Horological Meandering

foversta
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SIHH 2015: The 5 most important watches of the Salon (personal selection)

The most important watches, it's always the same story. These are not the ones that impress the most, they are not necessarily the most attractive but they play a strategic role in the development and growth of a brand. As such, they embody a certain idea of ??consensus which is usually not the main virtue of a successful design. However, sometimes a magic and a subtle balance between control and daring is reached. And here is the jackpot: the watch finds its audience and it becomes an undeniable commercial success.

The magic pill  doesn't exist. The successes can be unexpected and we can also observe surprising failures. But brands still hope to be able to unveil the future Ballon Bleu or J12.

In a very paradoxical SIHH, which opened in a heavy atmosphere  due to the devaluation of the euro currency (I express things as they are), it is the most complicated watches that first attracted the attention: the Cartier Grand Complication, the Audemars Piguet RD1, the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Double Tourbillon Spider, the Lange Zeitwerk Minute Repeater and so on. But the economic context led that attention was later focused on the most strategic watches. The results of a brand with the Cartier size do not pass through the sale of one or two Grande Complication although the role of vector image of such a piece contributes a lot to the overall success. However, sales volumes of the new Clé collection will be the real performance indicator. I suggest you to discover 5 watches that, at least in my point of view, will have a significant impact on the market the next few months.

The Clé collection aims to accompany the Ballon Bleu one on the top of the hill of success. Cartier finally chose a similar approach with its iconic watch of the recent years: a classic case design at first glace but in reality far more complex and ambitious, an original crown and a classic dial, this time magnified by blue figures. Powered by the latest manufacture movement, the 1847MC which features a rapid barrel, the Clé watches are available in three sizes, with or without set parts. The steel version will come later. Needless to say, Cartier has high hopes as evidenced by its very fast arrival in the boutiques, in the month of April.






Montblanc was again very present in several segments including a very affordable one with a very classic handwind watch. But the most compelling watch, which eventually comes to unite both watch lovers and  customers with tight budget is the Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum that behind this somewhat pompous name proves to be a very successful Worldtimer. From a mechanical point of view, we find the usual recipe, I mean a Sellita base which powers a Dubois-Depraz module, exclusive in this context. And the surprise is the time setting which can be done when using a specific crown position with one hour steps.  Of course, nobody can deny it, its appearance  is strongly influenced by its prestigious cousin at Vacheron Constantin but in the end, I let myself be charmed by this watch very cleverly designed.






The facelift of the Lange & Söhne Saxonia collection is the proof that good old recipes of the past are still efficient. We can take for example the handwind Saxonia. It gets a size (35mm) more in line with its movement diameter, this movement which powered the first 36mm 1815 and when it came with a date display, the Saxonia 34mm. And small details from here and there taken from the old Langematik (like the more present index or the scale inside the subdials of the two other Saxonia) give it a new energy. Now, it is ready to face the market for small wrists and more discreet watches lovers, I mean: China.






Each year, IWC revisits a collection. But this year, it was the most crucial collection of its catalog, the Portuguese one. The margin for error was forbidden and IWC was careful not to touch its basic and iconic watch, the Portugieser (when it sounds Swiss German, it becomes more serious) chronograph. Despite a very surprising choice to put a date on the dial of the Portugieser Handwind  75th anniversary, new watches in the collection are proving to be very attractive including the most successful of the range for me, the annual calendar.






Finally, Jaeger-LeCoultre has placed his collection in 2015 under the sign of the ladies' watches. The Rendez-Vous line is gaining importance in the catalog and the Rendez-Vous Date with its perfect integration of the date display aims to reconcile charm and practicality. In the watch industry, women are the future of men...






I will have the opportunity to come back to some of these watches later.

Fx

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