BCBusiness

APRIL 2016 BCBusiness 73 souRCE: stAtIstIC BRAIn REsEARCh InstItutE Ronde Croisière de Cartier Cartier has always been revered for its watch design, but now that it has moved to crafting its own move- ments in-house (still a rarity in the industry), watch nerds have started to take note. those two talents are perfectly married in this piece–a homegrown 1947MC self-winding movement housed in an updated classic Art Deco-inspired case. $6,300 (men's) from Cartier Vancouver, cartier.com Omega seamaster Ploprof 1200M Titanium this storied swiss brand harkens back to a time when a diving watch was actually used for diving, and this hot new take channels exactly that. Will you ever actually use the automatic helium escape valve on this brute? Probably not, but fellow cocktail partygoers will be able to see your horo- logical preference from across the room. $14,100 (men's) from Omega Boutique Vancouver, omegawatches.com Tiffany CT60 3-Hand While tiffany & Co. may be better known for its little blue boxes, the famed jeweller has quietly been selling watches since 1847. With a new swiss watchmaking facility in place and the opening of a Vancouver watch salon in 2017, the brand aims to return to its roots. this piece has all the hallmarks of a classic: self-winding swiss movement, elegant design and an exhibition back that shows off the movement all at a price that, if not cheap, is competitive in the mar- ket. $5,350 women's 34-mm, $6,650 men's 40-mm from Tiffany stores across Canada, tiffany.ca Parmigiani 1950 Tourbillon Galaxy Limited edition this is watchmaking master- class territory. Whereas even lauded manufacturers like Rolex, which is opening a boutique in Vancou- ver, crank out thousands of watches a month, legendary artisan Michel Parmigiani oversees a small team that only handcrafts a miniscule amount of artisanal wonders every year. this model, due out summer 2016 and limited to five pieces worldwide, has a shopping list of watch complications (a crazy thin tourbillon–aka, a gravitational mechanism for perfect timekeeping) and pre- cious materials (an exotic aven- turine face and alligator strap handcrafted by hermès)–all for the price of a small condo. US$145,000 (women's) from Palladio Jewellers, palladiocanada.com Vintage the simple fact is there is no such thing as a new well-made swiss watch under $1,000, but here's a small secret: eBay is littered with authentic offer- ings from great swiss brands–Girard- Perregaux, Zenith, ulysse nardin–at prices that are a fraction of their new brethren. they're mostly very basic, hand-wound mechanical movements (only buy from sellers with long track records), but they can offer a nice slice of watch history for under $1,000. And given their typically smaller size, they work for both men and women. $350 to $1,000 Watch List S t y l e There are smartwatches, and then there are smart watches, like these classic timepieces by Amanda Ross in a lot of ways, buying the perfect watch has more in common with buying a car than buying a suit. Both are engineering marvels that are only broadly subject to the whims of fashion, and your choice in brand and style speaks volumes about the persona you wish to project. Plus increasingly they're in the same general price bracket, but while the car loses its value year after year, a well-selected time- piece will grace not just your wrist but those of generations to come. So, to quote the Grail Knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, "You must choose. But choose wisely." FACTOid Number of watches sold annually worldwide: 1,200,000,000 • Number of Swiss watches sold annually: 29,200,000 Number of smartwatches sold in 2014: 6,800,000 • Mechanical watch market share: 77% • Electronic watch market share: 23%

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