The best new watches from SIHH 2017

The first high profile watch fair on the 2017 calendar, the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, took place in Geneva, Switzerland this week. Bringing together some of the biggest names in fine watchmaking, including Jaeger Le-Coultre, Montblanc, Ulysse Nardin and IWC Schaffhausen, this is the world’s first chance to see the horological trends, technologies and, most importantly, new timepieces we’ll be adding to our collections this year.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic Tourbillon Universal Time

Building on 2015’s debut Universal Time model, at SIHH 2017 Jaeger-LeCoultre unveiled a new flying tourbillon limited edition that will be available in just 100 pieces. Housed in a platinum case, the timepiece is also set to be one of the best worldtimers thanks to its stunning dial.

Case: Platinum, 43.5mm
Strap: Leather
Movement: Calibre 948 automatic
Limited edition: 100
Price: $145,000

Urwerk is a boutique fine watch brand best known for its high-tech, and highly masculine, timepieces. After the success of last year’s feminine UR-106 Lotus, Urwerk returns with another ladies’ timepiece for 2017: the UR-106 Flower Power. The striking design retains all of the houses signature codes and features four diamond lotus flowers which revolve on top of time-telling carousels.

Case: Steel and diamond, 35 x 49.4mm
Strap: Leather
Movement: UR-6.01 automatic
Waterproof: 30 metres
Limited edition: 11
Price: POA

While it may not look revolutionary from the outside, the new generation materials and technical innovations that have gone into the build of Panerai’s new Luminor model have negated the need for lubrication meaning the brand is able to offer an astounding 50-year guarantee. Panerai has also coated the dial in carbon nanotubes allowing it to absorb more light thus enhancing its blackness and making the Superluminova hands and markers even brighter.

Case: Carbotech, 49mm
Strap: Leather
Movement: P.3001/C
Waterproof: 100 metres
Limited edition: 50
Price: POA

The sizeable name of Richard Mille’s latest timepiece tells you just about everything you need to know. It was produced in collaboration with the McLaren F1 and is the world’s lightest split-second chronograph. Weighing just 38 grams, the innovation was made possible by using a combination of Richard Mille’s existing exclusive lightweight TPT Carbon, titanium and Graph TPT – a new compound created with help from the University of Manchester using graphene that is just one atom thick.

Case: Graph TPT, 44.5mm
Strap: Rubber
Movement: Calibre RM 50-03 manual tourbillon
Limited edition: 75
Price: $980,000

Possibly the most buzzed about watch from SIHH 2017 – aside, perhaps, from Vacheron Constantin’s $1 million grand complication – MB&F’s new Horological Machine No. 7 is pretty special inside and out. The jellyfish-inspired watch features MB&F’s first pod-style case highlighting the flying tourbillon centrepiece and will be available in titanium and red gold versions.

Case: Titanium or red gold, 53.8mm
Strap: Rubber
Movement: In-house 3D automatic tourbillon
Waterproof: 50 metres
Limited edition: 33 in titanium and 66 in red gold
Price: CHF98,000 in titanium and CHF118,000 in red gold