Platinum is experiencing a creative renaissance. Prized for its icy colour, which sits somewhere between white and silver, and its soft, light-refracting lustre, the metal’s popularity is once again on the rise. In Swiss watch workshops, platinum has given shape to new timepieces of bold, masculine proportions with minimal detailing.
From Geneva comes the Grand Complications Ref. 5236P-010 by Patek Philippe, which contrasts an opaline rose-gilt dial with a hand-polished platinum case, dotted with one white diamond. In Bienne, at the manufacture of Omega, the brand’s creative team has matched the platinum case of a new Seamaster 300 with a deep green dial cut from malachite and a corresponding ceramic bezel.
First unveiled at this year’s Watches & Wonders fair, the 1908 model by Rolex comes with a platinum case. As is Rolex tradition, the watch centres on an ice-blue dial, the colour-code of all Rolex platinum designs. Here, that dial has been patterned with a repeated Rice-Grain motif, using mechanical Guilloché engraving.
A new Vacheron Constantin platinum timepiece also debuted at Watches & Wonders. Limited to 50 iterations worldwide, the brand’s Collection Excellence Platine Traditionnelle Tourbillon Chronograph is entirely made from the metal, including its 42.5mm case, dial and buckles.
Even the stitching of the model’s midnight blue strap has been finished in platinum thread. “Platinum exudes understated luxury,” Lorenzo Maillard, part of watch zine , ex.