With the ninth edition of the Only Watch auction only weeks away, we’re reminding readers about the lineup of incredible watches set for auction at the biennial charity event.
This year more than fifty watchmakers have created timepieces for the charity auction, which commences Saturday, November 6, in Geneva. Christie’s will auction these incredible watches to raise funds that benefit research in the battle against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
While you may have seen a few of the watches set for auction earlier this year when Only Watch announced them, we thought you’d enjoy seeing many of these inspired designed again just ahead of the event.
Note than some of our readers may be able to see all the Only Watch offering in person in the weeks just prior to the event.
The watches will tour the globe starting September 22 in Monaco, and can then be seen in exhibitions in Dubai (September 30 to October 3), Tokyo (October 8 to 10), Singapore (October 15 to 20), Hong Kong (October 25 to 27), Macau (October 28) and finally back in Geneva on November 4-6. Click here for details about the Only Watch world tour.
Today, we highlight the offering from Bell & Ross, which has devised this BR01 Cyber Skull Sapphire, an orange-tinged, all-sapphire example of a series of Skull watches Bell & Ross has offered in recent years.
Bell & Ross machined the sapphire case from three blocks of sapphire and created the skull itself from six blocks of sapphire. The Skull dial was metalized on the back with the Only Watch orange color, a hue that also happens to be one of the colors of choice to enhance legibility in airplane cockpits. The back of the watch also features a special engraving for Only Watch.
In addition to clearly impressive sapphire work here, Bell & Ross has added a fun technical feature that will likely bring grins to the wearer. The automaton movement activates the jaw, which opens and appears to snigger when the wearer winds the spring.
Only Watch auction estimate: CHF 90,000 – CHF 110,000.
I’ve been a fan of the newest colorful G-Shock Full Metal 5000 collection since early this year when I had the chance to wear an earlier edition for a few weeks. The combination of metallic finishes and creative coloring certainly add an attractive spark to what could be a very familiar high-tech digital timekeeper.
Clearly G-Shock knows it has hit on its hands with the collection, which might explain the regular updates with novel finishes within the Full Metal GMWB5000 line.
The latest addition, GMWB5000PB-6, is an eye-catching ode to Tokyo, G-Shock’s hometown. Here G-Shock ion plates the watch’s case in a pleasing purple and blue-gray, which the brand says “is inspired by the beauty of Tokyo at twilight when light and darkness interplay.” The two-tone finish includes a new hue of purple ion plating, alongside the deep blue-gray.
To complement that pairing, G-Shock has added color to the dial, where you’ll see touches of orange, purple and light blue. The dial, displayed in reverse LCD, is framed by a bezel and band with brushed finishing (which G-Shock calls ‘hairline) mirror-finishes, again adding a visual sense dimension to the entire watch.
The new GMWB5000PB-6 of course includes all of G-SHOCK’s premium technical features. These are: smartphone pairing capabilities via Bluetooth, self-adjusting multi-band hour and date timekeeping, Tough Solar Technology and a very useful phone finder function. In addition, the watch boasts 200 meters of water resistance, a super illuminator LED light, five daily alarms, and a digital display that makes the watch easy to read from any angle.
The GMWB5000PB-6 is priced at $600 and can be purchased starting in mid-September at select G-SHOCK retailers, the G-SHOCK Soho Store, and gshock.com.
Maurice Lacroix expands its Aikon series with a model sporting the collection’s first-ever matte-black DLC case. The case, in combination with a new light blue strap (made of wear-resistant rubber) and a truly eye-catching sunray brushed gunmetal dial with embossed square pattern, creates one of this popular collection’s freshest looks since its debut in 2016.
The new Maurice Lacroix Aikon Chronograph Sprint.
Despite the new livery, the new 44mm Aikon Automatic Chronograph Sprint retains the collection’s distinctive six ‘arms’ across its bezel and an M-logo on its strap. But here Maurice Lacroix has delivered those arms in a polished gunmetal finish, adding dimension to the bezel while also matching the dial.
The watchmaker combines snailing and a slight opaline finish to the darkened subdials at 6 and 12 o’clock and then colors the small seconds indicator in a shade of blue matching the strap. That same blue hue also livens the central chronograph seconds hand.
TAG Heuer today expands its Aquaracer Professional 300 collection with three new watches. Two models with blue and black dials, first seen in April as steel bracelet models when TAG Heuer upgraded the deep-diving collection, are now offered with matching rubber strap options.
A third debut echoes a favorite bright-dialed TAG Heuer dive watch from the past.
TAG Heuer re-introduces an old favorite with Aquaracer Professional 300 Night Diver.
Return of the Night Diver
TAG Heuer’s highlight fall 2021 Aquaracer Professional 300 debut is the all-black, lume-dialed Aquaracer Professional 300 Night Diver. The watch recalls the TAG Heuer “Night Diver” first seen in the mid-1980s and re-introduced in numerous guises in the years since, most recently in 2018.
The Night Diver’s standout feature, then and today, is its fully luminescent dial, which TAG Heuer coats in green SuperLuminova. This is truly non-subtle lume, which may be too bright for some desk divers, but for others hits home.
TAG Heuer seemingly overfills the watch’s minute and central seconds with blue lume to clearly contrast with the green dial. That bright green color also appears on the hour hand and four primary hour markers. And critically, TAG Heuer fills the triangle at the top of the unidirectional rotating bezel with blue lume to match the blue of the minute and central seconds hands.
To emphasize the ‘night’ in the watch’s nickname, TAG Heuer coats the watch’s 43mm stainless steel case, bezel, crown, caseback and clasp with matte black diamond-like carbon. The bezel insert is black ceramic.
TAG Heuer’s ETA-based (or Sellita-based) Caliber 5 automatic movement powers all references in the new Aquaracer Professional 300 collection.
TAG Heuer fits the Night Diver with a black rubber strap with a black DLC steel folding clasp with double safety push buttons with fine adjustment system.
Full collection
You might recall that earlier this year TAG Heuer revamped its Aquaracer collection, displaying models with a more refined twelve-sided bezel, shorter lugs, slightly wider hour hands and more prominent horizontal engraved dial lines. The three new models debuting today expand the new Aquaracer collection to eleven references.
All three new Aquaracer models feature a unidirectional rotating bezel, a screw-down crown, are water resistance to 300 meters, feature a sapphire crystal and a double safety clasp. And they all have solid casebacks stamped with a diving suit sporting a twelve-sided faceplate.
Prices: $3,350 (Night Diver) and $2,700 (Aquaracer with blue or black dial with new rubber strap).
The new Aquaracer Professional 300 collection now includes blue or black-dialed models with matching straps. These models debuted in April with steel bracelets only.
Bulgari this week pays tribute to Gerald Genta with a renewed version of the famed designer’s Mickey Mouse watch. At the same time the watchmaker/jeweler adds a world time watch to its Octo Roma collection and revives a Papillon central tourbillon design, now set in an Octo Roma case. The original Papillon was a Daniel Roth jumping hour invention with ‘butterfly’ hands.
These debuts were just three Bulgari highlights at Geneva Watch Days 2021, where the Italo-Swiss watchmaker launched nine new models. These also included new models in the jeweled Divas’ Dream lineup and three Divina Mosaica watches, including one spectacular diamond-set model fitted with Bulgari’s thin minute repeater movement.
The new Gerald Genta Arena Retrograde with smiling Disney Mickey Mouse.
Gerald Genta Arena Retrograde with smiling Disney Mickey Mouse
Bulgari’s retro Retrograde watch, starring the world’s most famous mouse, pays tribute to the genius of Gerald Genta, who placed Mickey Mouse (and other Disney characters) on his own high-end watches starting in 1984. The Gerald Genta Mickey Mouse watches are today much sought-after by collectors.
You may recall that Bulgari in 2019 launched the first ode to Genta with its 50th Anniversary Arena Bi-Retro, which Bulgari released with only Gerald Genta’s name on the dial. Last year we saw a titanium version of the watch.
Those debuts recalled Bulgari’s acquisition of the Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth brands in 2000, a purchase that has played a significant role in building Bulgari’s haute horlogerie expertise.
Gérald Genta, who died in 2011 at the age of 80, designed many of the icons of modern watch design, including the Universal Genève Polerouter, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, the IWC Ingenieur, Cartier’s Pasha, the Omega Constellation, the Bvlgari Bvlgari and the Patek Philippe Nautilus. Many of these designs remain bestsellers for their respective brands.
This new Gerald Genta Arena Retrograde with smiling Disney Mickey Mouse marks the return of one of the most sought-after Genta designs. The watch’s debut also marks the next level in Bulgari’s ongoing reboot of the Gerald Genta line as its own brand. To accompany that expansion, Bulgari is developing a new Gerald Genta website.
The new watch almost perfectly mimics many of the original Gerald Genta designs, here nicely settled into 41mm steel Gerald Genta Arena case. In this version you’ll find Mickey showing the time amid an also-playful rhodium-plated sunray dial. Mickey’s left arm and white-gloved hand indicates the minutes on a 210-degree retrograde dial as a jumping hour indicator shows the hour at the 5 o’clock position.
Bulgari is making the Gerald Genta Arena Retrograde with smiling Disney Mickey Mouse as a limited edition of 150-pieces, all available only online at Bulgari. Price: 16,500 euros, with January 2022 delivery.
Octo Roma WorldTimer
Bulgari developed a new movement, Caliber BVL257, to power this world time watch, a first for the Octo Roma collection. And as a travel watch, it features instant reading of the time in twenty-four cities, which corresponds to the world’s primary time zones. This launch comes just days after the debut of another well-received Bulgari travel model, the Aluminum GMT watch.
The new Bulgari Octo Roma WorldTimer.
Echoing classic world timer dial layouts, the Octo Roma WorldTimer offers a central display of the hours, minutes and seconds combined with a double rotating disc on the outer edge. One of the disks is set with the names of the reference cities while the second displays the 24-hour scale. When read in tandem, they allow the wearer to read the time in multiple time zones.
The Octo Roma WorldTimer is also available with a black DLC case and black rubber strap.
Bulgari took some liberties with the cities listed around the dial of this new watch, opting to swap the more common Bermuda for St. Barts, and representing cities where Bulgari has (or will soon have) one of its own hotels.
This sporty watch is built within the brand’ excellent multi-faceted Octo Roma 41mm steel case with a blue dial and matching steel bracelet. A stealthier version can be had in a black DLC case with a black textured rubber strap. Price: $8,350.
We’ll have more details about Bulgari’s Geneva Watch Days launches in upcoming posts. We’ve posted a few teasers below for those who can’t wait until then.
The new Octo Roma Central Tourbillon Papillon. At the end of the 60 minutes indicated by one of the “butterfly” hands, the disc jumps to display the new time in the aperture.The incredible Bulgari Divina Mosaica Minute Repeater.Two debuts in the Divas’ Dream collection include models with dials in lapis lazuli (pictured) and malachite.
Specifications: Gerald Genta Arena Retrograde with smiling Disney Mickey Mouse
Movement: Mono-retrograde movement, jumping hour aperture at 5 o’clock, retrograde minutes hand on a 210-degree sector, 28,800 vph, 42- hour power reserve.
Case: Jumping hour aperture at 5 o’clock, retrograde minutes hand on a 210-degree sector.
Strap: Red textured padded rubber with Gerald Genta folding clasp in polished stainless steel.
Price: 16,500 euros, with January 2022 delivery.
Specifications: Bulgari Octo Roma WorldTimer Stainless Steel
Movement: Automatic BVL257 with World time display, hours, minutes and seconds, 24 time zones and 24-hour indicator; 42-hour power reserve, frequency of 28,800 vph (4Hz).
Case: 41mm by 11.35mm 904L stainless steel with satin-brushed/polished finish, satin-brushed/polished bezel, transparent back, screw-lock steel crown set with a ceramic decoration and serving to set the time as well as the cities indication; water-resistant to 100 meters.
Dial: Blue sunburst, applied brushed rhodium-plated gold hour-markers.
Bracelet: Satin-brushed/polished steel bracelet with triple-blade folding clasp.
Price: $8,350.
Specifications: Bulgari Octo Roma WorldTimer Steel DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon)
Movement: Automatic BVL257 with World time display hours, minutes and seconds, 24 time zones and 24-hour indicator; 42-hour power reserve, frequency: 28,800 Vph (4Hz).
Case: 41mm by 11.35mm 904L steel, black sandblasted DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) finish, transparent caseback, screw-lock crown in DLC black steel set with a ceramic decoration and serving to set the time as well as the cities indication, water-resistant to 100 meters.
Dial: Matte black sandblasted, hour-markers, hours and minutes hands enhanced with SuperLuminova.
Strap: Black textured rubber strap with DLC steel pin buckle.
