High-end watches for the passionate collector

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High-end watches for the passionate collector - Christmas gifts
4 minutes read
Here is our selection of watches as Christmas gifts for the connoisseur who is lucky enough to have some wealthy friends and relatives.

Armin Strom - Masterpiece Dual Time Resonance

At 59mm wide, Armin Strom’s new Dual Time Resonance is anything but discreet. In its latest configuration, the brand’s revolutionary resonance clutch spring connects two movements powering two separate time zones. There is no need for a seconds hand, since the fact that the two movements are beating in resonance means that they are perfectly synchronized. Instead, the two gauges at 6 o’clock on each subdial show the power reserve for each movement and the central subdial has a handy 24-hour scale.

High-end watches for the passionate collector

Case: Titanium, 59mm x 43.4mm
Movement: manually-wound ARF 17 calibre with two movements, resonance clutch spring and dual time display
Power reserve: 110 hours
Limited edition of 8
Price: CHF 180,000

Blancpain - Flying Tourbillon with Jump Hours and Retrograde Minutes

Blancpain has found a great way to show off its flying tourbillon in this model. As one of the finer implementations of the flying tourbillon (hardly surprising given Blancpain’s experience in the field – it was the first brand to fit a flying tourbillon into a wristwatch), the carriage at 12 o’clock has a light and airy look that underscores the notion of it seemingly floating in space. The pure and uncluttered white dial in grand feu enamel, with a jumping hour indication and retrograde minutes, reinforces this further.

Montres haut de gamme pour collectionneur passionné

Case material. 18-cart rose gold, 42mm
Movement: manually-wound calibre 260MR
Power reserve: 144 hours
Price: CHF 139,000

Cyrus - Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon

You might think that after over 200 years of existence, there is little room left for development of the tourbillon. But Cyrus presented the world’s first vertical central tourbillon earlier this year. Since the tourbillon occupies the centre of the watch (not to mention a sizeable proportion of its height), the hours and minutes are necessarily arranged in a retrograde fashion on either side of the imposing bridge fixing the tourbillon.

High-end watches for the passionate collector

Case: 18-carat rose gold, 44mm
Movement: manually wound mechanical movement with vertical central tourbillon
Power reserve: 96 hours
Limited edition of 38
Price: CHF 158,000

Ferdinand Berthoud - FB 1R.6-1 Chronometer

Finding one of the 20 of these Ferdinand Berthoud chronometers to offer as a Christmas gift would prove your horological knowledge and your esteem for the lucky beneficiary. This ultra-high-end watch has an atypical layout in the style of a regulator, which gives predominance to the centre seconds in a rather technical arrangement. Watch connoisseurs will know that what is important in this watch is what is underneath the dial: a chronometer-certified regulator with tourbillon, fusee and chain constant force mechanism and conical power reserve display. Unusually, this particular model comes in stainless steel. But it’s a type of steel that has been strengthened with carbon, giving it a hardness of 1200 Vickers.

High-end watches for the passionate collector

Case: stainless steel, 44mm
Movement: manually-wound chronometer-certified regulator with tourbillon
Power reserve: 53 hours
Limited edition of 20
Price: CHF 230,000

Hysek - IO Central Tourbillon Skeleton

In terms of the exceptional, the Hysek IO Central Tourbillon Skeleton takes some beating. You will only find a handful of central tourbillons available on the market and this watch itself is a limited edition of 88. But it also has a flying tourbillon, an entirely reworked movement for this skeleton version and an original configuration for the time display, which is read off numbers that are not simply applied to sapphire discs, as you might have expected, but individually cut and completed with blocks of SuperLuminova (not a coating) that offer even better readability.

High-end watches for the passionate collector

Case: 18-carat rose gold, 45mm
Movement: Hysek HW22 calibre manually wound central flying tourbillon with 24-hour jumping hours
Power reserve: 45 hours
Limited edition: 88
Price: CHF 149,000 (excluding tax)

HYT - H0

The H0 was designed to take HYT back to its roots in the display of time by fluids. The dial was decluttered to leave just the minutes, seconds and power reserve, as well as a couple of openings that reveal the bellows powering the fluid in the capillary. The case is more rounded, with a smoother appearance and a domed crystal that further accentuates the watch’s three-dimensional quality. A HYT is a must in the collection of anyone who’s serious about avant-garde watches.

High-end watches for the passionate collector

Case: black DLC-coated stainless steel, 48.8mm
Movement: manually-wound mechanical calibre with proprietary fluid display module
Power reserve: 65 hours
Price: CHF 39,000

Maurice Lacroix - Masterpiece Square Wheel Retrograde

Thanks to a very careful calculation of the angles of each individual tooth on two different wheels, Maurice Lacroix succeeded in producing a functional square wheel in its Masterpiece collection. Look closely and you will see that the teeth are angled in different directions from the centre of each side of the square outwards. They mesh with teeth of a cloverleaf wheel to display the seconds on the dial at 9 o’clock. For the first time this year, Maurice Lacroix combines its signature technology with a sectorial retrograde date.

High-end watches for the passionate collector

Case: stainless steel, 43mm
Movement: self-winding mechanical movement
Power reserve: 36 hours
Price: CHF 6,900

Rebellion - WEAP-ONE

To impress the man who already has a nice collection of high-end timepieces you need to offer him something like Rebellion’s WEAP-ONE that can he can wear on his wrist but also take with him on the dashboard of his favourite supercar. It is, however, by no means a gimmick. Its movement features a unique asymmetrical tourbillon that is held in place by two separate plates rotating at different speeds. Nevertheless, in this 529-part masterpiece the tourbillon is in fact the only thing that looks relatively normal, since everything else – including the time display – is arranged cylindrically.

High-end watches for the passionate collector

Case: titanium, 40mm x 25mm
Movement: manually-wound cylindrical calibre with asymmetrical flying tourbillon
Power reserve: 50 hours
Price: on request

Ulysse Nardin - Freak Vision

The Freak has long been Ulysse Nardin’s vehicle for showcasing its latest innovations. As the first automatic model in the collection, the Freak Vision presented this year incorporates technology presented in the Innovision Concept watch of 2017 including a silicium balance wheel with stabilizing micro-blades. The Freak design puts the movement at the heart of the watch by making it directly responsible for displaying the hours and minutes – it’s a hands-free watch!

High-end watches for the passionate collector

Case: platinum, 45mm
Movement: self-winding mechanical movement with silicon escapement
Power reserve: 50 hours
Price: CHF 95,000

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