Harry Winston Opus XIII: Expect the unexpected

MANILA, Philippines - There are only a few different ways you can measure time in a mechanical watch, but when it comes to showing it, the field is wide open to inventiveness and originality. Harry Winston takes full advantage of this in Opus XIII to combine all the emotions that have made the Opus Series legendary: innovation, astonishment, awe.

Opus XIII once again defies the conventional rules of watchmaking. Fifty-nine pivoting minutes hands, eleven rotating triangles for the hours, and a sliding trapdoor perform a magic show where minutes and hours appear or vanish instantly — and, of course, tell the time.

Minutes accumulate around a track, each five minutes in red, withdrawing in unison when they complete the circle of the hour. Silver triangles spring in turn from a faceted dome to show the hours, rotating back when their duty’s done. Every 12 hours, Harry Winston’s logo is revealed on the dial, only to vanish 60 minutes later.

Opus XIII has only one thing in common with any other watch and that is its balance and escapement; the rest of the mechanism is pure invention, the brainchild of independent watchmaker Ludovic Ballouard. Opus XIII, which reinvents time, once again illustrates the creative explosion triggered between the Harry Winston team of designers and watchmakers and its partners in the Opus Series. Harry Winston believes nothing in watchmaking is beyond human ingenuity, and Opus XIII invariably proves it right.

Other exceptional timepieces presented by Harry Winston at Baselworld 2013 include: Midnight Monochrome, Glacier, Premier Glacier, Premier Feathers, Ocean Dual Time Monochrome, and Ocean Tourbillon Jumping Hour.

Harry Winston is located at G/F Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati.