Only Watch

We know the watch, we know the material, but the combination of the two… now that’s unheard of! For the first time in its history, Bulgari is offering its Octo Finissimo Tourbillon made entirely – case, dial and bracelet – from marble. Hands, indices and crown are in gold. This isn’t solid marble. The 110 facets of the case are covered with a thin (0.4 to 0.5mm) layer of green Verde di Alpi marble. The dial is also clad with a 0.6mm thin wafer. The most challenging aspect, however, was the bracelet. Numerous hours were spent setting the front and side of each link with a sliver of marble, leaving only the interior in black DLC titanium. A mineral exploit that sets Bulgari’s expertise in stone.

Its full name is the Dream Watch but to collectors it’s simply DW. There aren’t many DW in the wild, each being the only one of its kind. This fifth iteration is no exception. Denis Flageollet, watchmaker and co-founder of De Bethune, spent many months researching ancestral metalworking techniques. He forged the case himself from iron and steel, made from iron ore that was harvested in L'Auberson, near the De Bethune manufacture, which he smelted in his own furnace. Flageollet crushed the ore into powder, reduced it through the glowing charcoal of the furnace to obtain a mass of metal known as a bloom. He then forged this into a compact shape, ready for final machining. The operation took several weeks to complete. De Bethune has equipped this handwrought Dream Watch with a tourbillon movement that can be admired through the caseback.

Unless you are a meteorite hunter, chances are you will never have heard of moissanite, a rare mineral that is sometimes found in meteorites. Registering 9.25 on Mohs scale of hardness, it ranks just below diamond and above sapphire, ruby and emerald. Moissanite was first observed in 1893 by the French chemist Henri Moissan, who gave it its name. ArtyA has sculpted its watch’s case with 600 facets: that’s ten times more than the 58 facets of a traditionally cut diamond. Its extraordinary brilliance surrounds a skeletonised movement, developed by Télôs Watch, that is a succession of circles and curves, and which provides three days of power reserve.

Anyone who is familiar with Richard Mille will instinctively think of Carbon TPT, Quartz TPT, ultra-complex movements and watches that weigh less than a feather but are tougher than nails. This RMS14 pendant watch revisits a talisman that was discovered in the Swiss mountains. This unique contemporary version incorporates rhodonite and wood, and is inscribed with mysterious symbols. This unique piece is fitted with Calibre CRMT5, an in-house automatic skeletonised tourbillon movement showing hours and minutes.

Last and not least, the Art-Tech by Louis Moinet. Its dial is a laser-engraved silicon wafer: the same substrate used for the microchips that equip all our electronic devices. As CEO and founder Jean-Marie Schaller explains, “Microelectronics enables fundamental advancements in medical research, which is the ultimate goal of Only Watch. I felt it was relevant to establish a connection between innovative technology and high watchmaking in order to fully embrace Only Watch's mission.” We couldn’t have put it better ourselves. Kudos to the brand for such a brilliant and apposite concept.