Written by Julie de Los Rios - Thursday, October 8, 2020
Each year brings a new harvest of watches. The 2020 grand cru has certainly been disturbed by the Covid-19; the great trade fairs - Watches & Wonders and Baselworld - cancelled. But it would take more to disrupt the manufacturers who have been able to bounce back by making online presentations of the collections. Inspired, the watch makers have seduced us, allowing their imagination to freely flow... Hard to lockdown a free spirit! "Mode" watches, sporty, chic or even reinvented icons, set your time to 2020!
Virtually launched during Watches & Wonders (ex-SIHH), the new Cape Cod Martelée is a real work of art. With a juxtaposed play of forged and weathered surfaces, its anchor shaped chain - conceived by the Henri Origny sketches from 1991 - is sublimated. With a single or double wrapped bracelet, its steel case (23x23 mm) and hammered dial is covered with a fine layer of translucent lacquer, shading from an anthracite grey to black, revealing a subtle rock attitude... simply irresistible!
Revealed in a 29 or 34 mm case, the new Piaget Possession watch makes us see life through rose-coloured glasses, delicately shaded from the dial to the bracelet. With its white gold case and mother-of-pearl dial, set with 46 diamonds on the 34mm version, it brings an air of sophistication to every look. Its added flair? The interchangeable bracelet allows you to match your mood of the day.
How can anyone resist this candied version of the iconic Big Bang by Hublot? Worthy heir of the first coloured sapphire watch launched in 2017 by Hublot, the dimensions of this version has been revisited to better adapt a ladies’ wrist with a 39mm case and show cases a diamond set steel bezel with a transparent pink rubber band. Fun!
Born in the year 2000, the sassy Chanel J12 blows out its 20 candles with a spark! The ceramic watch has never undermined its success. As a matter of fact, it has been upgraded and animated with the home made 12.1 Calibre, which received the 2019 Watchmaking Grand Prix in Geneva for the Ladies Watch category. For it's 20th, a limited series of 2020 pieces will portray Mademoiselle Chanel's most treasured symbols: a camellia, a N°5 bottle, a tweed jacket or even the 2.55 bag will be featured on the dial, heightened by 12 diamonds. Staged by 6 muses - Naomi Campbell, Vanessa Paradis and her daughter Lily-Rose Depp, Liu Wen, Claudia Schiffer, Ali MacGraw - the icons are to be discovered and shared on social networks (#J12Turns20 #ItsAllAboutSeconds #CHANELWatches).
Happy kaleidoscope, the Mini D Mosaic is proposed in three colourful harmonies, reflecting beautifully the playful and poetic universe of Victoire de Castellane. The case in a delicate 19mm stainless steel amuses euphoric textile bands, woven in a sparkling mosaic that sublime the mother-of-pearl dial in pink, yellow or green, underlined by a precious bezel and a gem set crown.
Huge classic in the watch industry, the Reverso has reinvented itself for over 90 years. The watch that flips over on it's dial distinguishes itself by the strength and streamline aesthetics of the Art Deco period. In 2020, the Reverso One went for a purple flush to our greatest delight. With an elongated case, its design is inspired by the first Lady Reverso from 1931 with a row of grain-set diamonds, now revisited with a flamboyant burgundy dial! The hue was obtained by applying several layers of lacquer on a sunny guilloche motif, overall heightened by white numerals and a polished steel case. For greater sophistication, a tone-on-tone varnished alligator skin band.
Associating the signature aesthetic of the mythical Moonwatch with a refined style, the Speedmaster 38mm has become one of the most preferred watches amongst collectors. Today, Omega fulfils us by offering two versions entirely fashioned in 18k gold, associated with the soft colour tones of the dial and the oval timers of the collection. Our absolute fav? Animated by the Co-Axial 3330 calibre, the silver opaline model with a green leather band, raised with the tachymeter scale on the aluminium bezel or with the innovative double bezel set on it's sides with 90 full cut diamonds.
Elegant women succumb to the charm of the Classics Art Deco collection (launched in 2007), in homage to the roaring 20s. This year, the manufacturer introduces a new case shape, a perfect circle, round sensuality staged on 5 different models. A little something for everyone: either in steel or rose gold plated steel, gem set or not, with a steel, two-tone or satin-blue band... the common denominators? A 30mm diameter, refined hour and minute hands hand polished (referred to as "cored-out apple"), a mother-of-pearl contoured dial with a guilloche sun in the centre, roman numerals and a quartz movement providing 6 years of autonomy.