Watches inherit a long and rich legacy of beautiful decoration and artistic craftsmanship. Whether ancient enamelling or fusion of new materials in todays technological advanced world, such innovations keep our love for watches alive.
One of the most enchanting things about watch design, especially when talking about mechanical watches, is the creativity and the scale at which everything happens. Not only are these designs absolutely beautiful, but are very innovative concurrently. But how can you determine what could be your ideal watch when you have to face an endless sea of choices out there on the market? If you’re asking yourself that question, then you’re at the right place! Here, you will find a list of the most innovative watches of 2014 that the world can trust and praise about. These top models can definitely help you in achieving your personal hankerings.
1. BULGARI DANIEL ROTH CARILLON TOURBILLON MINUTE REPEATER
(LIMITED EDITION 30 PIECES):
Daniel Roth Carillon Tourbillon, an original three-hammer Minute Repeater with a pure, contemporary face. Its new calibre is entirely made in-house by Bulgari, featuring excellent acoustics and an original design.
The new Daniel Roth Carillon Tourbillon is a brilliant creation of complicated horology. This creation is the result of several years of meticulous development.
The watch makes masterful use of the iconic Daniel Roth case shape. The in-house, manual wind calibre DR 3300 has 2 barrels providing a power reserve of 75 hours. In addition, there are three stacked cathedral gongs, each of which individually shaped and bent by hand and then annealed at 900°C, cleaned and fired at 500°C. The gongs are actuated by three individual hammers and strike a C-note for the hours, an E-D-C sequence for the quarters and an E-note for the minutes.
Upon close look you will notice that the dial is made of a sapphire disk which does not attach to the case band or bezel — to better allow for the minute repeater to be heard.
2. AUDEMARS PIGUET ROYAL OAK CONCEPT GMT TOURBILLON 44 MM
(REF. 2658010.OO.D010CA.01):
Bright, white, sleek and powerful, the Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon was presented for the first time at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie 2014 (SIHH) in Geneva.
Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon features a white ceramic bezel, crown and push pieces instead of black, all heightening the contrast with the titanium case. The manufacturers incorporated ceramic into the movement, replacing the blackened upper bridge of Calibre 2913 with white ceramic. As a result, the new Calibre 2930 is visually transformed, the hourglass-shaped bridge further enlivened by the double symmetry of the tourbillon bridges and GMT display. Ceramic is an almost totally scratchproof composite material that can be scratched only by diamonds.
It takes around 8 hours to make the Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon’s bezel, compared to 45 minutes if it were steel. It features indicator mechanism function. As per the position of the winding stem, which is positioned on the dial at 6 o’clock, it indicates the function selected. The H, N and R indications correspond to the three different positions of the winding stem, meaning time-setting, neutral and winding respectively.
3. ROLEX DEEPSEA WITH D-BLUE DIAL:
COMMEMORATING JAMES CAMERON’S HISTORIC SOLO DIVE. FROM BRILLIANT BLUE TO BOTTOMLESS BLACK, ITS TWO-COLOUR GRADIENT DIAL CELEBRATES ONE MAN’S JOURNEY TO THE DEEPEST PLACE ON EARTH: THE BOTTOM OF THE MARIANA TRENCH.
The Deepsea D-Blue Dial diver watch has a unique dial that starts blue at the top and using a gradient goes to black. “D-Blue” likely stands for “diving blue” and the color change on the dial is in reference to a very special event.
In 2012, film director James Cameron worked with Rolex and a few other companies to design a new submersible vessel known as the Deepsea Challenger that was to dive deep in the Pacific Ocean to a depth of about 11,000 meters. James Cameron piloted the submersible himself and the mission was a success. Not only did Cameron want to “see another world” but he wanted to record the experience for a new film – as well as to aid scientific exploration. The color of the submersible was a similar green that Rolex used for the “DEEPSEA” text on the new Deepsea D-Blue Dial watch.
During the 2012 mission, Cameron wore a Deepsea watch on his wrist, and on the outside of the submersible was attached a not-for-sale prototype watch known as the Rolex Deepsea Challenge. This experimental dive watch was like a super-sized version of the normal Deepsea designed to withstand the massive pressure of being down to a maximum of 12,000 meters under water.
The Rolex Deepsea is water-resistant to a depth of 3,900 metres (12,800 feet) and built to meet the exacting demands of professional divers. The robust 44 mm case in 904L stainless steel, thick domed sapphire crystal and unidirectional rotatable bezel with a 60-minute graduated black Cerachrom insert exude the purposeful character embodied in the name.
4. BREITLING EMERGENCY II:
The Emergency II is the very first watch where dual frequency emergency beacon technology has been implemented into a timepiece.The Emergency II watch is basically part timepiece, and part radio transmitter.
The transmitter has a pair of antennae that sit in a pair of capsules which are accessible on the sides of the watch. Unscrewing the caps and extending the wire-style antenna automatically activates the beacon system, which alternates between sending out signals to the 121.5 MHz and 406.040 MHz bands periodically for about 24 hours. The system uses a rechargeable battery, which should be charged every two months.
Breitling supplies a smart charging base with each Emergency II watch. The charging base not only charges the beacon battery, but also does a systems check to ensure that the system is in proper working order. The watch movement itself operates on a separate battery. This new system is significantly more robust than the one in the older Emergency watch.
In addition to the dual frequency capabilities, the Breitling Emergency II watch is finally an emergency beacon system that allows for search and rescue anywhere in the world. It is water-resistant up to 5 atmospheric bars or about 50 meters. With the titanium case aside, the BREITLING Emergency II Watch comes in three different dial colors – Volcano Black, Cobra Yellow, and Intrepid Orange.
5. ROGER DUBUIS-HOMMAGE DOUBLE FLYING TOURBILLION
(REF NO. RDDBHO0563):
The tagline of the Hommage collection is “Incredible Mechanics,” and the Hommage Double Flying Tourbillon represents that as well as a high level of traditional and contemporary decorative arts.
The movement, Caliber RD100, is composed of 452 parts, has a 50-hour power reserve, and, like all of Roger Dubuis’s in-house movements, meets the criteria for the prestigious Poinçon De Genève.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the watch aesthetically is the sunburst guilloche applied directly to the movement’s mainplate, which also serves as the dial. The rose-gold Roman numerals are applied directly to the front of the movement. This delightful pink gold non-set variation, the case and numerals are crafted from the same 5N pink gold colour and material, but the former is polished while the latter are satin-brushed, thereby creating a subtle tone-on-tone nuance of shade that is admirably complemented by the warm brown alligator leather strap.
6. BULGARI OCTO FINISSIMO TOURBILLON WATCH :
Bvlgari creates remarkable, unusual, and meticulous watches that perfectly combine Italian creativity and Swiss precision. Bvlgari’s Octo, being both a precision timepiece and an architectural creation, has become a mainstay in the watch collections of Bvlgari. This watch houses the thinnest movement with a flying tourbillon ever created – coming in at just 1.95mm. The movement, with 249 components, was designed first around the tourbillon cage, which determined the final thickness (or thinness). It's a remarkable feat of engineering and design that no watch enthusiast can ignore.
Every millimeter counts when designing a watch of this profound thinness. In seeking to make the thinnest possible movement, various solutions were devised. The first was the use of ball bearings for the moving parts: seven ball bearings are positioned on the basic movement, while the tourbillon cage has a cartridge bearing that allows it to pivot. The final ball bearing lets the escape wheel pivot. Next, the regulator assembly was eliminated, since timing is now adjusted on the balance wheel directly, which also helped make the movement even thinner. The barrel is kept in position and guided by three ball bearings on its periphery. This solution allowed the height of its spring to be doubled, yielding a significant power reserve approaching 55 hours. The 40mm platinum case is just 5mm thick – a testament to the engineering inside.
Aesthetic details like the octagonal facets and minimal art-deco style dial stay true to the tone of Bulgari's larger Octo line.
7. A.LANGE & SOHNE RICHARD LANGE PERPETUAL CALENDER "TERRALUNA":
A Lange & Sohne Richard Lange Perpetual Calendar "Terraluna" is a moon phase display of the entire track time and 14 days power reserve movement with 45.5 mm 18K rose gold case, circular design time and calendar display window while demonstrating the unique scientific precision. It laid down number of benchmarks in accuracy, innovation and design aesthetics, whether surface or bottom, equally unforgettable.
This model is inspired by the famous regulator from 1807 created by Johann Heinrich Seyffert. The large minutes display dominates the center of the dial, with the smaller hours off to the right and the running seconds to the left. There are small windows that display the day of the week and the month in the seconds and hours rings respectively, and up at 12 o'clock you'll find Lange's signature panoramic big date. Not only does the display feel typically Lange, but it also prioritizes the most pertinent information and gives less real estate to the less used information.
There is an asymmetric silver cut out of the dial, below which is a disc numbered up to 14. As the 14-day reserve winds down, the disc moves beneath the aperture, showing you exactly how many days you have left. To keep you from having to do the math yourself, 14 days means a whopping 336 hours of reserve from two barrels.
8. HUBLOT BIG BANG POP ART YELLOW GOLD ROSE
(LIMITED EDITION 200 PIECES)(REF:341.VP.5199.LR.1933.POP14)
Hublot unveiled the Big Bang Pop Art, an ultra-feminine and vibrantly colored series that draws its inspiration from Andy Warhol and the famous American Art movement, Andy Warhol and his famous portrait of Marilyn Monroe immediately adds spring to mind.In this new series, Hublot pays tribute to Pop Art and playfully uses colors and everything in it is flashy, upbeat and vibrant. A first in the world of Haute Horlogerie, Pink, blue, purple, apple green: an explosion of colours in 4 watches, are all Pop Art reinterpretations.
The design is that of the iconic Big Bang 41 mm, featuring a bezel set with 48 baguette precious stones: sapphires for this one and dial with multi-coloured counters reminiscent of a painter's palette. The ensemble is completed by a strap in coloured alligator sewn onto tone-on-tone rubber for comfort and flexibility.
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