The top trends and timepieces on display at leading global watch fair Baselworld 2018

FROM OLD FACES TO NEW HANDS, WE’VE SEEN IT ALL AT THE ANNUAL MEGA WATCHMAKING EXHIBITION

BASELWORLD IS BY far the single biggest luxury watch fair in the world. Every March, a motley mix of established industry heavyweights and emerging niche brands come together to showcase their novelties. We’ve sifted through hundreds of watches from dozens of brands to present the definitive guide to this year’s leading trends and coolest watches.

Suit up, Son

If you were rocking a fitted three- piece suit from an Italian master tailor, you’d be a long way off the mark to slap a nylon- strapped digital watch on your wrist. What you need is a proper dress watch. Baselworld had its fair share of these timepieces, but one that stood out from the crowd was the Breguet Classique tourbillon Extra- plat

Automatique 5367. An 18k rose gold case, fluted caseband, a grand feu enamel dial and those leather straps are all selling points. The dealmaker though is that ultrathin tourbillon that lifts this timepiece into the realm of mythical watches. Another dress watch that caught our attention at Basel is the patek philippe Golden Ellipse

Ref 5738R. With its elongated black dial and applied gold indices, it’s a black- tie watch we all really need.

Carbon fury

Carbon has always been a favourite muse among watchmakers. This year though, they’re taking it to the next level. The Hublot big bang MP-11 in

3D carbon sourced its polymer matrix composite reinforced by a 3- d carbon weave from none other than the US military. That makes for a tough- as- nails and very light ( it weighs only 90 grams, including the strap) timepiece that can take everything you throw its way, including the kitchen sink. Then there’s the bulgari octo finissimo Minute repeater Carbon that shuns gold, titanium or platinum traditionally used for the cases of minute repeaters, and trades it in instead for some blacked- out carbon magic instead. The result is a devastatingly handsome timepiece which, might we add, is the thinnest minute repeater in the world too.

Paint tHe town blue anD green

The colours of the season were blue and green. Making the case for blue were timepieces like the omega Seamaster 300M and the grand Seiko Calibre 9S

20th anniversary ref SbgH267. However, a more unconventional choice, green, saw several takers this year. Waving the flag for camp green was H. Moser &

Cie’s endeavour perpetual Calendar Purity Cosmic green that famously doesn’t have the brand’s name on the dial and the glashütte original Sixties collection that doesn’t just make green look like the hottest colour of the season but also reminds us that German fine watchmaking can certainly hold its own when it comes to its Swiss counterparts.

olD- SCHool Cool

Throwback timepieces are nearly always a hit because they riff off tried- and- vetted concepts that have a dedicated fan base. Case in point: The ‘ Pepsi bezel’ on the tudor black bay

gMt might remind you of the brand’s sibling – Rolex. While the look of the Black Bay GMT’s is that of a robust Fifties dive watch, there’s nothing midcentury about its mechanics. Tudor has gone to great lengths to “own” this timepiece, as you will notice from the snowflake hand that indicates the second time zone. The automaticwinding COSC certified chronometer features the Manufacture Calibre MT 6552 and has a 70- hour power reserve.