Basel World 2010: Some Highlights From The First Week

There is always a great deal of excitement in the air during Basel World and with good reason. Some of the world’s most well-respected luxury watch Marques formally unveil their latest creations dazzling show goers with a delicious array of stunning new pieces. In celebration of this we’ve put together our own little list with some of the pieces that have truly taken our breaths away during this first week of Basel World 2010.

Hublot King Power Tourbillon Manufacture (pictured above)
Highly limited to just 30 superb pieces, the new King Power Tourbillon from Swiss watch-maker Hublot is powered by Calibre Hublot HUB6002 tourbillon movement manufactured completely in-house by the recently acquired Confrérie Horlogère Hublot. Presented in a 48mm black ceramic case complete with hand polished black nickel hour and minute hands coated in black SuperLuminova, the movement is hand wound and features off-centre hour and minute indicators at 12 o’clock and seconds via the tourbillon cage at 6 o’clock. Rounding all this is out is a very impressive Power Reserve of 120 hours.

Glashütte Original Senator Diary
For the Classicists among you we have this exceptional new piece from German watch-maker Glashütte Original. Simple and elegant in its design, the new Senator Diary has all the makings of the perfect dress watch. But don’t let its good looks fool you though as this piece is far more than just a pretty face. In a world first this new timepiece features a mechanical alarm function that can be set up to 30 days in advance, staggering when you consider that this is a mechanical movement! Available in your choice of a rose gold case with matching rose gold hands and applied rose gold hour markers on a galvanized silver dial or in a stainless steel with a black dial.

Perrelet Diamond Flower Ceramic
For the ladies we have this highly sophisticated and attractive new piece from luxury watch-maker Perrelet, which features the company’s unique “double rotor” system. In this specific creation the top-side rotor is in the shape of diamond-lined flower petals, as shown in the video below. Finishing off this superb piece is a black mother-of-pearl dial surrounded by diamond-set bezel and housed within a silky smooth black and white ceramic case and bracelet. Gentlemen take note, this is a watch that is sure to please even the fussiest of ladies.

Urwerk Mexican Fireleg (UR-103T)
It wouldn’t be The Watch Lounge if we didn’t include an independent watch-maker in our highlight reel. Although not officially unveiled at Basel World, this visually stunning limited edition of the UR-103T from Urwerk, more commonly known as the Mexican Fireleg, simply is too bold to ignore. Created to mark the end of the UR-103T era later this year, the Mexican Fireleg  will be available in a limited edition of just 60 (very aggressive looking) pieces. Presented in either a stainless steel or 18k gold case treated with AlTiN (Aluminium, Titanium, Nitride) the orbital cross, hours and minutes have been re-imagined with a very distinctive orange Super-Luminova, making this one mean looking timepiece.

TAG Heuer Pendulum Watch
Rounding out our list is this highly impressive new concept watch from Tag Heuer, which is seeking to claim the title of being the first ever mechanical movement without a hairspring. And judging by the video it looks like they might have just done it! Essentially the issue at hand is that the hairspring will always be susceptible to the negative influences of temperature and gravity. Whilst some advancement in designs and the use of new materials have had some success in overcoming these limitations, they still exist which according to the guys at Tag simply wasn’t good enough. The solution? Replace the hairspring of course! And that’s exactly what they did, replacing it with a highly original pendulum “spring” that is regulated by magnets and beats at the very high frequency of 43,200/hour (6 Hertz). It doesn’t look half bad either!

Stay tuned for more great coverage of Basel World 2010 on The Watch Lounge this week!

Tags: 2010, Baselworld, Glashütte Original, Hublot, King Bang, luxury, New, Pendulum, Perrelet, Switzerland, Tag Heuer, timepieces, Tourbillon, Urwerk, watches

Category: BaselWorld 2010, New This Week, Watch News