MR PORTER’s Keeping Time campaign highlights the effervescence of modern watchmaking. The campaign revolves around several ideals, including the harmony between traditional horology and contemporary design, where the drawing and revisiting of past styles are used as inspiration to continue to create, to pioneer and to express. In part one of this two part series, I’ll be highlighting some key examples that embody the principles that form the rudimentary basis of the Keeping Time campaign.
There are a number of interesting timepieces that the Keeping Time campaign features, including the Cartier Pasha de Cartier Grille, the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch and the Panerai Submersible QuarantaQuattro Carbotech™. I’ll delve deeper into these models and provide you with some underlying details as to why these pieces are a part of MR PORTER’s Keeping Time campaign.
Cartier Pasha de Cartier Grille
The Cartier Pasha de Cartier Grille draws its distinct aesthetic from a gridded Cartier watch from the 1930s. From the perspective of intrigue, the unique grill is superb. It creates a wonderful spectacle of artistry, differentiation and wonder, much akin to the verve of the Pasha, which was originally released in 1985. Cartier has given its Pasha de Cartier Grille the capacity to have that wonderful grille removed by its wearer by simply engaging four very small clasps. So what you get is, in essence, two very different yet wholly idealistic watches.
Another key feature of the Pasha de Cartier Grille are those beautiful lugs, which Cartier has engineered with a QuickSwitch system, enabling the wearer to easily change its strap, giving it a whole new look. The other distinguishing features of the Pasha de Cartier Grille includes the sapphire-set crown with a fluted crown cap, that gorgeous silver flinqué dial, blued-steel diamond-shaped hands, and the integration of Cartier’s calibre 1847 MC.
Brand: Cartier
Model: Pasha de Cartier Grille
Reference: WGPA0019
Case: 41mm
Case Material: Yellow Gold
Water Resistance: 100m
Calibre: 1847 MC
Price: USD$18,900
IWC Big Pilot’s Watch 43
IWC’s Big Pilot’s Watch 43 continues in the same vein as the Cartier Pasha de Cartier Grille. A virtuously interesting and design-driven timepiece, the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch 43 combines a captivating aesthetic within a generationally relevant package. The Big Pilot’s Watch is as distinguishable as it is revered, and amongst legends the Big Pilot’s Watch stands tall. The new IWC Big Pilot’s Watch 43 heralds in a new era for the collection, with a sunray finished green dial, matching green rubber strap and that iconic Big Pilot case sitting at a comfortable 43mm.
The Big Pilot’s Watch 43 is an extension of a tried-and-true legend of IWC’s rich aviation-inspired history. This particular model is simplistic in design, with minimal dial text obscuring from that gorgeous, ever-changing hue of green. The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch 43 is powered by the manufacture 82100 calibre which is finished with Côtes de Genève and perlage throughout.
Brand: IWC
Model: Big Pilot’s Watch 43
Reference: IW329306
Case: 43mm
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Water Resistance: 100m
Calibre: 82100
Price: AUD$13,300
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Gully Monotourbillon
Roger Dubuis’s new Excalibur Gully Monotourbillon embodies the notion of the Keeping Time campaign with a bright and bold colourway, as befitting of its complexity as it is of its individuality. The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Gully Monotourbillon is a testament to the maison’s elastic and contemporary approach to its watchmaking. Embedded within its titanium construct is the whirlwind drama of a titanium tourbillon, whose significance is matched only by the creativity adorning the Excalibur Gully Monotourbillon’s inverted dial.
The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Gully Monotourbillon was made in collaboration with the street artist known as Gully. Bold colours combined in abstract themes create a vivid portrayal of time keeping meeting art and culture in one thematic piece of haute horlogerie
Brand: Roger Dubuis
Model: Excalibur Gully Monotourbillon
Reference: RDDBEX0931
Case: 42mm
Case Material: Titanium
Water Resistance: 100m
Calibre: RD512
Price: AUD$220,000
Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen
The fine art of balancing modern science with watchmaking is not a novel endeavour, but it’s one that many a watchmaker pursues, often relentlessly. In itself, watchmaking is an exacting science. The harmony of gears, wheels and pivots operating in unison is as much a science as, for example, the study of the elements. And this is where the Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen comes into play.
Montblanc’s new 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen boasts the innate call-card as being completely devoid of oxygen. The reduction, and in the case of the Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen, the complete dissipation of oxygen has several benefits. Namely the elimination of fogging secondary to changes of temperature, as well as the prevention of oxidisation which helps preserve the watch’s components. The Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen can lay claim to all of these benefits, giving it the capacity to venture up the world’s tallest peaks all the while looking absolutely brilliant.
Brand: Montblanc
Model: 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen
Reference: MB129415
Case: 42mm
Case Material: Bronze
Water Resistance: 100m
Calibre: MB 29.25
Price: AUD$10,170
Panerai Submersible QuarantaQuattro Carbotech™
Panerai is accustomed to pioneering modish materials, including the delightfully contemporary looking Carbotech™. Carbotech™ is a composite material that is based on carbon fibre with the benefits of being super durable, light, resistant to external solicitations, hypoallergenic and corrosion resistant. The finished product is one that is full of subtle patterns that is as futuristic looking as it is just plain old cool.
The Panerai Submersible QuarantaQuattro Carbotech™ PAM01232 features the Carbotech™ material in all of its glory, contrasted by a deep and flat blue dial with matching blue rubber strap. One of the identifiable features of the Submersible QuarantaQuattro Carbotech™ PAM01232 is the collection’s focal point, that patented crown-guard device, along with the bold and very masculine look that is the Submersible.
Brand: Panerai
Model: Submersible QuarantaQuattro Carbotech™
Reference: PAM01232
Case: 44mm
Case Material: Carbotech™
Water Resistance: 300m
Calibre: P.900
Price: AUD$26,100
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