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Franck Muller celebrates the Lunar New Year with a trio of Vanguard watches that display traditional symbolism with modern design. The watchmaker’s new Vanguard Dragon Slim Skeleton Limited Edition is a collection of three gem-set white gold watches that celebrate the year of the dragon in decidedly colorful form.

One of three Franck Muller Vanguard Dragon Slim Skeleton Limited Edition models.

You’ll find the namesake dragon beautifully engraved into the rotor made visible through the back of the watch, seemingly protecting the watch as it hugs the rotor of the skeletonized automatic movement.

The series offers a choice of three sapphire caseback crystal color options: red, green or clear.

On the dial of each watch Franck Muller places its well-known set of playful Color Dreams numerals.

The numerals are gem-set on two models atop a red or green partial dial plate and are rendered in bright colors atop a model with a polished steel dial plate. The back hue matches the front on each limited edition model.

Franck Muller’s artisans hand-decorate each in-house skeleton movement, highlighting the three-dimensional layout of the caliber.

The watchmaker will make ten pieces in white gold for each Vanguard Dragon Slim Skeleton Limited Edition reference, available only at Franck Muller boutiques across the Asia Pacific region. Price upon request. 

At the end of the year it’s time to note our favorite 2023 debut watches. We continue our look at a few of our favorite timekeepers of the year. 

Franck Muller: Colorado Grand 

Each limited to thirty-four examples (to celebrate the 34th anniversary of the race), these new watches of the Franck Muller Colorado Grand limited edition expertly utilize the classic 45mm Vanguard tonneau-shaped case and dial as a canvas, creating dials inspired by automotive art and the technical details of vintage cars.

Notable is the silver perlage that graces each dial of the four-watch set. Set with bold hand-painted numerals, these dials recall vintage car dashboards. Four models are available, each with a colorful rendering of the numerals, crown-protector and minute track just inside the bezel. Three debuts are in steel-cases, one in titanium and the fourth cased in rose gold. Prices: $13,000 to $24,500.

 

 

William Henry: Legacy 

The U.S.-based knifemaker’s first foray into wristwatches features dials created from meteorite, fossilized mammoth tooth and other exotic materials. A particularly nice example is this limited-edition Legacy Dinosaur model with a dial crafted from dinosaur bone; an extraordinary fossil material that ranges from 100 to 200 million years old. Initially it has a similar appearance to rock, but after the painstaking process of crafting a precision dial, the beautiful hues and patterns are revealed.

Surrounding the ancient dial is a forged Damascus case built with 300 layers of stainless-steel alloys and etched to reveal the individual patterns. Each watch in the debut collection is powered by a Sellita SW 400 automatic movement and housed in grade 5 titanium that is water resistant to 100 meters. Prices start at $3,750. 

 

Louis Vuitton: Tambour

This year, Louis Vuitton updates Tambour with new finishes and a decidedly slimmer, sculpted case. The new collection is more luxurious overall and notably highlights an all-new in-house movement and a sleek integrated steel bracelet.

Two new steel watches launch the collection’s upgrade. One is a chic monochrome model with a silver grey dial and the second one sports a deep blue dial. Both are built to highlight the new unisex 40mm by 8.3mm case, its new caliber LFT023 and the new bracelet. A rose gold model and a two-tone gold and steel edition are also now available. Price: $18,500 or $52,500 (rose gold) or $26,500 (two-tone). 

 

MB&F: Horological Machine Nº11 Architect.

This house for your wrist features four titanium ‘rooms’ radiating from a sapphire-domed central flying tourbillon. The surprising new watch recalls the designs of mid-twentieth century biomorphic-style houses, with four symmetrical parabolic ‘rooms’ emanating from a central atrium. 

Each room houses a display, with one showing the time, the next showing the watch’s power reserve, a third indicating temperature and the fourth housing the winding crown. The wearer can choose which display is in direct eyesight when wearing the watch by rotating the entire housing, which will click into place as desired. Price: $200,000.

 

 

Nomos: Rose Gold Neomatik

In a year of terrific debuts by this Glashütte-based watchmaker, this rose gold designs stood out for its unusually luxurious dressing. The Tangente Rose Gold Neomatik is a limited edition 35mm model in honor of the 175th anniversary of watchmaking in Glashütte. Limited to 175 pieces worldwide, the new watch adds a sub-seconds dial and minute markers in rose gold to the original’s galvanically white silver-plated dial. And while the first Tangente series reveled in its manual-wind minimalism, the new model is powered  by the Nomos DUW 3001, a thin automatic movement adjusted to chronometer standards. Price: $11,100.

 

 

Parmigiani Fleurier: Tonda PF Sport Chronograph 

Parmigiani Fleurier replaced its Tonda GT collection with the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph and Tonda PF Sport Automatic, both more refined than its predecessor. We like the chronograph best here, as it combines the most attractive elements of the new Tonda PF collection (the knurled bezel, clean dials and revamped bracelets) with its 42mm by 12.9mm ‘panda’-styling. 

Inside, the watchmaker fits its stunning Caliber PF070, a superb high-frequency (5Hz – 36,000 vph) manufacture movement with an integrated column wheel chronograph and a vertical clutch. The COSC-certified Chronometer offers a power reserve of sixty-five hours.

Prices: $50,200 (chronograph in rose gold), $29,000 (chronograph in steel).

Franck Muller’s Las Vegas Racing Watch celebrates the inaugural Formula One race hosted by the Sin City as it hits the apex of watchmaking design and accelerates onto the Las Vegas Strip.

The Franck Muller Las Vegas Racing Watch.

The compressed carbon chassis is cast in this sport-driven Vanguard design, this time with new coach works inspired by the fastest track cars in the world coming to Las Vegas for the first time.

Under the hood is the in-house designed and manufactured Franck Muller custom engine, enhanced with a roulette wheel function as it performs late-breaking maneuvers into the exclusive point of sale at the Las Vegas Neiman Marcus.

Issued in a very limited edition, the Franck Muller Las Vegas Racing is the perfect racing partner for those who live life in the fast lane. Price: $45,000.

As the Official Timepiece sponsor of the Colorado Grand classic car charity tour, Franck Muller annually introduces special limited edition watches to commemorate the race.

Held during September for the past thirty-four years in its namesake state, the five-day race features one-hundred vintage pre-1960 automobiles that gently compete to finish first as they traverse 1,000 miles of scenic Rocky Mountain passes and bypasses, starting and finishing in the ski mecca of Vail.

One of four new limited edition Franck Muller Colorado Grand 2023 watches.

Race organizers raise funds for numerous local causes, including the Colorado State Patrol, and generate well over $500,000 annually for small Colorado charities, including college scholarships and medical facilities in small towns.

This year Franck Muller offers four new Colorado Grand watches, each limited to thirty-four examples (to celebrate the 34th anniversary of the event).

The new watches of the Franck Muller Colorado Grand limited edition expertly utilize the classic 45mm Vanguard tonneau-shaped case and dial as a canvas, creating dials inspired by automotive art and the technical details of vintage cars.

Notable is the silver perlage that graces each dial of the four-watch set. Set with bold hand-painted numerals, these dials recall vintage car dashboards. Four models are available, each with a colorful rendering of the numerals, crown-protector and minute track just inside the bezel.

Prices: $24,500 (rose gold case with blue accents), $13,000 (steel case with black accents), $13,000 (steel case with red accents) and $13,000 (titanium case with green accents).

Backes & Strauss teams with British jeweler Theo Fennell to create the colorful Regent Theo Fennell Rainbow, an oval watch that places Fennell’s dynamic hand-crafted London style into a contemporary black PVD steel case with a black dial.

The Backes & Strauss Regent Theo Fennell Rainbow.

The watch’s dark dial is offset with rose gold hour markers comprised of brightly enameled Arabic numerals. The colors seem to flow from the hot pink Theo Fennell logo at 12 o’clock to warm amber and finally from green to blue as the eye races around the oval dial. An inner oval track is set with applied rose gold pyramid markers that reflect the light as the watch is worn. 

The watch’s 40mm by 47mm case is also set alight by a single diamond set into the crown. Backes and Strauss, fits an automatic movement into the case. 

The legendary jeweler and watchmaker, founded in 1789 and now part of the Franck Muller group, offers nine examples of the black-cased Regent Theo Fennell Rainbow, each priced upon request.

As a watchmaker and jeweler known for its diamond-set dials and cases, Backes and Strauss is also offering one glittering example of the Regent Theo Fennell Rainbow cased in rose gold and set with two rows of Ideal-cut round brilliant diamonds.

Even the leather strap’s gold buckle is diamond-set, contributing to the 4.79 total carat weight of the watch. Like the blackened steel model, this jeweled unique piece is priced on request.