Elite Traveler September-October 2015

JONATHAN BUES ON SWISS WATCHMAKING

elite traveler SEPT/OCT 2015 ISSUE 5 69

Clé de Cartier

Ulysse Nardin Marine Chronograph Manufacture

innovative mechanism improves the watch’s long-term accuracy while lengthening service intervals, a major convenience to collectors. But perhaps the watchmaker that has seen the biggest transformation into a full-fledged manufacture is Cartier, one of the biggest names not just in jewelry, but in the entire luxury market. Since opening its own dedicated movement-making facility in the heart of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, Cartier has added new movements to its collection with astonishing alacrity. This year at Geneva’s SIHH, the vintage-inspired Clé de Cartier debuted with an in-house movement all its own. Within its sleek case with integrated lugs, which recall a style of timepiece associated with the late 1960s and early 1970s, one finds the Cartier Caliber 1847 MC. An all-new automatic caliber, the 1847 MC is a well-decorated workhorse automatic movement with a standard 42 hours of power reserve and a frequency of 28,800 bph. It’s a safe bet that we will see this movement filling out other models in the Cartier range in the years to come. Much of this industry-wide creative activity can be traced back to the Swatch Group’s decision to restrict the quantity of unfinished movements, or ébauches , it supplies to external watchmakers, many of which are both clients and competitors. When Swatch first started to limit supply, the group’s founder, the late Nicholas G Hayek, insisted that the decision would spur innovation and creativity that was perhaps lacking in the

As far as the watch-collecting elite is concerned, horology’s hierarchy has very little to do with gold or diamonds or mother of pearl. The top echelon of watch collectors – who split hairs over hairsprings and escapements – prize intricate mechanical movements conceived, manufactured, assembled and decorated in-house. The very heart of the watch, they reckon, ought to come from the same company whose name is on the dial. This criterion, which sets the big boys apart from the also-rans, is met by surprisingly few Swiss watchmakers – even some that command very high prices at the jewelry counter. Over the past half-decade, more watchmakers have taken on this challenge, undertaking a major investment in machinery and engineers to build movements from scratch. In doing so, they not only aim their timepieces for the collectors but also go a long way toward securing their independence

from the handful of major movement suppliers that dominate Switzerland. This increasing independence is currently changing the landscape of Swiss watchmaking. The Geneva watchmaker Chopard, for example, has handcrafted its L.U.C mechanical movements in-house since launching the line in 1996. But its sportier range of Mille Miglia watches, first seen in 1988, has always relied on supplied calibers from ETA, the Swatch Group-owned movement maker. That all changed this year at Baselworld when Chopard presented its first Mille Miglia equipped with in-house movements, the GTS collection. True to the Mille Miglia collection, these new automatic calibers are sporty and robust, equipped with 60 hours of power reserve and tested for accuracy by COSC, the independent Swiss chronometer-rating agency. Inspired by the famous 1,000-mile rally in Italy, Chopard’s Mille Miglia GTS watches are distinguished by automotive cues that include nods to dashboard instrumentation and custom tire-embossed straps. Another accomplished watchmaker outfitting its timepieces with house-made movements is Ulysse Nardin, the 169-year-old luxury firm best known for its experimentation with high-tech watchmaking materials such as silicon in its six-figure Freak Tourbillons. Yet for many years, Ulysse Nardin assembled its more accessible range of chronographs and three-hand watches with supplied ETA movements. That changed with the release of the UN-118 Chronometer movement in 2011 and the UN-150 Chronograph a short time later. The UN-150, seen in the recently introduced Marine Chronograph Manufacture, draws on the Le Locle- based brand’s formidable R&D prowess by sourcing a low-friction, in-house silicon escapement. This

industry. It would appear that these recent developments have proven Hayek right.

Jonathan Bues has covered high-end mechanical watches in various publications for 10 years, most recently as the editor-in-chief of WristWatch Magazine

Chopard Mille Miglia