Latest news with #RaúlPagès
Hype Malaysia
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hype Malaysia
2 New Drops From Massensa Lab & MB&F Are Giving Next-Level Luxury
Just when we thought we'd seen it all in the world of watches, two new timepieces turn our heads. From an artistic creation with levitating components, to a piece born of a stellar collaboration – here are two new drops you need to get on your wrist now! MB&F SP One MB&F has unveiled SP One, the inaugural release in its newly introduced 'Special Projects' collection. As the brand nears its 20th anniversary, it reflects on its unconventional approach — driven purely by creativity rather than business plans or market research. This philosophy has inspired the independent watch brand to revisit past sketches, turning unrealised intuitions into boundary-pushing timepieces. Somewhere between its Horological Machines and Legacy Machines, the SP One embraces an undefinable aesthetic. It highlights three levitating elements spanning the barrel, balance wheel and dials, all of which appear to 'float' within the case. Encased in a 38mm pebble-like case, the SP One exudes understated elegance with a bezel-free design and detached lugs. Despite being MB&F's slimmest and smallest timepiece to date, the watch stays true to the brand's three-dimensional architecture and visionary craftsmanship. Its in-house movement is built around the fundamental components of a mechanical watch, featuring a signature balance wheel at 2 o'clock, a tilted dial showcasing that brand's expertise in conical gearing, as well as a manual-winding suspended barrel that delivers an impressive 72-hour power reserve. Sapphire crystals on both the front and back further enhance the illusion of levitation, making the movement appear to float within its intricately crafted framework. Available in two versions, one in 18k rose gold with an anthracite flange and a platinum variant with a sky-blue flange, both are available for US$76,000 (~RM323,038) and US$82,000 (~RM348,541), respectively. If you'd like to cop your own watch, then visit MB&F's official website. Massena LAB x Raúl Pagès Noctograph Massena LAB and independent watchmaker Raúl Pagès, who also won the first LVMH Watch Prize, have collaborated on a limited-edition Noctograph for the third time. The Noctograph, which is synonymous with the pair's priceless partnerships, has a 38.5mm case diameter that is both thin and functional. It features a simple and eye-catching dial design in a two-tone colour scheme and is housed in stainless steel. The dial's mainplate has a vertically brushed finish and is delivered in a soothing midnight blue. The dial is surrounded by a rhodium-plated chapter ring with a radial-brushed finish and a black railway track that indicates the hours and minutes without appearing cluttered. A tonal small seconds display at six o'clock, leaf-shaped hands, and a delicate Massena signature complete the dial. The M660 movement, a Swiss-made calibre with a 60-hour power reserve, is the central component of the watch. The sapphire open caseback displays the calibre, allowing the hand-chamfered plates and bridges, as well as the Côtes de Genève finishing, to be fully appreciated. The watchmaker's tortoise-shaped signature, Poinçon Pagès, also gives the complex mechanisms a distinctive look. There are only 99 units of the Massena LAB x Raúl Pagès Noctograph globally. You can save yourself a unit by pre-ordering now at Massena LAB's official website for US$2,500 (~RM10,626).
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The 8 Coolest New Watches That Dropped in April
This month was largely dominated by the massive wave of timepieces to drop at Watches & Wonders, the world's largest watch fair. But there were plenty of other releases of note that followed. Audemars Piguet dropped some striking navy ceramic watches inspired by the 'Blue Nuit, Nuage 50' hue of the original Royal Oak dial (it's a trend we saw elsewhere…also launched this month were a series of blue ceramic Chanel timepieces in a more matte iteration). Breguet stunned with a wristwatch version of one of its earliest souscription timepieces dating back two centuries. William Massena LAB x Raúl Pagès executed a beautifully done minimalist timepiece combining modern and traditional elements (also punctuated by a deep midnight blue). And Richard Mille was back at it with its colorful sapphire crystal game. Let's dive into what followed the flood of timepieces earlier this month. More from Robb Report How This N.Y.C. Pizza Joint Became a Clubhouse for a New Breed of Watch Collector Inside Miami Music Exec Lex Borrero's Unconventional Watch Collection Tiffany & Co. Debuts High Jewelry with a $3.5 Million Diamond Ring, Insane Rubies, and Rare Paraìbas Best of Robb Report The 25 Greatest Independent Watchmakers in the World The 10 Most Expensive Watches Sold at Auction in the 21st Century (So Far) 11 Stunning Jewelry Moments From the 2020 Oscars Click here to read the full article. Launched last year in red gold, this new Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Automatique in 42 mm now comes in polished stainless steel. The model is a tribute to the original Fifty Fathoms dive watch—the company's most recognizable timekeeper—and houses an automatic caliber 1315 movement with a 5-day power reserve topped off with a sunburst black dial. Offered on a steel bracelet, NATO strap, or tropic rubber strap with a pin buckle or deployant clasp, this is a non-limited model that will now be part of the brand's permanent collection. BUY NOW: $15,500-$18,000 This marks the third collaboration between Massena LAB, founded by horological expert William Massena, and Raúl Pagès, an independent Swiss watchmaker. Its ultra-minimalist, sleek look follows a similar vibe to the RP2 watch released by Pagès in March. Here, however, you have a similar aesthetic but infused with classic and historical influences brought to the timepiece by Massena. A midnight blue mainplate is the striking centerpiece. It is vertically brushed and changes color depending on the light from deep blue to petrol to slate. Surrounding it is a radially-brushed, rhodium-plated chapter ring with a black railroad track to mark the hours and minutes. The seconds are located at 6 o'clock, which sits slightly below the main dial for a touch of added depth. Behind the well-balanced dial is the Swiss-made, hand-finished manual-winding caliber M660 with a power reserve of 60 hours. The movement is decorated with Côtes de Genève finishing on the broad plate and hand-chamfered plates and bridges. The 38.5 mm stainless steel timepiece, accented with an Italian leather dove gray strap is limited to just 99 pieces and with this much crafstmanship under $10,000 it will be quite a steal. BUY NOW: $8,875 Last year, Zenith released the ultra-desirable 38 mm Chronomaster Original Triple Calendar during LVMH watch week in Miami. The steel versions were good look and a great remind of why the El Primero will always be one of watchmaking's legendary movements. Now it comes in a new rose gold version and we'd argue you could easily be convinced to get one of each. And while you may know that the El Primero later powered Ebel and Rolex models that helped relaunch the renaissance of mechanical watches, you might be surprised to know that this was one of the earliest models that movement was used for at the Zenith manufacture. And because you probably won't get your hands on one of the 25 prototypes developed as early as 1970 with the El Primero's A386 movement, you'll likely be just as happy with the modern version equipped with the updated 3160 caliber which has a true 1/10th of a second timing function and 60 hours of power reserve. BUY NOW: $26,300 Inspired by the 'Blue Nuit, Nuage 50' hue of the original Royal Oak's dial from 1972, Audemars Piguet developed a special ceramic using a PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) to mimic the color and obtain its consistency throughout. The brand released three models using the rich hue: a 41 mm Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked, a 43 mm Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph in a two-tone design, and this all-blue 42 mm Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph. We prefer the latter for its high-impact, but comparatively toned-down look. It's powered by the caliber 4404, which boasts an integrated selfwinding chronograph with a column wheel and flyback function. A bonus: You can see the column wheel in action through the sapphire crystal caseback. BUY NOW: $86,900 Richard Mille is nothing if not colorful and high tech. At the end of last year, the company dropped four new brightly-hued RM-07 sapphire crystal watches in electric lime green variations, fuchsia, and lilac. They're back at it this year with more 'toned down' colors for a trio of RM 75-01 sapphire timepieces with flying tourbillons. There are two combining clear and colored sapphired crystal in baby blue on a white rubber strap and purple on a pink leather strap (limited to 10 in each color) and a clear sapphire crystal version on a mint green leather strap (limited to 15). Aside from its obviously complicated interior mechanics which operate on 65 hours of power reserve, each case requires over 1,000 hours to extract its structure from a block of the material weighing roughly 132 pounds and another 40 days of 'grinding around the clock' according to the company. You might not be able to read the time, but one almost doesn't care with these funky works of art. BUY NOW: Price Upon Request To celebrate its 250th anniversary this year, Breguet is returning to purity with this beautifully executed new 40 mm timepiece. It features a clean white enamel dial with time displayed by a single blued Breguet hand and Arabic numerals. Two centuries ago it was debuted by the godfather of watchmaking, Abraham-Louis Breguet as a pocket watch. Dating to 1797, the pocket watch was one of the earliest Souscription watches from the man who invented the concept now used by modern watchmakers like F.P. Journe and many other independents like him. As much an engineer and an artist as he was a businessman, Breguet created the idea of requiring customers to put a deposit on a watch, which enabled him to buy the supplies needed to make the timepiece without taking on so much risk. The movement is classic Breguet and directly inspired by the original pocket watch. But the VS00 gilded brass caliber is entirely new. Furthermore, it comes with a newly developed guilloche technique called Quai de l'Horloge after Breguet's original manufacture in Paris. The caliber, beating at 3Hz, offers four days of power reserve from a single barrel. Monsieur Breguet would, no doubt, be thrilled. BUY NOW: $48,700 Girard-Perregaux is coming to the table this month with two new gemset Laureato models—one with a white diamond bezel and another with a gradient of diamonds and blue sapphires. Both are cool in tone-on-tone silver—each 38 mm watch is set in steel with a rhodium-plated Clous de Paris-decorated dial. Our favorite is set with 10 brilliant-cut white diamonds and 46 brilliant-cut sapphires. Beneath, the watches are equipped with a self-winding mechanical movement with 46 hours of power reserve. BUY NOW: $20,100 Elevating its watchmaking game, Tiffany & Co. released its first flying tourbillon last year, but its expertise remains in jewelry. Earlier this year, CEO Anthony Ledru told Robb Report jewels will always be its first order of business. Surrounding the flying tourbillon is a perfect example of the house's expertise. The multi-layered dial is crafted from champlevé enamel with 3D appliqué lacquered flowers in Tiffany blue. The hour and minutes dial is offset between 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock and decked in diamond. Meanwhile, naturally, the company's diamond-set avian mascot sits perched atop the tourbillon. More diamonds accent the case, lugs, and crown. Flip it over and even the bridges of the movement have been set with diamonds, while the tourbillon is topped off with a sapphire. Its caliber AFT24T01 is made in Switzerland. The hand-wound movement offers a power reserve of 50 hours. Set in an 18-karat gold case, at 39 mm it's not necessarily relegated to the ladies.
Forbes
29-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Louis Vuitton Seeks Entries To Watch Prize For Independent Creatives
A watchmaker at work at Louis Vuitton's watchmaking division, La Fabrique du Temps. One of the most fascinating developments in the world of watchmaking over the past years has been the rise of independent watchmakers. Some are superfan collectors who one day decide to design their own watch, and it turns out to be a masterpiece. Others are brilliant master watchmakers who long toil for other brands and one day strike out on their own to prove their mettle. Either way, they have helped shape the industry, transforming what can sometimes be a staid, traditional world into one of refreshing design directions and otherworldly feats of watchmaking. Louis Vuitton's watchmaking division, headed by Jean Arnault, has picked up on this phenomenon, and not only teamed up (twice now) with independent watchmakers on collaborative limited editions, but holds a biennial design competition to bring recognition to these superstar upstarts of watchmaking. Louis Vuitton's Watch Prize For Independent Creatives includes a €150,000 award. The Louis Vuitton Watch Prize For Independent Creatives is open to all independent watchmakers from around the world. All that is required is a mechanical timepiece (watch or time object) that has been marketed before the closing date of application, which is April 15. The evaluation criteria for judging includes: Design & Aesthetics / Creativity & Boldness / Details & Finishings / Complexity & Complications / Technical Innovation. The prize is a one-year gig at Louis Vuitton's watchmaking division, La Fabrique du Temps, and a financial award of €150,000 (about $162,000). The winner will be announced in early 2026. The five finalists will be announced in November of this year. Louis Vuitton's watchmaking division, La Fabrique du Temps in Geneva. The winner of the first competition, announced in 2024 at a ceremony in Paris, was Raúl Pagès, who won for his RP1 Régulateur à Détente watch, an impressive in-house caliber that brings a detent escapement – originally designed for clock-like marine chronometers for extra precision – to the wristwatch. Pagès, a former restorer of mechanical watch movements, crafts each of his watches by hand, including components and final decoration . His pieces, like those made by most independent watchmakers, are made in very small quantities, and quickly become collector's items. The Louis Vuitton Watch Prize For Independent Creatives.
