2017: Ulysse Nardin Introduces the “Year of the Rooster” Timepiece to the Classico Collection. Confident and dynamic, the rooster rules the roost with hard work and innate talent. Very lit-tle escapes the powers of perception of this highly observant creature, renowned for his so-ciable, gregarious nature. In keeping with his pride of place on this precision Classico, the rooster is also widely appreciated for his punctual timekeeping! Ulysse Nardin celebrates his energetic panache with the “Year of the Rooster” timepiece, the most recent addition to the Classico Collection. In this classical depiction, the artist has perfectly captured the rooster’s natural energy. It is the centuries-old champlevé method of enameling that brings the artist’s sketch to life. A rare art form and one mastered by very few, the champlevé technique involves the carving of cells with a chisel directly on the dial, which are then filled with enamel. Its colors come from the careful blending of different metallic oxides. The dial is fired until the ena-mel melts and is then smoothed and polished. The final step, which is also the most delicate, consists of en-riching the motif by chiseling all the metal parts on the surface.

Le coup de foudre, that instantaneous love, the love that makes your eyes shine, your heart beat faster, heightens your senses and makes your life more intense. This is what UR-106 is talking about in its Flower Power version, a limited edition of only 11 pieces. Of course, it is an URWERK. Of course, it is complicated. Of course, it is an example of Haute Horlogerie. But above all, this UR-106 is beautiful, desirable and addictive. Focus on an example of poetic mechanical jewellery. Finding the right adjectives to describe the URWERK watches is always a challenge. Creations of luxury watchmaking, original to say the least. What is certain is that they all have a touch of eccentricity that sets them apart from the rest. The UR-106 Flower Power is no exception. Here is a happy marriage between steel and diamond, technique and gentleness, manual dexterity and mechanical precision.

BIG BANG MECA-10 MAGIC GOLD The BIG BANG MECA-10 is the very archetype of the Hublot philosophy. The watch is a demonstration of the journey undertaken by the Hublot Manufacture, a story peppered with world firsts. It confirms the Maison's pioneering spirit, one which sees materials as an endless source of possibilities and movements as the opportunity to escape watchmaking norms. Magic Gold meets a movement with a Meccano-inspired design, casting a spell to shake up the codes of traditional watchmaking. The new Hublot Manufacture calibre – the HUB1201, whose innovative construction reveals its entire original interlocking power reserve on the dial side – sees its mechanism housed in a case made from Magic Gold, the first scratch-resistant gold and the hardest variety in the world with a hardness of almost 1000 Vickers, developed and patented by Hublot with the EPFL five years ago. Two parallel barrels with a rack-driven power reserve indication system, two racks sliding on a 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock axis thanks to a rack and pinion system, a double power reserve display, and a Meccano-inspired architecture for an innovative construction. On the dial side, it reveals the mechanics of the movement and the unusual architecture of its rack-driven 10-day power reserve. Its manually wound skeleton mechanism displays the regulating organ at 7 o'clock, paired with small seconds. This watch brings together the very best of mechanics, innovation and materials with limited to 200 pieces.

Tonda 1950 Set Galaxy: born from the skies of Fleurier In the Val-de-Travers, where Parmigiani Fleurier is based, there is virtually no light polluting the night sky, and nothing obstructing the millions of stars it contains. This feeling of vertigo was the inspiration behind the creation of the Tonda 1950 Galaxy. A challenge, but one which has met with great success. The dial-makers are the sorcerers of the watchmaking world. They prefer to swap the sterile rooms of the watchmaker for the lair of the modern-day alchemist. Parmigiani Fleurier is lucky enough to have some truly inspired master dial-makers working in its Manufacture. At their benches filled with secret potions, they are continuously experimenting, testing and inventing, ensuring that every dial that passes through their hands is a masterpiece of depth and intensity. Once again, they have worked their magic on the Tonda 1950 Galaxy, imbuing its dial with a colour that seems to have been cut straight from the night sky. This sombre midnight blue is one of the most complicated shades to reproduce, as it represents the link between our dreams and our imaginations. It needed a material created by a chance encounter to bring it to life: aventurine glass. In 18th-century Murano, a glass blower made a fortuitous discovery when he dropped a sliver of copper into melted glass. He christened this new material "aventurine" (per aventura meaning by chance in Italian).

Over the last decade, two indelible forms have often marked MB&F’s Horological Machines: the distinctive angular form and optical prism displays of the revisited 1970s Amida watch, which first manifested in HM5 and then HMX; and the now signature “battle-axe” winding rotor, which took centre stage on top of HM3, MB&F's most popular model to date. Horological Machine N°8 (HM8) takes those two idiosyncratic features and infuses them with high-octane Can-Am race car-inspired design – generating an exquisitely sculptured, high-speed wrist-borne fantasy. HM8 rises from the turbo-charged ashes of the Can-Am, a discontinued "anything goes" car racing series that would have celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016. HM8 Can-Am features a curvaceous yet angular case, with dual optical prisms vertically displaying bi-directional jumping hours and trailing minutes, while the distinctive battle-axe winding rotor is visible on top. But the real star of HM8 is its Can-Am inspired polished "roll bars" majestically sweeping from the front of the Machine down to the beguiling tapered back. Incongruously for a fully mechanical racing machine, the visual effect is electric.