Text: Irina Ivanova A snow-white garden of various spring colors framed the huge futuristic structure of the new exhibition complex in Basel. Four pavilions of glass-metal construction placed on several floors multi-level stands of famous and not very jewelry and watch houses, demonstrating to the world the importance of companies and the overall picture in the industry.
The most prestigious halls were occupied by the Swatch Group, LVMH, PPR concerns and the largest of the independent ones: Breitling, Patek Philippe, Rolex, Ulysse Nardin, Corum, Chopard. The Bvlgari brand was also located here, and the Gucci booth was supplemented by “newcomers” who came from Geneva SIHH-Girard Perregaux and JeanRichard. Swatch, which occupied almost the entire first floor, celebrated its 30th anniversary - a colossal exposition was dedicated to this anniversary, including both a collection of the most interesting historical models and performances in the spirit of modern art. The scope of magnificence Of course, visiting this holiday of luxury caused me some thrill. You can grumble as much as you like about the paucity of presenting new products in terms of hourly thought and the numerous “facelifts” of last year’s collections, but you cannot help but admire this magnitude of magnificence. I would like to talk not about the main technical sensations of the exhibition, watches with fundamentally new descents, but to talk about art in which it is difficult to find something that once was not "said".
Apparently, remembering this, the Swiss company Bell & Ross, with the most "courageous" watches that cannot be confused with any others because of their specific appearance, decided to turn to the past, adding a more conservative model to its collection. The stainless steel case is framed by a classic and easy-to-read black or silver dial with patch numbers.
The rounded case and convex sapphire crystal are made in the 1940s style. years. The final touch adds an alligator strap with a contrasting color. The Vintage WW1 Régulateur watch, which conceals a Dubois Dépraz movement in a 42 mm rose gold case, represents a modification of the original Bell & Ross Vintage WW1 watch. This watch with an exceptionally elegant classic design stands out sharply by the location of the hands. The hour, minute and second hands rotate on their own axes located on a straight line passing from the “12” mark to six hours. In addition, Bell & Ross released a series of sports watches in Vintage style, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Falcon. And of course, it was not without a favorite motive: at the exhibition, the company presented 6 new “aviation” models created in partnership with Dassault Aviation.
The companies assembled under the roof of the Palace pavilion, a place for the most interesting young representatives, one of whom was Konstantin Chaykin and his brand of the same name, pleased the company with its unbroken design decisions. This stand, all days, including the last one, was crowded with visitors who came to stare at the "live horse" of the Cinema model - a tribute to the old cinema attraction, invented in 1879 by Eadvird Maybridge.
A series of 12 quickly changing pictures creates the effect of movement. The appearance of the Cinema watch recalls the images of old cinema and cameras. No less interesting are the previous collections of Chaikin, each model is unique and unusual in its own way.
Other watches that attract attention with their extravagance are the very creative manufacturer ArtyA, which relies on the original appearance of the device, and not on the complexity of the mechanism. For example, the ArtyA Son of Sound wristwatch is made in the shape of the head of a guitar neck, and parts in the form of guitar pegs are used to manufacture and control the watch.
The front panel with a pair of retrograde dials and strings is also unusual. The Son of a Gun watch with bullets was also a participant in the Basel exhibition: the model is designed to protect its owner from the attack of werewolves and other evil spirits.
Unusual watches introduced by the Swedish brand Gustafsson & Sjögren. A unique combination of metallurgy traditions in northern Scandinavia and Sweden was embodied in a new line of Damascus steel watches called Nordic Seasons. For their creation, as well as for the production of all previous Gustafsson & Sjögren models, forged damask steel is used. A case, a dial with an abstract pattern, and a watch crown are made of it. The arrow on the power reserve indicator is stylized as a knife blade. All seasons are represented in this line: yellow spring, red summer, violet-blue autumn and cold blue winter. No matter how romantic the names may sound, this watch goes well with damask blades. And they look very courageous, without any ostentatious vulgarity.
Women are also loved here. The Hermes brand impressed with its grand stand: it was created by the famous Japanese conceptual architect Toyo Ito, who received the Pritzker Prize this year.
The framing of a two-story building with an area of 1040 square meters. m was made of wooden slats, between which branches and leaves of various plants made their way. Despite its scope, Hermès refined openwork design reflects the main quality of the brand, which makes it the embodiment of the par excellence suite - freedom from everything screaming. So in the clock.
Hermès continued to work with its flagship model Arceau Le Temps Suspendu, which in 2011 took the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve for the best men's watch.
Their creator, the famous watchmaker JeanMark Wiederrecht, this year developed a new modification, this time for women, with a diameter of 38 mm.
Chanel House celebrates the 10th anniversary of its legendary white ceramic J12 watch, presented by renowned art director Jacques Elle in 2003, a year after the black version.
In honor of the anniversary, the J12 White Phantom collection was released. The result was a conceptual embodiment of the idea of an absolutely white color, perfect and immaculate.
In addition to J12, Chanel introduced jewelry watches and the métiers d'art model, that is, in traditional virtuoso craft techniques. For the second year now, the métiers d'art collection has been built around the Chinese lacquer screens of Coromandel, which Mademoiselle Chanel collected and which still adorn her apartment on Cambon Street. Every year, a classic storyline of Chinese lacquer screens is taken: last year it was a bird, and this is where landscapes unfold on the dials of Mademoiselle Privé Décor Coromandel watches: fancifully curved trees hanging over the water, a boat with a boatman figure, a fisherman throwing nets - and that’s all This is one of the best modern enamels Anita Porsche made with the help of hot enamel Grand Feu, applied over the engraving, and microparticles of gold. And around these wonderful miniatures - a case lined with diamonds.
Fabergé House interpreted the theme of Russian ballet by presenting a highly jewelry collection of Les Danses Fantasques jewelry. Fabergé creative director Katarina Flor and her team expressed the grace of the dance and its rich drawing in several sets, as well as in separate, independent decorations.
La Esmeralda necklace, earrings and ring are inspired by the romantic ballet of the same name by choreographer Marius Petipa. The openwork pattern from the diamond scattering reminds choreographic arabesques, but its lightness is balanced by drops-accents of emeralds, and two slender rows of emerald beads. Earrings are especially good in this line: their lace pattern is designed so that it closes almost half of the female ear very beautifully, falling down a waterfall of trembling pendants made of teardrop-shaped diamonds and beads of emeralds.
By the way, not so long ago, Faberge House became part of Gemfields, one of the largest producers of colored gemstones in the world: emeralds and amethysts in Mozambique, as well as rubies in Sri Lanka. So there is no doubt about the quality of the stones used in the collections. Faberge shows placers of colored precious and semiprecious stones in the “bold” rings of Emotion Rings. The jewelry brand was inspired by the picturesque beauty of Russian mountains and rivers to create an “emotional” series. The collection is made of pink diamonds, emeralds, purple sapphires and turquoise tourmaline.
