Time, see what's become of me

Since cellular phones have become ubiquitous multi-taskers — functioning as a clock, a camera, a calculator, and a personal life coach — they’ve also become increasingly seamless, with huge touchscreens that emit a digital aura of lightness and invisibility; no whirring parts or solid metal gears that churn when you try to calculate what effect a 15-percent discount will have on that last pair of Jimmy Choos.

A few cell phone and even watch brands are getting in on the act of trying to style the phone as the new pocket watch, with “artisanal craftsmanship,” watchcase finishes and details that add a “mechanical intrigue” to the mobile phone. This sounds like the cell phone being forced to attend a 19th-century costume party — in the end it just looks silly for a phone to have a round screen, and frivolous for it to come in leather trim. Let the cell phone be the sleek, constantly evolving technological beast it is, and let the mechanical watch remain the bulwark of horological tradition, serviceable today even if it was made 100 years ago.

In a market saturated with gadgets that try to be everything, and in an economic atmosphere that demands restraint in spending, the main attraction of luxury watches is still the fact that the watch will outlast its wearer. Obsolescence isn’t built-in; in fact, it’s the opposite. “We have the capacity to manufacture exactly the same components of watches made in 1875,” says Wolfgang Sickenberg, outgoing CEO of Audemars Piguet Hong Kong/China when he recently came to Manila to check on the new Greenbelt 5 store and also introduce the incoming CEO, David von Gunten, to the new environment.

Audemars Piguet is a 135-year-old Swiss brand that is still owned by the same two families that founded the manufacture, and so tradition and authenticity are values deeply steeped in them. “There is continuity in transmitting know-how,” Sickenberg says. “This is important for the end consumer and collector to know.” AP only makes complicated watches, and they’re all painstakingly made by hand. “Even a basic movement, like the hour and minute, is complicated to manufacture,” Sickenberg explains. “Every part is handmade, hand finished. A Grande Complication, which has 654 parts, takes nine months to assemble.” All these different shiny parts that make up a movement are either hidden or exposed, depending on the style of casing. A peek inside will reveal a bafflingly complex and tiny world of wheels, flanks and screws that come together beautifully. In 1802 William Paley claimed “God is a watchmaker,” and it’s not such a stretch to see why.

The brand has three core values that define the philosophy of AP: tradition, excellence and innovation. The latter is expressed in their design daring, as they were the first to do black PVD treatment on cases, and used titanium on one of their Royal Oak versions, which was also their most expensive. More recently, they’ve used forged carbon on the cases, the same material used in building boats. The octagonal shape of the dial in the sporty Royal Oak line is probably the brand’s most iconic and distinguishing characteristic — a design that hasn’t been changed since 1972 when a Swiss designer took inspiration from the porthole of a British Army warship.

For the ladies, the Millenary line has blinged-up and blinding timepieces with crusts of diamonds and mother-of-pearl faces. The Classic collection contains slimmer styles with round dials and tasteful leather straps. The Royal Oak still remains the bestseller, with its robust feel and prominent hexagonal screws on the octagonal bezel, giving it a very strong, modern look that goes down well with the luxury-active lifestyle — meaning it will look great as you sail your yacht or drive your sports car to the golf course. F1 drivers Jarno Trulli and Rubens Barrichello are two of their sports ambassadors, while Anggun and Michelle Yeoh represent the more artistic and feminine side.

And there’s no way those monocle-wearing horologists, squired away in the Swiss village of Le Brassus, are going to be hooking up telephonic devices to their watches anytime soon. Each piece is a work of art as it is — why complicate life even more?