The beauty of a mechanical watch comes down to the movement ticking within, and for the most part it’s completely hidden from view. Even with a sapphire case back, it’s a shame to hide the mastery of this centuries-old technology from plain sight, and that’s a thought shared by watchmaker to King Louis XV, André Charles, who cut open his dials to expose the innards. Here are five open-dialled watches that continue the tradition.

When a technology has been around as long as the mechanical watch has, it can be hard to think of something new—but that hasn’t stopped Maurice LaCroix from trying. Can we uncover the mystery of the aptly named Mysterious Seconds?

Great value. Affordable. These are ways in which most of the Maurice Lacroix range can be described. And that’s no slander: Maurice Lacroix do very well at making great value, affordable pieces. Got a budget around the £1,000 mark? Buy one. I highly recommend them. Got a bit more money to spend, or perhaps even a lot more money to spend? Then you’re probably looking elsewhere. But wait, where are you going? You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.

These days, kids' birthday parties seem to revolve around blisteringly expensive games consoles and gadgets, but when I was a nipper, the main event was, by far and away, the magician. I remember gazing in amazement at the flamboyantly caped modern-day Merlin as he pulled an increasingly elaborate array of items out of his top hat. Later, once the cake had been devoured and the party bags distributed, I spent an undue amount of time trying to figure out how he had managed it - reasoning, in my six-year-old brain, that as his top hat was only capable of storing a limited amount of contents, there could be only one explanation: magic. Of course as I got older, I understood that most things in life have a reasonable explanation - but I never lost the wonder.