Even Before SIHH Starts One Thing Is Clear: Blue Remains The New Black!
With SIHH only a short week away some trends can already be established from the pre-releases of the brands participating. One of them is the continuation of a phenomenon that we have seen develop over the last few years; the rise of watches with a blue dial. In fact, we are getting to the point that we can hardly call it a trend anymore, but more the new normal as blue seems to be here to stay in full force. These blue dial beauties will hit the boutiques in 2019!
Piaget‘s pre-announcement for SIHH included two watches with a blue dial, both new interpretations of familiar faces. They now offer the Altiplano Tourbillon with an exceptional blue meteorite dial, which gives it a unique appearance. It is the perfect backdrop for the unusual dial on which the subdial that tells the hours and the minutes is placed at eight o’clock, and the flying tourbillon is placed at the two o’clock position, highlighted by a bezel set with brilliant cut diamonds.
Diamonds can also be found on the new Piaget Altiplano. This elegant two-hand watch shows off its distinguished pedigree by a bezel set with baguette-cut diamonds, while the lugs are set with brilliant cut diamonds. A blue sunray dial is the finishing touch on an ultra-slim timepiece of which Piaget will only make 88 pieces.
Cartier is not a brand for blue dials. Throughout their history, they have very sparsely used it. That might change now as the Santos will become available with a gradient blue dial. Especially combined with the white-on-black date indication it results in a very masculine watch. On a leather strap it looks pleasantly casual, a side we don’t see too often from Cartier. We wouldn’t be surprised if this new addition to the Santos collection will jump to the front of the line as the most popular version of this iconic watch.
Girard-Perregaux goes all in on blue, as every single watch that is part of their pre-announcement features a dial in this color. They offer the Cat’s Eye Majestic, with or without tourbillon, with a stunning dial made from Aventurine, and that same material is also used for the Cat’s Eye Celestial. It complements the oversized moon phase complication perfectly.
Blue is also the color of the dial on the new Laureato Perpetual Calendar. Girard Perregaux created this classic complication with a contemporary look, by utilizing three subdials in different sizes on the dial. An eye catcher is also the large cutout at the lower part of the dial where the months are shown. The blue dial with Clous de Paris decorations brings it all together, while the stainless steel case and integrated bracelet, as well as a water resistance of 100 meters/328 feet, leave no mistake that this watch is made for an active lifestyle!
These are only the watches that we know of right now, but more blue dial timepieces are bound to follow as brands like IWC, Bovet, Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre have in recent years also shown their love for this color. So it will probably be a pretty safe bet to say that more are bound to follow next week!
