By Jovan Krstevski
For this Top 5, let us give some love to the manufacturers that go above their comfort zones to bring the best of horology to all of us. If you like traditional watches, you can still take a peek below but be forewarned that with the ingenious ideas of the following manufacturers, you’ll simply never think of contemporary watches in its bare form ever again.
5. Romain Jerome
Swiss at heart but way cooler than the old folks, that is what comes to mind when Romain Jerome watches are mentioned. RJ timepieces are simply inspired by humanity’s greatest achievements and with their technical prowess, they can capture the essence of man’s quest of the moon through the legendary design of the Air Moon-DNA collection including the limited Batman-DNA and Eyjafjallajökull-DNA collection containing material essences from the Icelandic volcano. romainjerome.ch
4. URWERK
Founded in 1997 by Felix Baumgartner (co-founder and master watchmaker) and Martin Frei (co-founder and chief designer), Urwerk simply stands tall with groundbreaking releases that cross the borders of traditional design. Urwerk’s philosophy is nothing new but their conceptions such as the satellite hours gliding slowly along the minute scale through their 105 Collection that includes the UR–105M are well sought by watch collectors of the world over. Of course, Urwerk made diamonds look cool on men too with their UR–106 from Diamonds Division. urwerk.com
3. Richard Mille
Richard Mille is simply a revolutionary watch manufacturer. Their watches are reflections of superb craftsmanship that banks on a holistic approach of watchmaking. Attention to detail is very important down to the smallest screw that makes the watch elements as a whole. Really what I want to say is that releases like the RM 56-02 Tourbillon Chronograph Sapphire – Filipe Massa and the Yohan Blake Ltd Edition make the Richard Mille name a force to be reckoned with in the horology world. With stunning handcrafted timepieces, I don’t see why Richard Mille isn’t a cool watch manufacturer. richardmille.com
2. MB&F
Maximilian Büsser takes us to other dimensions with his creations being really out of this world. He describes them as 3D kinetic sculptures of perfection which is undoubtedly correct particularly when top notch independent horological professionals are thrown at the mix. MB&F simply pushes the limit of horology which is exciting considering the man’s high-end horology history. MB&F Machines include Legacy Machine Perpetual, Arachnophobia, Melchior, MusicMachine 1, MM 2 and the MM 3. These pieces are made with superb craftsmanship and if you’re doubtful, just look them up and you’ll understand what I mean. mbandf.com
1. HYT
Perhaps HYT is the coolest manufacturer simply because they are the first to make watches powered by liquids. Yeah, definitely liquids but, of course, don’t just take my words for it. Being fully liquid powered, HYT had been chosen as the official timekeeper of the 2015 RC44 Championship Tour. I don’t see why not plus this kind of event just makes the brand stick to what it stands for, hydro-mechanical horology. The timepiece designs are superb and very masculine particularly the Skull Collection consisting of Skull Green Eye, Skull Red Eye and Skull Maori. The Skull Collection sports an hour marker powered by liquids flowing on a capillary. What makes them even more interesting is the level of technical expertise required to make sure that such liquids are effectively contained. HYT has mastered this technique which makes their releases really cool to have. hytwatches.com
JOVAN KRSTEVSKI – FOUNDER, PROPRIETOR & EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Watch collector, aficionado and an Event profile in the Swedish nightlife. He launched Watchgeek back in 2011, which is now known as WristReview and is one of the most widely read watch blogs on the Web. He quotes ’WristReview is a site to help people find, explore, discover and enjoy wristwatches.’ His passion jump started in his early teens when he was given his first mid-range wristwatch which was an Omega Seamaster. Since then he has always been in love with wristwatches! Besides WristReview, he also writes for a number of publications. Read his articles here
