By Chris Moore
The pocket watch has been a mark of elegance for generations. Yet for several years, rather than style, the pocket watch has come to symbolize the hopelessly romantic and nostalgic, if not the thoroughly out-of-date. Well, not anymore. Pocket watches are experiencing a resurgence, in both interest and design. And watchmakers are crafting some of the more splendid specimens to be seen in years. From the exquisite Breguet Classic Grande Complication to Richard Milles 020 Tourbillon, current pocket watch design draws from centuries of inspiration and should endure for centuries as well. With this in mind, we have assembled nine superlative pocket watches, exemplary for both style and construction. The sampling is not arbitrary; these pocket watches are truly the best in the world. It will come as no surprise that all of these watches are Swiss.
The Formula 1inspired Richard Mille 020 Tourbillon Pocket Watch is a simple rectangle accented by a convex titanium face. The sleek piece displays large Arabic numerals that create a dial, an effect that achieves both grace and simplicity. The 020 is the first pocket watch crafted with a nanofiber baseplate structure, continuing Milles history of applying new materials to the construction of its watches. Furthering the advancements, the 020 pocket watch is connected by a uniquely designed titanium chain. The chain mechanism can be released quickly so that the watch can be used as a pendulette de bureau with a designed stand. The 020 is priced at $410,000.
Continuing over two centuries of watch design excellence, the Breguet Classique Grande Complication is a pocket watch whose elegance is apparent at first glance. This masterly work comes from the company that invented and patented the tourbillon in 1801 as a balance to any error in movement caused by gravity. The Grande Complication is fully encased in 18-karat gold, and stands apart with a silvered gold dial and a sapphire caseback. Its a pocket watch Napoleon Bonaparte, who had his own Breguet timepiece, would have been pleased to carry. It was not a hyperbole when Nicolas Hayek, president and CEO of the firm, said that Breguet watches are an expression of the most brilliant connection between European culture, beauty, and good technology.
The Bovet Amadeo selection of watches are interesting not just for their elegance but also for their innovative design and functionality. Named for owner Pascal Raffys son Amadeo, this set of watches was designed to be used in several ways, rst as traditional wristwatches. Yet without any tooling, the watches quickly become perfectly functional pocket watches or table clocks. The Bovet Company is also remembered as a company whose watches were so valuable in China that they were traded as stable currency.
We start with the Bovet Fleurier Amadeo Buttery
Tourbillon. The Buttery is a striking watch from any angle andas with the entire line of Bovet watchesit is limited in production to a run of 100 in either rose or white gold. The limited availability of this watch may help increase its scarcity and value, but the design is what sets it apart from its competitors. The buttery-shaped bridges give the watch its name, while its pear-pointed serpentine hands lend it a distinctive, memorable appearance. In rose gold, the Buttery sells for $275,000; in white gold the price is slightly higher.
The Fleurier Amadeo Tourbillon, which has double-sided time indication, is a superbly unique watch. It features the traditional Bovet serpentine hour and minute hands on its front face along with the open tourbillon action that makes for a complex watch face design. The reverse of this watch, however, displays a distinctive are for the decorative arts, with its miniature hand-painted tiger, and, as its name suggests, the time may be read from both front and back.
The Fleurier Amadeo Tourbillon Orbis Mundi is a spectacular dual time-zone piece by Bovet. The hand-engraved black guilloche on the face creates a slight feeling of movement. And with this pocket watch, Bovet continues its tradition of melding state-of-the-art timepieces with decorative art. The Orbis Mundi discreetly displays the times for two cities. In white gold, the Orbis Mundi goes for about $230,000.
The Bovet Fleurier Amadeo
Tourbillon Jumping Hours is certainly one of the most novel pocket watches listed here. The piece features the distinctive jumping hours design in which the numerical hour is displayed at the watch center on a black disk (see photo) and the minutes turn around the dial edge with a white arrow pointer. Yet the Jumping Hours watch is more than a concept and is easily read at a glance. The distinctive face of the Jumping Hours leaves little to be desired. It is equal in price to the Orbis Mundi: $230,000.
Piaget for decades has had the reputation of producing exceptionally thin watch movements. With the Altiplano Pocket Watch, they have continued the tradition. Aside from being thin, the Altiplano also features an exposed tourbillon in its square Spartan face. The Altiplano is made of white gold and can be worn as a traditional pocket watch or placed on its stand. The price of the Altiplano is available upon request.
Swiss-born Pierre Jaquet Droz began making his watches in 1738 on a farm called Sur le Pont. He was barely 17. By the middle of the century, he was providing royalty with his stunning creations. The company has stuck to the elegant watchmakers highest aesthetic principles for over two centuries and continues the tradition with their classic pocket watch design. The pocket watch by Jaquet Droz comes in either a black or a white grand feu enameled face, with a casing of ne 18-karat gold. Its effortless simplicity is the watchs enduring mark. The watch face presents the hour and minute dial at its top and a sweep-second hand below for a striking look that must be seen to be appreciated.
Vacheron Constantin stands upon the foundation of a watchmaking legacy that began in Switzerland over two-and-a-half centuries ago. Vacheron has honored their many years of tradition and experience in the aptly named Patrimony Contemporaine. Its understated elegance exudes the condence of centuries. From the sandblasted platinum dial and hands to the calfskin band, the Patrimony Contemporaine pocket watch stands as a simple display of excellence. And rather than cluttering up the watch face, Vacheron has opted to allow the watch to do what it was designed for: tell time. With a limit of only 50 pieces in production, this watch is sure to remain an object of desire for years to come. Price is available upon request.
With such exquisite offerings available to buyers, the pocket watch is hardly ready to fade into the past. And with new and more functional designs, pocket watches will endure as both timepieces and objects of art for years to come.
Bovet, 305.502.9001, www.bovet.com
Breguet, 866.458.7488, www.breguet.com
Jaquet Droz, 888.866.0059, www.jaquet-droz.com
Patek Philippe, 212.563.6880, www.patekphilippe.com
Piaget, 212.246.555, www.piaget.com
Richard Mille, 310.205.5555, www.richard-mille.com
Vacheron Constantin, 877.862.7555, www.vacheronconstantin.com
