Watchmaking

Cartier unveils unusual Privé Cloche watch doubling as a desk clock

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  In a universe traditionally dominated by round pieces, Cartier watches stand out thanks to their shape: square, rectangle or even elongated oval. After the Crash, the Tank Cintrée, the Tonneau and the Tank Asymétrique, the Cloche de Cartier watch is the fifth opus brought to you by Cartier Privé collection. Cartier Privé is the … Read more

38 of the most prestigious watch brands gather for the biggest ever hybrid watch event

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  Watches and Wonders 2021 is open for the biggest watch event ever to take place online. The hybrid show includes a wealth of exceptional creations revealed by the 38 prestigious participating Maisons. Watches and Wonders 2021 opens a for a particularly intense edition that puts watchmaking in the spotlight for over ten days. The … Read more

Legendary watch industry expert Jean-Claude Biver announcing the first historic NFT auction of a luxury watch

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@Hublot Bigger Bang All Black Tourbillon Chronograph “Special piece” for NFT (Non Fungible Token) sale

Where auctions are already soaring for works of art and intangibles, never before has a luxury watch been the subject of an NFT (Non Fungible Token) sale. This watch will be the first luxury watch to have a digital life with certified ownership and authenticity. This digital twin will be the “authentic” double of the physical watch in the digital space.

Jean-Claude Biver and Switzerland’s WISeKey International Holding, a Swiss cybersecurity company, are leading the way in announcing the first historic NFT auction of a luxury watch. The auction took place on March 31, 2021 on the leading Open.Sea NFT MarketPlace, which is already active in the sale of artworks.

To make history, Jean-Claude Biver has symbolically chosen the famous Hublot Bigger Bang All Black Tourbillon Chronograph “Special piece”, a historic timepiece because of the major role it played in paving the way for today’s new trends, a watch that has made watchmaking history, a symbol of success, a source of inspiration that has made it Jean-Claude Biver’s favorite watch for over a quarter of a century.

45 years of an extraordinary career. From the early years at Audemars Piguet, the amazing Blancpain adventure, the
collaboration with Nicolas Hayek, Omega, then the dazzling development of Hublot, the presidency of the watchmaking division of the French group LVMH, the rejuvenation of TAG Heuer, the re-launch of Zenith, the creation of the first Swiss luxury connected watch with Google and Intel, or his commitment against racism during the EURO 2008 and the Charity Water campaign with Depeche Mode to name but a few, not forgetting his swiss mountain cheese… Jean-Claude Biver is a living legend in the watch industry, characterized by his commitment to the Swiss watch industry, his spirit of daring and entrepreneurship, with passion.

Jean-Claude Biver and Carlos Moreira, CEO of WISeKey, launched 12 years ago at BaselWorld the first digital
certification of a luxury watch. They are now repeating this technology breakthrough with the use of Digital identification combined with NFT to use the existing digital certificate of authenticity on the Hublot watch and checking and creation of a Digital Twin with its corresponded Non-Fungible Token.

WISeKey, was the first company in the world to use dual factor authentication combined with blockchain technology to secure luxury watches, currently protects over 2.5 million luxury watches. Since 2010, WISeKey has collaborated with manufactures of luxury watches deploying this unique technology to integrate semiconductors tags powered with its VaultIC154 NFC secure element and provide brands with the ability of issuing, modifying, and checking of a digital certificate of authenticity.
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These tags, when placed on any product and tapped by an NFC phone, securely authenticate, and track the product much like an embedded ePassport and confirm the identity of the product on the blockchain ledger. This technology has received a patent in the USA.

According to watchpro, WISeKey successfully launched this week its WISe.Art, a digital certificate of authenticity, a NFT for art pieces that will live forever on the blockchain, unchanged and unchallengeable, as proof of the buyer’s ownership.

WISeKey says the announcement generated strong interest from the luxury and art community and WISe.ART is now operation using OpenSea NFT MarketPlace.

@Hublot Bigger Bang All Black Tourbillon Chronograph “Special piece” for NFT (Non Fungible Token) watch auction by @wisekey

Ulysse Nardin comes to blind you with its newest Sparkling Free Wheel

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  Blinded by the light: Luxury Swiss watchmaker Ulysse Nardin comes to blind you with its newest creation the Sparkling Free Wheel. The sleeping giant in the Executive collection is a true masterpiece reflecting a 175-years old savoir-faire. The “snow-setting” art of the new Ulysse Nardin Sparkling Free Wheel. It takes approximately 120 hours of meticulous work … Read more

Ferrari signs partnership with Haute Horlogerie brand

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  Ferrari and Richard Mille have signed a multi-year partnership agreement, which will see the Haute Horlogerie brand become sponsor and licensee for the Prancing Horse. As Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow’s Team Partner and Official Watch, starting from the next F1 Season the Swiss watchmaking brand will be displayed, for example, on the team’s single-seaters … Read more

Aston Martin is pairing supercars with a new range of high-end Swiss watches

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@Aston Martin x @Girard-Perregaux Watches

In the relentless pursuit of speed, time is the overriding concern.

Girard-Perregaux has been announced as Official Watch Partner of luxury British automotive manufacturer Aston Martin. The Swiss Manufacture is one of the oldest names in watchmaking, known for making peerless exemplars of Haute Horlogerie. The two brands will collaborate on upcoming limited-edition timepieces.

The two companies create highly desirable luxury products that are beautifully designed, deliver a powerful performance and exhibit flawless execution.

2021 is an important year for both Girard-Perregaux and Aston Martin. Girard-Perregaux is celebrating an astonishing 230 years of watchmaking, whilst Aston Martin celebrates its return to Formula 1 as a works team for the first time in over 60 years.

“We have much to celebrate so uniting our worlds to create something special is the perfect way to acknowledge and appreciate these milestones.” – Patrick Pruniaux, Girard-Perregaux Chief Executive Officer.

Girard-Perregaux branding will feature on the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team cars at the start of the
2021 F1 season in Bahrain while the first timepiece to be borne from the collaboration between Aston Martin and
Girard-Perregaux will be revealed later this year.

@Aston Martin x @Girard-Perregaux Watches

Both Aston Martin and Girard-Perregaux were founded by visionaries with an innate passion. Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford while Girard-Perregaux can trace its origins to 1791, when Jean-FrançoisBautte, aged just 19, produced his first watch. But most notably, it was a love story which led to the birth of one of the greatest names in watchmaking when Constant Girard married Marie Perregaux in 1854.

The now-legendary Aston Martin DBR1 (1956), a car made for competitive racing, was a precursor for some of themarque’s most well-known heritage ‘DB’ road cars. It was styled in-house by a highly talented designer, Frank Feeley, and represents what is unquestionably his ‘finest hour’ – indeed the shape of the DBR1 remains one of the most beautiful and graceful of all time. Moreover, the design incorporates a key functional attribute – the side air vent – which debuted on this car and remains a key functional and visual characteristic of Aston Martin’s road-going sports cars to this day. This functional element has become a key aesthetic detail that imbues the marque’s models with their distinctive personality. In fact, one glance at an Aston Martin car immediately reveals the identity of its maker.

Similarly, when Girard-Perregaux released its now-famous Tourbillon ‘With Three Gold Bridges’ in 1867, it transformed three functional components, often hidden from view, into attractive aesthetic features. Indeed, with the advent of this watch, the once invisible was deliberately made visible.

“Formula One and Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team in particular will prove themselves to be respectively a fantastic promotional platform and a brilliant marketing partner for Girard-Perregaux, whose timepieces lead the way in terms of quality and desirability.” – Otmar Szafnauer, Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team Chief Executive Officer and Team Principal.

@Girard-Perregaux Watches