Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/44746
Most Wanted From Bal Harbour exclusives to a diving watch 18 months in the making, the new fleet of complicated watches are sound in style and investment. By William Kissel Exclusive to Bal Harbour, Breguet's 42 mm rose gold skeleton minute repeater has a 40-hour power reserve. W 198 BAL HARBOUR hen Jean-Claude Biver took the helm at Hublot in 2004 after more than a decade as president of the Swatch Group's Omega brand, he brought with him a truly big idea that helped revolutionize the luxury watch business. Rather than squeeze the mechanisms of the 25-year-old Swiss maker's timepieces into a discreet compact case, Biver blew up the proportions to create the brand's iconic Big Bang chronograph, a 44.5 mm benemoth that has since become a benchmark in luxury watch design. Now, as wristwatches become obsolete, a result of ever-present cell phones that keep time, nearly every high end watch maker, both men's and women's, is thinking big, and with huge double-digit sales results. The Swatch Group's Breguet brand, for instance, offered up one of the luxury watch industry's most sophisticated time pieces this fall when it introduced its new 18-kt rose gold Classique Grande Complication Minute Repeater, which tops out at 42 mm and carries a hefty $227,100 price tag. Known for complex engineering combined with visual harmony, Breguet also unveiled its new Marine Royale, an 18-kt rose gold, 45 mm confection with a self- winding movement and alarm mechanism that is as rich and elegant as it is sporty and highly functional. Meanwhile, Audemars Piguet's top selling watch this fall is the new 44 mm Royal Oak Offshore chronograph in stainless ARASH MOALLEMI.