Fresh from his win in the Grand Prix de Genève 2007 for his Observatoire wristwatch, Kari Voutilainen’s new creation at this year’s Baselworld represents a marked deviation from his collection of decimal repeaters with circular watch cases.

The Chronometer 27, thus named because of the Caliber 27 it houses, is Voutilainen’s second offering of an observatory watch. These watches were traditionally created for use in timing trials, because of their exceptional accuracy, and were not commercially available to the public.

In the Chronometer 27, hours, minutes, and seconds are displayed on separate sub-dials that intersect, making full use of the elongated space of the case. Like the Observatoire, Voutilainen has chosen to use a Breguet/Grossmann combination for the balance spring.

Chopard introduces a new member of its highly successful Mille Miglia collection – the Mille Miglia GT XL GMT.

Together with the L.U.C series, Chopard has proven that its highly technical pieces for the men’s collection received as much acclaim as its bejeweled pieces for the softer gender.

The most recognizable feature of the Mille Miglia GT XL GMT is a sketch of the globe at the center of the dial, with a hollowed triangular red arrow to indicate the second time zone.

It has been a long time since Patek Philippe gave us a skeletonized watch, and the Ref. 5180/1 showcased at this year’s Baselworld is definitely well worth the wait.

Featuring an ultra-thin self-winding caliber 240 movement with a 22K gold mini-rotor integrated into the plate, this watch is simply a joy to behold.

To fully appreciate a skeletonized watch, try imagining the number of days, hours, and minutes it takes to painstakingly chip away the dial, plates, bridges, and cocks to their bare minimun, and still achieve a fully functional timepiece.

Luxury watchmakers are well positioned to escape a possible slowdown in consumer spending as they target wealthy customers who are increasingly willing to splash out on extravagant and unique watches.

Swiss watchmaker Romain Jerome’s “Day&Night” watch — which does not tell the time, only whether it is night or day — sold out within 48 hours of its launch earlier this year as watch fanatics snapped up the $300,000 timepiece.

“When you ask people what is the ultimate luxury, 80 percent answer ‘time’. Then when you look at other studies, 67 percent don’t look at their watch to tell what time it is,” Chief Executive Yvan Arpa told Reuters on Friday at Baselworld, the watch and jewellery industry’s largest annual trade fair.

“Why do people buy expensive watches? To have a trophy. A watch (costing) $9 gives the time as well as a watch at $500,000, so they really buy a trophy,” Arpa said.

The “Day&Night” watch uses the complicated Tourbillon movement — invented to overcome earth’s gravity which used to affect the accuracy of watches — which lures watch connoisseurs as well as fashion aficionados.

The Geneva-based company, founded in 2004, also has an order backlog of up to two-and-a-half years for its “Titanic DNA” watch, which is made from steel and coal from the Titanic and can cost as much as $500,000.

“If you do something that is different, which is interesting, it pays,” Arpa said.

NEW MARKETS BOOM

Luxury watchmakers are also banking on buoyant demand from emerging markets, such as Asia and the Middle East to offset a slowdown in the United States.

“The first quarter of the year has been very good — following the same trend as last year and last year was a record year for the watch industry and for the major luxury companies in general,” Philippe Mougenot, president of Chanel’s fine jewellery and watches division, told Reuters.

“Now we are a bit on the look out to see what consumption will be (like) within the next months in the States … There is a lot of psychologically negative talk through the press and this may have some impact,” Mougenot said.

“But the big difference now (compared) with 10 years ago is that we have new markets that were not existing at that time,” he said.

Chanel has seen its high-end watch and jewellery products selling “astonishingly well”. One its most pricey pieces is the “J12 18 place Vendome” watch, costing 550,000 euros ($864,100).

And the head of Swiss watchmaker La Montre Hermes, part of French luxury group Hermes International, has also seen strong sales.

“During a crisis, people have another level of consciousness. It doesn’t mean that they will not buy, it is just that they are looking more carefully at what they buy,” La Montre Hermes CEO Emmanuel Raffner told Reuters.

Recognizable by their unique octagon shape and tricky numeric layout, Haimovs also have a convenient removable bezel. Prices range from $8,000 up to $52,000, and have more bling than you’ve ever seen, the HM1 style packs a whopping 21 carats!

Ulysse Nardin’s revolutionary use of materials continues, with the use of silicium in all its new models. The dial, micro-precision components, exclusive spring, oscillator, anchor and escapement, developed in collaboration with ASRH (Swiss Association for Horological Research), are technical features used in the movement and design of this latest model.

Movement is the automatic UN caliber 67 with a power reserve of approximately 42 hours. Functions are hours, minutes, seconds, large date, dual time system with instant time zone adjuster, countdown, cathedral gong alarm.

The case, in 18kt white or rose gold, measures 42mm. The crystal is AR-coated sapphire front and back. It is water resistant to 30 meters.

Limited Edition of 300 Pieces