Harry Winston
Time to Move: Harry Winston Unveils the Last Chapter of Its Histoire de Tourbillon
The 10th edition of this tourbillon-dedicated line of watches sees a quadruple tourbillon, triple differential construction that drives its precision even further. Tourbillons are a high watchmaking device, housing the regulating organs of the movement in a rotating cage so as to average out the effects of gravity on the isochronism of the hairspring. The more these differences can be averaged out, the smaller the difference. That’s achieved via three differentials, with two of them connecting a pair of tourbillons each, and a central differential that averages out the two differentials’ operation, and controlling the time display on the dial.
The Project Z13
Project Z started out as an innovation test-bed for the Harry Winston-exclusive alloy, and since then has expanded greatly. The Z13 combines the use of Zalium with carbon fiber, and plays up the opposition of contemporary and classical watchmaking with its design. It offers two classic complications: a moon phase display and retrograde date, in a very modern take on both. The moon shown bears the brand’s Shuriken symbol and is 12-sided rather than round. The retrograde date, which occupies nearly half the dial, uses a slab-style font with a gradient blue treatment that’s novel in style.
The Midnight Yozora Automatic
An unexpected addition to the classic Midnight collection is the Yozara Automatic, a two-model, his-and-hers three-hander that combines three classic Japanese decorative techniques on the watches. This was made possible with a partnership with Japanese firm Nakaya. The word Yozora refers to the sky, and the dial presents the Harry Winston Fifth Avenue Salon’s arched entrance on a dark night.
Urushi is a traditional lacquer craft that requires layer upon layer of the glossy lacquer to be applied on a surface, until it achieves a protective, even and glossy sheen. It’s frequently combined with maki-e, which is the sprinkling of metallic powder on damp urushi lacquer, to form patterns. In the Midnight Yozora watches, palladium and platinum powder is applied, and the hour indexes as well as the doorway and extending rays are all hand-painted with palladium maki-e.
These two techniques are combined with raden, which uses mother-of-pearl inlays pressed into the urushi lacquer to deliver an ethereal shimmer and iridescence, which is shown in the door on both dials. The dial also has an emerald cut diamond set at the ’12’ marker, a reference to the brand’s jewellery heritage. An automatic movement with a 3-day power reserve and silicon hairspring keeps the watch running smoothly, with a slim sub-10mm waistline for the watch. The watch comes with a matching Nakaya pen and is delivered in a handmade bamboo box, both of which exemplify the simple sophistication of Japanese handcrafts.