The world of watchmaking turns on a single event held annually. For one week, nearly every major brand is gathered in the Palexpo convention centre in Geneva for Watches & Wonders. Many come from the neighbouring regions of Switzerland, which is the home and hub of the trade. All this to say that in fine watchmaking, the world condenses and even the smallest shifts make big waves. This year, one message seems to be ringing loudest: elegant dress watches are back with a vengeance. The neo-vintage aesthetic has been growing in popularity, and it seems that now watchmakers are addressing it head on by creating timepieces that nod at it, but also look boldly forward.
A sense of that came this year when Rolex unveiled a platinum model of its Perpetual 1908 dress watch, complete with a baby blue guilloché textured dial. It heralded, quite clearly, the return to form of elegance. Classic dress watches with a neovintage bent that are sophisticated and timeless.
Consider these a new generation of investment pieces.
Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse
At Patek Philippe, the unconventional dress shape of the Golden Ellipse collection received an exciting update. The reference 5738/1R-001 in rose gold now sees the return of an intricate and tremendously refined chain-style bracelet.
It’s a reinterpretation of decades of chain bracelet making at Patek Philippe, with the added benefits of a modern, patented construction.
The hand-polished bracelet took 15 years of development and is made up of 363 parts. More than 300 of these are individual links, assembled and connected one by one on joining rows. The result of this contemporary design is a supple, comfortable fit—and which allows for easier changes to the length of the bracelet, with three adjustment notches built into the clasp. Perfect, of course, if you intend to pass one down.
Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Manual Winding
Vacheron Constantin’s Patrimony collection is an ode to classic watchmaking from the 1950s, a line where the brand distils its know-how into as understated a form as possible. A sense of historical elegance is built in, almost archetypal in design with the subtlest of details. The cases, for example, are gently curved to better hug the wrist. As are the hands and markers on the dial, which are shaped to accommodate this consideration.
This year, it is introducing two new 39mm models to its Patrimony collection in white and rose gold. The significant addition is old-silver-toned dials with a hint of a champagne hue that plays subtly against the pink gold hands and markers. To these are added new leather straps in the leading colours of the moment: olive green and azure blue.
Grand Seiko SBGW314J Starry Night
In 1960, the first Grand Seiko was born from the determination of Japanese designers and engineers to create an almost platonic ideal of precision, durability and beauty. That first Grand Seiko is the literal cornerstone of the brand, which has returned occasionally to these roots. This year, the Japanese watchmaker is introducing a limited-edition recreation of the first Grand Seiko with a starry night theme.
Model SBGW314J is cased in rose gold and features a shimmery navy dial. Part of the brand’s Elegance collection, it maintains the vintage stylings of its 1960 source material. The blue dial is meant to evoke the eternal passage of time, with polished rose gold indexes and hands that add touches of light to the twilight scene. It’s completed with a pair of crocodile leather straps—in navy blue to match the dial, and in brown for a traditional look.
Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Petite Seconde
Perhaps the most ferociously chic interpretation of a clean, classic dress watch comes from Parmigiani Fleurier. The independent watchmaker is just 28 this year, but it has in its blood a sense of old-world decorum and elegance. This year, the brand announced a relaunch of the Toric— the collection that it debuted with back in 1996—anchored by a Petite Seconde model.
The modern interpretation maintains just one aesthetic signature from the original: a neatly knurled bezel. The Toric is now offered only in platinum or rose gold, with a soft green and beige palette on the dials and straps to match.
What’s especially striking are the gold dials, which are coated and brushed with an esoteric finishing method the brand rediscovered. It creates a grained and textured surface that gently disperses light, a gorgeous application of craftsmanship that strikes the right notes of elegance for the moment.
The June ‘Impact’ issue of Vogue Singapore is now available online and on newsstands.
