52 DEPARTURES STYLE
52 DEPARTURES STYLE WRIST WATCH Seeing Green The most natural of hues is finding new possibilities in the hands of watchmakers. By Laurie Kahle WATCH DESIGNERS ARE GIVING THE green light to fresh dials in hues from emerald to khaki. The many symbolic and historic associations that green evokes are being put to full use across the watchmaking world, reaching back as far as the ancient decorative arts in, for instance, the colourful dials of Vacheron Constantin’s Métiers d’Art Les Aérostiers and Hermès’s Arceau Casaque, while Cartier’s Révélation d’une Panthère delivers something more modern and playful. Stonework is another speciality as luminous malachite is cut, polished and inlaid on the dials of Piaget’s Altiplano Marquetry Tourbillon, Rolex’s 31mm Oyster in yellow gold and Van Cleef & Arpels’s Sweet Alhambra. In a characteristically modern vein, Hublot fuses fashion and watchmaking with the ceramic Big Bang One Click Italia Independent with a sumptuous dark-green velvet dial and matching interchangeable strap. Hautlence goes to avant-garde lengths with its fluorescent Invictus Neon chronograph and Louis Moinet, whose eponymous founder invented the chronograph, also makes use of the hue on the radiant textured Magic Green dial of the 36mm Skydance. Channelling the past, Glashütte Original’s retro Sixties models have undergone a makeover with an intense green galvanic domed dial. On the sporty side, Chopard tips its hat to British racing green with the Mille Miglia Racing Colours chronographs inspired by vintage racecars. Montblanc captures the vintage spirit of Minerva with the revamped 1858 Monopusher Chronograph Limited Edition. Oris also gets into the retro spirit with its Big Crown Pointer Date, a vintage aviator’s style, while Breitling’s Navitimer Super 8 also takes inspiration from a classic pilot’s watch with its massive heft at 50mm with a notched bezel. From the air to the sea, Seiko offers a tribute to a 1968 dive watch with a rugged special edition Prospex SLA019 Marinemaster 300 dubbed Green Marine, and Audemars Piguet gets colourful with a collection of four Royal Oak Offshore Divers, including one with a khaki-green dial and matching rubber strap. Even haute horlogerie is going green with H Moser & Cie’s Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Purity dressed up with a Cosmic Green fumé dial, while MB&F’s Legacy Machine Perpetual got a tweak with a titanium case and a blue-green backdrop to the skeleton movement. Frederique Constant addresses world travellers with a user-friendly steel and green Classic Worldtimer Manufacture that tracks the time in the world’s 24 major time zones – a handsome timepiece that is sure to make friends the world over green with envy. Clockwise from above left: Piaget Altiplano Marquetry Tourbillon; Hermès Arceau Casaque; H Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Purity Above, clockwise from top: Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture; Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver; Montblanc 1858 Monopusher Chronograph Limited Edition; Chopard Mille Miglia Racing Colours chronograph; left; Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Les Aérostiers COURTESY OF THE WATCHMAKERS
© GRAFF Graff MasterGraff Ultra Flat Tourbillon Dragon with rosegold faceted case, transparent caseback, dial decorated with miniature paintings featuring gold details, hand-wound movement, flying tourbillon at 6 o'clock Basel Beauties The watchmaking world’s leading showcase, Baselworld, was brimming with treasures this March. Herewith, the highlights. By Elisa Vallata TRADITION IS NEVER FAR from the lips of the world’s leading watchmakers, and a number of this year’s best timepieces pay homage to iconic pieces celebrating major anniversaries, among them the Harry Winston Ocean Collection and the Omega Seamaster Diver 300m. Horologists are also taking advantage of a growing appreciation for new hues to deploy a barrage of colours that are at their best when combined with innovative materials, as with the Tag Heuer Monaco Bamford, which pairs luminescent aqua blue with a black opaline dial and carbon case or the Hublot One Click Sapphire, whose large, uniform-colour sapphire-crystal case appeals to connoisseurs and new collectors alike. DEPARTURES 53
