Unique watches from legacy brands: Few standout watches you have to check out

Jacob & Co Casino Tourbillon

Calling all gamblers (at heart), the latest launch from the king of extravagant watches, Jacob & Co, is a miniature roulette game with a spinning wheel complete with 37 pockets—18 red, 18 black and one green—and a white ceramic ball to decide your luck. Aptly named the Casino Tourbillon, the watch is available in two limited-edition versions—a dial covered with 96 diamonds (only 72 pieces) and one without the additional bling (101 pieces). Press the button at 8 o’clock to activate the roulette wheel and see the little white ball bounce around before settling in one of the pockets. Price on request.

Chopard L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 Ganesh Edition

Always keen to embrace different cultures, Chopard has launched a limited-edition (only five pieces) 18k rose gold watch featuring a delicate enamel dial with Lord Ganesha. Housed in a 40-millimetre case, its innovative L.U.C 98.06-L movement is equipped with four barrels based on the exclusive Chopard Quattro technology enabling up to eight days of power reserve. It’s a jumping hour watch meaning it points exactly at the current hour and jumps to the next hour as soon as the 60th minute of the current hour is over, instead of sweeping slowly between the hour marks. Chopard has also launched the L.U.C XP Urushi Ganesh Edition, limited to 10 pieces. Price on request.

F.P. Journe FFC

‘Talk to the hand’ has never been said in a more luxurious way. This fascinating watch, invented post a conversation with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (hence, the name FFC), has a mechanical hand in an armoured glove on the dial face to indicate the hours, an ode to the ancient way of telling time using fingers. It uses 12 unique finger combinations. For instance, One hour AM or PM is communicated by a closed hand with the index finger out while noon is a closed hand with the thumb and pinky finger out—all of this in a 42 mm case. Considering it took eight years to make a working prototype, the watch’s availability is limited by production. Price on request.

Gucci G-Timeless Planetarium

Gucci’s G-Timeless Planetarium collection includes four new kaleidoscopic designs. Each of the four creations is unique thanks to a combination of 12 precious gemstones on the dial, including opals, rubies and diamonds. But what makes it special is that the touch of a button brings alive the gem-set wheel which rotates around the dial. This is made possible through Gucci’s exclusive caliber, Dancing Hours Flying Tourbillon, named after the Orion Nebula NGC 1976, one of the galaxy’s brightest nebulas. The watch is available in white, rose and yellow gold. Price on request.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual

Moving away from tradition, Rolex has launched a series of Oyster Perpetual watches for the young and young at heart. Alive with colour, the new dials of the Oyster Perpetual 31, Oyster Perpetual 36 and Oyster Perpetual 41 are dotted with five different coloured—candy pink, turquoise blue, yellow, coral red, and green—bubbles in varied sizes. The strap is made of ‘Oystersteel’—a special steel produced exclusively for Rolex. Its anti-corrosion properties are comparable to precious metals. Price on request.

Patek Philippe Aquanaut Luce Annual Calendar Ref. 5261R-001

Now here’s a watch for ladies that is a far cry from the more feminine timepieces with petite dimensions, pastel colours and diamonds. While Patek Philippe’s latest launch is an attractive watch for women with a taste for large sporty watches (the watch is 39.9 mm in rose gold) with great horological content, it is also of great appeal to men, making it truly unisex. The annual calendar complication is more robust than a perpetual calendar requiring just one correction a year at the end of February. It retails for €61,000.