By Mr. E
The new 42mm addition to the Ocean Collection boasts a double retrograde complication, topped off with “a splash” of diamonds.
We’ve been seeing plenty of watches using the water motif recently and I suppose there’s no better time for that than the start of summer. By far the most luxurious among them has to be Harry Winston’s new Ocean Biretrograde Automatic.
The new 42 mm timepiece is part of the Ocean Collection, which has always been designated to showcase some of the watchmaker’s most complicated timepieces.
This one in particular bears two of the brand’s hallmark complications: excentered hours and minutes and a double retrograde display. On this watch the retrograde seconds trace an arc from zero to thirty, and then jump back to zero by moving counter-clockwise. The days of the week advance every 24 hours and jump on Sunday at midnight.
Below the deck, a top-class Swiss automatic movement - HW3305 – makes it all possible. It also adds improved precision and performance thanks to the integration of silicon in the balance spring.
The movement can be appreciated through a sapphire crystal case back, including its 18-karat white gold rotor that is beautifully hand-finished and decorated with circular Côtes de Genève motifs.
But this wouldn’t be a Harry Winston timepiece without a diamond or two. The brand has been integrating its founder’s love for superlative stones into its timepieces since 1989, and this one boasts “a splash” of only 367 brilliant-cut diamonds.
The excentered hours and minutes counter in the upper half is encircled by three rings of brilliant-cut diamonds, while the two retrograde counters on the lower half of the dial are housed in semi-circular counters with diamond borders. They are also embellished with a wavy guilloché design, evoking tide marks in the sand.
With so much going on with this watch, it is important to create depth and perspective, and the designers have fared well there. To create the allusion of depth and volume, the principal counters are slightly elevated above the small diamond-set triangle, drawing the eye towards the circular date window. The counters have also been set against a white mother-of-pearl dial, which mimics the curves and contours of the elegant white gold case, defined by its sweeping arcs.
