We are back this week with another assortment of vintage watch goodness. Today, we have a selection of some seldom-seen variants of iconic models like a Heuer Monaco with a rare, non-lume dial and a Universal Géneve Compax chronograph in pristine condition, in addition to some genuinely uncommon watches like a Tiffany-signed Patek Philippe Calatrava and a funky, deep-diving Certina DS-2 SuperPH 1000M. Enjoy!
1988 Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 3919 Retailed By Tiffany & Co.
This Patek Philippe ref. 3919 Calatrava was originally retailed by Tiffany & Co. in the late 1980s. The ref. 3919 is considered to be one of the most classic Calatrava models made, with its iconic clous de Paris hobnail guilloché bezel and thin case; this watch is unequivocally Patek. Retailer-signed Patek Philippes are some of the most sought-after watches today, because of their rarity and for the fact that not all the watches retailed at a specific store featured an extra signature. Certain retailers like Tiffany & Co. are some of the most coveted, and Patek Philippe has maintained a close relationship with the famed New York jewelry house since 1851.
1972 Heuer Monaco Ref. 1133B With Non-Lume Dial
The Heuer Monaco is a watch that needs no introduction. It is a favorite among watch and car collecting communities alike, for its pole position in the race to release the world's first automatic chronograph as well as for being Steve McQueen's watch of choice in the 1971 film Le Mans. The example we have here today is nearly identical to the ref. 1133B that McQueen wore in the movie, but it is the more rare variant with a non-luminous dial. These little details make a big difference when it comes to collectability, and this is a good chance to own an uncommon edition of one of the world's best-known chronographs.
1970s Certina DS-2 SuperPH 1000M Ref. 5801.302
The Certina DS-2 SuperPH 1000M is a special watch. Nicknamed the "Turtle" for its unique, shell-like case shape, this was meant to be a serious dive watch for professional use. It was designed to be super legible and have enhanced shock resistance and water resistance. It is a tool watch through and through, and it is equally full of character with a bold yellow dial with orange accents and a uniquely large hour hand. This model was also offered with a black dial, but the yellow really stands out in a sea of similar black-dialed sport watches from the same era. The sword-style hands remind us of other divers like the legendary Rolex MilSub and Omega Seamaster 300; this type of handset was used to provide maximum legibility in extreme conditions. Overall, the Certina DS-2 SuperPH 1000M is a funky and cool dive watch that you won’t see too often, and it is perfect for wearing during the long summer days.
The Full Set
In addition to the three highlights above, we have an essentially new-old-stock Universal Genève Compax chronograph from the 1990s with box and papers and a 1960s Wittnauer Skin Diver in great condition. Head on over to the HODINKEE Shop for a closer look!
Each and every Wednesday, we present a fresh installment of "My Watch Story," a video series starring HODINKEE readers and their most prized watches. The submissions continue to stream in, and we couldn't be happier to share them with the watch community. Today, we have five new stories submitted by Eduardo Fonseca, Christoph Lentsch, Elias Gharios, Aure Delgado, and Tyler Case.
Feeling inspired, or just discovering this project? Please scroll down to the bottom of the page to learn how to submit your own video. But first, we hope you enjoy this installment of My Watch Story.
Eduardo Fonseca And His Patek Philippe Aquanaut Travel Time
Eduardo and his wife, who are from Portugal, have an annual tradition of buying two watches on their wedding anniversary. Last year was their 18th anniversary, and they decided to get their first two Patek Philippes. After waiting for a few months, Eduardo was able to score this Travel Time, which he wears almost daily. And because of his positive experience with the brand, he's now thinking about his second Patek.
Christoph is a motorcycle journalist based in Eisenstadt, Austria. While other watches in his collection hold great memories (such as meeting our Ben Clymer at Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este), this watch is uniquely special because he assembled it himself in a watch workshop with Ro&Ro (Roman and Robert) about a decade ago. He fondly remembers the feeling when he assembled the movement and the watch came to life – a process that really made him appreciate the art of watchmaking.
Elias Gharios And His Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight 'Navy Blue'
A native of Boston, Elias got the new Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight on the day it came out, July 1. Well, his wife got it for him, working behind his back with the local AD so she could surprise him with the watch. She was planning on waiting for their wedding, which is taking place next year – but knowing his excitement, she couldn't wait.
Originally from Venezuela and currently living in Los Angeles, Aure bought this Aureole on eBay in 2014 – after getting into watches via HODINKEE. Of the memories it holds, the most tangible is a scratch on the crystal acquired at a Wiz Khalifa concert when Aure was attending Bradley University. He hopes to give it to his child someday – who he plans on naming Aure.
Tyler Case And His Rolex Yacht-Master Ref. 116622
Tyler is an actor/producer living in Los Angeles. This Yacht-Master is his first automatic watch, which he bought for his 24th birthday. He'd discovered its existence during a tour of Europe – and promptly went to the Rolex boutique in Milan, where he immediately fell in love with it. He says it reminds him of all the time he spent on the water as a kid – and not to take life too seriously.
Ready To Submit Your Own Watch Story? Here's How It Works
1. Pick one watch that is very special to you, and get your camera phone ready.
2. Record a video telling us your most interesting or meaningful story about your watch. Let's say 2-3 minutes is the sweet spot – if you go longer, that's okay. (And please remember to introduce yourself: your name and where you are from.)
3. Get creative, keep it clean, and have fun!
4. Take some photos on the wrist and a few shots of the watch so that we can proudly display them on our site. Horizontal, please.
5. To share your video and photos, you can either A) upload here; or B) upload to your preferred large file transfer service and send a link to mywatchstory@hodinkee.com.
There are very few companies in all of watchmaking that boast a history as vast and versatile as Hamilton. The brand was a longtime supplier of pocket watches and wristwatches to America's Armed Forces, a history it continues to reference today with its popular Khaki series. Hamilton has also maintained a remarkably close tie to Hollywood over the past few decades, with its watches appearing on the wrists of actors and actresses in countless films and television shows.
While Hamilton's original ventures on the screen came as early as the 1930s, it wasn't until 1951, with its role in The Frogmen, and 1961, on the wrist of Elvis Presley in the hit 1962 musical comedy Blue Hawaii, that the brand's cinematic status was secured. More recently, the brand has appeared in critically acclaimed films like Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. You'll likely remember Hamilton's role in the 2014 film pretty clearly – the watch was pivotal to its plot, and it later inspired a special Khaki Field release that was sold in the HODINKEE Shop. That watch, the Khaki Field Murph, had a clever design that captured the magic of the film in an authentic way, which is why we've been looking forward to Nolan's upcoming film TENET, and wondering what role Hamilton might play in it, for quite some time.
While we don't have a definite answer to that question just yet – the film's release date is still a few weeks out – we have been able to confirm that Hamilton's role involves mission-critical timing to a degree that is unlike nearly anything the brand has seen in its 60-year film career thus far. Hamilton worked with TENET's top-notch design team – which is led by Nathan Crowley, Nolan's go-to production designer who crafted the visual concept of films like The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and Interstellar – for over 18 months to develop a watch that would meet the film's one-of-a-kind needs. Hamilton watchmakers actually remained on the set of TENET during filming to offer support for that watch's unique functions.
Inspired by the watch it created for TENET and that is worn by stars John David Washington and Robert Pattinson in the film, Hamilton has just released the Khaki Navy BeLOWZERO "TENET" Limited Editions, a pair of watches that are limited to just 888 pieces each worldwide. The HODINKEE Shop has secured early access to these two watches, which offer a new take on Hamilton's top-of-the-line dive watch.
Pressure tested to reach 1,000 meters underwater and with performance-ready features like a helium-escape valve, the BeLOWZERO collection houses some of the most serious sport watches the brand has ever made – and with a history like Hamilton, that's truly saying something significant. The watches are cased in black PVD-coated titanium, and the brand has done away with the date window on the dial. The watch is executed almost completely in black; the case and dial, even the numerals, are coated in the stealthy, monochromatic tint. The only sources of color are the painted tips of the seconds hands: red on one version of the watch, blue on the other. The use of these two specific colors offer clues to the plot of TENET, and add a little dose of levity to the watch as a whole.
The case size of the two Hamilton watches match their impressive technical specs with a striking 46mm diameter. The impressive size is there for a reason, as these are watches that are truly designed to be taken to the brink and back. The use of lightweight titanium, the sleek all-black design, and the integrated rubber strap will, however, allow for the watch to be worn comfortably on most wrists, regardless of its sizable stature. Inside the case is Hamilton's high-performance H-10 automatic movement that offers 80 hours of running autonomy.
Each of the Hamilton Khaki Navy BeLOWZERO watches is limited to 888 pieces total, a number that calls attention to the palindrome nature of the TENET title. Similar to 2019's Interstellar-themed Khaki Field Murph, each Khaki Navy BeLOWZERO "TENET" Limited Edition will be delivered with a special presentation box designed by Crowley that references the film's narrative. TENET is currently set to be released in theaters on August 12, 2020, and both watches are available now in the HODINKEE Shop for $2,095.
We're halfway through 2020, which happens to mark the 160th Anniversary of TAG Heuer, and it's already shaping up to be a very big year for the Carrera. Launched in 1963, the Carrera is one of the iconic, early lines first designed by Jack Heuer. Heuer had become captivated by a Mexican road race known as the Carrera Panamerica, and he alighted on the evocative name, which means "race" or "career," for his highly legible racing chronograph design. While there have been many Heuer chronographs named after races or racing place-names, the Carrera chronograph is one of the best-known, having spawned numerous versions over the years at various price points and with both vintage-style and contemporary designs. And when you look at the TAG Heuer Connected's round case and distinctive faceted lugs, it's not hard to see its design inspiration. Point being, the Carrera is a watch that has proven remarkably versatile for over the last 57 years.
So far this year, we've seen two historically influenced limited editions – the Carrera 160 Years Silver Limited Edition and the Carrera 160 Years Montreal Limited Edition – which appear to be squarely aimed at the enthusiast watch collector base. Now, we have something new within the core collection – the Carrera Sport Chronograph – that figures to have broader mainstream appeal. What all of these 2020 releases have in common, beyond the Carrera name of course, is the Heuer 02 column-wheel chronograph movement.
The Carrera Sport Chronograph 44mm Calibre Heuer 02 Automatic comes in four variations that range from a classic black dial and black tachymeter bezel version to more color-forward options that pair a green dial with a steel tachymeter bezel or a blue dial with a blue ceramic tachymeter bezel. These three versions all come with a new H-shaped link bracelet, which reinforces their sporty vibe. The bracelets are thinner and slightly lighter than previous versions, and this promises a more ergonomic wearing experience. They're joined by a fourth option (above) that trades the bracelet for an alligator strap while pairing a black ceramic bezel with a black dial. The more dressy vibe is driven home by its 18-karat 5N gold crown and pushers and gold-plated dial furniture. The cases of all four examples have short lugs, which should also enhance comfort; the alternating polished and fine-brushed finishes are intended to make the new Carrera appear sleeker and thinner too.
Initial Thoughts
This isn't the first mainline Carrera introduction to feature the Caliber Heuer 02 movement. There was, of course, the tourbillon version that rocked the watch industry when it became the most affordable Swiss-made tourbillon in 2016. In 2018, TAG Heuer introduced a range of openworked Carreras (sans tourbillon) that showed off the column-wheel chronograph with vertical clutch. Today's introductions are much more easily recognizable as classic Carreras while continuing to evolve the design for contemporary tastes, and though they are on the larger side of what I tend to reach for, these are fresh designs that house a quality automatic chronograph movement. And those are just a couple of the things they have going for them.
The value is quite good, too. The three models without gold accents will set you back $5,750, and two of these come with stationary ceramic bezels that look like real quality in the supplied press images from TAG Heuer. To me, the blue and the black steel models on bracelets are the best lookers in the new Carrera lineup, though I also think there is something a bit low-key about the green number with a plain steel bezel.
The more I look at these images, the more I really like them. The designs are clean and legible, as I've come to expect of a Carrera, while offering what feels like a young vibe as a result of the use of color. They're sporty in the right way, and the more colorful options, in particular the blue, feel very well-timed for summer. Lest I forget to mention, all four of these new Carreras are water resistant to 100 meters.
As I mentioned up top, 2020 is shaping up to be a big year for the Carrera, and we're only halfway through with it. TAG Heuer has said that we can expect four additional core Carrera pieces in September, and that later in the year, we'll get another two special editions. This is the kind of focus on a particular watch that you'd expect to see in a model's anniversary year – the Carrera will turn 60 in 2023. But this year is the 160th anniversary year of TAG Heuer. I think the focus we've witnessed and will witness on this Jack Heuer classic tells us something about how TAG Heuer views one of its most popular and versatile models.
The Basics
Brand: TAG Heuer Model: Carrera Sport Chronograph 44 mm Calibre Heuer 02 Automatic Reference Number: ref. CBN2A1B.BA0643: stainless steel case and bracelet with black dial and black ceramic bezel; ref. CBN2A1A.BA0643: stainless steel case and bracelet with blue dial and blue ceramic bezel; ref. CBN2A10.BA0643: stainless steel case and bracelet with green dial and stainless steel bezel; ref. CBN2A5A.FC6481: stainless steel case with 18-karat 5N gold crown and pushers, black dial, black ceramic bezel, and alligator strap
Diameter: 44mm Thickness: 15.27mm Case Material: Stainless steel (one version, CBN2A5A.FC6481, with 18-karat 5N gold crown and pushers) Dial Color: ref. CBN2A1B.BA0643: black; ref. CBN2A1A.BA0643: blue; ref. CBN2A10.BA0643: green; ref. CBN2A5A.FC6481: black Indexes: Rhodium-plated applied indexes with white Super-LumiNova on ref. CBN2A1B.BA0643, ref. CBN2A1A.BA0643, and ref. CBN2A10.BA0643; 18-karat 5N rose-gold-plated applied indexes with white Super-LumiNova on ref. CBN2A5A.FC6481 Lume: Yes, Super-LumiNova Water Resistance: 100 meters Strap/Bracelet: Stainless steel H-shape bracelet on ref. CBN2A1B.BA0643, ref. CBN2A1A.BA0643, and ref. CBN2A10.BA0643; black alligator strap on ref. CBN2A5A.FC6481
The Movement
Caliber: Heuer 02 Chronograph Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph, date Diameter: 31mm Power Reserve: 80 hours Winding: Automatic Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz) Jewels: 33
Pricing & Availability
Price: CBN2A10.BA0643, CBN2A1A.BA0643, and CBN2A1B.BA0643: $5,750; CBN2A5A.FC6481: $6,550 Availability: July 2020
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Fresh off of a week of vacation, the TGN boys are back with plenty of dock jumping energy. Jason kicked back cabin style and reports on the trip’s frivolities while James has become a shepherd to a flock of excellent new dive watches. From Tudor in blue to Seiko, Sinn, and Oris, too, this is an episode most summery, and we haven’t even hit the main topic.
For a wider chat about some great TGN summer EDC options, Jason and James called upon their buddy Kyle Snarr who used to work for Gear Patrol and has recently started his own company Cantonment and launched their first product – a nicely made and very well considered kerchief (like a bandanna). Kyle chats about the origins of the new product and Jason and James report on their experiences with these handy swaths of colorful fabric for all sorts of uses. After that, the trio deep dive on some of their favorite EDC gear, and there is certainly a little something for everyone.
Stick around for a varied Final Notes that brings great automotive history lessons, volcanic eruptions, and a new mini-series that is not to be missed. Thanks for listening – just press play!
G-SHOCK's brand identity has, for over 35 years, been that of one of the worldwide leaders in function-first timepieces that can stand up to anything but can still be acquired for a relatively accessible price. However, in recent years, we've noticed an exciting trend start to take place within G-SHOCK's catalog. We've not only seen the brand grow from its strictly utilitarian roots with stylish, limited edition releases that use its quintessential "square" form factor (like the recently released GMWB5000CS-1 "Grid Tunnel"), but also a significant amount of R&D being placed toward the expansion of G-SHOCK's more premium MT-G and MR-G lines. These collections build on the tough-as-nails G-SHOCK platform by using more premium materials, finishing techniques that often evoke traditional Japanese craftsmanship, and the brand's full suite of top-notch technical specifications.
The watches in the MT-G and MR-G series are nothing like the classic G-SHOCKs you know and love, other than that they're nigh-indestructible. While the internal movement modules of these watches may still be quartz, it's quartz that uses the brand's Multi-Band 6 timekeeping to receive signals from atomic radio towers around the world. The watches not only offer Bluetooth connectivity to streamline the user experience through the brand's Connected smartphone app, but some can also connect to GPS. The resin material often associated with G-SHOCK cases and straps disappears in favor of hardened titanium, carbon fiber, stainless steel, or fluoro-elastomer rubber. These watches also feature fully analog displays on the dials that are packed with complications and multiple independent handsets, resulting in an impressive amount of continuous kinetic action on the wrist.
The MT-G and MR-G are an integral part of the future of G-SHOCK, and we're excited to add three of the brand's most recent releases in these lines to the HODINKEE Shop today.
The G-SHOCK MT-G Collection
The MT-G family was added to the greater G-SHOCK collection in 1999. The "MT" actually stands for "Metal Twisted," as the line was originally introduced to function as a home for G-SHOCKs with hybrid case constructions, with early variants often featuring stainless steel and resin combinations. That original intent remains true to this day, as the two MT-G watches we're adding to the HODINKEE Shop feature either carbon fiber or stainless steel, in addition to resin, in the case and bezel build.
The MTGB1000XBD-1 was released late last year as a standard production model. It features a black IP-coated steel and resin case with G-SHOCK's first-ever application of layered carbon fiber on the bezel. Carbon fiber has the benefit of being lightweight, while also extremely hard-wearing, all factors that make sense for a G-SHOCK where the goal is to survive anything and everything one might encounter on a daily basis. Carbon fiber's resolute toughness does make it harder to manufacture, and it took G-SHOCK over a year of development before finalizing this design. The bezel is layered in a way that alternates between black and red sheets of carbon fiber, which are visible through the watch's side profile (see image below). G-SHOCK further enhanced the watch through its exterior finish, which features a blend of soft brushing and polishing on the bezel and lugs and knurling on the crown. Parts of the lugs and the eight o'clock pusher (which is used for connecting the watch to your smartphone) have undergone a red anodized finish.
But it doesn't stop there. The dial, with its crosshatch-like finish, is quite complex, but the information is arranged in a straightforward way that allows time to be told at a glance. The bezel's flange features the UTC codes of the cities that represent the world's major time zones. The multi-function sub-dial at nine o'clock combines the day-of-the-week with a power-reserve and daylight saving time display as well as the mode indicator for the stopwatch (ST), countdown timer (TR), and alarm functions (AL). The six o'clock sub-dial shows the dual time zone along with a small, overlapping A.M./P.M. indicator to its upper right. The 24-hour display is connected to the time on the central handset and occupies the 12 o'clock sub-dial. Finally, the date appears in an aperture near four o'clock.
As one of G-SHOCK's highest-end watches, the MT-G features all of the brand's latest technical feats, including Bluetooth connectivity to the G-SHOCK Connected app, Tough Solar charging, and Multi-Band 6 atomic timekeeping. The solar-powered movement module inside utilizes a five-motor drive that includes a dual-coil motor to drive each hand and handset independently. While it's important to realize the benefits that the Connected app offers through Bluetooth, all of the watch's functions can be adjusted manually. Most of its capabilities get started by engaging with the eight o'clock mode pusher. Click it once, and you're now able to use the stopwatch; twice, and you've engaged the countdown timer; three times, and you can set the alarm using the world-time dial; and a fourth click will indicate the power reserve at nine o'clock. Finally, the UTC codes spread around the dial allow for simple manual setting of the second time zone. Once the crown is out in its first position, the central seconds hand will immediately indicate on the flange which time zone is currently displayed on the world-time sub-dial. Rotate the crown until the seconds hand is pointing toward the desired new time zone, and the handset will automatically adjust. It's the same for setting the central home time hands, except the crown needs to be in its second position.
In addition to the MTGB1000XBD-1, we're also adding the brand new MTGB1000TJ-1A Formless Tai-Chi Limited Edition to the HODINKEE Shop today. G-SHOCK collaborated with the Chinese artist Chen Yingjie on the design of this new watch. Chen Yingjie's work is influenced by a combination of eastern ink painting and western street art, resulting in an attractive, monochrome grey MT-G timepiece. The exact theme of the watch is influenced by the philosophy of Formless Tai-Chi, which describes the duality of yin and yang and "the concept that all natural things and laws in the world change with the flow of time," according to G-SHOCK.
Chen Yingjie selected the MTG-B1000 model specifically for his collaboration based on its potential hybrid of different metals. The watch's thematic elements are expressed through the resin case and bezel of the watch, which has undergone an IP-coating with special printings and engravings designed by Chen Yingjie. It's a great-looking, more nuanced take on the MT-G platform, but from a technical perspective, it is otherwise identical to other MT-G models.
The MTGB1000XBD-1 is priced at $1,200, and the MTGB1000TJ-1A at $1,000. Both are available now in the HODINKEE Shop.
The G-SHOCK MR-G Collection
The MR-G takes the technical and material innovations of the MT-G line and pushes G-SHOCK even further in the direction of prestige watchmaking. As a flagship offering for G-SHOCK since its 1996 debut, the MR-G ("M" for "Majesty"; "R" for "Reality") is the most advanced and technically impressive member of the G-SHOCK family available today, and we're adding a single model to the HODINKEE Shop.
The MRG-G2000R-1A is the first G-SHOCK to be equipped with a Dura Soft Fluoro-Rubber Band. The strap is textured with a traditional Japanese Bishamon Kikko pattern, that combines hexagonal shapes into groups of three. The watch's titanium case has undergone a deep-layer hardening process, making it four or five times more durable than standard titanium. The case is also treated with titanium carbide, to make it more resistant to abrasions that might otherwise have appeared over time. The bezel and buckle, also made of titanium, have received a DLC-coating, and the crystal is made of scratch-proof sapphire. The case features attractive warm-colored accents, which help accentuate the watch's tentpole position without overpowering its design.
The Dura Soft Fluoro-Rubber Band and the titanium case are connected via the first use of the "L/R-ΔLoc," or Delta Lock, band-fastening mechanism, which Casio developed with a Japanese firm called NejiLaw, a company known for its precision manufacturing of extra-secure screws. The Delta Lock system involves two nuts that lock together and spin in opposite directions, preventing any natural loosening that would occur over time due to vibration, shock, or other physical disturbances. Although the MRG-G2000R-1A has a far different look and feel than the G-SHOCKs you might be used to, it is a G-SHOCK at the end of the day, and long-lasting robustness will always be an integral part of the formula.
While the MRG-G2000R-1A's fit and finish are clearly of superlative status, the watch's features are where it shines. The time is automatically adjusted through either Bluetooth or GPS, and the history of the watch's time adjustments and time-zone changes can be checked through the G-SHOCK Connected app, which is specially calibrated for the MRG-G2000R-1A's impressive feature set. There's also Dual Dial World Time, which displays the times in two cities on the dial, and Tough Solar charging to ensure the watch never requires a new movement module. The features also include an airplane mode, a Super Illuminator LED light (in addition to the Neo Brite-filled handset), daily alarm, a full-automatic calendar (until 2099), a stopwatch, and a countdown timer.
This is one of the most sophisticated and feature-rich G-SHOCKS ever built. The titanium case, the sapphire crystal, and the fluoro-rubber strap all place it above similar G-SHOCKs strictly from a material standpoint, and the watch has basically the full range of technical attributes G-SHOCK has become known for in recent years. If there was a single watch that epitomized how much G-SHOCK has evolved in its 37-year history, we think it would look very close to the MRG-G2000R-1A. It's priced at $3,000 and is available now.
Discover The G-SHOCK MT-G And MR-G Models In The HODINKEE Shop
G-SHOCK has maintained an authentic approach to watchmaking over its history that stands in clear contrast to many other brands. The company was built on a utilitarian mantra focused on function-forward design above all else, which remains true today. G-SHOCK has never reinvented what it stands for – because it has never had to. It's only improved and enhanced its founding principles, with more impressive technical attributes and a greater eye toward aesthetics. The MT-G and MR-G lines continue to break new ground for G-SHOCK, representing an essential part of the brand's catalog where balancing innovation, design, and wearability are key. Learn more about the G-SHOCK MT-G and MR-G watches in the HODINKEE Shop.
From April 28 to May 12, 466 participants entered their personal designs in #WatchesAgainstCovid19 design contest. The prompt was simple: Contestants download the high-resolution drawings of the Ressence Type 1 Slim and put the colored pencil to paper to express their creativity. CEO Benoît Mintiens created the competition with an analog component in mind. With the ever-increasing presence of digital technology helping solve challenges put forth by COVID-19, Mintiens thought it was time "to express our creativity by swapping your keyboards and video conferences for a set of colored pencils and a sheet of (real) paper."
The designs, that were indeed sketched out on paper, were narrowed down to four finalists, and then with the help of Ressence Instagram fans, CEO Mintiens chose the winning design.
It came from Englishman Raymond Ramsden, and the watch is named after his children Ayrton and Finlay. It's been aptly named the Type 1 Slim "Ayrton & Finlay."
Ressence has now taken it from paper to reality and manufactured this one-off watch, and it will cross the block this Sunday as part of Sotheby's "Important Watches" auction. It carries an estimate of HK $150,000-$300,000 (U.S. $20,00-$40,000), and the proceeds will go to KU Leuven University’s COVID-19 Research Program. To accentuate the charitable cause, there's a message of hope from Ramsden engraved in the caseback: "the children of the world are the future."
The Ressence Type 1 Slim #WatchAgainstCovid19 Design Competition winner will be auctioned at theSotheby’s Hong Kong Important Watches saleon July 11. To donate to the KU Leuven University’s Covid-19 Research Programme, clickhere.
Parmigiani Fleurier may not be the first name on the lips of fine watchmaking enthusiasts when the world's top haute horlogerie brands are discussed, but the firm remains, despite this, one of the quiet giants of Swiss fine watchmaking. The company was founded in 1996 by Michel Parmigiani with the support of the Sandoz Family Foundation. The latter has many activities, but supporting Swiss fine watchmaking is one of its most important (the foundation was set up in the 1960s by Edouard-Marcel Sandoz, whose family had founded the firm which eventually became Novartis), and Parmigiani Fleurier sits at the center of a constellation of companies which are not particularly well-known to the average watch consumer or enthusiast, but which are a central part of the structure of Swiss watchmaking.
These include Les Artisans Boitiers, which makes cases; Elwin and Atokalpa, which are suppliers of many critical components, including balance springs; and probably the best-known manufacturing center, Vaucher Manufacture (them you've probably heard of) which makes movements for a number of different clients, including Hermès and Richard Mille. Parmigiani Fleurier is, therefore, able to draw on enormous technical resources directly (which many other brands cannot), and as a result, it can make everything from high-grade, time-only wristwatches, up to and including astronomical complications, minute repeaters, and so on. The company has often hewed to a fairly traditional notion of luxury watchmaking, especially in its tendency to create watches primarily in precious metals, but they have just introduced a new chronograph wristwatch in steel – the Tondagraphe GT – which, while very much an haute horlogerie watch, offers functionality and finish at a price point much more accessible than such a watch would be from virtually any of its competitors.
Parmigiani Fleurier's cases have proportions, so founder Michel Parmigiani has said, which are derived from the so-called Golden Ratio, a mathematical and geometric relationship which has a rather dull-sounding definition (it is an irrational number, represented by the Greek letter phi, and a solution to the quadratic equation x² – x – 1 = 0, if you're interested in that sort of thing). But in geometry, it can generate the so-called logarithmic spiral which seems to be beautifully ubiquitous in nature; the Golden Ratio is also found in many creative fields, such as art, music, and architecture. The result, in practical terms, is a general design language at the company which tends to give an impression of very subtle biomorphism; rounded and elongated forms abound and there are few completely straight lines.
The Tondagraphe GT exhibits this characteristic but in a rather subtle fashion. The bracelet, for example, flows organically from the lugs through each of the side and center links, diminishing in width towards the clasp; these curves are set off by the shape of the chronograph pushers, which look a bit like a cross-section of an airfoil, and by such easy-to-miss but important details as the slight concavity at the juncture of the case middle and the first bracelet link, and convex profile of the second center link. The coin-edge bezel has been a feature of Parmigiani watches from the very beginning and can be seen in the bezel of the Toric Memory Time, which launched the year the brand was born, and which is still founder Michel Parmigiani's personal daily watch (and why not; in fine watchmaking, we expect a good watch with a good design to give satisfaction for a lifetime, and 1996 is not all that long ago).
The 2017 Tonda Chronor, whose design was the foundation for the Tondagraphe GT.
According to Davide Traxler, Parmigiani's CEO, the original inspiration for the design of the Tondagraphe GT was the Tonda Chronor rattrapante chronograph – that particular watch is a feast for the eyes on every level, with its extremely refined case and gorgeous gold movement. The $135,000 Chronor was introduced in 2017 and would go on to win the prize for chronographs at the 2017 GPHG. Says Traxler, "I wished to maintain our core quality and excellence in finishing, and also the visual approach of the Tonda Chronor in the GT collection The bracelet design came before the case itself, as integration was key and too often I have experienced watches where the bracelet appears to be uncoherent. The integration of the metal bracelet and rubber strap to the lugs defined the look of the case and ultimately also the dial finishing, hands and polishing choices."
The general sense of harmony and well-managed proportion is, I think, held up well by the dial, which has quite a few elements but manages to keep them sufficiently controlled that it doesn't stray too far into looking too busy for its own good. There is a lot going on – the double date window, the three sub-dials, the half-diameter running seconds with its double-length hand, and below it, the month indication (we'll get to why that's there in a moment). The dial also has a high-grade clous triangulaire guilloché finish, along with very brightly polished rhodium-plated applied indexes and highly polished hands. However, here again good management of proportions keeps the dial out of trouble – the handling of the sub-dials keeps them a bit more in the background than one usually sees in a sports (or at least, sports-adjacent) chronograph, and the little splash of orange color in the date window and month window add just enough pop to prevent the dial from feeling too flat.
Again, this is all rather subtly done, but obviously, whatever person or persons are behind the dial design were clearly paying attention to every element. You might, by the way, think you are looking at completely skeletonized hands, but they're actually filled with black lume at the tips, as are the indexes.
The Tondagraphe GT has as its engine the self-winding (and, obviously, in-house, if you consider Vaucher in-house for Parmigiani, which I do) caliber PF043, which runs at 28,800 vph in 56 jewels; like most Parmigiani movements, it's fairly flat, at 30mm x 7.40mm. The power reserve is 45 hours at full wind, and the rotor is 22 karat gold and glows rather handsomely against the rhodium of the plates and bridges and the steel of the case. The general layout, including the overall configuration of the bridges and location of the visible jewels, suggests a common basic architecture with the Manufacture Vaucher Seed VMF 3022, although obviously in a higher grade execution. Rather amazingly, for a sub-$20,000 luxury watch, you get not only a chronograph, but an annual calendar as well (hence the need for the month window, in addition to the date).
I'm not sure whether to what extent it's a psychological effect from all the subtle curves of the case and bracelet, but it's an awfully comfortable watch, either on the bracelet (as shown) or on the optional black rubber strap. I think for me personally, the bracelet would be the more desirable option simply because it extends the design language of the watch case so nicely. In any event, at 42mm x 13.7mm you get a big enough watch to provide some reassuring heft on the wrist, but one whose size does not translate to an overbearing wrist presence, and which carries itself with considerably more grace than is generally the case with 40mm+ steel chronographs.
Annual calendar chronographs are not terribly common, partly due to the fact that the annual calendar is a fairly young complication – the very first was from Patek Philippe, and it debuted in 1996 (coincidentally, the year Parmigiani Fleurier was founded). Patek Philippe used to do one in steel – the ref. 5960/1A – which was produced from 2014 to 2018 but is no longer in production, and a 5905 flyback chronograph with annual calendar, in gold, will set you back $65,770 of your favorite dollars. At the lower end of the price spectrum is the Ulysse Nardin Marine Chronograph Annual Calendar, which in steel gives you a relatively soft landing at $11,900, albeit with a slight size penalty; it's a 43mm watch. For an even softer landing, I would be remiss in not mentioning Carl F. Bucherer's Heritage Bicompax Annual Calendar – pretty enticing at $7,200, as long as you can live with the ETA base caliber and Dubois Depraz module. The Tondagraphe GT in steel comes in at, more or less, double the cost of the two contenders at the lower end, at $19,500 on a bracelet, but ups the ante with a more exclusive movement and a highly refined, rather idiosyncratic design.
It's an unusual complication from a highly regarded and significant manufacturer, but to me, what's most interesting about the Tondagraphe GT is what it represents in terms of the evolution of Michel Parmigiani's original notions of watch design. Chronographs tend to have, for obvious reasons, fairly strong family resemblances, but the Tondagraphe GT manages the quite difficult feat of reminding one of nothing other than itself – a mature and confident wristwatch, replete with classical harmony, for an uncertain and turbulent age.
The Parmigiani Fleurier Tondagraphe GT Annual Calendar Chronograph: case, stainless steel, 42mm x 13.7mm, sapphire front and back, with 100 meters' water resistance. Movement, self-winding caliber PF043, 30mm x 7.4mm; 45-hour power reserve, running at 28,800 vph in 56 jewels. Limited edition of 200 pieces worldwide; price, $19,500 with a steel bracelet; $18,500 on a rubber strap. Find out more at Parmigiani.com.
This week, we're back in the groove of old and gold, as evidenced by a round-up featuring three pieces produced in the warm-toned precious metal. For the triple calendar crazed, there's an example dating back to the 1940s from Universal Genève, plus a more complicated chronograph by Heuer in 14k yellow gold. At the baller-most end of the spectrum, the gold trio is rounded out by a Ref. 1675 without crown guards, while still addressing more accessible pieces in the form of a steel Vacheron Constantin and a military watch from Hamilton. A fun time is in store, and you're invited.
1963 Rolex GMT-Master Ref. 1675
Everyone knows Rolex produced the Ref. 1675 with crown guards. What this portion of the article presupposes is: maybe they didn't? This is explained by the fact that, like other models, the GMT-Master simply didn't progress in a cut and dry, black and white fashion. We're kicking things off with might be one of the nicest GMTs you'll ever encounter, and I couldn't be more excited. Just so we're on the same page, this piece is the stuff of dreams.
If you weren't already aware of these anomalies of the back catalog, here's the long and short of it: In the earliest days of the reference, examples cased in steel did indeed benefit from the addition of crown guards, which were seen as an upgrade coming from the markedly more fragile Ref. 6542. Although gold examples with crown guards would eventually be realized, production of pieces in precious metals like gold began with the use of crown guard-less cases like the one on today's example. All this makes this generation of 18k GMT-Master a transitional hybrid of sorts, that's only furthered by the presence of alpha hands, as also seen on 18k Ref. 6542s.
Focusing in closer on this watch is quite the experience, in that there's much to get lost in. With a hyphen separating the words "OYSTER" and "PERPETUAL," plus a set of "ghost T's" guarding the minuscule text reading "SWISS," this one passes the dial test, and all without any noticeable flaws. While on the topic of flawlessness, you'll want to inspect the condition of its 18k case that's nothing short of terrific. Normally, this is where you'd joke about cutting your finger on the edge of the case, but we are indeed talking about the soft alloy that is gold. The only detail to note is the bracelet's technical incorrectness, but given its period correctness and visible aging identical to that of the case, it's likely been with the watch since new.
Kirill Yuzh of Lunar Oyster has this top-tier GMT-Master listed on his site with an asking price of $87,500. Additional photos and details can be found here.
1946 Universal Genève Ref. 51307
The first antique show I attended was in Palm Beach roughly ten years ago, and it was at that show that I first saw a UG in the metal. It did, in fact, leave a lasting impression on me, and in many ways it fueled my interest in triple-date, moon-phase-equipped watches. After pacing through the aisles of what was, and continues to be, a pretty unexciting show for those in search of watches, a piece corresponding to the exact same reference we're about to discuss made itself known. Though it was a 51307, it was nowhere near as attractive as this particular example, which is more than deserving of a good home.
Powered by the Martel and Universal Genève devised Cal. 291, this reference is the result of an effort to diversify production. Coming in ever so slightly after the Tri-Compax's introduction, the Ref. 51307's 1945 release spoke to the manufacture's deliberate shift towards making more complicated, calendar watches following the Second World War. Existing on the cutting edge of horology, these timepieces demonstrated what was in store for the future of watchmaking on both a mechanical and aesthetic level. This notion is surely supported by its 35mm case in 14k yellow gold, which would've been regarded as being somewhat large in its day.
Neatly displaying the date and month with subdials, while using small apertures for the day of the week and moonphase, the reference communicates a great deal of data in tremendous style. This specific one is so special because of its configuration and the condition it's being offered in. It's undeniably unusual to see such an ornate case shape and elegant complication paired with a functional, radium-adorned dial traced by radium-filled hands. To see one preserved so well is truly a treat, and not an everyday occurrence by any stretch, with most examples out there sporting refinished dials. In other words, it's a dope watch, and its past owners knew how to take care of their stuff.
Head on over to the Chrono24 page of Swiss dealer Avocado Vintage Watches, where the UG is up for grabs at $4,801.
Heuer Triple Calendar Chronograph
While on the topic of triple calendars, I thought we'd keep things moving with the inclusion of another similarly complicated piece, but with a twist in favor of variety. Let's say you're in the market for a triple calendar, or you've already given one such timepiece a shot, but decided it just wasn't cutting it. If your itch for complication is in need of further scratching, the logical next step is a triple calendar chronograph. Not all are created equally, though fear not, as we're now going to dissect what earns one of the best its high regard.
Using Valjoux's Cal. 72C, Heuer experienced much success with triple calendar chronograph production spanning nearly a half-century. The watchmaker even went as far as producing such watches for other brands, speaking to their involvement in the field. Of the wide array of different case shapes and dial options, it's the earlier iterations that really do it for me, namely those which emerged out of the 1950s, like the one you're looking at. This is what I'd personally consider to be the poster child of Heuer triple calendar chronographs, in that it's arguably the same watch proudly featured in period Heuer advertisements.
Some are quick to refer to these as "Pre-Carreras," which in my mind doesn't make much sense. Between the radical differences in functionality and lack of most defining Carrera characteristics, it's an entirely different beast, and this beast just so happens to have a seemingly flawless case and dial. This might just be one of those pieces I use to gauge the market, as Heuers have historically achieved rather strong numbers at Bonhams. While the number it achieves can't be taken as a sure indication of conditions, it does make for a decent opportunity to roughly take the market's temperature.
This Heuer is featured in the catalog of Bonhams' upcoming July 21 sale, and it is being offered with an estimate of £3,000 — £4,000. Find more details along with the rest of the catalog here.
Vacheron Constantin Ref. 7397
In that we've discussed the use of the term Calatrava, along with what exactly constitutes one in the past, I thought it'd prove productive to further the conversation to next highlight a piece not privy to the title, albeit seriously compelling in its own right. It's to-the-point, free of any other complications aside from the date, and measures in at a perfect 35mm across. Though all the elements of a great Calatrava might be there on paper, it just isn't one, plain and simple. Having said that, there's still a lot to love here.
You're looking at a Vacheron Constantin that dates back to the late 1960s and corresponds with the reference number 7397. In addition to stainless steel, the manufacture also produced the reference in both white and yellow gold, but in this hard-wearing alloy, it's got a more individual appeal. This is especially true upon consideration of the case's lines, which are essentially akin to that of a sports watch. Altogether, the unique combination of rugged materials and slightly less dress-oriented styling makes for a bit of an oddball, but an amply tasteful one at that.
Naturally, it's not just a pretty face, but a mechanically sophisticated one as well, given the presence of Vacheron Constantin's Cal. K1072/1. The manufacture put this caliber to use in a number of important watches like the Ref. 6782, and for good reason. Apart from being beautifully finished, the self-winding caliber is heavily jeweled and thin, allowing Vacheron to realize slender silhouettes like the 12mm-thick case of the Ref. 7397. Thinness translates to increased wearability, and increased wearability translates to more chances for this to potentially become your next favorite watch. If a subtle flex of taste is what you're after, you'll want to check out this unpolished piece.
The Keystone of Beverly Hills is offering this Vacheron Constantin for $7,500. Find the full scoop here.
1978 Hamilton MIL-W-46374B
To wrap up the week, I thought we'd shed light on a watch that's not only relatively affordable, but also just great for all the right reasons. I enjoy collecting the sort of watches that I'd gladly wear all day, every day, if it were my only watch, and military watches are surely up to the task of delivering in any situation. Like all other arenas of this collecting scene, you can spend a dangerously pretty penny on certain military watches, but this isn't to say all require the remortgaging of one's abode. Illogical or not, I like the sound of a one watch collection, and this week's closer definitely fits the figurative bill.
Along with watchmakers like Benrus, Hamilton supplied the U.S. military with wristwatches for use in the air and on land in Vietnam and elsewhere. Military-focused collectors will know the brand's MIL-W-46374 spec to have been one of the more popular pieces on the wrists of enlisted men on the ground, and if you've ever considered making one your own, then you'll want to keep reading. As the B at the end of its reference would indicate, this example is a B-spec, which was manufactured in 1978. B-spec production can be traced back to 1975, and it is characterized by the introduction of dials featuring a radiation symbol along with the luminous-indicating "H3" text.
All in all, this is a great looking example, despite a cracked crystal and a bit of surface gunk that's currently on the case — both comically easy to remedy should you so wish. Watches in this sort of condition are not to be avoided as, on occasion (like this very one), it's an indicator of originality. To be fair, there's not all that much incentive for someone to go all out with the restoration of a Hamilton like this, but you'd be surprised at how many collectors wouldn't know to look past a cracked crystal while hunting down a vintage watch. With an ultra legible dial, and a basic manually wound movement, this is the sort of no-nonsense watch you could call it a day with.
You'll find this piece at Hill Auction Gallery of Sunrise, FL, where it's being offered on July 29 with an estimate of $100 — $1,000. To get in on the action, click here.
BVLGARI isn't your average watchmaker. Far from it. The Roman-born company is one of the most internationally recognized luxury brands there is today, and its jewelry collections are some of the best known of any maker. Names like the Serpenti, the Monete, and the Tubogas are just a few of the icons from BVLGARI's history as a jeweler. In recent years, one of the brand's watch collections has made a strong bid to join the ranks of BVLGARI's most legendary creations: the Octo Finissimo.
Since the release of the first Octo in 2012 (the first ultra-thin variant wouldn't be until 2014), BVLGARI has quickly established itself as one of the most ambitious watchmakers working today. In just eight years, the Octo Finissimo line has grown exponentially, and with it, BVLGARI has broken no less than five records related to one of watchmaking's oldest pursuits: thinness. First came the 2014 Octo Finissimo Tourbillon, the thinnest tourbillon in the world. It was followed two years later, in 2016, by the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater, the world's thinnest production minute repeater. The next three releases happened in rapid succession over the same number of years: Octo Finissimo Automatic, which was the thinnest automatic wristwatch upon its debut; the Octo Finissimo Automatic Tourbillon, which not only became the thinnest tourbillon ever, but also claimed the title of the thinnest automatic watch; finally, the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT, which was released just last year as the thinnest chronograph in the world at only 6.9mm tall – and it even includes a 24-hour second time-zone display for good measure.
Six years. Five record-breaking watches. Only Octo Finissimo.
The constant stream of success for BVLGARI is one the most impressive watchmaking feats of this century, and what might be the most incredible aspect of BVLGARI's run is that, even if you disregard the broken records for a moment, all of the Octo Finissimo models would still stand out, completely on their own design merit. The emblematic case profile – with its sculptural angles, straight lines, and step-like facets – is immediately striking and unlike any other contemporary design. These watches have a rare level of appeal that relates to both visual aesthetics and physical wearability. The Octo Finissimo collection is a showcase for BVLGARI's sophisticated watchmaking know-how, and it has already cemented its status as a contemporary classic.
We added BVLGARI and the Octo Finissimo collection to the HODINKEE Shop last winter, and today, we want to take you through some of the models that we have currently available and highlight what makes them so special.
The BVLGARI Octo Finissimo Automatic
The Numbers You Should Know: 5.15mm Case Thickness; 2.23mm Movement Thickness
At its launch in 2017, the Octo Finissimo Automatic stood alone as the world's thinnest automatic timepiece. While the record-breaking launches that preceded this watch – the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon and Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater – were clear-cut examples of BVLGARI's unique haute horlogerie bona fides, the Octo Finissimo Automatic changed the game for collectors of all types, permanently. It even brought home the 2017 prize for Men's Watch, which is typically one of the most contested categories, at the 2017 edition of the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG).
Think of all the automatic watches in your collection – there are probably quite a few, right? Now imagine if all of those over 10mm (and let's be honest, that's probably most of them) were suddenly shaved in half. It would immediately make them more wearable and comfortable on the wrist, while also opening up a number of new possibilities for where those watches can be worn. Thinness clearly matters, but the Octo Finissimo Automatic also stands out for its overall design. With a 40mm case diameter made of sandblasted titanium (yes, this ultra-thin watch also happens to be ultra-light), the Octo Finissimo Automatic defied the convention that thin watchmaking equals fragility. And with its versatile combination of sporty and dressy elements, this record-breaker is really a daily driver at its core.
The sandblasted titanium case is truly matte in appearance – there are no polished or shiny surfaces – and the case flows directly into the famous Octo Finissimo bracelet, where it then slinks around the wrist for an immaculate fit. One of the most unique aspects of the Octo Finissimo Automatic is its unexpected lug width of 30mm, which is why the bracelet was engineered specifically to meet the Octo Finissimo case. It stretches that entire lug width at the point of integration, before seamlessly tapering down into the folding clasp. The folding clasp at first posed a problem for the BVLGARI team – how could a clasp be integrated into this design without an unseemly bulge? BVLGARI ended up designing the interior of the folding clasp to fold neatly into the back of the links, reducing its thickness on the wrist.
When most people think of the Octo Finissimo Automatic today, it's typically the sandblasted titanium model that comes to mind. But the overall strength and integrity of the original design have resulted in a number of subsequent variants in other case metals, including one in stainless steel and another in black ceramic. The stainless steel variant of the Octo Finissimo Automatic has a similar all-matte finish to the titanium version, but it does have a trick up its sleeve. BVLGARI has applied a minuscule layer of gold and palladium to the steel case before giving it a final rhodium treatment, which creates its distinct, almost-silver appearance. This was a deliberate choice by BVLGARI that, in our opinion, elevates the idea of a stainless-steel watch to new aesthetic heights. The brightness of the finish, along with the use of stainless steel, results in an Octo Finissimo that is even easier to read than its titanium counterpart, while also being slightly less expensive.
The other variant of the Octo Finissimo Automatic in the HODINKEE Shop doesn't boast quite the record-breaking pedigree of the previous designs, as the thickness had to be slightly upsized (only by .45mm! New case thickness: 5.50mm) to accommodate the fully black ceramic case. BVLGARI crafted every single inch of the watch's case and bracelet – even the clasp! – from scratch-resistant ceramic. It's a bold and dramatic interpretation of the Octo Finissimo design that pushes the watch even further into uncharted territory. We can't get enough of it.
Inside each Octo Finissimo Automatic is the BVL 138 caliber, measuring in at just 2.23mm tall (which is slimmer than most of the leather straps available in the HODINKEE Shop). Its thinness is the result of a platinum micro-rotor that sits flush with the movement mainplate, extending the movement diameter up to 36.6mm (remember, the watch itself is only 40mm in diameter), but allowing for a healthy 60 hours of running autonomy. The movement is visible through a sapphire crystal caseback, which includes côtes de Genève across the mainplate, individually chamfered bevels, and perlage under the platinum oscillating weight. This is a wonderfully executed in-house movement that is able to be appreciated in all its glory thanks to the exhibition caseback.
The BVLGARI Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT
The Numbers You Should Know: 6.9mm Case Thickness; 3.3mm Movement Thickness
The Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT was revealed to the public just last spring, and it had an almost immediate indelible effect on the entire chronograph category. It is the thinnest mechanical chronograph ever, with the self-winding caliber BVL 318 measuring just 3.3mm tall – that's about the height of two U.S. quarters stacked on top of each other. And for those keeping track, it's also less than a single millimeter thicker than the BVL 138 movement inside the Octo Finissimo Automatic, despite the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT having both chronograph functionality and a GMT display. Fully cased up, the watch measures a slim 6.9mm. Although BVLGARI might make it look easy, it's actually quite difficult to set new records in the realm of extra-flat watchmaking; the previous owner of the record held it for 32 consecutive years. Is it any surprise that BVLGARI proudly took home last year's GPHG award in the Chronograph category?
The titanium case is paired with the Octo Finissimo bracelet, so the watch largely carries forward with the same overall aesthetic as the original Octo Finissimo Automatic, but the movement inside has been executed completely differently. Rather than using a micro-rotor, the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT utilizes a peripheral winding system made of platinum and aluminum for maximized winding efficiency. Further, caliber BVL 318 is a fully integrated, column-wheel chronograph movement with lateral clutch, and it's crafted entirely in-house by BVLGARI watchmakers at its Neuchâtel manufacture.
The GMT sub-dial is located at three o'clock on the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT.
The GMT functionality is located in the three o'clock sub-dial in the form of a secondary 24-hour display that functions as home time and can be adjusted through the crown. The central handset can be adjusted in independent, one-hour jumps through an integrated pusher on the side of the case opposite the crown. The chronograph is of course controlled by a pair of actuators located above and below the crown, and they function smoothly and efficiently thanks to the BVL 318's column wheel. The two additional registers on the dial help the Octo Finissimo GMT channel a classic three-register chronograph design, with a nice and balanced orientation that makes legibility easy.
It's been a little over one year since the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT was released, and we're still in awe over it. The specs, the design, the movement – it's really the whole package. So if you've ever wondered what all the noise surrounding the Octo Finissimo is about, this is a great place to start. It's the perfect summation of BVLGARI's one-of-a-kind horological initiative, and it won't be going away anytime soon.
The BVLGARI Octo Finissimo Skeleton
The Numbers You Should Know: 5.15mm Case Thickness; 2.35mm Movement Thickness
There's one more Octo Finissimo model currently available in the HODINKEE Shop, and it's quite a departure from the Octo Finissimo Automatics and Chronograph GMT. It's executed in sandblasted rose gold, has a manually wound movement, and is completely openworked. The Octo Finissimo Skeleton uses the Octo Finissimo case as a framework for success, but subverts any sort of prior expectations with a maximalist design that leaves an immediate impression.
This manually wound Octo Finissimo has a power reserve display located above the model's standard small seconds that will neatly indicate when the watch needs to be wound. On that note, winding the Octo Finissimo Skeleton is an absolute dream. The openworked design offers a full view of the movement's barrel (located near one and two o'clock), allowing you to actually see the mainspring gradually tighten with each turn of the crown. It's a distinct pleasure that is somehow both tactile and visual, and you won't get tired of it.
What's Next?
BVLGARI isn't slowing down. Earlier this year, the brand introduced a satin-polished steel version of the Octo Finissimo with both a black and blue dial. The new steel variants introduce a more complicated mix of textures to the case, with an alternating matte satin finish and a high polish, in addition to a slightly thicker case design (slightly meaning about .1mm). The thicker case comes with a welcome attribute: These new Octo Finissimos are tested to 100 meters of water resistance, surpassing the current design's 30 meters. And with the first-ever Geneva Watch Days coming up on the calendar shortly (it's currently scheduled to begin on August 26), who knows what other surprises BVLGARI has planned. Maybe another record? We'll have to wait and see.
Owning an Octo Finissimo today is a legitimately rare opportunity in the watch industry. Many of the most popular and desired watches today are the result of cyclical trends, but BVLGARI has been able to produce a unique collection of watches that goes beyond any current fad. These are watches that look to the future of watchmaking, from both a technical and aesthetic perspective. In other words, today is the perfect day to hop onto the BVLGARI bandwagon, and you can discover our entire current BVLGARI Octo Finissimo line-up for yourself, right here.
Top photo: Rolex Global Communications Director Arnaud Boetsch, right, with Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour at the 2018 U.S. Open Tennis Championship in New York City.
The Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures is a long-gestating project of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences, which has as its most public-facing activities the granting of various awards for distinguished achievements in filmmaking – including, of course, the Oscars (more formally known as the Academy Awards; "Oscar" was adopted as the official nickname of the trophy statuette in 1939, but nobody seems to quite know for sure who came up with it, but whoever did, it stuck). The Museum is slated to open in April of 2021, and it will include both an architecturally striking theater on the Museum campus – a spherical structure that seats 1,000 – and the main structure, the Saban Building, which is an architectural landmark dating to 1939 and which was originally the May Company Department Store.
Rolex Green Room at the Academy Awards.
The Museum will have facilities for the exhibition, curation, and preservation of film and film artifacts, and objects in its collection include the ruby slippers worn by Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz, the prop tablets of the law from The Ten Commandments, the original xenomorph costume headpiece from the 1979 classic, Alien, and from more recent cinematic history, the May Queen dress worn by Florence Pugh in Midsommar, which is one of the finest antiromantic horror-comedy bad-breakup movies ever made. Recently, Rolex announced that one of its top executives, Arnaud Boetsch, will join the museum's Board Of Trustees, where he'll work to guide long-term strategy, as well as financial development, along with other board members.
Boetsch is global director of communication and image at Rolex. He has largely worked out of the public eye (at least, the eye of the watch-buying public), but he's been responsible over the years for some of the company's most significant activities and partnerships. His brief is very broad and includes sports, exploration and arts partnerships, and philanthropic activities (which are very wide-ranging but again, often not especially publicly visible, in keeping with the company's culture of discretion). He has been behind the association of Rolex with some of the most important sports and arts events in the world – including golf, motorsports (especially Formula 1) as well as its partnerships with major ambassadors. One of the most important Rolex ambassadors is, of course, Roger Federer. Of Federer, Boetsch said in a rare interview with Tennis World in 2019, "What matters is not the short term, but the principles and values that should last over the time. Federer is the ultimate ambassador. He will stay as an ambassador also after his career ends, like Jackie Stewart and Jean-Claude Killy, who have been ambassadors for more than 50 years."
The French-born Boetsch is no casual presence in the world of tennis. Aficionados will recall that he was a pro from 1987 to 1999 who rose to 12th in the world in 1996, winning the Davis Cup twice.
Rolex watches have, of course, been widely seen in motion pictures, and in recent years, one of the company's more notable official associations with cinema (it does not place watches in films, although its watches are often chosen either by performers or others associated with particular productions) has been as a sponsor of the Academy Awards, which began in 2017. The year before, Rolex also sponsored the Green Room at the Oscars – the area, offstage, where performers wait prior to their turn on stage. Don't think of a dull, featureless waiting room; the Rolex Green Room at the Oscars was designed by the same Boetsch-led team which designs interiors for Rolex's retail network. (HODINKEE's Cara Barrett gave us a sneak peek inside, in 2017, and Rolex has continued to sponsor the Green Room ever since.) The origins of the term "green room" are lost to history, although one possibly apocryphal story is that the 16th century Blackfriar's Theater, in London, supposedly had a waiting room for actors that was painted green. By a happy coincidence, green is also a signature color for Rolex.
Though he's not a household name among watch and Rolex enthusiasts, Boetsch has been one of the most influential presences at Rolex during his tenure (prior to his current role, he directed the Rolex sponsorship programs for seven years). He's a major figure in the company, and the next time you see a Rolex partnership, sponsorship, or philanthropic activity, you'll know who's behind the scenes directing the firm's constantly evolving and very wide-ranging extra-horological activities.
There's always a reason to postpone an adventure, but resist the urge. This one would have gotten off to a much slower start had it not been for a push from a little watch – or rather, a medium-sized watch. Inspiration to get out there and explore didn't come from magazines or documentaries in this case. Instead, it came in the form of a recently-released 36mm Marathon mechanical watch dubbed the "Arctic MSAR." I had been putting together the framework for a trip meandering through the Southeastern United States, but the fickle nature of life's routines, and of course a number recent of circumstances that no one could have ever predicted, made it difficult to execute. Or maybe I was just waiting for the right companion.
Then the Arctic MSAR showed up.
A few weeks ago, I packed up my truck and set out on the road to hit some muddy trails in the Ozarks, experience the soul of the Mississippi Delta, and soak in the Gulf Coast vibes. The Arctic MSAR wasn't just along for the ride, it was part of the reason for it.
Somewhere along the southernmost quarter of the 444-mile-long Natchez Trace Parkway, I stopped cycling and looked down at my watch to check the time. Darkness was closing in, and the now-visible soft glow of the tritium tubes on the Marathon Arctic MSAR only made it more apparent that I needed to get back before nightfall. No streetlights, no cell service, and a lack of personal lighting would mean a tricky ride back to the car in a pitch-black night, unable to see any obstacles in the road. Any traffic wouldn't be able to see me either. I did the rough calculation and accepted that I might not make it back in time, but something funny happened. Along with a slight sense of unease, dopamine and nostalgia started swirling around inside my head. However trivial, the watch was actually being used as a tool, just as it was intended.
The Old Natchez Trace played an important role in the development of America. It was first used by the Choctaw and Chickasaw Native Americans as a route connecting the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi rivers. When early Europeans arrived, it was frequented by explorers and soldiers as a link between Nashville, Tennessee and Natchez, Mississippi. Now, it serves those looking for a scenic drive, and it happens to be a great place for a proper bike ride. Despite the Arctic MSAR's unconventional size at 36mm and its brutalist looks, it was on the trail that the watch made more sense. We horology enthusiasts spend hours in a whimsical reverie thinking through a watch, but rather than pondering the nature of the beast, sometimes it's best to just slap it on the wrist and put it through the paces in order to reveal its true nature. In the case of the Marathon, the harder I pushed it – and myself – the more I understood what it was all about.
A lot of watch writing takes place in an imagined world – a world where we theoretically place the watch in certain situations that test its operational limits. It's an exercise in taking the minutiae surrounding tool watches, like specs and technical features, and adding meaning to the numbers in some way, even though most of us will never experience anything remotely close to the edge of the performance envelope these tool watches are capable of. How many folks buy a modern Rolex Submariner, a watch steeped in nautical history and undersea exploration lore, only to wear it to the boardroom? And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that at all, but it's worth understanding the Arctic MSAR is simply not that type of watch. There's no duality at work here; it can't effortlessly breeze from being paired with a suit to T-shirt and jeans. The watch expresses a singular focus on usefulness. Durability and ergonomics take precedence over style and design.
Marathon watches have been a mainstay in the EDC, or "everyday carry," community for years. Marathon's wares have a reputation for being no-nonsense, tough-as-nails tool watches issued to military forces, priced between $600-$1,500. The Arctic MSAR rings in at $850. The models are often characterized by chunky cases and tritium gas tubes as a source of luminescence. The brand doesn't actively advertise, and the watches aren't distributed through any physical retailer. Marathon has a very loyal following, but it occupies a corner of the watch world that certainly isn't mainstream. The watches aren't made for enthusiasts, and to put it bluntly, the folks behind the brand don't really care much of what the enthusiast community thinks of the watches, anyway. They're made for a variety of very specific tasks, like aerial navigation and aquatic search and rescue. They produce watches to fulfill NATO Stock Numbers 6645-00-066-4279 and 6645-01-304-4308 as well as US Military Standard W-46374G; in other words, they're watches qualified for military field use. But that's probably why the company has found a loyal following among folks who use these watches for desk duty. If Marathon's watches are built for the battlefield in a war zone, then our own small personal battles, like racing against the setting sun on a bicycle, wrenching on a truck in the middle of the woods, and everything that comes with living a life in isolation, should be a breeze for such a watch, right? It's built to stand up to anything.
After surviving about a month of abusive duty on my own wrist, I can see why it's become a favorite of folks serving in roles that would subject it to even more significant abuse. To understand how the watch is tested to meet those demands, I put in a request to speak to the top brass at Marathon.
The manufacturer produces a range of dive watches called the "SAR" line – an abbreviation of Search and Rescue – the mission they're designed to support. The watch comes in quartz and automatic versions, two dial variations, and three sizes. The nomenclature is rather complicated, but here's the breakdown: The largest iteration is 46mm; it comes in both quartz (JSAR) and automatic (JDD). The JDD employs tritium tubes while the JSAR uses Maraglo, Marathon's proprietary luminescent compound. There's a single chronograph variation of the 46mm case that uses a Valjoux 7750. That's called the CSAR. All current versions of the JSAR, JDD, and CSAR use black dials. Next is the range of "Large" watches with a case size of 41mm. The TSAR is the quartz version, while the GSAR is automatic. Again, only black dials with tritium tubes are used. Lastly, there's the MSAR at 36mm. These are considered "Medium" sized watches, and the MSAR designation applies to both quartz and automatic variations, but the MSAR also comes with a white dial. In May, Marathon released their most recent watch: a version of the 36mm MSAR Automatic with a white dial and a Sellita SW200 movement. That's the watch I've been wearing. The small watch inspired a big adventure.
I was winding through the backroads of the Blue Ridge Mountains when the phone rang. My request to learn more about Marathon had gone up the chain of command and landed on the desk of vice president Mitchell Wein, the grandson of Morris Wein, the founder of Marathon Watches. Now he was on the line, ready to talk in detail about the mission of the company and the Arctic MSAR Automatic. That's the sort of operation Marathon is. There are no layers to cut through, no PR agencies or middlemen involved. The get-it-done attitude around Marathon is perhaps a reflection of the sort of clients the company serves. It's certainly reflected in the watches.
Marathon's Military Origins
Marathon has flown under the radar – sometimes quite literally – for some time now. When Wein joined Marathon, the family business, in the '80s, his father Leon Wein pulled out a stack of checks that had bounced. He told Mitchell that "this is why you don't do business with jewelry stores" like traditional watch manufacturing companies did. Since World War II, Marathon has been in the unique position of selling its watches directly to governments as opposed to jewelry stores. In 1939, Mitchell's grandfather, Morris Wein, founded Marathon watch company in Ontario, Canada. The nascent Marathon Watch Company was located in the same building as a restaurant where officials from the Department of National Defence dined. Wein naturally became friends with them, and when Canada needed watches for soldiers shipping off to Italy to fight in World War II, Marathon was called upon. Canada entered the war in 1939, much earlier than the United States. Canadian troops joined the British Expeditionary Forces that were present throughout the European and Pacific theaters. By 1941, Marathon general purpose watches were delivered in sealed watertight cans to Canadian soldiers across the globe.
Today, Marathon still supplies various armed forces of the world, but it has since expanded to other non-military governmental agencies. Enter Canada, and you'll see a Marathon clock hanging on the wall at the Customs Office. The National Research Council laboratories use Marathon clocks as well, and most recently, Marathon clocks could be found in quick-build hospitals set up for the fight against COVID-19 in the United States. Wein reported that roughly 90% of the current production is dedicated to government contracts. The rest are sold through Marathon's website mainly as a service to the community and a handful of small online operations. There's no Marathon advertising outside of a social media presence that a younger crop of employees had to convince Wein to let them create.
Marathon's expertise is in developing watches that meet the specific needs of contracts. "Governments are good to work with. They have the money, and they're not fussy. It's black and white," Wein says about contract production. The process goes like this: Governments issue the quantity of watches needed, the date they need to be delivered by, and the specs to which the watches need to be built. Marathon then carries out the engineering and production to meet those orders and timelines. Wein says that typical contracts call for roughly 7,000 to 50,000 watches, and the watches are sold at a 10 to 17% margin. Marathon is audited by the Canadian government, so pricing must be fair and transparent. Margins and production practices are often closely guarded secrets in this industry, so the transparency that comes with government contract work is particularly interesting.
Marathon started producing watches for the United States government in the 1970s, and the watches were tested at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, then the site of many of the Army's research and development programs. According to Wein, the watches were produced with a scheduled 5% profit margin, but during the production phase, the value of the Swiss franc climbed, eliminating the profit margin and actually costing Marathon instead. Even though the watches were produced at a loss, the contract and relationship with the United States government were secured. The fluctuation of Swiss franc had a significant impact on business because Marathon owns its entire production facility in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The watches, to this day, are designed and conceptualized in Canada, but are produced and assembled in Switzerland.
Taking a loss on the watches paid off when the United States responded to Saddam Hussien's aggressive invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, with Operation Desert Shield, a massive force build-up in the Persian Gulf that involved a total of coalition forces representing 35 nations. There was a surge in the need for mil-spec wristwatches, and Marathon answered the call with General Purpose wristwatches as well as a model called the Navigator, a watch specifically designed for military aviators. On November 29, 1990, the United Nations Security Council gave Hussein-led forces a deadline of January 16, 1991, to leave Kuwait. After diplomatic negotiations failed, George H. W. Bush issued the order to commence Operation Desert Storm. General Norman Schwarzkopf led a coalition campaign to liberate Kuwait, the largest military alliance since WWII. The operation ended in a ceasefire and the surrender of Iraqi generals on March 3. Marathon watches were issued to American and Canadian troops that participated in this chapter of modern military history. After the conflict, Mitchell Wein and his father Leon were awarded a Best Value Bronze Medal recognition by the United States at a ceremony in Richmond. The award recognized Marathon's timely delivery and great value.
Mitchel Wein, left, and Leon Wein receiving a "Best Value" recognition from the United States armed services.
When it comes to government contract business with the United States nowadays, Wein explains that there are two distinct paths for a Marathon watch to reach the end-user. Oftentimes that's a soldier, sailor, or airman – but it's certainly not limited to those roles. Scientists and other professions that involve field work are often issued Marathon watches as well.
The first pathway is a direct contract with the Department of Defense. A watch is created to meet the needs of a set of specifications put forth to do a specific job for a branch of the armed services under the DoD. These watches are then issued to soldiers, sailors, and airmen directly by the branch. The money for these watches comes from the Department of Defense's budget, and there's not much room to experiment with the design, given the nature of the specifications. Spec sheets are available to the public and hosted on the ASSIST database, and you can access them by searching for "watch."
The second way watches are distributed is through the General Services Administration, an independent agency of the U.S. government that oversees procurement and contracts with suppliers. The GSA has a list of pre-authorized vendors to purchase from, of which Marathon is one, that can supply any governmental agency (including the armed services), as well as sell to foreign governments. The Arctic 36mm MSAR is only sold through the GSA, as it doesn't meet the traditional military specifications that are stringent and exacting, like the requirement for a black dial only. This certainly doesn't make it any less of a watch, however. Rather, it points to the static nature of U.S. mil-spec requirements. Theoretically, it is certainly possible for a U.S. service member to be issued a 36mm Arctic MSAR if their branch turned to the GSA instead of contracting Marathon directly. This can happen if demand exceeds the allocated budget, or if there is a unit-specific need. While the United States is certainly a very important customer of Marathon's, they do work with many military and government organizations around the world. Wein cited the Israel Defense Forces and the Taiwanese Navy as two of many organizations Marathon is currently producing watches for. He also noted that a government organization in Japan had recently put in an order for the Arctic MSAR Automatic.
Field Report: The Arctic MSAR Automatic
This watch forces us to reframe how we think about case size. It's not built to satisfy the current trend of downsized watches. Instead, it's created as a tool to tell time that's been engineered to withstand the rigors of abusive military duty and best fit a variety of wrist sizes. An appropriately-sized watch is a more effective tool, and even though the notion of macho-type figures in the military is pervasive, it simply isn't true. Wrists of all sizes are present in the armed forces. Think of it like a rifle: There isn't a rifle for men and a rifle for women in the armed services; instead, it's a tool engineered for the end-user irrespective of gender. It comes in different designs for different applications. It's simply a part of the kit to get the job done.
Side profile of the crown side of the case.
The non-crown side of the case.
On my 7.25" wrist, the 36mm watch wears like a charm. The watch is thick, ringing in at just above 14mm. That has nothing to do with the SW200 inside or the water resistance of 300m, however. It's designed to be tall enough to be easily operated with gloves on. The elevated case puts the bezel in an optimal position to grab, and the notches on the bezel are large and chunky; they're shaped like oversized crenellations at the top of a castle’s towers. Wearing it made a case for smaller tool watches, because the compact case meant it didn't get in the way of whatever I was doing. A good tool just does what it's supposed to and doesn't stick out.
When the watch serves as a tool rather than jewelry, you don't need to take it off when you get into the thick of it. Even after much deliberation over my Two-Watch collection, wearing the MSAR on this extended trip made me realize that I would never willfully wear either of the Two-Watch picks, a Tudor and a Grand Seiko, for the duties that I'd forced the MSAR to suffer through. The "everyday" of a HODINKEE editor just isn't the "everyday" of a military operator. I made a vow to myself to put this watch through the paces, and that meant never taking it off for fear of damaging it. We often refer to inexpensive watches that we subject to conditions we wouldn't want our more prized pieces to face as "beaters." The Arctic MSAR is the ultimate beater.
In the woods of West Virginia, Marathon Arctic MSAR on the wrist.
Campfire cookin' the old-fashioned way.
Camp duty was just a warm-up for what the MSAR would have to go through next.
Right around 2500 RPM, the 2.5-liter diesel motor in my truck vibrated at the right frequency to cause a disturbing clatter resonating from somewhere in the frame of my rig. I had ditched paved roads for the dirt trails that stitch together various mountainous forests in northwest Arkansas. As the clatter from the truck got louder, I thought to myself that I must have run over something that bent one of the skid plates, and it was now hitting the frame at a specific resonance from the motor. That's bad news, because if the plate got torn off, it would expose elements of the drivetrain that, if damaged, would leave me stranded. Normally, I'd take off my watch and chuck it in the console before getting underneath the truck, but this little exercise with the MSAR meant it stayed on the wrist. Luckily, the damage wasn't as bad as I thought. A piece of thin metal that served as a dam to vent air to the radiator had come loose. I pounded it into place, a stopgap solution. I was afraid solving one problem would cause another one: jarring the SW200 movement and scrambling it up from striking the metal frame of a truck with force. I checked the next few days for accuracy and all readings were nominal. My biggest concern was that small particles from the mud would work their way underneath the bezel and ruin that satisfying 60-click action, so I took off the watch and rinsed it off in a nearby stream. Crisis averted.
The aftermath of an undercarriage excursion.
When I reached the Gulf Coast, I finally had the chance to get the Arctic MSAR properly wet. Strapping on a Marathon over a wetsuit felt refreshing and familiar. In 2010, I wore a TSAR, the full-sized quartz iteration of Marathon's Search and Rescue watch, during dive training in the Gulf of Thailand. I wore it on an orange NATO and treated it like a piece of the dive kit I donned every day. I only wore it diving and didn't find that it transitioned to an everyday wear watch like the Arctic MSAR does.
The hues of the Gulf of Mexico.
The watch accompanied me to a small man-made reef in about 30 feet of water off the coast of Pensacola, Florida on an afternoon of spearfishing. The water in this region of the Gulf of Mexico is a cool shade of blue-green, and because the sand is a powdery creme color, the water glows on a sunny day. It also makes the dial absolutely pop underwater. The legibility of the Arctic MSAR when submerged is one of the most surprising things about it. It may have been made for snowy environments, but it just works so well in subtropical aquatic environments. To my eye, the white dial is simply more legible than the black dial underwater. Even despite the smaller diameter dial, the white is unequivocally easier to read.
Additionally, the size shines when analyzed as a piece of diving gear. The case is tall, but a diameter of 36mm makes it balanced and unobtrusive. For spearfishing, gloves are essential, and the tall case just makes sense when operating the bezel with them on. It's easy to grab, easy to turn, and the notches in the bezel can be felt even through thick gloves. Freediving doesn't allow for extended bottom time, but the bezel is such a pleasure to operate that I found myself timing sub-three minute dives just for the hell of it. Because of the unobtrusive size, the decision whether or not to add another piece of gear to the kit is made easier. In other words, it isn't a burden to wear.
Early on in the learning curve of diving, the tendency is to favor more gear because it simply feels cool. But that gets old. The further along the learning curve you go, the less gear you realize you need. You pare down to only what's absolutely essential. That's where the MSAR fits in best. Telling time is essential in the field. Something about the size and the simplicity make it a watch that one might prefer when they've reached the point that they'd rather take less gear on an outing. It fits in with quite literally "downsizing." After spending the afternoon in saltwater, I took the watch off, gave it a quick freshwater rinse, and then threw it back on and wore it for the rest of the day. It's a dyed-in-the-wool tool watch, but it's not a watch that tries so hard it becomes a parody of what a tool watch should be. It's discrete. And because of that, it pulls double duty in and out of an aquatic environment.
The benefit of a mechanical watch in military scenarios is that it's impervious to electromagnetic pulses, which can easily disable a quartz watch. This can happen from a NEMP, or Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse, but in that case, the wearer has much bigger problems to worry about than timekeeping. More likely is the threat of something like an E-bomb, which was used in 2003 to knock out Saddam Hussein's television propaganda machine. In this scenario, electronics, including battery-powered watches, may fail. A mechanical watch would be unaffected.
Hand the watch to someone who doesn't have much background on Marathon watches, and chances are they'll ask why there's a radioactive icon, called a trefoil, prominently displayed on the dial. It's something one would expect to see on a uranium reactor, not a wristwatch. But flip the watch over, and it starts to make sense. Among the text engraved into the caseback is a line, "NRC ID: 54-28526-01E." That's a code, issued by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, that identifies the manufacturer as being licensed to "Possess, use, process, export and import nuclear materials and waste, and handle certain aspects of their transportation." In the case of the Arctic MSAR Automatic and many other Marathon watches, the tritium tubes used as indices make it necessary for Marathon to display the radioactive sign on the dial and register with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Marathon was an early adopter of tritium radioluminescence, and the technology has come to characterize a large portion of their current line up, including the Arctic MSAR Automatic. The advantages of using tritium tubes are that it's constantly emitting light, and it doesn't rely on any source to "charge." Tritium emits electrons as it decays over time, and when these electrons interact with a phosphor material present in the tube, light is emitted. This reaction doesn't continue indefinitely, however; over time, all of the tritium decays, and light is no longer visible. The "half-life" of the tritium used in Marathon watches is between ten and fifteen years, meaning that half of the radioactive atoms will decay in that time and the watch won't glow quite as bright, but the useful life of the tritium is far from over. Tritium provides a constant, dim, glow. It takes some getting used to if you're used to the brightness of traditional LumiNova, but the advantage is that even long after a LumiNova dial has lost its glow, tritium gas tubes can still be read in the middle of the night. That's exactly the sort of property the military would appreciate. I found the brightness of the glow to be near perfect. The 12 o'clock marker is orange, while the rest glow the sort of green that Hollywood has trained us to associate with radioactive material. The variation in color allows for easy orientation.
Large gas tritium tubes were used in Canada's remote North where power wasn't available to illuminate aircraft landing sites in the 1970s.
Wein noted that during the Persian Gulf era, the USA was quick to embrace the application of tritium radio-luminescence in wristwatches while Canada was not. He was filling orders for both and said that Canada was very hesitant to adopt tritium gas even after it had become a standard among the U.S. Forces. And that's not entirely surprising. In the 1970s, large tritium tubes were used to outline aircraft landing sites in the far north of Canada where power grids don't reach. One such site was in the small town of Kashechewan First Nation, in the northern reaches of Ontario. The tubes were placed at nearby helicopter landing sites without warning the local population of the danger associated with a sizable volume of radioactive material present. In 1994, local youths vandalized and broke six of the 15 tubes present, creating a situation in which children, nurses, and a janitor were exposed to dangerous doses of radiation, according to Risky Business, Nuclear Power and Public Protest in Canada, a 2005 book by Michael D. Mehta.
The radioactive warning symbol on the dial of the Arctic MSAR at 3 o'clock isn't just there to look neat – although I'd be lying if I said it didn't add to the appeal.
The Canadian Rangers Unit Patch, featuring a Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle and an axe.
Department of Defense specs call for a black dial, but that's mainly for American forces. This watch isn't technically created for them; instead, it was developed with the Canadian Rangers in mind. This force of roughly 5,000 reserve soldiers is a sub-component of the Canadian Armed Forces, and they operate in territories on the fringe where a traditional presence isn't needed, like sparsely settled isolated communities in the far north. To get an idea of what the Rangers do, consider that part of the duty of the unit is the protection of the local communities against polar bears. The Artic MSAR is issued to them along with a C19 rifle and a red winter outer jacket as part of the official kit.
Marathon claims that in snowy conditions, it's easier to read a white dial than a black dial. I'd take that a step further and say that it may even be easier to read in most conditions. Thousands of miles south from the region where the Canadian Rangers operate, I was watching the landscape change drastically. In a matter of hours, the verdant hills of the Ozarks gave way to large open expanses drained of color along the Mississippi Delta. No matter the landscape, the white dial was easy to read at a glance, even if time became less relevant the longer I was on the road. The Arctic MSAR is sized more appropriately for me than the larger TSAR, and its white dial is more legible to my eye. That's why Marathon makes a range of different case sizes and dial variations: Nuts and bolts come in different sizes, and it's up to you to grab the correct size wrench out of the toolbox.
Crossing a stream in the Ozarks.
Off-roading in the Ozarks.
Over a month of hard wear, the Arctic MSAR has proved to be the right tool for the job. Living out of a truck and exploring the varied landscape of the American Southeast presents its own unique challenges, and through taking it out of imaginary scenarios and putting it to real-world use, it's proven to be a worthy piece of kit. Have I subjected it to the same sort of stress that operating an M119 howitzer every day would cause? Most likely not. But this brings up an interesting point. Service members are issued the watch; it's a piece of kit that's expected to be used and ultimately disposed of. Historically, some contract-produced watches of the Vietnam era were designed with top-loading movements and cheap plastic cases, namely spec W-46374B models. Even variants with parkerized cases were not designed with future servicing in mind and utilized top-loading movements and poly crystals. These models suffered from poor water resistance as well. They traded robustness for cost-saving and the capability of mass production. Even the highly collectible Benrus Type I, considered one of the finest military watches used by early Navy SEALS, uses a top-loading design that, given the difficult nature of servicing this design, wouldn't be produced today. The Arctic MSAR, in contrast, is generally designed with longevity and serviceability in mind. The Sellita SW200 inside is ubiquitous and easy to service, and there aren't any cost-saving measures in the case design that compromise the ease of servicing.
Canadian Rangers survey Canada's Arctic and are comprised of mostly local indigenous people.
Individual sales to civilians are ancillary to the contract work at Marathon, and most companies that perform this type of work don't bother selling to the public at all. The closest the public can get is purchasing through surplus stores that sell equipment that's been phased out. Given the extensive research and development costs, and the stringent standards that have to be met when making something that requires certification from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there's a good bit of value in the Arctic MSAR. After all, purchasing the watch is a whole lot less complicated than training as a Canadian Ranger to get the watch. But if these last 4,000 miles have proven anything, it's that purchasing the watch as a civilian doesn't mean you won't be in for any less of an adventure.
The Marathon Artic MSAR is available from Marathon. It's medium-sized at 36mm and features tritium gas tubes as a source of luminescence. A Sellita SW200 powers the watch. A rubber strap and bracelet are available. Price: $850
Each week, our editors gather their favorite finds from around the internet and recommend them to you right here. These are not articles about watches, but rather outstanding examples of journalism and storytelling covering topics from fashion and art to technology and travel. So go ahead, pour yourself a cup of coffee, put your feet up, and settle in.
There is perhaps no natural disaster (other than perhaps a major volcanic eruption) which has a greater potential to claim lives and sow mayhem than a major tsunami. Unfortunately, major disasters due to tsunamis occur with regularity, and thanks to the human propensity for building extensively near shorelines, they are likely to continue to affect civilization for the foreseeable future. The crushing walls of water that characterize tsunamis are almost impossible to withstand but, in order to improve the odds, the Survival Capsule – a tsunami escape pod intended to protect from the crushing forces and punishing depths associated with a tsunami – has been developed, and one was recently tested by CNet's Claire Reilly. Such pods, of course, are likely to remain a great rarity and make no real difference in the casualties associated with a major tsunami, but they offer at least a sliver of hope to the few who would be able to afford one – an attractive fantasy in these increasingly uncertain times.
As much as I'm not minding the slower pace of our COVID reality, as someone who used to travel for a good portion of the year, I am genuinely curious as to when travel will become re-normalized and what the scenario will look like when it does. For some insight and inspiration, check out this Washington Post Q&A with the pilot, travel show host, explorer, adventurer, and dream TGN guest, Kellee Edwards. The chat touches on many topics, including the likelihood of whiplash overtourism, solo travel, the endearing value of America's National Parks, and more. It's an interesting look at an aspect of our world that will most certainly evolve in the coming months and years. Edwards remains an avid supporter of travel and, should you want more, has recently launched a podcast with Travel + Leisure called "Let's Go Together."
The Ronettes released "Be My Baby" in 1963, a pop classic which unwittingly proved to be an inspiration to some of the most recognizable musicians of the time. Produced by Phil Spector, the song served as the springboard for a method of song production he would refer to as the "Wall of Sound." Brian Wilson, of The Beach Boys, once referred to "Be My Baby" as the "greatest record ever produced". (Wilson would also utilize his own version of the "Wall of Sound" on the iconic Pet Sounds record a couple of years later.) John Lennon was so taken by the song, he ended up recording his own cover as a love letter to Yoko Ono in 1973. The song, its arrangement, and its style have been so mimicked and copied over the years, that its original impact and effect are not felt today as they once were, but it stands a seminal and lasting work in the annals of pop music. This article from Uncut provides a behind-the-scenes, first-person account of the making of the song from those who sang it: Ronnie Spector and Darlene Love. I found myself listening to "Be My Baby" as I was reading along, and will definitely keep it playing this weekend.
Travel is something I find myself thinking about non-stop these days. As someone used to racking up well over 100,000 air miles each year, being fully grounded since December 2019 has been very strange – this is the longest I've gone without getting on an airplane since I left for college. Here, a New York Times photographer documents what routine air travel looks like in Summer 2020 and ... well, it's a bit weird. "An experience that had once been routine now felt like an ordeal," he says. "I was relieved to be on my way." Despite all that, I'm not going to lie: I can't wait for my next wheels-up.
– Stephen Pulvirent, Manager of Editorial Products
If you've felt like time has moved in fits and starts over the last few months, you are not alone. Without our usual social stimuli, it can be hard to remember which week you took that drive to the shore or what day you made that delicious carbonara. In fact, there are perfectly logical and explainable reasons for why our ability to perceive time has been thrown off by our present circumstances. This article in Reuters uses some handy interactive visualizations to help readers understand the various mechanisms that our brain uses to manipulate and make sense of time, and ultimately, they get at the heart of why it's so hard to keep track of the hours and minutes these days.
A possibly unique platinum Rolex Cosmograph Daytona with a lapis lazuli dial was the star attraction at Sotheby's watch auction in Hong Kong today.
The watch, Reference 16516, sold for HK$25.37 million (US$3.27 million) including fees. That's three to six times Sotheby's HK$4 million to $8 million estimate for the watch.
Sotheby's billed the watch as "historically important and possibly unique." It was manufactured circa 1999 at the end of the period when Rolex used Zenith El Primero movements in Daytonas. (Rolex replaced the Zenith movement with its own in-house automatic chronograph caliber in 2000.)
Less than two years ago, in October 2018, Sotheby's auctioned off a similar platinum Daytona to this one for HK$6.84 million/US$3.0. That one had a dial made of black mother-of-pearl.
Both watches have the same 16516 reference number. They are believed to be part of a very small number of platinum watches Rolex produced in 1999. The caseback of the lapis lazuli-dial watch sold today bears an inscription dated "XII 1998."
What makes the watches so rare are their case and dial materials.
Platinum-case Cosmograph Daytonas are virtually unheard of, according to Sotheby's. In its description of the watch auctioned in 2018, Sotheby's wrote, "While Rolex produced automatic Daytonas only in stainless steel, yellow gold, white gold, and steel and gold for many years, it has now been confirmed that one very lucky customer was given a unique masterpiece in 1999 and it is rumoured that the late Patrick Heiniger, the famous CEO of Rolex, himself wore a platinum automatic Daytona."
The watch sold today is fresh to the market and is "the only known platinum Daytona with a lapis lazuli hardstone dial," Sotheby's says. Its cal. 4030 automatic movement has 31 jewels. The case has a diameter of 40mm, a screw-down caseback, and bears the number A171132.
After a decade of making their truly unique and visually stunning watches, Ressence recently announced their Type 1 Slim X. And, while their dial layout is about as straightforward as one can envision, the mechanics within are anything but. For some added context, let's rewind the clock almost five years and take a look inside the theory and execution of a Ressence watch.
Published back in the fall of 2015, our Technical Editor Nicholas Manousos sat down with Ressence's founder Benoît Mintiens to better understand the complexity behind the simplistic effect of the brand's design language. It's an exceedingly interesting post packed full of perfect Sunday nerdery like planetary gears, oil volume compensation systems, and bi-axial satellites. As it turns out, there's no shortage of method required to bring that magical dial to life.
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Can I get a drumroll, please? No? Alright, fine. We'll unveil the results of the 2020 Summer Watch Fantasy Draft anyway. As usual, our producer, Grey, was the only person who knew the vote count when Cara, James, Jon, and I hopped on a group call to find out which of our collections of five beach-ready watches came out on top. In addition to announcing the winner, we also talk about which watches we wish we could have picked and what draft we might have to do next. If you haven't already listened to the 2020 Summer Watch Fantasy Draft episode, I highly recommend listening to that first – otherwise, none of this is going to make much sense at all.
After that, we take a deep dive into Volume 6 of the HODINKEE Magazine, which we dropped back on June 1. I was able to get Cole and Jack into the virtual studio to talk about the stories we each worked on. These include Cole's incredible profile of one of the world's most prolific Bang & Olufsen tube radio collectors, Jack's ode to a unique Aston Martin with Bertone coachwork, and my Reference Points about the legendary TAG Heuer Carrera. We also talk about a few of our favorite stories that we didn't write, but you'll have to listen for more about that.
Photo: Tiffany Wade
Photo: Josh Perez
Photo: Glen Allsop
Finally, capping things off, Ben joins us to talk about the story he wrote for Volume 6, a profile of artist and serious watch lover Wes Lang. If you want to get a look inside the brain of a die-hard watch collector who isn't afraid to break the mold and do things his own way, this one is for you. Personally, I think it's a must-read, and Ben gives us some insight into what it was like to visit Lang at his LA studio to talk watches, painting, and '80s punk music.
We hope you enjoy Episode 96 of HODINKEE Radio. Check out the show notes below, and let us know what you think in the comments.
The Omega Constellation family of watches is one of the oldest in post-World War II Omega production. Although it is superseded in visibility by the Speedmaster and Seamaster watches, the Constellation pre-dates the Speedy and came out only a few years after the first Seamasters, with the first Constellation watches launching in 1952 (there is an excellent synopsis of Constellation history by Maria Doulton, over at Monochrome). Those watches, with their distinctive pie-pan dials, are among the most aristocratic timepieces any company has ever made, and to me, they are one of the great dress-watch (whatever that is) designs of the last 70 years of wristwatch manufacture. The Constellation has since then undergone several metamorphoses. One of the most significant was the incorporation of new timekeeping technology, and the first quartz Constellation models – three of them – debuted at Baselworld in 1970.
The 1982 Constellation "Manhattan" chronometer.
In 1982, Omega designer Carol Didisheim, who started at Omega in 1980, came up with a model whose descendants are still with us today. The Manhattan debuted a number of distinctive design features. The case was built around the ultra-thin quartz caliber 1422, and the watch had an integrated bracelet with rounded interlinks, as well as a dial with Roman numerals which were not applied to the dial itself, but which were actually painted on the underside of the crystal in order to reduce height. Perhaps most notable, however, were the four griffes, or claws, which were located at 3:00 and 9:00. Though the assumption nowadays is often that these are decorative, they were in fact technical – a solution to the problem of how to make the watch thinner by eliminating the bezel.
Original patent drawings for the Constellation Manhattan case, granted to Omega for Carol Didisheim's design.
The claws were actually clamps, secured at the underside with screws that ran through the caseback, and they were there to help compress the gaskets at the caseback and glass in order to improve water resistance. The idea to use the claws to hold the glass in place came to Omega's then product director, Pierre-Andre Aellen, during his morning shave, when he noticed that his unframed bathroom mirror was held on the wall with eight claws (according to an interview with Didisheim by Constellation expert Desmond Guilfoyle). That they were visually distinctive didn't hurt either, and although they are no longer set above the bezel in the newest Constellation models, they are still present as visual elements, set into the ceramic bezel of the 41mm models. The original Manhattan also featured a hinged link, integrated bracelet – in fact, a Constellation model from 1969, ref. BA 368.0847, has a patent associated with it, granted to Omega's Pierre Moinat several years earlier, for what may well be the first true integrated bracelet wristwatch. Though the Manhattan had a quartz movement, it was of high quality – the Omega caliber 1422, which was chronometer-certified, ran in 7 jewels, and featured a rate trimmer for fine adjustment.
Omega has already announced refreshes to the Constellation in 36mm and 39mm models, and the same aesthetic updates applied across those lines are present in the new 41mm models as well. These include a new handset whose profile was, according to Omega, inspired by the Manhattan skyline in general and the 1 World Trade Center Freedom Tower, and indeed, the tapered hands are reminiscent of the elongated triangular facets of the actual building – an homage also to the original Manhattan Constellation model from 1982, whose design has been the foundation of the Constellation models ever since.
The new 41mm models also retain the claws, or at least, the appearance of the claws, which are probably the most love-it-or-hate-it element in the Constellation watches. As we have mentioned, in the original Constellation Manhattan, the claws were a technical feature, and in the current collection, including all the new models, they are decorative rather than practical elements, which serve to visually connect the watches of today with the original from 1982. Whether or not you care for them probably has at least a bit to do with whether or not that link is meaningful to you. I happen to like the connection to that era, which might have a lot to do with where I am situated along life's journey, to be euphemistic; but I still like it nonetheless.
The claws in all three sizes in the new Constellation models all now lie flush with the bezel (they protruded noticeably past the bezel edge in the preceding Double Eagle models), and I think they work best when they are in a contrasting material. This is the case to some degree in all the new 41mm models, and I think they are at their most attractive in the watches which sport ceramic bezels and gold claws (I count a total of four new 41mm models that fit that description). The yellow-gold-cased model with the black ceramic bezel is, I think, extremely handsome – black and gold is a very aristocratic combination, and it gives this particular model an almost Art Deco feel, which is a nice counterpoint to the '80s design language which is present in the collection as well.
The ceramic bezel is fairly technically challenging, as the ceramic material changes physical dimensions when fired, and the claws need to fit seamlessly into their recesses. Once the bezel's fired, depressions for the Roman numerals are laser-cut into it, and then they're filled with Omega's Ceragold. The entire bezel is then brushed, and since the ceramic is harder than the gold, the numerals pick up a brushed matte finish while the ceramic remains untouched.
The movement is Omega's caliber 8900, or the 8901 depending on the model – they are identical technically; the 8901 is the version with a gold rotor, and it's used primarily in precious metal Omega watches. Both run in 39 jewels, with a 60-hour power reserve; they use co-axial escapements and are Master Chronometer certified, with free-sprung, adjustable mass balances, silicon balance springs, and an ability to resist magnetic fields as strong as 15,000 gauss.
The co-axial escapement and Master Chronometer certification are becoming more and more ubiquitous across Omega's entire production, with a few exceptions including some quartz models and, of course, the Moonwatch. These are easily some of the most advanced movements being made today from a technical perspective. It's easy to take what Omega does from a technical watchmaking standpoint a bit for granted, but their Master Chronometer movements are the most advanced mechanisms Omega has ever made by a considerable margin. They offer a long-term precision in timekeeping, as well as a robustness and durability, which is approached by very few of the company's competitors. I don't think that the co-axial escapement (or many of the other technical enhancements in the movements) necessarily sell all that many watches – it is a truism of luxury retail that the more you have to explain, the less likely you are to make a sale – but I think Omega deserves a lot more credit than it generally gets for its consistent commitment to technical excellence.
The new 41mm models start at $5,850 for steel on rubber with a steel bezel. All other models have ceramic bezels, and with a ceramic bezel, the steel model is $6,500; steel and gold models are $8,650, and prices go up to $20,400 for the full-gold models. All the 41mm models are by default strap-only, however, you can get one of the precious metal bracelets launched with the 39mm models on request (and I assume at a considerable premium). I don't know that I'd want one of these watches on a metal bracelet. I've had a chance to spend a bit of time with the gold and black ceramic model and found it so convincing that I can't imagine a gold bracelet doing very much to increase its appeal, but without actually seeing such a combination in the metal, I'm reluctant to make any definitive judgment. As I grow older, I increasingly feel that there is no such thing as too much yellow gold (which I suppose is to say that, as an aging watch enthusiast, I increasingly revert to type), so there is a non-zero probability that I would find such a combination instantly convincing after all.
The Constellation is not the mainstream enthusiast's Omega, but I think the collection offers tremendous bang for the buck at all three price points. You couldn't ask for more from a technical watchmaking standpoint, certainly, and fit and finish is also as good as you could hope. Omega's use of ceramics has matured to the point that there is a seamless continuum in their watches between the appeal of ceramic for its technical properties and its aesthetics, and the Constellation watches give a very pleasant impression of careful attention to detail (the radial brushing on the dials, for instance, is actually centered around the star at 6:00, which I missed at first).
I suppose that part of the question with the Constellation is the extent to which you feel Carol Ditisheim's original concept has aged well. As a child of the '80s (more or less), for me, the design has a lot of nostalgic appeal, but you didn't have to teeter on the brink of adulthood during that period in order to find a certain amount of period charm in the designs. If you want a pre-1980s take on the Constellation, there is of course the Globemaster, with a more traditional case, the same technical excellence, and the classic pie-pan dial from the era of the Constellation collection's birth. Either way, you get interesting designs, superb movements with proven chronometric performance, and a chance to own something that represents real interest in terms of the evolution of watchmaking at Omega in the 20th – and 21st – centuries.
The Omega Constellation 41mm Collection: Cases, 41mm x 13.5mm, in steel, steel and gold, or yellow gold; water resistance, 5 bar/50 meters. Movements, Omega calibers 8900/01 (the latter with gold rotors) with Master Chronometer certification; antimagnetic to at least 15,000 gauss; freesprung adjustable mass balance with silicon balance spring; 60-hour power reserve, 25,500 vph running in 39 jewels; twin mainspring barrels. Prices, $5,850 (steel on rubber, steel bezel) $6,500 (steel with ceramic bezel) $6,850 (gold and steel) and $20,400 in gold, with ceramic bezel. Find out more about the Constellation Collection at Omegawatches.com.
One of the more interesting features of This Year In Watches is that, despite the more or less complete disruption of normal communications practices and product release schedules, there have still been quite a few new complications released. In some cases, these are design updates to existing mechanisms; in some instances, technical updates. Completely new technical innovations are a relative rarity, but this is largely due to the fact that the basic vocabulary of complications is well-established, from the simple and annual calendars all the way up to things like rattrapante chronographs and minute repeaters. Our editors have taken a close look at the many complicated timepieces which have debuted this year and chosen their personal favorites. Read on to find out who chose what and why.
Jon Bues: The IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42
Ever since the legendary Kurt Klaus devised a perpetual calendar that could be set via the crown and built upon a Valjoux 7750 base, IWC watchmaking has been associated with this high-complication. The company has offered perpetual calendars across a number of its product families, from the Da Vinci, to the Pilot’s Watch, to the Ingenieur, and even the Aquatimer. But my favorite IWC perpetual has long been the one in its stately Portugieser case. Thing is, at more than 44mm in diameter, it definitely stretched the limits of what I typically went for given my 7-inch wrist. Of course, the Portugieser is meant to be a big watch and was originally conceived to be powered by a large pocket watch movement, but I just didn’t think I could pull this particular version off.
That’s why I was excited to see a new entry into the Portugieser Perpetual Calendar lineup. The Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 brings a more wearable form factor to the table, while still being formidable enough to carry on the legacy of the original Portugieser. Launching this watch required the creation of a smaller IWC automatic perpetual calendar movement, the cal. 82650. This hasn’t resulted in the retirement of the larger Portugieser Perpetual, either. There are now two sizes from which to choose.
$22,900 in stainless steel; $32,900 in 5N red gold; IWC.com.
Jack Forster: The Omega DeVille Central Tourbillon Master Chronometer
I actually found it extremely difficult to make a choice in this category simply because, against all odds, there has been, I think, quite a lot of interesting complicated watchmaking this year. Some of it comes with a very stiff price – Vacheron has produced two really amazing Les Cabinotiers pieces (the Ode To Music and the La Musique Du Temps Tempo, both striking watches) to pick just two from the higher end. At a much less costly price point, and probably more practical for everyday wear, Jaeger-LeCoultre gave us a wonderful new Memovox – the Master Control Timer. Recently, we heard from Parmigiani Fleurier, who have produced a new annual calendar chronograph, the Tondagraphe GT – a pretty unusual complication in a beautifully designed watch, which they are offering at a rather enticing price to boot.
For me personally though, one of the most exciting, and even moving, new complications was from Omega. Omega is not the first brand on anyone's mind when the subject of tourbillons comes up, but they are very much a part of the company's history (Omega made some of the very first wristwatch tourbillons, after the Second World War). I have a long personal fascination with the central tourbillon going all the way back to when it was first launched, in 1994 – I hasten to add, not as an owner, but the central tourbillon is a rare thing, and there is something about the combination of elegance, technical prowess, and cavalier disregard for practicality which the central tourbillon exhibits that I find irresistible.
This is not to say, however, that the De Ville Central Tourbillon, in the Master Chronometer version, is a slouch in the performance department. Rate stability according to Omega Vice President Jean-Claude Monachon is excellent, which I always hope for from the tourbillon (if only to keep Breguet from spinning in his grave) but do not particularly expect at this point in horological history. Of course, the watch is also, per METAS and Master Chronometer certification, essentially immune to magnetism (METAS certification guarantees resistance to fields of at least 15,000 gauss which I think represents the upper performance limit of testing equipment, rather than an absolute limit). This is an extraordinary feat in any case, but doubly so for a tourbillon wristwatch, which needs to have not only regulating organs that are amagnetic, but a tourbillon carriage as well.
The De Ville Central Tourbillon has been an aspirational watch for me for many years, and in the newest version, it's a watch I aspire to even more strongly. Probably given the price, I am just going to have to right on aspiring, but hey, per ardua ad astra.
Danny Milton: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Geographic
Not to play out the old adage that Jaeger-LeCoultre has long been considered the watchmaker's watch, but looking at offerings such as this year's Master Control Geographic, I see new meaning being brought to this idea. Of course, this reputation was born out of the reality that JLC was, at one point, providing movements to some of the very top watch brands in the known universe. However, you can also make the argument that the brand now produces watches which endear themselves to watchmaking itself – the kind of watch a watchmaker would wear and appreciate. Turning to the topic at hand, does a new-generation movement resulting in a longer power reserve constitute a new movement? Well, I am going to say that it most certainly does, and much of my reasoning behind taking this position is that it gives me a valid excuse to talk about the new Master Control Geographic.
What I like about this particular complication – powered by the new generation Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 939 – is that it provides just enough intricacy while maintaining relative ease-of-use. This is not a world timer, but the movement features a city disc beneath the 6 o'clock marker which is operated via a secondary crown (crown turning operation = easy). There is also the dual-time functionality which is neatly exhibited on a sub-dial just above 6 o'clock which illustrates the second timezone in a conventional hours and minutes configuration, as if it were a mini clock all it's own. There is a 24-hour day/night indicator, a power reserve meter to reflect the newly enhanced 70-hour power reserve, and a classically exemplified pointer date sub-dial. So much of the watch's design screams 1960's Jetset, and that is made possible by the design and orientation of the complication itself. This is high watchmaking, but simplified – a fine movement inside of a sports watch frame. If you couldn't tell, I am pretty taken by this one and would love to experience it in the metal sometime soon.
Cole Pennington: The A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Minute Repeater With Blue Dial
This isn't a "Favorite New Complication That You Can Actually Buy" round-up, and it doesn't hold me to the constraints of reality, so why should I play by those rules? Besides, the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater is almost too bold and too complicated to be a real watch in these modern horological times, anyway. But it is, and it's an absolutely fascinating exercise in horological innovation. New this year with a blue dial, the watch features a digital time display that rallies against traditional hands in favor of something that's perhaps closer in appearance to the displays we're now used to on the screens of digital devices.
The Zeitwerk feels like it comes from a parallel universe where timelines have gotten mixed up and ancient Teutonic traditional aesthetic mingles with techno-wizardry that we're still a few decades away from – a world that's deeply entrenched in the ways of digital, but some vestiges of a bygone analog past crop up in unexpected places, like this watch. It's no wonder more enthusiasts don't talk about the Zeitwerk when they talk about Lange, it's just simply too far ahead of its time in many ways. To get a better idea of what the watch is all about, take a look at Ben's experience with the original Zeitwerk Minute Repeater here, and here for a lookat the first time a Zeitwerk with a minute repeater (a decimal minute repeater, no less) complication came onto the scene.
Stephen Pulvirent: The F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance
It's funny: In thinking about this question, I realized that all my favorite complications of 2020 are iterations on watches that previously existed. There's the Krayon Universal Sunrise-Sunset, the new A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Timezone, and the Grand Seiko SBGJ237 – all new, refined takes on watches that we've seen before. However, there's one that clearly takes the cake for me: the 20th-anniversary re-imagining of the F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance. The Résonance has been a longtime favorite of mine, combining technical prowess with an incredible symmetrical design that is unlike anything else out there. It's a real thinking person's watch through and through.
This year's new model, as Jack detailed in his incredible story introducing the watch in April, keeps the basic resonance principles and pushes them even further. The movement has been reworked to include both a remontoire and a differential, taking the concept of precision timekeeping close to its logical conclusion. I love the purity of this pursuit and how F.P. Journe goes about solving problems in ways that are simultaneously smart and beautiful. Even little changes, like moving the second crown from between the top lugs to the side of the case, make the watch easier to wind and wear, improving the user experience in a significant way.
I'm far from the only collector obsessed with the Résonance, and I fully expect this new version to become just as legendary as earlier versions. Speaking of which, the recent, record-setting result at Phillips makes this feel extra timely and makes the slightly steep price tag on this Résonance look like a deal.
James Stacey: The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT
Well, I'll tell you what, Cole and I are certainly feeling fancy today. And since the good Mr. Pennington showed little restraint as he shot deep into the six-figure price point with his charming pick, please allow me to get a bit conceptual. Looking a bit like a stealth fighter for your wrist, my favorite complicated watch of 2020 is the new and more low-key expression of AP's Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT. In what is essentially a more muted grey-on-grey variant of a similar model from 2018, this is a limited edition (only 30 pieces) made for Arije, one of Audemars Piguet's retailers in Paris, France.
This modern 44mm chunky boy has an angular and exciting titanium case, a grey rubber strap, and a wild hand-wound movement that offers a flying tourbillon and a GMT function (still gotta be me). While certainly a bold choice, it's also an exciting and undeniably modern watch with a price tag to match its ample complication and specifically limited production.
Another day, another new blue dial version of a great watch, but here, the stakes are considerably higher. The color comes from Patek Philippe by way of a rich blue Grand Feu enamel dial for their seriously impressive 5370 Split-Seconds Chronograph. Fitted to one of the finest and most limited watches in Patek's line up, an additional reference for the 5370 is a huge release and a strong reminder of Patek's competency when it comes to heavy-hitter complicated watches – you know – like classic hand-wound split-seconds chronographs.
For those of you who might not remember, the 5370P was launched at Baselworld in 2015 with a black enamel dial and an incredibly technical and beautifully finished movement (seriously, keep reading). Like the original model, the new blue 5370P has a 41mm platinum case that is 13.56mm thick, water-resistant to 30 meters, and comes with both a sapphire display caseback and an interchangeable solid caseback. If you want the full scoop on the original model, be sure to check out Ben's Hands-On post from 2015. Spoiler alert: He loved the original version and wrote the following in summation, "The 5370P is absolutely one of the finest watches Patek Philippe has released in years. It is the watch we, as vintage Patek lovers, have been waiting for, and it has done a great deal for inspiring renewed vigor amongst modern Patek collectors. This will go down as a classic."
Opt for the display caseback (obviously), and you're treated to a very special view – Patek's own CHR 29-525 PS caliber. Manually wound with small seconds and an instantaneous 30-minute counter, the CHR 29-525 PS has 312 parts supporting a 65-hour power reserve, a rate of 4 Hz, and a split-seconds chronograph with a column wheel and a horizontal clutch. As noted by Ben in his previously-mentioned write up, the CHR 29-525 PS also features some specialized rattrapante innovations including a system to isolate the split-seconds wheel from undue friction when halting the split-seconds measure and a jewel between its flat heart cam shoulders that ensures the split hands are properly aligned.
Easily as pretty as the dial (in blue or black), this movement is beautifully finished and, while I've not had the pleasure of operating a Patek Philippe split-seconds chronograph, I have to imagine it feels pretty special. Speaking to the functionality, the top pusher starts and stops the chronograph, the lower pusher starts and stops the split-seconds function, and the pusher set in the turbine-style crown resets the chronograph.
With sloping cabochon capped lugs and a band of horizontal satin finishing that defines both flanks, the 5370P is intricately finished and offers a collector-friendly and classically-minded expression of Patek Philippe's watchmaking prowess. While there is certainly a cohort that knows Patek Philippe best for watches like the ever-popular Nautilus, the 5370P takes rare to a new level. Back in 2015, we reported that the U.S. market expected to get no more than three examples in the first year. While a new dial will certainly add to those numbers, we're still talking about a truly rare and top-spec creation.
Looping back around to the blue dial, we see a lovely rich and glossy blue that has been hand-rendered by Patek Philippe in Grand Feu enamel (hence the "Email" on the dial, which is French for enamel). For effect, the Breguet numerals and hands are all white gold and, while it's hard to say which version of the 5370P is more beautiful, I think it is safe to say that the blue certainly offers an entirely different presence that rather suits the traditional styling of the model.
Fitted to a matching blue alligator strap (with a platinum fold-over clasp), the 5370P-011 will set you back some $263,093. That figure can be loosely compared to the 2015 pricing of $249,200, but these are so rare and such technical creations that Patek Philippe can price as they please, and it's safe to assume that the number is not going to be met with a lot of sensitivity by those who would find themselves in the market for such a watch.
As one of three new and noteworthy 2020 releases from Patek Philippe, the new blue 5370P looks like an absolute stunner and is a fitting sibling for a watch that manages to capture the clout of the brand's modern-day manufacture and the appeal of their 1940s chronographs.
The Patek Philippe Reference Ref. 5370P-011: case, platinum, 41mm x 13.56mm, sapphire front and back, and 30 meters water resistance. The dial is glossy blue Grand Feu enamel with white-gold Breguet markers and hands. Movement, CHR 29-525 PS caliber hand-wound, split-seconds chronograph, 4Hz, maximum running time 65 hours. Priced at $263,093; see more at Patek.com.
On September 4, 1839, a small watch shop on the Quai des Bergues in Geneva, which sits just across the Rhône from the Old City, and which had been open for just a few months, sold a pocket watch. The watch was a complicated one – a chiming complication, of the type known as a quarter repeater, and while the movement had been made in the Vallée de Joux (as was the case for most complicated Swiss watches at the time), it had been assembled, finished, timed, and cased in Geneva. The records of the shop, run by one Antoine Norbert de Patek, and his partner, François Czapek, say that the watch was only the 19th they had ever sold, and that the owner, who paid 450 Swiss francs for the watch, hailed from Bern.
You probably know the rest of the story – the company would become Patek Philippe in 1851, and it has been famous for its repeating timepieces ever since. Today, Patek Philippe has announced a new repeating watch – or rather, a new version of a repeating watch, I should say – which is the reference 5303R-001 Minute Repeater Tourbillon. The first version of this watch is the Minute Repeater Tourbillon Singapore 2019 Ref. 5303R-010 – that watch was launched in 2019 at the Patek Philippe Watch Art Grand Exhibition in Singapore last fall. It was a special edition of 12 pieces, intended for Singapore and Southeast Asia, and it had a bright red minute track with stars at the five-minute marks – an homage to the flag of Singapore. The new version is not a limited edition, although I expect production numbers to be extremely low (as is the case for all Patek chiming complications), and the new version sports a more somber black minute circle, but is otherwise identical, including the 42mm rose-gold case.
Usually, in a repeater, there are two gongs. To start the chimes, you draw back and release a slide set into the case band, and the watch will chime the hours on the lower-tuned going, then the number of quarter hours past the hour on both the higher and lower going (one "ding-dong" for each quarter), and then the minutes past the quarter on the higher going. It may seem odd that repeaters chime the quarters, rather than something more intuitive, such as the number of ten-minute intervals past the hour, but the minute repeater gradually evolved from the quarter repeater and so has retained the quarter repeater as its functional foundation. (There are, in fact, so-called decimal repeaters, which chime the hours, ten-minute intervals, and then minutes, but these are rare; the first to make one as far as I am aware was Kari Voutilainen and today, the Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Decimal Minute Repeater is another example).
Generally speaking, minute repeaters are split mechanically into two levels; the first of these is under the dial, and the second, on the back of the movement (what watchmakers call the top plate, as that's where, in general, most of the actual mechanism is located). The under-dial work, or cadrature, consists of the lion's share of the repeating works. The motion works which drive the hands also, in a repeater, drive a system of stepped cams, which rotate along with the hands, though unseen. Drawing back the slide winds a separate spiral spring that powers the chiming system, and also allows a system of levers to fall onto the cams, and it is in this way that the repeater train senses the time. As the levers are lifted off the cams, racks to which they are attached pass the trips for the hammers which actually strike the gongs – hammer and gongs are on the opposite side of the movement, on the top plate side. The speed at which the gongs chime is controlled by a regulator; this can be either an anchor (which emits a buzz that is pleasantly old-school if antiquarian horology floats your boat, and a distraction if it doesn't) or by a centrifugal regulator, which operates on the same principle as a flywheel and is the more modern solution (these are generally silent, or nearly so). The hammers, gongs, and regulator are the only parts of the striking mechanism on the top plate side of the movement and in repeaters with display backs are the only visible components.
In 2013, Patek Philippe held a special exhibition of every one of its then-current collection of repeaters in New York; HODINKEE recorded every watch doing its thing, under the watchful eye of Patek's Laurent Junod.
Repeaters are highly complex even in their simplest form – in addition to the chiming train itself, there are safety mechanisms which must be built in to prevent incorrect chiming. These include the surprise piece, which prevents the levers from falling on the wrong step, as well as the all-or-nothing piece, which keeps the repeater from chiming unless the slide is drawn all the way back. These various elements all require exceedingly careful coordination to work properly. On top of that, the gongs, which are usually hardened steel, have to be fixed to their feet correctly and tuned properly; the depth of the hammer strike must be neither too deep nor too shallow; the tempo must be neither too rapid nor too slow; and on and on (the art of making cases for chiming watches is a whole discipline unto itself, as well). The acid test for a repeater is to set it to 11:59 and then activate the chimes – you should, of course, hear 11 hour strikes, three quarter strikes, and 14 minute strikes.
If you think about all that, you will understand why, of all the complications high and low, the repeater has resisted industrialization. We have industrial versions of split-seconds chronographs and of perpetual calendars, but the repeater remains one of the last bastions of high-craft watchmaking in which doing it the old-fashioned way is (with some caveats) still the only way of doing it.
Caliber R TO 27 PS. From left to right, the tourbillon carriage, the large wheel which drives it and which is geared to the pinion of the carriage, and the regulator for the repeating mechanism.
Now if you look at the movement, and you are reasonably familiar with Patek's chiming complications, you will see an old friend – the caliber R TO 27 PS, which is a tourbillon minute repeater that can be found in some of Patek's most famous chiming complications, including the wonderful but rarely seen (and out of production) reference 3939, one of which, in a unique steel case, sold for $1,909,740 at Only Watch in 2011. The movement is as elevated a piece of Genevan watchmaking as anyone has ever produced, including Patek Philippe – the level of finishing, extremely tasteful and dignified movement architecture, and even drama, all combine to make the caliber one of the most important hand-wound complicated movements ever made for a wristwatch, with a beauty that goes beyond mere complexity and rises to nearly the level of art (if you ask me, anyway).
Original version, R TO 27 PS, as seen in the ref. 3939 tourbillon minute repeater.
In terms of technical layout, this is a classic repeater – the regulator is under the Calatrava Cross on the left; the hammers are visible just to the right, and then there is the signature great wheel driving the tourbillon cage, and last the tourbillon itself; you can easily see the balance, with its Gyromax timing weights. As is customary in all high-grade repeaters, the chiming mechanism is "jeweled to the hammers" and the appearance overall makes an enormous impression, both at first glance and on repeated viewings. Another notable feature is the bat-wing upper bridge for the tourbillon – this is something of a signature for Patek Philippe, and can be found, among other places, on the observatory tourbillon worn by Patek's honorary president, Philippe Stern.
1945 observatory competition tourbillon; movement no. 861,115, by Bornand. Cased and worn as a personal wristwatch by Philippe Stern, now honorary president of Patek Philippe.
The version of caliber R TO 27 PS in the 5303R has, as you can easily see, been significantly reconfigured. In particular, the hammers have been relocated to the dial side of the movement, which now sits under an open dial and allows the wearer, when the strike is activated, to observe the entire sequence of events involved in generating the chimes, without having to take off the watch. The gongs, of course, are on the dial side as well. The tourbillon remains in its customary place on the top-plate side of the watch, along with its conspicuous driving wheel and the centrifugal regulator, but the movement has been opened up to allow a view of the rotating underside of the cage and a seconds hand attached to the pivot of the cage (which rotates once per minute).
To say that quality is high is to say nothing at all. In terms of classic fine watchmaking, the movement is, in its most essential elements, almost reactionary; not only is there simply nothing to criticize, but there is also a feeling of leisurely disregard for any sort of practical constraints on time and cost of production. This is as it ought to be, of course, but it happens less often in luxury watchmaking than it should, and the visible excellence of every component shows that, at least at Patek Philippe as at a few other places, at the highest price point, there is still a lavishing of skill which has become increasingly rare in recent decades, at any price point.
Elsewhere in the market, tourbillon minute repeaters are as rare as you might expect. Vacheron Constantin has its Traditionelle Minute Repeater Tourbillon, and you can, if you wish, of course, have chiming complications – repeaters alone, or in combination with other complications – from Audemars Piguet as well, although I do not believe that at the moment the firm makes a watch with just a repeater and tourbillon (certainly they used to, in the Jules Audemars collection). And if you want a somewhat perverse take on the complication, there is Moser's Swiss Alp Watch Concept Black, which actually has no hands at all and which makes the repeater not an accessory, but an essential if you want to tell the time (at least, the watch is a throwback to the earliest clocks which, it is often asserted, did not have hands at all but merely told the time by striking the hours).
One final but significant question remains, which has to do with the philosophy of design which this watch represents. Here, I have to confess that, when it comes to Patek tourbillon repeaters, I am firmly in the less-is-more camp. I used the word, "reactionary" before, and I personally struggle with this more extroverted incarnation of the caliber R 27 TO PS, which I have always felt reached its apotheosis in the 3939, a watch which I have long felt is, if not the definitive representation of watchmaking at the high end, certainly an example of classic, discrete, high-value-low-ostentation watchmaking. I cannot, however, find fault with the Ref. 5303R-001 in any context outside of my own retro-grouch inclinations (for that matter, I'm not entirely convinced I can find fault with it in that context either), and there is certainly precedent and then some for a more extroverted approach to movement layout and watch design overall at Patek. After all, it is not as if the Sky-Moon Tourbillon (for instance) is a shrinking violet, and if you do want a discreet chiming watch from Patek, they are still very much in evidence in the 5178 references.
The Ref. 5303R-001 is both very modern and wonderfully archaic – a repository of watchmaking techniques from a company which is an unlikely success in an industry which is an unlikely success. There could hardly be anything more unlikely than the survival and flourishing of the strange intersection of demanding hand-craftsmanship and highly complex mechanics that Swiss fine watchmaking represents, and yet here we are. It's amazing to think that this watch is made by a company which, in recent years, is talked about mostly in the context of a certain stainless steel sports watch. The 5303R-001 is Patek's other and much older side, and the movement has always represented one of the great intellectual and aesthetic pleasures in watchmaking. In this latest use of the caliber R TO 27 PS, the conceptual pleasure of the movement is now a much more visible one as well.
The Patek Philippe Reference Ref. 5303R-001: case, red gold, 42mm x 12.13mm, sapphire front and back, "protected against moisture and dust, but not water resistant." Dial, hour circle in black-lacquered sapphire crystal with white printed minute scale and powdered rose-gold markers; leaf-shaped hour and minute hands in 18K white gold, pierced and lacquered in black; subsidiary seconds with leaf-shaped hand in 18K rose gold. Movement, caliber R TO 27 PS, hand-wound, minute repeater with tourbillon regulator; 31.6mm x 8.35mm; maximum running time 48 hours, running at 21,600 vph in 29 jewels. Breguet overcoil balance spring with Gyromax balance. Price and availability on request; see more at Patek.com.
