Given the devotion of master watchmakers, it is likely that they create extraordinary watches simply for the pleasure of it. However, their pursuit of innovation and excellence is matched by the passion of collectors. And the more limited the edition of the watch, the more determination is the desire to possess it.
Venerable watchmaking houses that make limited editions claim that their watches have distinguishing features that call out for them to be limited. They also know that a beautiful timepiece designed using groundbreaking technology or hi-tech materials will garner publicity in far greater proportion to the limited number of watches in the edition.
'First and foremost, a limited or special edition must be an interesting product,' says Jean-Sebastien Gerondeau, managing director of Officine Panerai Asia-Pacific. 'If it also has an emotional attachment to a place or anything that's meaningful, it becomes more interesting to those people who have the affinity for these external attractions.
'If we do a special edition, there must be a meaningful story behind [it] to tell.'
Officine Panerai has launched a special edition of its popular diving model, the Luminor Marina (HK$34,200) to mark five years in the mainland market. There are only 1,500 pieces available exclusively in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland. The watch comes with a 44mm case made out of a block of polished stainless steel, a black oxide strap and an OP II calibre hand-wound mechanical movement developed by Panerai. The Chinese character 'Fu' replaces the original numeral on the typical Panerai dial. 'This is our way of showing how much we have grown to respect and understand Chinese culture and also to pay homage to our Chinese clientele,' Gerondeau says.
The Piaget Altiplano 43mm 'Anniversary Edition' Watch is also commemorating a special occasion. Piaget has been a pioneer in the field of ultra-thin movements since the 1950s and this year marks the 50th anniversary of its Calibre 12P movement - the world's thinnest mechanical self-winding movement, which first came out in 1960.