[caption id="attachment_1765" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="RM 203 Tourbillon Wristwach Aerodyne from Richard Mille."][/caption]
Innovative materials were used in the new collections at Basel World 2009 to create superbly unique timepieces. The new collections of Richard Mille, Romain Jerome, Jacquet Droz, and Hublot really pushed the boundaries when it came to precious matierals.
Richard Mille has a reputation for innovative mechanics and their new RM 203 Tourbillon Wristwatch Aerodyne (above) is testament to that. The Aerodyne is a made of orthorhombic titanium aluminides which are used by NASA in aircraft wings to withstand extremely high temperatures and torsion.
[caption id="attachment_1767" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="RJ by Chéca from Romain Jerome."][/caption]
Romain Jerome’s new Titanic and Moon series literally took parts from the Titanic and the Moon to create one of a kind, original pieces. RJ by Chéca is designed by the French artist, André Chéca, and it incorporates pieces of the salvaged oxidized steel from the Titanic.
[caption id="attachment_1768" align="alignnone" width="473" caption="L’Heure Selenite from Jacquet Droz."][/caption]
Jacquet Droz took a more conventional approach, and their choice of materials mixed together beautifully to create a watch that emulated the night sky. Their L’Heure Selenite is made of 18-carat white gold with a dial of black onyx for the sky, white-diamonds stars and an ivory mother-of-pearl crescent for the moon. This design, made for women, shows that sometimes, the fusion of classic materials can result in something quite innovative.
[caption id="attachment_1769" align="alignnone" width="478" caption="Hublot’s Big Bang Apple."][/caption]
Hublot’s Big Bang Apple, used precious materials to create a colorful and bold watch. The case is made of 5N gold or titanium with a neon-green composite resin. The bezel is lined with a gem called Tsavorite (there are 48 of them), a green garnet found in Tanzania. Its green alligator strap lined with rubber matches the resin and Tsavorite.
