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Watch Of The Day

Grand Seiko Adds to 60th Anniversary Celebration

Grand Seiko continues its yearlong celebration of the first Grand Seiko collection it debuted six decades ago with a new Heritage Collection Automatic Limited Edition powered by automatic Caliber 9S65, the impressive technical upgrade of the Caliber 9S55.

Grand Seiko Heritage Collection Automatic Limited Edition

The dial and layout of the steel-cased watch echoes the 60th anniversary models presented earlier this year, with their blue dials and historically referenced hands and markers. Here, however, Grand Seiko adds a standard-beat automatic model to the anniversary lineup (the previously announced example features a Hi-Beat 36000 caliber).

Caliber 9S65 beats at a more traditional 28,800 bph and delivers a power reserve of 72 hours and a precision rate of +5 to –3 seconds a day.

Oxidation blue

The automatic caliber here is also marked on its visible rotor with a special shimmering blue color, created using an oxidation process that both echoes the blue dial and is meant to mirror light seen in the morning through the windows of the new Grand Seiko’s Shizukuishi and Shinshu studios.

The Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi.

Grand Seiko has applied the blue hue to the titanium sections of the oscillating weight, adding anniversary text and date and the Grand Seiko logo. All of this, framed in a red ring (to recall the “red of the morning sun”) is visible through the watch’s sapphire crystal caseback.

Caliber 9S65. Grand Seiko has significantly enhanced the basic performance of this caliber, and has also redesigned the way in which the oscillating weight winds the mainspring.

This new Grand Seiko Heritage Collection Automatic Limited Edition watch is offered as limited edition of 2,500. Price: $5,200.

Specifications: Grand Seiko Heritage Collection Automatic Limited Edition (SBGR321)

Movement: Caliber 9S65, 28,800 vibrations per hour (8 beats per second) Accuracy (mean daily rate): +5 to –3 seconds per day. Power reserve: 72 hours.

Dial: Blue with date and red-tipped seconds hand.

Case: 40mm by 13mm
steel case and bracelet, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, see-through screw case back, rotor with blue color and grand Seiko lion logo, screw-down crown. 
Water resistance to 100 meters. Magnetic resistance: 4,800 A/m

Bracelet: Three-fold steel clasp with push button release.

Price: $5,200 (Limited edition of 2,500)

 

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The Watches

Zenith’s Black & White Debuts Defy Color

Zenith re-interprets its Defy 21 and Defy Classic

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contemporary skeletonized collections with stylish black and white simplicity on two new boutique editions. Each Defy model is paired with a white ceramic bezel, a matte black ceramic cases and a white rubberized strap.

Zenith Defy 21 Black & White

The basic non-color motif defies (see what I did there) Zenith’s attention to vibrant hues seen on earlier Defy Classic and Defy 21 models, which the watchmaker has bathed previously in blue, orange and even violet dress.

Zenith Defy Classic Black & White

Zenith has nicely utilized the Defy’s architecture to enhance its yin and yang, dark and light theme for these new editions. The red synthetic rubies and blue silicon escape wheel, seen within the skeletonized movement of each watch, are the only hints of color visible on either new model.

The only hints of color on either new model are the red synthetic rubies and blue silicon escape wheel.

The Defy 21, for example, emphasizes the eye-catching 1/100-of-a-second scale and its 30-minute chronograph counter by making them white, contrasting strongly with the black, skeletonized movement. The white ceramic bezel carries the theme to completion. 

On the Defy Classic, Zenith emphasizes the blackened star motif by framing it with a white flange ring and a white ceramic bezel. Zenith’s black and white cordura-effect rubber strap completes the achromatic scheme.

Both watches feature a matte micro-blasted black ceramic case (44mm for the Defy 21 and 41mm for the Defy Classic). Both editions of the Defy Black & White also come with a second strap in textured black rubber.

Zenith is offering the Defy 21 Black & White and Defy Classic Black & White at Zenith Boutiques and online at its own e-shop. Prices: $13,600 (Defy 21) and  $8,200 (Defy Classic)

 

Specifications:

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Zenith Defy 21 Black & White

Reference: 49.9007.9004/11.R923

Movement: El Primero 9004 automatic, 1/100th of a second chronograph movement. Dynamic signature of one rotation per second. One escapement for the watch time (36,000 VpH) and one escapement for the chronograph (360,000 VpH – 50 Hz). TIME LAB Chronometer certified. Power reserve 50 hours.

Functions: 1/100th-of-a-second chronograph functions, chronograph power-reserve indication at 12 o’clock. Hours and minutes in the center, small seconds at 9 o’clock, central chronograph hand, 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, 60-second counter at 6 o’clock

Case: 44mm black matte ceramic with white ceramic bezel, water resistant to 100 meters

Dial: Openworked with two different-colored counters, hands and markers rhodium-plated, faceted and coated with SuperLuminovaSLN C1

Bracelet & Buckle: Black rubber with white “cordura effect” rubber. Titanium double folding clasp with Black DLC coating.

Price $13,600

 

Zenith Defy Classic Black & White

Reference: 49.9005.670/11.R943

Case: 41mm Black Ceramic with silicon, white ceramic bezel, 100 meters water resistance  

Movement Elite 670 SK, Automatic with silicon escape wheel and lever, frequency of 28,800 VpH (4Hz), power-reserve of 48 hours, hours and minutes in the center with central seconds hand. Date indication at 6 o’clock

Dial: Black open-worked, rhodium-plated, faceted hour markers coated with SuperLuminova SLN C1

Bracelet & Buckle: Black rubber with white “cordura effect” rubber. Titanium double folding clasp with Black DLC coating.

Price: $8,200

 

 

 

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Watch Of The Day

Ball Watch’s Newest NEDU Goes Deep

The newest Ball Watch Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU design enhances the dive watch’s existing, rugged construction with a revamped bezel and the addition of a new feature that underscores the NEDU’s solid dive-watch credentials.

The newest Ball Watch Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU.

On this new NEDU, a collection Ball Watch introduced in 2012, Ball has cut two chamfers into the case flange that supports the bezel. These cuts act as a drain for any water retained between these components during a dive.  As a result, the NEDU will offer virtually no opportunity for corrosion to take root under the bezel.

This feature expands the NEDU’s nautical readiness, which also includes a full –and impressive ­– 600-meters of water resistance, alongside Ball Watch extras like shock resistance to 7,500Gs and resistance to magnetic fields to an intensity of 4,800A/m. 

Dive survival

Dive readiness is the original argument for this particular Ball collection, which is named after the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU), the unit of the United States Navy responsible for rolling out operational diving and decompression rules for the United States Armed Forces. It assesses the systems and procedures involved in surviving hyperbaric and diving environments.

This origin story is partly why Ball has built the collection with an unusually thick case, which at 17.3mm is among the thickest we’ve seen for a watch that measures 42mm in diameter.

To assist the watch’s impressive water resistance rating Ball directly incorporated a (patented) automatic helium release valve directly into the crown. This is the same design Ball incorporates into all its Engineer Hydrocarbon models.

And of course the dial of the Ball Watch Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU lights up like few others in the dark with the famed Ball Watch luminous microtubes of H₃ gas fitted into the dial’s indexes and hands.

Chronometer-certified

Inside the watch Ball places a COSC-certified ETA Valjoux-based caliber RR1402-C automatic movement to measure and indicate elapsed time for up to twelve hours.

On the caseback Ball has stamped a diver motif to honor the NEDU’s official emblem.

The new Ball Watch Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU comes with a black dial, a blue dial or the brand-new gradient blue dial. On the caseback Ball has stamped a diver motif to honor the NEDU’s official emblem. In addition to a rubber strap, Ball offers a stainless steel and titanium bracelet alongside a patented triple folding buckle. This extension system allows the wearer top place the watch easily over a diving suit.

 

Price: The Ball Watch Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU on a stainless steel and titanium bracelet is $4,499 or $4,399 on a rubber strap. The new watch is available now on the Ball Watch online store and through the Ball Watch retailer network.

 

Specifications: The Ball Watch Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU

Movement: Automatic caliber BALL RR1402-C (ETA Valjoux-based), chronometer certified COSC

Case: 42mm x 17.3mm titanium with top ceramic luminous unidirectional rotating bezel, 3.7mm anti-reflective sapphire crystal, patented crown protection system, helium release system, shock resistance to 7,500 Gs, anti-magnetic to 4,800A/m, water resistant to 600 meters.

Dial: Gradient blue, black or blue, 21 micro gas tubes on hour, minute, second hands, markers. Indicators for hours, minutes, subsidiary seconds, day and date.

Bracelet: Tapered titanium and stainless steel with patented folding buckle & extension system or rubber strap with standard buckle.

Prices: $4,499 (stainless steel and titanium bracelet) or $4,399 (rubber strap.)

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Watch Of The Day

Bulova Celebrates the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC

Just ahead of the re-opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on August 29, the museum and Bulova team up to celebrate the museum’s 150th anniversary in 2020 with the Bulova MET150 Edition, a special edition Bulova watch.

The Bulova Met150. Sales of the $295 quartz-powered watch benefit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The Bulova Met150 edition utilizes the historic Aerojet design silhouette from the 1960s, in 39mm stainless steel case with silver-tone crown and accents on a black dial. The quartz-powered watch features a three-hand calendar function, box mineral glass, and smooth grain black leather strap with red contrast stitching. Bulova places the Met logo is on the dial in the museum’s signature red hue.

The timepiece has launched digitally as part of The Met150 Edit on The Met Store website for Met members and will also be available at The Met Fifth Avenue once it reopens this Saturday, August 29. All proceeds from the sale of each watch ($295) will support the Museum’s collection, study, conservation and presentation of more than 5,000 years of art. Bulova, which since 2008 has operated as a separate brand within the Citizen Watch Corporation, was founded in New York City in 1875 and maintains its headquarters in the city.  

In 2020, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is recognizing the 150th anniversary of its founding with a dynamic range of exhibitions and programs. Highlights of the year include “Making The Met, 1870–2020” and displaying new gifts throughout the Museum. More information is available at metmuseum.org/150.

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Featured News

Ulysse Nardin’s Latest Skeleton X is a Blast

Ulysse Nardin this week launches Blast, the latest of the Le Locle-based watchmaker’s Executive Skeleton X series of open-worked watches that feature distinctive rectangular and X-shaped bridges within a broad, round bezel. The four new 45mm Blast watches accentuate the collection’s see-through X design with a new silicon tourbillon placed within its own X-shaped cage.

The White Blast features white ceramic, metallic grey and dark blue accents.

With these shape-within-a-shape bridges, the new Blast retains the geometrical focus we’ve seen in recent Ulysse Nardin X models, including the three-horned strap link, a smooth, often colored bezel and the barrel at 12 o’clock.

The new Ulysse Nardin Blue Blast has a titanium middle case, blue titanium bezel, blue brass rectangular bridge, blue tourbillon cage, blue and grey double “X” pattern, metallic grey sculpted hands and indexes.

Micro-rotor

But the new Blast offers much that differs from previous Skeleton X offerings, especially with its new case architecture and a new tourbillon movement employing Ulysse Nardin’s first-ever micro-rotor. 

The new skeletonized UN-172 movement (an evolution of the UN-171), with its silicon escape wheel, anchor and balance spring, powers each of the four Ulysse Nardin Blast watches.

The new skeletonized UN-172 movement in the Blast features a tourbillon with silicon escape wheel, anchor and balance spring.

As the first automatic tourbillon within Ulysse Nardin’s Skeleton collection, you’ll find a platinum micro-rotor (visible only from the front of the watch) winding the mainspring, supplying a three-day reserve when fully wound.

The Rose Gold Blast features a black DLC middle case and solid gold horns, black ceramic bezel, a bicolor tourbillon cage (rose gold colored and black PVD), sculpted rose gold indexes and hands.

New Lugs

Ulysse Nardin has also restyled the lugs, making them more angular and finishing each triangular surface differently. The lug surfaces, polished by laser using a new technique devised by Ulysse Nardin, alternate between polished, satin-finish and sand blasted. The idea, according to Ulysse Nardin, is to mimic “sharp rocks that jut out of a volcano.”

The Blast’s lug surfaces are polished by laser using a new technique devised by Ulysse Nardin.

Also new here is a self-deploying, three-blade buckle that releases with a single click. When closing, the system simultaneously pulls both ends of the strap toward the clasp. 

Blast features a new self-deploying buckle that releases with a single click.

Ulysse Nardin is making four distinct Blast models: White, Blue, Black and Rose Gold. Each offers its own set of color or design accents ­– even within the tourbillon itself. The Black Blast, for example, comes with a ceramic upper middle case and bezel, black rectangular bridge, red and black double “X” pattern and a stunning new red balance wheel – the first time Ulysse Nardin has ever colorized its balance wheel.

The Black Blast comes with a ceramic upper middle case and bezel, black rectangular bridge, red and black double “X” pattern and a stunning new red balance wheel – the first time that Ulysse Nardin has ever developed a colored balance wheel.

Several strap options are available for each model, including structured rubber, leather and velvet.

 

The back view of the Ulysse Nardin Black Blast.

 

Prices:

Blue (T-1723-400/03) $44,000

Black (T-1723-400/BLACK) $46,000

White (T-1723-400/00)  $46,000  

Rose Gold (T-1725-400/02) $54,000  

 

Specifications: Ulysse Nardin Blast

Movement: Caliber UN-172, skeletonized automatic tourbillon with micro-rotor. Functions: Tourbillon, hours, minutes, raised rectangular bridge, escapement wheel, anchor, and balance spring in silicon, platinum micro-rotor at 12 o’clock, 18,000 vph (2.5 Hz). Power reserve is 72 hours.

Case: 45mm x 13mm titanium or titanium/ceramic multi-part with PVD/DLC coating; rose gold and ceramic for rose gold model, sapphire case back, sapphire crystal, water resistance to 50 meters.

Strap:  Structured or plain rubber, alligator or calfskin, velvet or denim.

 

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