SIHH 2019: Tatler Watch Picks From Day 4

As SIHH 2019 comes to a close, our team brings you the horological highlights from this year’s penultimate day

Above Photo: Courtesy of Baume & Mercier

Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic Perpetual Calendar

Perpetual calendars often look busy, given that they have to display the time, date, day of the week and month. Thankfully, the Clifton Baumatic Perpetual Calendar is a slick wristwatch that’s both minimal and modern. After the successful unveiling of Clifton Baumatic last year, it only makes sense that Baume & Mercier add new editions to the collection, and this year’s novelty is the first complication bearing the Baumatic designation.

Easily one of the brand’s most expensive timepieces to date, the Perpetual Calendar features some creative finishes such as circular graining on the bridges and a sandblasted and nailed baseplate. Its movement, nicknamed the BM13, has been refined and can be admired in all its glory through an anti-glare sapphire crystal. A porcelain-like white dial is enhanced by gold-tone hands and faceted hour markers. Our opinion: A resilient and accessible watch with which it’s hard to go wrong.

Above Photo: Courtesy of Bovet

Bovet 1822 Tourbillon Amadeo Fleurier Virtuoso IX

Make way for Bovet! This year marks the maison’s debut appearance as an exhibiting brand at SIHH, and its highlight creation doesn’t disappoint. The ninth model in the brand’s high-complication virtuoso series, the Tourbillon Amadeo Fleurier Virtuoso IX flaunts a flying tourbillon, big date, dual time-zone display, and 10-day power reserve. As if that weren’t enough, the piece also boasts two dials and a 46.3mm convertible case that shifts from wristwatch to pocket watch to table clock. Need we say more?

The hour hand can be found offset at 2 o’clock, while the minute hand remains traditionally centred. A second time zone can also be read via a second hour display at 10 o’clock—perfect for those who frequently take to the skies. Moving on to the blue dial, eight layers of lacquer are applied to the guillochéd fan-motif base, resembling the enamel dials found on Bovet’s 19th-century pocket watches. Case options include 18k rose gold, white gold and platinum with (of course) full skin alligator straps.

Above Photo: Courtesy of Girard-Perregaux

Girard-Perregaux Bridges Cosmos

A 48mm bead-blasted titanium watch, Bridges Cosmos takes inspiration from astronauts and some of humankind's greatest adventures. Powered by the new Calibre GP09320, which features a 60-hour power reserve, Girard-Perregaux has designed a celestial sphere which rotates every 23 hours, 58 minutes and 4 seconds to reflect an exact sidereal day. The watch gives the wearer his/her local time using the subdial at 12 o’clock, while a laser-engraved blue-tinted titanium sphere at 9 o’clock can be modified against a backdrop of zodiac star formations.

These are enhanced by luminescent hydroceramic. Yes, that’s right—the Bridges Cosmos glows in the dark. At 3 o’clock, a spherical earth is mapped out and paired with a 24-hour scale around its equator to enable a dual time function readable both from the front of the dial and back of the watch. Finally, at 6 o’clock the tourbillon sits centrestage, held in place with a black titanium bridge. To infinity, and beyond!

Above Photo: Courtesy of MB&F

MB&F HM6 Final Edition Horological Machine No. 6

Motivated by the Comet spaceship from the Japanese anime Captain Future, the HM6 collection was first introduced in 2014 and has since been revamped via several special variations. This year, MB&F have chosen to retire the futuristic model with the launch of its (aptly named) Final Edition, which brings the total number of HM6s throughout the world to a mere 100.

Comprised of 475 parts and 68 jewels, the Final Edition is limited to just 8 and stays true to MB&F’s otherworldly aesthetic. A 52mm stainless steel case houses spheres which reveal the hours and minutes, while the blue colour of the platinum oscillating weight and markings evoke visions of extraterrestrial lifeforms. The watch’s flying tourbillon sits under its own dome with a retractable shield to protect its revolving cage.

According to MB&F, this is the second tourbillon made by the brand and its first flying tourbillon. The Final Edition has a 72-hour power reserve and a frequency of 2.5 Hz (18,000 bph). Wear with its matching steel buckle and alligator hide strap to do this 'horological machine’ proud.

Above Photo: Courtesy of Parmigiani Fleurier

Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Capitole

Always one to draw inspiration from the archives, Parmigiani Fleurier celebrates the design of a 19th-century pocket watch handcrafted by Perrin Frères (a watchmaking firm in Neuchâtel). The brand chose to recreate and add to the heritage timepiece in its own manufacture and subsequently the Toric Capitole was born. This pièce unique is named after the Capitolium in Italy, which was the religious and political capital of Ancient Rome, and utilises the space’s geometrical floor tiles which, when combined together, create the pattern of the Toric Capitole’s rose gold dial.

The watch’s manually-wound PF321 calibre offers a 40-hour power reserve, which can be admired alongside its minute repeater via the open case back. The so-called ‘cathedral’ gongs form two sets around the case which amplifies its acoustic quality, making the 45mm structure that much more difficult to create. An extremely complex and unusual creation, there’s little doubt that the Topic Capitole will inspire future models for years to come.

See our SIHH 2019 Tatler Watch Picks from Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.

Topics

SIHH Baume & Mercier Bovet Girard-Perregaux MB&F Parmigiani Fleurier