5 biggest timepiece moments in May 2023: from Roger Federer’s Rolex Perpetual 1908 and Eileen Gu’s IWCs at the Met Gala, to King Charles’ flashy pre-coronation Parmigiani Fleurier
There was plenty to keep up with in the world of luxury watches during the month of May.
High horology sparkled at the Met Gala and during the coronation of King Charles, while makers continue to push the boundaries of watch making with ever more daring case designs and materials like titanium.
Meanwhile, Patek Philippe and Rolex look to add two more entries to their expansive inventory of watches among the most expensive ever sold, and Audemars Piguet and Bremont gets new management.
Read on for all of May’s big watch moments.
1. High horology is the star on red carpets and at coronations
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The 18-carat gold Toric Chronograph is notable for being an early piece by the house launched in 1996, and has made appearances at important junctures of Charles’ life, most recently on the day of his son Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding and while mourning the death of his mother the late Queen Elizabeth.
2. Not your average watch – releases get playful with new case designs, new materials, anniversaries and more …
Franck Muller has had a busy few months. It held the 33rd annual edition of its World Presentation of Haute Horlogerie (WPHH) in April, showcasing the year’s best new models from the brand. However, the maison gave its Asia fans a special treat as the house followed it up by launching its new office and service centre in Hong Kong this month, along with the regionally exclusive Damas and Damas Racing pieces under its Vanguard collection. The tonneau case is built using extremely pure and shock-resistant Damascus steel, while the Racing version goes the extra mile with a skeletonised face with a seconds dial in the centre.
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Other brands seemingly followed the saying, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. In Germany, Nomos Glashütte celebrates 175 years by announcing limited-edition variations of the classically dressy and Bauhaus-inspired Orion Neomatik in 36mm, 39mm and 41mm versions with sub-seconds, each limited to 175 beautiful pieces with silver dials and blue-steel hands.
Nomos only adds a date display to the larger 41mm version, at three o’ clock.
3. Brands are all about titanium, titanium, titanium
High horology continues to ride the wave of titanium releases after Rolex unveiled a Yacht-Master and IWC reprised the Gerald Genta-designed Ingenieur to name just two pieces with the material at Watches and Wonders.
Roger Dubuis adds to its extravagant Excalibur flagship line with a new Monobalancier in all-titanium with skeleton dial. For the brand, it seems like a comparatively conservative piece, but every part of this release particularly has been finished to Poinçon de Genève standards, which requires every component – from case to bridge, to indices, to hands – to be hand-finished.
Thousands of miles away, Seiko released four new solar-powered titanium editions of the Astron, known for being the first quartz watch ever produced in 1969 that kick-started the quartz crisis. All four pieces are powered by the sun and use GPS to adjust time zones.
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4. The highest horology still demands the highest of value
Patek Philippe and Rolex look to bolster the houses’ already considerable presence among the most expensive watches ever sold. Regarding the former, Sotheby’s announced that the Pink on Pink reference 1518 – one of only 15 known to exist – with a salmon dial and rose gold case, is slated to be auctioned in June for an estimated US$2.5 million to US$4.5 million.
5. Audemars Piguet and Bremont get new management
Resta looks to continue Bennahmias’ work, whose time at the company saw Audemars Piguet’s firm stride into the limelight as a leader in high horology today, thanks in part to the resurrection of the Royal Oak line and the launch of the Code 11.59 collection that serves as the brand’s experimental and high complication watch line.
A coronation tiara took the crowning glory, selling for US$1 million
Across the English channel, Bremont named Davide Cerrato as its new CEO earlier this month. Cerrato, who has also worked at Montblanc and Panerai, is perhaps best known for being the head of marketing, design and product development at Tudor and being one of the primary minds behind the relaunch and success of the Black Bay watch in 2012.
His tenure at Bremont is off to a strong start, with the Bremont Avro V-1 Vulcan chronograph releasing soon after the Cerrato announcement. The caseback is engraved with a silhouette of its namesake Cold War-era bomber along with a Royal Air Force heraldic badge.
- It’s been a busy month for watches this May, with the Met Gala stealing the show with Nick Jonas’ Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, Jackson Wang’s Cartier Tank to Simu Liu’s Vacheron Constantin
- Hublot worked with Nespresso to release a Big Bang Unico made with recycled coffee capsules; Audemars Piguet announced its new CEO Ilaria Resta, starting in 2024; and Davide Cerrato will head Bremont