SINGAPORE – This is a regular series featuring the latest news in watches and all things horological.

Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

If there is a watch made to fuel soccer fever, Hublot’s Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is probably it.

This model is the latest and most sophisticated Big Bang e to date from the luxury Swiss brand, which is marking its fourth consecutive outing as the official timekeeper of the world’s biggest sporting event. It comes with a bigger and improved high-definition screen, as well as a new dedicated football app which captures and replays exciting moments of every game, from kick-off to the final.

Among other things, the app will deliver – 15 minutes before each match – team line-ups and player profiles. When a match gets under way, the timeline feature – which was created specially to capture the most important and exciting moments – gets activated.

A scale at the outer edge of the dial splits into five sections: first and second halves, additional time in each half, and half time. A goal will trigger a match event animation, mentioning the scorer’s name. A football symbol will also appear at the appropriate minute mark on the scale. The same happens if there is a yellow or red card, or a penalty.

The watch display will switch into different modes to indicate extra time or penalties. Penalties are denoted by either a green or red football to indicate if they were successful. There will be a final “match-period animation” when the game is over, and the final score.

Replaying key moments is a cinch for the wearer, who needs to just use the crown to scroll around the dial.

True to Hublot’s tradition of “fusing” different materials and watchmaking techniques, the Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 boasts a 44mm case fashioned from micro-blasted and polished black ceramic as well as black titanium.

It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor powered with Wear OS 3, the latest version of Wear OS by Google. The app – tailor-made for Hublot – includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS and heart-rate monitor. Also preloaded are apps that enable wearers to stay connected and to track activity, health and more.

A two-hour charge will give the watch, which is Android and iOS compatible, power to last the whole day. The official version has a burgundy dial as well as a black and burgundy lined rubber strap, but a range of dial options is available if you are into personalisation.

Limited to 1,000 pieces, the watch is priced at $8,200.

The Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Starwheel

Reactions were mixed when Audemars Piguet (AP), in an effort to show it was capable of more than just the Royal Oak, debuted the 11.59 collection three years ago. Brushing aside the negativity, the Swiss watchmaker went on to introduce more than 20 new 11.59 models and, in the process, won over quite a few cynics.

This latest release is quite the charm offensive and uses an unusual complication – wandering hours, which dates back to the 17th century. The movement uses a system of satellites that gravitate along a minute scale arranged in the form of an arc to display the hours. AP rediscovered it and renamed it Starwheel in 1991, and used the movement in several models until the early 2000s.

Now, the Starwheel has found new expression in the Code 11.59, in a case which artfully accommodates different geometric designs – including a round bezel, caseback and Starwheel discs as well as a rounded octagonal case middle.

The three slightly domed wandering hours discs – fashioned from aluminium and tinted black – are set off against a shimmering blue aventurine backdrop and a black inner bezel. A combination of black ceramic and 18K white gold is used to construct the watch.

Price: 48,000 Swiss francs (S$69,000).

Out next week: Crown & Bezel, The Straits Times’ annual watch supplement

Keep a lookout for Crown & Bezel, the annual watch supplement of The Straits Times, next Friday. At 36 pages, 2022’s edition will be 50 per cent thicker than previous years’.

Keen to know what are some of this year’s most riveting open-work timepieces? Thinking of splashing on a diver but not quite sure which to pick? How about a low-down on chronographs? You will find these and more in Crown & Bezel 2022.

The magazine-style supplement will be distributed with your copy of The Straits Times next Friday.