Watches and Wonders 2022 Highlights

This past week, the eyes of the watch world turned to Geneva for not one, but two events: Watches & Wonders 2022, previously SIHH (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie) which in the absence of Baselworld has become one of the biggest events on the watch calendar; and the Masters of Horology event put on by the AHCI (Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants – a collective of independent watchmakers co-founded by Svend Andersen and Vincent Calabrese) showcasing the work of some of the world’s foremost independent watch and clock makers.

The anticipation for this event was palpable – especially given it hasn’t been possible for these types of events over the last couple years, and the success of Dubai Watch Week in January had certainly whetted appetites for more of the same!

Suffice it to say, the releases didn’t disappoint, and there were some truly remarkable watches launched at both Watches & Wonders as well as AHCI’s Masters of Horology.

My Highlights from Watches & Wonders 2022 and the AHCI’s Masters of Horology 

Looking across both Watches & Wonders 2022 as well as the AHCI Masters of Horology events, I have picked my favourites only based on what I’ve seen and read – I wasn’t able to be in Geneva this week and so I have not seen these watches in person.

Whilst I managed to whittle it down to 5 releases for my highlights, I ended up having to add an ‘honourable mentions’ section as I couldn’t not at least mention these as well! Be sure to get in touch and let me know your favourites and whether you agree or disagree, too, as I there are several other candidates which were really tough choices to leave out and pained me to do so.

From the lot, though, there was one watch which stood out above all others…

Vianney Halter’s La Resonance

Last year, Vianney Halter released his Deep Space Resonance, and this year has followed this with La Resonance – a three hand watch driven by two oscillators which are couple by acoustic resonance, the result of many years of research and development.

I have previously written about resonance in watchmaking here – there are very few watchmakers who have successfully tackled resonance, such as Christiaan Huygens, Antide Janvier, Abraham-Louis Breguet, F.P. Journe, Beat Haldimann, Armin Strom, and Vianney Halter.

To be able to see acoustic resonance in action in a wristwatch is, frankly, incredible on its own. Yet, with this piece, I think Vianney Halter has created nothing short of a masterpiece.

The focal point of this watch is – quite rightly – the VH222 movement inside, and so Vianney Halter has taken a step away from his usual aesthetic. The 39mm case is constructed from a single ring of titanium with no added ‘extras’ and is designed to present the movement in the best way possible. As a result, this incredible piece weighs just 35 grams.

With sapphire windows front and back, it is easy to appreciate the incredible, skeletonised movement. In fact, the movement doesn’t even have a mainplate, and is crafted with just bridges and pillars to support the gears. The crown is unusually placed at 9 o’clock, but this is with good reason – at 3 o’clock, there is yet another sapphire window in the case allowing an unobstructed view of the two balance wheels as they oscillate in perfect resonance with one another.

A watch like Vianney Halter’s La Resonance does not come along very often, and I simply cannot look beyond this as my pick of the watches announced this year. There will be just 7 of these magnificent pieces per year made, crafted by the hands of a master watchmaker at the peak of his powers – congratulations to Vianney Halter on a truly remarkable achievement.

Be sure to check out my interview with Vianney Halter from last year here.

The next two picks have taken configurations more commonly associated with chronographs and used them in different and creative ways. I really enjoy seeing brands being creative in this way, and I think that what they have created between them is pretty awesome.

Armin Strom Orbit – a Column Wheel date display

This marks the first time that a watch has used the bezel to display its date function. Taking the column wheel component (the wheel used to activate and deactivate the chronograph function in a chronograph watch), Armin Strom have implemented it in such a way that rather than activating or deactivating a dynamic complication such as a chronograph, it activates or deactivates the date display.

By using the pusher at 10 o’clock, you can activate the red-tipped retrograde hand to point to the date as indicated on the bezel, and then deactivate it and return the hand to the 12 o’clock position where the date complication is, essentially, turned off.

Orbit represents a foray into a sportier watch aesthetic by Armin Strom, with a 43.4mm stainless steel case, as well as including a bracelet for the first time. This particular release is limited to just 25 pieces, but I think the innovative way in which the column wheel has been used in the Orbit will be something that gets people thinking about what else it could be used for. Something for which I’m sure that Armin Strom will have other ideas up their sleeve – I am excited to see where this road leads in future!

Parmigiani Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante – an optional Second Timezone indication

It was only a matter of weeks ago that I wrote about Parmigiani Fleurier, and how I was excited to see what they had in store for the future. I have to say I didn’t quite expect to be writing about the brand again so soon! However, with their new releases at Watches & Wonders 2022, I couldn’t not come back to them – especially given the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante.

You might be thinking that a rattrapante is a chronograph – and you would be correct! A rattrapante is a split-second chronograph, or one which has multiple hands which start counting the seconds when the chronograph is activated, and they can be stopped independently from one another to record two things simultaneously. The two seconds hands can then be “caught up” to one another.

What Parmigiani have done with the GMT Rattrapante is to use this configuration to make the second timezone indication optional – there is a pusher at 7 o’clock which advances the golden GMT hand forwards by one hour per press to set the local time, and then once the trip has ended, the gold rattrapante pusher in the crown at 3 o’clock will return the GMT hand to underneath the silver-coloured home hand.

I think this is an especially clean way of incorporating a GMT complication into an already elegant watch. Whilst it doesn’t have a 24-hour indication, a day-night indication, or even a date display (noting the regular Tonda PF does have a date window), I don’t think these are necessarily imperative for the complication to work or add value.

Cartier Masse Mystérieuse

I can remember the first time I saw Cartier’s Clé de Cartier Mysterious Hour watch – both the hands on the dial seemingly floating and not connected to any other part of the dial! It stopped me in my tracks, almost like a magic trick, as I tried to work out how it was done. (Spoiler alert) when I learned that the hands were attached to individual sapphire discs which are driven by a hidden gear, it all seemed so simple… but the effect it creates is undeniably super cool.

When I saw that at Watches & Wonders 2022 Cartier had released the Masse Mystérieuse, my jaw dropped – they have totally taken this kind of thing to an entirely new level, replacing the floating hands with a floating, rotating, semi-circular movement which even rotates independently from the hands! The movement IS the oscillating weight for the movement itself. I’ll let that sink in for a minute.

So how on earth is this done? Cartier have built on the sapphire discs concept from the Mysterious Hours and introduced more discs to the hours and minutes hands, one to house the oscillating weight / movement, and another for this to rotate about, which is how the movement rotates independently from the hours and minutes hands.

Despite all this, the watch is presented in a 43.5mm platinum case which is just 12.64mm thick, and the movement even offers a decent 43-hours power reserve – quite incredible given what this watch (and movement) is! This is one of those things that I will likely never see, and could never afford (250,000 Euros, anyone?), but knowing that it exists makes me incredibly happy!

Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222

When I first saw this watch, I was so glad to see the 222 brought back, and in such a way that is faithful to the original watches as well. In the past 12 months or so, Vacheron Constantin has seen their Overseas collection (especially in stainless steel) join the likes of the Royal Oak and Nautilus as an essentially unobtainable watch that has been hoovered up into the world of hype watches.

On one hand, part of me is glad that a brand with such an esteemed history, and one of the so called ‘Holy Trinity’ brands alongside Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe, is starting to attract more appreciation. However, on the other hand, it is sad to see another watch collection tumbling into the black hole of hype.

It is interesting to me that the 222 was the forerunner to the Overseas, first produced in 1977 to celebrate the 222^nd anniversary of the brand. I’m sure that this reissue must have been in the works since before the Overseas went crazy, but I do wonder if the brand could perhaps see this coming and saw it as an opportune movement to reintroduce a classic…?

Anyway, this release is very faithful to the original models, with a few modifications such as a new movement, materials, and some smaller cosmetic adjustments. This certainly stands to offer the best of both worlds – a classic and faithful reissue with the benefits of the advancements made in the 45 years since it first appeared.

The 222 is 37mm in a rose gold, with a rose gold bracelet, so it’s probably not a watch that I would wear personally (not that I could afford it anyway), but I really love that this has been brought back into the core collection. From what I have seen and read, it seems to be one of the darling releases of Watches & Wonders 2022, and I think deservedly so.

Other honourable mentions from Watches & Wonders 2022

As I mentioned earlier, I found this year’s releases really, really, difficult to whittle down to my top 5. I have been really impressed with a lot of releases, and there are a bunch of other watches that I really wanted to mention, too.

To start with, I think the new releases within Oris’ Pro Pilot X collection are fantastic. I really liked the Pro Pilot X skeleton, and Oris have done a great job including the option for either a blue, grey, or salmon dial option here. A great looking titanium watch with comfortable bracelet, and an automatic in-house calibre with 120-hour power reserve for £3300, what’s not to like?!

Another watch to deservedly receive a lot of plaudits is Grand Seiko’s Kodo Constant Force Tourbillon. This is the first time that a tourbillon and constant force mechanism have been combined onto the same axis of the movement. It’s an incredible looking piece, and wonderful to see the open-worked dial showing off this ground-breaking movement.

One of my favourite watch brands, full stop, is Laurent Ferrier. I have written about them on a few occasions and was lucky enough to visit their atelier in Geneva last year, where I learned that a new Laurent Ferrier Classic Origin watch was on the cards for this year. Honestly… I just absolutely love it, everything about this watch sings to me!

I am pretty sure that Laurent Ferrier is a brand destined for a big year, and I think that this release alongside the recent Sport Auto have absolutely knocked it out the park.

I was somewhat surprised to see the sportier, more modern looking Patek Philippe Calatrava 5226G, but objectively I think it looks great! Where the Calatrava 6119 watches are perfect examples of an elegant, dressy Calatrava, the 5226G introduces a grained dial, Arabic sans-serif numerals, moves the cloud de Paris to the case-band of the watch, and introduces a contemporary colourway with tan nubuck or black sailcloth strap. A complete departure from the Calatrava norms, but I think a very welcome one!

Last, but by no means least, I wanted to highlight the releases from Jaeger-LeCoultre. Yes, “releases” plural – I was so impressed by their novelties this year that I couldn’t pick just one, and I couldn’t not include them in this piece!

They have introduced Hybris Artisitica to the Master collection with stunning depictions of constellations with high-end minute repeater and tourbillon complications. There is also a Hybris Mechanica Atmos clock with a tellurium complication showing the cycles of the Earth, Moon, and Sun.

But this isn’t all – Jaeger-LeCoultre have also updated the Polaris collection with a perpetual calendar and the Rendez-Vous collection with a new ‘shooting star’ complication, which appears at random! An amazing set of releases with a recurring celestial theme, and again I just love it.

In Summary

There have, of course, been may more releases than those I have mentioned here, with a lot of excitement around certain brands as there always is, and always will be. For me, Watches and Wonders 2022 has seen a LOT of really great releases, with a lot of brands seeming to push the boundaries a little more than they may have done so previously.

Maybe some of this is, at least in part, a side-effect of the rise in interest of independent watchmaking as collectors look for something more unique? If collectors are more willing to explore what other brands have to offer, as it becomes more and more challenging to acquire watches from certain brands, maybe they are willing to be a little less… safe?

Who knows – all I can say is that I have been very impressed with the releases so far this year, and that there are exciting times are ahead!

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You might also be interested in:

• Watches and Wonders 2021 – Highlights
• In Conversation with Vianney Halter
• Laurent Ferrier Manufacture Visit
• Watch Stationery and Gift Ideas
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