14 October

The day in brief

Vacheron Constantin and Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo have named the 34 finalists of the first Concours d'Élégance Horlogère, which will be on show in Geneva from 4 to 8 November.

In Munich, Inhorgenta announces a section devoted to vintage jewellery and watches for February, open to collectors. In New York, the Horological Society of New York has appointed Gregory Brown as executive director.

Among the new releases, MB&F gives the original Legacy Machine the EVO treatment, fifteen years after the first model, and Bianchet takes a black ceramic and rose gold Tonneau UltraFino to SIAR in Mexico.

Vacheron Constantin names the 34 finalists of its first concours d'élégance

The jury of the Vacheron Constantin Concours d'Élégance Horlogère has announced the 34 finalists of the first edition. The competition, an initiative of Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo with the Geneva manufacture, received more than 550 entries, all of them pocket watches and wristwatches made in Vacheron Constantin's workshops between 1755 and 1999.

Before reaching the jury, the pieces were examined by the brand's watchmakers and heritage specialists, who confirmed the authenticity, documentation and suitability of each watch for its chosen category. That screening produced an initial shortlist of 95 watches. The jurors then scored their favourites, and the highest-ranked in each of the seven categories went through to the final: chronographs, métiers d'art, Chronomètre Royal, astronomical complications, multiple complications, design and chiming mechanisms. History, rarity and each piece's impact on the industry and on Vacheron Constantin itself were the main criteria.

The jury is co-chaired by Aurel Bacs of Phillips and Christian Selmoni, Vacheron Constantin's director of style and heritage. Its other members include Felix Baumgartner of Urwerk, Carlos Alonso, founder of SIAR, the historian Nicholas Foulkes, the collector and author Auro Montanari, Benjamin Clymer, founder of Hodinkee, and Jia Xian Su, founder of SJX Watches.

The list spans two centuries. The oldest finalist is a red gold pocket watch with a quarter repeater from 1822/1823. The same category includes a platinum minute repeater from 1962, reference 6448, a one-off. Among the chronographs, reference 4072 from 1940 stands out, in steel, with calibre 295 and a telemeter scale. In multiple complications, the 1940 "Don Pancho" combines a minute repeater and a retrograde full date in a calibre made to measure for its tonneau case.

The 34 watches will be on public display at the Hôtel Président Wilson in Geneva from 4 to 8 November, during Phillips' auction week, before returning to their owners. The seven winners will be revealed on 10 November at the same hotel; the jury may also award an eighth prize, "Best in Show". The organisers present it as the first competition of its kind in haute horlogerie, with the brand itself validating the pieces.

Find out more on the brand's website.

Inhorgenta opens a vintage section in Munich

Inhorgenta, Munich's trade fair for jewellery and watches, will have a new area at its next edition, from 19 to 22 February 2027, called Inhorgenta Vintage and devoted to antique, vintage and pre-owned jewellery and watches. It will be in hall B0, next to the fair, at Messe München.

The difference lies in the audience. Inhorgenta remains reserved for trade professionals, but the new section is aimed at collectors, enthusiasts and private buyers. Twelve dealers and jewellers have confirmed: six from Germany, five from Italy and one from the Netherlands.

The organisers are adding expert services. The art historian and gemmologist Heide Rezepa-Zabel will value jewellery and gemstones, and specialists from the German Gemmological Association (DGemG), the German Foundation for Gemstone Research (DSEF) and the German Society for Chronometry (DGC) will carry out authenticity and quality checks. The fair's director, Stefanie Mändlein, says that pre-owned pieces stand for "history, craftsmanship and sustainability".

The move follows the growth of the second-hand market, which now has a space of its own at trade fairs. For pre-owned watches, the presence of experts on site matters as much as the offer: provenance, materials, workmanship and condition determine value.

Find out more on the fair's website.

Gregory Brown takes the helm of the Horological Society of New York

The Horological Society of New York (HSNY), founded in 1866 by the city's watchmakers, has appointed Gregory Brown as executive director. Brown succeeds Nicholas Manousos, who held the post for more than a decade.

The new director has been a member of the society since 2016 and is a member of the Academy of the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG); he covered Baselworld and other industry events for the TimeZone forum. He has more than twenty years of experience building businesses and non-profit organisations; his most recent role was chief operating officer of Sailworks, where he oversaw the operational and financial structures of four artist-driven foundations.

"Greg understands both the institution and the industry around it," said HSNY president William Buchalter. Brown says the industry has never had more energy, but that sustaining it requires investment "in people, education and knowledge", and he plans to expand events and create more forums for discussion.

HSNY provides financial support to watchmaking students, schools and independent watchmakers, and runs hands-on classes and monthly lectures. In 2026 it awarded a record 450,000 dollars in aid, and its 160th anniversary gala raised 1.2 million dollars.

Find out more on the society's website.

MB&F gives the original Legacy Machine the EVO treatment

Fifteen years after the first Legacy Machine, MB&F applies the EVO treatment, the sporty line already given to other machines from the brand, to the LM1. The case shrinks from 44 to 42 mm in diameter and is 16.8 mm high, in grade 5 titanium or 18-carat rose gold, with a domed sapphire crystal, two screw-down crowns and water resistance to 80 metres. The movement sits on the FlexRing, the brand's shock-absorbing ring between case and calibre.

The hand-wound calibre keeps the architecture of the original, developed with Jean-François Mojon and with finishing specified by Kari Voutilainen. The large 14 mm balance floats above the dial, two sub-dials show two independent time zones and the power reserve indicator, now inclined at 6 o'clock, has been redesigned for better legibility. Power reserve rises to 60 hours.

In the regulating organ, the balance works with two Straumann hairsprings mounted in opposition. With a single hairspring, the spring's breathing slightly shifts its centre of gravity and exerts lateral forces on the balance staff, which vary with the watch's position. With two opposed hairsprings, these forces cancel each other out, improving isochronism and consistency between positions, a meaningful gain for a balance as large and exposed as this one.

The titanium version has a rhodium dial plate and blue hands; the rose gold version, limited to 33 pieces, has a green dial plate and gold hands. Both use an integrated rubber strap that can be changed by hand, without tools, a first for the EVO line. Prices are 82,000 Swiss francs in titanium and 102,000 Swiss francs in rose gold, excluding taxes.

Find out more on the brand's website.

Bianchet takes a black ceramic and rose gold Tonneau UltraFino to SIAR

Bianchet, an independent Swiss house devoted exclusively to the tourbillon, is presenting a new black ceramic version of the Tonneau UltraFino at SIAR in Mexico. The case and integrated bracelet are made of high-tech ceramic, with satin-brushed surfaces and polished bevels, and measure 40 mm wide, 47.5 mm long and 8.9 mm thick. Water resistance is 50 metres.

The novelty is the "Golden Line". On the Tonneau UltraFino, a separate component beneath the bezel forms a fine seam between the layers of the case; until now it was made of rubber, and it is now in 18-carat rose gold. The gold is echoed in the hands and the rotor.

The automatic UT01 calibre is developed and assembled by the brand in La Chaux-de-Fonds and is just 3.85 mm thick. The flying tourbillon at 6 o'clock, with a 2.66 mm high non-magnetic titanium cage, does without an upper bridge: the cage is supported only from below, which saves height and leaves the regulating organ fully on view. The barrel at 12 o'clock is suspended. The central rose gold rotor follows Fibonacci geometry, and the rear bridges, designed as concentric circles, help absorb the forces generated by the rotor's inertia under shock. The brand quotes shock resistance of up to 5,000 G and a 60-hour power reserve.

The skeletonised titanium bridges, with a black PVD finish, are finished by hand, with more than 30 hours devoted to bevelling alone. The watch is delivered with the ceramic bracelet and a black rubber strap, with a quick-release system, and costs 80,500 Swiss francs, excluding taxes.

Find out more on the brand's website.

What deserves attention

The Concours d'Élégance Horlogère is also a test of the role brands themselves play in certifying heritage. When the manufacture confirms the authenticity and documentation of each piece before the jury sees it, the competition creates a reference record for historic watches circulating on the auction market. It will be interesting to see whether other houses with solid archives follow the model.

Geneva will be busy in early November: besides the finalists' exhibition and Phillips' auction week, Christie's holds the Watches for ELA auction on 9 November, in aid of the European Leukodystrophy Association. The unique pieces created for the occasion include a titanium Kerbedanz 65'27" whose hour disc and oscillating weight are hand-painted by the artist Gezim Meta, and a Maurice Lacroix 1975 Master Grand Date Retrograde with pink accents.

This week, attention shifts to New York, where the Windup fair takes place from 16 to 18 October, just as HSNY changes leadership.