time-keeper


Gallery 1:1 – a concept returns

April 2025


Gallery 1:1 – a concept returns

In the 1990s, Europa Star came up with an original concept to feature a gallery of gold and platinum watches, but with life-size photos so that readers could see the watch’s actual dimensions: no more surprises (large... or small!). Now, some 30 years after that first edition, we are reintroducing the concept in our latest issue.

Slim d’Hermès Cheval Brossé

The stylised reinterpretation of a horse by designer Dimitri Rybaltchenko, the house’s partner in dreamy creativity, echoes Hermès’ 2025 theme, Drawn to Craft. It is an open invitation to travel and wonderment.

On the dial of the Slim d’Hermès Cheval Brossé watch, its design hovering between dreams and reality is artistically revealed through enamelling and pad printing. Designed in 2015 by Philippe Delhotal, the Slim d’Hermès expresses the very essence of the house: a singularity composed of rigour, discipline and balance.

The radiant sky takes shape beneath the artisan’s meticulous touch, using a brush to apply a blue enamel base: crushed coloured glass powder mixed with natural oils, dried and fired in the kiln to stabilise the pigments. The horse’s profile is then applied in successive layers of colour. The motif has been previously engraved on a hollow base called a cliché or image plate, which is filled with paint. The colour is then picked up with a flexible pad and transferred to the dial, using subtle layering to obtain the perfect shade and brilliance.


Bvlgari x MB&F Serpenti

In 2021, sparked by a chance encounter a few years earlier between Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, director of watchmaking creation at Bvlgari, and Maximilian Büsser, founder and creative director of MB&F, the two brands released a first collaboration: the MB&F x Bvlgari LM FlyingT Allegra. This collaboration brought the exuberant, colourful world of Bvlgari jewellery into MB&F’s Legacy Machines. After the success of that collaboration, the two friends naturally wondered, what next? For this second collaboration, Fabrizio and Max chose to reinterpret one of Bvlgari’s most famous historical creations – Serpenti. The Bvlgari x MB&F Serpenti case is all about curves, combined together to create a machining nightmare. The complex curves extend beyond the metal of the case to the five sapphire crystals, including the snake’s eyes and the multi-facetted rear section – all treated with anti-reflective coating on both sides and providing large openings on the movement.

Inside the complex case, an equally complex movement that breaks all traditional watchmaking conventions, conceived and developed in-house by MB&F. From the beginning, one of Fabrizio’s central ideas was to bring Serpenti to (mechanical) life by animating its eyes; this has been materialised as revolving hour and minute domes, the left dome making a full rotation in 12 hours and the right one in 60 minutes. And when darkness falls, the luminous gaze of the snake’s eyes persists…


Daniel Roth Extra Plat Souscription

The epitome of functional elegance, the concept of an ultra-thin dress watch was long a personal favourite of Mr. Daniel Roth. Having already formed the outline of the design in his mind in the 1980s, Mr. Roth presented the original Extra Plat in 1990, one year after founding his brand with the Tourbillon C187.

Echoing the template established by the Tourbillon Souscription, the Extra Plat Souscription is faithful to the original model of the 1990s in style and craft, but entirely new in terms of mechanics, with the DR002 movement within having been developed especially for the watch. Continuing the distinctive style of the Tourbillon Souscription, the Extra Plat Souscription is presented in an 18k yellow gold case matched with an 18k yellow gold dial decorated with hand-made Clou de Paris guilloche. The case measures 35.5mm wide and 38.6mm lengthwise but is thinner than the Tourbillon Souscription, standing a svelte 7.70mm high, as a result of the ultra-thin DR002 movement inside and its mere 3.1mm thickness.


Greubel Forsey Hand Made 2

This timepiece embodies the ultimate pursuit of hand-watchmaking. All components, except five – sapphire crystals, case gaskets, spring bars, mainspring and most jewels – are crafted by hand using traditional tools such as a precision lathe, a jig-borer or a pantograph. Over 5,000 hours are required to complete the 270 components of this four- handed 40.9mm timepiece. Only two to three such timepieces can be crafted each year.

A major milestone of the Hand Made 2 is the creation of a handcrafted conical jewel for the power reserve indicator. The barrel and balance bridges create remarkable harmony, each enhanced by five artisanal finishes: frosted, black-polished, straight-grained, polished flanks and bevels, and the polished chamfers accented by olive-domed jewels set in gold chatons.

The hand-frosted German silver contrasts beautifully with the Grand Feu enamel dials for the hours, small seconds and power reserve. Blued steel hands, deep red rubies, golden reflections of wheels and barrels, and the bright edges of polished steel bridges bring a vibrant chromatic depth to every component. Beneath a thin bezel, the architectural movement opens up to the observer, offering a unique perspective throughout the timepiece.


IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber XPL Toto Wolff x Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One™ Team

Limited to 100 pieces, this timepiece combines the brand’s Sprin-G Protect® shock absorber system (whose spring is manufactured from a bulk metallic glass and coated with Petronas green Super-LumiNova®) with a technical design inspired by the team’s colours.

The watch features a case and crown made of Ceratanium®. Developed by IWC, this advanced material combines the lightness and robustness of titanium with a hardness similar to ceramic. The black dial features a grainy technical structure, which is stamped into the brass base with a special tool. The newly designed triangular black hands also feature Super-LumiNova® around their edges. The outer ring with the minute scale appears to be floating freely on lamellae attached around the dial.

The watch is powered by the IWC-manufactured 32101 calibre with a double pawl automatic winding system and a power reserve of 120 hours. The plates, bridges and oscillating mass are blackened to match the all-black design.


Ulysse Nardin Blast [Amoureuxpeintre]

Fashion designer Amoureuxpeintre’s minimalist vision, sharp geometry and scarcity of silhouette converge into a timepiece that reimagines the expression of time. The artist was inspired by the frosted glass panes that occupy the walls in daily working spaces. Through these frames, silhouettes are distorted – apparent, but not obvious, presenting both clarity and mystery.

Beneath the anthracite hands coated with grey Super-LumiNova®, an unmistakable blurred sapphire skeleton dial brings this concept to life. The frosted-ice effect was achieved through an advanced laser technique, while the fumé effect was created using thin metallization. This ingenious and artfully blurred result was the culmination of over two years of development. The 42mm anthracite lightweight sandblasted titanium case and bezel complement Amoureuxpeintre’s muted colour palette and aesthetic.


Louis Erard Le Régulateur x Sylvie Fleury

The collaboration between Louis Erard and the Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury once again positions Le Régulateur as the driving force behind an unconventional design culture. Its iconic ‘three in line’ hands play with codes, redefining fundamentals.

Juxtaposing luxury and industrial materials, denouncing the fetishization of beauty and gendered consumption patterns, Sylvie Fleury’s make-up palettes invite themselves into the counters of the Regulator.

Since 2018, the artist has been transforming make-up palettes into monumental works of art. She unfurls the tones and shades of powders into impressive “shaped canvases”. Here, in the round dial of the watch, boldness becomes one of the superpowers of the timepiece. Life can sometimes be as colourful as we like it to be.


Longines Ultra-Chron Carbon

Longines introduces a new Ultra-Chron model with a carbon case, a material that is being used for the first time in a watch case from the Swiss brand. Powered by a high-frequency movement, beating at 36,000 vibrations per hour, and fully chronometer-certified by Timelab, this model draws inspiration from an iconic 1968 watch with a distinctive cushion-shaped case, the Ultra-Chron Diver, that made history as the first diver’s watch to feature a high-frequency movement.

The 43mm-diameter case is crafted from strips of unidirectional carbon fibre and epoxy resin, which are then placed into a mould and heated to a high temperature, compressed under high pressure, and finally cold-cut.

This unique manufacturing process creates random patterns in the layout of the fibres, making each case visually unique and giving it a strong identity. Thanks to carbon’s lightweight properties, this new model weighs less than 80 grams, including both the watch and strap. It is water-resistant up to 30 bars (300 metres).


Rado DiaStar Original x Tej Chauhan

This timepiece marks the second collaboration between the Swiss brand and the British superstar of industrial design. With its reimagined DiaStar Original case in yellow-gold-coloured PVD and CeramosTM bezel presented on a radical rubber strap, it is guaranteed to capture every eye in the room.

An alluring matt black dial is on display through the radial faceted sapphire crystal. A contrast to the complex watch face is offered by the printed minute track in silver and blue, the colours that are also used for the applied indexes at each five-minute interval.

The polished black gold-coloured central hour and minute hands are treated with white Super-LumiNova®, and the seconds hand, in neon yellow paint, is another riveting highlight as it sweeps around the dial. A day-date window at the 3 o’clock position features Tej Chauhan’s proprietary font. At the heart of the Rado DiaStar Original x Tej Chauhan is Rado’s calibre R764, an automatic movement that delivers a power reserve of 80 hours.


Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence

The Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence is an homage to the montres à guichet from a bygone era, reinterpreted with the contemporary elegance that distinguishes every Tambour creation. A dragging indication of hours and minutes, read at the conjunction of two rotating discs with a gold or platinum lozenge marker, emphasises the precise yet fleeting nature of a moment in time. Inside the 37mm case beats a horological première for the Maison - a self-winding movement produced entirely by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton: the Calibre LFT MA01.01 with 45 hours of power reserve.

The case of the Tambour Convergence is produced entirely by the workshops of La Fabrique des Boîtiers, the newly integrated case-making facilities of Louis Vuitton in Geneva. The two new models - one in rose gold and the other in platinum - each possess their own distinct aesthetic.


Omega Seamaster Diver 300M

The Seamaster Diver 300M remains one of Omega’s most celebrated and iconic timepiece collections. The brand unveils a new series of models with a 42mm case crafted in Bronze Gold, mounted with an oxalic anodised aluminium bezel ring in burgundy. This rich contrasting shade beautifully stands out on the wrist and reveals a diving scale in vintage Super-LumiNova®.

As with the most recent models in the collection, these special Bronze Gold editions are inspired by the Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition, which was launched in 2020 for the James Bond film, No Time to Die. Similar features include the mesh bracelet, the oxalic anodised aluminium bezel ring and dial, and the domed sapphire crystal.

Bronze Gold is OMEGA’s one-of-a-kind alloy, enriched with noble elements such as 37.5% gold, hallmarked as 9k, as well as palladium and silver. The material offers incomparable corrosion resistance without verdigris-oxidation, therefore aging slowly and retaining its natural and beautiful patina over a longer period of time.


Piaget Sixtie

Piaget is unveiling a series of trapeze watches echoing the flamboyance that marked the late 1960s. More precisely, the year was 1969 when the brand unveiled its 21st Century collection. By redrawing the boundaries between watchmaking and the art of jewellery, Piaget reinvented the jewellery watch, driven by its talented designer Jean-Claude Gueit. Among these avant-garde creations, the trapeze shape gradually established itself as a cult design.

Almost 60 years later, Piaget is paying homage to this golden age. Proportions are revisited through an intense and chromatic interplay of textures: adorned with gold down to the finest details, its supple bracelet displays interlaced trapeze-shaped links that drape over the skin, suffusing it with light.

The finely chiselled gadroons on the bezel proudly echo the spirit of the iconic Piaget watch owned by Andy Warhol. On its satin-finished dial, golden hour markers and baton hands blend harmoniously with the clean lines of Roman numerals. Sixtie is a little more than just a watch: it is a jewellery watch displaying subtle extravagance, an accessory that is eloquently discreet, defying traditional proportions and convention.


Richard Mille RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat

Richard Mille reveals a new artistic vision for the collection’s original rectangular timepiece, the RM 016. At first sight, the watch stands out for its unique urban aesthetic, fully owning its unconventional approach to watch conception. Showcasing the authenticity of its materials and the refinement of a design stripped of artifice, its strong character draws on the example of Brutalist architecture.

Mechanics-wise, Richard Mille’s expertise takes pride of place. The Calibre CRMA9, the fifteenth and latest addition to the in-house family of movements, is an engine specially imagined for the RM 16-02. The brand’s movement engineers designed this tangle of titanium to maximise the entrance of light thanks to the cutaways of its openworked elements.

Two interpretations are available for the case of this watch. One is clad in full grade 5 titanium with microblasted, satin finishing and polished bevels. The other sports Terracotta Quartz TPT®, an entirely new colourway.


Cartier Privé Tank À Guichets

Each year, Cartier Privé reveals a new interpretation of one of the Maison’s iconic timepieces. Following in the footsteps of the Tonneau, Tank Normale and Tortue, the singular collection presents a new way of reading time. First introduced in 1928, the Tank à Guichets combines technology and design to offer a digital time display.

In 1928, with the rise of trains and cars, speed became an everyday reality. Time needed to be read quickly, easily and at a glance. Cartier responded to this shift with a watch designed for modern demands. By removing the hands, the watch displayed the time through two apertures: one for the hours and one for the minutes.

The new Tank à Guichets watch is powered by the hand-wound 9755 MC movement, a calibre with jumping hours and dragging minutes, crafted exclusively for this timepiece. This new interpretation offers two distinct styles. The first model revisits the 1928 design, with the hour aperture at 12 o’clock and the minute aperture at 6 o’clock. This version is available in yellow gold, rose gold or platinum. The second platinum model, limited to a numbered edition of 200 pieces, features the two apertures positioned at an angle. This design element pays tribute to the 1930s, a period of rich creativity and aesthetic innovation.

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