5 biggest timepiece moments in May 2023: from Roger Federer’s Rolex Perpetual 1908 and Eileen Gu’s IWCs at the Met Gala, to King Charles’ flashy pre-coronation Parmigiani Fleurier

May 27 , 2023

Eileen Gu sporting two IWC pieces at the Met Gala; Hublot’s Big Bang with case made of Nespresso capsules; Ilaria Resta is Audemars Piguet’s new CEO; and a Patek Philippe 1518 is slated to be auctioned for an estimated US$4.5 million. Photos: Handout

There was plenty to keep up with in the world of luxury watches during the month of May.

High horology sparkled at the Met Gala and during the coronation of King Charles, while makers continue to push the boundaries of watch making with ever more daring case designs and materials like titanium.

Meanwhile, Patek Philippe and Rolex look to add two more entries to their expansive inventory of watches among the most expensive ever sold, and Audemars Piguet and Bremont gets new management.

Read on for all of May’s big watch moments.

1. High horology is the star on red carpets and at coronations

Roger Federer attends the Met Gala, an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute with this year’s theme “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”, in New York City, New York, US, on May 1. Photo: Reuters

Stars continue to show off quality pieces as evidenced by the bumper line-up of watches seen at this year’s Met Gala, which paid tribute to the late Karl Lagerfeld. Key high horology names were represented in full: Roger Federer wore his stunning, brand new Rolex Perpetual 1908 after the heavily praised dress watch made waves alongside other Rolex releases at Watches and Wonders; Nick Jonas sported an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak; Rami Malek wore a beautiful black-dialled Cartier Tank Must; and Simu Liu paired a beautiful black coat and gloves with a discreet Vacheron Constantin Overseas, also with a black dial.

Emma Wall and Jeremy Strong pose at the Met Gala, an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute with this year’s theme “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”, in New York City, New York, US, on May 1. Photo: Reuters

Other stars pushed boundaries across the board: Succession actor Jeremy Strong paired a quirky pale green shirt and brown overcoat with a matching green Richard Mille RM 07-04; Barry Keoghan showed off a Bulgari Octo Roma Papillon Central Tourbillon; Jackson Wang wore a skeletonised Cartier Tank Cintrée; and Eileen Gu sported two pieces from IWC, wearing a Portofino 34 Automatic Day and Night on her wrist while carrying a Pallweber Edition “150 Years” pocket watch in her hand.

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Britain’s King Charles (left) arrives at an informal meeting with Commonwealth leaders at Marlborough House in London on May 5, on the eve of his coronation. Photo: AFP

However, the biggest celebrity watch moment this month may just have to be King Charles’, whose coronation took place on May 6. While the king was not seen wearing a watch during the day’s ceremonies, he may have been wearing his personal favourite Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Chronograph (above, smartly hidden beneath the cuff) just the day before, at Marlborough House for a meeting with Commonwealth leaders.

The 18-carat gold Toric Chronograph is notable for being an early piece by the house launched in 1996, and has made appearances at important junctures of Charles’ life, most recently on the day of his son Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding and while mourning the death of his mother the late Queen Elizabeth.

2. Not your average watch – releases get playful with new case designs, new materials, anniversaries and more …

Rado Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Limited Edition. Photo: Handout

Even though the hectic release season surrounding Watches and Wonders is well in the rear-view, brands have not stopped upping the ante with bigger and bolder launches. One of the flavours of the month? Alternative case materials. Rado added a new ceramic skeleton piece to its Captain Cook High-Tech line in an effortlessly cool take on gunmetal, while Hublot collaborated with Nespresso to release a green Big Bang Unico that uses recycled aluminium, of which 28 per cent comprises material from recycled Nespresso coffee capsules.

Hublot Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin. Photo: Handout

Franck Muller has had a busy few months. It held the 33rd annual edition of its World Presentation of Haute Horlogerie (WPHH) in April, showcasing the year’s best new models from the brand. However, the maison gave its Asia fans a special treat as the house followed it up by launching its new office and service centre in Hong Kong this month, along with the regionally exclusive Damas and Damas Racing pieces under its Vanguard collection. The tonneau case is built using extremely pure and shock-resistant Damascus steel, while the Racing version goes the extra mile with a skeletonised face with a seconds dial in the centre.

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Franck Muller Vangard Damas Racing. Photo: Handout

Other brands seemingly followed the saying, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. In Germany, Nomos Glashütte celebrates 175 years by announcing limited-edition variations of the classically dressy and Bauhaus-inspired Orion Neomatik in 36mm, 39mm and 41mm versions with sub-seconds, each limited to 175 beautiful pieces with silver dials and blue-steel hands.

Nomos Glashutte Orion Neomatik 175 Years Watchmaking Glashutte 41mm Limited Edition. Photo: Handout

Nomos only adds a date display to the larger 41mm version, at three o’ clock.

3. Brands are all about titanium, titanium, titanium

Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Worldtimer Titanium Green. Photo: Handout

High horology continues to ride the wave of titanium releases after Rolex unveiled a Yacht-Master and IWC reprised the Gerald Genta-designed Ingenieur to name just two pieces with the material at Watches and Wonders.

Omega followed up its incredibly successful Seamaster Aqua Terra Shades campaign with new versions of the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Worldtimer in steel and titanium. The black-and-grey titanium version only has the word “London” accented in red with a ceramic bezel for extra durability, while the green titanium version offers a leather strap and green dial with a sun-brushed PVD finish, and 18k Moonshine gold that was seen on the MoonSwatch this year.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur Monobalancier Titanium. Photo: Handout

Roger Dubuis adds to its extravagant Excalibur flagship line with a new Monobalancier in all-titanium with skeleton dial. For the brand, it seems like a comparatively conservative piece, but every part of this release particularly has been finished to Poinçon de Genève standards, which requires every component – from case to bridge, to indices, to hands – to be hand-finished.

Seiko Astron GPS Solar Titanium. Photo: Handout

Thousands of miles away, Seiko released four new solar-powered titanium editions of the Astron, known for being the first quartz watch ever produced in 1969 that kick-started the quartz crisis. All four pieces are powered by the sun and use GPS to adjust time zones.

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4. The highest horology still demands the highest of value

Patek Philippe reference 1518 Pink on Pink. Photo: Sotheby’s

Patek Philippe and Rolex look to bolster the houses’ already considerable presence among the most expensive watches ever sold. Regarding the former, Sotheby’s announced that the Pink on Pink reference 1518 – one of only 15 known to exist – with a salmon dial and rose gold case, is slated to be auctioned in June for an estimated US$2.5 million to US$4.5 million.

Meanwhile, a unique platinum Rolex Yacht-Master owned by the late president of the brand Patrick Heiniger sold for US$2.5 million (2.3 million euros) at auction by Monaco Legend Group, per Augustman. Heiniger’s ties to Rolex are deep – his father André worked closely with Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf before being appointed general director of Rolex in 1964, before his son Patrick took over in 1992.

The most expensive watch ever sold was a Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime reference 6300A-010, which Christie’s sold for US$31 million in 2019, while Rolex’s most expensive piece was a 1968 Paul Newman Daytona reference 6239 that Phillips sold for US$17 million in 2017.

5. Audemars Piguet and Bremont get new management

Swiss-Italian national Ilaria Resta is named Audemars Piguet’s next CEO. Photo: Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet announced in stunning fashion this week that Ilaria Resta, of cosmetic brands such as Firmenich and Procter & Gamble, will succeed François-Henry Bennahmias as CEO starting in 2024, concluding Bennahmias’ extremely successful 30-year tenure at the brand.

Resta looks to continue Bennahmias’ work, whose time at the company saw Audemars Piguet’s firm stride into the limelight as a leader in high horology today, thanks in part to the resurrection of the Royal Oak line and the launch of the Code 11.59 collection that serves as the brand’s experimental and high complication watch line.

A coronation tiara took the crowning glory, selling for US$1 million

Bremont’s new CEO Davide Cerrato, formerly of Tudor and Montblanc. Photo: Bremont Watch Company

Across the English channel, Bremont named Davide Cerrato as its new CEO earlier this month. Cerrato, who has also worked at Montblanc and Panerai, is perhaps best known for being the head of marketing, design and product development at Tudor and being one of the primary minds behind the relaunch and success of the Black Bay watch in 2012.

His tenure at Bremont is off to a strong start, with the Bremont Avro V-1 Vulcan chronograph releasing soon after the Cerrato announcement. The caseback is engraved with a silhouette of its namesake Cold War-era bomber along with a Royal Air Force heraldic badge.

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Timepieces

It’s been a busy month for watches this May, with the Met Gala stealing the show with Nick Jonas’ Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, Jackson Wang’s Cartier Tank to Simu Liu’s Vacheron Constantin
Hublot worked with Nespresso to release a Big Bang Unico made with recycled coffee capsules; Audemars Piguet announced its new CEO Ilaria Resta, starting in 2024; and Davide Cerrato will head Bremont