Cartier Expands Fine Watchmaking Collection With Refined New Additions
By Martin Green
Ever since its introduction in 2008, the Fine Watchmaking Collection has been Cartier’s calling card when it comes to complicated pieces. Many of them unique and never done before. For the SIHH 2017 Cartier is expanding the collection with new models, as well as some varieties of existing models. It is not a surprise that many of them are focussed on the brand’s unique, mysterious movement, that has become one of the pillars of the Fine Watchmaking Collection.
Ulysse Nardin pulled out all the stops for its first SIHH showing. In a fair charactered by conservative product releases, the Le Locle-based manufacturer presented a strong line-up of novelties, with a strong nautical theme, highlights including the new regatta timer, the technically impressive Marine Grand Deck, as well as this watch – the Classico Manufacture Grand Feu. This very traditional timepiece is jam-packed with smart details and offered at a highly competitive price. At 40mm across, the round steel case is hard to dislike, with its wide polished bezel, slightly clawed lugs set into the case middle and a crown that’s simple, sturdy and not at all fiddly. Nice though the case is, it doesn’t hold a candle to what’s within. The movement is the UN-320 caliber, made entirely in-house, down to the silicium hairspring and escapement – a feat of which the brand is rightly proud (the oft-repeated message at SIHH was that none of the other exhibiting brands made their own silicon hairsprings). The movement finishing is neat, though not astonishing. The rotor, with its blue anchor logo and wave pattern is quite pleasing on the eye. The dial is another story. It’s a ‘grand feu’ enamel dial in vivid,…
This year sees Montblanc introduce bronze into its watch collections for the very first time – and we have to say they’ve done it in an unusual and (as is typical for the brand) very smart way. With the exception of the high-end Villeret piece, Montblanc has avoided releasing full bronze-cased watches, instead employing the distinctive alloy in a much more tactical manner. In the case of the latest version of the 1858 Automatic, bronze is used on the bezel and crown, leaving the rest of the 44mm body in steel. Besides offering a very different take on two-tone, this approach is quite clever. The high-touch areas of crown and bezel will patina up quite nicely, but overall the watch won’t be as overwhelming as a full bronze case (which, we suspect, will mean it appeals to more people). The bronze elements aren’t the only vintage accents at play here – the black dial features the historic Montblanc logo, and numerals and hands painted in ‘bronze’ luminescent material. The final touch is the truly excellent strap, a supple cognac coloured calfskin number with double stitching in a style that has been very much in fashion among vintage collectors in recent years. Most models in…