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TRENDS

From the catwalk to the street, from horological complications to extravagant jewellery, from designers in the spotlight to the new modes of transport, our Trends pages illustrate the latest in lifestyle. These cleanly-designed, well-illustrated pages take a sideways look to decipher major shifts in society as they happen, offering a comprehensive, avant-gardist view of today's zeitgeist. COTE shows you the most complex details with text and pictures.

May 2015

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Limited editions, original designs, technical prowess... eight peerless watches top the 2015 charts as far as collectable desirability goes.

 

1 - Richard Mille
RM 011 Yellow Flash

In a numbered edition of 50, this watchmaker's latest surprise teams TZP-N ceramic, which is resistant to scratching and temperature changes, with ultra-light NTPT® carbon. With sober aesthetics offset by flashes of yellow, it is power­ed by a PVD-coated self-winding calibre with 60min countdown, 12hr totaliser and annual calendar.

 

2 - Harry Winston
Histoire de Tourbillon 6

The King of Diamonds writes the sixth chapter in its Histoire de Tourbillon. The HW4701 calibre is the most complex in this saga and a first since it combines two independent time displays, one regu­lated by a tri-axial tourbillon, the other by a carrousel. The watch also shows elapsed hours and minutes via a pushpiece at 2 o'clock. Limited edition of 20.

 

3 - De Witt
Academia Grand Tourbillon

An all-manufacture 99-piece edition driven by the DW 8030 calibre based on DeWitt's first in-house movement. The time is shown by jumping hours and minutes, a rack mechanism animates the dial and as the minutes pass a progressively armed slipspring draws the eye deep into the mechanism.

 

4 - Blancpain
L'evolution Tourbillon Carrousel

In a limited edition of 50, this watch combines a flying tourbillon with a flying carrousel, in a 47.4mm platinum case finished off with an innovative sporty bezel. The multi-level dial lets us admire the complexity of the openwork movement, a 2322V2 calibre.

 

5 - Jacob & Co.
The Billionaire

Flaunting 260ct and majestic dimensions of 47.5mm by 58mm, this one-off watch showcases every component of its JCAM09 calibre, a hand-wound skeletonised tourbillon movement that seems to float in its sparkling décor. Glorifying it even more is a white-gold case and jewellery skills such as the inverted-pyramid setting.

 

6 - Hublot
Big Bang Unico « 10 ans » Haute joaillerie

"Nothing can be born without a good idea," says Jean-Claude Biver, president of Hublot and of LVMH's Watch Division. His good idea was the 2005 launch of the now-cult Big Bang. Celebrating its 10th birthday, this series of 10 watches at $1 million each employs three complex stone settings: invisible, Clou de Paris and rail.

 

7 - IWC
Portugieser Remontage Manuel Huit Jours Edition « 75th Anniversary »

To mark the Portugieser family's 75th anniversary, IWC Schaffhausen revives the memory of the original
model. This birthday edition charms us through its design faithfully channelling the original but with the addition of the state-of-the-art IWC 59215 calibre. For purists, winding a watch once a week becomes a delightful ritual.

 

8 - Franck Muller
Giga Tourbillon

Completing the watchmaker's series of world firsts is the Giga Tourbillon with its gem-set upper bridge. Blending horology skills and jewel­lery aesthetics, it sparkles with 56 diamonds on the rotating titanium cage of its imposing 20mm-diameter tourbillon. The challenge was to find the correct balance so the weight of the stones would not hinder the func­tioning; this
was achieved by grain-setting them.

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