Archive Essentials

Archive Essentials is the shortlist: one definitive piece from each dial family we build, chosen because it is the reference people actually come looking for rather than the one that photographs best. The chronographs are here — the Daytona in yellow gold and the Speedmaster “Moonwatch” — alongside the Submariner in classic black, the Pepsi GMT-Master II with its two-tone bezel, the Datejust in royal gold, and the Oyster Perpetual, which carries a room on colour alone. Beyond those lines sit the independent houses: the Royal Oak and its integrated case, the cushion-cased Panerai Radiomir, a Patek Philippe world-time dial, and the Porsche piece that has ended up on more showroom walls than anything else we make.

Every one is built the same way, because the construction does not change with the dial: a case milled from solid 304L stainless steel in 30, 34, 38 or 42 cm, mineral glass rather than acrylic, and a high-torque silent sweep movement rated for the hand mass of each size and calibrated individually. Pieces are held in stock across our own warehouses. When an order comes in, the movement is run and checked on the bench and the piece inspected under magnification before it is packed; most destinations receive it within nine to eleven days.

This is the collection Alessandro CONTI oversees personally. If you are choosing a first piece, start here.