We love the ONLY WATCH auction that takes place every other year in Monaco for the support of charity. Why do we love it? Well a range of participating watch brands produce totally unique watches that are auctioned off for charity (Monegasque Association against Muscular Dystrophy). The pieces are sometimes mere color variations on existing models, and sometimes they are radically new models that are production concepts or signs of things to come. In any event, they are all one-off pieces (with the exception of models that are “#1” in a limited edition). The brands do it for the massive media exposure and marketing opportunity.
UPDATE: See the aBlogtoWatch full list of Only Watch 2013 Watches.
2013 is the 5th edition of the Only Watch (administered and operated by auctioneer Antiquorum) auction and it will take place later in 2013 on September 28th. The participating brands will slowly release their Only Watch pieces until then. While more brands may be added later, here are the companies that we expect to see interesting timepieces from over the next several months:
- Backes & Strauss
- Bell & Ross
- Blancpain
- Breguet
- Chanel
- Chopard
- ChronoSwiss
- Christophe Claret
- Corum
- Cyrus
- deLaCour
- De Bethune
- DeWitt
- Franck Muller
- Frédérique Constant
- Girard Perregaux
- Glasshütte Original
- Harry Winston
- Heritage Watch Manufactory
- Hublot, Ikepod
- Jaquet Droz
- Ladoire
- Laurent Ferrier
- Louis Vuitton
- Manufacture Royale
- Maurice Lacroix
- Montblanc
- Patek Philippe
- Piaget
- Richard Mille
- Roger Dubuis
- Armin Strom
- Ulysse Nardin
- Vacheron Constantin
- Van Cleef & Arpels
- Vulcain
- Zenith
That is a huge number of brands and you can compare them to the all the pieces from the Only Watch 2011 auction. We look forward to sharing with you the auction pieces as they trickle out leading up to the event in September of 2013. onlywatch.com
The first major change is the diameter: The brand new releases measure 47mm wide and an impressive 18.8mm high. Smartly, however, the lugs are short and curved to enable a close fit to the wrist. Of the 18.8mm of height, 8mm of this is down to the sapphire crystal alone. This is seemingly no mean accomplishment: getting a flawless finish on a Sapphire component of this thickness, curvature, and essential consistency is actual obstacle. Corum Watches On Ebay Replica accomplishes this unusual effect by beginning with a block of crystal clear and squeezing it to some bubble-like shape, before polishing to absolute clarity.To get the most out of this feature, the designers of the Corum Bubble watches, chose to match the timepieces with “Op-art” (optical-art) dials. These smart patterns give the feeling of motion, as well as depth and shadow. Though level, the dials have a level of presence. There will be two Corum Bubble Op-Art watches available at a limited run of 350 pieces each: The Corum Bubble Drop watch comes with a brownish PVD-coated case and a “ripple” effect dial; the Corum Bubble Sphere2 is coated in blue PVD and features an “atom-inspired” pattern on the dial. Both watches use Super-LumiNova on the palms. The magnifying sapphire crystal has such an affect on the flat dials that they appear to be aggressively domed themselves. With this particular design leaping out of this watch, it is easier to understand this crazy contraption has so many fans the world over. Both watches are fitted with rubber straps wrapped with leather, using a buckle matching their personal case finishes.