Pink gold (as with rose or red gold) is an alloy that blends gold with a sprinkling of copper to the tune of around 20%. That’s what gives it its milder glow – a popular look for those who love the weight and glamour of gold, only packaged with the volume turned down a notch. In a man’s watch, that can result in a joyously rakish feel, particularly if the bracelet is in the duskier shade as well as the case. On cue is Girard-Perregaux’s full pink gold Laureato, a devilishly good-looking version of the venerable brand’s 1970s sports watch that’s made more arch still by its mix of satin and polished surface finishes.

 

As in jewellery, fine watchmakers are au fait with the appeal of gold enhanced by precious stones. IWC Schaffhausen’s iced Portofino Automatic Moon Phase is, all things being equal, a relatively understated take on the marriage of rose gold and diamonds, setting 66 stones into its bezel and a further dozen to its silver-plated dial. As if to remind us it’s a watchmaker before jeweller, the brand has put a moon phase front and centre in this model – an unassuming watch complication that, in the event, manages to draw the eye before those dazzling diamonds.

 

So to the experimentalists amplifying gold’s everyday performance with the sort of technical flourishes you might otherwise find in planes, trains and automobiles. Although, everyday? Perhaps that should be long-term performance. Gold’s strength has always been its weakness: it is soft and malleable so it can be shaped and polished easily, but that also makes it easy to scratch. Over time it loses its glow, becoming dull. Ever the innovator, Hublot’s solution to this problem is Magic Gold, a solid-state gold and ceramic mix it says can only be scratched by diamond.

 

Lange, as the German maker is known, is not prone to excess. So, when it says that Honeygold is reserved for “only our most exclusive timepieces”, we can be sure the watch in question is special. Very special. The alchemy behind Honeygold is closely guarded by the brand’s boffins, but what they will tell us is that whatever’s in the mix makes it very hard and coloured in a way that’s “reminiscent of the sweet liquid produced by bees”. Here, it creates a deliciously lucid shell for the Langematik, a perpetual calendar that will show the date in full without need for adjustment until 2100. Only 100 will ever be made.