NOVEMBER 2007 | US$7.99 | CAN$7.95

Welcome to House & Garden’s first watch special. For 60 years, House & Garden has celebrated beautiful and enduring design; here we’ve asked some of the leading lights of the UK design world to share their watch collections (and recollections) with us. And remember, if talk of eco-values seems overwhelming, mechanical watches are among the most eco-friendly design there is. So unwind – and enjoy. By Claire Adler

DESIGN OF THE TIMES

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WATCH SPREE

Some watches draw you into a narrative that unfolds, inviting you on a journey that lasts a lifetime. A split second is all you need to recognise

others. Their signature design cues are an instant brand giveaway

Iconic watches invite you on an adventure. They say, ‘Come with me, spend some time, engage and discover.’

Ta g H e u e r ’s ‘Monaco’ is a striking watch by any standard. But it became the ultimate in cool when Steve McQueen wore it in the classic 1971 racing film Le Mans. From the Twenties Olympic Games, Tag Heuer was the first watchmaker to master chronographs to within 0.0001 of a second. The latest ‘Monaco Gulf’ version has retro stripes down the face in the colours of the original Porsche-Gulf that McQueen drove in the film.

‘Today, the “Monaco”’s biggest fans are people who as children regarded McQueen as their hero, in his overalls and square-cased “Monaco”, and who can now afford the real thing,’ says Jonathan Scatchard, the founder of the site vintageheuer.com.

Cultural and sporting legends like this one have become a shared horological language among those in the know.

When Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969, he wore an Omega ‘Speedmaster

In an era when you can check the time just as easily on your mobile, laptop or oven, watches have to do so much more than tell the time. Watches are no longer merely timepieces, they are talking pieces. Watches described as ‘iconic’ are often the ones that have the best stories to tell. Think of the first watch ever to have reached the moon. Or James Bond’s favourite watch. What about the first watch that indicated the time in 24 time zones? Or the watch worn by Steve McQueen? And how about the one you don’t actually own, you merely pass on to the next generation?

WATCH LEGENDS

THIS PICTURE Omega

wearer James

Bond, in Live And Let Die. RIGHT The

Omega ‘Seamaster’

CLOCKWISE FROM

NEAR LEFT Breitling

‘Cosmonaute’. Steve

McQueen wearing Tag

Heuer’s ‘Monaco’. This

year’s ‘Monaco Gulf’.

Two versions of the

Omega ‘Speedmaster’

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Professional’. The distance from Switzerland to the surface of the moon is some 384,000km. But 50 years after this legendary watch was created, it has been on 118 space missions, two polar expeditions and one orbital re-entry watched by almost 60 million people. Not bad for a watch designed in 1957, for ‘research, industry and sport’.

Originally called the ‘Navitimer’, Breitling’s ‘Cosmonaute’ was worn by Scott Carpenter on the second US flight into space, in 1962. Which was the first watch in space is still debated.

The Rolex ‘Submariner’, worn by James Bond in the original Ian Fleming novels, featured in some of the first Bond films. Now Omega has the privilege of adorning James Bond’s wrist. The Omega ‘Seamaster 300-metre Diver Chronometer’ is so famous that people routinely walk into Omega boutiques asking for the Bond watch.

Patek Philippe’s ‘World Time’, introduced in 1930, was the first watch to display time in all 24 time zones. ‘Today, Patek Philippe’s advertising campaigns are some of the most recalled in the world,’ according to advertising guru Tim Delaney, the man behind the ‘You don’t actually own a Patek Philippe’ concept.

DESIGN CUES

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Not all watches have great stories attached to them. Some are arresting simply for their drop-dead-gorgeous looks. Brands often take one design element and repeat it, investing it with a leitmotif status. Design cues such as these enable you to identify particular watches from a mile off, if only you know what to look for

Meanwhile, this year Hamilton has re-issued its ‘Ventura’, whose signature triangular dial and fin-style shoulders turned heads 50 years ago – probably helped by Elvis Presley wearing one in the 1961 film Blue Hawaii

Luxury accessories do this all the time. Just think of Dior’s saddle-shaped bags, Prada’s red stripe, Fendi’s giant buckles, or Louis Vuitton’s LV monogram.

In a similar vein, the Rolex ‘Oyster’ giveaway is the cyclops magnifying lens date display at 3 o’clock. In 1926 the ‘Oyster’ became the first waterproof watch.

Breguet watches have metallic blue hands with a bubble near the top. Hublot watches, inspired by portholes on yachts, have visible screws round the bezel. Audemars Piguet’s ‘Royal Oak’, the original high-end sports watch, is defined by its octagonal face held in place by eight visible screws.

Franck Muller’s tonneau-shaped ‘Long Island’ is a design classic. His coloured dials have been copied repeatedly. Rado’s ceramic cases and bracelets, like those on the ‘Ceramica’, are unerringly sleek and smooth. Montblanc’s ‘Timewalker’ has cut-out horns attaching the strap to the case. The Hermès signature is the H-shaped case linked to elegant leather straps, often double wrapround in style, as on the ‘Cape Cod’.

Maurice Lacroix watches exhibit a penchant for moon phase and retrograde complications. Jaeger-leCoultre’s ‘Reverso’, whose watch case flips round to conceal the dial, was originally designed for polo players.

Cartier’s best-selling Dona de Cartier has a rounded trapezium-shaped case and alligator strap, inspired by extravagant Mexican actress Maria Felix and her love of crocodiles. De Grisogono’s ‘Piccolina’ cuff is sprinkled with gems, while carved arabesques adorn the inside. Chanel’s ‘J12’ favours black and white and diamonds. Ebel’s ‘1911‘ watches have super-supple, tactile bracelets and an E embossed on the pusher.

Floating diamonds splash freely around Chopard’s ‘Happy Diamond Mark II’ ladies’ chronograph. First introduced in 1972, the Happy Diamonds collection broke new ground by coating diamonds in a delicate film of gold to ensure they didn’t scratch any surface they touched.

Then there are the eccentric watches of Alain Silberstein, who turned his hand to watchmaking after winning a watch design competition for architects. An unapologetic combination of primary colours with playful primary-school shapes is his hallmark.

Meanwhile, this year Hamilton has re-issued its ‘Ventura’, whose signature triangular dial and fin-style shoulders turned heads 50 years ago – probably helped by Elvis Presley wearing one in the 1961 film Blue Hawaii.

And, finally, as the bar that defines luxury is continually raised, there are ever more opportunities to tell your own story on a watch dial. Bovet Fleurier has enlisted one of the world’s most accomplished miniature painters to paint dials by hand with personal portraits. And Tiret NY can craft diamond pavé portrait dials. But since these pieces take seven months to make, only celebrity clientele are allowed even to place orders.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP

Audemars Piguet ‘Royal

Oak’. De Grisogono

‘Piccolina’. Chopard ‘Happy

Diamonds Mark II’. Hermès

‘Cape Cod’. The Vintage

Omega worn by Daniel

Craig in Casino Royale

As the bar that defines luxury is continually raised, there are growing opportunities to tell your own story on a watch dial. Bovet Fleurier has enlisted one of the world’s most accomplished miniature painters and Tiret New York can craft diamond pavé portrait dials

THIS PICTURE La Dona

de Cartier FROM

TOP Patek Philippe

‘World Time’. Hamilton

‘Ventura’. Maurice Lacroix

‘Masterpiece Phase de

Lune’. Ebel ‘1911’. Rado

‘Ceramica’. Tiret New

York pavé portrait dial,

commissioned by hip

hop mogul Kanye West.

Alain Silberstein ‘Krono

Bauhaus Alligator Silver’

I have special memories associated with certain watches. My current watch is a boys’ watch, an old black-faced Rolex ‘Submariner’. I added the chocolate brown strap myself. I never wind it up. My father gave it to me when he was unwell. He wasn’t allowed to wear the watch when he went into surgery. I still haven’t given it back to him and now I don’t like to change the time on it. Sometimes when I look at the watch, that memory can change my whole day. The watch has stopped now, so I often use my mobile for the time.

Once I picked up a great retro piece in downtown New York. It’s an army-style digital watch with a khaki-green canvas strap. My name was written all over it.

I recently bought myself a special present from Tim Jefferies’s gallery, Hamiltons. It’s a photograph by Tom Ford’s photographer of the inside of a Patek Philippe and it’s larger than my front door.

My ultimate watch is the black-faced Audemars Piguet’s ‘Royal Oak’ men’s version. Then there’s Franck Muller’s ‘Long Island’ – now that’s a real knockout.

ME AND MY WATCHESLeading UK designers reveal which watches make their heart beat faster and which ones they still dream of

TARA BERNERDDesigner and CEO of Target Living

000

LEFT TO RIGHT Franck

Muller ‘Long Island’.

Patek Philippe ‘Nautilus’.

Lange & Sohne’s

‘Datograph Perpetual’

For my 21st birthday, my father gave me an Omega ‘Speed- master’, the watch famous for making it onto the moon in 1969. Some of my friends thought it was the actual watch which had been on the moon, which was quite amusing.

I also have a Pulsar, one of the first digital watches. Nowadays, people are far more interested in handmade watches. We see this with the popularity of our Linley watch winders. After all, a watch is just about the only form of jewellery a man can indulge in other than rather suspect neckwear.

The watch I choose sets the tone for the day. I prefer watches which aren’t easy to identify as a particular brand. I’ve always admired Jaeger- leCoultre’s ‘Reversos’. They are immensely pleasurable to fiddle with, especially when you’re a bit nervous. Panerais are great for taking to Italy.

I dream a lot about watches. You can never learn enough about them. I love Lange & Sohne’s ‘Datograph Perpetual’, with its big dial and inner workings revealed through the back. Patek Philippe’s ‘Nautilus’ will have to wait till after the children’s school fees.

DAVID LINLEYChairman of British design company Linley and also of Christie’s auction house

I adore watches. I’ve been buying them since I was 17. Lynn Wyatt [wife of oil and natural gas tycoon Oscar] once said, ‘If you’re a real

woman you don’t need a watch at night because a man will take care of the time for you.’ I quite like that idea. I do have two vintage diamond evening watches in my collection, though. I love big, men’s watches. I’ve just bought a big, round oversized white gold Hermès ‘Cape Cod’ with a tan double strap. I also have three Bedat and Co watches, a Roger Dubuis gold limited edition, a Cartier ‘Tank’, a Louis Vuitton ‘Tambour’, a Panerai automatic ‘Luminor’, three men’s Rolex watches and one ladies, a Chanel J12 and an Hermès gents’ ‘Arceau’, among others.

My first watch was a vintage Omega which my father gave me when he was dying. I don’t wear that now, I just keep it safe.

I never thought I’d say it but I’d love to have an all-gold Rolex ‘Daytona’. It costs a fortune, though, so it’ll have to wait. I love shopping for watches at The Watch Gallery, Harrods, the Rolex store, Asprey and Bulgari.

KELLY HOPPENInterior designer

As a teenager, I had a Swatch collection. My favourite was the see-through automatic ‘Irony’. You could see the steel movement inside. I also had one of the first digital Casios; it felt cool pressing a button to read the time.

The watch I most admire is the IWC ‘Portuguese’. In great design, every aesthetic detail is justified by functionality. Yet the aesthetic makes you forget the function. I also love Cartier’s ‘Roadster’, which cleverly allows you to change straps with a simple manoeuvre.

Watches have always been a social statement and signifier of wealth. But today they increasingly signify education. More and more, people desire the inner beauty of a mechanism, rather than diamonds. I enjoy seeing the mechanism inside a Breguet. It reminds me of my old Swatch ‘Irony’.

Consuming watches is something of the past. There’s now a move towards watches that will endure. I like the idea that fine watch brands, like Breguet which was worn by Churchill, aren’t about fashion trends. They link us with history.

RABIH HAGEInterior designer and architect

MARTIN BRUDZINSKI Interior designer

LEFT Roger Dubuis

white gold limited

edition ABOVE Bedat

& Co Number 8 PHOT

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BELOW Cartier

‘Roadster’.

IWC ‘Portuguese

Chrono-Automatic’.

IWC ‘Portuguese

Regulateur’.

BOTTOM RIGHT

Jaeger-leCoutre

‘Reverso’

and Breguet

‘Classique’

automatic

I saw my first ever watch in a shop window in the Eighties and fell in love with it immediately. It was a quartz Tissot ‘Stylist’. It lasted incredibly, although ultimately the back fell off. I loved the elegant mix of materials, which brought together gold and silver and a Times New Roman font on a white face.

That watch was a foreshadow of the style I aim to communicate in my work as a designer today. There is a richness in the materials, alongside a simplicity in the details. I call it minimalism deluxe.

I suspect the most popular brands guests wear at Scott’s, the seafood restaurant I designed, are Breguet, Patek Philippe and Jaeger-leCoultre.

Breguet is my favourite, though. I just love the white gold Breguet ‘Classique’ automatic. I find it fascinating that Marie Antoinette was one of the brand’s first high-profile clients but she died four years before her ‘Marie Antoinette High Complication’ watch was ready. She even ordered a Breguet watch while in prison and bought Breguets for her court favourites.

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WATCHES IMITATING ARTFrom watch displays in private homes and exhibitions of watch photography, to the first horological art museum and swelling waiting lists for limited editions, watches are a fine art of their own

It seems the relationship between art and watches is becoming more intimate than ever.

‘In a horological movement, I find poetry meeting technology,’ says Italian still-life photographer Guido Mocafico, whose limited-edition photographs of watch movements are available exclusively at London’s Hamiltons Gallery. Mocafico, who has shot advertising campaigns for Gucci, Dior and Armani has now captured images of timepieces by Audemars Piguet, Breguet, Chopard, Gerald Genta, Greubel Forsey, IWC, Jacquet Droz and Patek Philippe, which he believes are works of art in their own right.

Some watch lovers are placing at least as much emphasis on the collecting and housing of their watches as the actual wearing of them.

Bonhams’ customers include a couple who seek out Breguets to showcase in artfully constructed Perspex display cabinets in their sitting room. Another important collector, who is regularly found examining treasures at Antiquorum, the world’s leading watch auctioneers, changes his specially commissioned display cases regularly – frequently toing and froing from his vaults at the bank to switch the collections on show in his salon.

‘The recent trend to display wristwatches can probably be attributed to the creative designs from the watch companies,’ says Charles Tearle, Bonhams’ watch expert. ‘Of course, it might just be to impress friends over dinner.’

Anyone who buys Glashütte’s one-off ‘Gentleman’s Cabinet’ in platinum and wood, available exclusively at Harrods, will have no trouble impressing friends. With

capacity for five watches, it comes complete with remote control DVD and audio system, humidor and an 18-year-old bottle of Scottish single malt.

The traditional favourite for luxury watch cases has long been the Italian ‘Scatola del Tempo’, sold with select Patek Philippe models or available at Marcus. Alternatively, Austrian duo Buben & Zörweg has created the world’s largest watch-winding case and, rumour has it, the watch wardrobe on Michael Schumacher’s yacht.

‘A watch will always fundamentally be for telling the time,’ says Marcus Margulies, Bond Street’s most exuberant and well-known watch man. But it takes only a brief visit to the Marcus boutique and its new watch salon by Buben & Zörweg, whose design by architect Eva Jiricna is influenced by the Sir John Soane’s Museum, to question that.

While a 50-strong and growing list of names at Marcus wait for the limited-edition Audemars Piguet’s ‘Alinghi’ and Hublot’s ‘Big Bang’, it’s clear watch lovers are aching to get something on their wrists that’s in limited supply. The likes of Greubel Forsey’s ‘Invention’ or Franck Muller’s ‘Aeternitas Mega’ are watches whose multiple complications challenge the intellect of the world’s most seasoned collectors.

In the spirit of watches resembling art, Vacheron Constantin has come up with a completely bespoke watchmaking service in Geneva. Elsewhere, the Far East’s most powerful watch retailer has opened the Hour Glass Foundation of Contemporary Horological Art in Singapore, to promote modern watchmaking art globally. Who ever said watches were for telling the time?

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP

LEFT Glashütte’s

‘Gentleman’s Cabinet’.

Marcus store interior. Guido

Macofico’s photographs

of watch movements by

Patek Philippe and Gerald

Genta. Vacheron

Constantin Métiers d’Art

Les Masques collection

000 H O U S E & G A R D E N M O N T H 2 0 0 5

CREDIT HERE

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WATCHES FOR THE DESIGN CONSCIOUS

5 SPORTY LUXEThe prevailing mood of casual luxury means rubber has become ubiquitous,

and sports watches have been a runaway success.Breitling celebrates the 50th anniversary of its original diving watch, the

‘Superocean’, this year, with rubber straps or gorgeous, woven-steel bracelets. Longines has launched a comprehensive new sports collection.

Links of London’s ‘Driver’ watches have flexible lugs linking the watch itself and the strap, so that you can see the time without taking your hand off the wheel while driving. There’s even space to add decorative charms – anything from chunky gold initials to rose crystal hearts – from the Links charm bar.

Billing dazzling, gem-encrusted pieces as ‘sports’ watches just seems like shameless decadence. But as lovers of life’s finest things grow more blasé than ever, De Grisogono’s most recent addition is the bold and allegedly sporty ‘Power Breaker’ – designed in conjunction with Formula One team manager Flavio Briatore – which is frosted with mouth-watering, champagne diamonds.

Looking to shake up your watch wardrobe? How about trying something individualistic, scientific, sporty chic or plain gigantic?

ONCE WAS A TIME WHEN THE DESIGN SAVVY AND LOVERS OF CLASSICAL WATCHES WERE IN TWO VERY SEPARATE CAMPS. BUT TIMES, THEY ARE CHANGING. THERE HAS BEEN A RAPPROCHEMENT BETWEEN THE TWO. AS DEMAND FOR WATCHES SOARS, THOSE WHO MIGHT ONCE HAVE WORN WATCHES AS MERE ARM CANDY OR FASHION STATEMENT ARE TURNING THEIR ATTENTION TO WHAT LIES BENEATH A PRETTY WATCH FACE. IN THE MEANTIME, LOVERS OF THE WATCH WORLD’S CLASSICS ARE EXPANDING THEIR COLLECTIONS, AND ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY AUDACIOUS ON THE DESIGN FRONT IN THE PROCESS. WHILE THERE WILL PROBABLY ALWAYS BE A WATCH OUT THERE FOR EVERY MOOD, WHIM AND FANTASY, FIVE TRENDS ARE NOW DRIVING THE WORLD OF FINE WATCHES.

2 SHOW CASESEdgy watchmakers are opening up the hearts of their watches, in order to show off the best in man-made

craftsmanship. Many of these watches are impressive feats of design, often incorporating new technology to create curved, sapphire-crystal windows.

Omega’s ‘Hour Vision’, a show-stopping retro watch with curved lateral windows, is the first watch with a 360-degree, see-through case. Greubel Forsey’s asymmetrical ‘24 Secondes Incliné’, with a convex corner window, allows a glimpse of the angled gears and rotating tourbillon within. Maurice Lacroix’s ‘Le Chronographe’ skeleton reveals one of the brand’s first movements made entirely in-house.

Then there’s Breguet’s ‘La Tradition’, a strikingly modern watch from one of the most traditional watchmakers in the business. ‘I call this one the watchmaker’s surprise,’ smiles Adrian Hailwood, Breguet’s Bond Street boutique manager. Most of the elements that make up the function of the watch are configured neatly on the front of the dial. ‘People turn it over expecting to view the inner workings but there’s nothing there. That’s because it’s all on the front of the watch,’ he says.

3SCIENCE-LAB COOL 4 SIZING UPWhen a bespoke

shirtmaker teams up with one of the UK’s oldest jewellers, you know you’re onto a pivotal design trend.

‘Many of our clients like to wear oversized watches, but find their shirt sleeves don’t hang properly as a result,’ says Ben Ogden, fifth-generation jeweller at Ogden of Harrogate.

When Ben launched Giuliano Mazzuoli’s chunky ‘ M a n o m e t r o ’ , h e recommended Upper 10. This bespoke tailor makes shirts to order, with one wider cuff to accommodate large watches.

Perhaps the Manometro’s dimensions – 45.2mm in diameter and 14.8mm thick – are not surprising, given that it started life as a pressure gauge. But the likes of Hublot’s ‘Bigger Bang’ – a favourite with City boys, Graham’s ‘Chronofighter’, and that monster of a watch – Bell & Ross’s ‘BR01’, are also steering this move towards supersized timepieces. Even Ebel’s ladies’ ‘Brasilia’ chronograph – inspired by Brazil’s capital, created in the Fifties by architect Oscar Niemeyer – is a staggering 48mm in height.

1INDIVIDUALISTIC CHICIf a watch is one of the most personal expressions of style we can make, then why buy the

same one as anyone else? According to luxury experts Ledbury Research, we often buy beautiful objects for the joy of owning something others have never seen before.

Limited editions currently abound. For example, English watchmaker Roger Smith produces watches on the Isle of Man, and he makes only about 15 per year.

At the same time, a fresh crop of avant-garde, independent watchmakers is rethinking the future of watch design. All of them produce in small numbers: Max Busser is determined to create novel watches only a few will love; Giuliano Mazzuoli, a former racing driver, is a product designer without formal training; while Greubel Forsey is making technical improvements to timekeeping that have barely been attempted in two centuries.

A selection of beautiful, vintage watches at Notting Hill’s One boutique spells individualistic chic. The Vintage Watch Company houses the world’s largest choice of rare vintage Rolexes. Bamford & Son also stocks a sharp, vintage selection, while Pieces of Time is the world’s largest antique-watch website.

Breguet’s

‘La Tradition’

De Grisogono

‘Power Breaker’

The success of jumbo watch cases, whose diameters regularly exceed 44mm, partially explains why luxury watchmakers are experimenting with lighter and more durable materials. It’s a case of back to the science lab, with watchmakers routinely borrowing from the motor, medical and aerospace industries.

Audemars Piguet’s ‘Alinghi’ is made of forged carbon, typically found in Formula One cars. Chanel’s ‘J12 Superleggera’ – Italian for superlight – is fashioned from aluminium and ceramic. The ‘EmaS Diver’ watch uses light and durable polycarbonate, often found in surgical environments.

Watches such as Zenith’s futuristic ‘Defy’ boast new metallurgical combinations. There are silicon-enhanced movements at Patek Philippe and Ulysse Nardin. Technomarine’s ‘Square Ceramique’ and Links of London’s feminine yet bold ‘Celsisus’ both use glossy, high-tech ceramic – the material used as a heat shield for

the space shuttle. When Hublot, founded in 1980,

produced the first luxury gold watch on a natural rubber strap, it made watchmaking history. Rubber may have been the material formerly used for flip-flops, but it came with a delicate vanilla aroma and was corrosion-resistant, light, supple and durable to boot. Today, rubber straps are everywhere. The strap of Villemont’s ‘Solar Navigator’ is vanilla scented, and a sapphire studded strap adorns Dior’s ‘Christal’.

Ladies’ diamond

vintage Rolex,

circa 1920, from

The Vintage

Watch Company

FROM LEFT Zenith ‘Defy

Classic’. Technomarine

Square ‘Ceramique’. Links

of London ‘Celsius’ BOTTOM

RIGHT Ebel ladies’ ‘Brasilia’

CHRISTOPH BEHLING Award-winning product and watch designer, Tag Heuer

FUTURE WATCHWhat does the world of horology design promise for the future? Many watch designers are observing design influences from beyond the watch world

VALERIE URSENBACHER Watch designer, HD3 complication

OCTAVIO GARCIA Creative director, Audemars Piguet

THIERRY NATAF Creative director and president, Zenith Fashion is the instantaneous mirror of culture, society and humanity. Today, all the watches we make – even haute horlogerie watches – are linked to cultural and fashion trends.

I will continue to develop the Zenith collection on a tradition-to-modernity axis. We revisit the tradition of great watchmaking through our ‘Chronomaster’, ‘Class’, ‘Academy’ and complications like the ‘Multicity’, while always adding a twist.

We continue to innovate with ‘Defy’, combining 150 years of watchmaking expertise with futuristic, high-performance materials, to result in the unexpected, such as the ‘Defy’ for women – his watch for her.

In the UK, people love big watches. It’s satisfying to see a confident, fashionable woman wearing a large watch. People will always appreciate simplicity because simplicity is the most difficult element in design.

I like to work with suppliers outside the watch industry because when, like me, you come from outside the industry, you bring a fresh approach.

My most ambitious project, ‘Contagiri’, combines mechanics, complication and design. When I raced Alfa Romeos in the Seventies, the rev counter in an Alfa Romeo GT evoked the most powerful emotions in me.

GIULIANO MAZZUOLI Product and watch designer, Manometro

Our design people are working more closely than ever with engineers and we’re increasingly taking inspiration from the automotive universe.

The big challenge is to respect traditional craftsmanship while adding a modern touch, in order to create watches with personality.

One of our most progressive products stylistically is the ‘MC12’, inspired by Maserati’s Le Mans version. Carbon fibre and aluminium are integrated into the case and the levers’ styling recalls the car’s engine.

Having worked on mobile phones for Nokia, perfume bottle design for Dior and eyewear for Tag Heuer, I’m now working on Tag Heuer designs for 2009. Tag Heuer’s biggest challenge now is women’s watches.

I believe the key to great design is to push materials to their limits, using, for example, ceramics, to create something you can only make with that material.

I see a hunger for uniqueness and products that will endure. We are looking at the applications of rapid prototyping, a technology which can lead to customisation on a mass level, in-store, in the foreseeable future.

Watches have recently become extremely desirable objects for both men and women. Watch design is more daring and high tech than it used to be.

Cars play a very important role in today’s style and they give me lots of inspiration for my own designs. Science-fiction movies, extraordinary websites and innovative fashion inspire me, too.

When creating complicated movements, like the HD3, we are mindful to innovate both technically and on the design front. Ultimately, the movements are always the heart of our watches.