Still young brand, Laurent Ferrier has many of the hallmarks we would attribute to an old name watch maker, and yet it is a name we would never hesitated to recommend. Mr. Ferrier himself is a purist watch maker with a penchant for elegance – his timepieces seem to fit snugly into the same aesthetic category as the hand-made coaches that consistently win Concors d'Elegances the world over. It is a beauty most recognised by aficionados, but easily appreciated by everyone else. 

Fashion house, cosmetics maker, timepiece producer and artisan atelier are among Chanel's many hats. Now, the powerful Parisian brand has produced an extremely limited set of hand-decorated timepieces for 2013 in its classy Mademoiselle Privé collection, inspired by the art and scenery of Asia. Among these watches are the Mademoiselle Privé Coromandel hand-painted pieces, as well as the flower-inspired Petals Camelia and Origami models.

The Panerai Reference PAM00446 (PAM446) is a rare pocket watch creation from the Italian luxury watchmaker (in fact, it’s the very first pocket watch they’ve released). Famous for their larger, elegantly styled dive watches based on historic designs made for the Italian Navy, Panerai is a cult watch favourite now with a new complicated pocket with tourbillon movement available for the brand’s most dedicated collectors.

Unlike in the past, jewels and gold are no longer the recipe to producing the most interesting watches. Now, brands must impress by including exotic materials, techniques and complications in their most exclusive timepieces – and such embellishments were everywhere at premier watch and jewellery show Baselworld this April. Here are the top five we spotted.

No stranger to fine things, Paris recently said "Bienvenue!" to Swiss haute joaillerie and watch brand Bucherer with its new home at 12 Boulevard des Capucines – in the heart of the 9th Arrondissement's shopping district. With 2,200 sq m of space spread across three floors and dedicated to the big players such as Rolex, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Chopard and Montblanc in addition to 'host' brand Bucherer, the new watch store has been hailed as the world's biggest. The watchmaking workshop also housed inside is a particular highlight, one to which horology aficionados may wish to take their precious timepieces for a little tinkering with for adjustments, repairs, resizing or just a little polish for some added shine.

The traditional pilot watch is an extremely distinct form of vintage timepiece given its utility-driven purpose: typically worn in-flight (usually over a jacket) as a primary or secondary timekeeper. Continuing the celebration of their aviation history, for 2013 Swiss Zenith watches tops their Pilot collection with a tourbillon chronograph version of the Monte d’Aéronef Type 20.

A known patron of the arts, Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin has long since incorporated imagery of our rich artistic heritage not only in their watch movements, but also on their dials. For 2013, the brand celebrates 300 years of dance as part of France’s historic École Française de Danse, originally founded by Louis XIV in 1713.