Heavy metal

THERE was enough gold on display to light up the dark halls of Baselworld 2014 last week - almost blinding the record 150,000 visitors at the world's biggest watch and jewellery show. So it was pretty smart of Patek Philippe to steal the show with an alternative display of steel timepieces at this annual fair, where about 80 per cent of global sales are sealed.

The two steel watches launched - Annual Calendar Chronograph and Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph - backed by the Patek Philippe pedigree, were among the key exhibits that stood out in a sea of gold and platinum timepieces at the week-long exhibition, held since 1917 in the Swiss city of Basel.

All of the 1,500 exhibitors from over 40 countries - dominated by the Swiss, of course - had plenty of new watches in precious metals to show off this year. Rolex's star piece was an updated version of its red and blue GMT-Master II which first appeared in 1955 in steel. The new version of the travel timepiece, fitted with the ceramic bezel Rolex has put on all its sp…