What to watch for in 2011

Start 2011 right with the right watch. Timepieces are no longer just about telling time. It is also about telling who you really are. Your watch is about your personality and style.

No longer are we only content with the accuracy and precision of a watch. We also want top design. It is all about form and function. No longer do we want only one timepiece. We also want different styles.

It is about that perfect watch for that particular style or personality. The world’s leading watch makers have models to match that personality. Here are some trends to watch out for in 2011.

Timepieces heed the call for subtlety in the present global economic state. Designs are simpler, timeless and modern. Even women’s jewelry watches in precious stones-encrusted models are more discrete in design. So are city and evening watches in ultra-slim and elegant pieces. Continue to watch for large-faced watches but in more subdued designs. Dials show larger and easy-to-read numbers and hour markers.

Swatch’s Lady Collection in colorful long and slim silicone straps

Classics are updated. Retro watches are modified for contemporary versions. We just love our gadgets and watches with multiple features and functions are in great demand. For straps, you will still see a lot of rubber and other synthetic materials. Aside from the classic colors of leather and other exotic skins, new colors are introduced for a modern take.

Steel is still the metal of choice but the new ones use treatments in brushed finish or black-coated. Rose gold designs are also statement pieces for 2011. The use of particular materials like silica, ceramic or titanium is a modern innovation. Any watch enthusiast can choose from complicated engines, anniversary and other limited editions introduced for 2011.

THE EXTRA MILE

These new watches offer something extra like functional instruments such as GPS, emergency beacons or new and innovative technology.

BE NOTICED TELLING TIME

The demand for oversized timepieces for both men and women continues in 2011. Strike the balance between making a statement and possessing some class. The new large-faced watches are simpler in design.

PERSONAL PREFERENCE

Patek Philippe Nautilus 18K rose gold watch (center)Chopard’s Limited Edition Mille Miglia GT XL Chrono (right)Special Edition Panerai Luminor 1950 Submersible Automatic Bronze 3 days 47mm watch

Add cheer to your statement in colorful or exotic materials in dyed leather or brightly colored straps. It is all about personal taste. Swatch’s Lady Collection in colorful long and slim silicone straps that wrap twice around the wrist are cool accents for summer. Pick according to your mood from light blue, purple, peach, light pink, azure, yellow, green, pale crimson, beige and white.

NO TO THE FLASH FACTOR

Ultra-thin models answer the call for restraint and decorum. Demand for discreet designs correlates to the current economic situation. Sensibility, maturity and self-control are the mindset of modern day men and women. Show class and mean business with these designs.

COLLECTOR’S PIECES

With so many models coming out every year, the discerning consumer demands only the best from highly respected brands. Those in the know want only movements produced in-house. Watch aficionados look for complexity, design and innovation. Here are some of the watches to watch out for.

Patek Philippe presented its first Nautilus worn in a leather strap featuring an 18K rose gold precious metal case Baselworld 2010. The higher proportion of copper made a darker red tone from the usual rose gold to make the look more masculine.

Limited Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Edition Kurt Klaus

Presented recently at the Salon International De La Haute Horlogerie 2011, the Panerai Luminor 1950 Submersible Automatic Bronze 3 days 47mm watch is a special edition for the year. It’s a professional diver’s watch inspired by an order of the Egyptian Navy in the past. A special brushed bronze alloy case is treated to be resistant to corrosion by salt water. Not only is the color unusual but the material also retains the robust properties of the original model.

The unusual and complicated design of Felix Baumgartner and Martine Frei of Urwerk’s UR-110 Torpedo is a vision of the future. The unusual shape of the titanium case uses a revolving satellite complication featuring three parallel markers that rotate to display the time while aiming at a metered scale on the right. The design allows the wearer to view the time without the need to pull a cuff or a sleeve back.

Chopard’s Mille Miglia GT XL Chrono in limited edition is inspired by the world famous classic car rally, the Mille Miglia. Chopard reinterprets this sports watch every year. A 44 mm case in steel or rose gold, framing a vintage-style design with elongated numerals is secured on the wrist with natural rubber Dunlop Racing straps echoing that of the ’60s racing tires.

Welcome the Year of the Rabbit with Swatch’s My Rabbit Story.

Crafted in steel and issued in a worldwide limited edition of 1,000, the Bentley Supersports special series of Breitling carries a bezel adorned with an elegant raised and knurled motif evoking the characteristic design of Bentley controls. It has a Breitling for Bentley motor chronometer-certified by the COSC and fitted with a rubber strap or Speed bracelet.

Designed to slow down the process of wearing out the self-winding mechanism, the declutchable rotor is added to the Richard Mille RM 030 watch. It features a double-barrel design, with a skeletonized movement.

Kurt Klaus invented the perpetual calendar of the IWC Da Vinci more than 20 years ago. In tribute to the designer, a limited Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Edition Kurt Klaus was released. It will carry the small signature on the dial at the bottom right between “4” and “5” o’clock and a relief engraving of Kurt Klaus on the back of the watch, in addition to the familiar indications of the date, day, month, year and perpetual moon phase. The case resembles that of the new Da Vinci chronograph, the first Da Vinci in the next generation.

Manila has also made its mark as “one of Asia’s horological hotspots” with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Squadra World Time Chronograph Philippine Limited Edition. Its chronograph functions are on the front face and the World Time on the back face — all encased in a reversible titanium case with a black rubber strap. The edition features a red minute and hour chronograph counters on the front face while the “8” is also red to commemorate the year that JLC opened its first boutique in the Philippines. There are only 50 pieces of this watch with “Limited Edition” and “Philippines 2010” engraved in the inner case coated in black enamel, framing the Philippine map.

Welcome the Year of the Rabbit with Swatch’s My Rabbit Story, a bright and optimistic watch featuring a gentle black rabbit on the dial and painted flowers on the pink silicone strap.

Your watch choice tells something about you so take extra care to make the right statement. Be ahead of the pack. Be prepared. Be precise. Be on time. Have a beyond-boundaries 2011.

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