Haute Timepieces: Harry Winston Opus X

For almost 10 years, Harry Winston has been wowing watch lovers with its Opus collection of limited edition watches. The high-end jewelry maker has become quite respected for its timepieces, always pushing the envelope in terms of design as well as mechanics. Wise executives in the Harry Winston timepiece division attract exciting talent from the watch industry to ensure that new developments from the brand always earn attention. For the Opus X, Harry Winston decided to work with talented watchmaker Jean-Francois Mojon.

The watch from the 10th Opus collection feels like an anniversary piece, a celebration that the Opus idea has been so successful since its inception in 2001. Like most Harry Winston Opus watches, just seeing the timepieces without its animated operation is only half the fun. Like any proper machine, watching it perform is the real source of excitement.

Imagine for an instant that the entire watch dial as well as the hands are in constant motion. Different parts move at different speeds, just like a planetary system with moons. This celestial scenario is compared to the Opus X’s sophisticated face. While the entire dial revolves on its axis like a planet, in its midst are the moons of time that move themselves, at different rates. Subsidiary dials for the hours, minutes, and seconds are the three moons of this watch. While the entire system is moving, so are the hands in the middle of these subdials to indicate the time. Note the indicator with “HW” logo – it displays a second time zone in a 24-hour format around the periphery of the face, as the main dial moves the hand around the 24-hour scale.

On the rear of the watch is linear power reserve indicator for the manually wound movement with 72 hours of power reserve. The genius of the Opus X comes from its straightforward execution of what is inherently a very complex movement. Unlike many watches that are arguably strange for the sake of being strange, the Opus X is elegant, rather than being awkward in design and thus hard to market.

The dial is a combination of materials and finishes, though, to retain legibility, Harry Winston designed the information indicators in canary yellow in order that they would stick out for easy reading. A fluid evolution of the skeletonzied open style of the dial, the watch maintains that visible gear-work frames and enhances, rather than detracts, from the dials. Therefore, while the mechanism of the watch is rightfully unhidden, the wearer’s eye is meant to see the dials and hands first and foremost when glancing at the watch.

Big in stance, the Opus X is 46mm wide in an 18-karat white gold case, neatly designed as a thematic homage to the iconic “Ocean” case that houses many of Harry Winston’s main collection of watches. The gorgeous open dial with its smooth charm should be a collector’s favorite. This is an exotic treat that is still wearable for most occasions, and with a solid high-end brand name that many will respect. Limited to 100 pieces and priced at $208,800.

1. 46-mm-wide 18K white gold case
2. Hour indicator dial
3. Minute indicator dial
4. Seconds dial with “X” as indicator hand
5. Indicator for second time zone in 24-hour format around dial
6. Entire dial with all subdials revolves each 24 hours around the watch face.

Ariel Adams is the Haute Living Watch Editor and also publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.