The Ones to Watch

The novelties from this year point to a recovering luxury watch industry. Here are the highlights from Watches and Wonders and beyond

BULGARI OCTO FINISSIMO ULTRA

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the current generation of Bulgari’s Octo line. The collection is arguably best known as Bulgari’s platform for showcasing

A LANGE & SÖHNE ODYSSEUS

Before the Odysseus was unveiled in late 2019, A Lange & Söhne’s regular production timepieces had only been offered in precious metals. The steel‑clad Odysseus was thus a paradigm shift for the brand—which the latest reference in titanium has taken even further. This new watch is A Lange & Söhne’s first timepiece in titanium, with both its case and bracelet rendered in the metal. Visually, the titanium surfaces are a departure from the familiar grey of steel in terms of hue. The dead giveaway, however, is the new ice blue dial, which also sports a new set of decorative ultra‑thin watchmaking and the brand didn’t disappoint—with the Octo Finissimo Ultra, yet another world record in thinness has been broken. At 1.8 mm high, this timepiece is now the world’s thinnest finishes. On the wrist, the titanium construction lends an almost unnatural lightness to the watch for unparalleled comfort. There are only 250 pieces of this limited‑edition timepiece. watch and, for all intents and purposes, the same thickness as Singapore’s 20‑cent coin. The Octo Finissimo Ultra is the perfect bookend to Bulgari’s first decade with the new Octo, but also points to the brand’s culture of

GRAND SEIKO KODO

Since becoming its own entity in 2018, Grand Seiko has made great strides into the world of luxury watchmaking outside of Japan. Recent timepieces themed on Japan’s natural scenery is one such example, with the brand capturing the international market’s attention (and innovation. Note how the barrel’s ratchet wheel has been engraved with a QR code, which grants access to the NFT that accompanies each watch. This is a limited edition, by the way, just 10 pieces are available worldwide.

spending) by appealing to a broad range of tastes. On the other hand, the Kodo, which means “heartbeat” in Japanese, shown here is a technical tour de force that demonstrates Grand Seiko’s expertise. This timepiece sees the constant force mechanism and the tourbillon combined into a single composite device while sharing a common axis—the latter a world’s first in watchmaking—to create even greater chronometric stability. The fringe benefit is the regularity of the Kodo’s sound, much like the heartbeat it alludes to, as the constant force mechanism’s impulse every second matches the eight‑times‑a‑second ticking of the escapement.