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G-Shock Expands Rainbow Options with Blue Phoenix

G-Shock vies for immortality as it debuts a watch within its luxury MT-G collection made with colors said to recall the Blue Phoenix, a bird sometimes called the Chinese phoenix and said to be a symbol of good luck, or more specifically immortality and rebirth.  

The new G-Shock MTGB2000PH2.

The new G-Shock MTGB2000PH2 is a limited-edition steel and carbon watch with an eye-catching, rainbow-colored bezel and case. Its yellow to red IP-finished case flash atop a largely blue hue. These colors echo on the dial as well, along with purple, pink, orange and yellow accents.

G-Shock created the watch with two types of colorful IP finishing, with horizontal gradation on the bezel and vertical gradation on the case. The resulting color variation creates a set of unique patterns that vary from watch to watch, which means no two G-Shock MTGB2000PH2 models are the same.

G-Shock’s IP-finished color variation creates a set of unique patterns that vary from watch to watch.

The new watch continues G-Shock’s exploration of colorful IP-finished cases and bracelets. This latest example comes two years after G-Shock debuted the much-discussed rainbow-finished MTGB1000RB-2A, and more recently following the debut of several colorful Full Metal Series models. Only a few weeks ago, G-Shock upped the ante with the gold and rainbow-colored GMWB5000TR-9, the first titanium G-Shock with an all-mirror IP finish.

As an MT-G collection model, the watch offers a Bluetooth communication function that can automatically connect with the G-Shock Connected app. In addition, the full range of G-Shock technical and anti-shock structural features are also here, including a sapphire crystal, Carbon Core Guard structure and Tough Solar Power. Basic features include high-brightness LED illumination, dual time and chronograph.

The G-Shock MTG-B2000PH ($1,100) will be available beginning in June at G-Shock retailers, the G-Shock Soho Store, and gshock.com.

 

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The Watches

TAG Heuer Launches Titanium Monaco

Just ahead of TAG Heuer-ambassador Max Verstappen’s win at the 78th Monaco Grand Prix this past weekend, TAG Heuer launched a new titanium-cased version of the brand’s famed square-bezel chronograph.

The new TAG Heuer Monaco Titan Limited Edition frames the familiar Monaco dial in an eye-catching, sandblasted 39mm titanium case.

The new TAG Heuer Monaco Titan Limited Edition.

The metal, which TAG Heuer rarely uses for Monaco, means the watch is lighter than its steel cousins while its matte-finishing perfectly complements a new silver-hued, sunray-brushed dial.

For this limited edition of 500, TAG Heuer took advantage of the watch’s metallic, almost monochromatic aura to just subtly note Monaco’s racing history, applying black sub-dials and racing red accents on the central hand and the 12 o’clock marker.

As long-time Monaco fans might note, the new watch also echoes the left-side-crown placement of the original Heuer Monaco. This is because TAG Heuer fits the new watch with its updated Caliber 11, named after the original groundbreaking automatic chronograph inside the 1969 Monaco.

The new watch is actually the first Monaco since 2019 to utilize the modern modular chronograph, which TAG Heuer creates using a Sellita base and a Dubois Dépraz module. TAG Heuer has tapped its Heuer 02 caliber, with its right-side crown, to power the Monaco releases in the interim.

To enhance the watch’s link to Monaco’s auto-racing-inspired history, the new Monaco Titan Limited Edition arrives on a sporty anthracite alligator strap, patterned internally to recall racecar tire grooves.

TAG Heuer offers the Monaco Titan Limited Edition in TAG Heuer boutiques and on www.tagheuer.com.  

Price: $7,900. 

Specifications:

TAG Heuer Monaco Titan Limited Edition Chronograph

(Reference CAW218B.FC6496, a 500-piece limited edition)

Movement: Automatic TAG Heuer Caliber 11, Sellita base with Dubois Dépraz module

Case: 39mm 
Grade 2 titanium sand-blasted, domed, beveled sapphire crystal, sandblasted sapphire crystal screw-down caseback, water-resistant to 100 meters.

Dial: Silver sunray-brushed, black permanent seconds at 3 o’clock, black gold-plated applied indexes with white SuperLuminova, rhodium-plated hour and minute hands with white SuperLuminova, red central chrono hand, black ‘Heuer’ printed logo, angled date display, 
MONACO AUTOMATIC CHRONOGRAPH printed.

Strap: Black alligator leather, grade 2 titanium folding clasp with double safety push buttons, Heuer logo.

Price: $7,900.

 

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The Watches

Zenith Revives a 1971 ‘Shark Tooth’ El Primero Chronograph

Zenith expands its Revival collection of retro-inspired releases with the new Chronomaster Revival A3817,  a faithful  reproduction of a 1971 Zenith El Primero chronograph notable for its pyramid-pattern “shark tooth” seconds scale.

The new Zenith Chronomaster Revival A3817.

The original tonneau-shaped A3817 chronograph, with a three-color dial that mimicked the dials on better-known, round-cased El Primero A386 Zenith revived in 2019 and 2020, has been a design Zenith enthusiasts have long sought at auction. Zenith made only 1,000 of the watches in 1971, which only enhanced their desirability among collectors.

Zenith has built its Chronomaster Revival A3817 using the same 37mm angled tonneau-shaped case (with pump-style pushers) as the original. The watchmaker explains that it utilized original blueprints so it could preserve the watch’s original proportions and finishes.

The new watch echoes its 1971 forebear with a white lacquered dial set with chronograph subdials of grey and blue, with a running seconds counter at 9 o’clock. And of course the dial stands out among Zenith chronographs for its 1970s ‘shark tooth’ seconds track, which Zenith faithfully reproduces. Finally, Zenith includes an outer tachymeter scale, as on the original, that serves as a pulsometer.

The primary technical and aesthetic differences between this homage and the original design are most visible when turning the watch over. There, you’ll see a sapphire caseback instead of a solid steel caseback, allowing a clear view of  the new-generation El Primero 400 high-frequency automatic chronograph caliber.

Zenith offers the Chronomaster Revival A3817 with either a steel “ladder” bracelet that is a modern remake of the Gay Frères bracelets Zenith used in the early 1970s on many of its early El Primero watches, or with a light brown calf leather strap.

The new Zenith Chronomaster Revival A3817 is priced at $8,400 and is available at Zenith Boutiques as well as on its online shop. The strap version is sold separately for $7,900.

 

Specifications: Zenith Chronomaster Revival A3817

(Reference 03.A384.400/3817.M3817)

Movement: El Primero 400 Automatic, 36,000 Vph (5 Hz), Power reserve of 50 hours.

Dial and Functions: White-lacquered with three different-colored counters, hours and minutes in center, small seconds at nine o’clock. Chronograph: central chronograph hand, 12-hour counter at six o’clock, 30-minute counter at three o’clock. Tachometric scales, pulsometer scale, date. Hour markers and hand are rhodium-plated, faceted and coated with beige SuperLuminova.

Case: 37mm steel, water resistant to 50 meters.

Bracelet: Stainless steel “ladder” bracelet and double folding clasp.

Price: $8,400 (bracelet), $7,900 (strap).  

 

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The Watches

New Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Honors Blackbird Pilot

The impressive new Ball Watch Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT Sled Driver, with its triple timezone displays and seriously strong anti-shock architecture, pays homage to retired U.S. Air Force Pilot Major Brian Shul, one of only ninety-two pilots to fly the SR-71 Blackbird. Ball named the watch after a nickname pilots gave to the jet fighter: the Sled.

The new 42mm Ball Watch Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT Sled Driver is a limited edition of 1,990 pieces.

The new watch’s blue and black bezel is striking, especially as it frames the black dial and the four large hands that point out the time in up to three different zones. But at night, the display really shines, with cockpit-level multi-hue marker and hand illumination. 

In the dark, one look at the aviator-inspired dial unveils hour indexes and main hands glowing, thanks to Ball’s trademark H3 gas tubes, here in yellow.  Ball has doubled the glass tubes at the 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock markers while the 12 o’clock index boasts a pair of bright orange gas tubes. Any search for the second time zone lands on the glowing GMT hand, which is differentiated with a green gas tube.

The new watch’s micro-gas illuminated bezel features large green 24-hour Arabic numerals and markers.

Bold bezel

But perhaps, the star of the low-light display is the micro-gas illuminated bezel, with its large green 24-hour Arabic numerals and markers. This scratch-resistant, sapphire-coated bidirectional 24-hour rotating bezel serves as a third timezone. It allows a pilot (or frequent traveler) to use the GMT hand to track home city time, while the central hour and minute hands remain set to the newer local time.

Of course, the dial also recalls Brian Shul directly with an illuminated outline of the SR-71 fighter jet at 6 o’clock, just below the words “SLED DRIVER” and Shul’s signature. More personalization is evident on the back, which Ball engraves with the Mach 3+ insignia emblem, as worn by all qualified SR-71 Blackbird crewmembers.

Highly resistant

Inside Ball places its ETA-based Ball RR1201-C automatic movement, which is certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC). And Ball protects the movement with an unusually tough shock and magnetic resistance. The AeroGMT Sled Driver absorbs impacts up to 7,500Gs and boasts anti-magnetic resistance of 4,800 A/m.

Ball engraves the back with the Mach 3+ insignia emblem, as worn by all qualified SR-71 Blackbird crewmembers.

Ball also equips the 42mm steel Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT Sled Driver with an extendable triple-folding buckle or an alternative rubber strap, both customized to fit over a pilot’s jacket or sleeve. The new watch is a limited edition of 1,990 pieces in reference to 1990, when four speed records were established on the final flight of the SR-71 Blackbird in U.S. Air Force service.  Price: $3,499.

 

Specifications: Ball Watch Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT Sled Driver

(A limited edition of 1,990 pieces)      

Movement: Automatic ETA-based caliber BALL RR1201-C, Chronometer certified by COSC.

Dial and Functions: 44 micro gas tubes on hour, minute, second, second time zone hands, dial and bezel, luminous three time zone indication.

Case: 42mm by 13.85mm steel, bidirectional rotating curved sapphire bezel with micro gas tubes, Shock resistant to 7,500Gs, anti-magnetic to 4,800A/m, water resistant to 100 meters, titanium case back, anti-reflective sapphire crystal, patented crown protection system.

Bracelet: Tapered stainless steel bracelet with patented folding buckle & extension system or rubber strap with pin buckle.

Price: $3,499

 

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De Bethune Lights Up a ‘Yellow Submarine’

De Bethune’s new diver, introduced late last year and affectionately called the Yellow Submarine, brings a whole new look to the dive genre. While the DB28GSVY embraces the warmer tones of gold, amber and orange, its case and components are not crafted in gold but are actually made from heat-treated titanium and steel.

Mounted on De Bethune’s articulated case/lug platform, the Yellow Submarine embodies the past and future of watchmaking in a single case. Space-age design and materials are married to traditional watchmaking solutions and then taken to the next level.

The De Bethune DB28 Grand Sport ‘Yellow Submarine.”

Powering the watch is the DeBethune manual-wind caliber DB2080, which is comprised of 400 individual components, including 51 jewels. Power reserve is stretched to five days thanks to a dual-barrel system as well as the fine-tuned escapement, with its titanium balance, white gold inserts and a profile designed to minimize fluid friction. The balance wheel cycles at 28,800 beats per hour.

Releasing power to the unique balance is an escape wheel crafted in silicon. The entire escapement assembly is protected by a triple Pare-Chute system developed in-house by De Bethune. Other unique aspects to this particular timepiece include that it eschews the normal practice of slathering luminous paint everywhere to read the time. Only the hands have slim strips of lume while an amazing electro-mechanical system creates light via a micro-dynamo and LED lighting system activated by the push of the actuator at 6 o’clock.

Push the button and watch the repeater-like regulator spin while four LED sources cast light across the dial. Since this is technically a dive watch it also incorporates a rotating bezel, but in this case the outer coin-edge grip actually rotates an inner rehaute with pierced cutouts showing beautiful blue numerals. The 44mm case mounts the crown at 12 o’clock. Each example of the twenty-five in this very limited edition is priced at $110,000.

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