Salon QP: Katerina’s Favourite Timepieces from the Luxury Watch Exhibition

Saatchi Gallery in London hosted the annual exhibition of luxury watches Salon QP from 12-14 November. Spread over four floors of the building, the scope of the event was not any less impressive than that of the world-famous Baselworld exhibition.

A wide selection of Swiss, French and German watches was on display and it was not an easy task to select only 10 of them for this feature. Scrutinising timepieces that stood out the most, I paid attention to their aesthetics rather than the complications or elaborate movements – I decided to leave that to watch specialists. I sometimes think that watches have become a status symbol for modern men. No matter what a watch may mean to us, we like to admire beautiful objects, which I believe the watches and clocks, as well as accessories for their storage really are. Featured below are my favourite picks.

A. Lange & Sohne – Zeitwerk Minute Repeater

The unique feature of this platinum watch is that it uses three discs to show the hours and minutes in what looks like large date windows. Beneath this are two chiming hammers that strike out the time on demand – in hours, tens of minutes and minutes.

Laurent Ferrier – World Traveller

This new version of Laurent Ferrier’s dual Time Traveller watch has a wonderful decorative element – a two-tone map with black enamel. If you’re wondering what that window is at 9 o’clock, it shows the hours of your second time zone.

Pequignet – Rue Royale

This automatic rose-gold watch is equipped with Calibre Royal manufacture movement that symbolises a renaissance in manufacture-based French Haute Horlogerie.

Ferdinand Berthoud – Chronometer FB1

White gold and titanium watches limited to 50 pieces. Born of the initiative of Karl-Friedrich Shoefele, who acquired the name Chronometrie Ferdinand Berthoud in 2006, is a new brand that revived one of the oldest and most important names in watchmaking.

Arnold & Son – TB Tiger

This exquisite 18K rose gold fine quality watch was manufactured in-house. I was instantly attracted by its key feature – a hand-engraved appliqué of a tiger in solid 22ct rose-gold. A trinket box with starry sky from the 18th century inspired Marco Lang to design the colourful dial of this bright cobalt blue timepiece. The dial showcases the know-how of Lang&Heyne and can be customised. This classical beauty with aventurine glass dial surrounded with pavé of diamonds represents a special interpretation of CVDK rotating 3-dimensional real moon indicating the true moon phase. This red gold watch with mother-of-pearl dial and blue steel hands boasts manual winding mechanical movement with unique and patented time indication. You have to watch out for the number that is positioned in the right direction and has a dot next to it to tell the time. It displays the time around the world against the globe’s longitude markings, which makes this, perhaps, the ultimate traveller’s watch.

Lang & Heyne – Johann-Champlevé

A trinket box with starry sky from the 18th century inspired Marco Lang to design the colourful dial of this bright cobalt blue timepiece. The dial showcases the know-how of Lang&Heyne and can be customised.

Christian Van Der Klaauw – CVDK Real Moon Joure

This classical beauty with aventurine glass dial surrounded with pavé of diamonds represents a special interpretation of CVDK rotating 3-dimensional real moon indicating the true moon phase.

Ludovic Ballouard – Upside Down

This red gold watch with mother-of-pearl dial and blue steel hands boasts manual winding mechanical movement with unique and patented time indication. You have to watch out for the number that is positioned in the right direction and has a dot next to it to tell the time.

Montblanc – Nightsky Tourbillon Cylindriques Geospheres Vasco da Gama

It displays the time around the world against the globe’s longitude markings, which makes this, perhaps, the ultimate traveller’s watch.

Buben & Zorweg – Object of Time®

From a luxury safe, which also serves as a humidor, bar, weather station and music system to an elaborate Object of Time® watch wardrobe incorporating the latest watch winding technology, Buben&Zorweg creations enable passionate watch lovers to savour and safeguard their most treasured possessions. This clock is rather spectacular thanks to the hand-painted moonphase dial. The panorama of the sky changes daily as in real life, the unique feature being that over 29,5 days, the moon goes through its phases in the most realistic manner.

Sinclair Harding – Sun and Moon Clock

This clock is rather spectacular thanks to the hand-painted moonphase dial. The panorama of the sky changes daily as in real life, the unique feature being that over 29,5 days, the moon goes through its phases in the most realistic manner.