2005 TIMEZONE WATCH OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

This page contains images and brief information about the 9 finalists for the 2005 TimeZone Watch of the Year Award. Before voting, please scroll down this page to review the information provided for each finalist, and consider performing additional research so that your vote is as informed as possible.     

A. Lange & Söhne Pour le Mérite Tourbograph

This is Lange's  first Grand Complication, combining a one minute tourbillon and a split seconds chronograph. Adding an even higher degree of rarity is the use of a fusee with chain. The Tourbograph therefore combines two of the primary mechanisms used to increase timekeeping accuracy in mechanical watches: the tourbillon and the fusee. This movement has been in development for 15 years and it consists of 465 parts, counting the fusee chain as one part. The chain itself is comprised of approximately 600 parts, and the tourbillon cage by itself incorporates 84 separate parts.

Breguet La Tradition

The Breguet La Tradition recaptures the look of A. L. Breguet's timepieces. This is a wristwatch in the classic sense with a 37 mm case offered in yellow gold. The hand-wound movement measures 14 ½ lignes with 24 jewels. The dial is 18 carat silvered gold, hand-machined on a rose-engine, off-centered at 12 o'clock. A power reserve indicator is located to the left of the time display. The La Tradition has a 50 hour power reserve. Sapphire crystals front and back allow the owner to enjoy the remarkable view.

Breguet No. 5

Abraham-Louis Breguet completed the original No. 5 in 1794, and in 2005 Breguet released a modern recreation, identical to the original except for the use of a modern escapement to improve performance. The original movement was disassembled and each part was recreated using 18th century techniques.   

The 18K yellow gold case is engine turned by hand to create a ‘barleycorn’ guilloché pattern. The guilloché silvered gold dial is cambered with ‘vieux panier’ and ‘Clou de Paris’ guilloché and has engraved and painted black Roman numerals. There is a 60-hour power reserve indicator, a moon phase and age indicator and a recessed sub-dial for the seconds. The movement is perpetual winding with an ‘à toc’ quarter repeater - the quarter-strike hammer taps against the case; the oscillating weight is platinum and the self-winding mechanism has a weight-locking device that is activated when the watch is fully wound.

Harry Winston Opus V by Felix Baumgartner

The Opus V is designed and manufactured for Harry Winston by Geneva-based watchmaker Felix Baumgartner. This watch combines distinctive design with a unique time display. Minutes are indicated by a retrograde triangular pointer, while hours 1 through 12 are displayed on the four sides of 3 separate rotating blocks. The hour blocks revolve around their central core while the block with the hour to be displayed rotates so that the appropriate hour number is on top and aligns with the minute hand when it jumps back to zero. The dial side of the watch also contains a day/night display and a power reserve indicator. The Opus V has a power reserve of 122 hours (5 days). On the back, the Opus V has a service indicator that tracks the running time and, after 5 years, advises the owner that it’s time for a service. The back also contains an adjustment that allows the owner to regulate the watch by +/- 15 seconds per day.

Jaeger LeCoultre AMVOX2 Chronograph Concept

The AMVOX2 Chronograph Concept contains the newly developed calibre Jaeger-LeCoultre 751 which  incorporates JLC’s patented vertical trigger column-wheel chronograph. This mechanism allows the owner to start, stop and reset the chronograph by pressing different spots on the sapphire crystal, eliminating the need for push buttons. Inside the case, a ball-joint system allows both the case and bezel to pivot away from the shoulders of the watch, activating a series of levers that control the chronograph. Each lever is mounted on a miniature stainless-steel ball bearing containing seven 0.1mm-diameter balls. A moveable cursor allows the chronograph activation mechanism to be locked, preventing accidental engagement. The 5.6 mm thick movement consists of 272 parts with 41 jewels and provides a power reserve of 72 hours. The rotor mechanism incorporates ceramic ball bearings that never require lubrication.   

Patek Philippe ref. 5250G Advanced Research

This timepiece houses two watchmaking firsts: an anchor escape wheel made from silicon, and zirconium ball bearings in the automatic winding system. The monocrystalline silicon used in the escape wheel is non-magnetic, lighter than stainless steel, and almost 60% harder than stainless steel. As a result of the silicon’s hardness and the escape wheel's smoothness, it does not require lubrication. The combination of an ultra light escape wheel that doesn’t need lubrication results in improved timekeeping capabilities.

Patek Philippe ref. 5959

The ref. 5959 contains an all new manual winding column wheel split seconds movement from Patek Philippe’s Haute Horology workshop. This is the world’s thinnest split-seconds movement at only 5.25 mm, and it requires only two buttons to handle the split functions, rather than the usual three. One of the buttons is concentric with the crown, starting, stopping, and returning the chronograph hands to zero. The second button, just above the crown, controls the split chronograph hand.

Seiko Spring Drive

The Spring Drive incorporates several innovations while it combines many elements of a traditional mechanical movement with the timekeeping accuracy of a quartz watch. This is achieved by replacing the Achilles heel of the mechanical watch - the escapement - with a new device of Seiko's creation called the Tri-syncro regulator.  The Spring Drive does not use a battery; rather, a spinning rotor winds a mainspring as with a standard automatic watch. The mainspring’s power is transmitted to the Tri-syncro regulator, which replaces the escapement, spinning constantly at exactly 8 revolutions per second. The result is a seconds hand that glides smoothly rather than jumps, and quartz precision timekeeping in a mechanical watch. The movement consists of some 276 parts including 30 jewels and it offers a 72 hour power reserve.   

Vacheron Constantin Tour de I'lle

The Tour de l'Ile is said to be the most complicated wristwatch ever produced. Its case measures 47 x 17.8 mm with dials front and back displaying 16 watchmaking complications and astronomical indications including  a minute repeater, perpetual calendar, tourbillon, equation of time, sunrise and sunset time, second time zone, and a representation of the night sky. The movement includes 834 components and required 10,000 hours of research and development to produce.