WorldTempus’ Top 5 Skeleton Watches

Thanks to the rise of GLP-1s, the fashion world and society at large is seeing a wave of skinnification – but the watch industry is taking things one step further, getting directly back to the bare bones of its mechanisms. WorldTempus gets the skinny on the top five openworked timepieces gracing this year’s GPHG – proof positive that sometimes less really is more. 

1. Blancpain Grande Double Sonnerie 

Mechanical Exception GPHG nominee

A true work of virtuosity, the Grande Double Sonnerie is the most complicated watch in Blancpain’s history – and as a Maison that’s now within sniffing distance of its 300th anniversary (just nine more years!) that’s no mean feat. Packing a grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie, minute repeater, retrograde perpetual calendar and flying tourbillon into one 47mm package, this is less ‘bare bones’ and more ‘every bone in the skeleton – and a few extra too’. Its hand-wound Calibre 15GSQ contains 1,053 components and took eight years to develop, with 13 patents incorporated into the final construction. The four hammers strike four notes – E, F, G and B – and the wearer can choose between the traditional Westminster chime and an original melody composed by KISS drummer Eric Singer, making this a skeleton that enters with its own soundtrack.

2. Chopard L.U.C Grand Strike 

Mechanical Exception GPHG nominee

Another chiming magnum opus, the 43mm ethical white gold case may look relatively restrained, but inside it lurks Chopard’s most complex creation to date. The hand-wound L.U.C 08.03-L puts its 686 components proudly on display through a dial-less construction, with a 60-second tourbillon occupying the lower half and two polished steel hammers stationed at 10 o’clock. And then there is the sound: grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie and minute repeater, all delivered through Chopard’s proprietary sapphire crystal gongs. With more than 11,000 hours of R&D and 10 technical patents behind it, the Grand Strike has certainly earned its dramatic name. It is also COSC-certified and bears the Poinçon de Genève – impeccable credentials for an inimitable piece.

3. Girard-Perregaux Laureato Fifty Three Gold Bridges 

Tourbillon GPHG nominee

At Girard-Perregaux, three is most definitely the magic number. The sublime Laureato Fifty Three Gold Bridges takes the Maison’s legendary triplicate architecture and drops it into the sporty, octagonal Laureato case, leaving the mechanics gloriously exposed. Measuring 41mm, the watch uses a trio of openworked gold bridges to frame its tourbillon and movement components, transforming what would normally be hidden engineering into the main event. The design traces its lineage to Constant Girard’s 19th-century Three Bridges concept, while the modern Laureato brings an altogether more contemporary attitude to the party. For those who like their skeletons with a little jewellery on the side, the collection includes a diamond-set version adds 32 baguette-cut diamonds to the bezel.

4. H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Minute Repeater Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Cosmic Rain

Mechanical Exception GPHG nominee

You can always trust Moser to think outside the box, as this time around the Maison essentially asks: why have one spectacular complication when you could have two? The have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too 40mm titanium Endeavour combines a minute repeater with a one-minute flying tourbillon featuring a cylindrical hairspring, all powered by the fully skeletonised, hand-wound HMC 909. More than 400 components are packed into the three-dimensional architecture, while the minute repeater’s hammers and gongs have been moved to the dial side so that the performance can be seen as well as heard. The hollowed titanium case acts as a resonance chamber, too, and because Moser apparently felt that wasn’t enough drama, an aventurine subdial at two o’clock is scattered with mother-of-pearl ‘shooting stars’ – a dreamy touch to a highly technical timepiece. Limited to just 20 pieces, this is skeletonisation with a serious sense of theatre.

5. MB&F SP One Platinum

Essential GPHG nominee

A timely reminder that skeletonisation isn’t just reserved for high complications, this time-only beauty makes the most of empty space to create a gravity-defying illusion. At 38mm, the platinum SP One is MB&F’s smallest and slimmest watch – and possibly its most mischievously restrained. Rather than throwing a tourbillon or repeater into the mix, the hand-wound movement concentrates on three floating elements: the barrel, balance wheel and inclined time display. Sapphire crystals front and back make the trio appear to hover inside the pebble-shaped case, while the 189-component movement delivers a 72-hour power reserve. Hours and minutes are all you get, but when the dial is tilted and the mechanics appear to levitate, who needs a complication? After 20 years of consistent horological overachievement, MB&F proving that less can indeed be more may be the biggest surprise of all.