As part of Whitewall’s coverage of SIHH (The Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie) 2013 we will bring you our selection of the most notable new watches presented at the convention. A premier event for the fine watch community, SIHH is a platform for the world’s leading luxury watch brands to showcase their newest timepieces. The unique pieces on view at SIHH are the end product of years of intesnive research and labor. Our first selection of fine watches has been chosen for their unique motions.
Richard Mille‘s long and successful partnership with Rafael Nadel continues with the introduction of the Tourbillon RM 027-0, a successor to the Tourbillon 027 and Chronofiable certified RM 035. Lightness, strength, and agility are the driving design principles behind the Nadel line of watches, and the RM 027-0 is no different. This newest addition is inspired by civil engineering, more specifically suspended infrastructures. The result of this inspiration can be found in the completely suspended movement displayed prominently in the heart of the case. Cables fixed to tensioners are passed over pulleys that are then rotated to create suspending tension. The delicate contraption is protected by a titanium baseplate capable of withstanding accelerations of over 5,000 G.
Montblanc has also chosen SIHH to reveal a company first: the ExoTourbillon Chronographe, part of the Montblanc Collection Villaret 1858. The Collection Villaret 1858 is known for its large balance that oscillates on a separate plane from the rotating cage. And now the much anticipated ExoTourbillon will become the first of the Villaret collection to build on this principle and marry two notoriously complex horological complications; a chronological function and a tourbillon. In this timepiece, both come together as the new crowning glory of the collection.
In keeping with SIHH’s spirit of innovation, Jaeger-LeCoultre will present the Duomètre Unique Travel Time watch. It will be the first world time watch capable of allowing the wearer to adjust the time in a travel time zone to the nearest minute. The makers have divided the watches Dual-Wing system into two mechanisms: one specifically for the displaying of local time and the other for the display of a secondary time zone. However, the two systems still share a regulating organ while possessing an independent source of energy that prevents losses due to interaction between the systems. The result is an eye-catchingly unique movement bursting with practical use.
