When Piaget introduced the manual wind Caliber 9P at the 1957 Basel Fair, at only 2 mm in height, it was considered an impossibility. Three years later, in 1960, Piaget stunned the watch world once again with Caliber 12P, an automatic movement that broke world records for its svelteness.
Michel Parmigiani does not dwell in the past. Instead, he has utilized his considerable expertise to create a brand that is more focused on the future of watchmaking. The partnership between Bugatti and Parmigiani has led to some extraordinary timepieces, which not only embody the essence of Parmigiani but that of Bugatti as well.
Carl F. Bucherer proved once again at Baselworld 2016 that the brand certainly knows how to pack a punch. One of those punches was delivered by the Manero Peripheral, which looks like the manifestation of a classic dress watch . . . until you turn it over and realize you don’t immediately see a rotor winding the automatic movement.
Bentley created the Bentayga as the ultimate SUV, whose base price of just about one-quarter of a million dollars does not include several important and very luxurious extras that include removable tablets ($7,155), replacement of wood trim with carbon fiber ($28,500) . . . and the automatic Breitling for Bentley Mulliner Tourbillon ($160,000).
When Cartier introduced the Drive de Cartier at SIHH 2016, I did not expect to find a new addition to the Ballon Bleu family in one of the brand’s signature red and gold boxes. Especially not a Ballon Bleu with moon phase. In Cartier’s rich history, the moon phase has been largely and conspicuously absent. Why?
When gemstones and haute horlogerie meet, one of two things can happen: the watch either becomes a fitting tribute to Liberace or the result is something fabulous thanks to the synergy.
One of the reasons I love visiting the Graff stand at Baselworld is because, since the entering the market in 2008, this brand has managed to make “lots of fabulous.”
There is gold and then there is gold. Gold mining is a labor-intensive business requiring substantial resources in order to do it at a scale large enough to meet demand as well as build a sustainable business: social and environmental sustainability in mining gold can come under duress. And that inspired the certification of Fairmined gold.
One of the most tempting propositions within the Mercedes-Benz lineup has always been the AMG version of the C-Class, and the new Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Coupé is now what I would call the perfect Teutonic muscle car. It will make you smile from ear to ear as you thunder up a mountain road with its aphrodisiac of a V8 engine.
Say the name Fabergé and most people will immediately think of the imperial Easter eggs – and for good reason, because even today the craftsmanship and detailed execution of those eggs are still breathtaking. The Fabergé Lady Libertine I, one of the stars of Baselworld 2016 together with the Fabergé Visionnaire DTZ, is a perfect example of the synergies of Fabergé and Gemfields.
“There has been an enormous amount of creativity during the past 10 or 15 years, but I can really see all that disappearing. If we face difficult times ahead, I expect the big groups will get bigger — and that makes me wonder whether or not we will see the beginning of the end of smaller, independent brands, which are often the really creative ones,” Werdelin said in the FT interview. However, I also had the impression that Werdelin’s interview begged for a follow-up, so here it is.