Sapphire crystals are a common element in luxury watches, but entire cases made of sapphire have been and remain a rarity in the watch world due to the extreme difficulty in making them (and thus, not coincidentally, their prohibitively expensive price tags). However, recent years have seen several brands join the sapphire-case party, each in their own distinctive fashion. Here are six that have their made debuts in recent years.
1. Blancpain L-Evolution One-Minute Flying Sapphire Carrousel
Blancpain L-Evolution One-Minute Flying Sapphire Carrousel
This timepiece from Blancpain’s avant-garde L-Evolution collection boasts not only a dial, caseband, and caseback made of sapphire, but also sapphire components in the manual-wound movement, Blancpain’s in-house Caliber 22T. Among the highlights of this movement are the nanotechnology-inspired finish on the upper bridge, its lengthy power reserve of 120 hours, and its use of a carrousel regulating system, a device that has become a hallmark of Blancpain’s haute horlogerie timepieces (for an explanation of the differences between a carrousel and its more popular cousin, the tourbillon, click here). The watch’s case, which marries the sapphire parts to a tantalum bezel and white-gold lugs, measures 43.5 mm in diameter and is water-resistant to 30 meters. It is mounted on a black Mississippi alligator leather strap. 2. Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 30º Technique Sapphire
Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon ...