The most prestigious and glamorous watch and jewellery shown in the world has opened its doors to the guests and visitors – the SIHH 2010 has finally started in Geneva. In comparison with last year the show welcomes two more exhibitors - Greubel Forsey and Richard Mille. The organizers have placed the stands of these brands near to exit adding slight changes to the layout of the business zone. But on the whole the layout of the fair has remained unchanged: the organizers of the SIHH have proved that the event housed by the PalExpo in Geneva is not afraid of any crisis.
This year all the participants managed to impress the visitors with really superb timepiece that have every right to be called the masterpieces of Haute Horlogerie. Practically all exhibitor have presented new interesting and innovative models.
The stand of A.Lange & Sohne welcomed the visitor with the showcase. But it housed not watches but gold bullions weighing 1 kilo each. The company decided to demonstrate its innovative alloy that due to the bright colour has been named Honey Gold. The alloy consists of gold, copper, manganese and silicium. Owing to silicium the alloy is two times more durable than steel. And this means that watches housed by cases made of Honey Gold feature enhanced shock- and scratch-resistance. A.Lange & Sohne have presented several models in cases crafted from Honey Gold: Tourbillograph, Lange 1 Tourbillon and 1815 MoonPhase. The new material is also used for several parts of the movement – the bridges for example.
Instead of the traditional Mask collection Vacheron Constantin has presented a new collection of watches made with the help of a Japanese technique – Makie: the artist prepares the lacquered surface creating the image with the help of a sticky treatment and then covers the surface with the smallest golden filings. So a unique and beautiful image is created. Together with Makie Vacheron Constantin has presented several more timepieces that pay tribute to the precise mechanics. The two super flat calibres 10003/3 (manually wound, 1.64 mm) and 1120/3 (self-winding, 2.45 mm) allowed creating two unique and elegant watches.
The “laboratory of ideas” Panerai has presented several interesting timepiece that seem to be different from the traditional Gamma Force. Surely the company don’t forgets about its origins and paying tribute to it has created a historic Mare Nostrum watch which is a copy of a 1943 model. Even the movement is the same – Minerva. One more interesting model presented by Panerai is Radiomir Composite Marina Militare 8 Giorni. The case of this timepiece is made of an innovative material that was given the name of Panerai Composite. This is aluminum oxide Al3O2, that is produced with the help of a special electrochemical process. Composite is a very light material similar to ceramics. Panerai has also revealed a new version of a vertical tourbillon - Radiomir Tourbillon GMT Ceramica. The watch is notable for a very interesting design.
The newcomer to the SIHH, Greubel Forsey, has presented its new Invetion Piece #3 in platinum. This watch combines an original 30 degrees inclined tourbillon with the unique architecture of the case. The platinum version of the watch is a piece unique.
This year IWC celebrates the 70th anniversary of one of its most famous collection – Portuguese. So it’s not surprising the timepieces from this collection have been in the centre of everybody’s attention. The Portugese collection has been replenished with several novelties and particularly with the Yacht Club chronograph whose style clearly reflects the spirit of sea adventures. Another new watch is the Tourbillon Mystere Retrograde – the first watch in the collection equipped with a retrograde date indicator. Re-released anniversary Grand Complication watch has also been subject to some changes: the timepiece is now housed by a 45-mm case crafted from rose gold. But it preserved its traditional features and a repeater movement. Streamlined shapes, clear style and colour accents – these are the basic elements of the new IWC watches this year.
Among the novelties presented by Cartier the most of attention was given to the new classical line of watches equipped with the first in-house movement – self-winding calibre 1904МС. The 42-mm case fits the wrist perfectly and the treatment and decoration of the case give very good impressions. Among the complicated models the Astrotourbillon makes one that deserves closer examination. In comparison with classical tourbillons where the balance is placed inside the carriage and rotates round one axis, in the astrotourbillon the balance is fixed at the tip of the carriage that performs the function of a seconds hand. In one minute the balance “flies” round the watch at the same time rotating round its own axis.
Montblanc has become a real sensation of the fair. For example the unique Nicolas Rieussec chronograph is really impressive: the 2008 models has been slightly changed – now it is equipped with an escapement where the release wheel and fork are made of silicium dioxide. This material is 60% more durable than steel and 70% lighter. Nicolas Rieussec is the world’s first chronograph with the silicium escapement. Another chronograph by Montblanc is as impressive: Villeret ExoTourbillon Chronographe is notable for the balance whose size is bigger than that of the carriage.
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