Elite Traveler Summer 2021

Right Vacheron Constantin

Far right Piaget has long been a master at creating ultra-thin watches, and the new Altiplano Tourbillon Aventurine is a superb example of an ultra-thin watch with tourbillon escapement taking center stage at 2 o’clock on the gorgeous aventurine dial — opposite the off-center time indication at 8 o’clock on the dial. $153,000, available at Piaget, New York, piaget.com

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Historiques American 1921 watch celebrates the 100th anniversary of this icon. With 40mm cushion-shaped case and off-center crown, the watch is crafted in platinum and is powered by a mechanical manual-wind movement. $49,700, available at Vacheron Constantin boutiques worldwide, vacheron-constantin.com

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MER 2021

HOW BRANDS CATERED TOWOMEN Witnessing the evolution of women’s watches over the past two decades is an interesting journey. The concept of catering to women in the early 2000s began with high- jewelry and designer brands. These houses took jewelry expertise and a passion for working with gold and gemstones, and began shaping women’s watches to complement their collections, often turning to quartz movement to enable smaller and thinner watches. And as the jewelry and design houses were snapping up their fair share of female customers, they became more in tune with what women wanted. While brand name and the design of the watches were the first draw for women, mechanics and function also became important aspects. Simply put, women wanted more. Chanel was one of the first houses to begin creating watches with a perspective other than jewelry for women. It focused not only on the aesthetics, but also on what was inside the watch. On the cusp of the new millennium, in 1999, Chanel introduced its J12 line of ‘unisex’ Swiss-made watches in high-tech scratch-resistant ceramic. It was a big deviation from the brand’s Première cocktail watch, and was the piece that put the jewelry brand on the watchmaking list. Chanel went on to create J12 mechanical watches (working with Audemars Piguet) and even added small complications to the line. By 2013, the J12 was already well-established and, today, the line features Chanel mechanical movements and versions that include chronographs and moonphase complications. The House of Dior also made strides with women’s mechanical watches, and in 2011 surprised everyone with its inverse rotor concept, whereby the rotor (the oscillating weight) of the self-winding movement is placed on the front of the dial instead of in its traditional space on the back of the movement. That way, the Dior artisans could further embellish it with artistic flair while simultaneously showcasing their mechanical prowess. The buzz about how the designer and jewelry brands were winning hearts with their women’s mechanical watches took hold. While brands like Rolex and Blancpain had stayed true to offering mechanical watches, many other brands had

embraced the quartz movements of the 1980s — believing that women would not want mechanical watches. They did a rethink and began offering collections that were not miniaturized men’s watches, but instead were dedicated solely to women and often housed manual or self-winding movements. Trailblazers included Jaeger-LeCoultre, which unveiled its first dedicated watch collection, Rendez-Vous, in 2012. The brand focused on good looks and small complications initially, and has since rounded out the collection with high- complications that include perpetual calendars and even astronomical functions. Just a few years ago, venerable watch brand Vacheron Constantin released its Egerie collection for women. The line had been several years in the making, and the brand even turned to an outside team of women designers for creative input. The result was a pleated-looking dial with simple complications such as date or moonphase indications. WOMEN’S WATCHES OF TODAY Today, we continue to witness the emergence of more serious watches. Many brands are propelling collections forward by adding complications and other features to attract women.

, while Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Bulgari released watches with astronomical complications. This year alone, we have seen women’s watches with evolved high complications including automatons (watches with figures on the dial that move), tourbillon escapements (that compensate for errors in timekeeping due to the effects of gravity on the wrist), repeaters (that chime the time on demand), perpetual calendars and so much more. Even Breguet, which released the world’s first women’s watch in 1812 for the Queen of Naples, unveiled a special timepiece called Reine de Naples Coeur, that boasts a heart motif on the dial that is actually hands that shrink and extend as they revolve around the oval watch to indicate the time. Other brands focus on creating innovative, almost mesmerizing dials using not only diamond- and gem-set dials, but also hand-painting, lacquering, marquetry techniques and more. The concept of Métiers d’Arts watches for women has taken hold and for some brands, the sky’s the limit when it comes to the dial as canvas. In short, brands are becoming more innovative and visionary than ever before in their efforts to give women a mechanical marvel inside and appropriate craftsmanship and functions on the outside. Some, like Piaget, work tirelessly on ultra-thin watches

Left Breguet’s new Reine de Naples Coeur Eternal Love watch boasts an advanced, patented technical system for the mechanical time display. The large heart in the center of the dial is actually a two-pronged hand that expands and contracts as it moves around the oval watch to indicate the minutes. $41,600, available at Breguet, New York, breguet.com

Dior’s Grand Bal Parure Tropicale watch uses the inverse rotor of the self-winding movement for elaborate Métiers d’Arts decoration using gold, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts, lapis lazuli and more. Price on request, available by special order, dior.com