
Hermes
Dressage Manufacture Chronograph
I was party to a debate among fellow journalists at Baselworld about Hermes watches, and in particular the arty-farty side of what they’re doing, which some find a bit much. I’ll agree the ‘pick a cloud, kiss a flower’ rhetoric is at best flimsy, but if it produces watches like the Arceau Temps Suspendu, so be it – artful I can cope with. More mainstream by Hermes’s elitist standards is the Dressage and this year’s new Manufacture Chronograph, which is a killer watch that will no doubt feature in every stylish men’s mag the world over before the year is out. Understated but distinctly Hermes, it’s also powered by an in-house movement, testament to the fact the great brand is taking this watchmaking business seriously.
Zenith
Captain Central Seconds
I’ve picked this watch for the simple reason that it’s the only piece I slipped onto my wrist at the show that I seriously considered walking off with. I know people say that kind of thing all the time, but I do mean seriously. As in, I tried – but the PR saw me. Damn. Zenith’s revival over the last four years has made it one of the suavest brands in the industry and this piece sums it all up – rose gold case, smokey dial, blue central seconds hand, brown alligator strap and Zenith’s iconic Elite automatic movement beating away gallantly inside. I want one. I really do.
Patek Philippe
Calatrava Ref 5227
A lot has been said about this watch already and because of that I very nearly overlooked it in favour of the Gondolo 5200, but every time I think about it, it makes me wish I was a 45-year-old man. And nothing, I repeat nothing in this world makes me wish such a thing beyond this watch (I’m still 11 years away, since you asked). In simple terms, the Calatrava is a ‘prime of your life and top of your game’ kind of watch. I loved this new model’s officer style case back – with its secret hinge that apparently took two years to develop – because it was just so cocky. Such a thing is so unnecessary and so superfluous, and yet it exists and it’s beautiful and life is somehow the better for it. More than any other watch this year, the Ref 5227 sums up the pointless, wonderful audacity of the watch industry.
Bell & Ross
BR126 Sport Heritage
Going into the fair, I was hoping to see some good watches from Bell & Ross in the same sort of way you want to see your favourite striker end a goal drought. The brand has lost a little of its mojo recently – in my opinion, largely down to the continued focus on the BR 01, which has had its time. Far better the Vintage BR pieces, which grew in number this year with the addition of the BR 126 Sport Heritage. The limited edition Falcon models are terrific, but once those have gone the standard edition will more than suffice – in fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s one of the best watches Bell & Ross has ever made.
Urwerk
UR-210
I don’t know whether I agree with his sentiment, but, according to the delightful lady who talked me through Urwerk’s new stuff, Felix Baumgartner (the mastermind behind Urwerk, not the spaceman, if you’re new to the brand) says the most depressing thing he’s ever seen is Patek Philippe’s museum. The reason, I gathered, was that it shows nothing new has been done in 200 years. Depressing or not, what it has done is to inspire Baumgartner to produce ingenious new ways of mechanically displaying time, as is the case with the UR-210, which was announced in the autumn but passed through my hands for the first time at the show. Don’t ask me to explain how it works, but I will say that it has a function that allows you to determine how efficient the automatic winding system is. I’ve never seen one of those before – and that I found rather uplifting.
