Four novelties for collectors and investors.

The top watch shows of late summer to early fall in Geneva and Shanghai were unusually quiet with little fanfare. There were 52 brands in Geneva, while Shanghai hosted eight big brands from the Richemont luxury group, headlined by Vacheron Constantin, A. Lange & Söhne, Cartier, plus the small independent brand NOMOS Glashütte.

Watches & Wonders Shanghai began on August 28, a day ahead of the Geneva Watch Days, and wrapped up a day earlier on September 1. So the review of novelties launched at the same time can be rolled into one.

Show for Devotees

When the Geneva Watch Days was only getting started a few years ago, everyone noticed they'd chosen convenient dates for the event — primarily convenient for retailers, who now see it as a good time to update the range in their boutiques ahead of the rush in golden gift-shopping months ahead of Christmas and the New Year's Eve.

But the likes of watchmaking masters Patek Philippe and Rolex don't really need these shows. For the Richemont Group's big names, the show in Shanghai was more of a cultural and informative event. Direct participants aren't the only watchmakers who begin unveiling their novelties ahead of the shows in Geneva and Shanghai, which is a nice bonus.

For many elite microbrands, these events are a great excuse to attract attention from the press and public when  they're already nicely warmed-up. We've picked four models for you that will definitely interest collectors, plus another talking point and totally fascinating launch.

Ming 20.01 Series 3 Chronograph

With no exaggeration, the most sensational novelty of late summer to early fall was the chronograph unveiled by the independent watchmaker Ming Thein. Some critics have already hailed this watch as Thein's best creation. And we're pretty sure that these types of watches are exactly what Thein aimed to create when he set up his workshop.

The watch's design reflects Thein's personal take on haute horology: ultimate simplicity, yet a very, very complex and perfected timepiece. The manually wound Agenhor for MING Agengraphe Cal. 6361.M1 movement housed in this model was developed by none other than Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, the founder and owner of the company Agenhor.

His watches have been acknowledged with more than one prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), and he himself was proclaimed watchmaker of the year when the jury of the 2017 Prix Gaïa acknowledged his exceptional contribution to the development of horological complications.

This MING watch is a so-called central chronograph, where the entire dial of a model is used as the counter, and additional chronograph hands to count the seconds and minutes are also mounted on the central axis.  The magnificent finishing on the movement is worth highlighting, which can be admired thanks to the transparent caseback.

Thein wanted his watches to be on par with the best examples of hand-finished movements by the likes of François-Paul Journe and Michel Parmigiani. But what's most impressive about the Ming 20.01 Series 3 is the chronograph's grandiose, solid dial.

It's made of borosilicate glass with 600 rectangular cavities, filled with specially developed liquid Super-LumiNova X1 lume. These cavities radiate out to form a vortex-like pattern that changes in appearance depending on the angle from which you view it. And boy does it glow in the dark!

The glass with its vortex pattern sits on top of a patterned titanium mainplate. The case measures 41.5 mm in diameter and 14.2 mm in height is available in rose gold or grade-5 titanium. But what's most impressive about the Ming 20.01 Series 3 is the chronograph's grandiose, solid dial.

It's made of borosilicate glass with 600 rectangular cavities, filled with specially developed liquid Super-LumiNova X1 lume. These cavities radiate out to form a vortex-like pattern that changes in appearance depending on the angle from which you view it.

And boy does it glow in the dark! The glass with its vortex pattern sits on top of a patterned titanium mainplate. The case measures 41.5 mm in diameter and 14.2 mm in height is available in rose gold or grade-5 titanium.

It's amazingly comfortable to wear, assembled from 34 components, and decorated with four different finishes. To deliver enhanced comfort, Thein had to order a special strap with a particular buckle from the famous workshop Jean Rousseau Paris. 

Thein only intends on making 20 of these watches, each priced at CHF 43,500. Would-be owners need to visit the company Horologer MING's website and pay a 30-percent deposit (CHF 13,050) to place an order.

Shipping is included in the price but taxes are excluded, which need to be totted up separately. In theory, orders will be accepted until the end of the year, but something tells us that this limited edition will sell out much sooner. The first models will begin to be delivered as early as the end of this year.

Laurent Ferrier Classic Auto Sandstone

Meanwhile, the independent watchmaker Laurent Ferrier, who spent many years working for the glorious Patek Philippe, has unveiled the sixth model in his famous Série Atelier. As per tradition, availability is limited to 20 pieces.

We'd like to remind you that the watchmaker created his Série Atelier for collectors and friends of the brand. The idea was that, in theory, anyone could order a Série Atelier watch.

But only those who already own a number of previous models from this series would automatically be bumped up to the top-20 on the waiting list, so they wouldn't be kept waiting years for their order. It's similar to a system often used at Patek Philippe.

Now let's turn our attention to the model's ins and outs. Laurent Ferrier already has a collection called Sport Auto. So broadly speaking, this is the same sports caliber, only now in a strictly classical Série Atelier version: a canonical pebble-shaped case with a sandy dial that evokes the earth, an element that symbolizes stability and serenity.

The movement has been given a highly perfected finish. Suffice to say, each movement is subjected to over 139 manual finishing operations to polish and decorate them.

By the way, the LF 270.01 movement itself is simpler than the original one here, and is equipped with a regular Swiss lever escapement, an automatic winding system, and a unidirectional ball bearing for increased shock and vibration resistance.

Running at a frequency of 4 Hz, it has a three-day power reserve, which is generated by a heavy 950-platinum rotor. The signature case, which measures 40 mm in diameter and 11.94 mm in height, is made of steel.

The model retails for CHF 50,000 excluding taxes, and orders will be accepted on the website from August 29.

Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Chinese Zodiac Snake

Vacheron Constantin prepared another collector's model from their Legend of the Chinese Zodiac series for the trade show in Shanghai. By the way, the collection has completed a full twelve-year cycle since its was born, so the new model begins a new cycle of the Chinese zodiac.

The dial depicts a sculpted cobra in pink gold or platinum. The year of the snake will begin on January 29, 2025, but the watch has already arrived. The sky and leaves behind the snake coiled on a rock are depicted using the technique of miniature enamel painting.

How lucky we are that Vacheron Constantin developed the remarkable self-winding Caliber 2460 G4 when the watchmaker marked its 250th anniversary in 2005.

It beats at a frequency of 4 Hz with a 40-hour power reserve, and a simple disk-aperture display (hours, minutes, day of the week and date). Its unique disk-type display gives the masters of atelier crafts plenty of room for almost boundless creativity on the dial. And we get to admire their work in Full-HD format, so to speak.

Availability is limited to 25 pieces per edition in pink gold or platinum: Ref. 86073/000R-H034 (pink gold) and Ref. 86073/000P-H033 (platinum).

The case measures 40 mm in diameter and 12.72 mm in height. The price of the model may vary for different markets, so it should be requested for each specific region.

Urwerk EMC SR-71

The elite microbrand Urwerk has marked the 10th anniversary of their pivotal EMC model with a version that's very reminiscent of the famous American Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" reconnaissance aircraft. The watch's name EMC (Electro Mechanical Control) also hints at Albert Einstein's ingenious formula, E = mc², which laid the foundations of modern physics.

Urwerk EMC has had some stunningly technological looks over the years. The watch integrated an electronic module that allows timekeeping accuracy to be measured manually. To do so, you need to power the monitoring unit by winding the fold-out crank handle on the side of the case, and press a button at 8 o'clock to get the readout.

The electronic module with an optical sensor on the balance wheel captures the regulator's rate of oscillation, a circuit board calculates the difference between the timing rate of the movement and that of the reference oscillator over a period of 3 seconds, and displays how accurately the watch is currently running from "-20" to "+20" seconds on the δ performance indicator.

Then the owner just needs to manually adjust the screw for fine tuning. The new model has kept the wonder module, but the similarity with the supersonic SR-71 that became the fastest airbreathing manned aircraft has intensified the impression that this is a work of cutting-edge technology.

The upper half of the model still displays four indications: the seconds at one o'clock, hours and minutes at five o'clock, power reserve indication at seven o'clock, and the δ performance indicator at eleven o'clock.

The case has expanded to 47.5 mm in diameter (at 17.58 mm in height), and is now partially made of bits from the fuselage of a real SR-71 "Blackbird".

The parts of the fuselage made of a top-secret titanium alloy are broken down, compressed and then milled down again to form the crank handle and screw-down bezel on the Urwerk EMC SR-71. Its case is protected by black-coated titanium.

The indicator for the watch's oil change which has been kept on the caseback makes the watch even more reminiscent of the reconnaissance aircraft. A total of ten Urwerk EMC SR-71 models will be available, each priced at CHF 150,000 (excluding taxes).

Breitling 140th Anniversary Editions

Three perpetual calendars have been introduced in one go for this anniversary release, which the independent watchmaker has welcomed into their flagship Premier, Navitimer and Chronomat collections.

This is the grandiose format that the company's CEO Georges Kern has chosen to mark the maison's 140th anniversary. This is definitely a sensation! You don't see perpetual calendar chronographs debut on the market every day, and not even every quarter of a century.

But here we have the brand cherished by Arizona retailers introducing three red-gold models in one go, housing the new manufacture Caliber B19 in cases ranging from 42 mm to 44 mm, where each edition has been rendered in Breitling's recognisable impactful style.

Needless to say, these premieres can't be compared with the likes of the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual Ref. 410.038 or Patek Philippe's Ref. 5270/1R-001.

However, the three new additions cost nearly a third of what a piece from the Saxon watchmaker would, and around a quarter of the price for one of Patek Philippe's. All of the models launched for the 140th anniversary retail for USD 59,000.

And when you consider that each of these three editions is limited to just 140 pieces, it's safe to say they'll all find owners, even if there probably won't be much demand for the Breitling 140th Anniversary Editions on the pre-owned watch market.

Credits provided by: www.gva-watchdays.com, www.ming.watch, www.laurentferrier.ch, www.vacheron-constantin.com