HAUTE AMBASSADOR: SANDY HEQUIN

Opus 8

White Gold: $405,500; Limited to 50 pieces

The Opus Collection’s  second most expensive watch doesn’t look like a traditional mechanical watch at first glance. With a vision to combine the world of luxury complicated watches with the modern appearance of digital displays, Harry Winston looked to the engineering talents of FrédéricGarinaud, who had always dreamed of creating a hybrid display watch. Using a 1970’s inspired design, Garinaud managed to create a digital display powered by a mechanical movement. When a slide on the side of the watch is activated, it momentarily reveals what appears to be a digital hour and AM/PM display using the same concept as pin art games, which creates 3 dimensional impressions of objects pushed against them. To the right of the hour display is a vertical indicator that changes every five minutes. The back of the watch has disc displays for the hour, AM/PM, minutes and a 48-hour power reserve.

Opus 9

White Gold: $197,300; limited to 100 pieces

For the first time in the Opus series, Harry Winston invited two outside designers to work on a timepiece together. Grand Prix 2007 Best Watchmaker Designer winner Jean-Marc Wiederrecht came together with designer and architect Eric Giroud to create a piece that embodies the most fundamental elements of a Harry Winston time piece – elegance, class and exceptionalism. The design uses two vertical indicators to display the hour and minutes using the same principle as conveyor belts. The indication intertwines aesthetics with function, using 66 diamonds and six mandarin garnets strategically positioned to mark the time. The way the stones are set is reminiscent of the iconic Harry Winston invisible settings, making the stones to appear as if they are floating in the crystal tubes encasing them. The Opus 9 received the honor of “Best Designed Watch of the Year” for 2009 by the Jury of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie.

Opus X

White Gold: $230,100; limited to 100 pieces

A decade after the debut of the first Opus watches at Baselworld, Harry Winston introduced the Opus X in conjunction with Jean-Francois Mojon. Mojon comes from a family of watchmakers and worked for both IWC and Swatch Group before deciding to open his own business, Chronode SA, dedicated to the research and development of high complication watch movements.  The Opus X design was inspired by the pattern of planetary orbit. The hours, minutes and seconds are displayed on discs which rotate in a fluid motion to imitate a planetary gear train. There is also a second timezone driven on a separate frame running along the edge of the dial, which completes a rotation every 24 hours. The watch was designed with no bezel on the 46mm case in order to give it a cleaner look.

Opus Eleven

White Gold: $229,600; limited to 111 pieces

A watch that initially looks very complex and chaotic, The Opus Eleven is actually a very organized and well thought out timepiece.  Developed with Denis Giguet, the idea for the watch was “deconstructing time.” In the main dial, a system of gears assembles 24 placards like a puzzle in the center to reveal the hour. Protruding from the right side of the watch are two smaller subdials. The top dial uses a jump-hour system to give the minutes in tens, while the bottom dial is dedicated to displaying the minutes in single units. This watch would truly be a unique grail piece of any connoisseur’s collection. The Opus Eleven took more than 14,400 hours to engineer, with 560 components and a staggering 166 jewels. Pricing is current as of September 13, 2011.