Baselworld 2019: Patek Philippe and Rolex confirm watchmaking’s green tide
Green is officially the new blue.
We saw plenty of green at Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Genève in January. We can now confirm green is the colour of 2019 as Patek Philippe and Rolex, the biggest players at Baselworld, both unveil timepieces in that shade.
Here are the latest offerings from Baselworld, and a quick refresher of the green novelties that caught our eye in January.
Rolex
Rolex’s identity has long been associated with the hue. From watch boxes to its advertising campaigns, the colour represents the brand’s spirit, and has found its way into watches over the years in everything from a leather strap Day-Date to the GMT-Master II.
The watchmaker launches two references in the shade this year.
Day-Date 36
In yellow gold, this year’s Day-Date 36 reference owns a green ombre sunray dial. The piece gets its shine from a yellow gold President bracelet and its diamond hour markers.
Datejust 31
In two tones with an Oystersteel and yellow gold Jubliee bracelet, the olive green dial of the Datejust 31 sports yellow gold Roman numeral hour markers.
Patek Philippe
The Aquanaut is a luxury sports watch icon, and Patek Philippe updates the reference each year with a new strap and dial combo. The beauty of the no-fuss three-hands automatic Aquanaut is that it can take on pretty much any colour to brilliant effect. This year’s khaki green rendition in white gold is pleasing on the eye and is destined for waiting lists at boutiques around the world.
IWC
The brand has embraced green this year with its collection of bronze Spitfire watches. The matted bronze tone of the cases complements their deep forest green dials, as seen in several of the references from the SIHH launch.
Montblanc
The 1858 collection from Montblanc has also tapped into the bronze-and-green combination this year.
The 1858 Automatic Chronograph and 1858 Geosphere are both paired with a khaki green fabric strap.
Piaget
The colour green is versatile, as can be seen in Piaget’s Polo launch this year. Neither a forest green, nor a racing green, the watchmaker has created a dial that gives off hints of blue when viewed from certain angles. The 42mm watch gets a green leather strap to complete its look.
Panerai
Panerai has brought green into its stand-alone Submersible range, albeit in a more subdued manner. The Submersible Marina Militare Carbotech PAM00961 sports an all-black case and dial with military green indexes and hands complete with a green rubber strap.
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The first signs of blue being usurped were evident at SIHH in Genève in mid-January