Small Watch Brands at Baselworld 2015

Baselworld is the time of year when all watch brands and enthusiasts from all over the world come together to talk watches and to see what their favorite watch brands have been up to since last year’s Baselworld. This event is especially great for small watch brands to get their latest creations in front of media and watch enthusiasts. Many small brands really took advantage of this year’s Baselworld and impressed many in the watch industry. Now that we have all had time to process everything we saw and read from Baselworld, here are some of the more exciting announcements from some of our favorite small, independent watch brands in the industry.

 

Arnold & Son Constant Force Tourbillon

Arnold & Son introduced its Constant Force Tourbillon watch at Baselworld 2015, which will be a limited edition of just 28 pieces. A part of the brand’s Royal Collection, this timepiece has an in-house movement, Calibre A&S5119, which can be viewed through the transparent dial. It has a 46mm in diameter 18kt red gold case and a power reserve of 90 hours. A watch with a constant force focuses on precision and accuracy. A “constant force” watch keeps time at a steady rate, even when the mainspring loses energy. The watch generates this force of energy with its two mainspring barrels, one powering the gear train and the other compensating for the first barrel’s loss of torque. Details here.

 

Ressence Type 3

The Ressence Type 3 watch has an incredibly innovative and one-of-a-kind design. The black dial has discs that display the hours, minutes, seconds, date, and days and each disc rotates around the dial. The watch has no hands or crown, achieving a pure and minimalistic appearance. The dial and indications are curved and are filled with Super-LumiNova. The indications appear to be projected onto the sapphire crystal because the fluid in the indications refracts light. The sapphire crystal is rounded, resembling a bubble. The mechanism is housed in the upper compartment of the watch case and is filled with naphtha-type liquid. Feelings towards this watch are very varied. Traditionalist despise it, while many other watch enthusiasts appreciate its innovation. Learn more about this watch here.

 

Laurent Ferrier Square Galet

Laurent Ferrier made headlines this year at Baselworld with the introduction of its Square Galet watch. This watch is an updated version of the Galet watch that the brand introduced in 2010. As the name suggests, the watch case is square, really more of a cushion cut case, a change from the original round watch case. This model is the brand’s first non-round case and its first appearance of stainless steel case. The watch case is available in stainless steel and rose gold with dimensions of 41×41. The dial is simple and minimalistic, featuring nothing but thin baton hour markers, Laurent Ferrier’s logo, and a small seconds subdial, comes in a few dial colors, including glue, brown, and gold. Like the original Galet watch, it houses the brand’s micro-rotor movement and in-house produced FBN 229.01. This new model will start at $39,500.

 

H. Moser Funky Blue Perpetual Calendar

H. Moser & Cie has been around for almost two centuries. Still family-run, this independent watch maker creates all movements in-house and all watches are assembled by hand. At Baselworld 2015, H. Moser & Cie introduced its H. Moser Funky Blue Perpetual Calendar watch. The watch features a midnight blue fume dial, which is a technique often used by H. Moser & Cie to give the watch dial a color gradient, with deeper, richer color toward the edge of the dial and a lighter, faded color in the center. The watch has a perpetual flash calendar display, month indicator, power reserve indicator, and a leap year indicator on the case back. The 18kt white gold case has a diameter of 40.8mm and is fitted on a rustic beige kudu strap. The in-house caliber HMC 341 can be viewed through the sapphire crystal case-back. Details about the newest addition to the Endeavor Collection here.

 

Clerc Hydroscaph GMT

The watch brand Clerc typically focuses its efforts on creating useful dive watches. At Baselworld 2015, Clerc stuck to its roots with its Hydroscaph GMT watch. The watch has a water-resistance of 800 meters, a rotating bezel, and an automatic helium release valve, all of which are necessary for the avid diver. The industrial, formidable case has a diameter of 43.8mm and features the brands iconic rotating bezel that combines a perfect circle with a square. The crown at 10 o’clock pivots the bezel and once it is retracted, prevents any accidental deregulation when diving. The dial displays the hours, minutes, seconds, date, power reserve indicator, and dual time display. The watch is available in many different variations, with dial colors including brown, white, blue, black and the options for case materials are 18kt red gold or DLC-coated steel. Details here.

 

HYT H3

According to HYT, the H3 watch that the brand released at Baselworld this year is the most complicated watch in the industry. This model features a different way to read the time. It has a display tube that has four rotating faces that indicate the time, achieving a “linear portrayal of time.” The twenty four hours of the day can be displayed because each face is graduated with 6 hours. Driven by two barrels, the watch has a power reserve of 170 hours. The watch is powered by an in-house retrograde movement that can be seen through the sapphire crystal case back. The H3 is constructed of grey PVD-coated titanium and platinum. The large watch has dimensions of 62mm x 41mm. According the HYT, the watch should be consider a piece of “complex architecture.” Twenty five pieces of this collection will be made available starting in September. More details available here.

 

Urwerk UR-210

The industrial and machine-like appearance of the Urwerk UR-210 immediately grabs one’s attention. It has an interesting and original way to display the time. It has a satellite complication with retrograde minute and a complication that indicates winding efficiency over the last two hours. The case has a diameter of 53.6mm and a height of 17.8mm. It comes in several different variations, available in stainless steel or rose gold, both variations include titanium. The watch has a power reserve of 39 hours. More details about this watch here.