With Baselworld's future in some jeopardy with the recent news of the Swatch group leaving the fair, it's worth remembering the breath and scope of this event, when it comes to showing all types and segments of timepieces. For instance, this year I met with a series of independents in the lobby of adjacent hotels. A nice break from the crowded halls.
Christophe Claret and his eponymous brand are one of the jewels of independent watchmaking with a constant eye on innovation pushing the watchmaking art. Claret's mission since the mid 1980s has been to produce watches that breaks the mold of convention while using imaginative art and mechanics. Here are three of the most notable watches from the brand for 2018.
Maestro Mamba watch - limited to 28
First is an evolution of the Maestro watch with a definitive pythonic theme. On the elevated open dial, the Maestro's movement is wrapped with a realistic East African green mamba snake. One of the most dangerous and highly venomous snakes in the world. The rest of the dial has the same green highlights while showing the hand wound manufacture DMC16 movement which includes an innovative pyramid date cone at 4:30. A symmetric power reserve is at 5:30. All adorned with matching green tsavorite gem.
Continuing the theme of adding artful twists to existing calibers, Claret's next watch is perhaps one of his most celebrated in recent years. The X-TREM-1 watch line includes a 30 degrees inclined tourbillon with parallel linear retrograde hours and minutes, displayed using a metal ball levitated by magnet. The basic X-TREM-1 movement is so out of this world that reading the description without a picture sends the imagination in all directions.
For 2018 the main addition to the X-TREM-1 watch is a collaboration with StingHD of the USA who is famous for bespoke stingray bracelets that one can create to order online selecting colors, gemstones, and metals. The X-TREM-1 StingHD in black PVD uses the common skull motif that StingHD often uses in its jewelry adorned with red rubies. Indeed, on close look of the tourbillon you can see a skull with red ruby eyes mounted on the cage. The strap of the watch is done with black stingray with matching red stitches. Limited to 8 pieces, you can also of course order a matching bracelet to your watch, in order to complete the style.
Finally, Christophe Claret can also show his romantic side. The Marguerite watch is now smaller at 37 mm yet still includes the flowery dial and flying butterflies as hours and minutes hands. Additionally, as in other versions of this watch, is a whimsical complication. Press the pusher at 2 o'clock and the dial reveals a message. In this case the simple common "I LOVE YOU" to remind the wearer of her significant other's thoughts.
Made in red gold and adorned with diamonds, this watch is perfect example of Christophe Claret's artful mindset and constant push for emotional mechanics that blend into the wearer's life to complete a unique style that is sophisticated, chic, and romantic. Find more information and pricing details of these unique timepieces online at ChristopheClaret.com.
One of the winners in the 2019 GPHG awards in the first week of November was a two year old upstart watch brand from Kuala Lumpur named MING Watches. The young brand won best watch in the Challenge category at the Geneva show to the delight of its founder and watch aficionados who have regularly helped sell out the brand’s 11 prior releases since its debut of the 17.01 watch.
MING watches are not limited per we but are produced in small batches of a few hundreds, which in effect make them limited. A quick perusal to their web site shows that all models, except for the two new 2019 models have sold out. Interestingly the new models are also priced much higher than the previous ones. However, before getting ahead of ourselves, how does one go about seeing or trying on a MING watch?