Stylish Seconds

WONDER MECHANICS

Timekeeping accuracy has always been a point of improvement for fine mechanical watches, and the sprung balance is the key element in this because it regulates the speed at which the hands and other timekeeping parts turn.

Having particular fun with the sprung balance is Roger Dubuis with its Excalibur Quator Silicium. It’s a watch with four of them, matched with five differentials, practically telling gravity to take a hike. What’s more, it’s the first watch to have a case entirely made in silicon. We’re not talking Bakelite here, but the element’s natural crystalline form, known for its low weight and hardness. According to Roger Dubuis, silicon is half the weight of titanium but is four times harder. The watch’s unique movement, the RD101, with four sprung balances that work in pairs to compensate for changes in position of the watch, was created in-house and carries the distinguished Geneva seal.

Mystery watches are quite intriguing to look at – two hands just floating in the middle of a transparent dial, seemingly suspended in air, with no visible connections to gears. You almost believe it’s magic, but it is in fact an illusion. The hands are attached to sapphire discs that are rotated by the movement on the periphery of the dial. Knowing the magician’s secret doesn’t make the watch easier to make though. And this year Cartier is pushing it up a notch with its Rotonde de Cartier Double Mystery Tourbillon. Instead of hands floating in a transparent area of the dial, a tourbillon seems to be suspended in space. The double mystery is how the flying tourbillon rotates on its own axis every 60 seconds, and the carriage once every five minutes without a visible connection to the movement, and with a pretty slim case to boot. Equipped with the handwound in-house calibre 9454MC, the watch offers a 52-hour power reserve and comes in a 45mm platinum case.

While the watch itself isn’t new, I think it’s worth mentioning Parmigiani’s Bugatti Super Sport, which now comes in rose gold. It’s one of those timepieces with a unique movement and aesthetic that will always look cool. The watch’s sleek curves really echo those of a Bugatti’s, with the train wheels cut in the form of car’s wheels, the profile meant to resemble the fuselage, and the case reminiscent of the Bugatti Veyron’s wings. The Parmigiani Calibre 372 with a power reserve of 10 days is a movement designed on two planes, which allows the wearer to read the time when driving without having to move the wrist; a function that proves extremely useful – and discreet – at business meetings too.