Old timers
The fiasco over Facebook's initial public offering is indicative of the obsession with the 'new' and the 'next big thing'. It is perhaps ludicrous that a company such as Facebook, which has been around for a mere eight years, is worth almost US$100 billion, but then it's even harder to explain why Justin Bieber is so popular. The cult of the new maybe all the rage for dotcom companies and tweener pop stars but for watchmaking, a long and storied history is a stamp of quality; a guarantee the brand is built on strong fundamentals of design and mechanics yet has been able to innovate and adapt to the modern world.
There are few watchmakers that can trace their history back to the 17th century, but one such firm is JeanRichard, which was established in 1681. Although the brand is making watches today, it lay dormant for a long while before being given a new lease on life in 1988 by the owners of Girard- Perregaux. JeanRichard's modern incarnation is strongly associated with diving and sports watches but the brand still produces timepieces that echo its grand past, such as the Bressel Hommage Triple Calendar (above). Priced at an incredibly tempting HK$138,000, the timepiece comes with a 41mm, pink-gold case and black alligator strap. The styling is a welcome throwback to the watchmaking of old, evoking carriage-clock dial faces with its use of strong Roman numerals. With a 48-hour power reserve, the watch has an impressive array of indicators including day, month and date, the last of which is indicated by a fourth hand.
London watchmaker Arnold & Son opened for business in 1764 and in its time has made timepieces for kings of England as well as providing marine clocks to those who established the early British Empire. A grand pedigree indeed, but the brand was almost lost to history until 1995, when Arnold & Son was resurrected and its factories moved to Switzerland. Today, the company is alive and ticking, offering the world watches as breathtaking as the Hornet Worldtimer Skeleton (above right). The watch is a riot of indicators, hands and design. The 47mm, stainless-steel case envelopes the skeleton face, which would be impressive on its own but this watch also features several other clever functions, such as multiple time zones, a month indicator and a big date display at the five o'clock position. However, the most intriguing functions are the displays of 'mean solar time' and 'equation of time'. There isn't enough space here to explain what those indicators do, but, suffice to say, the timepiece indicates its myriad functions with no fewer than six hands. Limited to 50 pieces, the Hornet Worldtimer Skeleton is priced at HK$225,000.
Whereas Arnold & Son and JeanRichard were age-old brands that fell on hard times before a recent renaissance, one brand that has kept itself at the forefront of high horology for more than 250 years is Vacheron Constantin. Established in 1755, the company is the oldest continuously operating watchmaker in the world and even today it is setting industry standards, with watches such as the Malte Tourbillon. Coming soon to Hong Kong, with a guide price of HK$1.57 million, the Malte Tourbillon (left) is part of a range of watches celebrating 100 years of Vacheron Constantin's tonneau-shaped watches. The Malte Tourbillon comes in a discreet 38mm, pink-gold case and is styled in the company's classic, clean and timeless aesthetic, which, more often than not, disavows showy functions. This watch, however, has one exception: a beautiful, open-worked tourbillon.