The governing body of the Swiss watch industry, la Fédération de l’industrie horlogère suisse (FH), yesterday approved tighter conditions that must be met before a watch may use the ‘Swiss made’ designation. This was done to address concerns that the designation was being devalued.

At the moment, a watch may use the ‘Swiss made’ designation if at least 50 per cent of its constituent parts were made in Switzerland. This figure was revised in yesterday’s meeting. In relation to a mechanical movement, the value of its constituent parts produced in Switzerland must be not less than 80 per cent. For electronic watches, the figure is 60 per cent.

The FH also decided to add a new criterion. In addition to fulfilling the above condition, a mechanical watch may not use the designation ‘Swiss made’ unless at least 80 per cent of its production costs is attributable to operations carried out in Switzerland. The figure for electronic watches is 60 per cent.

There is a transitional period before the changes take effect.

The recommendations are being submitted to the Federal authorities.

Now isn’t this lovely? This is the Porsche Design Cronographe PTC. I must admit, I was drawn first to the leather strap with its distinctive orange stitching. Whilst I love leather straps, and hardly ever go for anything else, a black leather strap is my least favourite. This one is different, though: to me, the orange stitching makes all the difference.

Then I turned to the dial. I am not really into ‘busy’ dials that have all sorts of things going on, but this one works, somehow. Perhaps the titanium case and well-spaced numbers give it a less cluttered look. This watch comes at a super-affordable price of 5,600 euros, and is most definitely a very tempting prospect. However, with it being a limited edition, I expect many prospective buyers will return empty-handed.

Specs. Movement: automatic chronograph caliber ETA 2894-2 with special Porsche Design rotor. Water resistant to 100m. Power reserve: 42 hours. Titanium case.

I mentioned sometime ago that I was going to acquaint myself with Richard Mille watches. I have kept my word.

I must say it has been an interesting process and I have learnt a lot. I would like to share with you one of my favourite watches from the Richard Mille collection.

I am talking about the Richard Mille Chronograph Rattrapante. This watch looks more like a machine than a simple time-piece, but then again, it is anything but simple. Richard Mille watches draw a lot of their inspiration from racing cars, and this is obvious from the Chronograph Rattrapante. I like it for its honest, functional look. One can say that there is something refreshingly upfront about Richard Mille watches, I don’t know how else to express that.

The watch pictured is in a rose gold case, but it also comes in white gold, titanium and platinum.

Specs. Caliber RM 004V2. Manual winding movement. Split seconds chronograph. Power reserve: around 50 hours.

A watch with a retrograde display does not display the time in a circular fashion, as we are used to seeing. Rather, it sets out the time in a linear manner. Instead of the hands going round in a circle, they travel along an arc, and when they get to the end, they jump back to the beginning, and so on.

Here is a picture of a watch we have already featured on this site: the Perrelet Regulator with retrograde hours.

This watch has retrograde hours; this means that the hour hand moves in a linear manner. You can see the hours numbered 1 to 12 in the top part of the dial. The hour hand moves from 1, all the way to 12, and then jumps back to the beginning. In this watch, the minute and second hands both move in a circular manner, and it is only the hour hand that features the retrograde concept.

So what do you think of a watch with retrograde display? I am not all that keen on them. I like the Perrelet Regulator featured in this post, but what caught my eye about it was its general design, and not the retrograde hours concept. 

When I first saw this watch, my immediate thought was: ‘what on earth have Corum gone and done?’ But I suppose it’s one of those things where one is supposed to admire the art. It took about 36 hours to paint - and what a fine painting it is, too: Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Just one question, though: what the blue blazes is it doing on a watch dial? But never mind that, you want unique? You got it with this watch.

This watch is the latest of the Corum Golden Bridge series, which began in 1980. The idea behind the Golden Bridge is that all the workings of the watch movement are perfectly aligned on the bridge. And to crown it all, there is the transparent case.

And what do I think now, having viewed the watch in the context of the Golden Bridge? I think that, as part of the Golden Bridge series, the Artisan passes the test. But without that context, some may struggle to get the idea behind the watch.

There are only 50 pieces available, and not surprising, given all the work that went into creating it.

(Via Luxist)