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IT'S A

R

ex Harrison's Professor

Henry Higgins in My Fair

Lady asked: "Why can't

a woman be more like

a man?" Well, the good

professor would be pleased

to learn that the fairer sex is now

trying its best when it comes to wrist

watches. The advent of quartz once

threatened to spell the end of the

mechanical watch, and is a technology

that was embraced with particular

enthusiasm by women, who reasoned

that there was no point in paying a

premium for a watch that you had to

wind up when, for less money, you

could have a battery-powered one

that would happily run for years.

The watch companies liked this

thinking, largely because women's

WIND-UPFOR YEARS QUARTZ WATCHES HAVE DOMINATED THE WOMEN'S WATCH MARKET, BUT

AS TIMEPIECES GET BIGGER, MECHANICAL MOVEMENTS ARE MAKING A COMEBACK

WORDS SIMON DE BURTON

1. RICHARD MILLE RM19�02 TOURBILLON FLEUR

One of the most talked about watches to be unveiled at this year's Salon

International de la haute Horlogerie show in Geneva, Richard Mille's Tourbillon Fleur

features an exquisite, hand-painted magnolia ‡ower, which, at the push of a button

located at the nine o'clock position on the case, can be made to gently open its

ˆve petals. As they part, a concealed ‡ying tourbillon is slowly revealed, complete

with precious stones designed to represent the stamens. Despite its feminine

nature, however, this is a large watch - the distinctive, titanium case measures

45mm by 38mm, and is smothered in diamonds. Only 30 examples will be

made… at £782,000 apiece. richardmille.com

2. GRAFF DISCO BUTTERFLY

Gra˜'s latest watch in its Butter‡y collection features a small 'swarm' of six

butter‡ies - formed from carefully placed sapphires, emeralds, or rubies -

which 'hover' above a diamond-set dial. As the wearer moves, the swarm

circles around the dial of the 38mm watch, apparently autonomously. In

reality, Gra˜'s master gem setters worked closely with the Geneva watchmaking

team to create the mechanism, which is driven by a special rotor

concealed within the case. Price on application. gra�diamonds.com

watches had traditionally been of

dainty dimensions and therefore

making mechanical movements for

them could be a ˆddle.

But times are changing, with

more women choosing mechanical

movements over quartz and willing

to spend more - sometimes much

more - than ever before. Here are

six examples…