Black Does It Better With Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas’ Latest Capsule Collection - Men's Folio
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Black Does It Better With Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas’ Latest Capsule Collection

  • By Men's Folio

Piece the colour black and the image of skeletons together and one would probably harness mental pictures of gaudy goth prints done to death, but when applied to watches, the skeletonised timepiece evokes a grandeur that transcends the horological vogue. When crafted in the darkest of hues, power and style become attached to any outfit when the black skeletonised watch is placed on your wrist. As an added bonus, black being versatile and easy to match does come in handy.

Here are some watches that are both lust-worthy and masterpieces of dedicated craft.

Audemars Piguet Michael Schumacher Royal Oak Concept Laptimer

While Audemars Piguet’s longstanding relationship with the world’s best Formula One Ferrari racing champion has seen the advent of the highly successful Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph Michael Schumacher three years ago, the Laptimer distances itself from merely being a triumph of aesthetical measures, but one of technicality. Housed within a chunky octagonal case made of 44mm forged carbon, featuring pushpieces of ceramic and pink gold and case edges, a caseback and titanium bezel made of titanium, the watch is definitive of brooding machismo. The Laptimer is also Audemar Piguet’s recent attempt at refocusing on making intricate chronographs, especially with this watch’s split-second chronograph.

Richard Mille RM 61-01 Yohan Blake Limited Edition

The standard greens and yellows of the RM 61-01 are replaced in this all-black, limited edition of the Yohan Blake watch. Only 50 pieces were made of this exclusive TZP-N ceramic watch, with a NTPT carbon caseband. The watch’s aerodyanamic shape celebrates Blake as the second fastest man in history, with the drawn out lines on the watch’s face adding visual finesse to the skeleton. The RM 61-01 was developed with the focal point of impact resistance, making it suitable for sports use.

Tissot Sculpture Line Skeleton

Perhaps the most classic in form of the bunch, the T-Gold Sculpture Line Skeleton accentuates its timelessness with the manually wound mechanical movement. The fully skeletonised watch is cleverly crafted to retain legibility that isn’t swamped by gears. The cut-out face provides views of the gear maze, while the sapphire exhibition window reveals the skeletonisation and decoration process. Paired with a brown crocodile strap watch, the Sculpture Line Gold is the embodiment of meticulous classicism on your wrist.

Bell and Ross Carbon Forge X1

Not ditching their signature square-faced aesthetics, Bell & Ross recently launched the BR-X1 Carbon Forge, a carbon-forged derivative of the BR-X1 Skeleton Chronograph. While the dial looks unsurprisingly imposing with its carbon fibre composition, it houses a delicate skeletal movement created by Dubois Depraz, in a gorgeous satin-black finish that reveals the inner intricacies of the watch. Available in a limited run of 250 pieces, this is admittedly the manufacturer’s most gorgeous release yet.

Hublot Big Bang Unico Italia

Hublot might be a relative newcomer in the watchmaking industry, but this is anything but indicative of their exacting standards when it comes to haute horologie. The Big Bang Unico bears the brand’s signature Unico movement, which consists of 300 individual components, all put together by hand. Skeletal watches, by the virtue of its design, allows one to glean an uncompromising view behind the watch’s complex movements. Hublot does just that with the Big Bang Unico, with the performance you would expect out of its pricetag.