All Entries in the "Watch to Watch" Category

Bell & Ross Vintage

Bell & Ross is launching a new collection with two lines: Vintage Original and Vintage Heritage. The collection is an homage to 1940s aviator watches. Legibility is excellent, and the watches have the trademark Bell & Ross look. The collection includes a time and date model (BR 123) and a chronograph (BR 126). Both watches have 41mm round stainless-steel cases.

The BR 123 time and date model puts the small seconds and date at 6. The BR 126 chronograph has central seconds, a 60 second counter at 3 and a 30 minute totalizer at 9. The round date opening is at 4:30. Both watches have domed anti-reflective crystals, 100 meter water resistance, and luminescent hands, numbers and indexes. BR 123 is powered by an ETA 2895, while the chronograph uses an ETA 2894.

The Original and Heritage lines are differentiated by aesthetic treatments. The Original line is available with black or beige dials and uses natural stainless steel color cases and white hands, while the Heritage line has black dials and matte-black PVD cases with beige hands and numbers. The Heritage line’s straps are imprinted with the Bell & Ross “ampersand in a circle” logo.

The pricing for these new models is:

BR 123 Black/Beige: $2,500
BR 123 Heritage: $2,900
BR 126 Chronograph Black/Beige: $3,800
BR 126 Chronograph Heritage: $4,200

Vintage Original BR 123 with black dial. In this image, the strap shows age. The strap that accompanies the watch looks new.

Vintage Original chronograph, also shown on an aged strap.

Vintage Heritage models

Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer

Glashütte Original’s Senator Chronometer generated strong buzz among collectors and enthusiasts at this year’s Baselworld, and as of December, 2009, the watch is available at retailers. This is GO’s first timepiece to confirm its timekeeping accuracy with an official chronometer certificate from the observatory in Glashütte, issued under German standard DIN 8319. The DIN standard provides for testing fully assembled watches, while the Swiss COSC test involves uncased movements. Like COSC, the German tests involve timing in different positions and at different temperatures, and the basic timing standard is -4 to +6 seconds.

The Senator Chronometer’s redesigned manual winding manufacture Caliber 58-01 movement incorporates a new stop-seconds reset mechanism, illustrated below. The mechanism makes synchronizing the hour and minute hands automatic. Pulling the crown stops the time display and causes the second hand to jump to 12, where it remains; the minute hand moves simultaneously to the next full minute. When the crown is turned to set the time, the minute hand stops only on the indication of the full minute, assuring the correct relationship between the minutes and seconds displayed.

The 42mm Senator Chronometer is available in rose gold ($26,900) or white gold ($28,000) with a silver dial and a black alligator strap with folding clasp.

H. Moser & Cie Mayu

We’re in an age of sobriety following a multi-year horological binge during which watches generally became much larger, much wilder, and much more expensive. The H. Moser & Cie Mayu is the perfect watch for these times. This watch is about simplicity, elegance, innovation, craftsmanship, and perhaps most of all, intrinsic value. The design approaches perfection. The dimensions – petite by today’s standards – hark back to a day not long ago when a gentleman’s dress watch measured less than 40mm (the Mayu measures 38.8mm). The manual winding in-house movement is regulated by a Straumann double hairspring escapement. The twin springs – produced in-house – “breathe” in opposite directions, offsetting center-of-gravity errors. An 80-hour power reserve is more than adequate, and the owner can view the state of wind via a unique power reserve indicator visible through the display back. This is a true in-house movement in every sense – something few brands can claim.

For fine horology fans, the Moser Mayu is a complete package, and best of all, a white gold model is available at just $12,000. The stylish palladium version shown below is a mere $16,800, and in platinum you will pay only $17,700. If I had said this watch retails for $30,000, I suspect very few eyebrows would have been raised. That it can be had for less than half that price makes it one of the best values in fine watchmaking today.

Breguet Classique 5967

Though it did not appear in Breguet’s press materials, the Classique 5967 was shown as a new model for 2009, and based on my conversations in Basel, this watch was very well received. During our meeting with Breguet, we learned that their in-house guilloché shop has been expanded, and this watch wears the first pattern developed in-house. Called Art Deco Damier, the name refers to a chess board, and it creates a rich, three-dimensional feel.

This thin watch measures 41mm in diameter – a nice size for a simple dress watch. Look through the display back and you will see a lovely, case-filling Frédéric Piguet cal. 506.2 pocket watch movement. The Classique 5967 is available in yellow gold priced at $16,400, and in white gold priced at $17,300. Look for the 5967 at retailers this fall.

TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500

At Baselworld 2009 TAG Heuer unveiled the Aquaracer 500. The numeric designation reflects guaranteed water resistance to 500 meters. The 43mm watch features an automatic helium release valve and a sapphire crystal and case back in a case that took 4 years to develop. A cyclops lens magnifies the date at 3, and luminescent markers on the numbers and hands improve legibility in low or no light. Steel models feature a steel and rubber bezel. Buckles feature a push-button clasp and diver’s extension. Bracelets offer half-links providing a wider range of adjustment. An ETA automatic caliber 2836-2 ticks below the dial.

Available with black dial on rubber strap, silver dial with steel bracelet or rubber strap, or blue dial with steel bracelet at $2450. For a step up, chose the steel model with a solid 18 karat 5N rose gold bezel, with 18 grams of gold, at $3650. A quartz version is also available, priced at $1950. All models are available now.

Lange 1815

For 2009 Lange’s classic 1815 is enlarged to 40mm and fitted with a new manual winding movement that fills the case. Though updated for modern tastes, the 1815 remains a classic three-hand watch. The 1815’s name reflects the birth year of company founder Ferdinand Adolph Lange. The solid silver dial features Lange’s traditional railway-track minute scale, Arabic numerals, and small seconds at 6 o’clock, reminiscent of Lange pocket watches of days gone by.

The new caliber L051.1 measures 30.6 x 4.6 mm in and consists of 188 parts, many of which are hand-decorated. The movement’s features include a three-quarter plate made of untreated German silver, a hand-engraved balance cock (of which no two are exactly the same), a whiplash precision index adjuster, 5 screwed gold chatons, and thermally blued screws. The movement runs in 21 jewels at 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour with a 55 hour power reserve.

The new 1815 is available in yellow, white and pink gold, and in a limited edition of 500 pieces in platinum.