Harry Winston

Felix Baumgartner, a third-generation Swiss watchmaker and co-founder of the Urwerk brand, is the creator of the Opus V watch. He met Büsser at Baselworld in 2003 when the latter presented his new UR-103 wandering hour watch. This watch was chosen by Baumgartner and Büsser as the starting point for the development of the Opus V design. However, Felix Baumgartner developed the Opus V from scratch and invented a new, unprecedented time display system with three small cubes, each with four numbers, arranged like satellites in a three-dimensional rotation system that turns and twists to indicate the current hour, with the retractable minute hand moving over a 120-degree scale. Another of Baumgartner’s inventions for the Opus V was the service display, a world first in a wristwatch. It is located on the caseback of the watch and is intended to inform the owner when the watch needs servicing. Nearby, also on the caseback, is an adjustment screw with which the rate of the caliber can be adjusted.

The design of the Opus V case was equally unusual. Baumgartner decided to shield the winding crown with a click-spring guard which opens upwards like the door of a cool sports car. As is usual with the Opus series, the Opus V was also produced in a limited edition: 45 pieces in 18k rose gold, like this watch, and 45 in platinum. As you would expect from a brand like Harry Winston, ten diamond-set timepieces were also issued: 7 pieces in platinum set with round-cut diamonds and 3 pieces in platinum set with baguette-cut diamonds, bringing the total edition to 100 pieces.

Since the presentation of the Opus V project at Baselworld 2005, this watch has been very well received by experts, the press and connoisseurs. The Opus V is characterized by its own charismatic character, an unprecedented and bold design and a complex movement with unique functionality. If we consider the entire Opus series as a whole, the two Opus – the third and the fifth, the present example – should be recognized as the most memorable creations. The Opus 3 had a difficult fate, despite the enthusiastic reaction of the public at its launch. It had to wait for the change of watchmaker, the redesign and the production of the entire limited series, which dragged on for many years. In this sense, Harry Winston had no problems with the Opus V, as the project was completed on time. The Opus V is also notable because it was to be the last creation in the Opus series under the direction of Maximilian Büsser, who left Harry Winston in 2005 to found his own watch brand, MB&F. This undoubtedly makes this model an important watch with great collector’s value.