Today we conclude our series of review articles dedicated to the best novelties presented at the Watches and Wonders 2024 exhibition and the Geneva Watch Week (we covered dive watches, chronographs, dress watches, and GMT models)…
And what better way to wrap up than by looking back at some of the most impressive, technically advanced, and innovative models of the exhibition? We could include watches like the Bovet Recital 28 or Monaco Split-Seconds, but they have been featured in other lists. Here, the focus is on horological artistry: breaking records, perfecting significant complications, or making watches thinner than ever before. Here is the best of what was created at Geneva Week 2024.
A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Lumen
The impressive triple combination from Lange, known as the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon, is not new: we have seen it in platinum with a black dial and in white gold with a salmon/pink gold dial.
However, this year the watch, combining a flyback chronograph, perpetual calendar, and tourbillon regulator, received a special treatment… an exclusive honey gold case (a rarity for ALS) and a Lumen attire - a tinted sapphire dial revealing the mechanism underneath with many luminescent details.
Not only does this require some mechanical adjustment, but we always take great pleasure in viewing this A. Lange & Söhne masterpiece, housed in a relatively wearable case with a spectacular mechanism inside. All the details in our article here.
Quick facts: 41.5 mm x 14.6 mm honey gold case - sapphire crystal front and back - tinted sapphire dial with luminescent sub-dials, large date, tachymeter scale, moon phases, and hands - caliber L952.4, hand-wound chronograph, perpetual calendar, and tourbillon, frequency 2.5 Hz, power reserve 50 hours - dark brown alligator leather with gold folding clasp - reference 740.055FE, limited to 50 pieces - price on request (around 600,000 Euros)
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC
Meet the world's thinnest mechanical watch! The race for ultra-thin watches continues. After Piaget set a record with the 2 mm AUC model, Bulgari responded with the 1.80 mm Octo Finissimo Ultra… The record lasted only a few months until Richard Mille unveiled the 1.75 mm RM UP-01 Ferrari credit card-shaped model. Bulgari couldn't leave this record unchallenged and responded this year with the 1.70 mm Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC. Because yes, it's not only the thinnest mechanical watch in history, but also highly accurate.
We've said many times that creating ultra-thin watches is a real complication, involving themes like miniaturization, new ways of making watches/movements, complex solutions, and materials. And believe us, saving 0.10 mm on a watch that was already thin is not just about making tiny changes. It's another achievement for Bulgari that may last for a long time.
Quick facts: 40 mm x 1.70 mm titanium and tungsten carbide case with sandblasted finish - sapphire glass front - openwork construction with front-facing movement, regulator display - ultra-thin BVL caliber 180 (1.50 mm), made in collaboration with Concepto, hand-wound, certified chronometer, frequency 4 Hz, power reserve 50 hours - ultra-thin 1.50 mm titanium bracelet with sandblasted finish and integrated folding clasp - Reference 104081 - limited to 20 pieces - 600,000 Euros
De Bethune DB Vid Grande Complication
While we often associate this brand with a mix of classic watchmaking, traditional craftsmanship, and modern design, it is also capable of ultra-complex solutions. An example is the new, absolutely stunning DB Kind of Grande Complication model, which can be considered the culmination of Denis Flageollet's dream, filled with the brand's patented technical and decorative elements.
Placed in a double-sided reversible case, entirely made of titanium and featuring floating lugs, the movement gathers all the brand's expertise: 7 De Bethune patented inventions, a high-frequency 30-second titanium tourbillon, spherical moon phase, jumping second, perpetual calendar… And the finishing is simply delightful.
The beauty of this model lies in the duality of the two dials: on one side - classic, with a starry sky and QP, and on the other - futuristic, with a triangular bridge over the shimmering mechanism.
Quick facts: 42.3 x 13.85 mm double-sided polished titanium case with floating lugs - sapphire crystals front and back - blued titanium dial on the QP side, openwork polished titanium construction on the movement side - caliber DB2529, proprietary hand-wound, high-frequency 30-second tourbillon, jumping second, perpetual calendar, 4-day power reserve - alligator leather strap with titanium buckle - reference DBK2TV2 - 400,000 Swiss Francs
IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar
This year, IWC does not have large pilot's watches or racing chronographs, but it does pay homage to one of the brand's iconic modules - the perpetual calendar. However, this year IWC takes the concept much further, with a rare complication - the secular perpetual calendar.
Unlike the perpetual calendar, which will require adjustment in 2100, the Eternal Calendar features a 400-year movement that eliminates the complex exceptions of leap years in the Gregorian calendar. It won't need adjustment until the end of 3999 (for the calendar), and it even comes with the most precise moon phase in history, with a deviation of one day every 45 million years.
Importantly, in typical IWC fashion, all this was developed using clever, simplified mechanics and remains close to the genuine Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 44… In fact, only two gears were added to the gear train. In watchmaking, high complexity also means efficiency, not just piling up parts on top of each other.
Quick facts: Platinum case 44.4 x 15 mm - double-domed sapphire glass on both sides - glass dial with white lacquer, embossed lacquered minute flange, sapphire glass sub-dials - caliber IWC 52640, in-house automatic movement with perpetual second for recognizing irregular leap years (no adjustment until the end of 3999), eternal moon phase with 45 million-year accuracy - black alligator leather strap, platinum folding clasp - article IW505701 - CHF 150,000
Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon
Piaget, specializing in thin watches, may have lost the title of the thinnest mechanical watch, but what they did this year is nothing short of impressive. Without adding a single tenth of a millimeter to the already paper-thin Altiplano Ultimate Concept model, Piaget releases a version with a tourbillon at 2 mm thick, making it (by a significant margin) the world's thinnest watch with a tourbillon. How?
By using the same ingenious construction as the 900P model and the no-tourbi AUC, where the movement and case are a single element, and the tourbillon regulator was made as flat as possible (only 1.49 mm), with ball bearings in its separator.
And it's not just about replacing regulators, as almost 90% of the parts in the AUC Tourbillon are new. Piaget undoubtedly remains one of the few masters of ultra-thin watchmaking.
Quick facts: 41.5 mm x 2 mm blue cobalt alloy M64BC case with PVD coating - sapphire glass front, sapphire opening over the tourbillon at the back - openwork construction with front-facing movement indication, monoblock hour disk - caliber 970P-UC, ultra-thin in-house hand-wound movement, minute tourbillon on ball bearing, frequency 4 Hz, power reserve 40 hours - calfskin strap with cobalt alloy M64BC buckle - price on request
Vacheron Constantin Berkley Grand Complication
Last but certainly not least… How could we not mention the Berkley watch, also known as the most complex ever created? This masterpiece of traditional craftsmanship is all about the numbers: 63 complications, 2 dials with 9 discs and 31 hands, 2,877 components, 245 precious stones, a weight likely significantly exceeding a kilogram, an unprecedented Chinese perpetual calendar, and a size that questions the concept of pocket watches… But that doesn't matter.
What matters is that a certain Mr. Berkley, the owner of the previous record-holder (article 57260), commissioned this watch from Les Cabinotiers. Such patrons support the spirit of knowledge and innovation, ensuring that watchmaking art lives, or rather thrives, like never before. About the 63 complications and technical specifications?
Quick facts: 98 mm x 50.55 mm double-sided pocket watch in an 18-karat white gold case - sapphire crystals on both sides - two opaline silver dials with 9 discs and 31 hands - caliber 3752, proprietary hand-wound, 2,877 components, 245 jewels and 63 complications, including a spherical tourbillon, world time, Gregorian perpetual calendar, Chinese perpetual calendar, Chinese agricultural perpetual calendar, sky chart, sidereal time, sunrise/sunset, equation of time, split-seconds chronograph, alarm, Westminster chime with 5 gongs and 5 hammers, grande and petite sonnerie, and minute repeater - unique piece made to order by Les Cabinotiers - price undisclosed