Ever since Harry Winston debuted the Opus collection in 2001, it has become the hot-ticket item for watch lovers at the annual BaselWorld watch fairs.

After a one-year absence, the new Opus 14 picks up from where its predecessor left off with a mind-blowingly rocking complication.

Unveiled in November by Harry Winston’s new brand ambassador Robin Thicke, the Opus 14 is a jukebox-inspired complication. Just like how the music player works – one selects a tune, following which an arm would fish out the record from a stack to be play – the watch operates exactly the same way. The difference is that instead of vinyl music discs, one selects whether to display the second-time zone, date, or a stylised Harry Winston disc. The whole system is miniaturised to into a movement that measures just 46.7mm across and 17mm thick.

The Opus’ modus operandi of openly collaborating with independent watchmakers continues with this edition. Franck Orny and Johnny Girardin, known for designing Montblanc’s Metamorphosis watch from 2010, are the creative brains behind Opus 14.

Both men are ideas-driven innovators and business partners who cut their teeth in very respectable marques. Orny started as a manufacturer of custom-built machines before joining Nivarox as a specialist of escapements and regulators. He also worked with Atokalpa, a company that produces escapement components. As for Girardin, he started his career at Patek Philippe as a draftsman for mechanical movements, and worked as project manager at Girard-Perregaux and Greubel Forsey. Together with Orny, they established Telos Watch in 2009, a company that specialises in developing bespoke watch mechanisms – and they certainly added to their already illustrious CV with this collaboration.