News

Jul 21, 2023

Tick Talk: A platinum Cartier Crash, a sky blue Hublot Big Bang Unico and a square Swatch

Furlan Marri is hard to beat when it comes to solidly constructed, aesthetically pleasing and affordably priced timepieces. The brand vaulted onto the radar of many watch fans when its Mr Grey Ref

Furlan Marri is hard to beat when it comes to solidly constructed, aesthetically pleasing and affordably priced timepieces. The brand vaulted onto the radar of many watch fans when its Mr Grey Ref 1041-A nabbed the Audacity Prize in 2021 at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve (GPHG), the Oscars of the horological world.

Its range of mecaquartz chronographs is especially coveted. Introduced in the 1980s as the watch world was grappling with the Quartz Crisis, a mecaquartz is essentially a hybrid movement, marrying battery-based and mechanical watch-making.

The brand’s latest drop is the Reference 1205-H, made especially for Watches of Switzerland and limited to 300 pieces. An elegant number, it boasts a 38mm brushed bronze case, a rich and glossy burgundy dial and subdials in the same hue but with a circular finish.

This attractive combination is complemented by beige pulsation details, domed and curved hands in 4N rose gold as well as applied Breguet-style hour markers at six and 12 o’clock.

Fitted with the Seiko VK64 mecaquartz movement, each watch has its serial number (between one and 300) engraved between the lugs at six o’clock. Thanks to oxidisation and skin contact, a patina naturally develops with bronze over time, making each watch even more unique.

The model comes with two vegetable-tanned leather straps, in burgundy red with white stitching, and brown with tone-on-tone stitching.

Price: $1,100. Available at Watches of Switzerland boutiques in Singapore, New Zealand and Malaysia

Before Swatch came onto the market in the 1980s, its creators wrestled over whether the watch shape should be round or square. They settled on the former, but in a cheeky exercise, the watch brand has released a What If collection by revisiting the original square prototype.

This new collection – with 33mm models in grey, green, black and beige – is fashioned from the brand’s proprietary bioceramic material, the same one used for its popular MoonSwatch timepieces.

The edge-to-edge glass is bio-sourced and gives an interesting view of the dial, which has glow-in-the dark hands and a day-date calendar window at three o’clock.

Fun fact: The dials of the four models are based on the first four Swatch watches created in 1983.

Each model has a tapering integrated biosourced strap which, like the glass cover, is another first for Swatch.

Price: $150

Summer conjures up images of the beach and popsicles, deck chairs and suntan lotion, pina coladas and bikinis.

To salute the season, Hublot has set up two summer pop-ups, one at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands (till Aug 27) and the other at Takashimaya Shopping Centre (Saturday to Sept 10).

A star attraction at both pop-up boutiques is the newly released Hublot Big Bang Unico Sky Blue 42mm. This latest summer edition of Hublot‘s iconic Big Bang Unico has a light blue ceramic case, caseback and bezel.

The limited-edition model – with 200 pieces worldwide – has a skeletonised dial flaunting the column wheel of the HUB1280 manufacture calibre, a self-winding chronograph movement with a 72-hour power reserve.

It is available with a Velcro strap with a sports fastener, and a lined natural rubber strap with a titanium deployant buckle.

Price: $33,600

Cartier recently reopened its New Bond Street flagship in London, a boutique which has been around since 1902.

To commemorate the occasion, the maison recreated the Crash, a design highly sought after by horological fans and collectors. The model made its debut in 1967, reportedly inspired by a timepiece wrecked in a car crash.

Since then, only a limited number of Crash watches have been reimagined and released. The latest New Bond Street exclusive is based closely on the original, but fashioned from platinum.

Fans will recognise Cartier’s signature watchmaking codes in the timepiece: Roman numerals, sword-shaped blue-steel hands and a ruby cabochon set in a beaded crown.

Its heart is the calibre 1917 MC, a mechanical movement with manual winding. Featuring a special engraving on the reverse (New Bond Street coat of arms), it is fitted with a grey calfskin strap.

The watch, which will be produced in limited quantities, is available exclusively at Cartier New Bond Street in London.

Price: £43,000 (S$73,000)

Boasting an expanded space of 1,350 sq ft at Takashimaya Shopping Centre, the new Chanel Watches and Fine Jewellery boutique will open its doors on Aug 10.

It will showcase a selection of the brand’s high and fine jewellery watches and haute horlogerie creations.

Although better known for its women’s fashion, luxury bags and accessories, Chanel has been beavering away to polish its credentials as a watchmaker for quite a while now.

In 1993, it invested in watch assembly plant G&F Chatelain in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the cradle of Swiss watchmaking. Among others, Chatelain supplies components to the likes of Bell & Ross, Richard Mille and MB&F.

Chanel also set up its own manufacture a few years later to make its own movements, among them the Calibre 1, its first in-house haute horlogerie movement designed, developed and manufactured in partnership with famed independent watchmaker Romain Gauthier.

Its efforts have paid off and Chanel has bagged a few horological awards. The exquisite Premiere Camelia Skeleton watch, which has a skeletonised movement framed in a camellia flower, won the Ladies’ Prize at the GPHG in 2017.

At the Takashimaya boutique, watch lovers will be able to admire high-end horological creations from its many collections, including Coco Crush, J12 and Mademoiselle Prive.

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