For many, a new year means a fresh start. Out with the old, in the new. Perhaps even a list of resolutions to accomplish. For watch enthusiasts, however, a new year also means important watch and jewelry exhibitions with a slew of novelties from the world’s leading watch manufactures. such as what to expect at SIHH 2017. While Baselworld—by far the largest and most popular watch trade show—is about three months away, there’s also the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) to look forward to. The first large-scale watch gathering of the year, SIHH is spearheaded by the Richemont Group and includes all of their watch brands, in addition to other non-Richemont companies such as Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille, and Ulysse Nardin.
Just ahead of SIHH 2017 — which will take place January 16 – 20, 2017, in Geneva, Switzerland — the brands have given us a little taste of a few of their novelties for the year. Among the scores of new pre-SIHH announcements, here are three watches from Cartier, Panerai, and IWC that we look forward to seeing in up close.
Cartier’s Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Mysterious Double Tourbillon
In recent years, the Cartier collection has been focusing more on creating sumptuously complex haute horology timepieces, with the aim of establishing themselves as a true watch manufacture. Case in point is Cartier’s new Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Mysterious Double Tourbillon. This highly complex timepiece boasts a few technical feats worth a second look. Firstly, it has the minute repeater complication which chimes the time via a pusher at 4 o’clock. Secondly, it comes equipped with a double tourbillon within a window at 10 o’clock. However, this isn’t a traditional double tourbillon, but a mystery one. What that essentially means is that the double tourbillon looks like it’s magically floating in mid-air without the aid of the movement. The mystery complication was made famous in the 1930s with Cartier’s mystery clocks and decades later the Maison is still using this enchanting “trick” to delight watch fans.
The Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Mysterious Double Tourbillon is powered by the in-house hand-wound 9407 MC caliber. The 45mm titanium case is surprisingly thin at 11.15mm factoring in all the complications within the Cartier watch.
Panerai’s Radiomir 3 Days Acciaio “Brevettato”
While the Cartier offering is extremely complex, one of Panerai’s novelties for 2017 is, on the other hand, a time-only watch. However, far from simple, what the new Panerai lacks in bells and whistles it more than makes up for in design and impact. The new Radiomir 3 Days Acciaio Brevettato is a modern tribute to vintage Panerai watches for the Italian Navy. For instance, as with the original Radiomir, the new Panerai features the 12-sided bezel engraved with the company’s name along with “Brevettato”—Italian for “patent”. Furthermore, the new Panerai Radiomir 3 Days Acciaio retains the original and immense 47mm size. The gigantic new Panerai model comes in two different versions: PAM685 and PAM687. The PAM685 dons a black dial while the PAM687 sports a faux “tropical” dial to enhance the watch’s vintage flair.
Driving the pair of Panerai Radiomir 3 Days Acciaio “Brevettato” models is the manual-winding P. 3000 with 72 hours of power reserve—built in-house at Panerai’s manufacture.
IWC’s Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph
Yet another model inspired by a vintage timepiece is the new IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph. This time, the IWC novelty honors the Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar watch from 1985. In addition to the time, the 43mm IWC beauty packs in plenty of functions on the well-balanced dial. There’s the perpetual calendar with a date, month, day, and four-digit year display. Plus, there’s the moonphase indicator that will remain accurate for 577.5 years. And finally, there’s the flyback chronograph function too.
The IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph will be available in two models: the ref. IW392103 with a stainless steel case, slate dial, and black leather strap and the ref. IW392101 with a red gold case, white dial, and brown leather strap. Beating within the new Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph is the in-house caliber 89630.
SIHH 2017 is Right Around the Corner
With pre-event announcements like these, we’re looking forward to seeing the full range of new luxury watch models presented at SIHH 2017.
