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Watches & Wonders 2023: Grand Seiko Updates Evolution 9 with Automatic Chronograph 

A year after Grand Seiko introduced complicated and sporty models to its  Evolution 9 Collection, the watchmaker adds its first automatic chronograph to the collection.

The new Grand Seiko Tentagraph.

The new model, the Tentagraph, features Grand Seiko’s high-beat (36,000 mph) movement, Caliber 9SA5, which is enriched with two barrels and an ultra-efficient Dual Impulse Escapement. The existing GMT chronograph within Evolution 9 is powered with Grand Seiko’s Spring Drive technology (Caliber 9R96). 

With these technical enhancements, Grand Seiko says the Tentagraph will retain its power reserve in chronograph operating mode for seventy-two hours, which the watchmaker call the “longest power reserve in the industry today.”

Grand Seiko tests its Tentagraph movement for twenty days with a strict precision goal of +5 to -3 seconds per day.

The new 43.2mm by 15.3mm titanium-cased watch retains the eye-catching Evolution 9 textured dial finish, here colored blue. The dial’s large indexes and recessed sub-dials deliver a quick read for the wearer.

Grand Seiko also gently curves the chronograph seconds downward so that the tip of the hand is as close as possible to the dial’s markers, again enhancing legibility.

The chronograph features a running seconds sub-dial at the three o’clock position, a 30-minute chronograph counter at nine, and a 12-hour chronograph counter at six o’clock.

Grand Seiko’s own proprietary Dual Impulse Escapement efficiently transfers energy to the free-sprung balance wheel indirectly through the pallet fork and also directly from the escape wheel, enhancing the movement’s efficiency.

In addition, Grand Seiko builds a vertical clutch and a column wheel into the movement, both of which enhance accuracy and chronograph control.

On the dial Grand Seiko places its signature Mt. Iwate pattern, named for the nearby mountain visible through the windows of the Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi.

The Tentagraph’s bezel is made of ceramic.

The Grand Seiko will make the Tentagraph available at the Grand Seiko Boutiques and select retail partners starting in June. Price: $13,700.  

Specifications: Grand Seiko Evolution 9 Collection Tentagraph

(Ref. SLGC001) 

Movement: Caliber 9SC5
Driving system: Automatic
Frequency: 36,000 vibrations per hour (10 beats per second)
Accuracy (mean daily rate): +5 to -3 seconds per day
Power reserve: 72 hours
Chronograph with 30-minute counter at 9 o’clock and 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock

Dial: Blue ‘Mt. Iwate’ pattern finish.  

Case: 43.2mm by 15.3mm high-intensity titanium, box-shaped sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, ceramic bezel, see-through screw-on case back, screw-down crown, water resistance to 100 meters and magnetic resistance of 4,800 A/m. 

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

Price: $13,700.

 

New Masterpiece

At Watches and Wonders 2023 Grand Seiko also debuted a hand-engraved, manual-wind platinum model in its Grand Seiko Masterpiece Collection.

Its dial consists of the now familiar Shinshu white birch pattern, though here Grand Seiko artisans have added a slightly different tone and a more metallic texture.

Inside Grand Seiko fits its Spring Drive Caliber 9R02 (first seen in 2019). The caliber’s superb eighty-four hour power reserve is the result of a dual spring barrel in which both mainsprings are set in parallel within the single barrel. 

Grand Seiko has set an 18-karat gold plaque on the 38.5mm watch’s lower bridge engraved with the words “Micro Artist.” However, the owner can instead customize it. Price: $79,000 (limited edition of fifty).

Finally, Grand Seiko introduces a Spring Drive jewelry watch inspired by the Brand’s emblematic white lion. The watch’s case and dial gleam with 5.62 carats of diamonds and 1.25 carats of blue sapphires, all set by hand.

The sapphire crystal case back reveals a beautifully finished Caliber 9R01 movement’s one-piece bridge, designed in the image of Mt. Fuji. Price: $260,000. 

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Featured News

Watches and Wonders 2023: TAG Heuer Celebrates Carrera 

At Watches and Wonders 2023 TAG Heuer adds two new Carrera watches that feature a new domed ‘Glassbox’ crystal.

One of two new 39mm Carrera Chronographs fit with a vintage-inspired Glassbox crystal.

One debut, a 39mm Carrera Chronograph, will arrive in two dial options and with an updated movement. The second is a Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon, a sister watch to a collection of previously introduced extra sporty Carrera tourbillon watches.

The new 42mm TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon is set under a Glassbox crystal.

In addition to these debuts, TAG Heuer adds color to two existing 42mm steel Carrera Chronographs. With a black or a blue dial, these new chronographs inject vivid orange detailing meant to recall the look of classic race car speedometers.

TAG Heuer also expands its Aquaracer nautical watch collection with an all-gold Aquaracer Professional 200 sporting a new movement, manufacture Caliber TH31-00, which delivers an 80-hour power reserve.

A second new Aquaracer Professional 200 series adds bi-color gold and steel models to the collection, offering four models in two case sizes: two at 40mm and another pair at 30mm. We’ll have more about TAG Heuer’s new expansion of the Aquaracer collection in an upcoming post. 

Glassbox Carreras

TAG Heuer continues to celebrate Carrera’s sixtieth anniversary with all these debuts. 

The new Glassbox chronographs are inspired in part by the reference 3147 “Dato 12” , the first Carrera with chronograph and calendar functions, and the rare reference 2447 NS.

But TAG Heuer looked to the 1970s for the inspiration for the new domed crystals that top these debuts, remaking in sapphire the hesalite crystals found on Carrera watches from that era.

The new crystal features a curve that flows seamlessly over the tachymeter scale, which runs around the dial edge and into the case. TAG Heuer has also added curves to the flange and indexes. 

The additional curvature pleases the eye and also means the tachymeter can be read from a wider range of angles. The new steel-cased chronographs also sport new pushers.

To kick-off the new collection, TAG Heuer offers one new model with a familiar blue dial on a blue calfskin leather strap. The second model debuts with a sportier black and silver ‘reverse panda’ dial (above) and comes on a black perforated calfskin leather strap.

Both of the new TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox Chronographs are powered by Caliber TH20-00, an updated version of the Heuer 02. Visible through the clear sapphire caseback, the new movement now features enhanced decoration and a bi-directional oscillating weight. Earlier versions only charged the movement’s mainspring when rotating in one direction. Both are priced at $6,450. 

According to TAG Heuer Movements Director Carole Forestier, this new rotor design is a more significant change than you might imagine. When rotating daily, the new rotor is said to deliver faster and more reliable winding to ensure that the watch is more precise and that it is running closer to its maximum 80-hour power reserve.

Also new is the date display position. The date is at 6 o’clock on the blue-dialed model and at 12 o’clock on the ‘reverse panda’ version. Both new positions are said to clarify the wearer’s reading of the chronograph.

Chronograph Tourbillon

With the new Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon (above, $21,000), the watchmaker adds a sister model to the existing Carrera tourbillon, but here the tourbillon is framed (for the first time) with a smaller case (42mm) and a glass box crystal.

Echoing the look of the new Glassbox chronographs, the new tourbillon model is powered by Caliber TH20-09, TAG Heuer’s in-house tourbillon movement. This is a chronometer-certified automatic caliber with a chronograph function and an impressive sixty-five-hour power reserve.

With the Glassbox crystal, TAG Heuer expands the ability of the viewer to view the tourbillon. On the dial, TAG Heuer has curved the flange and indexes to both mirror and complement the edge of the crystal. 

New silver rings make the chronograph sub-dials especially easy to see while the chronograph’s central seconds hand is triangular shaped much like hands seen on 1960s race car dashboard instruments.

 

New 42mm Carrera Chronographs

One of two new 42mm Carrera Chronographs, each with new colorful dial accents.

In addition to its Glassbox debuts, TAG Heuer also adds new color options to existing 42mm Carrera Chronographs.

With a black or a blue dial, these new chronographs offer orange details. Both are powered by TAG Heuer’s Heuer 02, an in-house automatic chronograph movement, and both arrive on high-end calfskin straps. Price: $5,550.

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The Watches

Bulgari Debuts Octo Finissimo Tuscan Copper 

Bulgari unveils a new Octo Finissimo Automatic with a special copper-hued dial as a North American special edition.

The new watch is the latest in the Octo Finissimo Automatic collection, which Bulgari first introduced in 2017 as its third model in the ongoing, record-breaking Octo Finissimo series of ultra-thin watches.

The new Bulgari Octo Finissimo Automatic Tuscan Copper is a limited edition of fifty pieces for the North American market.

This latest edition gleams with a new sunray-finished dial. Its color is inspired by the paintings of Italian artist Jacopo da Pontormo, an Italian painter from 16th century Florence.

Bulgari says its dial makers strove to mimic the painter’s soft metallic tone, a color  rarely seen on watch dials.

“Here, the particular metallic salmon tone – it is extremely rare in Bulgari watchmaking and has only been used once before – draws its inspiration not from the usual vintage aesthetic prized by collectors, but from the very roots of Italian art, that of the 16th century, and more precisely from a disruptive movement of the time, called Mannerism, which marked my own training as a designer,” explains of Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Product Creation Executive Director at Bulgari Horlogerie.

The new time-only model, the Octo Finissimo Tuscan Copper, is a limited edition of fifty pieces for the North American market, and is powered by Bulgari’s own ultra-thin mechanical self-winding movement, Caliber BVL 138, which boasts a micro-rotor and an impressive 2.23mm thickness measurement.

The thin movement means the entire piece measures only 6.4mm thin. Despite its thin size, the watch still retains a 100-meter water resistance rating.  

Price: $13,300. A North American Limited edition of fifty. 

 

Specifications: Bulgari Octo Finissimo Automatic Tuscan Copper 

Movement: Ultra-thin mechanical self-winding Caliber BVL 138 with micro-rotor (2.23mm in thickness); hours, minutes, small seconds counter at 7 o’clock; 60-hour power reserve; frequency 21,600 vph (3 Hz).

Case: 40mm by 6.4mm steel.

Dial: Metallic Tuscan copper sunray-finish dial, rhodium-plated applied indexes; steel screw-down crown with ceramic insert; transparent caseback; water resistant to 100 meters.

Bracelet: Satin-polished stainless-steel bracelet with integrated folding clasp.

Price: $13,300. Available starting in April. 

 

 

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The Watches

Maurice Lacroix Enhances Pontos Chronograph 

Maurice Lacroix tweaks its Pontos Chronograph 43mm with four new references that expand the collection’s high-value chronograph options with new sun-brushed black or gunmetal grey dial hues.

The latest Maurice Lacroix Pontos Chronograph 43mm offers a choice of black or gun metal dials.

These debuts echo the existing blue-dialed Pontos Chronograph with Arabic numerals and partially open-worked hands.

Look for additional SuperLuminova on the central chronograph hand as well, matching the enhanced luminescence of the hands. Maurice Lacroix has also added a color-coordinated date display disc to the 12-hour chronograph register at 6 o’clock.

Maurice Lacroix’s automatic ETA-based ML112 caliber, visible through the watch’s caseback, is finished with Côtes de Genève and circular graining, while the rotor is embellished with vertical Côtes de Genève and sun brushing.

The new models can be paired with a leather strap or a three-row steel bracelet. 

Finally, to echo its Aikon models, the new Pontos Chronograph 43mm now features the brand’s Easy Strap Exchange System, which allows a quick strap/bracelet swap if desired.

Maurice Lacroix now packages it all its watches with the same material it uses for its eco-friendly Aikon #tide collection. This means the new series is boxed with packaging made of recycled ocean-bound waste bottles. The watchmaker says it takes thirty-four bottles to make each watch box, which means thirty-four fewer bottles polluting the sea.

Prices:  $3,250 (steel bracelet) and $3,200 (leather strap).

 

Specifications: Maurice Lacroix Pontos Chronograph 43mm 

Case: 43mm by 15mm steel, 100 meters water resistant, clear sapphire back.

Movement: Automatic ETA 7750-based ML112 chronograph. 

Functions: Hours and minutes, small second at 9 o’clock, centered second chrono, 30 minutes chrono at 12 o’clock, hours chrono at 6 o’clock, date at 6 o’clock.

Dial: Black sunray; snailed and sandblasted counters and rhodium polished rings or gunmetal sunbrushed lacquered dial. Gold or rhodium-finished hands and markers. 

Bracelet: Three-row stainless steel, black leather strap alligator imitation with gold 4N M-logo. Both with Easy Change system. Butterfly buckle in stainless steel.

Prices:  $3,250 (steel bracelet) and $3,200 (leather strap).

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The Watches

Richard Mille Launches its First Sports Watch for Women

Richard Mille debuts its first women’s sports watch with the new RM 07-04 Automatic Sport,  a collection of six colorful models with a new automatic skeletonized movement and a highly shock-resistant, 30.5mm-by-45mm lightweight quartz or carbon case.

The new Richard Mille RM 07-04 Automatic Sport comes in six color options with either a colorful quartz case or a black carbon case.

Richard Mille says it took three years to develop the new series. Many of its technical features were devised after consulting with six female athletes who described the comfort, features and aesthetics of their ideal watch for wear during and after their sporting activities.

The collection’s CRMA8 caliber, the most compact movement developed by Richard Mille, features the brand’s emblematic function selector.

Eliminating all pressure on the winding stem, the selector is linked to a push-piece at 4 o’clock and allows the wearer to easily choose from among the neutral (N), winding (W) or time setting (H) positions. A hand at 5 o’clock displays the active function.

The RM 07-04 Automatic Sport is shock resistant with a highly tested and demonstrated ability to withstand accelerations of over 5,000 g’s. Richard Mille ensures this rigidity by constructing the baseplate and bridges from titanium with black PVD and electro-plasma treatments. Richard Mille then satin-finishes, micro-blasts and bevels these components by hand.

The complete case construction of the series is water-resistant to fifty meters thanks to two Nitrile O-rings, twenty titanium spline screws and 316L stainless steel washers. Each watch is also lightweight at 36 grams, strap included.

Five of the new watches (creamy white, mauve, salmon, green and dark blue) are cased in Quartz TPT while one (black case, below) is made from Carbon TPT.

As each is made with multiple layers of parallel carbon fiber or silica filaments, each looks just a bit different from the others, even when finished with the same color. Richard Mille finishes each watch’s titanium crown with a satin-finishing that is then micro-blasted and polished.

In an unusual touch, Richard Mille says it created the specific colors of each RM 07-04 Automatic Sport case to “interact perfectly with those of the bracelets, the tips of the hands, or the flange, according to a palette of shades to which Richard Mille alone knows the secret.”

Price: $185,000.

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