1. Urwerk Time-Space Blade
The clue is in the name. On the one hand Urwerk, whose carousel movements rotate sunwise (counterclockwise) and are generally contained in cases. On the other, the mysterious Space Blade, a collaboration with Dalibor Farny, a specialist manufacturer of Nixie tubes that display the time (mostly, though not always) in glowing digits. This intriguing glass column also tracks the distance Earth covers as it spins on its axis, taking us on a stationary journey at 1,665 kilometres per hour. Urwerk already included this feature in its UR-100. The Urwerk Time-Space Blade is the only lot in the sale that isn’t actually a watch but a piece of art and contemporary design.
2. JC Biver – Catharsis
You could get lost gazing at this watch by the recently hatched brand of industry veteran Jean-Claude Biver. Catharsis is a surprising and poetic interpretation of the minute repeater carillon tourbillon with no visible time display. This absence of hands leaves the dial free to express itself through 89 sapphires, set in three dimensions to recreate the natural movement of waves – a nod to Only Watch’s Monaco home. Opal stars and a meteorite Moon fill the silver obsidian sky in the space above this seascape. Time is shown simply by an hour hand on the back of the watch.
3. Barbier-Mueller – Mosaïque II
The art world knows Barbier-Mueller for its museum. The watch world for its timepieces. Or rather ten members of Geneva’s horological microcosm: one for each Mosaïque I, a unique edition of which went under the hammer at the 2017 charity auction and which is joined by a new version for this year’s event. The design was conceptualised by Éric Giroud while the movement is the work of F.P. Journe. This is the first time the umbrageous watchmaker, who is based in Geneva, has agreed to an outside collaboration. Deceptively simple in appearance, the Mosaïque II took over a thousand hours to bring to fruition, with contributions from specialists in 12 different handcrafts. Each stone imposes its shape and thickness on the metal, which adapts accordingly: the exact opposite of the traditional rules of stone-setting. A hinged caseback reserves a view of the F.P. Journe calibre exclusively for the owner of the watch to enjoy. This is very much a personal, intimate timepiece, similar in spirit to a pocket watch and a homage to art for art’s sake, and the craftsmanship for which Geneva is renowned.
4. Jaquet Droz – The Rolling Stones Automaton “Only Watch”
The La Chaux-de-Fonds company has certainly covered some ground since Pierre Jaquet-Droz built The Writer, among other automata. Two and a half centuries later, the journey continues with this remarkable wristwatch whose dial recreates the stage set of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band ever. A vinyl-coloured disc, under the offset hours and minutes display, carries the Stone’s instruments: Ron Wood’s guitar, Charlie Watts’ drum kit, and two more guitars played by Ron Wood and Keith Richards. Each instrument has been hand-sculpted from a block of gold then painted – even Mick Jagger’s harmonica, which measures a few tenths of a millimetre. Pressing the pusher brings the second disc to life. As it rotates, its colourful spiral creates an optical effect similar to that of a children’s spinning top. Meanwhile, the Stones’ “Hot Lips” logo moves its tongue up and down, left and right. Power reserve at 9 o’clock is shown by a tonearm and stylus. From the eighteenth to the twenty-first century, Jaquet Droz continues to deal in the wondrous and the unique.
5. Ulysse Nardin – Freak S
Even after 20-plus years, nothing prepares us for the Ulysse Nardin Freak (prototyped by Carole Kasapi). No hands, no dial, no crown, the Freak S gives the time using the rotation of its own movement. Two bridges revolving around its centre indicate hours and minutes: an arrow points to the hours while the spaceship’s nose cone gives the minutes. In its Only Watch configuration, the spacecraft has been dressed in the colours of the 2023 edition. A rainbow explosion that remains at the vanguard of contemporary fine watchmaking.
