One of the things that really amazed me this year was the lack of pre-releases before the Salon International de Haute Horlogerie (SIHH). Now the SIHH 2010 is almost finished, the pre-releases for Baselworld are already here!

The only serieous SIHH pre-release came from Lange und Söhne. In December i already posted the new Lange 1 Daymatic, which instantly became my favorite Lange 1 and probably my favorite from this great manufacterer from Germany. After the SIHH started earlier this week, press releases about new models all come at the same time. It’s impossible to cover them all, so i’ll show a few of my favorite models. One is another novelty of Lange und Söhne that is just so good i have to show it. For all new Lange und Söhne models, check out Perptuelle.com‘s overview.

Last year A. Lange & Söhne’s Zeitwerk was one of the biggest hits of the SIHH novelties. This year Lange und Söhne comes with another surprise, the Zeitwerk Luminous. Or as the people at Lange & Söhne called it, the Zeitwerk Phantom.

A. Lange und Söhne Zeitwerk Luminous... the Phantom?

Another watch that got me really exited comes from Girard Perregaux. And again it’s from the 1966 collection, a collection that got me exited before. The new Girard Perregaux 1966 Chronograph has the looks of a classic chronograph. The movement surprised me! It’s an automatic movement and i somehow expected to see a manually wound caliber. Girard-Perregaux movement GP030C0 is a column wheel chronograph with a 30 minute counter.

Girard Perregaux 1966 Chronograph

When i’m back from my vacation it’s time to share more about the Baselworld novelties!

Girard-Perregaux is in my opinion the most interesting of the Salon d’International Haute Horlogerie (SIHH). Of all brands showing their new watches Girard-Perregaux showed, yet again, the most beautiful watches.

Girard-Perregaux stays close to their imago and long term heritage. I think that’s the best thing to do, for a manufacture in the Haute Horlogerie.

I’m not the biggest fan of the big-bigger-biggest hype or incredibly complicated watches that will never get any wrist time. The first thing you look at is the design. A watch must look good on your wrist. Of course i can admire an incredibly complicated watch, however i’ll admire it for it’s interesting technical aspects. To me a watch is made to wear it, not only for admiring when it’s in a box.

And that’s exactly where Girard-Perregaux’s strength is. Several of the new release really rock my boat   Not to do unjustice to all other brand who also came with stunning wristwatches and i hope i was able to share my passion for these watches in my recent posts.

One of the new Girard Perregaux watches that i really love is the Girard Perregaux Flyback Chronograph “Monte Carlo 1973″.

Girard-Perregaux Fly Back Chronograph Monte Carlo 1973

The Fly Back Chronograph Monte Carlo 1973 has an in-house produced stainless steel case with a diameter of 40mm. An excellent size for a men’s watch! The watch is powered by the Girard Perregaux manufacture caliber GP0337A with 63 jewels and a power reserve of 46 hours. With 28,800 vibrations per hour it tells hours, minutes, seconds and the date. And of course, like the name already makes clear it’s equipped with a fly-back chronograph. This beautiful watch is limited to only 250 pieces, so be fast!!

Another novelty of Girard Perregaux is an all black version of the ww.tc, the ww.tc Shadow. The case is made from black ceremic and crown and pushers are rubberized. Nice, isn’t it…?

Girard-Perregaux ww.tc Shadow

The brand JeanRichard is ‘family’ of Girard Perregaux and brings an excellent new divewatch. The JeanRichard Diverscope keeps the size within the limits, at least in my opinion, with it’s 43mm. I fine size for a divewatch in my opinion. The manufacture movement is the JR1000 which is used in many JeanRichard watches.

JeanRichard DiverScope

The 43mm case made of steel coated with natural vulcanized rubber in a highly complex process. The result is a soft feel that is also able to do with it’s should do… a rugged divewatch that is waterproof to a depth of 300m. Both crowns are treated with DLC coating. This results in a particularly hard and resistant surface.The crown on the left is for adjusting the inner rotating bezel and the crown on the right is for the usual purpose. Besides this black dial version there’s also a white dial version that is treated with luminiscent color.

And now my favorite of the SIHH 2009… the Girard Perregaux 1966 Annual Calendar and Equation of Time. I won’t spent too many words on it and leave you to enjoy the photo. If you want to know more about the movement, the functions of the annual calendar and the equation of time i can recommend that you read more about it at this website.

Girard-Perregaux 1966 Annual Calendar Equation Of Time

My sincere thanks to Kyle and James at Perpetuelle.com, Horomundi and Watchprosite.

The Salon International de Haute Horlogerie has started. A few weeks back i already posted about the SIHH and the first novelty that was revealed…. the Richard Lange Pour Les Merites. The last few days more brands share their new masterpieces. You can read about them and see them at many watchforum like Perpetuelle, a forum dedicated to the love for beautiful timepieces.

Here is a full list of all brands that will expose on the SIHH:

A. Lange & Sohne
Audemars Piguet
Baume & Mercier
Cartier
Dunhill
Girard Perregaux
IWC
Jaeger-LeCoultre
JeanRichard
Montblanc
Panerai
Parmigiani
Piaget
Ralph Lauren
Roger Dubuis
Vacheron Constantin
Van Cleef & Arpel

In the next week i will post about the most remarkeble new releases and of course my personal favorites. Let me start with a very watch with a very special moonphase, the . Besides a very clean and classy design this watch features a manufacture movement, the Piaget 860P. This mechanical self-winding movement with 72 hours of powerreserve is housed in a 46.5mm large white gold case.

In the Netherlands there are ten authorized dealer. One of them is Eugen van Baal in Nijmegen, who was so kind to host a Glashütte Original lunch during the European GTG in november last year.

Another remarkable beauty watch is the the Mont Blanc Grand Chronographe Régulateur of Mont Blanc’s Collection Villeret 1858.

The most eye-catching features on the new chronograph are the regulator dial with its small hour circle at 12 o’clock and a large central minute hand. These are complemented by a second time zone display, a day/night indicator, a combined power reserve / winding display, the continuously running seconds hand and the chronograph function with its single-button operation and a large centre chronograph hand.

The next days i will post about more beautiful new watches releaved during the SIHH.

Every year there are two main watch fairs where most brands shos their watches to their customers and the worldpress. One of those fairs is in Basel and all brands united in the Swatch Group and a lot of other (independent) brands expose their new products. The Salon International de Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) is the equivalent where the brands of the Richemont Group show their new products. The SIHH is very early this year so rumors already go around on the watch forums Continue reading “Close to SIHH” »