Reverse action

Slipping back in time sometimes seems possible for the owners of a retrograde watch, so named because the hour and date hands leap back to their starting point once they reach the last second of a cycle, instead of completing a 360-degree clockwise revolution. Seeing the hand of the timepiece rebound creates the irresistible sensation of erasing the past; a visual treat for watch lovers.

Franck Muller's Day and Night collection uses the retrograde motion to illustrate the progression from day to night and vice versa. On the sun-stamped translucent lacquered dial are two arches - one white, indicating day (6am to 6pm), and one black, indicating night (6pm to 6am). Once the hour hand reaches 6pm on the white arch, it springs back to the starting point and then proceeds to tell the time on the black arch. The timepiece costs HK$236,000 and comes with a continuous minute hand and moon phase indicator at the six o'clock position.

Those who find this a challenging way to read the time may prefer the double retrograde model (above; for the same price), in which the two arches are separated and placed one above the other - each with their own hour hand. The single retrograde model comes with a white dial, while the double retrograde model is available with a black or white dial; both have a hand-sewn alligator strap.

The brand's Take Your Time watch (HK$288,000) features a retrograde function with an amusing twist. Based on the idea that time flies when you're having fun, irregular intervals between the hours are placed so as to 'lengthen' or 'shorten' times of the day. For instance, the gap between noon and two o'clock - lunch time - is bigger than the segment that covers office hours.

Roger Dubuis is celebrating its popular Excalibur line with the Bi-retrograde Jumping Date (top right). Encased in a 45mm platinum case, the brand's new self-winding mechanical movement features a central bi-retrograde jumping date hand. The hand indicates the day of the month on two 'wings' on the dial - one to 15 on the left and 16 to 31 on the right. Also on the right is a calendar aligner for correcting the indication of days for different months. The watch costs HK$315,000 and is limited to 88 pieces.

IWC's new Portuguese Tourbillon Mystere Retrograde (right) has a 'flyback' date indicator integrated into an in-house-manufactured movement on one quarter of the 44.2mm dial. The date indicator automatically bounces back once it reaches the end of a month marked as 31 days. For shorter months, the wearer simply uses a rapid-adjustment function to prompt the indicator to fly back to the beginning and start over. Available in red gold (HK$790,000) or Platinum (HK$970,000), the Portuguese Tourbillon Mystere Retrograde is limited to 500 and 250 pieces, respectively.