Best of ladies complicated watches 2016
Ladies watches unveiled this year are no more just pretty faces but complex time keeping machines. Their numbers may not be large, like the one’s made for the men’s wrists but significant enough to attract attention. Hiren Kumar Bose selects the complicated watches for which the year will be remembered
ROGER DUBUIS Velvet Secret Heart
The 36mm watch with a bi-retrograde jumping date has a specially made in-house self-winding movement. Limited to eight pieces, the watch conceals its inner complexities beneath a beguiling exterior that only hints at the mechanical heart beating inside. Two rows of sparkling brilliant-cut diamonds frame the bezel and the inner bezel ring, surrounding two arcs of a circle bearing the Arabic date numerals that in turn frame radiating Roman numerals and the classic tonneau-shaped centre. Their pure white sparkle is echoed by the numerous pristine white dial accents, including 6 and 12 o’clock numerals, hour markers, date indicator transfers, transferred inscriptions and even the delicate white gold filet surrounding the barrel-shaped centre. Like swathes of velvety fabric with a sparkling trim, the successive semi-circles can be ‘read’ both as opening up towards the exterior, or as gently guiding the gaze towards the heart of its true nature: the central tonneau shape that creates the inimitable trompe l’oeil effect. This creation harbours a second, ‘secret’ heart that remains truly hidden. Amid several fascinating plays on symmetry accentuating the distinctive charm of this model, the curved layout of the slanting Roman numerals and the extra-large upright XII and VI conjure up visions of a precious vase, brimming with the magic of time. The mechanical self-winding RD821B movement with its double-retrograde date function follows the symmetry of the dial and sensually hugs its every curve. The numerals descend on either side of the dial but in ascending order – making it evident that this is no ordinary watch. The classic hands sweep in a clockwise direction completing its travel down the path of time and then jumping back to the start of its journey and disappearing entirely as the other one takes over.
BREGUET Tradition Dame 7038
The 37mm case proudly exhibits almost all the movement’s components on both sides of the main plate. The bezel of the 18-ct white gold case is set with 68 brilliant-cut diamonds, whereas the crown is set with a watch movement jewel. Powered by the numbered and signed movement, calibre 505SR, which is visible through the watch’s sapphire-crystal caseback. The main plate features a subdial at 12 o’clock bearing hands directly driven by a central barrel. A balance-wheel and intermediate wheels form an arc stretching from 4 to 8 o’clock. The hours and minutes are displayed on a finely-turned Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial, lending the watch flair of elegance. Discreetly, at 10 o’clock, the retrograde seconds are engraved on the movement face.
BULGARI Serpenti Incantati Tourbillon Lumière
Blending Bulgari’s finest jewellery and watchmaking know-how, the 41mm 18-ct pink gold, set with 209 brilliant-cut diamonds Serpenti Incantati Tourbillon Lumière gives a new lease on life to the snake symbol, the unmistakable signature of the Maison. After coiling around the wrist, the snake is now reinvented by wrapping itself for the very first time around the case of a round watch: the reptile literally twines itself around the watch dial, framing an entirely skeleton-worked Manufacture tourbillon caliber, BVL Calibre 208. This airily graceful movement is a work of art: the main plate and bridges are crafted in pink gold, the flanks are straight-grained, the rims and sinks are all chamfered and systematically polished. Circular graining and snailing set the finishing touches to this precious craftsmanship which is being issued as a limited 50-piece edition.
GIRARD-PERREGAUX Cat’s Eye Tourbillon With Gold Bridge
The 37.30 x 32.30 mm Cat’s Eye Tourbillon with Gold Bridge is a perfect fusion of expertise in both watchmaking and jewellery. It’s feminine curves sparkle with 50 beautifully set diamonds on the bezel. Its distinctive oval case in white gold frames a superb dial of meticulously decorated white mother-of-pearl. Gently rounded leaf-shaped hands float elegantly above a floral motif engraved in relief on the mother-of-pearl, the two elements coming together as one. Hours and minutes progress gracefully under a sapphire crystal signed with a delicate transfer of the GP logo. At 6 o’clock, the iconic Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon, an embodiment of the company’s expertise, reigns majestically under a Gold Bridge delicately carved with a floral motif that echoes the dial. It precisely regulates the running of the manually wound calibre GP09700-00013. Containing 174 parts decorated, adjusted and assembled by hand, its perfect finishing is another sign of the exacting standards of the Maison.
LOUIS VUITTON Tambour Color Blossom Spin Time
Bathed in pink or blue, the Monogram Flower at the centre of the Blossom watches is another example of the technical excellence of the Maison. Each flower is sculpted in three dimensions from a single piece of mother-of-pearl, the shapes and details emulating every gesture of the hand, according to the technique used for cameos. Shades of blue or pink are then applied to the reverse of the piece, again by hand, to create a delicate, nuanced effect. The finesse and delicate attention to detail of this craftsmanship allow the House to create every more exceptional watch faces. With the mother-of-pearl flower as a centrepiece, each face also features diamonds, from a steel design with studded bezel and index to a pink gold version with a snow-set face. Cases and indexes are also diamond-paved on the 39.5 mm Tambour Spin Time and Tambour Monogram Tourbillon. On the Tambour Monogram Tourbillon, one of the petals of the flower is replaced by the flower-shaped cage of the tourbillon, a movement created by the Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. Likewise the Tambour Spin Time, a movement allowing the time to be read thanks to a series of rotating diamond-studded cubes placed around the central flower.
ULYSSE NARDIN Skeleton Tourbillon Pearl
Crafted of mother-of-pearl, pearl, diamond, and white gold, the eight-piece limited-edition 44 mm wristwatch is transparent and fluid in design. One gets lost in its labyrinth of inner workings and sumptuous adornments perfected by freely penetrating light. Radiant in luminosity, its iridescent mother-of-pearl detailing casts a soft glow over the entire piece. Delicately pure in aesthetic, the exquisite sea-cultivated material is complemented by an abundance of diamonds on its face, bridges, bezel, horns and crown. In this rare timekeeper, the in-house developed Skeleton Tourbillon Calibre UN-170 Manufacture – with its seemingly infinite maze of individual movements, parts and skeletonised bridges – is its hallmark. In skeletonising, the structure of components is reduced to a bare minimum. It is this reduction that allows light to permeate through, thus giving a watch the appearance of weightlessness. The entire movement seems to float on air. Extraordinarily intricate, its bridges are embellished with eye-catching mother-of-pearl inlay – some are set with diamonds and others are presented only with diamonds. Brilliant rubies on the bridges are used as pivots to reduce friction, enhancing its fluidity in both form and function. The barrel at 12 o’clock boasts a mother-of-pearl inlay adorned with a printed shell pattern. Similarly, its tourbillon cage is decorated with a shell motif; yet in this instance, it’s machined into the cage’s mother-of-pearl bridge. Comprised of a silicium balance spring, anchor, and escapement wheel, its tourbillon guarantees superior accuracy, durability, longevity and lower maintenance. The result is a collector’s timepiece, with exclusively eight being made, that mesmerizes from every resplendent angle.
