Founded in 1995, Austrian-based Buben & Zörweg produces some of the finest watch winders, safes and clocks available today. At this year’s JCK, they showed the Phantom High Fidelity, a winder that also houses a fine German sound system. The retro-futuristic unit, which holds up to eight watches, is constructed from race car-inspired materials including aluminum with macassar or carbon inlay, with an Italian leather interior. The hi-fi system is hidden in the column pedestal.

The third edition of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Yearbook features the manufacture’s brightest stars of 2009. The Yearbook includes articles by leading authors and casts its spotlight on nature, music, filmmaking, and of course on watchmaking. The edition celebrates the 80th anniversary of Calibre 101, still the smallest mechanical movement ever made. It probes the Hybris Mechanica 55 trilogy, uniting 55 complications within three wristwatches. It takes you inside the Hybris Mechanica à Grande Sonnerie, with 1300 parts capable of playing the entire Big Ben chime.

Yearbook Three is available in English and French versions from all Jaeger-LeCoultre boutiques or at www.jaeger-lecoultre.com as of December 1.

For 60 years, Agresti has been producing deluxe jewelry boxes and chests in Florence, Italy. Now, Orbita Corporation, well-known purveyor of fine watch winders and accessories and Agresti’s exclusive USA distributor, is pleased to offer the Agresti Jewelry Armoire, also known as “La Fortezza Grande” – a finely crafted cabinet that incorporates a safe with digital electronic locks and an available biometric fingerprint device.

The many drawers are specially designed to hold wristwatches, rings, necklaces, and earrings. The drawers inside the safe are for high value items which are protected by the safe itself. All lower drawers are also lockable with keys. The safe can be anchored to a wall for added security.

All of the drawers are suede lined and partitioned. Two slide-out holders accommodate flexible pearl necklaces and chains. A fitted necklace drawer provides safe storage for diamond necklaces needing full support.

The cabinet shown directly below is fabricated from Briarwood, a rare variety of malformed elm with a distinctive grain. On this model, all hardware is 24 karat gold plate. The armoire is also produced with a polished black Birdseye Maple finish. This version is known as “La Fortezza Nera” and for this execution, all hardware is nickel/palladium plated.

As exciting as it is to experience all the new watches at the Baselworld watch fair, there is always the risk of “watch overload” setting in, which is why the occasional, rare foray into Accessories Land is often a welcome diversion. Usually, these items are limited to devices such as winders and clocks, but I found this year’s most intriguing accessory gleaming under a spotlight behind one of the porthole-shaped vitrines of Ulysse Nardin’s nautical-themed booth: namely, the company’s new Chairman Smartphone.

Watch companies’ expanding their scope to lifestyle accessories is, of course, not a new development. Numerous watch brands have their name on pens, jewelry and other luxury items, and some are truly clever offshoots of their core product. BRM, for example, has a very cool leather belt with an automotive-inspired buckle derived from the trademark closure on its watch straps; Milus has eye-catching cufflinks made from actual mechanical movements with moving rotors. At Cartier’s recent celebrity-packed New York party, guests toasted the brand’s 100th anniversary in the U.S. with Cartier-branded Champagne.

Of course, there’s also the inverse phenomenon, namely the many prestigious lifestyle brands that are now itching to make noise in the luxury-watch business: leather-goods gurus Hermès and Louis Vuitton; men’s-fashion powerhouse Ralph Lauren; crystal purveyor Swarovski; grand piano king Steinway; and so on. Meanwhile, the various crossover projects between watches and automobiles have been well documented, and appear to have no end in sight. Brand building is definitely in vogue, and watch companies are right in the thick of it.

The association of watch brands with high-end mobile phones is one of the newer branding trends. Last year, TAG Heuer announced the launch of its Meridiist luxury phone, with its crystal displays and ultra-long-life battery. The British company Vertu, while not associated with a particular watch marque, has made a point of targeting watch aficionados with its growing line of exclusive phones made with watch-inspired aesthetic touches and materials, even marketing them through high-end jewelers.

The Ulysse Nardin Chairman Smartphone, however, is the first of these products that can truly be called a hybrid of a high-tech mobile phone and a high-mech automatic watch. The phone is the product of a partnership between Ulysse Nardin, the Le Locle-based maker of marine-chronometer-inspired watches, and SCI Innovations, a new-on-the-scene tech firm. Much like a hybrid automobile — which has an engine that runs on gasoline and electricity — the phone has a battery that is charged both by electricity and by the kinetic energy of a working rotor. Yes, part of the Chairman’s energy comes from the same source as that of your watch.

Other horologically inspired details abound on the phone, including the analog time-and-date display that mimics the distinctive dial of a Ulysse Nardin, down to the numerals and hands; a screw-mounted crown on the side to manually wind the rotor for extra battery power; and chronograph-like pushers on either side of the crown to control the volume and other functions. There is a sapphire crystal viewing window on the back of the phone that showcases the rotor, adorned with the familiar UN “anchor” logo. A light illuminates the rotor and tells others you’re using a very special phone. The materials and colors used in the phones even echo Ulysse Nardin’s watches: the style options are steel, all-rose-gold or a combination of steel and rose gold. Color choices include black-and-gold, blue-and-gold, or the predominantly black “stealth” version.

Despite the mechanical-watch adornments, the Chairman is most definitely not for Luddites. A 21st-century cell phone in every regard, it is compatible with most GSM networks around the world and features a 2.8-inch touch screen; e-mail and Internet applications; WiFi for network connections; and a five-megapixel, high-resolution digital camera that also can shoot digital videos. It uses materials such as anodized aerospace-grade aluminum alloy, carbon fiber and marine-grade stainless steel. According to the company, only a limited number will be produced each year — 1,846 of each model, to be exact; the number refers to the year of Ulysse Nardin’s founding. Set for a fall 2009 release, their prices start around $12,000 and reach about $70,000 for the all-gold versions.

So why the interest from watch brands in the cellular phone arena? A pessimist might say the companies are simply responding to media doomsayers who continually predict the demise of their primary product — mechanical watches — due to the increasing number of young people using their phones to tell them the time. An optimist, however, might see it differently. Perhaps luxury electronics makers are instead discovering the romance and exclusivity of a fine mechanical watch.

For more information visit www.unchairman.com

Click the images below to view larger versions.

The Chairman in rose gold and blue:

Rose gold:

Rose gold and steel:

In stealth black:

The rose gold and blue model from the back:

On Thursday May 28, Breitling’s new Chronomat B01 chronograph with manufacture movement goes on sale at 33 select retailers across the USA. See the table below for a complete list. Just in time for the launch, Breitling announced the publication of “Breitling The Book” by Hervé Genoud, the comprehensive new reference work that documents the brand’s 125 year history. With 336 pages and more than 450 images, the story covers everything from the first pocket watches created by Léon Breitling in 1884 through today’s “instruments for professionals”, and along the way the invention of the first independent pushpiece in 1915, the separation of the “stop/start” and “reset” functions in 1923, the invention of the second independent pushpiece in 1934, and the first selfwinding chronograph in 1969.

The Book also documents the close links between Breitling and the aeronautical world going back to the days of the aviation pioneers. Discover the famous onboard chronographs and the numerous wrist instruments intended for aviators, including the famous 1952 Navitimer that developed a cult following among pilots.

The Book is available in five languages: French, English, German, Spanish or Italian. It can be ordered via the www.breitling-the-book.com website, as well as from authorized Breitling retailers.

You can read all about the B01 by clicking here.

The Chronomat B01 goes on sale May 28 at these retailers: