Latest news with #watchmaking
Forbes
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
URWERK Unveils The UR-100V Time And Culture III
UR-100V Time and Culture III With the third entry in its 'Time and Culture' series, URWERK continues to explore how the passage of time has been expressed across civilizations. The new UR-100V Time and Culture III is a unique piece that draws inspiration from Georgian Orthodox iconography, brought to life through cloisonné enamel and miniature painting executed at the highest level. The artwork featured on this edition is based on a 12th-century fresco from the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Georgia, depicting Christ surrounded by twelve celestial emblems, a reference to the cyclical nature of time: months, hours, and constellations. The execution is exceptional. Developed in collaboration with the Kakabadze studio in Tbilisi, the dial took over three years to complete, involving 19 separate enamel colors and 16 kiln firings. The cloisonné technique used here is rarely seen in contemporary watchmaking, and adds a layer of historic depth rarely encountered on modern pieces. Assembly Beneath this intricate artwork lies URWERK's UR 12.01 automatic movement, featuring the brand's signature wandering hour satellite display. As with previous UR-100V models, time is read via a set of rotating hour satellites sweeping across a fixed minute scale. The movement also incorporates a Windfänger turbine system to regulate the winding mechanism. It operates at 28,800 vph, with a 48-hour power reserve. Miniature painting FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder The case is crafted in 18K yellow gold, measuring 41mm wide and 49.7mm long, with a thickness of 14mm. Paired with an Alcantara-lined leather strap and secured by a matching gold pin buckle, the watch carries the visual presence expected of a URWERK watch, while housing an artistic narrative rarely explored in this medium. The UR-100V Time and Culture III is a pièce unique, offering collectors a one-of-a-kind interpretation of time through the lens of history, religion, and craftsmanship. While the enamel work reflects centuries-old artistic traditions, the underlying watch remains unmistakably modern URWERK.
The National
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Chanel celebrates 25th anniversary of J12 watch with new marvel carved from lab-grown sapphire
'I dreamt of giving a colour to black, of illuminating it with blue,' says Arnaud Chastaingt, director of the Chanel Watch Creation Studio. 'I wanted a blue that possesses a rigorous elegance – a blue that is nearly black, or a black that is almost blue.' To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its bestselling ceramic watch, Chanel unveiled a striking new piece that delivers on Chastaingt's dream: the J12 Bleu. In a matte shade of midnight, the Bleu is the result of five years of meticulous development – a process that reflects not only Chanel's obsession with colour, but also its quiet mastery of modern horology. Blue, of course, is fundamental to Chanel's visual language – a nod to Gabrielle Chanel 's love of maritime style. Yet, developing a tone that satisfied the house's exacting standards was no small feat, with Chastaingt describing its discovery as 'an epiphany'. More than half a century after her death, Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel remains fashion's consummate rule-breaker, having established codes that still feel fresh today. From the little black dress to the tweed suit, she placed comfort alongside elegance. Her two-tone shoes, quilted handbags and ropes of pearls remain cornerstones of style. Even Chanel No 5 – launched in 1921 – still dominates global fragrance sales, a testament to its revolutionary formula. Chanel's styles were later distilled and reinterpreted by Karl Lagerfeld, who gave them new life across decades of creative direction. Alongside him, Jacques Helleu – artistic director for Chanel's jewellery, watches, beauty and fragrance – pushed these same codes into a new realm: timekeeping. In 1987, he unveiled Chanel's first watch, the Premiere, with a case shaped like the No 5 stopper and a bracelet threaded with leather like the brand's iconic bags. A decade later, Helleu began sketching a unisex sports watch – a daring move for a house so focused on women. The result was the J12. Crafted from high-tech ceramic, it was lightweight, scratch-resistant and quietly radical. Launched in 1999 in a sleek black finish, the J12 felt like a new language for Chanel – clean, powerful and androgynous. Its name came from the J-class racing yachts of the America's Cup, while its 38 millimetre profile and bold silhouette signalled a shift towards genderless, fashion-forward watchmaking. In 2002, a 41mm chronograph was added, followed by an all-white quartz version in 2003, expanding the range while maintaining its sleek identity. Then came the innovation. In 2005, Chanel introduced the 41mm Superleggera Chronograph, blending black ceramic and anodised aluminium for a watch that was 20 per cent lighter. In 2008, Chanel collaborated with Audemars Piguet on the H2918, a 42mm model in black ceramic with yellow gold accents. That same year, Chanel released the J12 Noir Intense, set with 724 baguette-cut black ceramic stones in white gold, a feat that took more than 200 hours to complete and was limited to only five pieces. In 2010, the brand turned to respected independent watchmakers Renaud et Papi for the Retrograde Mysterieuse. At 47mm and made of white gold and ceramic, it included a retrograde display, tourbillon and retractable crown. The following year, Chanel unveiled the Chromatic in titanium ceramic, while 2013 brought the Moonphase model, with its aventurine moon disc and poetic complication. By 2014, Chanel pushed further into haute horlogerie with the Comeete Flying Tourbillon and the J12 G10, the latter nodding to military watch straps but rendered in titanium and alligator leather. The 20th anniversary in 2020 was marked by the diamond-set J12 X-Ray, which was cut almost entirely from transparent sapphire crystal – even the bracelet was hewn, link by link, from raw sapphire. The 2023 J12 Eclipse box set added a new layer of conceptual brilliance. Comprising seven watches arranged to mirror the phases of a solar eclipse, the collection played with black and white ceramic in configurations that felt as much like sculpture as watchmaking. Only one set was made – and was quickly snapped up by a private collector. Now, in 2025, the J12 marks its silver jubilee with the J12 Bleu X-Ray. A study in transparency and light, the watch is hewn from a single block of lab-grown sapphire – a process that takes more than 1,600 hours. It features 196 baguette-cut blue sapphires encircling the bezel and bracelet, with an additional 12 as hour markers. Inside, a floating movement is suspended on clear sapphire bridges, adding a near-mystical quality to its precision engineering. Of course, none of this would be possible without the technical infrastructure behind the design. In 1993, Chanel acquired G&F Chatelain, a watchmaking facility located in La Chaux-de-Fonds, placing artisanal expertise at the heart of the operation. Strategic investments in brands such as Bell & Ross, Romain Gauthier, F P Journe and MB&F have only deepened that horological credibility. As Chastaingt puts it, ceramic – once viewed as niche – has become precious. 'In the course of 25 years, Chanel has elevated ceramic to the level of a precious material,' he says. 'It is an inspiring material that offers a vast creative playing field.' The new J12 Bleu is both tribute and evolution – a continuation of a legacy and a testament to Chanel's instinct for defying convention. It's not only a watch. It's Chanel's past, present and future, rendered in sapphire blue.
Khaleej Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Tudor's Black Bay 54 ‘Lagoon Blue' is the ultimate summer-ready dive watch
With the new Black Bay 54 'Lagoon Blue', Tudor delivers a summer-infused iteration of its most faithful vintage diver — one that doesn't just wear well, but feels like it belongs to the season. And in this new summer-ready colourway, it's not trying to be a beach watch in the obvious sense. Rather, it channels that sun-drenched, sand-between-your-toes feeling into a serious, COSC-certified timepiece that still knows how to have fun. The 37mm case is everything the modern compact diver should be: balanced, wearable, and visually crisp. But it's the dial that draws you in. The new Lagoon Blue tone is brilliant, with a sand-textured surface that gives a tactile feeling of depth, enhancing its delicate effervescence. This fine detail gives the watch a unique personality while discreetly alluding to the aesthetic of the shoreline: grains of sand caught in light, glinting and moving, never static. Framing that dial is a fully polished bezel, unidirectional of course, but here used almost like a visual amplifier. It reflects its surroundings — sunlight, shadows, and flashes of movement — making the watch feel alive on the wrist. Combined with the pared-down layout and the signature 'Snowflake' hands, the whole package feels refined yet intentionally restrained. For longtime Tudor followers, the Black Bay 54 line is perhaps the purest expression of the brand's early dive watch heritage. The design draws a straight line to the original 1954 Oyster Prince Submariner (ref. 7922) — no red triangle at 12, no crown guards, just the essentials, reinterpreted through modern manufacturing. The crown is compact and exposed, the handset subtly pinched at the base to match the proportions of early Tudor divers, and the bezel knurling reworked for better grip and sharper visual definition. Inside, the watch is all 21st-century engineering. The Manufacture Calibre MT5400 powers the Black Bay 54, delivering 70 hours of autonomy, a silicon balance spring for magnetic resistance, and a balance bridge for added shock tolerance. Its performance is reliably precise, tested to a tight -2/+4 second range per day. It's robust in every sense, but refined too, with sandblasted and polished finishing on the bridges and an open worked tungsten rotor that rewards those curious enough to flip the case over. Completing the look is the five-link steel bracelet, with polished centre links that echo the sun's shimmer on water. The T-fit clasp system — Tudor's take on tool-free micro-adjustment — is integrated seamlessly, offering five points of fine-tuning across an 8mm range. Subtle yet effective, it's these kinds of user-focused touches that reinforce Tudor's evolution into a serious modern manufacture — one that listens to what collectors actually want. What makes the Black Bay 54 'Lagoon Blue' compelling isn't just the colour or the nod to naval history. It's how Tudor continues to refine its design language without falling into the trap of nostalgia. This is a watch that stays true to its roots while offering contemporary versatility — a capable diver that's equally at home poolside, in the boardroom, or on a weekend away.
Times
20-06-2025
- Business
- Times
Inside Patek Philippe, where watchmaking runs in the family
Coming up with a new watch isn't a nine-to-five job for Thierry Stern, the president of watchmaking house Patek Philippe. It's more of a 24-hour preoccupation. 'I get new ideas when I'm sleeping,' he says. Even though he had to give up being head of the creative division when he took over the leadership role from his father in 2009, he says he's still very hands-on with new timepieces. 'To me, designing's the best part and I don't want to give it up.' Quadruple Complication A showpiece of highly sophisticated micro-engineering, featuring a minute repeater, a tourbillon, an instantaneous perpetual calendar and a split-seconds or rattrapante ('catch up') function, housed in an elegant white gold case. £1,060,000 He's at Watches and Wonders, the international watch fair held in his home town of Geneva, to meet clients and collectors and also keep an eye on what competitors are up to. 'Other watchmaking companies might complain, 'We don't know what to do. Everything has been done,' ' he says. 'But for me, creating new watches is a passion. It's my favourite activity and I'm quite good at it.' Founded in 1839, Patek Philippe is the last remaining family-run haute horlogerie house in Geneva. Thierry is the fourth generation of the Stern family that has run the business since 1932, with his grandfather Henri becoming president in 1958 followed by his father, Philippe, in 1993, now honorary president. The house is renowned for timepieces considered by connoisseurs and collectors to be among the world's finest. They're characterised by a refined and timeless aesthetic as well as trailblazing technical innovations, from chiming minute repeaters to perpetual calendars, which have earned the company more than 100 patents. Cubitus Adding to the handsome 'square with rounded edges' Cubitus family, launched last autumn, are two new relatives with a slightly smaller case size at a versatile 40mm, in rose gold paired with brown and also in white gold with a blue dial. £65,600 As an independent manufacture with everything done in-house — from R&D and creating and engineering all complications to assembly — Patek Philippe benefits from full creative freedom. That's what allows Stern to keep dreaming about bezels and bridges. The creation process begins with a four-strong team. 'We share experiences of travelling, relating feedback from international markets, from retailers and clients,' he says. But mostly, 'We think of new ideas for watches. I always push to the limit — the others are perhaps too respectful to do this; they need me for the edge. Then we imagine if the idea can fit into our collections and whether clients will accept them.' Turning the dream into reality takes a long time. 'We work three years in advance. What you see today we finished a year ago and started the project two years before that. We're now working on watches for 2028.' New-movement projects can take a minimum of 4-5 years, and a supercomplicated calibre 10-12 years. 'The target at Patek is two innovations each year,' Stern says. Projects can span decades. 'There's a clock in the new collection we just unveiled and it's one I started 15 years ago — I had to convince the commercial team and, at the time, my dad — and now I have it.' Calatrava A striking daily wearer, a fresh take on the reference first launched in 1932. Now in platinum, the 38mm piece continues the range's Bauhaus-inspired minimalist aesthetic and its clean, opaline rose-gilt dial delivers a vintage vibe. £40,370 Passing the horological legacy to a new generation is hardwired into the firm. 'You won't be excellent in watchmaking until you have a minimum of ten years' experience. That's what I'm teaching my sons now. I ask them, 'Are you really motivated to work for Patek?' You need the passion, the drive. They have it: my older son, who's 23, is already working with us, then my younger son has to finish school. I tell them they need to learn from the ground up and stay down to earth. That's important. I say, 'You can always ask me, as I learnt from my father and grandfather.' ' Keeping it in the family is the secret to Patek's success, Stern maintains. 'It helps in times of decision making — there's no one pushing me,' he adds. 'There are no shareholders to please. It's a chess game. I have my plans.'
South China Morning Post
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Vacheron Constantin product director Sandrine Donguy on blending heritage with innovation in luxury watch design, as the maison celebrates its 270th anniversary
Sandrine Donguy, product director at Vacheron Constantin, describes her job at the storied watchmaker as 'gathering past and present, and preparing for the future'. This dialogue between tradition and innovation is a constant at Vacheron Constantin, which this year celebrates its 270th anniversary. Known for its technical prowess, rare complications and unique movements, Vacheron Constantin boasts a loyal following among connoisseurs. That doesn't mean, however, that its fans are just hardcore collectors and experts. With signature lines such as Overseas and Historiques 222, the maison appeals to a wide range of watch lovers, including talented and accomplished A-listers such as Brad Pitt and Bad Bunny Advertisement Sandrine Donguy has been at Vacheron Constantin for almost eight years. Photo: Handout At this year's Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva, the house broke ground with the world's most complicated wristwatch. The double-sided Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grande Complication La Première has a whopping 1,521 components, 41 complications and 13 patent applications. Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Solaria 9600-C000G-231C ultra-grand complication wristwatch. Photo: Handout From marketing to product design, savoir faire and storytelling, Donguy's role encompasses every single aspect of the creation of a Vacheron Constantin timepiece. On a recent trip to Hong Kong for the opening of an exhibition titled 'The Quest: 270 Years of Seeking Excellence', Donguy sat down for a chat to talk about watches and more. Vacheron Constantin Heritage private collection wristwatch from 1946, featuring an 18k pink gold case, a complete calendar with moon-phase complication, and powered by the calibre 12' 1/2 495 movement. Photo: Handout How would you describe your role at Vacheron Constantin? I would say my role is to [support] the vision of the maison in terms of who we are, our heritage – because if you want to express yourself, you should know yourself best. It's about having ongoing conversations about the archives and when it makes sense to continue to push boundaries. And on the opposite side, innovation – but always in the [realm] of who we are in terms of mechanism, astronomy, function, striking watches, tourbillon, chronograph and also craftsmanship. We can twist all these elements to give a certain life, but my role is to start from who we are, and to push and think from another angle.
