EDITOR Angel Huang｜TRANSLATOR Aurora Lin
2026年的台北高級製錶展，有一個很有意思的巧合：幾個品牌都把目光同時望向了天空。BREGUET寶璣從陀飛輪專利225週年談起，回到製錶史最經典的物理命題，當重力影響機械運行，製錶給出了專業的解答；IWC萬國錶把飛行員腕錶帶出駕駛艙，直接推向太空任務；Roger Dubuis羅杰杜彼乾脆把星座、月相與中央陀飛輪一起放進錶盤，讓「觀看天空」這件事變成手腕間機械結構的一部分。乍看之下，它們都在談宇宙。走進展場，會發現三個品牌各有自己的故事。寶璣談的是精準。IWC談的是機械如何跟著使用環境改變。Roger Dubuis則把複雜功能當成一種重新組織時間的方法。這也是今年幾場展覽最值得看的地方。宇宙若是一個入口，製錶讓進入的方式個有著巧妙的不同。腕錶這個只有腕間配戴大小的物件之所以能讓人著迷幾百年，從來不是因為它能告訴我們幾點鐘。人類早已不需要靠機械腕錶才能知道時間。真正讓高級製錶繼續存在的，是那些看似沒有必要、卻被一代又一代製錶師反覆追問的問題。如何讓時間更準？如何讓複雜機械更薄？如何讓一枚腕錶在完全不同的環境中仍然可以被操作？又或者，如何把我們抬頭看到的星空，轉換成齒輪、圓盤與擒縱系統可以理解的語言？今年台北的展覽，讓我們一起來尋找這答案。
2026 Haute Horlogerie Review
The Year’s Finest Watches
There was an interesting coincidence among Taipei’s haute horlogerie exhibitions in 2026: several brands found themselves looking toward the sky.BREGUET marked the 225th anniversary of the tourbillon patent by returning to one of watchmaking’s oldest physical problems. When gravity affects mechanical timekeeping, what can a watchmaker do about it? IWC took the pilot’s watch out of the cockpit and into spaceflight. Roger Dubuis went further, bringing constellations, moon phases and a central tourbillon together on the dial, turning the act of looking at the sky into part of the watch’s mechanical architecture.At first glance, all three seem to be talking about the universe. Walk into the exhibitions, however, and they are telling very different stories.For Breguet, the question is precision. IWC considers how a mechanical instrument should change when its operating environment changes. Roger Dubuis treats complication as a way of reorganising time itself.That is what made this year’s exhibitions worth seeing. The universe may have been the common point of departure, but each brand found its own way in.A watch occupies only a few centimetres of the wrist, yet it has fascinated people for centuries. Not because it tells us what time it is. We stopped needing mechanical watches for that long ago.What keeps haute horlogerie alive are the questions that seem, on the surface, almost unnecessary—and that generations of watchmakers continue to ask anyway.How can a watch run more accurately? How can a complicated movement be made thinner? How can it remain usable in an entirely different environment? And how can the night sky above us be translated into a language of gears, discs and escapements?This year’s exhibitions in Taipei offered several very different answers.
BREGUET
走進BREGUET寶璣展區，最先感受到的不是「宇宙」，反而是歷史的重量。1801年6月26日，Abraham-Louis Breguet取得陀飛輪專利。當時的懷錶長時間垂直放置於衣袋中，擺輪與擒縱系統很容易受到重力影響，造成不同方位的走時誤差。Breguet的解法，是讓整組調速與擒縱機構持續旋轉，使不同位置產生的誤差相互平均。
今天回頭看，陀飛輪早已不是單純為了解決精準度問題。石英、電子與原子鐘早就把「準」這件事推到機械完全無法競爭的高度。陀飛輪之所以仍然存在，是因為它成了高級製錶最純粹的機械表達之一你，可以直接看見時間如何被調節，也能看見製錶師如何把一個兩百多年前的想法，一次又一次重新做過。所以今年寶璣用「Sorry, Isaac.」來慶祝陀飛輪225週年，其實頗有意思。牛頓當然沒有錯，重力也從未被消滅。這句帶著法式幽默的標題，真正說的是另一件事：製錶師不必戰勝自然，只要找到與它周旋的方法。現任CEO Gregory Kissling首度訪台，此次展覽帶來14件陀飛輪作品，並同步展出品牌250週年重要新作、高複雜腕錶與歷史作品。若把它們放在一起看，會發現寶璣今年其實刻意把「陀飛輪」從單一複雜功能，拉回到品牌更大的精密計時脈絡。Classique 7225就是很好的例子。它沒有陀飛輪，卻可能是這批作品裡最值得細看的其中一枚。這枚腕錶搭載10 Hz高振頻調速系統與磁力軸心。一般機械錶常見振頻為4 Hz，10 Hz意味著擺輪每小時振動72,000次。更高的振頻理論上能讓調速系統在受到外力干擾後更快恢復穩定；磁力軸心則利用磁力穩定擺輪軸的位置，降低傳統軸承摩擦與姿勢差造成的影響。這些東西不像陀飛輪那麼搶眼。甚至如果不特別解釋，很多人第一眼根本看不出它的厲害。但這反而很寶璣。Abraham-Louis Breguet真正關心的，本來就不是「讓機械看起來複雜」，而是讓它運作得更好。Classique Répétition Minutes 7365則完全換了一個方向。三問報時是高級製錶裡最容易被浪漫化的複雜功能之一，實際上卻極度工程化。音簧材質、固定方式、錶殼體積、共鳴空間、敲擊速度，甚至防水結構，都會改變最後聽到的聲音。7365搭載全新1896手上鍊機芯，音簧固定於寶璣金錶殼，具備75小時動力儲存與30米防水性能。這是寶璣首款具防水性能的三問腕錶，同時也是首款取得寶璣印記認證的三問作品。到了Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255，氣氛才真正轉向星空。砂金石琺瑯錶盤具有近乎無底的深藍色澤，飛行陀飛輪取消上方橋板之後，整組機構像是懸在錶盤之上。寶璣近20年未再使用的「神秘」結構也在這枚作品裡重新出現。它很漂亮。但比起「像星空」這件事，我更在意的是寶璣沒有把225週年做成一場單純的歷史致敬。從高振頻、磁力軸心，到三問聲學與新一代飛行陀飛輪，今年的寶璣仍然在做同一件很老派、也很重要的事：把一個早已經有人做過的機械問題，再做得更難一點。
Walk into the BREGUET exhibition and the first thing you feel is not the universe, but history.On 26 June 1801, Abraham-Louis Breguet obtained the patent for the tourbillon. Pocket watches of the period spent long stretches of time held vertically inside a pocket, leaving the balance and escapement vulnerable to the effects of gravity and the positional errors that followed.
Breguet’s solution was to place the regulating organ and escapement inside a rotating carriage, continuously changing their position so that those errors could, in effect, average themselves out.Today, of course, the tourbillon is no longer really about solving the problem of accuracy.Quartz, electronic and atomic timekeeping have pushed precision far beyond anything mechanical watchmaking can reasonably compete with.The tourbillon remains because it has become one of the purest mechanical expressions in haute horlogerie. You can see time being regulated. You can also see how watchmakers continue to return to an idea conceived more than two centuries ago and find another way to make it work.That makes Breguet’s “Sorry, Isaac.” campaign for the tourbillon’s 225th anniversary particularly well judged.Newton was not wrong. Gravity has not gone anywhere.The point is simpler than the joke suggests: a watchmaker does not need to defeat nature. He only needs to find a way to work with it.CEO Gregory Kissling made his first visit to Taiwan for the exhibition, which brought together 14 tourbillon creations alongside key pieces marking Breguet’s 250th anniversary, grand complications and historical works.Seen together, they suggest that Breguet has deliberately taken the tourbillon out of the category of spectacle and placed it back into a much larger discussion about precision.The Classique 7225 is a good example.There is no tourbillon here. Yet it may be one of the most technically interesting watches in the room.Its regulating system operates at 10 Hz and incorporates a magnetic pivot. A conventional mechanical watch commonly runs at around 4 Hz; at 10 Hz, the balance performs 72,000 vibrations per hour.The higher frequency allows the regulating system to regain stability more quickly after an external disturbance. The magnetic pivot, meanwhile, uses magnetic force to stabilise the balance staff, helping reduce the effects of conventional bearing friction and positional variation.None of this is as visually dramatic as a tourbillon.Without explanation, many people would not even notice what makes the watch unusual. In a way, that feels very Breguet. Abraham-Louis Breguet was never particularly interested in making mechanics look complicated. He wanted them to work better.The Classique Répétition Minutes 7365 goes in a completely different direction.Minute repeaters are among the complications most easily romanticised in watchmaking. In reality, they are brutally technical.The material of the gongs, the way they are fixed, the dimensions of the case, the resonance chamber, the striking tempo and even the architecture required for water resistance can all alter the sound.The 7365 is powered by the new hand-wound calibre 1896. Its gongs are fixed directly to the Breguet gold case, while the movement offers a 75-hour power reserve and water resistance to 30 metres.It is Breguet’s first water-resistant minute repeater and the first minute repeater to receive the Breguet hallmark.Then comes the Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255, and the mood finally shifts toward the night sky.
Its aventurine enamel dial has an almost bottomless blue tone. With no upper bridge, the flying tourbillon appears suspended above the dial. Breguet also brings back a “mysterious” construction it had not used for nearly two decades.It is beautiful.What interests me more, however, is that Breguet has not turned the 225th anniversary into a simple historical tribute. High-frequency regulation, magnetic pivots, minute-repeater acoustics and a new generation of flying tourbillon all point in the same direction.Breguet is still doing something very old-fashioned, and very important: taking a mechanical problem that has already been solved and finding another way to make it difficult.
IWC
台北101四樓的「Next Space Age Exhibition」完全是另一種氣氛。
走進展場，中央那顆星球上的小王子與狐狸很容易先把注意力拉走。四周則是來自沙夫豪森IWC博物館的歷史飛行員腕錶，以及2026年的新作。把這些錶放在同一個空間裡看，有一件事會變得很清楚：飛行員腕錶的歷史，其實就是「人怎麼使用腕錶」不斷改變的歷史。早期飛行員需要大尺寸、易讀、夜間清楚，於是有大型錶冠、高對比刻度與黑色錶盤。後來駕駛艙環境改變，腕錶的功能也跟著變。到了今天，當飛行不再只發生在大氣層內，腕錶又必須重新回答一次同樣的問題。今年是IWC飛行員腕錶誕生90週年，也是品牌與Antoine de Saint-Exupéry家族合作20週年。「小王子」系列依然是最容易親近的一面。Portofino Automatic Day & Night 34「Le Petit Prince」特別版第一次把這個文學符號從飛行員系列帶進Portofino。深藍色太陽放射紋錶盤很熟悉，真正有趣的是6點鐘的日夜顯示。小王子站在金色月球上，隨顯示盤慢慢轉動。白天、黑夜就這樣從錶盤下方經過。這個功能並不複雜，甚至可以說很簡單。但它和小王子的關係非常自然。Saint-Exupéry筆下那些星球、旅行、孤獨與觀看世界的方式，本來就不需要太多機械去解釋。真正讓我覺得IWC今年跨出一步的，是Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive。它看起來不像傳統IWC。甚至第一眼會讓人懷疑：這還算不算飛行員腕錶？答案恰恰就在這裡。如果一枚飛行員腕錶到了2026年還只是複製1930年代的駕駛艙美學，那這個類別其實已經停止進化很久了。Venturer Vertical Drive是IWC與美國航太公司Vast合作，針對人類太空飛行重新開發的工具錶。最重要的一項改變，是取消傳統錶冠。理由很實際。太空人穿戴厚重手套時，要捏住一枚小型錶冠並不容易。IWC因此改用旋轉錶圈搭配錶殼側面的切換裝置，讓上鍊與時間設定可以透過更大的操作面積完成。這不是造型遊戲。它是一個人機介面的問題。腕錶採用白色氧化鋯陶瓷與Ceratanium®等輕量高耐用材質，並經Vast測試，取得Haven-1任務飛行認證。這枚錶真正有價值的地方，也不是「會去太空」。而是IWC終於把飛行員腕錶重新當成工具設計。90年前，飛行員需要戴著手套操作腕錶，所以大錶冠成了功能；90年後，太空員穿著另一種手套，傳統錶冠反而成了阻礙。工具錶最迷人的地方就在這裡。它沒有固定答案。
The “Next Space Age Exhibition” on the fourth floor of Taipei 101 feels completely different.At the centre of the exhibition, the Little Prince and his fox standing on a planet naturally catch the eye first. Around them are historical pilot’s watches from the IWC Museum in Schaffhausen and the brand’s 2026 novelties.Seen together, they make one thing very clear: the history of the pilot’s watch is also the history of how people use watches.Early pilots needed large dimensions, clear legibility and visibility at night. That gave rise to oversized crowns, high-contrast markings and black dials.As cockpit environments changed, the watches changed with them. And now, when flight no longer stops at the Earth’s atmosphere, the same question has to be asked again.2026 marks the 90th anniversary of IWC’s pilot’s watches and the 20th year of the brand’s collaboration with the family of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.The “Le Petit Prince” watches remain the most approachable part of that story.With the Portofino Automatic Day & Night 34 “Le Petit Prince” Special Edition, IWC brings the literary figure out of the Pilot’s Watch collection and into Portofino for the first time.The deep blue sunray dial is familiar. The more charming detail sits at six o’clock.The Little Prince stands on a golden moon as the day-and-night disc slowly turns beneath him. Day and night simply pass through the lower part of the dial.Mechanically, it is not a complicated function. It does not need to be.The planets, journeys, solitude and peculiar way of looking at the world in Saint-Exupéry’s writing have never required elaborate mechanics to make sense.The watch that really suggests IWC has taken a step forward this year is the Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive.It does not look much like a traditional IWC. At first glance, one might even ask whether it is still a pilot’s watch.That question is exactly where the watch becomes interesting.If a pilot’s watch in 2026 does nothing more than reproduce the visual language of a 1930s cockpit, then the category stopped evolving a long time ago.
Developed with American spaceflight company Vast, the Venturer Vertical Drive was designed specifically around human spaceflight.Its most important change is also one of the simplest to understand: there is no conventional crown.The reason is practical. An astronaut wearing heavy gloves cannot easily pinch and manipulate a small crown. IWC therefore uses a rotating bezel with a selector integrated into the side of the case, giving the wearer a much larger surface through which to wind and set the watch.This is not a styling exercise. It is a human-machine interface problem.The watch uses materials including white zirconium oxide ceramic and Ceratanium®, chosen for low weight and durability, and has been tested by Vast for the Haven-1 mission.What matters here is not simply that the watch may go to space.IWC has started treating the pilot’s watch as a tool again.Ninety years ago, pilots wore gloves, so a large crown made sense. Ninety years later, astronauts wear a different kind of glove, and the conventional crown has become the problem.That is what makes a genuine tool watch interesting: the answer changes with the environment.
ROGER DUBUIS
國立臺北藝術大學科技藝術館的氣氛又完全不同。燈光暗下來之後，展場裡的機械輪廓、星體投影與聲音裝置一起出現，《Movements of the Sky》比較接近一場機械與天文之間的裝置展。Roger Dubuis本來就不是一個安靜的品牌。它很少把複雜功能藏起來。
陀飛輪、雙逆跳、萬年曆、Quatuor這些機械，在Roger Dubuis手裡往往不只是「功能」，而是直接成為視覺主角。今年全新Rarities訂製計畫首作Excalibur Moonlight，把這件事推得更遠。它是一枚真正的one-of-a-kind腕錶。先看中央。RD115飛行陀飛輪被放在整枚機芯的正中心。中央陀飛輪最大的問題，恰好就是「中央」。傳統腕錶的時針、分針都從中央軸心出發，一旦陀飛輪占據這個位置，整個輪系與時間顯示都必須重新安排。Roger Dubuis於是把時、分改成兩枚旋轉圓盤。機芯內部使用行星差動輪系，把動力送往中央陀飛輪，同時兼顧72小時動力儲存期間的振幅穩定；另一項專利則處理旋轉顯示盤的校時離合。這些看不到的地方，才是這只錶真正昂貴的理由。錶盤本身則毫不克制。十二星座分布在旋轉小時盤，分鐘盤加入月相與天體圖案，中間的陀飛輪框架做出月球表面的質地。翻到錶背，藍寶石水晶底蓋透過雷射雕刻形成銀河般的孔洞，再填入夜光物料。機芯使用19種修飾技法，並取得日內瓦印記。更有意思的是，Rarities的訂製可以深入機芯。例如發條盒蓋上的星空排列，可以按照收藏家指定的日期重新配置。出生當日、紀念日，甚至某個對佩戴者具有意義的夜晚，都可以變成機芯的一部分。這就和一般「換顏色、選寶石」的客製化有明顯差別。真正高階的訂製，應該改變一只錶的內容，而不只是外觀。Excalibur Moonlight很張揚。但它的張揚並不是空的。在那些星星、月亮與夜光效果後面，仍然有一套很紮實的機械結構撐著。對Roger Dubuis來說，這點很重要。
The atmosphere at the Technology and Art Pavilion of Taipei National University of the Arts is different again.When the lights go down, mechanical silhouettes, celestial projections and sound installations appear together. “Movements of the Sky” feels less like a conventional watch exhibition than an installation built around the meeting point between mechanics and astronomy.Roger Dubuis has never been a quiet brand. Nor has it ever shown much interest in hiding its complications.Tourbillons, double retrogrades, perpetual calendars and the Quatuor are not treated simply as functions. They are made visible—often very visible.This year’s first creation from the new Rarities bespoke programme, the Excalibur Moonlight, takes that idea further.It is a genuine one-of-a-kind watch.Start in the centre.The RD115 flying tourbillon occupies the very heart of the movement. And the problem with a central tourbillon is exactly where it sits.On a conventional watch, the hour and minute hands are mounted on the central axis. Put a tourbillon there, and the entire gear train and time display have to be rearranged.Roger Dubuis therefore replaces conventional hands with two rotating discs for the hours and minutes.Inside the movement, a planetary differential transmits energy to the central tourbillon while helping maintain stable amplitude across the 72-hour power reserve. Another patented system deals with the clutch required to set the rotating display discs.It is the parts you cannot see that explain why this watch is so expensive to make.The dial itself is far less restrained.
The twelve zodiac constellations are spread across the rotating hour disc. The minute disc carries moon-phase and celestial motifs, while the central tourbillon structure is textured to resemble the lunar surface.Turn the watch over and the sapphire crystal caseback is laser-engraved with a field of apertures resembling a galaxy, then filled with luminescent material.The movement uses 19 different finishing techniques and bears the Poinçon de Genève.More interesting is how far the Rarities programme allows personalisation to go.The stars arranged on the barrel cover, for example, can be reconfigured to correspond to a date chosen by the collector.A birthday. An anniversary. A particular night that matters to the person who will wear the watch.That night can become part of the movement.This is clearly different from choosing another colour or selecting a different gemstone.At this level, bespoke work should change the content of the watch, not simply its appearance.The Excalibur Moonlight is loud, but it is not empty.Behind the stars, the Moon and the luminescent effects is a very serious piece of mechanical architecture.For Roger Dubuis, that distinction matters.
特別預覽 年度巔峰之作
展場之外，今年還有幾枚錶值得另外留意。Patek Philippe百達翡麗推出的4946G與6105G，剛好代表兩種完全不同的複雜功能觀。4946G是很實用的年曆。6105G則幾乎沒有「實用」的必要。一只替你處理月份長短，另一只告訴你頭頂的星空如何運行。也正因如此，把兩枚錶放在一起看，反而很有意思。Chopard蕭邦則乾脆離開這場功能競賽。L’Heure du Diamant系列回到珠寶腕錶最根本的地方：當一枚錶只需要顯示時與分，剩下的空間可以交給材質、比例、鑽石與光線。
2026 Haute Horlogerie Review
The Year’s Finest Watches
There was an interesting coincidence among Taipei’s haute horlogerie exhibitions in 2026: several brands found themselves looking toward the sky.BREGUET marked the 225th anniversary of the tourbillon patent by returning to one of watchmaking’s oldest physical problems. When gravity affects mechanical timekeeping, what can a watchmaker do about it? IWC took the pilot’s watch out of the cockpit and into spaceflight. Roger Dubuis went further, bringing constellations, moon phases and a central tourbillon together on the dial, turning the act of looking at the sky into part of the watch’s mechanical architecture.At first glance, all three seem to be talking about the universe. Walk into the exhibitions, however, and they are telling very different stories.For Breguet, the question is precision. IWC considers how a mechanical instrument should change when its operating environment changes. Roger Dubuis treats complication as a way of reorganising time itself.That is what made this year’s exhibitions worth seeing. The universe may have been the common point of departure, but each brand found its own way in.A watch occupies only a few centimetres of the wrist, yet it has fascinated people for centuries. Not because it tells us what time it is. We stopped needing mechanical watches for that long ago.What keeps haute horlogerie alive are the questions that seem, on the surface, almost unnecessary—and that generations of watchmakers continue to ask anyway.How can a watch run more accurately? How can a complicated movement be made thinner? How can it remain usable in an entirely different environment? And how can the night sky above us be translated into a language of gears, discs and escapements?This year’s exhibitions in Taipei offered several very different answers.
PATEK PHILIPPE
如果要選一家最擅長把複雜功能「做得不像複雜功能」的品牌，Patek Philippe一定在其中。4946G就是一枚很典型的百達翡麗。年曆是Patek Philippe於1996年發明並取得專利的功能。它可以自動辨識30天與31天的月份，一年通常只需在二月底校正一次日期。從機械難度來看，它介於全曆與萬年曆之間。從實際使用來看，它可能比萬年曆更容易被真正戴在日常生活裡。4946G搭載26-330 S QA LU自動上鍊機芯，星期與月份採指針顯示，日期與月相集中在6點鐘位置。38毫米白金錶殼是我很喜歡的一個尺寸。近幾年複雜腕錶重新縮小，不是單純的復古風潮，而是市場終於又開始重視「佩戴比例」。功能再多，如果一枚錶大到必須先適應它，它和日常之間就多了一層距離。4946G沒有這個問題。藍灰色錶盤使用垂直與水平雙向緞面處理，形成近似Shantung生絲的交錯紋理，再搭配具有牛仔布質感的小牛皮錶帶。白金、年曆、月相，本來是一組很正式的組合。百達翡麗這次反而把它放鬆了。6105G則完全走向另一端。這是一枚Celestial天文腕錶。藍寶石水晶錶盤呈現從日內瓦以及相同緯度地區可見的北半球天空，星辰視運動、月球軌跡、月相、日出與日落，都在同一套機械系統中運作。全新240 C LU CL LCSO自動機芯歷時超過五年開發，涉及六項專利申請。即使增加121枚與日出、日落功能相關的零件，機芯厚度仍控制在7.93毫米。這類數字其實比「星空有多浪漫」更能說明百達翡麗。因為真正困難的從來不是把一張星圖放進錶盤。而是加了這麼多功能之後，機芯仍然要薄、穩定，而且可以被戴在手上。47毫米白金錶殼當然不小。但這次尺寸是有理由的。星圖需要視野，機械需要空間。這枚錶不需要假裝纖細。
If there is one manufacture particularly good at making a complication look uncomplicated, Patek Philippe belongs near the top of the list.The 4946G is a very Patek Philippe kind of watch.The manufacture invented and patented the annual calendar in 1996. It automatically distinguishes between 30- and 31-day months and, in normal use, requires only one manual date correction each year, at the end of February.Mechanically, it sits between a complete calendar and a perpetual calendar. In daily use, however, it may be easier to live with than either description suggests.The 4946G is powered by the self-winding 26-330 S QA LU calibre. Day and month are displayed by hands, while the date and moon phase sit together at six o’clock.The 38 mm white-gold case is a size I particularly like.The recent return to smaller complicated watches is not simply another wave of nostalgia. The industry is paying attention to proportion again.No matter how impressive the movement is, if a watch is so large that the wearer has to adapt to it first, something is lost between complication and everyday use.The 4946G does not have that problem.Its blue-grey dial combines vertical and horizontal satin finishing to create a cross-grained texture reminiscent of Shantung silk. The calfskin strap introduces a denim-like character.White gold, annual calendar, moon phase: on paper, the combination sounds formal.Patek Philippe has loosened it up.The 6105G goes in the other direction entirely.This is a Celestial astronomical watch.Its sapphire crystal dial shows the northern hemisphere sky as seen from Geneva and other locations at the same latitude. The apparent movement of the stars, the orbit of the Moon, moon phases, sunrise and sunset are all incorporated into one mechanical system.The new self-winding 240 C LU CL LCSO calibre took more than five years to develop and resulted in six patent applications.Even after adding 121 components associated with the sunrise and sunset indications, the movement remains only 7.93 mm thick.Numbers like these say more about Patek Philippe than another paragraph about the romance of the stars.Putting a star chart on a dial is not the difficult part. The difficult part is adding this much information and still keeping the movement thin, stable and wearable.At 47 mm, the white-gold case is large.This time, the size makes sense.A celestial display needs visual space. The mechanism needs physical space.The watch does not need to pretend to be small.
CHOPARD
L’Heure du Diamant是今年幾組作品裡最不需要談宇宙的一個系列。我反而希望它離宇宙遠一點。因為珠寶腕錶有自己的觀看方式。它不必證明機芯有多複雜，也不需要和陀飛輪、三問或天文顯示競爭。真正要看的，是比例、材質、鑲嵌，以及腕錶戴上手之後，光怎麼走。今年的黑瑪瑙款就是很好的例子。天然黑瑪瑙幾乎不反射光。所以鑽石放在旁邊時，亮度會被放得非常明顯。這種效果和黑色漆面完全不同。漆面會反射，天然瑪瑙則像把光收進去。當鑽石圍著錶圈排列，黑與白之間的反差因此變得很乾淨。枕形版本採30.5 x 30.5毫米18K倫理白金錶殼，搭載Chopard自製09.01-C自動機芯。這枚機芯直徑只有20.4毫米、厚3.65毫米，提供42小時動力儲存。這些數字放在複雜腕錶裡並不起眼。
放在珠寶腕錶裡卻很重要。因為小尺寸機芯讓設計師可以自由處理錶殼輪廓，而不用為了塞進一枚過大的機芯，破壞珠寶本來應有的比例。Chopard的冠冕式鑲嵌也值得看。鑽石由較纖細的金屬爪托高，減少金屬在正面的存在感，讓更多光線可以進入寶石。對高級珠寶而言，鑲嵌最好的狀態往往是「看不見」。你看見的是鑽石。不是爪。另外幾枚砂金石與珍珠母貝版本，處理的則是完全不同的光。砂金石玻璃裡有細碎亮點，看起來具有很深的層次；珍珠母貝則會隨著手腕角度改變色澤。梨形與枕形錶殼放在一起時，也會發現L’Heure du Diamant真正延續的，是1960年代珠寶腕錶很成熟的一種思考方式。腕錶不一定要先有一個標準圓形錶殼，再往外加裝飾。錶殼本身，就是珠寶。這種錶最忌諱用克拉數去看。鑽石多，不一定比較漂亮。真正高級的地方，是少一顆會不會更好，多一毫米會不會失衡，梨形的尖端落在哪一個位置，戴上手之後會不會沿著腕骨自然移動。這些東西不會寫在規格表裡。卻決定了一枚珠寶腕錶到底只是昂貴，還是真的好看。
Of all the watches here, L’Heure du Diamant is the one that needs the universe least.I would rather keep it that way.A jewellery watch asks to be looked at differently.It does not need to prove the complexity of its movement. It does not need to compete with a tourbillon, a minute repeater or an astronomical display.What matters is proportion, material, setting—and what happens to light once the watch is on the wrist.This year’s black onyx version makes the point particularly well.Against the deep, opaque surface of natural black onyx, the brilliance of the diamonds becomes markedly more pronounced. The contrast is clean and immediate, quite different from the reflective effect of a black lacquered surface.The cushion-shaped version measures 30.5 x 30.5 mm in 18-carat ethical white gold and is powered by Chopard’s in-house 09.01-C automatic calibre.The movement is just 20.4 mm in diameter and 3.65 mm thick, with a 42-hour power reserve.Those figures are not impressive by grand-complication standards.In a jewellery watch, they matter enormously.A small movement gives the designer freedom to shape the case without having to distort the proportions simply to make room for the mechanics inside.Chopard’s crown setting technique is equally worth a closer look.The diamonds are raised on fine metal prongs, reducing the amount of visible metal from the front and allowing more light to reach the stones.The best setting in high jewellery often approaches invisibility.You see the diamond.Not the prong.The aventurine glass and mother-of-pearl versions deal with completely different kinds of light.Aventurine contains minute sparkling inclusions that create an unusual sense of depth. Mother-of-pearl changes tone as the wrist turns.Put the pear-shaped and cushion-shaped cases together and another point becomes clear.L’Heure du Diamant carries forward a very sophisticated idea from the jewellery watches of the 1960s: a watch does not have to begin with a conventional round case and then be decorated afterwards.The case itself can be the jewellery.These are also watches that should not be judged by carat weight alone.More diamonds do not necessarily make a better watch.The real questions are smaller.Would one fewer stone improve the composition? Would another millimetre throw the proportions off? Where should the tip of the pear-shaped case fall? Does the watch move naturally along the wrist bone when worn?None of this appears on a specification sheet.Yet it is what separates a jewellery watch that is merely expensive from one that is genuinely beautiful.
看完今年幾個品牌，我反而不太想再用「宇宙」替它們做總結。因為真正有意思的，是它們最後都回到了自己的專長。BREGUET仍然在研究精準、調速與複雜機械。IWC重新思考工具錶在下一個使用環境裡應該長什麼樣子。Roger Dubuis把複雜機械放到舞台正中央，甚至讓收藏家的個人時間真正進入機芯。Patek Philippe繼續做它最擅長的事：把極度困難的機械，收得乾淨。Chopard則提醒我們，製錶有時候不需要把機械推到極限，光是把比例、材質與鑽石處理好，就已經很難。天空只是今年剛好把它們連在一起的線索。看完之後真正記得的，仍然是那些齒輪、擒縱、聲音、材質，以及製錶師願意花幾年時間，只為了解決一個普通人根本不會遇到的問題。高級製錶一直有一點不合時宜。也正因如此，它到今天還令人期待。
After seeing this year’s watches, I am less interested in using the “universe” to tie everything neatly together.What is more interesting is where each brand eventually returns.
BREGUET is still studying precision, regulation and complicated mechanics.IWC has reconsidered what a tool watch should become when the operating environment changes.Roger Dubuis puts complicated mechanics in full view and, with Rarities, allows the collector’s own time to enter the movement itself.Patek Philippe continues doing what it has long done exceptionally well: taking extremely difficult mechanics and making them look controlled.Chopard reminds us that watchmaking does not always need to push mechanics to the limit. Getting proportion, material and diamonds exactly right is difficult enough.The sky was simply the thread that happened to connect them this year.What stays with you afterwards are the gears, escapements, acoustics, materials—and the fact that someone is still willing to spend years solving a problem that most people will never encounter.Haute horlogerie has always been slightly out of step with its time.Somehow, that still matters.
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