The 2015 edition of Only Watch will feature a raft of stunning one-off timepieces

A very special biennial charity auction of one-off timepieces especially made by the world’s finest watchmakers for research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, this November.

Now in its sixth edition and held for the first time in Geneva instead of Monaco, the Only Watch auction will be held on November 7, 2015, following a world tour of the stunning creations that took in Monaco, Hong Kong, Beijing, New York, and London.

Supported by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, Only Watch is organised by Association Monégasque contre les Myopathies (AMM), the Monaco Yacht Show and auctioneers Phillips in association with Bacs and Russo.

It will offer 44 one-of-a-kind timepieces created especially for this noble cause - establishing the watchmakers’ continued support for scientific and medical research on neuromuscular diseases.

Here’s a look at some of these creations…

Rebellion’s Only Watch REB-7 Forged Carbon Regulator was worn by professional racing driver Nicolas Prost during the classic 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in 2015. The blue of the hands mirrors the blue on Prost’s racing helmet. Its strength has been tested during this legendary 24-hour race, which is also known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency. The bright blue on the dial also comes from the colours on Nicolas Prost’s helmet.

The Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 XXL Large Date, Moon-Phases Only reveals for the first time a case in titanium DLC and a transparent dial carved in blue polycrystalline, a hint to the colour of the Foundation’s logo. Its genesis; a contemporary style, perfect symmetry and a mechanical manufactured movement.

Van Cleef & Arpels created a unique piece in line that illustrates its vision of travel and evokes its ties with Monaco with a dial in radiant Mediterranean blue and calligraphy evoking the white foam on the crest of the waves. The Pierre Arpels Heure d’ici & Heure d’ailleurs timepiece is a masculine complication with a dual time movement and jumping hours.

Perrelet’s one-of-a-kind Turbine Sheriff watch has a 48-mm pink gold case middle in contrast with the black PVD-coated bezel and alligator leather strap. On the dial, the blades of the iconic Turbine model have been replaced by a black gold-tipped sheriff’s star. As it turns, the latter reveals a humouristic inscription on the under-dial in reference to the great Western movies.

H Moser & Cie the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Only Watch: the manufacture currently employs 50 people, has eight of its own calibres and produces 1,000 watches per annum.

Bell & Ross’ BR01 Tourbillon Skull Bronze combines the courage symbol of the skull, the sophistication of an exceptional mechanical movement and an extreme patina of the case, as if it aroused from the past, such as a treasure from a sunken pirate ship.

IWC Schaffhausen’s Ingenieur Automatic Edition “Tribute to Nico Rosberg” in solid boron carbide sets another milestone in watchmaking history. Almost as hard as a diamond and as light as aluminium, boron carbide is an innovative material that unites incredible, contrasting qualities to deliver unique performance.

The Masterpiece Gravity “Only Watch 2015” from Maurice Lacroix features a manufacture movement, a silicium assortment, an off-centre hour and minutes display, a world première “Vague du Jura” decoration on its main bridge, and striking use of colour, presented in a Powerlite case.

Harry Winston’s Ocean Dual Time Retrograde Only Watch, created exclusively for Only Watch, features a 44.2-mm white gold case that holds a self-winding automatic mechanical movement. The dial of this unique timepiece was skilfully created to exude high-performance style. The home-time hands offer a careful reinterpretation of the Shuriken four-point star, while stunning 3D hour hands are used to indicate the local time.

Breguet is offering a special Type XXI chronograph, made for the first time in platinum. This sporty and exclusive model features a vintage style inspired by the first Type XX chronographs developed by Breguet in the 1950s for the French air force and navy.

One of the classics of the Patek Philippe wrist Grand Complications between 1993 and 2011, Reference 5016 unites in its Calatrava-style case a tourbillon, the minute repeater and the perpetual calendar with moon-phase display. Reference 5016A-010 was created specially for Only Watch 2015 and is the first and only version of this watch to be produced in steel.

The Only Watch Ulysse Nardin Stranger timepiece, plays “We are the Champions”, written by the famous compositor of Queen, Freddie Mercury. Integrating the latest technology in watchmaking, it is housed in a black titanium case.

The unique Voutilainen GMT-6 stainless steel edition with an enamel dial made for Only Watch from Finnish watchmaker Karl Voutilainen contains a proprietary sprung-balance system and is superbly finished. Its outstanding feature is its escapement, with two escape-wheels and its GMT indicator – a disc at 6 o’clock – shows 24 hours and includes a day/night indicator.

Armin Strom’s Skeleton Pure celebrates the mechanical artistry of the timepiece. Powered by the calibre ARM09-S, the movement is entirely skeletonised. PVD colourisation of the main plate and bridges enhances the dimension and definition of the movement’s complex design. Exclusively for Only Watch, Armin Strom coats these components in a striking matte black.

Urwerk’s UR-106 Only Watch sports a newly designed satellite hours indication and moonphases. The three arms, each bearing four satellite hours, successively pass over the minutes scale, giving a digital as well as an analogue indication of the time. This watch represents more than a technical and stylistic breakthrough; it highlights the social commitment of the independent brand.

Chopard’s Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 Only Watch is a unique piece with a sleek and powerful style signed by Mark Webber, a racing champion with multiple victories to his name and ambassador for the brand. This 45-mm titanium and DLC chronograph is equipped with a flyback function, powered by a mechanical Chopard movement, the 03.05-M calibre chronometer, and inspired by the Porsche 919 Hybrid.

Christophe Claret’s one-of-a-kind ‘Espoir & Paix’ pays tribute to Hope (espoir) on the dial and Peace (paix) on the caseback. An emerald set in the dial centre is highlighted by a mirascope, with its green colour symbolising hope. The centre of the oscillating weight appearing through the back of the watch is graced with a portrait of Alfred Nobel. It also bears the names of the 129 laureates who have received the Nobel Peace Prize since its creation.

An iconic model, Hermès In The Pocket watch returns in a unique rose gold composition clad in a H red Swift calfskin. A pocket-watch that may be transformed at will into a wristwatch, it embodies both the historical leather hand craftsmanship of Hermès and its watchmaking development to the point of becoming a full-fledged manufacture. Its black dial is reinterpreted in an Only Watch execution.

Marking 10 ten years of commitment to the AMM, De Bethune revisits the model designed for the first edition of Only Watch in 2005 with the DBS Pièce unique. Designed by David Zanetta and Denis Flageollet, it was developed in the R&D lab in La Chaux, and then crafted in the workshops at L’Auberson.

Making its Only Watch debut, FP Journe’s Tourbillon Souverain Bleu marks the first time ever that a tourbillon is made with a case entirely in tantalum. The very astonishing blue chrome dial reflects like a mirror and its colour changes according to light. Its movement in 18-karat rose gold features the renowned remontoire (constant force device) and the dead beat second.

de Grisogono’s New Retro Black Stripes is a sleek, elegant watch expressing a taste for things that are beautiful in their own right. Set on the back with four stripes of black diamonds, it perfectly embodies de Grisogono’s style with deep house-signature black tones.

In “Ouroboros”, Chronoswiss pays tribute to the ancient symbol of a serpent eating its own tail, a metaphor for eternal re-creation. This fascinating timepiece is yet another example of artistic craftsmanship performed at Chronoswiss, the white gold dial having been engraved by hand.

Blancpain’s Calendrier Chinois is a one-off creation in red gold fitted with a black grand feu enamel dial. The sapphire crystal provides a view of the oscillating weight crafted for this occasion in a black champlevé enamel finish and bearing the Only Watch inscription.

DeWitt’s The Academia Out of Time watch is driven by a self-winding DeWitt calibre, developed, produced and assembled by hand at the Meyrin manufacture in Geneva, Switzerland. For this model, Jérôme de Witt gives a highly personal interpretation of time with a combination of a bold design and a grand watch complication.

Boucheron’s Epure Vague de Lumière features a Girard-Perregaux GP4000 calibre, a white gold case with diamonds, a dial in dark blue avertine featuring a wave in white gold sculpted over the aventurine, paved with baguettes and diamonds.

Hublot’s Classic Fusion Only Watch Britto combines the traditional art of enamelling with the contemporary pop art and cubism of Brazilian artist Romero Britto. This timepiece, created Only Watch auction, stands apart from the other models as it is being auctioned along with the canvas that inspired it.

Zenith has brought out a special rock ‘n roll El Primero chronograph that is a lightweight tribute to the Rolling Stones, featuring the band’s famous red tongue logo, and hours and minute hands shaped like the fretboard of the Fender Telecaster guitar used by Keith Richards. This watch’s 4052 W Striking 10th automatic movement beats at the frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour and is accurate to the nearest tenth of a second.

The Escale Worldtime Only Watch 2015 “The world is a dancefloor” - at a time when borders are becoming increasingly blurred, Louis Vuitton is proposing an original interpretation of the Worldtime function which will appeal to globe-trotters and businessmen in search of fine, exclusive timepieces.

In Jacob & Co’s unique and customisable version of The Epic SF24, Geneva, place of its horological headquarters and of the Only Watch sale, replaces the traditional Paris split flap. The watch is covered by elegant red hints on the hands, the crown, and the case side.

Vulcain’s 50s Presidents’ Cloisonné Grand Feu Only Watch Pegasus has a hand-made grand feu cloisonné dial showing the winged horse, a universal symbol of wisdom and knowledge, with 12 diamond cabochons. Powered by the self-winding Cricket calibre V-20, it comes in a pink gold case.

Laurent Ferrier’s Galet Square Only Watch is powered by the micro-rotor movement with “échappement naturel”. The steel Galet Square has a two-tone silvered sector dial typical of the late 1930s and unique lugs specially created for the occasion.

Jaquet Droz’s Petite Heure Minute Paillonnée for Only Watch features paillonné enamelling which consists of creating a raised motif using tiny pieces of gold leaf. This is coupled with delicate enamelling to obtain both the required colours and the translucent depth to reveal the sunray decoration. The deep red grand feu enamel becomes the symbol of a quest for perfection and a nod to the flag of Monaco. For the first time, the movement is equipped with a silicon spiral.

Thomas Mercer’s Brittanica Only Watch 2015 is a unique octagonal shaped table chronometer designed in collaboration with Jake Phipps. The very first timekeeper of the new Brittanica collection, it has a one-off dial with a celestial map from Geneva’s point of view on the very date and time of the auction.

Richard Mille and Rafael Nadal have donated the RM 27-02 tourbillon prototype which accompanied “Rafa” to all the biggest Grand Slam tournaments. The prototype featured the Swiss brand’s very first skeletonised baseplate known as “unibody”. Inspired by the bodywork of racecars and machined from NTPT carbon, it seamlessly fuses the case middle and the baseplate together.

The maison Leroy will present a one-off edition of the Chronomètre Observatoire from the Osmior line that is inspired by one of the historical models in the brand’s museum: an aluminium travel clock with grande sonnerie dating from 1894. This timepiece was designed so as to use aluminium for the case, dial, bridges and plate, in tribute to the brand’s historical heritage, while incorporating a contemporary vision.

Frédérique Constant’s Horological Smartwatch powered by MotionX-365 possesses the precise style and finesse of a classical luxury watch, added to its ability to record activity and sleep. The Only Watch model has an 18-karat rose gold case, a unique dark green dial and a hand engraved reminder of the reason of the watch on its case back. The watch is delivered in a gift box together with an iPhone 6 to enjoy its functions right away.

Bovet 1822’s Amadeo Fleurier 39 Lady Bovet is beautifully set in a convertible case, allowing it to be easily transformed from a reversible wristwatch to a table clock to a pendant necklace. It boasts two very distinctive faces. One of the faces features pink-hued mother-of-pearl guilloché dials, whilst the other offers a miniature of a pair of doves. It is a reproduction of the grand feu enamel case back of a Bovet pocket watch manufactured at the turn of the 19th century.

For Speake-Marin’s Resilience “One Art”, Peter Speake-Marin has made the Resilience into an exceptional timepiece with its red gold seconds hand, its crown set with a sapphire complementing the blued steel minute and hour hands, and the personalised unique engraving that decorates the case.

Chanel’s Mademoiselle Privé for Only Watch is the fruit of a collaboration with embroidery specialist Maison Lesage. The piece features camellias embroidered with silk and metallic threads and natural pearls, hand-stitched in a highly delicate display of precision and refinement. It comes in a white gold case set with 60 diamonds.

Vacheron Constantin’s unique Métiers d’Art Mécaniques Ajourées, based on the Calibre 4400 movement, exalts the art of openworking and evokes the large European railway stations, symbolising the golden age of the industrial revolution. The engraver’s technique reveals fascinating light effects conveyed through a three-dimensional architecture enhanced by grand feu enamelling.

Lucerne brand Carl F Bucherer’s offering for Only Watch is the Manero ChronoPerpetual in white gold, billed as “a watch like no other on Earth”. It will show the date, day, month, year and moon phase and will only need correction in the year 2100.

Melchior is the robot buddy a child would love to have as his best friend. But Melchior is also a unique high-end table clock featuring jumping hours, sweeping minutes, double retrograde seconds and a 40-day power reserve. Conceived by MB&F and crafted by L’Epée, Melchior is a hymn to childhood dreams. Maximilian Büsser developed the concept with designer Xin Wang. This unique Melchior Only Watch is the 100th and final movement in the Melchior series.

For Only Watch, Piaget has interpreted its emblematic Altiplano 900P in a version that is unique as it is original, fitted for the very first time with red hands. The Altiplano 38 mm 900P is the world’s thinnest mechanical watch at just 3.65 mm thin.

The Tudor Heritage Black Bay One for Only Watch borrows many aesthetic features to reference 7923 such as its domed crystal, rotatable bezel or so-called “gilt” dial, but measures a more contemporary 41 mm in diameter. Mirroring the overall lines of the original model, it allows itself subtle refinements, including a crown mounted on an anodised aluminium tube matching the bezel for an additional touch of elegance.