Top 8 timepieces from Geneva Watch Days 2022

Bulgari: Octo Finissimo Skeleton 8 Days

Bulgari

1/8

Gold and black were the defining hues of Bulgari’s Geneva Watch Days offerings. The two colours were combined to sophisticated and striking effect on the brand’s key highlight of the fair: the Octo Finissimo Skeleton 8 Days.

An openworked dial puts the new movement, Calibre BVL 199 SK, on clear display. With its bevelled PVD anthracite bridges, the latest skeletonised movement in the Octo Finissimo family takes on a more architectural and refined aesthetic than previous models. Furthermore, it has an impressive power reserve of eight days — almost thrice that of its openworked predecessor — with a case that is just marginally thicker at 5.95mm (versus 5.15mm).

This movement is housed in a 40- mm rose gold case that has been satin- polished, a finish Bulgari has used in its other gold Octo Finissimo models. The treatment tones down the glitz in a cool and unexpected way, stylishly representing the brand’s theme of contrasts for the fair.

Arnold & Son: Luna Magna Ultimate II

Arnold & Son

2/8

Turquoise is an immensely popular hue in watchmaking right now, but Arnold & Son might be the first to use Paraiba tourmaline and ruthenium crystals to capture the colour’s blue-green shades on a dial. Positioned at 6 o’clock, the 12-mm lunar sphere in the 44-mm white gold Luna Magna Ultimate II is crafted from white gold, and set with 161 diamonds and 161 Paraiba tourmalines. The rest of the dial shines with ruthenium crystals that possess a blue-green hue, thanks to a PVD treatment.

Related: Bulgari and MB&F team up to create jewellery watches that are both complex and ornate

Hautlence: Linear Series 1

Hautlence

3/8

Bringing back its distinctive aesthetic and unusual time displays, independent watchmaker Hautlence unveiled new timepieces after a long hiatus. Measuring 50.8mm by 43mm, the steel case of the Linear Series 1 houses a linear retrograde jumping hour display. A white pointer appears in the space next to the correct hour, and jumps back to 1 from its position at 12 when 1am or 1pm rolls around. The hour indicator is driven by a long, blued lever that is visible through the open dial.

De Bethune: DB25 Perpetual Calendar

De Bethune

4/8

Even though its watch measurements sound large, De Bethune makes some of the comfiest timepieces around, thanks to its partiality towards lightweight titanium and the use of features such as articulated lugs. Now, it makes the DB25 Perpetual Calendar even more wearable by downsizing it from 44mm to 40mm. The titanium watch is powered by an improved and smaller version of the calibre DB2324 found in the 44-mm versions of the DB25 Perpetual Calendar. Despite its reduced dimensions, the timepiece retains the uncluttered feel of its predecessors’ distinctively clean layout.

Related: The 5 luxury watch trends defining haute horlogerie in 2018 and 2019

HYT: Moon Runner Red Magma

HYT

5/8

HYT, another independent brand, was revived within months by its new owners, a private investment company that bought it soon after its closure last March. Now headed by Tudor alum Davide Cerrato, the brand has been proposing new designs that feature its signature fluidic time displays. Presented in a 48-mm titanium case, the latest version of the Moon Runner Red Magma features a spherical, rotating moon in red and black. Above it, a circular aperture indicates the current moon phase.

Louis Erard: Le Regulateur Louis Erard x Label Noir

Louis Erard

6/8

Since he first joined Louis Erard in 2019 as a strategist, Manuel Emch — a former CEO of Jaquet Droz and RJ-Romain Jerome — has invited top names in horology and design to put their spin on the brand’s regulator timepiece. Its latest collaborator is Label Noir, a Geneva-based atelier specialising in watch customisation. The company has created a striking timepiece using different black finishes: The hour subdial at 12 o’clock features a glossy black finish, while the rest of the dial is vertically brushed. The 42-mm steel case itself has a matte black PVD coating.

Urwerk: UR-100V Ultraviolet

Urwerk

7/8

Introduced in 2019, the UR-100 has become a Urwerk bestseller as the indie brand’s most affordable (relatively speaking) and wearable timepiece. Its latest iteration sees much of the watch, including its titanium case, coloured a bold purple. In the press notes, the reason for this choice is that violet is “located at the far end of the visible colour spectrum perceptible to the human eye”. The UR-100V UltraViolet also features a new Calibre 12.02, with a redesigned central carousel, which places the hour marker closer to the minutes scale to make it that much easier to read the time.

MB&F: Legacy Machine Split Escapement Evo

MB&F

8/8

In 2020, high-end independent brand MB&F launched its first sporty EVO watch with the Legacy Machine (LM) Perpetual EVO. Designed to be hardier than MB&F's other timepieces — horological works of art nobody would dream of subjecting to shocks, anyway — the EVO case has 80m of water resistance, thanks to a screw-down crown and a bezel-free design, as well as an annular shock-resistance mechanism called FlexRing.

At Geneva Watch Days, MB&F unveiled the latest additions to the EVO family: a pair of LM Split Escapement EVO models. Both housed in 44-mm cases made of Grade 5 titanium, one is a regular- production model with an ice-blue dial, while the other is a 25-piece Beverly Hills edition for the MB&F Lab managed by American watch retailer Westime.

Developed for MB&F by watchmaker Stephen McDonnell, the movement that drives these models is distinguished by its split escapement: A large 14-mm balance wheel is suspended above the dial, while the remaining escapement components — the anchor and escape wheel — are located under the movement.

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