The trend is clearly confirmed throughout the stands at the Geneva show: the big names in watchmaking do not remain obsessed with their technical prowess and also know how to deploy treasures of style and creativity to invite themselves onto the wrists of more enthusiasts and more numerous. The exercise is not so simple because they turn out to be driven by very heterogeneous aspirations. The manufacturers therefore knowingly play on different registers. The days when a line of diamonds set on a bezel would push a classic piece into the feminine category are clearly over. Especially since, in certain latitudes, the gem-set models easily change their type.
In the case of Chopard's spectacular Impériale, it is the tutelary figure of Marie-Antoinette who appears as a filigree on the dial in mother-of-pearl and enamel marquetry, including padparadscha sapphires and pink mother-of-pearl flowers, presented in a ethical rose gold case set with diamonds. In fact, the motif takes up a decorative element executed for the Queen of France in one of her resorts, the Chaumière aux coquillages in Rambouillet. This connoisseur before her time of beautiful watchmaking mechanisms would undoubtedly have been sensitive to the presence of the Chopard 96.17-C automatic movement benefiting from Chopard Twin double-barrel technology which gives it a generous autonomy with 65 hours of power reserve. Anxious to respond to the current desire of customers who are increasingly eager to be able to rely on mechanical movements, the independent family-owned manufacturer is increasing the use of automatic winding in most of its women's pieces, as also demonstrated by the new Happy Sport. with a 33 mm Lucent Steel steel case equipped with the Chopard caliber 09.01-C.
Van Cleef & Arpels also made this choice for its Lady Arpels Jour Nuit watch, the movement of which is equipped with a specific 24-hour rotating disc module allowing the decoration of the dial to evolve over a one-day cycle. “We launched these models in 2008 within our poetic complications,” explains Nicolas Bos, president of the house. It really is a very traditional complication, but we are taking out this indication usually confined to a small window at 6 or 9 o'clock to tell the story across the entire dial. As the day goes on, the yellow sapphire sun sets and a cloud of stars develops. This is a piece that we have reworked with an automatic movement and an open back. We were also able to offer it in a smaller 33mm box, with a guilloché gold sun. » This poetic animation finds as a backdrop a precious dial, in aventurine glass made by Murano artisans, adorned with elements in white gold, yellow gold, diamonds and yellow sapphires, and dominated by a white mother-of-pearl cap on the guilloche effect evocative of the horizon line. The point is brilliantly supported by a technical performance, which touches both the mechanics of the movement but also the virtuoso achievement of the craftsmen. “This year, we particularly wanted to emphasize the know-how and techniques that we use to create the dials,” continues Nicolas Bos. We work on these artistic crafts, in particular all the variations around enamel, a bit like certain manufacturers work on movements. For us, this is not an incidental element. On the contrary, it is central. When we redeveloped our jewelry watch collections, we went beyond this tradition of jewelry that tells the time. With our poetic complications, the idea is to have movements that tell stories, with work on the dials going beyond the simple decoration. »
With lightness and mischief, Chanel regularly invites the world of fashion into its watchmaking vocabulary. Tweeds or chains know how to slip skillfully into the inspirations of the pieces created under the direction of Arnaud Chastaingt. How can we not notice this season, in a collection supported by the narrative theme entitled Couture O'Clock, the delightful little Première watch whose chain bracelet braided with black leather, like that of the bags to be worn on the shoulder, is embellished mischievous lucky charm pendants in gold-plated steel and black lacquer, in the shape of a thimble, a spool of thread, a safety pin or a workshop mannequin, under the supervision of Gabrielle Chanel whose portrait is treated like an emoticon? A principle inspired by Karl Lagerfeld, himself having borrowed these tassels from Gabrielle Chanel, who adored them. And suddenly, a very refreshing wind, very 1980s, seems to blow on the wrists... “The brand started in watchmaking in 1987,” recalls Arnaud Chastaingt, director of the watchmaking creation studio for a decade already. We have always embraced the fact of being a fashion house, and I am very proud of this watchmaking of style and excellence. » Alongside pieces of fine watchmaking, exceptional necklaces and a unique musical clock, the new Capsule collection (variations of J12, Boy.Friend, Première, Mademoiselle Privée, etc.) is resolutely inspired by the workshops of rue Cambon. “Cross-cutting stories are part of our DNA. This year we are unveiling a collection of twenty creations which tell the different facets of Chanel watchmaking: complicated movements, fine watchmaking jewelry... It was, for example, quite funny to play on the notion of “measurement of time”, with the Première Sewing Ribbon. »
At Hermès, this year, the spirit of the times is the polar opposite of the very masculine H08 line. The saddler from Faubourg plays with a surprise and cuts short the time, or at least the case, with a brand new women's collection, called Cut, equipped for the first time with a manufacture movement, the caliber H1912, to be discovered through the case back sapphire. Faithful to its vocabulary of geometry, the house has here made a simple shape, the circle, into a complex design, by slightly carving the round lines of the watch at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock. Result: its quasi-roundness contrasts even more with the very precise circle of the beveled bezel. Added to this is the finishing work, between polished and satin-finished, while the crown stands out by being placed at 1:30. Here, no date, so as not to disrupt the tailor-made typography of the dial. The idea - very Hermès - consists in purifying the lines in order to keep only the essential, to tend towards simple forms, such as Brancusi's sculptures. With a diameter of 36 mm, the new Cut with an urban and sporty spirit is waterproof to 100 meters
. “We also played on interchangeability,” explains
Laurent Dordet, general manager of Hermès Horlogerie.
Its bracelets are very easy to change.
In steel as well as in a very successful two-tone steel and rose gold combination, it is available in eight rubber strap colors (white, orange, pearl gray, pewter gray, wisteria, locust green, jean blue and nasturtium, from 5,400 €) and metal bracelet.
In another register, Hublot is rethinking the proportions of its emblematic watch, the Classic Fusion Original. The diameter of the cases is reduced to a modest 29 mm, whether they are in titanium or in King Gold, this gold alloy specific to the brand. With no less than 22 variations with or without diamonds around dials ranging from green to blue via black and gray, the Nyon manufacture is the dream of a woman who is neither completely the same nor quite another...