Geneva Watch Days

COVID may still be punishing the world, but the official opening of Geneva Watch Days has taken place nonetheless. In the company of Geneva’s municipal authorities, 17 watch brands are taking part in the event—including Bulgari, Breitling, De Bethune, Gérald Genta, Girard-Perregaux, H. Moser & Cie., MB&F, Ulysse Nardin, and Urwerk—exhibiting novelties on a by-appointment basis. The luxury watch industry, like most industries, has suffered during the pandemic, with most of the Swiss watch brands having to shutter for an extended period, leading to a lag in production resulting in reduced inventory. Geneva Watch Days is an attempt to get back to normal and likely the only Swiss watch gathering of its type this year. While we all can’t convene for the trade show, here are a few standouts from the fair.

Bulgari Aluminium

The Bulgari Aluminium is back. Twenty years after the watch was first introduced, the new Bulgari Aluminium and Aluminium Chronograph are aesthetically akin to their forebears—but with a suite of technical upgrades. While it may seem commonplace to incorporate non-precious metals and rubber on a luxury watch (think Hublot and Richard Mille), the unexpected juxtapositions were revolutionary in the late 1990s. The new interpretation is smart and cool and immediately recognizable as a part of the Bulgari DNA.

Girard-Perregaux 1945 Infinity Edition

The original Girard-Perregaux 1945 beautifully captured the art deco movement. The 2020 interpretation, the Vintage 1945 Infinity, has a polished steel rectangular case, dauphine hour and minute hands, and pink gold indexes on the black onyx dial. Says Girard-Perregaux’s chief product marketing officer, Clémence Dubois, “Delicately shaping the black onyx dials into their respective rectangular and round shapes requires an inordinate amount of skill. It involves no less than 15 meticulous operations spread over a number of months within our manufacture, endowing each piece with exceptional value.” The watch is limited to 88 pieces.

Moser Streamliner Centre Seconds

The Streamliner Centre Seconds Matrix Green follows the self-winding Steamliner Flyback Chronograph that was released at the beginning of this year. This new model is a time-only configuration with a brilliant green fumé dial. Streamliner is a reference to the high-speed trains of the 1920s and ’30s, whose rounded curves the timepiece reinterprets. Equipped with a steel case on an integrated steel bracelet, the Streamliner is H. Moser & Cie.’s unique take on haute horlogerie.

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