Luxury Insider

Another watch to look at is the Urwerk. Felix Baumgartner has become known the world over for his iconic timepiece that displays the time via “satellite” discs moving in a circular motion in a partially uncovered dial. This watch looks like something out of an alien invasion movie, but the combination of incredible case work and the effort gone into making not just the arms holding the disc move, but also the internal mechanisms making each disc on each arm move in harmony, makes this watch one of the most astonishing watches of our time.

Pierre Kunz has to be the king of retrograde movements. The watchmaker based in Franck Muller’s lush Watchland location in Switzerland has made more retrograde references than anyone else in the business. The Pierre Kunz Collection contains watches that have one retrograde function, watches with two retrograde functions, watches with three retrograde functions – there’s no stopping this guy from going back! His watches also have a very strong identity. The hard lines that define his cases make his watches stand against the motion of time, something that many top brands find difficult to do, sometimes even after hundreds of years.

Let’s take the example of the very modern G 403 Chronograph, which features retrograde chronograph hours and minutes on two fan-shaped sub dials set upon a red texalium accented backdrop. This is yet another of his watches that can’t be mistaken for anything else.