NEW WATCHES

TAG HEUER MONACO BAMFORD

George Bamford has been customising luxury watches in his own unique rock ’n’ roll style since 2003 – creating special editions for clients who want a more personalised take on classic models. On the Bamford website, you can ‘build your own’ version by adding coloured minute-markers, hands, and even dial coatings. Last year, Bamford was officially welcomed into the LVMH fold: TAG Heuer’s CEO, Jean-Claude Biver, signed him up as the marque’s official customisation partner. The fruit of this union is this black Monaco with featherweight carbon case and aqua-blue highlights, Bamford’s signature colour.

GYROGRAFF DRIVE 48MM

The dials on three new GyroGraffs suggest that the wearer is ‘driving time’ by featuring two hands on a steering wheel, so it’s like looking into an arty, horological version of Gran Turismo. These automotive-inspired dials – which show the inside of a classic car, contemporary motor or F1 racer – take over 50 hours to create via micro-painting and Grand Feu enamelling, in which enamel powder is fired layer by layer in a kiln at soaring temperatures to achieve a rich patina and pattern. The GyroGraffs house intricate features: a three-dimensional moonphase indicator and a double-axis tourbillon.

BLANCPAIN VILLERET QUANTIÈME COMPLET

Blancpain is expert at ensuring that highly sophisticated complications are subtly displayed and easy to read, and, despite its restrained appearance, this watch does a hell of a lot. There’s a complete calendar with GMT function, date window and moonphase, while its in-house movement is also supremely anti-magnetic and precise thanks to the inclusion of a new silicon balance spring. Most ingenious are the tiny under-lug correctors that can be pushed with a fingertip to alter the watch’s indications – a smart innovation that dispenses with the finicky tool that is usually required to make such adjustments