The craziest watches from Geneva Watch Days 2023
Time+TideDuring our visit to Geneva Watch Days 2023, we got to experience some of the craziest watches of the year. Carbon cases, constant force escapements, fluid displays and more from brands like Bulgari, Czapek and Girard-Perregaux all make the list, serving as a total opposite to the numerous stealth wealth pieces that featured during the fair.
Editor’s note: The below is an adapted transcription of Andrew’s commentary in the video, along with full specifications tables four each of these four ‘crazy’ watches. But please do yourself a favour and watch the video in full.
Girard-Perregaux Neo Constant Escapement
First up is the reinvented Girard-Perregaux Neo Constant Escapement. This watch, or its mechanism rather, was inspired by a person on a train snapping a card back and forth, which triggered a brilliant designer to think of a new way to construct an escapement. However, with this latest iteration we have a dramatically smaller case size and a new time display. Instead of having a little time display on a sub-dial at 12 o’clock, we now have central hands taking up the full space of the dial. It is smaller, more wearable, has a much more legible time display, and also there have been many micro adjustments to the constant force movement making it more reliable and more accurate (backed by COSC certification). Well done Girard-Perregaux.
| Brand | Girard-Perregaux |
| Model | Neo Constant Escapement |
| Reference Number | 93510-21-1930-5CX |
| Case Dimensions | 45mm (D) x 14.8mm (T) |
| Case Material | Titanium |
| Water Resistance | 30 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire |
| Dial | Open |
| Strap | Rubber with titanium tri-fold buckle |
| Movement | GP09200, in-house, hand-wound, COSC-certified, constant-force escapement |
| Power Reserve | 7 days |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds, power reserve |
| Availability | Now |
| Price | US$99,600, CHF 95,000 |
HYT Conical Tourbillon Infinity Sapphires
Number two, the watch that I have to look at my phone to read out the name of, it’s the HYT Conical Tourbillon Infinity Sapphires Time Keeper. But, in that long-winded title is everything that is bonkers about this watch. We have a tourbillon on a 30 degree angle, we have a case thickness of 25mm and a diameter of over 48mm. However, this watch wears surprisingly well and it fits on my 7 inch wrist really well. That is because it is 52.3mm lug-to-lug, compact for a 48mm watch, and the strap adheres to the side of the case and drops straight down. It is also absolutely wild with sapphires rotating around that slanted tourbillon, and then, of course, HYT makes the only watches that have meca-fluidic time displays. This can be seen in action around the edges with two bellows pushing the retrograde fluidic hours to indicate the time in conjunction with a central minutes hand.
| Brand | HYT |
| Model | Conical Tourbillon Infinity Sapphires |
| Reference Number | H03131-A |
| Case Dimensions | 48mm (D) x 25.15mm (T) x 52.3mm (LTL) |
| Case Material | 5N gold and black-coated titanium |
| Water Resistance | 30 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Box-domed sapphire |
| Dial | Black-coated brass, sapphires, 5N coated grid and borosilicate tubes |
| Strap | Black rubber and brown leather with embossing |
| Movement | 701-TC, manual winding, 21,600vph, composed of 533 pieces |
| Power Reserve | 40 hours |
| Functions | Retrograde fluidic hours, central minutes, conical tourbillon, chaotic animation |
| Availability | 8 pieces, for enquiries |
| Price | CHF 390,000 |
Czapek Place Vendôme Complicité
Up next is Czapek with their Place Vendôme Complicité, which has two balance wheels in action on the bottom of the dial. This watch is reimagined from a 1930s piece that has the double escapement we see in modern form here, and it is really quite spectacular in the metal. A really noteworthy thing about this watch is that it’s highly complicated, obviously, but also very reasonable to wear at 42mm due to its 48.2mm lug-to-lug span. There is something super compelling about exposed escapements and this watch certainly gives you two times the fun.
| Brand | Czapek |
| Model | Place Vendôme Complicité Harmony Blue |
| Case Dimensions | 41.8mm (D) x 14.8mm (T) x 48.2mm (LTL) |
| Case Material | 18k 5N rose gold |
| Water Resistance | 5 atm |
| Crystal(s) | Domed sapphire |
| Dial | Openworked with blue galvanic treatment |
| Strap | Alligator leather, 18k 5N rose gold folding clasp |
| Movement | Calibre 8, in collaboration with Bernhard Lederer, dual escapement, manually wound |
| Power Reserve | 72 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds, power reserve |
| Availability | Limited to 50 pieces in each colour |
| Price | CHF 85,000 (ex. VAT) |
Bulgari Octo Finissimo CarbonGold Perpetual Calendar
Last, but certainly not least, if the Octo Finissimo CarbonGold time only was not complicated enough for you, then how about this perpetual calendar configuration? What an absolutely divine perpetual calendar dial layout we have here. The CarbonGold is this lovely camouflage, animal pattern style of carbon, now with rose gold displays for the perpetual calendar. This is one of my favorite perpetual dials ever because I can read it and understand it with ease thanks to Fabrizio’s masterful eye for clean design. When you flip it over, you are going to see some stealth wealth on display with a rose gold-plated movement that utilises a platinum micro-rotor also plated in rose gold to keep the aesthetic uniform while maximising the density of the rotor.
| Brand | Bulgari |
| Model | Octo Finissimo CarbonGold Perpetual Calendar |
| Reference Number | 103778 |
| Case Dimensions | 40mm (D) x 7.6mm (T) |
| Case Material | Carbon, rose gold and ceramic |
| Water Resistance | 30 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Flat sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Carbon |
| Strap | Carbon bracelet with folding clasp |
| Movement | BVL 305, in-house, 2.75mm thickness |
| Power Reserve | 60 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, perpetual calendar, retrograde date and leap year |
| Availability | Now |
| Price | A$145,000 |