From Omega to Girard-Perregaux, Ken Kessler charts the first instalment of our grand tour through the watches inspired by Maranello’s finest.

In the unforgiving depths under the sea, the dive watch has but one function: to determine when you must turn back, or never at all.

Watches are now showpieces as much as timepieces, and as levels of sophistication have increased, the inner workings deserve not to be hidden.

ETA’s decision to limit sales of movement blanks outside the Swatch Group spurred the development of in-house movements in the 21st century.

The story of Cartier’s famous “mystery clocks” has been envisioned in a number of limited-edition wristwatches with modern complications.