Skeleton watches — which show off the watchmaker’s art by means of removing much of a watch’s movement so that only its “bare bones” remains, and giving us a glimpse of it through a transparent dial — were not as much of a presence at this year’s SIHH as in previous years. However, the few skeletonized timepieces (also referred to as “openworked”) that did make their debut here were quite notable. (Vacheron Constantin, in fact, devoted many of its new releases to openworked styles; you’ll see more on that tomorrow.) Here are three that I found to be particularly interesting (a fourth, from Piaget, which we discovered in a brand video, unfortunately did not have photos available immediately; stay tuned for that one.)
Vacheron Constantin’s Malte Tourbillon Openworked has a platinum case and a sapphire dial surrounded by a slate gray dial ring. The movement, Caliber 2795, features a hand-engraved “pyramid” motif on the bridges.
The Richard Mille RM 35-01 Rafael Nadal is the latest sequel to the world’s lightest tourbillon watch, made for the Spanish tennis champ. The case is made of NTPT carbon, which has a wood-grain-like aesthetic due to the layers of carbon, and makes the case almost as much a showpiece as the movement.
Not technically a skeleton watch (since its movement hasn’t been hollowed out), the Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph 100 nevertheless offers an eye-catching view of its amazing 1/100-second chronograph movement — which features a column wheel, two barrels and two gear trains — through its open dial.