One year of the pandemic has tested everybody’s mettle. It has changed the way luxury watches are exhibited and how many shows there would be and where. But amid all this upheaval, manufactures have tried to keep their spirits up and maybe subliminally have chosen green, the colour of renewal, as their colour of choice for dressing up timepieces. The Telegraph checks out a handful of the smart and striking new set of wrist adornments.
1. TAG HEUER AQUARACER PROFESSIONAL 300
This 43mm titanium dive watch can go up to 300m underwater and has bright Super-Luminova on its hands and markers, making it legible even deep down underwater. It is powered by the automatic Calibre 5 and has a brushed sunray dial.
2. AUDEMARS PIGUET ROYAL OAK GREEN DIALS
This watchmaker has added no less than five green-dial models this year to its Royal Oak series. They include the 950 platinum Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin with a smoked green sunburst dial (in picture), a limited-edition Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph with an 18K yellow gold case and a Grande Tapisserie dial. There are three new Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon variants too in pink gold or titanium.
3. IWC PILOT’S WATCH CHRONOGRAPH 41
The German watchmaker has launched the green dial version of this model this year in a 41mm stainless steel case with a sapphire back. It is available with stainless steel, calf-skin or rubber straps and runs on an in-house movement.
4. PATEK PHILIPPE NAUTILUS 5711
The watch world had gone crazy about the stainless steel Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 with the blue-black dial when the manufacturer pulled the plug on it in March, leaving a vacuum. That is the space this new model along with its bejewelled sibling are designed to fill. And both of them come with olive green dials!
5. JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO TRIBUTE
JLC was one of the earliest companies to use coloured lacquer dials when typical watch dials would be gold, silver, white or black. The Reverso Small Seconds in green is the latest in a series that was started in 2015 as a tribute to the coloured dials of yore. The tone of sunray-brushed lacquer dial and strap harks to the deep green of pine forests that surround Jaeger-LeCoultre’s home in the Vallee de Joux.
6. CARTIER TANK MUST COLOURS (Large Model)
This version of Cartier’s famous Tank Must comes with a green lacquer dial and on a matching alligator leather strap. It runs on a quartz movement and is inspired by a line from 1977. There are red and blue versions that are throwbacks to the original, but the green doesn’t have any previous record.
7. ROLEX OYESTER PERPETUAL DATEJUST 36
Rolex launched the Oyster Perpetual’s 36mm version this year with four new dials, three of them with palm pattern and one with a fluted design to reflect that of the Rolex bezel. And one of the palms is the olive green with a stainless steel case, the other two variations of the dial being in silver and gold.
8. BREITLING PREMIER B21 CHRONOGRAPH TOURBILLON 42 BENTLEY
Breitling and car maker Bentley Motors have made this limited edition watch with a run of just 25 pieces. The new chronograph also pays homage to Willy Breitling, who was a passionate Bentley driver and whose watches changed the face of timekeeping. He patented the chronograph with two independent pushers at 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock in 1934, and it is popular to this day.
Pictures: Companies
