Watches

One of the more interesting announcements at Basel this year came from the engineering team at TAG Heuer. The company's new Pendulum Concept replaces the traditional hairspring with a "virtual spring" that works by driving a pendulum that moves between magnetic fields.

Watchmaking can cause some unexpected reactions. When TAG Heuer introduced its Monaco V4 concept watch, one French journalist was so moved by its brilliance he burst into tears.

Unmistakeable originals of chronometry are the undisputed specialty of the IWC Schaffhausen watch factory in Schaffhausen, in north-east Switzerland: the famous Da Vinci with its perpetual calendar, is one such. These naturally included the first "Grande Complication" for the wrist, but also the super-antimagnetic "Ingenieur" and the diver's watches, which are capable of withstanding water pressure even down to a depth of 2000 metres - and the only diver's watches with a mechanical depth gauge. From IWC come the professional "Pilot's watches".