A DASH OF SUMMER

Green and pink watches to add some bright colour on your wrist

GREEN MOMENTS

Not as common as a white or blue dial, green is having a moment among watch collectors. Here are some prime examples.

Jaquet Droz Tropical Bird Repeater

If there is ever one watch that will make you sit up and take notice, this is it. Jaquet Droz has always been known for its fine craftsmanship and nowhere is this more evident than in the three-dimensional Tropical Bird Repeater. The only one of its kind in the world, the watch is a triumph in design and ingenuity, featuring handcarved and hand-engraved hummingbirds and bright orange birds of paradise as well as other birds and creatures that move at precise timings. This one would be a centrepiece for every collector.

Richard Mille Automatic Sucette

Not a fully green dial, but this watch is an interesting and playful take on green, from the brand’s new Bonbon collection, a set of 10 watches that are divided between the Sweets and Fruits. The Automatic Sucette (lollipop) is in the Sweets category along with Automatic Marshmallow and Cupcake. In the Fruits are Kiwi, Citron and Fraise.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver

This brand certainly comes up with eye-catching hues for its diver’s watch. We love this military khaki green version from last year. It’s stainless steel, 42 mm and stays watertight up to 300 metres. Not only is it useful, it’s tough too!

Rolex Day Date 36 in green and gold

Green and gold are such an eye-catching combination, no? Especially in this watch, which exudes vintage 1970s chic. The result is a gem of a timepiece that is flashy enough to be noticed but subtle enough not to make too much fuss of the attention.

H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Flying Hours Cosmic Green

Talk about being noticed! This beautiful watch, in white gold and brilliant green is equipped with three discs for the hours and a central sapphire disc for the minutes, complimented by a black alligator strap. Produced in a limited edition of 100 pieces.

SALMON SURPRISES

Just to be clear, salmon pink dials are not entirely unknown, though they were only ever noticed by collectors or watch afficionados. The sudden surge in popularity may be due to Pantone naming coral as the colour of the year. Here are some examples of this refreshing hue.

Czapek Faubourg de Cracovie “Salmon Series”

Reportedly, this series came about because a collector requested a bespoke piece with a salmon guilloche dial, with blue hands and numerals. The result is a series of watches with intriguing names named after species of yes, salmon: Chinook, Coho, Sockeye ( below left) and King. The guilloche pattern of the dial is hand-engraved and called “Résonance” and derived from the pattern of an earlier collection. The watches in the series are powered by the proprietary Czapek SXH3 calibre.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15202BC Salmon

Launched during SIHH 2019, the salmon dial variant of the popular collection is a refreshing update. The new model has an ultra-thin case with the watch encased in white gold, which is a great complement to the pink gold dial called “Petite Tapisserie”. The timepice is fitted with the iconic Calibre 2121. A must-have for collectors, there are only 700 pieces of this watch made.

Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire

This timepiece’s DNA can be traced back to tower clocks, which needed long power reserves to reduce frequent winding. The answer to that for this watch’s complication has a small spring that rewinds and unwinds regularly, providing constant force to power the mechanism, similar to the long power reserves that tower clocks have; tower clocks being the inspiration for this timepiece. Aside from the dial and complication, we particularly love the finishing of this piece, which look deceptively simple but is intricate in its own right. The watch is available in red gold and white gold.