Value, Heritage, and Craft Define This Week's Watch World
Baume & Mercier revives its quartz roots, Audemars Piguet shrinks the Offshore, Panerai's dive R&D secrets, five métiers d'art icons, and Certina's CEO on what comes next.
WATCH KNOWLEDGE
BA111OD’s Chapter 7 Skeleton Shows the Brand’s Value Formula Still Holds
Thomas Baillod launched BA111OD in 2019 from La Chaux-de-Fonds, aiming to prove that Swiss-made watches could carry honest price tags without sacrificing quality. His first piece, Chapter 1.1, sold for 320 CHF. Seven years later, the brand has grown into an eight-person operation based in Neuchâtel, with more than 40 references spread across seven collections. Its latest release, Chapter 7 Skeleton Anthracite, extends that founding logic into a more finished, more technical piece.
Priced at 1,120 CHF, the 40mm watch features an integrated bracelet and automatic winding, built around a case in 316L stainless steel, the same alloy Rolex used until 2001. An anthracite PVD coating covers the case and bracelet, while the open-worked dial exposes brushed and polished bevels, visible rubies, and a sandblasted ring between the raised, SuperLuminova-filled indexes. A ten-sided bezel holds a double anti-reflective sapphire crystal, and a sapphire caseback reveals the BA111OD-engraved rotor along with the Soprod PO24 movement underneath, rated for 38 hours of power reserve.
A steel-finish version of the same skeletonized model is also available, at 955 CHF on a matching bracelet or 895 CHF on a frosted blue strap. According to the brand, this finish is meant to evoke Lac Neuchâtel, where wing foiler and BA111OD ambassador Loic Huguenin shot the campaign tied to the release.
Markups at BA111OD sit between 2.5 and three times production cost, still far below the industry standard of up to ten times, even as the brand has matured beyond its garage-based beginnings. Non-skeleton Chapter 7 models start at 780 CHF, giving collectors on a budget more than one way into the line. For a founder who set out to challenge how Swiss watches are priced and sold, Chapter 7 Skeleton reads as a fairly direct continuation of that original idea, rather than a departure from it.
NEW WATCHES
Baume & Mercier’s Riviera 73 Returns to Its Quartz Roots
Baume & Mercier keeps expanding a collection that has become the backbone of its catalogue since its 2021 comeback. The Riviera first appeared in 1973, making it a contemporary of the Nautilus, Ingenieur, Laureato, and Royal Oak, all born from the sporty elegance that Gérald Genta helped define. Steel construction, a faceted bezel, and a minimalist three-hand dial with a textured motif remain shared traits across that generation of watches, and the Riviera carries them still.
Quartz technology, only four years old at the time, powered the original model, a detail the new Riviera 73 deliberately revives. The line has gone through five generations since 1973, with long gaps between some of them: nineteen years separated the third and fourth generations, and seventeen years passed between the fourth and the fifth, launched in 2021 alongside the in-house Baumatic caliber. That movement remains a reference point for the brand thanks to its resistance to magnetic fields, its accuracy, and its extended service intervals. Even so, Baume & Mercier chose a quartz movement for the new 39mm Riviera 73, unveiled at Watches and Wonders, positioning it as a more unisex, more accessible entry point into the collection.
The case was built specifically for this reference rather than adapted from an existing shape. Removing the screws once visible on the bezel gives the watch a more vintage look, and helped bring the thickness down to 7.7mm. The result leans toward a dress-watch identity rather than the sportier feel found elsewhere in the range. A caseback engraving marks the birth year in period-accurate typography, reinforcing the historical link.
With diameters spanning from 33mm to 43mm and both mechanical and quartz options, the Riviera has become Baume & Mercier’s broadest collection. New bracelet options are expected in September, with additional dial colors planned for 2027.
Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Offshore Turns 37mm and Sun-Soaked
Audemars Piguet has trimmed the Royal Oak Offshore down to 37mm, a shift that opens the line to wrists that never warmed to the model’s original oversized proportions. Since its 1993 launch, the Offshore built a reputation on exposed rubber details and unapologetically sporty sizing, a look that earned it the nickname The Beast. The new smaller versions keep that same rebellious character but wrap it in a lighter, slimmer case, released alongside three more conventionally sized 42mm models.
Beneath the dial sits the real news: the in-house Calibre 6401, developed over five years to replace the long-serving Calibre 2385. The integrated self-winding chronograph combines a column wheel architecture with a vertical clutch system, resulting in smoother activation and a 55-hour power reserve. Visible through a sapphire caseback for the first time in this size, the movement carries Geneva stripes, alternating polished and satin-brushed finishes, and a dark rhodium-toned oscillating weight in 22-carat pink gold.
The new calibre brought a broader redesign with it. The case has grown thinner, the bezel now curves more gently, and the push-piece guards have softened the watch’s overall silhouette. The Tapisserie dial has changed too, with larger squares, bolder Arabic numerals, and a date window moved to six o’clock for better balance.
Color leads the story across the three 37mm references. A titanium model pairs a turquoise dial with a matching rubber strap, marking a first for this size. A second titanium version combines candy pink tones with a bezel set with 32 brilliant-cut diamonds. The third, in 18-carat pink gold, pairs a light sky blue dial with diamond-set details and matching rubber strap. Despite the softer palette, Audemars Piguet maintains that these watches retain the durability the Offshore built its name on, ready for the same seaside conditions as their larger siblings.
Inside Panerai’s R&D: The Hidden Science of a Dive Watch
Making a dive watch look simple is easy. Making one that actually performs at depth, at scale, and for years, is another matter entirely. Anders Modig Davin visited Panerai’s facility in Neuchâtel to speak with Hugo Trias, the brand’s Research and Development Director, about what really goes into the process. “In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is,” Trias said, summing up a discipline where Panerai pushes water and shock resistance at least 20% beyond stated specifications, then tests every construction under laboratory conditions simulating thousands of meters of pressure and a decade of wear.
One area of focus is Titanium DMLS, a 3D-printing technique Panerai patented in 2012 and currently uses on models such as the Submersible GMT PAM01495. Layers of grade 5 titanium powder, each just 0.03 millimeters thick, are fused by laser to build a monobloc case that is 25% lighter than a traditionally machined equivalent and reduces the number of interfaces where water might otherwise intrude.
Precision matters just as much as material. Panerai works to tolerances of 5 microns across cases, movements, and gaskets, accounting for how deep-water pressure can subtly deform external metal parts. “That is part of the challenge – when we find new materials or new technologies, we have to make it in the Panerai way with these extreme tolerances,” Trias noted.
Color presents its own technical puzzle. The Ti-Ceramitech™ process used on the Submersible Elux Lab-ID PAM01800 and Submersible Luna Rossa PAM01543 transforms titanium into ceramic through an electrolytic bath running roughly 10,000 volts, requiring constant adjustment since components of different sizes color unevenly. Meanwhile, the carbon-based Carbotech™ seen on the Submersible Marina Militare PAM01698 still needs an internal cage to protect the movement, since even 200 pressed layers cannot guarantee a fully sealed case on their own.
BUSINESS NEWS
Five Watchmakers Redefining Métiers d’Art Today
Métiers d’art resist easy ranking, since their value lies in individual craftsmanship and subjective appreciation. Still, five recent creations stand out for how they push these traditional techniques forward.
Jaquet Droz takes the most disruptive path, now producing only one-of-a-kind pieces from its La Chaux-de-Fonds workshop. The Petite Heure Minute Red Gold “Japanese Garden” exemplifies this approach, with a mother-of-pearl dial engraved to reveal every detail of a temple balustrade, 25 hand-applied appliqués, and a tiny cabochon that makes a lantern appear to emerge from the surface itself.
Breguet claims the historic mantle, having developed decorative finishes some 250 years ago that anticipated what we now call métiers d’art, before the term existed. The new Marine Équation Marchante 5887 carries that legacy forward with luminescent paint applied to sapphire, alongside the pantograph-executed master’s signature also found on the Souscription Watch.
Chopard, by contrast, favors understatement, a tendency perhaps shaped by CEO Karl-Friedrich Scheufele’s low-key style. Yet the L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 – Straw Marquetry Edition, shown at the last Watches and Wonders, reveals real ambition: individual strands of rye straw worked by hand into a honeycomb pattern, then dyed and stabilized.
Vacheron Constantin earns the most expressive distinction through its dedicated Métiers d’Art collection. The Homage to Great Civilizations series, developed with the Louvre, brings together glyptic art, micromosaic, cloisonné marquetry, enameling, and engraving across four pieces referencing Ancient Greece, the New Kingdom of Egypt, the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and Rome.
The final spot goes to De Bethune, a name prized among independent watchmaking collectors. Its Starry Varius collection reimagines the night sky using individually placed gold pins, a patient and demanding technique built to last. Patek Philippe, Louis Vuitton, and Rolex all deserved mention too, but this list had to stop somewhere.
PEOPLE
Dieter Pachner Charts Certina’s Course as New CEO
A year into his tenure at Certina, Dieter Pachner describes the brand as something of a hidden treasure, built on strong foundations that the company has not yet fully leveraged. Having previously led Glashütte Original, he arrived with three decades of familiarity with Certina from his early days in retail, yet he was still struck by what he found. “The quality, the design, the philosophy behind the product—they all exceeded my expectations,” he says, recalling weekends spent exploring the brand’s carefully preserved archives, including vintage chronographs like the PH 1000, pieces he believes deserve more recognition than they have received.
Certina’s strength remains firmly European, with Switzerland, Poland, Sweden, and Germany standing out as leading markets, alongside a presence in the United States and Middle East. Asia, by contrast, remains largely untapped. On the question of younger buyers, Pachner rejects the long-running assumption that new generations will abandon watches altogether, pointing to the Royal Pop’s popularity among young customers as proof that pricing and design, not generational disinterest, determine success. The brand’s core customers currently fall between 25 and 40, and its e-commerce channel is growing quickly, with the DS Action becoming Certina’s top online seller within three months of launch.
The centerpiece of this summer’s lineup is the DS Super PH2000M, a titanium dive watch rated to 2,000 meters, twice the depth of its predecessor. It pairs a ceramic bezel with a protected timing ring and the brand’s new DS Concept Extreme Shock Resistance system, priced at CHF 1,235. Looking ahead, Pachner points to smaller case sizes, additional women’s models, and continued consolidation, calling 2026 a year focused on internal groundwork before more significant moves in 2027 and 2028.
