In the realm of non-traditional haute horlogerie for 2008, the Harry Winston Opus 8 watch is certainly one of the most far out.  Frédéric Garinaud and his team drew their aesthetic inspiration for this wildly distinctive timepiece from a vintage television set, and pin art games provided the impetus for the time displays.

437 individual mechanical parts drive the unique “digital” hour and vertically oriented minute display; the latter, only readable to the nearest 5 minutes is realized by a pegged disc which selectively raises segments in a pattern.  The hour is especially interesting, not only for its appearance (which mimics early LED displays) and three-dimensionality, but also for its unusual activation: you don’t usually see it, and it rises only when the user manipulates the bolt on the side of the case!  Additional displays on the back, including a power reserve and AM/PM indicator are likewise interpreted with exceptional creativity.

Clearly, this remarkable Harry Winston watch is not for everyone, even if it’s price and rarity weren’t so astronomical.  Opus 8 isn’t about being elegant, telling the time to the nearest second, or following the bandwagon of dazzling traditional complications such as repeaters and tourbillons.  After all, Harry Winston has introduced some fabulous examples of these complications already in several previous Opus series watches.  The Opus 8 watch is about expressing the notion of time in new and artistic ways, and pushing the boundaries of the way in which man relates to his world.  Not everyone will like such a concept, and that’s ok!