Best watches to wear for summer 2019
Photos. Supplied
1
Zenith Zenith’s Defy Fusee Tourbillon is all about the fusee and chain system. Rather like gears on a bicycle, the miniature blue chain is coiled around a conical fusee and attached to the mainspring barrel. The experts at Zenith explain, “As the mainspring unwinds, more of the chain wraps around the barrel, detaching itself from the wide base of the fusee. The greater turning movement provided by the fusee compensates the weakening mainspring pull, thus maintaining the torque.”
2
IWC A decade of charitable work by the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation (FASEJ) is being marked with a new pilot watch from IWC. The Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Edition Le Petit Prince (number 10 of a 250-strong limited edition batch) will be auctioned in July to raise funds for the charity that helps young people. The watch has more than 80 parts, plus a midnight blue dial and a beige luminescent index at 10 o’clock in celebration of the FASEJ’s decade of do-gooding.
3
Blancpain First born in the early 1950s for the French Ministry of Defence, Blancpain followed up its classic Air Command chronograph towards the end of that decade with a new model for the US Air Force. It is this black-dialed 42.5mm watch that has been reissued in 2019 in a 500-piece vintage style edition with a railroad track and a propeller-style rotor seen through the case back.
4
Hamilton Originally released in 1957, Hamilton’s pioneering Ventura watch first appeared on cinema screens in 1997 in the first Men In Black movie. This summer, to coincide with the release of Men in Black: International starring Chris Hemsworth, the stainless steel-cased watch is back on the market.
In Pictures. Summer watches 2019
Photos. Supplied
5
Breguet A hand-engraved, mechanical self-winding skeleton movement that is only 3mm thick are a few of the elite hallmarks of this masterpiece by Breguet. Its new Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat 5395 has an entirely skeletonised movement inside an 18-carat rose gold case with a fluted caseband. With 325 components, an 80-hour power reserve and a titanium tourbillon carriage, this is watchmaking at the highest level.
6
Chopard L.U.C. Women and their bling dominate the red carpets of movie premieres but who says men can’t dazzle in the same environment? Featuring its first movement equipped with a flying tourbillon, the L.U.C Flying T Twin Baguette from Chopard is designed to attract flashbulbs. At 7.2mm, it’s the ideal thickness to slip under a tuxedo sleeve, but that’s not the point of this watch. Limited to just 10 pieces, the baguette-cut diamonds and the black hand-guillochéd solid gold dial of this platinum piece will be the star of the show.
7
TAG Heuer More than 300,000 spectators, 36 cars and 200 laps of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – there is nothing quite like the Indy 500. TAG Heuer has been official timekeeper of the famous race since 2003 and this year unveiled its new Carrera Indy 500 Special Edition watch. The sporty 41mm chronograph has ‘Indy 500’ engraved in red on the ceramic bezel and the race logo on the sub-dial at 6 o’clock. Flip it over and the caseback has a brick pattern that refers to the nickname of the circuit – The Brickyard – where the 500-mile race takes place. The 103rd edition of the race, held in May, was won by French driver Simon Pagenaud.
8
Baume & Mercier Baume & Mercier adds three models to its Classima collection, all of which have a blue dial that carries a beautiful grain d’orge effect. Our pick of the trio, however, is this Chronograph Complete Calendar on a leather strap. Chronograph functions, hours, minutes and small seconds are displayed at 9 o’clock; days and months in apertures at 12 o’clock; and moon phases can be seen at 6 o’clock. Our favourite feature, however, is the central hand that cradles the date on the perimeter of the dial with a red crescent tip.