So why the Route 66 diner theme? Well, it goes to the jukebox style complication in the Harry Winston Opus 14 watch that uses “record-style” plates which are pulled out from a stack and used to indicate the date, a second time zone, or a record-style disc which has a blue star by default but can be customized for each customer. Nevertheless, Harry Winston was able to hire a bunch of people in the region who owned classic American cars to drive us around – that was certainly fun. Instead, they opted for Baden-Baden, which is a really lovely place, but of course, everyone is a bit confused about why the launch event was here. Apparently, Harry Winston wanted to actually do the event in the US given the diner and Route 66 theme, but that ended up being too complicated to arrange. The Harry Winston Opus 14 launch event was retro American diner themed. So Opus lives, and it will be part of the future of the Harry Winston brand. This makes sense, since the effort needed to ensure quality control for each Harry Winston Opus model is intense and the annual production cycle just doesn’t fit with the reality of what is involved. On top of that, new Harry Winston Opus watches will not be released each year, but rather staggered out a bit. Harry Winston has confirmed that at least two more Opus timepieces are currently in development. First, the Harry Winston Opus collection will keep going. I will also take this opportunity to clear up two more things. It goes without saying that everyone was eager to see the first Opus watch from a Swatch Group-owned Harry Winston. A few months ago, I was told that Harry Winston would be releasing an Opus 14, and that a big launch would be forthcoming. The presentation box of the Harry Winston Opus 14Īll of this pointed to the eventual demise of the Harry Winston Opus project, but of course, reality is much stranger than our imaginations. So to produce a timepiece that promotes a specific watchmaker or other brand goes against what people have come to understand is the policy at the Swatch Group. Only brand CEOs and the Hayek family are allowed to speak on behalf on brands, and only the Hayek family speaks on behalf of the Swatch Group itself. Not only was the Opus range a headache, but the nature of the Harry Winston Opus concept as a collaboration project went against the predominant policy of the Swatch Group to promote brands versus people. So when the Swatch Group inherited the Opus responsibility along with the purchase of Harry Winston, there was wide speculation that the Opus collection would be retired.

The unique movements and exclusivity of the Opus watches pretty much make sure that the design, development, and production of the watch is always a challenge. The Opus 13, for example, still has not been delivered because, according to Harry Winston, the ultra-complicated movement is still not ready.

Delays when it came to the delivery of new Opus watches almost became a meme in the watch industry. A prime example is the Opus 3, done in collaboration with Vianney Halter which was not delivered for about eight years after its launch. Harry Winston also had a dodgy reputation when it came to actually delivering these masterpieces. Started by Max Busser (later of MB&F) in 2001 when he was running the watch business at Harry Winston, the Opus timepieces were meant to be the ultimate collaboration project between big brand and independent watchmaker.įor 13 years, a new Harry Winston Opus watch was debuted on an annual basis. The shining beacon of what is possible in the Harry Winston watch department has always been the Opus collection. Of course, Harry Winston already had a fine stable of diamond-decorated women’s watches, but they also had a number of interesting as well as ultra-exotic men’s watches. Very little was known about what would become of the formerly American company under its new ownership, and many people guessed that the Swatch Group would transform Harry Winston into the high-end women’s jewelry watch maker that it always wanted. Harry Winston is the Swatch Group’s latest acquisition, and the Hayek family (that runs the group) has been deeply involved in almost every move the brand has made since it became part of the group. I also recommend listening to Foreigner’s song “Jukebox Hero” while reading this article – which is embedded below. As a follow-up to the aBlogtoWatch debut of the Opus 14, I’d now like to go hands-on with the Harry Winston Opus 14 as well as talk a bit about the launch and what it means for Harry Winston in general.

Last night, here in Baden-Baden, Germany, Harry Winston held a rather interesting event to launch the highly anticipated Harry Winston Opus 14 watch (debuted here – where you’ll find most of the technical details).

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