Year-end novelties
As the festive season approaches, watch brands are rolling out new goodies
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AS 2022 draws to an end, luxury watch brands are rushing out novelties with an eye on closing their books as well as on Christmas shoppers. Here are just two to put on your wish list.
DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT
Timepieces with two distinct dials, which are perfectly reversible and can be worn on either side, have been around for 200 years; but not many were produced. Few watchmakers, mostly the big names in the business, make them today – and mainly for special occasions. Only one among the major luxury watch brands is known to have a regular production of the “reversible” watches.
Perhaps there isn’t enough demand to encourage high production. But these double-sided or pivoting timepieces – among the most highly complicated creations – require exceptional skills to make, and those skills are scarce.
So it speaks a lot for De Bethune’s watchmaking expertise when it unveils the DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT which features two dials to mark its 20th anniversary this year. Because such a model allows the display of more functions, it also enables the independent watchmaker to express the full scope of its aesthetic and technical talents.
This isn’t DeBethune’s first double-faced watch. Last year it produced one which showed a contemporary design with a tourbillon on one side, and a more traditional face on the other.
With the latest watch, time can be set in two time zones and the seconds hand ticks once a second. The jumping hour hand of the GMT function is featured on a dial based on a more traditional design, with a finely hand-guilloche central part circled by numerals similar to those of De Bethune’s earlier models. On the flip side, the jumping second hand is set against a dial of sleek and contemporary design that highlights the mechanics.
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Both dials are framed in a 43.3 millimetres wide titanium case, which also houses a hand-wound movement, De Bethune’s 30th in-house calibre. Price: S$300,000
L U C Skull One Calavera Pop Art
The third watch in Chopard’s L U C Skull One series, which is part of the brand’s devotion to the art and traditions of watchmaking. This watch is inspired by the Day of the Dead, a joyful holiday largely originated in Mexico that’s associated with the more solemn Western Christian’s Halloween, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.
At the heart of this 25-piece limited edition timepiece is “a vivid, pop art-inspired Mexican calavera”. This skull symbol that’s linked to the annual festival is presented in bright flashes of blue, red, orange, green and yellow, framed by a slim (just 7.2mm in height) 40mm black bead-blasted, DLC-coated stainless-steel case. The watch is powered by an in-house hand-finished self-winding movement with power reserve of 58 hours. Price: S$15,700
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