Steady, As She Goes

Cool Concepts

What is great about this industry is even in times of conservatism, creativity abounds. There is something about the idea of achieving the mechanically impossible that keep watchmakers challenged, and this year was no different.

First unveiled in 2002, Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Concept, with its ultra-hard Alacrite 602 case and open-worked dial was revolutionary in its design. The company built on this first piece and added the Royal Oak Carbon Concept Tourbillon in 2008, and the Concept GMT Tourbillon in 2011. This year, Audemars Piguet presents its most forward-looking design yet: a Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon with a sculpted titanium case combined with a white ceramic bezel. Sounds normal, but the highlight of this piece is an intricately machined upper bridge in white ceramic, the first of its kind in watchmaking. The timepiece features a handwound twin-barrel movement with 10-day power reserve, a tourbillon and second time zone display.

TAG Heuer first introduced the Monaco V4 as a concept watch a decade ago, a watch that was driven by belts mounted on ball bearings instead of gears, and a linear mass instead of a rotating one. It was a timepiece that would win the Best Design award at the Grand Prix Horlogerie de Geneve. This year, the brand takes this technology up a notch and creates the first tourbillon watch driven by belts. The watch uses four ultra-thin, durable belts the thickness of 0.07mm to drive the tourbillon, and together with impressive engineering, creates a very efficient shock-absorbing system that improves precision. The watch comes in a 41mm black titanium case with the tourbillon at 9 o’clock.