4 Standout Timepieces To Look Out For At Baselworld 2016

Dial Up the Colours

Hermès’ Slim d’Hermès Mille Fleurs du Mexique timepiece bears a dial that is as vibrant and colourful as one of its coveted silk twill scarves—with good reason. The watch’s mother-of-pearl dial is first outlined with a pattern from one of Hermès’ silk scarves (by Mexican graphic designer Laetitia Bianchi) before the lines are painted in one layer at a time. About 20 layers of paint are needed to reveal the motif’s colour nuances followed by successive oven firings at 90°C to dry the paint. It’s a painstaking and precise process that might explain why it’s only being released in a six-piece numbered edition.

Over the Moon

Graced with a feminine face that any discerning woman could love, Harry Winston’s Premier Moon Phase 36mm presents the romance of the celestial sky on a timepiece that sits snuggly on the wrist. A multi-layered mother-of-pearl dial lets you chart the progress of the moon through its crescent-shaped aperture. And what is a Harry Winston known for if not diamonds? Sixty-nine brilliant cut diamonds (2.58 carats) adorn this feminine number, while a white alligator strap completes the pretty picture.

Bubblicious

Corum has just aerated its Bubble collection with new editions to make women swoon. The Bubble High Jewellery Skeleton features a trio of timepieces equipped with the CO 055 calibre: An open-worked, ultra-thin movement displayed beneath the timepiece’s bubble sapphire crystal, which acts as a loupe to magnify the intricate details of the movement. Studded with over 170 brilliant-cut diamonds (5.7 carats), with 12 baguette-cut rubies, blue sapphires or black sapphires for hour markers, just one piece of each edition will be released.

My Little Peony

Two years after having first introduced its beloved L.U.C XP watch in a 35mm diameter for women, Chopard returns to the game of seduction once again with its the L.U.C XP 35mm Esprit de Fleurier Peony. Equipped with the self-winding, Fleurisanne engraved L.U.C 96.23-L movement with a 65-hour power reserve, the timepiece bears a delicate peony bloom (outlined in gold and diamonds) on its Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial; making this eight-piece limited edition a beauty both inside and out.

By Charmaine Ho