Guide: Britta's 10 favourites from 2022

Text: Britta Rossander
Photo: Mia Litström / The manufacturers

Here in the last trembling hours of 2022 it is time to sum up what we have seen and what we thought. I have chosen to bring up ten watches that I believe may have an influence on the range of coming years' watches. They are extremely different but all lie at the forefront of what we can see right now.

Patek Philippe Tiffany Blue Nautilus 5711/1A-018

In the segment of biggest talking points, without a doubt the Patek Philippe Tiffany Blue Nautilus 5711/1A-018 takes the prize both when it come to how talked about it is but also for the price the first one sold for. The collaboration with the auction house Phillips was an ingenious idea and since then the industry has somewhat snidely named it the world best advertising agency trick under the name Patek Phillips. The model is an ”homage” to the long collaboration between Patek and Tiffany’s. 

That the first watch in the limited series of 170 pieces sold at auction for well over 35 million kronor is remarkable. The money went to the World Wildlife Fund – a good initiative – and the fever for steel watches with turquoise blue dials was immediately a fact. We have all seen countless variations on this. The first to show up with the genuine and desirable watch was Jay Z, which was fitting since both he and his wife Beyonce are ambassadors for Tiffany’s & Co. Number two out with the model was Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, who was seen playing chess with his son Frèdèric Arnault, CEO of Tag Heuer, with a Tiffany Blue Nautilus ref. 5712 (unique piece) on the wrist, closely followed by Leonardi DiCaprio who waved it about at parties.

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch

That Swatch would become talking point number two was unexpected, but the brand has historically been good at creating media attention. The model MoonSwatch (which costs 2660kr) in a partnership between Omega and Swatch sums up the best of two worlds, say the manufacturers. The watch has created endless queues at the Swatch shops and probably came very conveniently for the brand, which has lost a bit of speed in recent years. That the Swatch watches would succeed came with a risk but was needed to kick-start the crisis-hit Swiss watch industry during the quartz revolution, so in 1983 we could get acquainted with the first models.  

The new collection contains watches in eleven different versions, all named after planets and celestial bodies, from the gigantic star in the middle of the solar system to the dwarf planet on the outskirts. Every MoonSwatch has its own ”mission statement” engraved on the case back and the shared Omega x Swatch logo on the dial and the crown. The battery cover on each watch shows the planet. The strap, which has a spacesuit-like velcro fastening, gives a touch of astronaut chic, a bit clumsy in my opinion. 

That the talking point is still flying is of course due to supply being smaller than demand. Every day the customers stand faithfully waiting outside the shops in the hope that their favourite will be delivered today of all days. For most that does not happen and therefore the second-hand value has become indecently high – and this for a watch that is not limited! That is worth tipping your hat to.

H. Moser & Cie’s Streamliner

The total opposite of the above watch is H. Moser & Cie’s Streamliner which screams Understated Elegance. After the appreciated versions in steel with blue and green dial, H. Moser & Cie launched a Streamliner model in solid gold equipped with an in-house movement in the case and a flying tourbillon. 

The movement calibre HMC 804 has double hairsprings manufactured by H. Moser & Cie's sister company Precision Engineering AG. The Streamliner Tourbillon Vantablack® is a discreet powerhouse made with Swiss precision from the north-eastern part of the country.

The watch, which is eye-catching, has a beautiful streamlined minimalist aesthetic á la the 1970s and the contrast between the coal-black dial with Vantablack® (a coating used in astrophysics) with a hole at 6 o'clock for the tourbillon, combined with case and bracelet in red gold, is rarely good-looking. The cushion-shaped case of course has an integrated bracelet and both the case and the bracelet's links are carefully polished so they have got an elegant satin lustre. More elegant than that has it cannot get in my opinion – it is a seemingly simple aesthetic that puts the dot over the i.

Van Cleef et Arpels Lady Arpels Heures Florales

Jewellery watches with new thinking are not something we are spoiled with, but one brand that once again surprised is Van Cleef et Arpels with its poetic notion of how time should be measured. This time it was with Carl von Linné's work as the source of inspiration. Van Cleef et Arpels Lady Arpels Heures Florales in the series ”Poetry of Time” turned out to be something quite special. Completely unnecessary, just beautiful, and they beat most things when it comes to the construction of the ticking heart. A remarkable piece of movement work sits in the case, an extraordinary craft and is proof that haute horlogerie with advanced complications is indeed technical but can also be romantic. The model was nominated for the prize for jewellery watch at the GPHG – but the jury surprised everyone by handing out an extra prize for the fantastic construction of the movement, which is made with both knowledge and humour. 

Van Cleef's watchmakers had taken up our world-famouss botanist's idea: a garden that shows the time based on when plants and flowers open their petals and when they close. In his garden in Hammarby, Uppsala, he laid out a planting with selected flowers whose petals open and close at specific moments of the day. They were placed in narrow cake slices in a round flower bed so that he would be able to see the time just by looking out of the window. 

Van Cleef et Arpels' fantastic watches Lady Arpels Heures Florales and Lady Arpels Heures Cerisier are jewel-adorned bouquets of flowers with a 38 mm case in white and rose gold respectively. When with a press of a button on the bezel you wake the dial to life and 166 parts of the movement's total of 533 components are set in motion. 

Each and every one of the twelve flowers on the dial has jointed petals connected to the movement. For every hour that passes the open flowers close to make room for a new combination of flowers in bloom. The next day the sequences of the bouquets that follow one another hour by hour will be different. The minute display is visible in a window on the case edge. It is admittedly a little hard to read off the time, it takes a bit of practice – but what does that matter.

The model comes in two versions and the astronomical price is 251,472 euro, but then you get two different straps with it.

Bvlgari Serpenti Misteriosi

A jewellery watch with a micromechanical calibre designed to fit in the head of a Serpenti watch. With a diameter of 12,30 mm, 2,50 mm thick and a weight of 1,30 grams, the BVL 100 is very small and beats Jaeger-LeCoultre's legendary caliber 101, which has the measurements 14 mm long, 4,8 mm wide and 3,4 mm high. The extreme miniaturisation of the 102 components and the 30 hours of power reserve make it a winner. The idea for this little movement came about because at Bulgari they thought it was a step down not to be able to deliver a Serpenti with a mechanical movement, and using JLC’s 101 was out of the question.

The case is not attached to the snake's head but is a separate, detachable unit that can be turned towards the wearer (which means it can be worn on both arms) and removed for servicing.

The Serpenti Misteriosi is made in gold with precious stones and a combination of lacquer. Every watch is a masterpiece when it comes to goldsmithing since each scale is shaped before it is decorated, set with stones and attached to the next scale for flexibility and comfort. The watch has a bracelet in rose gold set with brilliant-cut diamonds and turquoise inlays, two pear-cut rubellites for the eyes and a diamond-covered dial (a total of 724 diamonds/18,05 ct). 

Grand Seiko Kodo Constant Force Tourbillon 

Grand Seiko asserted itself and delivered a Japanese masterpiece with the model Grand Seiko Kodo Constant Force Tourbillon and got to receive the GPHG’s prize for Chronometery. The model is 43,8 mm in diameter, made in platinum and Grand Seiko's Brilliant Hard Titanium. Even though the model is skeletonised with the movement visible from both sides, it is water resistant to 100 m. A masterpiece that shows what Grans Seiko can manufacture. The reference is SLGT003 for anyone who wants to know more about this fantastic watch.

Jacob & Co The Godfather 50th Anniversary

Completely crazy and totally fantastic is the Jacob & Co The Godfather 50th Anniversary. A watch with extra everything. Whether it is good-looking or not is a personal opinion but that it is a watch that from a construction point of view is completely outstanding there is no arguing about. The watch, made in a limited edition of 50 pieces, is a symbolic and, in watchmaking terms, extremely advanced piece with a triple-axis flying tourbillon and a double music box. It is a graphic and musical ode to Francis Ford Coppola's Oscar-winning cult classic that premiered 50 years ago. 

Few films have had such a strong influence on cinematic development, it contains some of the greatest scenes and dialogue in film history. The model Opera Godfather 50 years contains thirteen of these scenes, placed in the same order as in the film. They are forever etched on the edge of the case. The film's thirteen most famous quotes, where the most famous is: I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse, said by Marlon Brando as Don Corleone, are engraved on the tubes of the music boxes. Jacob Arabo says that the story of the film stuck with him when he saw it as a teenager but that it was not the mafia life, instead it was the strong family ties that are present throughout the film that made the biggest impression. 

The watch's case in white gold is 49 mm, where the sides are decorated with thirteen symbolic scenes from the film. Every scene is etched with pioneering high-intensity laser technology. In the middle of the calibre JCFM04 sits a version of the famous rose that Vito Corleone wore on the lapel at his daughter's wedding. It is placed between the two-part music box mechanism in rose gold, which plays The Godfather's main theme and on which the famous quotes are also engraved. 

Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra

Even more exceptional watchmaking came from Bulgari with the model Octo Finissimo Ultra 10th Anniversary. The model is 40 mm in diameter and bar 1,8 mm high – a record when it arrived, which was then beaten by Richard Mille by some tenth of a millimetre. The competition that involves making the thinnest mechanical watch now seems to be settled. Bulgari's watch is usable, better looking to look at than the Mille and feels more stable. With its QR code it also has a digital dimension that many surely like. It is made in ten pieces and is of course an extreme collector's watch.

Tudor Ranger

When it comes to looking in the archives for inspiration for new models, it was Tudor that took home the prize during the year. The model Tudor Ranger is a sprightly 70-year-old with a new heart. This year it was 70 years since the British North Greenland Expedition started, where the men, besides explored Greenland, also tested Tudor watches. On the anniversary day (Friday 8 July 2022) there was a global launch of the upgraded version of the Tudor Ranger with a slimmed case of 39 mm and steel bracelet with T-fit quick change clasp.

The design that we now recognise as the Ranger did not appear until the 1960s, with large Arabic numerals, generously coated with luminous material at 3, 6, 9 and 12. It is a perfect tool watch with hour markers in beige as a contrast to the grainy, matt black dial. The arrow-shaped hands with a new touch where the tip of the seconds hand is nicely wine red. The movement is the Manufacture Caliber MT5402 certified by COSC and is what many call ”weekend-proof”; that is to say around 70 hours, which means you can take the watch off on a Friday evening and put it on again on Monday morning without having to wind it. The case back is screwed, the crown has the historic Rose logo and is screwed in to guarantee 100 metres of water resistance. 

Breguet Classique Dame 8068 

Finally a future classic, the Breguet Classique Dame 8068 which has to be on the list. Breguet has after all led a somewhat inconspicuous existence in recent years but now they have pulled themselves together, above all on the ladies' side. Sure, I am a fan of the Reine de Napels model – not in every form but most – but a more accessible ladies' watch was needed and this time Breguet too has grasped that both colour and interchangeable straps can be a success. The model comes in white or rose-toned gold with the automatic movement Calibre 537/3, the case is a pleasant 30 mm, the dial in mother-of-pearl and diamonds both on the bezel and the strap attachments. The watch is delivered with three straps, which means it is possible to get a combination that suits everyone more or less for occasions.