In the watch world, exposed movements usurp the vintage revival
A celebration of the watch brands ditching the vintage revival schtick and going mad with movements instead, by Laura McCreddie-Doak
BREGUET EXPÉRIMENTALE
Describing this incredibly complex watch in a mere 150 words is almost impossible, so, we’ll just stick to its foremost innovation: the magnetic escapement. In a regular mechanical watch, the mainspring provides the power, while the balance wheel and hairspring keep track of the seconds.
Breguet has ditched the balance wheel and hairspring and instead harnessed magnetic repulsion to regulate the time. Repulsion means the magnets don’t touch, so friction is dramatically reduced.
Throw in a 10Hz tourbillon – most are three, making this extremely high frequency – openworked dial and 18k Breguet Gold case and you’re looking at a masterpiece.
£POA; breguet.com
MB&F LEGACY MACHINE SEQUENTIAL FLYBACK EVO
MB&F enters the chronograph space with a hugely ambitious double chrono, complete with a very 1980s-sounding Twinverter.
Essentially what you have here is a pair of identical twin stop watches with their own sets of gearing on either side of the dial, activated by two sets of pushers (at two and four o’clock and eight and ten, respectively). The fun part is the Twinverter, which the button at nine o’clock kicks into gear. This two-in-one pusher allows the user to turn both chronographs on and off either simultaneously or separately.
This means they can be used like a ‘rattrapant’ to time two things that start at different times. Or they can be switched on and off in turn rather like a speed chess clock. It now comes with a flyback function too, so accuracy is guaranteed.
£180,000, mbandf.com
BLANCPAIN GRANDE DOUBLE SONNERIE WATCH
I bet this wasn’t a late entry on anyone’s 2025 bingo card. Not the grande sonnerie part, but the fact that, as well as the Westminster chimes usually featured in chiming watches, Blancpain has also included a unique melody by Eric Singer, the drummer and vocalist for rock band KISS.
To make this melody, Singer was only allowed to use four notes – Mi, Sol, Fa and Si – and none could be repeated. And the rhythm had to be the same as the Westminster chimes. That wasn’t the only technical challenge: musicality had to be perfect so 11 metals were tested for the gongs before gold was settled on for its ability to transmit harmonics.
Only two watchmakers in the whole of Blancpain were allowed anywhere near this feat of engineering – you can see why.
£1.6m, blancpain.com