Baselworld, One Of The World's Biggest Watch Shows - My Favorites

On my recent travels I visited Switzerland and was lucky enough to be able to attend Baselworld, 2014 one of the worlds biggest watch shows. This amazing watch exhibit is held in Switzerland, the home of watch making every year.  For avid watch lovers this exhibit is the ultimate of joy, with thousands of watches on display. The watches on display are made up from all types of brands and all types of designs. The exhibit is great because it showcases timepieces of haute horology as well is those with fashionable aesthetics.

 

Most of the new timepieces on display were functional, fun colored watches  for daily wear. This appealed to those who are lovers of functional watches. But even though there were also a number of novelty watches from independent watchmakers, if it is the fun and innovation you are looking for the leading brands this year may not have meet your needs. Although the classics were available in the traditional gold, silver and platinum, steel seems to have become the latest trend for most brands these days.

Some of the notable watches on display which appealed to me and took my fancy were:

• Chanel J12 Flying Tourbillon

A perfect example of horological excellence mixed with aesthetic perfection 

• Chanel Premiere  Flying Tourbillon

A perfect example of horological excellence mixed with aesthetic perfection for women

• Rolex Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II

Rolex is aways a must see and this watch is a technical and aesthetic masterpiece meeting the near  impossible task of creating a watch with an amazing  two tome ceramic bezel.

• Grand Seiko Hi- beat GMT

This limited edition watch specially launched for the occasion is highly accurate and has a power reserve of 55 hours

•  Seiko Astron GPS Solar

This second generation watch links to the GPS network and tells the time with atomic precision and has a light-penetrating blue dial.

• Enicar CH350 Ceramic Self winding Automatic Watch

This watch blends classic charm and contemporary style with its black ceramic bezel and cloistered pattern It speaks of the boldness in creativity by Enicar

•  Enicar CH128 Goddess Ladies Watch

This watch inspired by the Roman Goddess Venus it is exquisite from design to quality

•  Ball Watch Engineer Master II Slide Chronograph  

The attention to fine detail, this watch offers a novel approach to the normal watch complications. It uses a mechanical slide, rather than the traditional pushers, to start, stop and reset the stopwatch

•  Ball Watch Trainmaster Kelvin Celsius Watch

This watch is equipped with a mechanical thermometer able to measure ambient temperature between  minus 35 and 45 degree centigrade with 97 % accuracy 

• Swarovski Citra Chrono

With its 40 clear crystals displaying its fabulous rose gold case, this beautiful sparkling watch blends sports chic with elegance

• Tissot T-Complication Squelette Chronometer

This watch features a see through case back to show off the intricacies of it mechanics and the talents of Tissot as an expert watchmaker.

• Breguet 5377 PT Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Automatique

This is an extremely flat ultra slim watch made in 950 platinum. It has an off-center, automatic tourbillon with a titanium cage delivering a phenomenal 90 hours of power reserve. The design of this watch shows exception sophistication and craftsmanship and is still protected by patent.

• Jaquet Droz the Pocket Watch Paillonnee

This gorgeous Pallonnee blue enamel pocket watch is designed by artists and perfected by craftsmen. Paillonnee enameling is an intricate art design which has been practiced by this company since the 18^th century. It involves delicate work with gold and azure dies fired at high temperatures.

• Patek Philippe Nautilus Travel time Chronograph

A fascinating watch with the dual time and chronologic functions added to one timepiece, allowing you to see time in two different time zones at once.

• Carl F. Bucherer Pathos Diva

This high fashion but functional women’s watch combines elegance with technical advances in horology., including a 38 hour power reserve.

• Glashutte Original Senator Chronograph Panorama Date

Together with its specific chrongraph movement, this watch has unique combination of features such as a small seconds counter with a power reserve indicator (70 hours) which make it an interesting watch to research. It comes in two styles one with  platinum case and the other with a 18 carat red gold case

• Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon

This Bulgari watch set a new record for the world’s thinnest tourbillon. The details on this watch are exceptional right down to the very last detail such as the alligator strap with the platinum buckle.

The exhibition hall itself had been redesigned with a new booth plan which was received very well. According to the statistics the number of visitors had increased in 2014 but there was a notable drop in Chinese visitors This may be due to the fact that most brands launch their new products in China shortly after Baselworld, negating the need for Chinese business people to travel to Switzerland. 

The international watch market has entered a cycle of adjustment this year with prices continuing to drop. This is of course good news for watch lovers but may not be such good news for investors.