This year, Revolution turns 20. Two decades of chronicling watches, people and ideas have given us a front-row seat to a remarkable story: how an age-old craft has both preserved its soul and reinvented itself for the 21st century. To celebrate, we’ve chosen over 100 names and milestones that, for us, define the era so far. From leaders to watches, you can see the whole list here.

The Harry Winston Opus series is a daring horological odyssey, where the storied jeweler handed the creative reins to independent watchmaking visionaries, crafting timepieces that shatter conventions and redefine the art of telling time. It’s been a while since the last one, the Opus 14, from 2015, but their magic remains steady.

The Opus 3, first unveiled in 2003 and conceived by independent genius Vianney Halter under the vision of Maximilian Büsser, is a horological insurrection that redefines time as spectacle. This watch achieves the impossible: displaying hours, minutes, seconds and date in six digital windows, without hands, with instant jumps that dance in perfect synchrony.

Harry Winston Opus 3 in platinum (©Revolution)

The Opus 3 is a mechanical marvel. Its 10 superimposed disks, driven by a 53-jewel movement with two barrels and more than 250 components, compose a high-tech ballet. Every minute, a four-second countdown anticipates the change, a mischievous wink that turns time into theater. Halter, with the eventual support of Renaud & Papi, spent seven years perfecting this system, ensuring simultaneous jumps without compromising accuracy, even in complex transitions such as from 9:59 to 10:00. This engineering challenge, which stores and releases torque with surgical precision, marked a milestone in watchmaking.

Aesthetically, the 36mm case — available in rose gold, platinum, and with diamonds — evokes a retro-futuristic vessel, featuring rotating lugs inspired by the arches of the Harry Winston boutique. The dial, a minimalist dashboard, contrasts with the intricate dance of star-shaped wheels and polished bridges visible through the sapphire caseback. The movement, screwed to the front plate, turns the windows into an integral part of the watch’s architecture.

Harry Winston Opus 3 in diamond-set platinum (©Revolution)

The intricate dance of star-shaped wheels and polished bridges visible through the sapphire caseback (©Revolution)

Limited to 55 pieces, with deliveries delayed until 2010 due to its complexity, the Opus 3 became a cult icon. Its auction value, as seen in the CHF 168,750 achieved in 2020 during Phillips’ Geneva Watch Auction: XI, reflects its exclusivity. A pioneer of the mechanical-digital display, it inspired works such as the Zeitwerk and validated the Opus collaborative model, providing creators like Halter with a global platform.

Harry Winston Opus 3 in 18k rose gold

The magnificent Opus 3 is a chronometric challenge wrapped in playful audacity, a watch that, two decades later, continues to surprise. In a world of incremental refinement, the Opus 3 is a manifesto: watchmaking can be art, science and magic, one digit at a time, one jump at a time.

Tech Specs: Harry Winston Opus 3

Movement: Manual winding caliber, developed by Vianney Halter with Renaud & Papi; 40-hour power reserve
Functions: Jumping digital display for hours, minutes and seconds; jumping date display; four-second countdown mechanism
Case: 36mm × 52.5mm × 13.7mm; 18K rose gold, platinum or diamond-set platinum; water resistant to 30m
Dial: Brushed metal with six porthole windows in dashboard-style layout
Strap: Alligator leather with folding clasp