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?

After introducing its now famous Joker watch at Baselworld 2017 Konstantin Chaykin has released a series of one off productions since. Last year I took at look at the Joker collaboration with Andersen Genève and also catalogued a few pièce unique models he had created for collectors. This year, Chaykin did not disappoint and showed me yet another unique limited release Joker that is worthy of brief discussion by itself. The Dracula Joker watch.

Urwerk is one of these contemporary independent brands that usually leaves an impression when you visit them to see their novelties. It’s not that they only show something new, or something outrageously good every time I visit them, but rather it’s how I feel after seeing their timepieces.

It’s hard to believe that the Grönefeld brand is now 10 years old. Seems like yesterday I was visiting them for the first time at Baselworld five years ago. As I have written in the past, the Dutch Horological Brothers have an infectious positive vibe about them. You cannot spend a few minutes in their presence and not sense the passion, love, and attention to details they apply to each of their watches. It has been 10 years of Grönefeld, what could the brothers have to show and make me like the niche brand even more? Read on for a brief first look at the 2019 novelty and also an up coming summer special feature with them.

In a year, 2019, that saw Baselworld shrink to close to 50% from its hey days in the early 2000. And with many predicting the eminent demise of the show, one of its three top patrons and presenters, including arguably the greatest watch brand in the world, decided not only to stick with Baselworld, but have its best showing. At least that’s my conclusion from the five years I have been attending.

Patek Philippe blew it out of the park with its 2019 novelties, new model, rare models, and new movements. You name it Patek had an answer and for a fan like me, attending their press even and getting a chance to wear and photograph the novelties was like a kid in a candy shop. Let’s take a retrospective to explore again the new models one by one and summarize this huge year for the Genevois icon, hoping that the up coming show in 2020 will be even better.

Oris is one of these rare watch brands that seem to be genuinely liked by almost everyone in the watch community. I have yet to meet a fellow watch lover and discuss Oris and not hear pretty much only positive comments. How have the brand from Hölstein acquired such rave positive reviews and accolades? What are they doing right?

While it is not clear how well these two new family of Hublot Ferrari will do on the market, the bold new design of the Scuderia and the innovative case and movement of the classic fusion should help the relationship and perhaps win the hearts of the passionate Ferrari collector who is also into watches.

I am happy that Hublot keeps innovating around the watches it releases as part of this partnership. I believe that, if there is a secret to the success of the brand and maintaining its passionate following, it is that. And since innovation and pushing the limits of mechanics is squarely in the spirit of Ferrari I think this match will remain in mechanical heaven.

If you are a Ferrari collector or enthusiast I would highly recommend you go visit your local Hublot authorized dealer to get to see the new Classic Fusion first hand. I think once you do, if the Hublot brand was anywhere near your passionate heart, these watches will ignite the flames to help push you to the limits. It is my favorite watch from the brand at the show. I believe it could be yours too. hublot.com

What I like about Porsche Design is their consistent use of color and design elements and look and feel. If you have ever been to one of their many boutiques you can easily appreciate my point. Just spend some time looking at the belts, bags, and wallets before even seeing the watches. You will notice a contemporary feel for all of their products. They all resemble each other while being functional and exulting quality. This is not unlike the consistent look and feel that the Porsche brand has had over the year and of its most important product: the Porsche 911.

Besides the themed superhero and supervillain watches that RJ showed me at Baselworld and Watches & Wonders in Miami, that I wrote about previously, perhaps the most interesting was their moon watch. This is a watch with the classic 45 mm ARRAW case from RJ but that contains a movement showing the phases of the moon around the dial. And to keep with the aesthetics that RJ is famous for, the case also includes moon dusts and parts of the Apollo moon mission capsule.

Collaborating with DC Comics, RJ got exclusive access and authorization to create watches that include aspects of these superheroes or supervillains. Of course, Batman would be one of these watches and so would Spiderman, but perhaps the more interesting models are the villains. Let’s take a closer look.

My last appointment at Baselworld 2018 was also one of the more memorable ones. Not necessarily because I found my next watch there, but because of the over the top, out of this universe watches that Jacob & Co. always produces. Whether you like the brand or not, in recent years they have been pushing the boundaries of style, taste, and horology. And for that I am a curious and cautious fan.

For 2018, Maximilian Büsser and Friends are back with a set of releases that cover the main areas where they excel. First, with a release of a new moon machine in collaboration with Finnish watchmaker Stepan Sarpaneva.

The Urwerk AMC is the latest result from this division. Inspired by a 17th century innovation by Abraham-Louis Breguet, who, in his obsession to produce more accurate timepieces, invented the Pendule Sympathique, where a master clock is used to auto-regulate a pocket watch, Urwerk decided to recreate the same concept but this time with much more modern components.

For 2018, Omega has decided to break previous tradition of a myriad of releases and instead introduced a limited set of new watches around their two primary collection: Seamaster and Speedmaster.

If you ever wondered what it would be like to enter a time machine and visit 17th and 18th century Swiss Valée des Joux? For one, you'd be able to see what it was like creating watches from scratch and by hand. Using ingenious machines to assist, the local craftsmen from the famed region created some of the most desirable and innovative watches ever produced.

Well, while no machines will take us to this glorious past, one new manufacture from the region is achieving exactly the same, but perhaps better by using modern materials and techniques. Romain Gauthier and his eponymous brand is the brain and soul behind this miracle. Born and raised in the Vallée, Gauthier's watches are the perfect blend of tradition mix with modern materials and thinking.

For this year, the common ancestry and heritage are showcased fully with the introduction of a special flyback chronograph that matches the rare 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series sports car: the Chronotimer Exclusive limited. As a matter of fact, only owners of the car will be able to also order a watch, customized to match the color scheme of the car.

For Baselworld Sinn had a small and focused collection of novelties. The following four stood out to me.

Let me start by stating my biases up front: NOMOS is a brand that I love. I own two watches from the Glashütte manufacture and I wear them often. This year at Baselworld, the typically low key, conservative, and Bauhaus-leaning brand has opted to introduce something new and different, something old, and something fun. Will my opinion of the beloved German watches change?

In all Hublot continues for me to constantly release innovations that are true to their motto of fusion. It's a philosophy that works for them and allows merging of multiple worlds. Whether it be the Berluti leather watches, or the usage of ceramic with gold, or their partnership with Ferrari, most of the resulting watches are brash and grab attention. And for me that's mostly a good thing, since if you are already driving a Ferrari, or aspire to be, you've already reconciled any negativity that may come with such attention grabbing wheels.

And with the new "Red Magic" watch, Hublot has perhaps achieved an innovation that will keep them in the driving seat of the segment of the watch market they currently dominate. The red BigBang Unico is unbelievably bright and cool. Not a watch I would wear every day but with a black leather jacket as in photos, it's just plain cool. And when Hublot releases other colors I could see fans of the brand going back to childhood memories to remember their favorite colors in order to decide which one to get.

Additional details on these watches and all of Hublot's Baselworld novelties can be found on their web site. hublot.com

The Rexhepi brothers have managed to create an introductory timepiece that shines in its simplicity while giving independent watch lovers another reason to take a hard look at this young brand. akrivia.com