While the somewhat proforma iterations in standard charcoal and ash grey will appeal to the more conservative crown-twisting crowd, watch fans looking to add a bit of bold to their own dreams of field watches will love these striking new colors from Formex.
The full Formex Field-Automatic collection.
Housed in a 41mm hardened titanium case, Formex’s new Field Automatic takes on a funkified retro look with a modern appeal by incorporating Petrol Blue, Mahogany Red, Sage Green, and Ultra Violet dial options to create a tension between homage and “oh my”.
Rated to 150 meters of water resistance and featuring a screw-down crown and an anti-reflective sapphire on top, the hardened housing hosts a Swiss Sellita SW 200-1 automatic winding movement ticking away at 28,800 vph with a power reserve of 41 hours when fully wound.
Both NATO and leather strap options are available – as is the Formex patented micro-adjust carbon composite clasp.
Prices range from $795 on the NATO strap and to $945 on a fine leather strap. Learn more at the Formex website.
To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Porsche Design, which was founded by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche in 1972, Porsche Design is launching the Chronograph 1 – 1972 Limited Edition, a reinterpretation of its first product, the original Chronograph 1.
The new Porsche Design Chronograph 1 – 1972 Limited Edition is a reinterpretation of its first product, the original Chronograph 1.
Long considered the first all-black watch, the Chronograph 1 design was directly based on the matte-black design of Porsche sports car dashboards. Porsche Design’s use of black PVD on steel (as well as employing the then-new Valjoux 7750 automatic movement) set an example emulated for decades afterwards by sports watchmakers across the globe. Early examples of the pioneering Porsche Design automatic chronograph are highly collectible.
Honoring the watch’s pioneering role in late 20th century watchmaking, Porsche Design launches its Chronograph 1 – 1972 Limited Edition with the original’s dial and 40.8mm case measurements while bringing it up to modern technical standards.
As on the original, Porsche Design places its historic logo on the dial, crown, clasp and case back. In addition, the tachymeter scale and date display retain the 1972 font and the watch’s baton hands bear the original rectangular shape. The movement, however is now the COSC- certified Porsche Design caliber WERK 01.140.
The COSC-certified Porsche Design caliber WERK 01.140.
Porsche Design will make the watch using the same high performance titanium for the 40.8mm case and strap as it uses in nearly all Porsche Design timepieces today. And new SuperLuminova will enhance the watch’s visibility in the dark.
Also new is where the Chronograph 1 – 1972 Limited Edition and its movement are manufactured. As of 2014, all Porsche Design Timepieces are produced in-house at Porsche Design Timepieces AG, the brand’s own timepiece-manufacturing facility in Solothurn, Switzerland.
Porsche Design will also offer a second example of the watch, the Chronograph 1 – 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design (with an open caseback), exclusively to owners of the new limited edition Porsche 911 sports car, with both car and watch limited to 750 pieces globally.
The Chronograph 1 – 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design for Porsche 911 owners has an open caseback.
In addition to the anniversary timepieces and vehicles, Porsche Design is also offering a wide range of its products with special fiftieth anniversary touches. The products include sunglasses, fashion, sportswear, accessories, bags and luggage.
Wempe Glashütte, the manufacturing arm of esteemed watch and jewelry retailer Wempe, this week amps up its sporty Iron Walker collection with Iron Walker Chronograph XL, a new line of slightly larger 44mm automatic chronographs.
The new Wempe Iron Walker Chronograph XL.
Not only are the new watches larger in size than the initial set of 42mm Iron Walker chronographs (which debuted in 2020), the new collection also offers customers the option of buying a model with a rubber strap. Wempe carries this enhanced sportiness to the watch’s crown, bezel and pushers, all of which are coated with matching rubber.
The new collection is also distinct from its forebear inside its newly rubber-accented case. Wempe fits a Sellita SW500 automatic caliber inside each of the four debut Iron Walker Chronograph XL models. This differs from the ETA 7753 Valjoux chronograph inside the Iron Walker Automatic Chronograph collection.
Like the earlier models, all the new watches are chronometer-certified by stringent German chronometric testing according to the ISO 3159 standard. This means each watch is certified to a maximum average rate variation of only two seconds per day when mounted in the case.
Wempe added Iron Walker in 2020, and at the time the company noted the collection was designed to create moderately priced watches with high-end specifications. (See the full list of Iron Walker Chronograph XL specifications below.)
Wempe also devised Iron Walker to complement Wempe’s other two wristwatch lines, which include Wempe Chronometerwerke (made with Wempe manufacture calibers) and Wempe Zeitmeister, which features basic mechanical models.
“We are making our own watches for daily use because many brands have withdrawn from the medium price range and only make luxury watches,” explains company director Kim-Eva Wempe. “Our strategy of making high-quality watches for smaller budgets as well has paid off.”
Price: $4,600.
Specifications: Wempe Iron Walker Chronograph XL
Movement: Automatic caliber SW500, frequency 28,800 vph (4 Hz), 48-hour power reserve, German chronometer officially tested according to ISO 3159.
Case: 44mm stainless steel, water-resistant to 100 meters, crown, button, and bezel with a rubber coating, sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating on both sides, screw-in crown.
Dial: Black or Nordic blue, steel hour markers with Super-LumiNova, bezel with a rubber coating in black or Nordic blue. Rhodium-plated hands with SuperLuminova.
Bracelet: Stainless steel with a folding clasp or a rubber strap with a folding clasp in black or Nordic blue.
Grand Seiko celebrates the twentieth anniversary of its first GMT watch and the fifteenth anniversary of its premiere Spring Drive chronograph with two new watches.
Both debuts technically echo ongoing designs within Grand Seiko’s Sport collection, but present themselves with dials created to recall winter scenes in the mountains that surround the Shinshu in central Japan studio where Grand Seiko design and manufactures the watches. Similarly, both watches feature blue dial accents meant to echo the bright blue color of the winter sky in Shinshu.
The new Sport Collection Grand Seiko GMT 20th Anniversary Limited Edition (SBGE275).
One of these new watches, the Sport Collection Grand Seiko GMT 20th Anniversary Limited Edition (SBGE275), is a 44mm steel watch with a large GMT hand that allows the wearer to read a second-time zone while a third time zone can also be displayed using the 24-hour bezel.
The power reserve and date are the only other displays interrupting the dial’s wintry white and blue scene. With Grand Seiko’s generous use of Lumibrite on the bezel, indexes, hour, minute, and GMT hands, all displays remain visible in darkness.
The Sport Collection Grand Seiko Chronograph 15th Anniversary Limited Edition (SBGC247) is the busier of the two new debuts.
The new Sport Collection Grand Seiko Chronograph 15th Anniversary Limited Edition (SBGC247).
Framed by a 43.5mm titanium case, the dial’s icy white coloring serves as a backdrop to three subdials. Grand Seiko protects the much-lauded Spring Drive Chronograph GMT Caliber 9R96 inside this watch with heightened anti-magnetic casing and a fortified titanium case.
Both movements, including the Spring Drive GMT Caliber 9R16 inside the GMT-only model and the Spring Drive Caliber 9R96 inside the chronograph GMT, offer hyper-accurate timing, with accuracy to plus or minus ten seconds per month or 0.5 seconds per day. Both also feature an 18-karat gold Grand Seiko lion emblem on the oscillating weight. (See specifications below for details).
The Grand Seiko chronograph, automatic Spring Drive Caliber 9R96, showing the Grand Seiko lion emblem in 18-karat yellow gold on the oscillating weight.
Look for the Sport Collection Grand Seiko GMT 20th Anniversary Limited Edition (SBGE275, $7,300) in March when Grand Seiko will release it as a limited edition of 1,500. The Sport Collection Grand Seiko Chronograph 15th Anniversary Limited Edition (SBGC247, $11,000) is a limited edition of 700 and will be available in February.
(Specifications: Grand Seiko Spring Drive GMT (SBGE275, a limited edition of 1,500)
Movement: Automatic Grand Seiko Spring Drive GMT Caliber 9R16, accuracy of ±10 seconds per month (±0.5 second per day). Power reserve is 72 hours.
Case: 44mm by 14.9mm stainless steel case and bracelet, three-fold clasp with push button release, dual-curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, see-through screw case back, screw-down crown, water resistance to 200 meters, magnetic resistance of 4,800 A/m.
Dial: Patterned ‘icy’ white.
Bracelet: Steel with three-fold clasp and push button release.
Price: $7,300.
Specifications: Grand Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph GMT (SBGC247, a limited edition of 700)
Movement: Automatic Grand Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph GMT Caliber 9R96, accuracy to ±10 seconds per month (±0.5 second per day), power reserve of 72 hours.
Case: 43.5mm by 16.1mm high-intensity titanium. Dual-curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, see-through screw case back, screw-down crown, water resistance to 100 meters, magnetic resistance to 4,800 A/m.
Dial: Patterned ‘icy’ white.
Bracelet: Titanium with three-fold clasp with push button release. Price: $11,000.
The new Zenith Chronomaster Revival Lupin The Third – Final Edition
That original watch, depicted with a (then non-existent) black, grey and gilt dial, was seen on the wrist of a character in the Japanese anime series starring Arsene Lupin III. The same character, Daisuke Jigen, wears another Zenith A384 later in the series, again with a dial Zenith had not yet designed.
Zenith finally created a genuine Chronomaster Revival Lupin The Third watch in 2019, followed by a second edition in 2020, with each model depicting the ‘panda’ style dials seen in the animated series.
This year the watchmaker finalizes the series with this appropriately named debut—and the design is both unexpected and exhilarating.
The new watch, a limited edition of 250, combines the two previous Zenith dials in this Lupin III series. On the left, the watch features a semi-glossy black dial, grey counters and golden markers and hands from the first edition. On the right side Zenith places a white dial with contrasting black counters in the “panda” layout inspired by the second Lupin the Third edition.
The new Zenith Chronomaster Revival Lupin The Third – Final Edition features a 37mm titanium case in the proportions of the original A384. Inside Zenith fits its superb El Primero 400 automatic integrated column-wheel chronograph (see specifications below). The rotor, according to Zenith displays an engraving of Daisuke Jigen through its sapphire caseback. We’ll show you the back of the watch as soon as we obtain images from Zenith.
This piece is limited to 250 pieces. Price: $10,000
Specifications: Zenith Chronomaster Revival Lupin The Third – Final Edition
(Reference: 95.L384.400/50.M384, Limited edition of 250)
Movement: El Primero 400 Automatic column-wheel chronograph with a frequency of 36,000 Vph (5 Hz) and a power reserve of 50 hours.
Functions: Hours and minutes in the 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. Tachymetric scale. Date indication. Case: 37-mm titanium, tonneau-shaped and water resistant to fifty meters.
Dial: Black & white special split color design. Hands and hour-markers are rhodium-plated or gold-plated, faceted and coated with beige SuperLuminova. Bracelet: Titanium “ladder” bracelet and double folding clasp.
