This article was first published in the December 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Get more of WIRED's annual round-up of the best gadgets, design, accessories, rides and sports gear in our Gear of the Year 2015 special .
EONE BRADLEY
Developed for the visually impaired, the Eone Bradley is named after gold-winning Paralympian and former US Navy officer Brad Snyder, who lost his eyesight due to an IED explosion in Afghanistan. A magnet moves two ball bearings around its face: the one on the side determines the hour and the one on the front face the minute. From £204 eone-time.com
AUDEMARS PIGUET ROYAL OAK PERPETUAL CALENDAR
Exemplifying this year's vogue for perpetual calendar complications, Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak models a larger 41mm dial, with day, date, astronomical Moon phase, month and leap-year indicators. In addition, the weeks of the year are indicated via an outer chapter ring with corresponding central hand. £48,100 audemars piguet.com
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Richard Mille RM69 Erotic Tourbillon
An evolution of those rare automatons depicting animated sexual tableaux on otherwise genteel timepieces, this design uses three titanium rollers to display a randomised suggestive message at the touch of a button. A secondary pusher retracts the hands to afford the message more impact. €591,500 richardmille.com
[h2]TEMPUS MACHINA RED DEPTH 216A[/b] [/h3]
Inspired by the sought-after 6538 Bond Submariner, Tempus Machina has taken the newer 114060 model and reshaped it with a coin-edge-teethed bezel topped with a distinctive, porcelain-enamelled red triangle marker. Elsewhere, the old-stock 8mm Brevet crown has been shorn of its crown guards, with the overall design complemented by a custom anti-reflective sapphire high dome - the only non-Rolex component. $25,000 tempus-machina.com
SWATCH TOUCH ZERO ONE
Watches seldom get more niche than one designed exclusively for participants -- and fans -- of beach volleyball, yet the Touch Zero One is also Swatch's first mass-produced smartwatch. A curved, backlit touchscreen offers fitness tracking. Other functions include a crowd-applause counter and a way to measure the power of your volleyball smashes. From £85 swatch.com
VECTOR WATCH
Battery life remains the Achilles heel of smartwatch design -- followed closely by wearability. The Vector tackles both issues head on, claiming 30 days' use on a single charge and offering a simplified, bespoke OS with three physical buttons preserving its unobtrusive aesthetic. Available in round or rectangular form factors, it has a hardened-mineral LCD screen and water resistance to 50m. From £169 vectorwatch.com
Photography: Sun Lee and Roger Stillman
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
