Accustomed to bringing out a few watchmaking treasures from its archives, the house is orchestrating a new exhibition until February 25 in its Parisian boutique located on rue de la Paix. Dubbed “The Anatomy of Beauty”, the retrospective invites lovers and collectors of fine gears to delve into the heritage of the Manufacture, which is exhibiting twelve pieces from its private collection. This epic combines the decorative arts with watchmaking technique with watches that stood out in 19th century Europe for a desire to break with established aristocratic codes.

Exit “discreet” luxury in favor of a new eclecticism, through timepieces with new aesthetics like the jewelry watch which is making its appearance as well as the wristwatch with complications. Artistic crafts are also given pride of place, such as openwork, engine-turning, enamelling, miniature painting on enamel, lacquer or crimping. A great opportunity to mix past and present, from the first “realistic” style watches of the 1820s to the sautoir watches of the early 20th century and more modern complications. And don’t forget to take a look at Vacheron Constantin’s latest stunner: the Egerie Creative Edition inspired by the fine artisanal lace of Burano and whose dial is illuminated by 292 diamonds.

A few months ago, For Exhibition Purposes Only (FEPO), a group of watchmaking enthusiasts launched a crazy bet. That of sending a MoonSwatch into space. To do this, these budding scientists imagined a carbon fiber platform assisted by a balloon so that the watch flies through the air. Purpose ? The cosmos. However, the part was actually sent 33,800 meters above sea level, in other words into the stratosphere, the second layer of the Earth’s atmosphere before reaching space proper, 100 kilometers above. of the Earth, at the level of the Line of Kármán. Despite the FEPO’s concern, the chronograph survived theft and temperatures as low as -65 degrees. Accompanying the platform, a camera was also part of the experimental trip to film the ascent and descent of the watch towards the Earthlings. A sequence cut into 960 clips transformed into NFT and put on sale on the collective’s website. On March 1, the latter will organize the draw for one of the NFTs and allow the lucky winner to become the owner of the first MoonSwatch to have gone on a space mission.

From March 27 to April 2, the second physical edition of Watches and Wonders – formerly SIHH – will be held within the Pelexpo exhibition complex in Geneva. Under the leadership of the Fondation de la haute horlogerie (FHH), this event will undoubtedly be the biggest watchmaking event in history with no less than 48 brands and manufacturers present to unveil their latest creations. Note the participation, like last year, of nuggets from the Richemont group such as Cartier, Van Cleef