October 28, 2018

NEW FACES

by AHMED SEDDIQI & SONS

Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons welcomes some of this year’s most memorable new watches

One of the (many) quirks of the Swiss watch industry is that vast numbers of the watches announced at the spring watch fairs don’t make it to market until the autumn. Some are therefore filed away in the back of the mind never to be thought of again; others become Holy Grails, longed for with greater zeal as the months pass.

This month, Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons is pleased to announce the arrival in stores of a number of the most sought-after pieces launched at spring’s Baselworld watch fair. Here are a selection.

Tudor Black Bay GMT

Tudor’s place as part of the Rolex brotherhood is less distinct than it used to be, although the addition this year of a ‘Pepsi’ dialled GMT model to the Black Bay line serves as a reminder of the connection between the two (Rolex’s 1950s GMT Master originally made it famous). Tudor’s interpretation of the iconic blue and red bezel, which slots confidently into the steel Black Bay line, is markedly more affordable than it’s non-identical twin, the Rolex GMT Master II (also launched this year), which will make it all the more desirable. For your investment, you get three time zones, a chronometer-certified in-house movement with a 70-hour power reserve, and 200 metres of water resistance.

Bell & Ross BR03-92 Diver Blue

The Parisian company’s square-cased BR03 watches have always been sold as pilot’s watches, based as they are on instrument panels found in aircraft cockpits. But as this 42mm brushed stainless steel version proves, the form lends itself superbly to a diver’s watch, too. Thanks to a lockable crown, it’s water-resistant to 300 metres; its uni-directional rotating diver’s bezel has a blue anodised aluminium insert; and it comes on a blue rubber strap.

Hublot Classic Fusion King Gold Pink Bracelet

Hublot’s approach doesn’t lend itself naturally to understatement, which means that this coquettish mix of precious stones and materials somehow manages to sit at the more demure end of the brand’s style spectrum. The case and bracelet are both made of 18-carat ‘King Gold’, Hublot’s own concoction. It contains higher levels of copper and palladium than standard red gold, the former making it redder and the latter more resistant to oxidation. The watch also has 36 diamonds set into the bezel, a satin-finished pink sunray dial and an automatic mechanical movement.

Corum Admiral AC-One 45 Chronograph

The lead piece in Corum’s eclectic collection of watch designs is the Admiral, a sailing-inspired piece the brand first introduced in 1960. This year, it has launched a series of wooden-dialled pieces, echoing the look and feel of a boat deck. This one is a 45mm automatic chronograph on a brown calfskin strap. It retains the line’s signature 12-sided bezel and nautical flag hour markers.

Chopard Happy Sport

This is the 25th anniversary year of Chopard’s playful Happy Sport. In 1993, its combination of steel and floating diamonds was deemed unconventional, but it worked, becoming a cosmopolitan symbol of feminine sophistication. This version has a steel and rose gold case, a dark green dial, a blue sapphire set into the crown and five diamonds (totalling 0.24 carats) that follow the model’s signature style by floating between the glass and the dial.

Bovet Virtuoso VII

Bovet’s ingenious Virtuoso VII, now available in white gold with blue detailing, is six watches in one. The decorative piece has two dials, and thanks to some clever engineering can be a wristwatch, a pocket watch or a table clock. One side features a perpetual calendar – one of watchmaking’s most treasured complications – showing the day, date, month, year and leap year. Bovet has mechanically programmed this one to take into account the varying month lengths for an astonishing 400 years. The other dial has an indicator tracking the watch’s five-day power reserve.