Saskia Maaike Bouvier was my favourite rising star of the industry last year.  BaselWorld 2010 launched her first collection, L’Heure d’Eté & d’Hiver – Summer & Winter Time, complex yet playful, a triumph for the young ACHI candidate.  So after a collection which featured both summer and winter time displays, a declined dial with superb seasonal laser engraving what comes next?  How do you follow up a collection which is essentially earthly? – with something completely celestial, of course.  One with 8 moons on its dial.  A watch which “displays the progression of the moon’s phases for each day of the week”, each of which will light up at night fall.

Like her last collection, this is at 45mm a big piece, but is cleverly curvy so it will suit smaller wrists.  The declined dial is partly openworked, the rim is plain, polished, rounded.  You can have stainless steel or gold case with either pastel pink or dark grey colourway choices.

Having seven days notice of the impending full moon has obvious advantages for those women who are somewhat “sensitive” to the effects of the lunar cycle.  The concept is creative, the design is ingenious and imaginative.  It is a worthy addition to the portfolio of Saskia Maaike Bouvier in her pursuit of the creation of complicated watches “from a woman for women”.

Up and coming pieces by this young talent are the Yin time and the Yang time and an 8 Moons jewellery piece.  Both are collaborations with the artist/designer André Meyer more information at Saskia’s own website.

Popularity: 5% [?]

In celebration of their continued partnership with the unique spectacle that is the Isle of Man TT Races Graham release the superb Silverstone Tourist Trophy Limited Edition.  Graham are timing partner of the event and each year design a special limited edition watch to coincide with the races.  Last year’s piece was the big, beefy Chronofighter Oversize TT Bi-Compax – bikers may have found difficulty slipping that huge thumb lever under their leather cuffs -  but the 2011 watch is part of the Silverstone Collection and is one which should prove to be altogether more svelte.

The dial is black carbon with a minutes counter at 3 o’clock, snailed to contrast and at 9 0′ clock the Manx Triskelion serves as a seconds counter.  A sneaky little date aperture sits cheekily atop the number 7.  The 47mm steel case is black PVD coated and the steel bezel with its tachymeter scale features Clous de Paris decoration.  Yes it’s tough, but it’s also textured and tactile.  Inside is the Calibre G1734 automatic bi-compax chronograph with power reserve of 48 hours.  Water resistance is to 100m.

The Isle of Man TT celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.  That’s a century of no limits two-wheel road racing on tiny country lanes with no safety run-off areas.  For me anything with the iconic “TT” logo evokes the sounds, the smells and sheer spine-tingling speeds of the machines, this watch is no exception.  For visual verification of what the TT race experience is like check out the TT3D movie which was filmed at last year’s event and is on release now.

The Graham Silverstone Tourist Trophy for 2011 is limited to 200 individually numbered pieces.  As usual the winning rider of each category will receive a special edition Graham watch along with their laurels.

Popularity: 10% [?]

The Girard-Perregaux 1966 Collection celebrates a time when the brand received industry recognition for their research and development with regard to high frequency precision movements.  New to the collection is the 1966 Blue Dial Chronograph.

Tattoos, anchovies, reality tv shows………  royal weddings – you either love them or loathe them.  Are blue dials the marmite of the watch world?  Many believe so. Blue dials are certainly tricky to photograph, so whatever it looks like in these images, you can be sure it’s going to look different on your wrist.  It might be wise to try before you buy.  The dial on this piece is deep blue and sunray brushed with contrasting snailed counters, a couple of nicely proportioned applied numerals and a tachymeter scale.

The best frame for a blue dial in my opinion is rose gold, next best? – white gold like the one featured here which has an eye-pleasing polished finish and measures 40mm across.  Ticking away inside is one of Girard-Perregaux’s in-house high precision column wheel chronograph calibres, the automatic GP030 CO with power reserve of 36 hours.  The piece is water resistant to 30m and comes presented on a black alligator strap.

Popularity: 4% [?]

New for 2011 is the Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Ref 5270.  The Perpetual Calendar Chronograph has now been an important part of the brand’s portfolio for seventy years, and many discerning connoisseurs agree that it is one of the most collectable watches – ever.  So although Patek Philippe do not normally shout about new releases, preferring a more discreet word-of-mouth hush, naturally this new addition unveiled at BaselWorld 2011 deserved a bit of a fuss, albeit an understated and very well behaved kind of fuss.

In 2009 Patek Philippe unveiled the CH 29-535 PS, a new in-house chronograph calibre featuring a classical column wheel and clutch mechanism with re-designed chronograph wheels providing reduced friction.  The brand described the calibre as “the most advanced of all traditional chronograph movements” – few in the industry challenged this statement.  The Ref 5270 uses this calibre with the addition of 182 parts and two years of development for the Perpetual Calendar module.  This manually wound mechanical movement provides the power for eleven on the dial indications, yet it has a power reserve of 65 hours.  This is micro engineering at its finest.

Patek Philippe do not “tweak” their dial designs, they refine them.  For the Ref 5270 this means slightly lower subdials at 3 and 9 o’clock and the addition of  a perfectly placed day/night indicator on the left and a numerical leap year indicator on the right.  The black oxidized white gold markers and hands are in perfect contrast with the silvery opalescent dial.  The 18 carat white gold case of the piece measures 41mm and is supplied with both a sapphire crystal caseback and potentially personalised solid caseback.  Water resistance is to 30m ……………..as if you’d dare let even a droplet of water come anywhere near it.

Popularity: 8% [?]