7 Retro-Styled New Watches from Baselworld 2016


Vintage-look watches continued to be a hot category at the 2016 Baselworld watch fair. Here we’ve compiled seven notable timepieces, all launched this year and all inspired by historical models.

The Alpina Seastrong Diver Heritage is a modern interpretation of the brand’s first divers’ watch, introduced in 1969. Like the original, the new watch features “Super Compax” water-resistance technology and a double screw-locked crown system: the crown at 4 o’clock is for winding and time-setting while the one at 2 o’clock rotates the inner bezel ring to measure dive times on a 60-minute scale. A domed, nonreflective sapphire crystal replaces the hesalite crystal of the vintage model. The watch has a 300-meter water-resistant, 42-mm steel case and is powered by the mechanical automatic Caliber AL-525, with 26 jewels and a 38-hour power reserve. The price is $1,695.

Longines RailRoad Watch

Introduced in 1975, the Girard-Perregaux Laureato claims a place as one of its decade’s iconic luxury sports watches, alongside other such ’70s introductions as the Patek Philippe Nautilus and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. For the latest version of the Laureato, which is limited to 225 pieces in homage to the brand’s 225th anniversary in 2016, the Swiss brand returns to the elegantly simple look that first made it a hit. The watch has the stainless-steel case with octagonal bezel that identified the original timepiece (smaller than more recent versions, at 41 mm), along with the seamlessly integrated flexible bracelet and Clou de Paris checkerboard pattern dial, with baton-shaped hour and minute hands. The movement is Girard-Perregaux’s manufacture Caliber GP03300-0030, with automatic winding. The price is $14,300. More details on the Laureato can be found here.

Girard-Perregaux Laureato - blue dial

The Longines Railroad Watch is inspired by a 1960s model developed for railwaymen, replicating the important elements of high precision and legibility. Like the original, the dial is marked with the letters “RR,” followed by the caliber number – “280” on the original and “888” on the reissued model, referencing the automatic Caliber L888.2, which is exclusive to Longines. Like the original, the caseback is engraved with a steam engine, a depiction that adorned pocketwatches designed for railway companies in the 1920s. The 40-mm case is stainless steel and it features a box-style crystal. The dial is highly readable, with large, black Arabic numerals against a white background, including a prominent 24-hour scale on the inner track. It is priced at $1,850.

Longines RailRoad Watch

The Omega Speedmaster “CK2998” is a re-production of one of the most collectible Omega Speedmaster references on the market, originally released in 1959, and features Alpha hands, a symmetrical case, and a dark blue bezel with a tachymeter scale. The bezel is made of ceramic and the tachymeter scale (a reminder that the Speedmaster was originally aimed at the auto racing set before its association with space travel) is treated with Super-LumiNova for extra legibility in low light. Omega Caliber 1861 — the manual-wind chronograph movement used in the very first Omega Speedmaster “Moonwatch” — beats behind a solid, screw-down caseback engraved with the collection’s classic Seahorse emblem and the limited edition number. The price is $6,500. Click here for more info.

Omega Speedmaster CK2998 - reclining

The new Rolex Oyster Perpetual Air-King, at 40 mm in diameter, replaces the 34-mm model that Rolex discontinued in 2014. The watch, whose heritage stretches back to Rolex’s early aviation watches of the 1930s, isn’t just bigger, it’s brighter: the dial is decorated with a vibrantly yellow Rolex crown logo and the Rolex name is printed in the brand’s signature green. The hour hand has been spruced up by the addition of a “Mercedes” tip; the green seconds hand now bears a luminous dot for better visibility. The movement is Caliber 3131, which differs from the old Air-King’s movement, the 3130, in that its escape wheel is made of nickel-phosphorus, which helps make the movement less susceptible to magnetism. (It’s the same movement used in the Milgauss, specially designed to be unaffected by magnetic fields.) The case also has an inner lining to protect the movement from magnetism; it is the first Air-King with this feature. Generally regarded as the “entry level” Rolex model, it is priced at a relatively modest $6,200.

Rolex_Oyster_Perpetual_Air-King_1000

A re-edition of a chronograph watch made to celebrate Formula One legend Niki Lauda’s 1976 victory, the new TAG Heuer Monza sports the vintage, pre-TAG, “Heuer” logo on its dial like other models in the brand’s historic collections, and maintains the original’s cushion-shaped case as well as its all-black look and black and white lacquered hour and minute hands. The indices are coated with a “vintage” Super-Luminova that glows orange in the dark. The case measures 42 mm in diameter — up from the 39 mm of the 1976 original — and is made from grade 5 titanium, making it lighter and more shock-resistant than its historical predecessor, which was in steel. Inside the watch is automatic Caliber 17, with an integrated chronograph. For more on the re-issued TAG Heuer Monza (price: $5,200), click here.

TAG Heuer Monza - angle

A new addition to the popular Tudor Black Bay collection, based largely upon the Tudor Submariner models of the 1950s, particularly the 1954 “Big Crown” and “Snowflake” Submariners, the Tudor Heritage Black Bay 36 is distinguished by its smaller (and more historically appropriate) 36-mm case size. The satin-finished steel case has a polished bezel and the familiar large Black Bay crown. It contains the Tudor Caliber 2824, the same modified ETA 2824 used in the 41-mm Black Bays. On the black dial resides the applied white triangle, rectangular, and circular hour markers familiar from past Tudor divers, as well as the much-loved snowflake hour hand, diamond-lollipop seconds hand, and sword minute hand. To find out how the new watch (priced from $2,825 on a leather strap) stacks up against its historical predecessor, read our “Vintage Eye for the Modern Guy” feature comparing the two.

Tudor Heritage Black Bay 36
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  1. No Tag should ever cost that much. Way out of the range of the average mall shooper budget

    Reply
  2. Jeroen de jong

    I’m so glad Girard Perregaux is back to where it belongs, on top of their game.

    Reply
  3. Andrew Hughes

    The Omega is a standout for me. I wish I had 2016 money but 1959 prices…

    Reply
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