AW16 MEN'S LUXURY WATCH EDIT

12th October 2016

The definitive directory of what you should be wearing on your wrist right now. Words by Alex Doak.

With a design as unique and pure as that of the Royal Oak, you shouldn’t dare to mess – such a masterpiece of octagonal form is not amenable to complication. Hence designer Gérald Genta’s bespoke, “tapisserie” engraved dial, lending a clean, unfussy texture. The exception is when it comes to Audemars Piguet’s particular horological speciality: the perpetual calendar. The four subdials – day, date, month, moonphase – align pleasingly with the cardinal points of that iconic bezel, lending even more gravitas to those noble facets.

66349 | £76,800

Trust Hublot – fine watchmaking’s bad-boy disruptor – to team up with flamboyant character, Lapo Elkann. The Fiat empire scion and driver of a camouflaged Ferrari 458 Italia is behind luxury eyewear brand Italia Independent, which has collaborated on a new limited edition chronograph for the Swiss watchmaker. Its clever combination of carbon fibre and green “texalium” woven fiberglass gives the case an Elkannworthy camouflage wrap. And if you want, you can co-ordinate with a pair of Hublot sunnies from Italia Independent, a snip at £997 per pair.

65280 | £24,300

The resemblance to your typical 18th-century English pocket watch may seemingly end with the Arnold & Son logo, but the Swiss revival of the London chronometer maker is just as clever with mechanics as John Arnold himself. What sets the new TES Blue Tourbillon apart is its modern take on his distinguished, three-dimensional English movement: the barrel bridge for instance has the traditional wave form but is made out of sapphire to allow a maximum view of the openworked barrel, wheels and that vibrant, cobalt-blue mainplate.

65377 | £115,000

While Bremont’s remembrance of a legendary Thirties air race is unashamedly nostalgic and rakish, Bell & Ross continues to fly its steady course designing crisp and contemporary updates of the classical pilot-watch trope – even when it comes to its Vintage BR range, tapping into the golden age of aviation and all its associated derring-do. No photograph will ever do justice to the blue and brass of the brand’s latest tribute to the French Naval Air Arm, but take it from us: there are watches costing five times as much that wouldn’t look nearly as dashing peeping from the cuff of an Admiral’s mess uniform.

65651 | £3,350

“True riches do not need to be revealed,” says Parmigiani Fleurier, “they are precious because they are discreet.” And thus, to mark the 20th anniversary of Switzerland’s pre-eminent, classical-with-a-twist fine watchmaker, the manufacture has unveiled this one-off handsome devil, its steel case shrouding a movement made entirely of yellow gold. It’s especially impressive as micro-mechnics made of the precious metal present a real challenge: gold sticks to the tools, it easily deforms, plus all the machines must be completely recalibrated from usual.

66378 | £64,400

It’s baffling how Baume & Mercier manage to cram so much into a watch like this. To start, you have a beautifully engineered, 43mm steel case and supremely ergonomic sevenrow bracelet rendered exquisitely in alternately polished and satinated handfinish. Then there’s the dial it frames: silvered with rhodium-plated applique indexes, protected by an anti-reflective, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal. Crystal on the caseback even gives a view inside: a top-notch Swiss automatic movement, hand-finished and hand-assembled. All for £3,850? Go figure.

66379 | £3,850

The latest limited edition from Britain’s plucky watchmaker celebrates one of the greatest aeronautic competitions of all time and the British plane that won it: 1934’s London to Melbourne Air Race and de Havilland’s DH-88 Comet. Trailing clear skies and 11,300 miles, pilots Charles Scott and Tom Campbell-Black fought exhaustion and mechanical challenges to win in just three days, paving the way for longhaul aviation. Each of Bremont’s 364 chronometer-rated chronograph GMTs includes a piece of the original spruce plywood from the plane’s undercarriage.

66059 | £14,995

The definitive directory of what you should be wearing on your wrist right now. Words by Alex Doak.

Miniature versions of men’s watches, moonphases and the return of yellow gold are looking to be the key trends for 2016, as Laura McCreddie explains.

The definitive directory of what you should be wearing on your wrist right now.