WITH THEIR UNUSUAL WAYS OF SHOWING THE HOURS, MINUTES AND SECONDS, THESE TIME-ONLY WATCHES ARE ANYTHING BUT BASIC.
KEEP THEM SEPARATED
Instead of combining the hours, minutes and seconds on the same axis, a regulator dial displays each of them on different subdials. In times past, watchmakers used to refer to regulator clocks when adjusting their own creations, because their separate hands made it easier to read time more precisely. Housed in a 40mm red gold case, the automatic Chronoswiss Flying Regulator features a central minutes hand and shows the hours and seconds on two subdials.
THAT’S ODD
The original Freak by Ulysse Nardin debuted in 2001, and the model’s latest iterations remain as distinctive today. One of the most recent additions to the collection, the Freak Vision in platinum (case middle) and titanium (bezel and caseback) features the model’s signature baguette movement – a flying carrousel that doubles as a minute hand (the longer end of this rotating structure points at the minutes). The hour is indicated by a broad arrow on the dial of this 45mm automatic timepiece.
FREE TO ROAM
An unusual wanderinghours mechanism takes centre stage in the Hautlence Vagabonde Cortina (39 x 46 x 12mm), a red-gold fivepiece edition created by the Neuchatelbased brand together with the local finewatch retailer. Set against an engraved silvered dial, a set of rotating discs work in tandem to show the time: At the centre is a sapphire crystal minutes disc, beneath which lie three skeletonised hour discs. At any given time, only the correct hour – in this instance, 12 – will appear in gold. A small horizontal marker next to this hour numeral simultaneously points at the exact minute on the central minutes disc.
GOING DIGITAL
This year, the Zeitwerk by A. Lange & Sohne marks its 10th anniversary, a decade after it first made a splash on the horological scene with its unusual digital time display. It’s not just unusual because of the way it shows time via displayed digits rather than hands – what makes the Zeitwerk special is its digital watchlike horizontal layout, as well as the fact that both the hour and minute digits jump precisely, rather than creep. Shown here is the Zeitwerk Striking Time in pink gold, a 44.2mm hand-wound model that can also chime the quarters and hours.
GOOD SPORT
At first glance, you might think that the numeral within the circular window of the Bulgari Gran Sport is the date. But that’s actually the hour display on this black DLC-treated steel timepiece, created in partnership with Maserati. This 41.5mm automatic timepiece sees Bulgari give the jumping hours and retrograde minutes display a sporty new twist: The arc on the left of the watch actually shows the minutes, in units of 10 – an aesthetic nod to a Maserati RPM indicator.
IN THE FLOW
Since its launch in 2012, HYT has offered a unique proposition: telling time with coloured fluids. Housed in a sapphire crystal and titanium case measuring a sizeable 48mm, the manualwinding H0 Silver features a relatively strippeddown (for HYT) aesthetic. Pumped by a set of bellows – which are visible through two cut-outs at the bottom of the dial – the blue fluid encircling the dial marks the hours (here, the blue fluid stops at 12, indicating the time). More familiarly, the big subdial at 12 o’clock shows the minutes, while the smaller subdial at nine o’clock indicates the seconds.
BROAD VIEW
For the UR-111C, Urwerk sought inspiration from a 2009 creation, the UR-CC1 “King Cobra”, which features a linear time display. Shown here in a brushedsteel finish (“Iron”), the UR-111C – which is designed to be viewed from the side, like a driving watch – has three rounded sapphirecrystal windows: The one on the left shows the jumping hours, while the oblong central window and smaller window on the right both display the minutes. (The central window indicates the minutes via a slanting yellow line that moves.)
PHOTOGRAPHY ANGELA GUO ART DIRECTION DENISE REI LOW
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