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STYLE Bloomberg Pursuits January 29, 2018

Simpler Times

The latest streamlined trend: one-hand

watches. By Justin Mastine-Frost

MeisterSinger Salthora Van Cleef & Arpels Heure d’ici Reservoir GT-Tour, Speake-Marin
Meta X, $3,200 & Heure d’ailleurs, $28,300 $3,670 Velsheda, $11,950

Enthusiasm for mechanical watches, much like the hand on with the company’s signature large minute hand and a bub-
a timekeeping device, tends to run in cycles. bled aperture at 12 o’clock displaying “jumping hours.” (The 73
After a multiyear decline in watch exports, Switzerland, plate bearing the numerals changes at the strike of the hour
the traditional home of the industry, saw single-digit growth rather than slowly rotating.)
in exports over the course of 2017, indicating a recovery Meanwhile, the Octo Maserati GranSport ($12,800) from
for a market stung by changes in Swiss monetary policy, a Bulgari is a compelling new step from an Italian jewelry
crackdown on political gifting in China, and growing enthu- house whose watches have been evolving since it brought
siasm for smartwatches. its movement-making in-house in 2013. The sporty num-
Although the oldest and most famous horological houses ber has a jumping hours indicator and a retrograde min-
in the world, such as the Richemont group (which owns utes hand that counts out the 60 minutes and then leaps
Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Montblanc), are surging, back to zero with each passing hour. Reservoir, a new brand
it’s not necessarily their best-known watches that are lead- from Switzerland, made its debut with a range of one-hand
ing the recovery. watches last year. Its GT-Tour (from $3,670) tells time in
“Brand names just aren’t selling watches the way they almost the same way as the GranSport but on a dial that
used to,” says Leon Adams, owner of Cellini Jewelers, one takes its inspiration from the odometer of a race car.
of New York’s premier destinations for luxury watches. Jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels has offered a one-hand watch
“People are craving individuality, whether through scarcity for a few years, but noting the uptick in the style’s popular-
or through new product design.” ity, it will this year release a rose-gold version of its Heure
One unusual take on timekeeping that’s been ticking up d’ici & Heure d’ailleurs ($28,300), which tracks the hour in
serious buzz is the one-handed watch, sometimes called a two different time zones with separate hour displays.
single-hand watch. It can come in a variety of configura- These watches tend to be inspired by other clever tools:
tions: Sometimes, a lone hand points to both the hour and Loosely modeled after a marine compass, the Speake-Marin
fractions of the hour on a sleek dial. In some cases, the min- Velsheda ($11,950) remains one of the most appealing one-
ute and hour indicators are separated, with a hand only hand watches on the market. Available in seven variants
for the minutes and a small window telling the hour off to in polished titanium or red gold, featuring a lacquered or
one side. These timepieces offer a singular aesthetic that’s enamel dial, the Velsheda strikes a balance between tradi-
both eye-catching and functional; it takes only one hand to tional craft and unconventional design.
COURTESY VENDORS selling reasonably priced, colorful watches such as these. Its read time from a single hand takes a period of adjustment—
While these watches can be lovely, be warned: Learning to
inspire a second look.
The German brand MeisterSinger has made a business of
and often requires a concession that minutes, like spare pen-
latest offering, the Salthora Meta X ($3,200), is a dive watch
nies, matter only in quantities of five or more.