With thirty-one multi-hued watches on one large table, Nomos showed its colors in spectacular fashion at its first Watches and Wonders a few weeks ago.
On a table within its Geneva exhibition booth, the German-based independent watchmaker displayed a special edition Tangente 38 Date – 175 Years Watchmaking Glashütte model, a collection of thirty-one watches, each with its own dial color combination.
For the limited edition, numerous elements of the dial were individually matched to the character of the watch. Shown here are the Tangente 38 Date Delfin and Poporange.
The steel-cased 38mm watches are each limited to 175 pieces, an ode to its hometown, which is celebrating 175 years of watchmaking.
As the best-selling collection at Nomos in the thirty years since the brand was born, Tangente is the appropriate choice for such a tribute.
The Tangente Date 38 Bubblegum model.
Each watchbears its own name and has its own story. While most of the watch names are in German (Ariel, Zirkus, Haifischgrau, and Schlossgrün) many are not.
The Tangente 38 Date Stop. Yes, there’s also a Go model with a green seconds subdial.
Watches dubbed Stop, Go, Chili, Flamingopink and Bubblegum hint at the color combinations and allude to the playfulness Nomos has embedded into the collection.
The cheerful shade of the Tangente Date 38 Flamingopink attracts attention.
While typically a commemorative model at any watchmaker is priced at a premium, Nomos is dedicated to making all its watches accessibly priced, even the limited editions.
The special edition Tangente 38 Date Lemonbisquit.
That is why the price of these colorful limited-edition watches ($2,310) is lower than the price of the standard Tangente 38 Date model ($2,780).
The patented date mechanism allows the date ring (here in light red) to be placed around the outside of the movement.
Inside Nomos places its superb hand-wound caliber DUW 4101, which Nomos makes in Glashütte and regulates according to chronometer values.
The name of the watch and the limited-edition number are engraved on the back, and the NOMOS caliber DUW 4101 can be seen at work through the sapphire crystal case back.
The movement, visible via a sapphire back, is built with the date ring around the main movement (a patented technique), which allows Nomos to create a large date window.
Building from its hot 39mm-wide H08 series of modified round-shaped sports-casual watches, Hermès adds the Hermès Cut, a 36mm integrated steel watch ostensibly aimed at smaller (feminine) wrists.
The Hermès Cut
But much like the wildly successful H08, billed as a men’s watch but with unisex appeal, the Cut will likely also appeal to men who prefer a smaller case size.
Like the earlier design, the new Cut plays around with the classic round case shape. Two beveled and polished slices along the sides of the Cut case modify the round case shape, creating a subtle break in the expected circular arc.
With the crown at an unexpected position between 1 o’clock and 2 o’clock, the Cut presents a unique geometry. The shape is accentuated by careful mix of polish on the ‘cut’ on the right and left case side and on the outer bezel, which nicely contrasts with the primarily satin-brushed full case and bezel top.
The watch’s bevel-cut bezel frames a lovely curved silvered opaline dial marked with luminescent applied Arabic numerals. The numerals feature an all-new Hermès font.
Hermès fits its own automatic Hermès H1912 movement into the Cut, making its visible through the sapphire crystal caseback.
The Cut is a full collection, with a selection of options that include full steel models to two-tone options in steel and rose gold. Any version is also available with fifty-six bezel-set diamonds.
The watch arrives with a fully integrated metal bracelet that retains the alternating finishes of the case. Hermès will of course offer a wide range of colorful rubber straps that can be easily swapped onto the case as desired.
Among the many impressive new watches Grand Seiko debuted during Watches & Wonders 2024, this red-dialed Spring Drive Chronograph GMT (SBGC275) is particularly notable.
The Grand Seiko Caliber 9R 20th Anniversary Limited Edition: SBGC275
Meant to recall the sun’s terrestrial light show as it rises and sets in the Hotaka mountain range in the Shinshu region of central Japan (where Grand Seiko makes its Spring Drive watches), the distinctive dial appears to change colors with each viewing, as the ambient light itself changes.
Grand Seiko launches the watch, which joins the watchmaker’s Sport Collection, as it celebrates the 20th anniversary of the first Grand Seiko watch powered by the 9R Spring Drive movement series.
The watchmaker explains that this dial is made possible through the use of a new dial-processing technology that involves a patented dial-coating process known as “Optical Multilayer Coating.”
“Instead of traditional techniques to color the dial, the new technology uses a physical vapor deposition process,” explains Grand Seiko’s Jon Bues. “Several layers of nanoscale film create an effect in which the dial exhibits a different hue depending on the angle of view. Combined with the silent glide motion of the seconds hand, the transitioning dial colors bring a new dimension to the idea of the nature of time.”
Set within Grand Seiko’s angular case, inspired by the shape of a lion (a Grand Seiko symbol) this newest Spring Drive Chronograph GMT offers notable claw-like, hairline-finished lugs that contrast nicely with the watch’s many Zaratsu-polished surfaces.
With curved lugs and a low center of gravity, the new watch sits comfortably on the wrist.
The high-intensity titanium 44.5mm by 16.8mm case weights about thirty percent less than stainless steel and has a brighter color. That brightness continues amid the eye-catching red-orange with Luminous hands and markers.
Here Grand Seiko careful considers the light once again, with two colors of Lumibrite: green for the markers and the hour and minute hands and blue for the GMT hand and the numbers on the bezel. This enhances the watch’s legibility in dark conditions.
To symbolize enhanced accuracy, an 18k gold Grand Seiko lion emblem can be seen on the movement’s oscillating weight.
Inside Grand Seiko fits its excellent Spring Drive Chronograph GMT Caliber 9R96, a specially adjusted version of Caliber 9R86. The movement delivers an accuracy of ±10 seconds per month, or ±0.5 seconds per day.
Grand Seiko’s Spring Drive Chronograph GMT Caliber 9R96, a specially adjusted version of Caliber 9R86.
Grand Seiko is offering the Caliber 9R 20th Anniversary Limited Edition (SBGC275) as a limited edition of 700, available at the Grand Seiko Boutiques and select retail partners worldwide in July. Price: $13,400.
Specifications: Grand Seiko Caliber 9R 20th Anniversary Limited Edition: SBGC275
Spring Drive Chronograph GMT Caliber 9R96
Driving system: Automatic
Accuracy: ±10 seconds per month (±0.5 seconds per day) Power reserve: 72 hours
GMT hand
Chronograph up to 12 hours
Number of jewels: 50
High-intensity titanium case and bracelet
Three-fold clasp with push-button release, secure lock, and extender Dual-curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating See-through screw case back
Screw-down crown
Water resistance: 20 bar
Magnetic resistance: 4,800 A/m
Diameter: 44.5mm, Thickness: 16.8mm
Price: $13,400
Limited edition of 700
A year after Philipp Plein launched its first luxury watches, the Lugano-basededgy fashion and design house adds the Crypto King Hexagon and the Crypto King Flying Tourbillon to its collection of bold, tonneau-shaped timekeepers.
The Philipp Plein Flying Tourbillon Dragon FireThe Philipp Plein Flying Tourbillon Dare Devil XII
While Philipp Plein’s debut entries into the luxury watch market turned the the brand’s signature skull into a three-dimensional dial on last year’s Crypto King, the new models play with the brand’s double P logo, which dominates the skeletonized dial of the Crypto King Hexagon and serves as the 12 o’clock marker on the four new Crypto King Flying Tourbillon watches.
The Philipp Plein Flying Tourbillon Ninja Panda.
The tourbillon models, imaginatively named Dare Devil XII, Ninja Panda, Dragon Fire and Night Wolf, each sport distinctive colors and intricate patterns on a 55mm by 46mm forged carbon case.
The Philipp Plein Flying Tourbillon Night Wolf.
Each retains the namesake hexagonal pattern throughout the watch, with the six-sided shape visible throughout the case and as the head pattern of the ten steel or gold screws around the dial. The same hexagon pattern infuses the collection’s transparent PU and colorful silicone straps.
The brightest color combination is found on the Dare Devil XII watch, which features white stripes across a bright red carbon case. A black and orangepairing dominates the Dragon Fire while the black and white Ninja Panda offers amore classical color combination.
For the fourth entry, the Night Wolf (above), Philipp Plein enhanced the watch’s luxury quotation with a set of 18-karat rose gold screws, gold markers, hands and logo and a gilded crown.
The skeleton ‘dial’ is essentially a look into and through the flying tourbillon movement with its blackened, hexagonal-shaped bridges and multiple spline screws portraying a very contemporary movement design.
Each watch also portrays Philipp Plein’s distinctive brand personality on the back, where you’ll see the designer’s smiley face and skull images, along with the watchmaker’s signature initials.
Produced in limited edition, each Crypto King Flying Tourbillon is powered by a highly customized PWL100LPP flying tourbillon movement made for Philipp Plein by Swiss movement maker Landeron.
Crypto King Hexagon
Less complex than the flying tourbillon models, the series of colorful Crypto King Hexagon debuts still offers bright hues and a full slate of Philipp Plein icons, including its signature hexagonal motif.
The Philipp Plein Red Phantom Crypto King Hexagon.
Framing the PP logo at the center of the skeletonized dial, the hexagon shape dominates the case sides, bezel, strap and back. The case side and case back are particularly open, each showcasing a partial view of the Swiss-made Landeron automatic movement.
The Philipp Plein Crypto King Hexagon measure just a bit smaller in width than the flying tourbillon model, measuring 45mm across compared to the 46mm flying tourbillon width.
The coloring here is also somewhat subdued when compared to its larger sibling, with solid case colors (black, clear and a terrific transparent red color) rather than a striped pattern.
Prices on request.
Specifications: Philipp Plein Crypto King Flying Tourbillon
Case: Forged Carbon 55mm x 46 mm with hexagonal pattern, see-through caseback. Double dome sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating. Water resistance: 30 meters.
Movement: Landeron PWL100LPP manual-winding flying tourbillon coaxial with hours and minutes, 18 jewels, frequency: 28,800 vph, liftangle: 52 degrees, power reserve is 42 hours.
Dial: Open-worked, three-dimensional.
Strap: Transparent PU or silicone strap.
Specifications: Philipp Plein Crypto King Hexagon
Case: 55mm x 45 mm with transparent effect and hexagonal pattern. Crystal isdouble dome sapphire with anti-reflective coating, see-through caseback. Water resistant to 50 meters.
Movement: Landeron 24 skeletonized automatic.
Dial: Double-layer see-through with Hexagon PP logo.
Ulysse Nardin expands its hands-free Freak universe with the new Freak S Nomad, which places a thoroughly modern, dual-oscillator flying carousel movement atop a hand-cut diamond guilloché pattern hour-disc dial finished in sand-colored CVD.
The Ulysse Nardin Freak S Nomad
Set in a 45mm titanium and carbon-fiber case, the new dual-oscillator Caliber UN-251 Manufacture movement is a flying carousel that mimics the outline of a spacecraft. This particular craft not only powers and regulates the watch, but, as with all Freak movements, it serves as the watch’s minute indicator while it rotates around its own axis.
For enhanced efficiency and stability, Ulysse Nardin treats the movement’s dual oscillators and silicon balance wheels (inclined at 20 degrees) with a diamond coating called DIAMonSIL.
The watchmaker then coats the movement’s bridges with an anthracite-hued PVD and packs the minute hand with plenty of luminous light blue SuperLumiNova.
To wind the watch, Ulysse Nardin fits its own Grinder ultra-efficient winding system into the back, powering a full seventy-two-hour power reserve. The watchmaker calls Grinder “an automatic system that’s twice as efficient as a traditional automatic system.”
Ulysse Nardin is offering the Freak S Nomad as a limited edition of ninety-nine, each offered with a choice of two straps: one anthracite rubber ‘ballistic’ and the other in matte-finished anthracite alligator with sand-colored calfskin leather accents.
Ulysse Nardin has filed more than twenty patents for the Freak since 2001. You might recall that last year the watchmaker took home the Iconic Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève for its Freak One.
