MANTLE’s associate editor checks out the new releases of his time-tested favorites from Watches and Wonders Geneva 2023.
It has been a week since Watches and Wonders Geneva 2023 opened, much to the delight of watch aficionados worldwide.
Each year never fails to overwhelm audiences with new releases and reissues of time-tested favorites. It can get overwhelming for first-timers—I myself was at a loss on what to check out first when I previewed the entire line-up for the premier event last year or so.
However, my editor-in-chief (and watch mentor) assured me that it’s fine to let the technical details and big names fly past your head (albeit initially) and focus on the pieces that leave an impact on you—any point is a good starting point when getting into watches, after all.
So then I proceeded to browse the pieces and gathered what left a striking impression on me. And I have been following them ever since: Cartier’s classic Tanks, Montblanc’s icy peaks, Grand Seiko’s intricate dials, and IWC’s sleek pilot’s watches, among others.
And at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2023, these brands have come back with noteworthy tweaks on selected pieces. Here’s a quick rundown of their releases from the event:
Cartier: the Tank Normale is anything but normal
Photos: Cartier
Louis Cartier made the Tank Normale in 1917, launching the piece in 1919 and creating what is perhaps one of the most remarkable watches of the Maison. Several reissues of the watch have since made their mark across the decades, and this year’s entry to the Cartier Privé—the house’s limited-edition collection of luxury watches—is no exception.
Cartier has added a skeleton movement accompanied by a 24-hour complication marked by a sun and crescent moon that is also skeletonised. While the minute hand turns around the dial in one hour, the hour hand goes round in 24 hours instead of 12 hours.
As a result, daytime hours appear on the upper part of the dial and night-time hours on the lower part. To symbolize the transition from day to night, Cartier coated the skeletonised bridges with a gradation of shades adorning the two halves of the dial.
IWC: new colors, same durability
Photos: IWC Schaffhausen
IWC Schaffhausen continues to demonstrate its mastery of color and ceramics by releasing new additions to the TOP GUN line: The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 TOP GUN in “Oceana” and “Jet Black.”
The ceramic color “Oceana” was created with Pantone®. It takes inspiration from the U.S. Navy’s blue overalls, a work uniform worn by their pilots when carrying out arduous tasks aboard aircraft carriers. In addition, the chronograph features a blue dial and a matching blue rubber strap with a denim finish textile inlay.
IWC’s first 41-millimeter Pilot’s Chronograph in black ceramic is inspired by the technical components of supersonic jets. The “Jet Black” ceramic has been the signature material of IWC TOP GUN since the line was established in 2007. A black dial and a black rubber strap complement the pitch-black ceramic case.
These chronographs join last year’s striking new shades, also developed in collaboration with Pantone®: the IWC Lake Tahoe white and IWC Woodland Green.
Grand Seiko: craftsmanship down to the microscopic level
Photo: Grand Seiko
At the foot of the North Yatsugatake Mountains in the eastern part of Shinshu lies an expansive forest of white birch trees. Nearby, in the town of Shiojiri, elite craftsmen and women ply their trades in the production of handmade Grand Seiko watches, a number of which find inspiration in the local sites and seasons.
Their latest masterpiece is a Platinum 950 watch with a meticulously hand-engraved case and dial, inspired by the white birch forest as it appears during the height of winter, blanketed by freshly fallen snow.
Photo: Grand Seiko
The dial features the celebrated Shinshu white birch pattern familiar to Grand Seiko fans, though the new timepiece’s dial has a slightly different tone and a more metallic texture, causing it to shine subtly under light.
Montblanc: one peak, three perspectives
The Mont-Blanc continues to inspire its namesake luxury brand with the release of their first limited-edition curated chest containing the three 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date editions in green, blue, and grey. The green and blue editions are additions from last year’s releases, while the glacier grey timepiece is the latest novelty from the brand.
Each model is different from previous editions, featuring a colored laser engraving of a different view of the Mont-Blanc: the blue model displays a picture of the Aiguille du Moine, the green one depicts Les Drus, and the grey model shows Les Grandes Jorasses.
Photo: Montblanc
The timepieces come in 41mm stainless steel cases and are powered by automatic movements that indicate the hours, minutes, seconds, and a date at three o’clock. Each dial is inspired by the Mer de Glace, the Mont-Blanc massif’s largest glacier, and gives the impression of looking directly into the ice thanks to a special dial fabrication technique called gratté-boisé.
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More information about this year’s releases at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2023 may be found on their official website.
