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Bulgari has opened 2016 Baselworld introducing a new world record with Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater. It has been presented to the press alongside Serpenti Incantati Tourbillon Lumière, the new expression of the brand’s sign and symbol highlighting the blend of Haute Joaillerie and Haute Horlogerie. 

The chiming watch sets a new standard within the field of the highly complicated extra-thin creations and follows the Octo Tourbillon Finissimo world record launched in 2014. The in-house developed and produced BVL Calibre 362 measures just 3.12mm thick and the overall case thickness amounts to only 6.85mm.

On the high technology side, Bulgari’s CEO Jean-Christophe Babin announced that MasterCard contactless payment capability will be from now embedded within the first-ever “intelligent mechanical luxury watch” – the Bulgari Diagono Magn@sium. This innovation comes one year after the presentation at Baselworld 2015 of the innovative luxury watch, which Bulgari has now fully developed and industrialized for a potential market introduction before the end of the year. This innovation comes one year after the presentation at Baselworld 2015 of the innovative luxury watch, which Bulgari has now fully developed and industrialized for a potential market introduction before the end of the year.

The elements of the new mechanical CH 28-520 HU movement are the self-winding CH 28-520 PS chronograph caliber with column-wheel control and a vertical clutch as well as the proven World Time module based on a concept developed by Genevan watchmaker Louis Cottier in the 1930s. The watch embodies everything that belongs to Patek Philippe’s watchmaking heritage while featuring technical and functional innovations that make it a latest-generation movement. The dial shows how seamlessly the two complications are integrated. The outermost display element in blue lists the 24 city names that each represents an entire time zone. It has been updated with new cities for some time zones – for instance Dubai instead of Riyadh or Brisbane instead of Nouméa. 

The World Time function is also very easy to use: The hour and minute hands indicate the time in the city and time zone whose name is shown at 12 o’clock. The time in the 23 other zones can be quickly and easily determined with the city disk and the two-coloured 24-hour ring which instantly tells the user whether it is day or night in the respective city and time zone. 

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Rolex introduced the new creations in its Oyster and Cellini collections together with a new in-house certification for all its watches. Among them is a new Oyster Perpetual Air-King, a watch that perpetuates the aeronautical heritage of the original Rolex Oyster. The new Air-King, with a 40 mm case in 904L steel, features a distinctive black dial with a combination of large 3, 6 and 9 numerals marking the hours and a prominent minute scale for navigational time readings. The dial bears the name Air-King in the same lettering that was designed specially for the model in the 1950s. The Air-King is equipped with calibre 3131, a self-winding mechanical movement entirely developed and manufactured by Rolex. Its architecture, manufacturing quality and innovative features make it singularly precise and reliable. The oscillator, the true heart of the watch, has a blue Parachrom hairspring patented and manufactured by Rolex in an exclusive alloy. Insensitive to magnetic fields, the Parachrom hairspring offers great stability in the face of temperature variations and remains up to 10 times more precise than a traditional hairspring in case of shocks. It is equipped with a Rolex overcoil, ensuring its regularity in any position. Calibre 3131 is equipped with a self-winding module featuring a perpetual rotor and offers a power reserve of approximately 48 hours.

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The new Monsieur de Chanel is equipped with Chanel´s first in-house high-watchmaking movement. The Calibre 1 which offers a double complication, took five years to develop. The manual-winding mechanical movement made up of 170 components is a movement with integrated complications, meaning that the complications are integrated into the bottom plate and are not simply modules attached to a base. The Instant Jumping Hour required the full mastery of micro-shocks and the energy consumption caused by the passage of the aluminium hour disc. With two barrels mounted in series, the power reserve of the watch is 3 days. The second watchmaking prowess, the retrograde minute with a 240°-display on the dial (by the way, that´s quite rare), combined both rigorous aesthetics and technical performance. The retrograde minute’s bidirectional corrector allows easy adjustment of the watch and illustrates one of the key elements of the Chanel fine watchmaking vision.

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de GRISOGONO  and Samsung Electronics have come together to co-create the Samsung Gear S2 by de GRISOGONO – a limited-edition jewelry watch designed and sculpted in gold and precious jewels, boasting Samsung’s innovative Gear S2 technology.

The partnership between de GRISOGONO and Samsung goes far beyond mere co-branding and extends into authentic co-creation and design. Both brands combined their vision and unique aesthetic to co-create a limited-edition smartwatch that brings fashion and function together, while allowing you to express your personal style. The Samsung Gear S2 by de GRISOGONO channels inspiration from traditional jewelry and watchmaking, evoking the distinctive de GRISOGONO design heritage. The smartwatch is transformed into smart fashion with rose gold, over 100 black and white diamonds and a bracelet studded with de GRISOGONO’s signature galuchat. The diamond-set gold bezel turns freely around the dial, allowing consumers to access the Gear S2’s library of applications and features, including notifications, activity logs.

This limited-edition smartwatch will be available for purchase starting this summer through both Samsung and de GRISOGONO’s retail channels.

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TUDOR presented four new models in the Heritage family, among them is the new Heritage Black Bay Bronze have been drawn from TUDOR’s history. It inherits its general lines, as well as its domed dial and crystal from the TUDOR’s first diving watches. It features the particularly prominent winding crown from the famous 7924 reference of 1958, aka "Big Crown", while its characteristic angular hands, known as "snowflake", were borrowed from TUDOR watches used by the French National Navy in the 1970s. The Heritage Black Bay Bronze features an imposing bronze case, 43 mm in diameter equipped with a high-performance calibre of excellent precision and proven robustness, it offers a 70-hour power reserve meaning that its wearer can. Furthermore, the movement is certified by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC).

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Inspired by the motion of the sea, this latest Métiers d’Art creation highlights a gemstone used or the first time by Blancpain – Mexican silver obsidian – as well as a favorite Blancpain technique: Japanese rokusho patina. The new Blancpain Great Wavenew creation is distinguished not only by its distinctive aesthetic elegance, but also by its technical elements. The Manufacture places special emphasis on the innovation of its movements. For this timepiece, Blancpain has modified the famous hand-wound 13R0 caliber that now becomes the 13R3A movement. The power-reserve display appears on the bridge side of the model so as to provide sufficient space to ensure optimal visibility of the engraving. The movement with its 8-day power reserve is equipped with three series-coupled mainspring barrels that successively wind and unwind. The second barrel serves as a relay for the first, replenishing its energy so as to maintain its force, and is in turn wound by the third barrel. The double-stepped case is fashioned in platinum.

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The Speake-Marin Velsheda is a very unique watch, not because of its design but because of its display, something not overly used in watchmaking: the mono-aiguille / single-hand concept – meaning that time is not displayed classically by the means of a separate hour and minute hand. Time in the Speake-Marin Velsheda Gothic is given by the mean of one and only one large hand, resulting in a quite slow and poetical display. The large blued hand points directly to the minute five track and to counter its shape and to prevent misreading, a red tip is now applied. In the center of this single-hand, the Speake-Marin Velsheda Gothic features a disc shaped like a topping too, the emblem of Peter Speake-Marin that makes a full round in 60 seconds. This new iteration comes in the iconic Piccadilly case, measuring 42mm and made in grade 5 titanium. The back is made in sapphire, revealing the Vaucher calibre 3002, an automatic winding movement.