by Carol Besler

Chronometry is the ultimate frontier in watchmaking and a recent preoccupation of the watch industry, which has been inundating the market with new, improved, and enhanced calibers.Watchmakers are on a quest to make a movement that is nano-seconds more accurate, scaled down but with a power reserve that lasts longer than ever, or that introduces an entirely new interpretation of a classic complication. Watches and Wonders in April ushered in new designs and references, but new movements that push the boundaries of horology. Here are six worth noting.

Vacheron Constantin Caliber 2550

Ultra-thin movements make it possible to create smaller watches, which have become a trend over the past five years, and the newest calibers are marvels of micro-engineering. One of them is Vacheron’s ultra-thin automatic caliber 2550, a new movement that was seven years in development. It combines a mcro-rotor and a double barrel architecture with a compact gear train that delivers an 80-hour power reserve. It debuted in a limited-edition platinum Overseas Self-Winding Ultra-Thin with a case measuring 39.5mm x 7.35mm thick. 

A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Annual Calendar

The automatic caliber L207.1 is another example of a movement that has been engineered to s fit into a smaller case. It debuted in the newly compact Saxonia Annual Calendar, measuring 36mm x 9.8mm, down from 38.5mm for the original (launched in 2010 and phased out around 2021). Most scaled-down ultra-thin movements employ space-saving micro-rotors, but the L207.1 somehow retains a central rotor, in platinum, that delivers a 60-hour power reserve. A classic screw balance operates at a frequency of 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour. It retains the brand’s signature hand-engraved balance cock and screwed gold chatons. You can see it through the sapphire caseback. Lange’s quest to downsize began last year with the launch of the 34mm 1815 models (down from 38.5). 

Bulgari Octo Finnissimo 37

The scaled-down, 37mm Octo Finnissimo (down from 40mm, a 20% reduction) was the hit of Watches and Wonders this year, and it’s all because of the BVF 100, a new movement based on the groundbreaking Solotempo ladies’ automatic caliber that was launched last year in the Serpenti Seduttori. While the Solotempo measures 

19mm by 3.9mm thick, the BVF 100 has slightly different proportions, measuring 31mm by 2.35mm (the ladies’ Seduttori, in the case, measures 34mm). The BVF 100 delivers a 72-hour power reserve compared to the Solotempo’s 50 hours. There are titanium and yellow gold versions.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Hybris Inventiva Gyrotourbillon À Stratosphère

The Stratosphère is the 6th generation (and culmination) of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 22-year commitment to building the ultimate multi-axis tourbillon. The new caliber 178 is a triple-axis tourbillon with spherical hairspring that combats gravity in 98% of possible positions. This represents the widest positional coverage ever achieved by Jaeger-LeCoultre, and the brand says no other 4 Hz tourbillon on the market currently covers such a wide range of positions. The Master Hybris Inventiva Calibre 178 Gyrotourbillon À Stratosphère has a cylindrical balance spring, a shape that beats concentrically in every position, regardless of amplitude, position or power reserve. Its three tourbillon cages rotate at three different speeds – respectively, 20 seconds (inner cage); 60 seconds (center cage or “cage of reference”); and 90 seconds (outer cage). It has a 72-hour power reserve thanks to two barrels and a mechanism with lightweight titanium cages that take less energy to move.

TAG Heuer Monaco TH80-00

TAG has been making serious techncal inroads since Carole Forestier-Kasapi joined the company in 2020 after 15 years as Cartier’s high watchmaking movement developer. The Monaco TH80-00, five years in development, is a square, automatic chronograph movement that replaces virtually all of the levers and springs traditionally associated with the start, stop, and reset functions of a chrono. In their place are two flexible components: one governing start and stop, the other reset. It debuted in the very cool-looking, openworked Monaco Evergraph chronograph.

Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Chronograph Mysterieux

The PF053 takes a page from the movements in Parmigiani’s previous mysterieux complications: the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, with a local hour hand hidden under the reference time hour hand, which pops out on demand, thus delivering a second time zone; and the Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante which uses a minute hand hidden under the regular minute hand, activated on demand, essentially functioning as a countdown timer – it performs the function usually operated by the graduated bezel on a diver’s watch. This year, PF interpreted the technology in a chronograph. At rest, it looks like a regular three hand, but when you start the chronograph, all three hands (hour, minute and seconds) jump to 0 and begin functioning as chronograph seconds, hour and minute totalizers. Simultaneously, rose gold hour and minute hands hidden underneath the rhodium-plated hands take over the running time. Another click of the pusher resets everything, hiding the rose-gold hands again. So when not using the chrono function, what you mostly see is the Tonda PF’s signature grain d’orge guilloché dial, and the running time.