SIHH 2014 – My Favourite Watch In Each Category Part 1

SIHH has been on for the last 4 days now in Geneva, Switzerland, and it has been a fantastic showcase of brilliant horological innovation and best of all, superb watches for us watch fans to pore over. This time I will share with you some of my thoughts on what I feel to be the nicest watches in each of the categories that I will set out below. So without further ado, here goes.

The categories I have chosen are a rough guide to the types of watches that may be of interest to you as a reader and avid watch fan.

Dress Watch

In this category there were a few contenders, and is usually one of the hardest categories to try and judge. Out of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Maison came the Master Ultra Thin Grand Feu that I covered in my last article, from Piaget the Altiplano 900P and the Baume et Mercier Clifton Retrograde Date Automatic. Purely on aesthetics the Master Ultra Thin is the winner here, but if you were to take into account technical brilliance and sheer ‘wow’ factor I would have to hand it to the Piaget. This little marvel is only 3.6mm thin and has no discernible case and movement, they are one, i.e. the case back is the baseplate for the movement! It is even partly open worked meaning that this has a partial skeletonized appearance, further enhancing the interest on the dial in a piece that is time only. Well done Piaget.

Sports Watch

Here we have a hotly contested category with some superb examples of sports watches, to kick us off we have a Richard Mille RM35-01 Rafael Nadal, what looks like a carbon fibre tonneau shaped case with red accents. Another prime example of Richard Mille’s use of futuristic materials. Another absolute power-hitter is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph, long name isn’t it! A great iteration of a Gerald Genta Classic, with you guessed it, a tourbillon and chronograph functionality.

Cartier has been doing some amazing things this year with some great releases. I really like their first ever dive watch with the Calibre de Cartier dive watch. When Cartier get it right, it sings, I can see this particular model being very popular for them. The final entry is the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor Chronograph Ceramic, you saw this one earlier in the week in my last post. This is one hotly contested category of watches from SIHH, there are many more that I have not mentioned. So to my personal favourite, this is where I sell out a little bit. It has to be the AP ROO Tourbillon Chronograph, just because it has so many things going for it, and with that timeless design that cannot be mistaken for anything else. A column wheel chronograph, featuring a double barrel power system equating to a 237 hour power reserve, manually wound movement, not forgetting the tourbillon and all wrapped in decadent platinum. What isn’t there to like…

There we have it for these two categories, part 2 will have the Complications Category and the Outrageous Category. See you next time!