Patek Philippe, Omega &amp; Montblanc bring back the best in fine watchmaking epitomising quiet elegance with the refined small seconds dial reprise and more.&nbsp;

CALATRAVA &ldquo;CLOUS DE PARIS&rdquo; REFS. 6119R-001 &amp; 6119G-001 BY PATEK PHILIPPE
Springing a surprise at its inaugural participation in Watches and Wonders Geneva this April, Patek Philippe unveiled a trove of technical and aesthetic debuts, among which was the iconic Calatrava&mdash;one of the manufacture&rsquo;s most important classics&mdash;resolutely bearing the comeback of the &ldquo;Clous de Paris&rdquo; bezel in a contemporary design along with a new manually wound movement.
Birthed in 1932 as the Ref. 96 (the manufacture&rsquo;s first model with a reference number), the Calatrava&rsquo;s illustrious trajectory included one highly acclaimed model series with a bezel decorated with a guilloched hobnail or &ldquo;Clous de Paris&rdquo; pattern&mdash;the most celebrated and coveted being the Ref. 3919 introduced in 1985 and produced for over two decades.
Established as the quintessence of the classic round wristwatch, the Calatrava&rsquo;s puristic design&mdash;which echoes Bauhaus minimalism of form following function&mdash;provides the inimitable counterpoint to the &ldquo;Clous de Paris&rdquo; pattern with its diamond-polished motif composed of small pyramid tips.
This year, the Calatrava &ldquo;Clous de Paris manifests once again with fresh impetus and endows two beneficiaries, Refs. 6119R-001 and 6119G-001, embodying and exhibiting the technical and design know-how of the Genevan manufacture, and the myriad of m&eacute;tiers and talents pursued in its ateliers.

Updated with a slender case of 39 mm diameter, at once modern and elegant, the Refs. 6119R-001 and 6119G-001 boast applied faceted &ldquo;obus&rdquo; markers in 18k gold (with double markers at 12 o&rsquo;clock) which reiterate the design vocabulary of early predecessors Refs. 96 (1932) and 96D (1934) and replace the black lacquered Roman numerals on a white background of newer predecessors Refs. 3919 (1985) and 5119 (2016).
Also mirroring the Ref. 96 are the legible three-faceted gold dauphine-style hour and minute hands, paired with a railway-track minute scale at the dial periphery. On the subsidiary subdial at 6 o&rsquo;clock, a slender &ldquo;cheveu&rdquo;-style seconds hand rotates around its four quarters.

Capping all that is the guilloched hobnail pattern on the round bezel which boasts a slightly wider chamfered profile as well as a thin, polished fillet that envelopes the box-form sapphire crystal. The strap lugs, inspired again by the Ref. 96 and the 1990s self-winding Calatrava models, are curved for a seamless and comfortable fit.
The two renditions: Ref. 6119R-001 is housed in rose gold case with a silvery grained dial, chocolate brown alligator strap, and rose gold applied hour markers, hands and prong buckle; while Ref. 6119G-001 features white gold, a charcoal grey dial with a vertical satin finish, snailed subsidiary seconds dial, black alligator strap, and white-gold applied hour markers, hands prong buckle.

Last but not least, a new Calatrava milestone is revealed with a brand-new manually wound movement: the caliber 30-255 PS&mdash;extremely slim at 2.55 mm with an inside case diameter of 30.4 mm&mdash;which performs a jump forward. Its 65-hour power reserve comes with a maximum deviation of -3/+2 seconds in 24 hours, satisfying the Patek Philippe Seal&rsquo;s strict rate accuracy. The stop seconds feature enables the time to be set with one-second accuracy by blocking the balance when the crown is pulled.
Something to delight mechanical fiends: the movement flaunts a special arrangement of two parallel mainspring barrels that relax together and engage with the central pinion in a super rare configuration. And in line with ancestral traditions, each wheel or every function has its own bridge, totalling six elegantly shaped bridges adorned with the manufacture&rsquo;s exacting finishing of Geneva striping as well as chamfered and polished edges.

DE VILLE TR&Eacute;SOR POWER RESERVE BY OMEGA
Simple and refined, Omega&rsquo;s De Ville Tr&eacute;sor is the brand&rsquo;s distinguished line and ultimate choice for the perfectly classic timepiece that endures. The &ldquo;Tr&eacute;sor&rdquo; name was first enlisted by Omega in 1949 to refer to the &ldquo;treasure&rdquo; found inside the watch&mdash;the legendary 30 mm calibre, the very embodiment of precision and streamlined, functional design.
Significantly, the slimness proved to be an absolute advantage that enabled Omega to craft a beautifully and superbly thin golden case for the original Tr&eacute;sor.

Hence, it comes as no surprise that the Tr&eacute;sor name has lived on in the ensuing decades, morphing into part of the elegant De Ville collection while retaining its trademark slim signature. Most importantly, it is powered by one of the Swiss manufacture&rsquo;s most advanced modern calibres that offers precision of an exceptional level, certified at the Master Chronometer standard.
Case-wise, the full Tr&eacute;sor collection will include watches of 40 mm in numerous materials, both precious metals and utilitarian stainless steel. The first launches featuring polished cases and bezels in either 18k yellow gold or 18k Sedna&trade; gold are complemented by leather straps with polished buckles, and sapphire crystal covering both sides of the timepiece.
Grey leather is the strap of choice for the yellow gold model which is paired with a domed crystal silvery dial, polished hands and applied domed indexes. The 18K Sedna&trade; gold model is matched with a burgundy leather strap with a domed burgundy lacquered dial, polished hands and applied domed indexes.

A throwback to the pre-centre seconds hands watchmaking era before the mid-20th century, 2021&rsquo;s De Ville Tr&eacute;sor Power Reserve bears a subdials update&mdash;its biggest and unequivocal highlight. A Small Seconds display at 6 o&rsquo;clock is showcased on all De Ville Tr&eacute;sor watches, while some flaunt an additional Power Reserve display at 12 o&rsquo;clock. To accommodate the unique positions of the two subdials, the Omega logo is relocated to 3 o&rsquo;clock.
A manual-winding OMEGA Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre, replete with a 5-year warranty, powers the De Ville Tr&eacute;sor, whose movements and full watches are emblematic of mechanical excellence&mdash;certified by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS) at the industry&rsquo;s highest standards of precision, performance and magnetic resistance.

MONTBLANC HERITAGE PYTHAGORE SMALL SECOND LIMITED EDITION 148 BY MONTBLANC
The legacy of Minerva has served as an endlessly rich source of inspiration for Montblanc&rsquo;s prolific watchmaking output. Not only did the Villeret manufacture make chronographs in the 1940s, it created movements such as the Minerva Pythagore calibre 48, designed by its one-time owner and watch engineer Andrey Frey&mdash;historical yet remarkably modern&mdash;which is now translated into a brand-new Manufacture movement, the Calibre MB M14.08, for this year&rsquo;s Montblanc Heritage Pythagore Small Second Limited Edition 148.

Frey took cues from the Pythagore to position the movement&rsquo;s bridges using mathematical proportions defined by the Golden Section (&phi; = 1.618...). The ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras studied the mathematics of natural beauty to recreate harmonious aesthetics. This backstory was channelled into the straight lines and geometrical angles defining not only the contemporary design of the zeitgeist then, and but was also referenced by Minerva watches for ages.

Montblanc engineers meticulously followed the Golden Section theorem in the development the Calibre MB M14.08. They first defined the movement diameter (14 lines) to contain a golden pentagon where a five-point branch star resulted from the intersection of golden triangles.
Then the movement&rsquo;s four bridges were positioned to be parallel to the section, while other dimensions were calculated to be multiples or fractions of the golden number &phi;, including the hand-finishes and decoration with vertical Geneva stripes highlighting the geometric design. Fun fact: the number 14 in the calibre&rsquo;s name refers to the diameter of the movement in lines, while 8 is part of the Golden Ratio-related Fibonacci sequence.

The Montblanc Heritage Pythagore Small Second Limited Edition 148 is housed in a fully polished 18k white or rose gold 39 mm case with faceted curved horns and a classic-feel sapphire crystal glass box. The distinctive blue and burnt caramel vintage-coloured dials recall 1940s and 1950s technical finishes: two-tone decoration, a domed-shape and lacquering. Decorated by a sunray decoration in the centre and a &ldquo;grain&eacute;&rdquo; finish on the hour ring, the new dial receives a Sfumato brown or blue colour gradation application, radiating from light to darker outwards, before being painted with multiple layers of translucent lacquer. The 148-piece limited edition, with matching-hued Sfumato alligator straps, is indubitably a proud revival of the historical Pythagore movement.

Classics Redux: The perfect remake of the enduring round watch

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