Opus One
François-Paul Journe began his working life assisting his uncle repairing vintage and antique timepieces, which gave him a respect for the pioneering work of past watchmakers. In 1978, at the age of 20, he started work on his first timepiece: a pocket watch tourbillon. Now his name is one of the most respected niche brands in high watchmaking. His most recent masterpiece is a mechanical chronograph that records elapsed time to 100th of a second – a remarkable feat for a non-quartz timepiece.

Opus Two
Antoine Preziuso’s work turns up in some strange places. As well as working for Harry Winston, one of his tourbillons appeared in a timepiece by Tiret featuring a guitar motif, and he has designed watches for Goldpfeil, the luxury leather brand. Much of his early working life was spent restoring rare timepieces for museums and private collectors and he is highly regarded for his mastery of traditional complications, but he is innovative too. One of his recent pieces was the 3volution, a radical, but typically beautifully finished piece, which features a trio of tourbillons.

Opus Three
Based in the manufacture Janvier in Ste Croix in the heart of the Swiss Jura, Vianney Halter leads a team of watchmakers in the creation of idiosyncratic timepieces, one of which – the brilliant and beguiling triple dialled, porthole-inspired, Antiqua – has been dubbed a “relic of the future”. This sort of baffling statement typifies the wild and wonderful work that is issued under Halter’s name. His Opus, the as-yet unfinished number three, is typical of his ambitious and entirely sui generis approach to telling the time.
Opus Four
Christophe Claret also spent his early working life restoring watches. He now leads an eponymous Le-Locle-based specialist complicated movement manufacture, creating movements for some of the best known brands in Switzerland. He has become particularly well known for his minute repeaters. His minute-repeater with cathedral gongs for Harry Winston is typical of his work. Another worth looking out for is the Shabaka for Jean Dunand, which has a system of rotating drums to tell the day, date and month.

Opus Five
A third generation watchmaker, the young Felix Baumgartner, pioneers a futuristic aesthetic. Barely into his twenties he presented his first piece in 1996. A few years ago he founded Urwerk with his brother Thomas, and Martin Frei, a designer. The business is still small: annual production is not quite 200 pieces. Baumgartner’s watches feature such bizarre innovations as a telescopic hand executed in acid yellow and an oil change indicator.

Opus Six
Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey are two tourbillon experts who work for other brands as well as creating their own pieces. However, their own output is tiny; in the order of a couple of dozen pieces a year, with a price that starts somewhere north of £200,000. Based in La Chaux de Fonds, the two men have been toiling on tourbillons for years, working at the point where high watchmaking meets mathematics and micro-engineering. The result? Such pieces as the Double Tourbillon 30° and the Quadruple Tourbillon, a Differential Spherique.

Opus Seven
Andreas Strehler is an interesting new talent who likes to keep things simple, even if it means making hundreds of hours of extra work for himself. For example, the Zwei is a pocket watch with two hands and two rings of numbers (1-12 and 1-31). At the touch of a button the two hands move from telling the time to giving the date – simple and ingenious. Mr Strehler has also worked for Moser, and his influence can be seen in the understated Moser perpetual calendar, a prize winner at last year’s Grand Prix de Geneve.