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Watch Of The Day

Introducing the Curtis Australia Motima

By Nancy Olson

Curtis Australia is perhaps best known for its bespoke jewelry and finely crafted writing instruments. But the Melbourne-based company has also been producing watches for more than a decade as yet another expression of its artisanal expertise and as an homage to founder Glenn Curtis’s generations-long lineage in watchmaking.

The new Motima from Curtis Australia.

“My grandfather passed on his watchmaking and jewelry tools to me, and some of these tools were in turn his father’s, as were some of the [jewelry] production methods he taught me,” says Curtis. His company’s new Motima automatic models (the name is a loose portmanteau of “motor” and “time”) benefits from the same jeweler’s approach to watchmaking as the company’s earlier collections for men and women.

New watch

The new Motima Perpetual offers some notable diversity from Curtis Australia, which has previously focused primarily on jewelry-oriented models powered by quartz movements. The company makes its own gold cases and bracelets as well as the crowns and even the gold screws that affix the caseback to the custom-engraved rotor.

“We design everything here in Australia,” adds Curtis. “We then make prototypes of all these parts in house. By creating all the prototypes ourselves we ensure that the look, the balance and comfort are as we envisaged. We can also make adjustments and improvements as we go, resulting in a more efficient and seamless timeline from concept to finished watch.”

Curtis Australia forms, hand finishes, polishes and assembles each Motima case at its own workshops.

Made in Australia

Motima’s 9-karat rose, yellow or white gold 43mm octagonal cases are forged at over 1,080 degrees Celsius, and each is formed, hand finished, polished and assembled at the Curtis Australia atelier. The Motima’s three-step screw-down crown is 9-karat gold, as are the case screws, and the watch’s bezel is stainless steel set with a diamond set in gold above 12 o’clock.

“We concentrate our focus on the areas we are experts in—the metal parts, like bezels, casebacks, case screws, catches and screw-down crowns,” says Curtis, adding that other parts, like the dials, are outsourced.

The customized self-winding Sellita movement, visible via the sapphire crystal on the caseback, features 42 hours of power reserve and 25 jewels, and it operates at 28,000vph. The rotor is engraved with the Curtis logo.

The Motima’s Sellita automatic movement features a rotor engraved with the Curtis logo.

The 43mm Motima collection includes models with blue, red or black sunray-finish dials, all of which display Roman numerals at 3, 6, and 9 o’clock and a date window at 3 o’clock. A red seconds hand traverses the blue and black textured dials, while a gold-finished seconds hand offers contrast on the red-dial model. The baton-style hour and minute hands have unobtrusive luminous accents running their lengths.

Curtis Australia fits its Motima is fitted on a leather strap or on a two-tone or solid gold bracelet. As noted, the manufacturer crafts the 18-karat or 9-karat gold bracelets in-house.

Price: $11,400 on leather strap or two-tone bracelet; $29,800 on 9-karat gold bracelet; bespoke 18-karat gold versions, price upon request.

 

Specifications: Curtis Australia Motima

Movement: Automatic Sellita with 42-hours power reserve and engraved rotor, visible through sapphire back.

Case: In-house octagonal-shaped 43mm solid 9-karat white, yellow or rose gold with steel caseback, sapphire crystal front and back, with engraved rotor. Screw-down gold crown.

Dial: Black, red or blue with gold-finished hands topped with luminous material. Diamond at top of dial.

Bracelet: In-house karat gold, steel or leather strap.

Prices: $11,400 (strap or two-tone bracelet). $29,800 (9-karat gold case and bracelet). Upon request for 18-karat gold case/bracelet.

 

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Watch Of The Day

Omega Launches America’s Cup Seamaster Diver

As Omega prepares for its role as official timekeeper for the upcoming 36th America’s Cup, the watchmaker launches the Seamaster Diver 300M America’s Cup Chronograph, a 44mm steel watch with a boat-race (regatta) countdown indicator.

The new Omega Seamaster Diver 300M America’s Cup Chronograph.

The new 44mm chronograph, based on a 2019 Omega Seamaster Diver, has a blue ceramic dial with the collection’s familiar laser-engraved wave-pattern and white enamel diving scale on the bezel. Less familiar is the regatta countdown indicator ring in red anodized aluminum.

The indicator’s red anodized aluminum minute hand, with a shape inspired by a boat hull, provides the countdown indication, supplemented by a rhodium-plated small seconds hand at the 9 o’clock position. Chronograph hours are visible in a window within the countdown subdial.

Cup tributes

Omega maintains the watch’s America’s Cup distinction with a central seconds chronograph hand, also in red anodized aluminum, that features an America’s Cup icon in red on the counterweight. More Cup tributes are visible on the back of the watch, including “36th America’s Cup” and “Auckland 2021,” both spelled in blue lacquer.

Also seaworthy, even beyond the already strong Seamaster Diver specs, is a helium escape valve and soft-touch red and blue rubber pushers, designed to work efficiently when wet. That efficiency is backed with a new chronograph lock-system that secures the chronograph functions when needed, presumably during a race at sea.

The new watch continues Omega’s longstanding relationship with the America’s Cup, which the brand also officially timed in 2000 and 2003. This newest watch is the second Omega has launched in support of the 36th America’s Cup, which takes place in New Zealand starting March 6. Last year Omega released the Seamaster Planet Ocean America’s Cup Edition.

The Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean America’s Cup Edition, released in 2020.

New Quick Change 

Omega offers the new Seamaster Diver 300M America’s Cup Chronograph with a metal bracelet and an additional rubber strap, both equipped with Omega’s brand new Quick Change system. The watchmaker says with the system, the owner can quickly “switch easily between the bracelet and the strap without having to use tools.”

Omega says its new Quick Change feature makes switching bracelets simpler.

Inside Omega fits its excellent Co-Axial Master Chronometer Caliber 9900, an automatic chronograph movement with column wheel and Co-Axial escapement. The movement is approved by METAS, resistant to magnetic fields reaching 15,000 gauss and features a silicon balance-spring and sixty hours of power reserve.

Visible through the caseback, the Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 9900 is is resistant to magnetic fields reaching 15,000 gauss and features a silicon balance-spring.

Price: $10,700.

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The Watches

Accutron Replays an Elvis Presley Hit

A re-made Accutron 521 was among the many eye-catching designs Accutron included in its premiere Legacy collection debuts last September. For Elvis Presley fans however, the retro design was a particularly notable revival since the original asymmetric-cased gold model 521, from 1960, was known to be one of Presley’s favorite watches.

The new Accutron Legacy 521, with gold-plated steel case and mesh-style bracelet.

For others, the debut also resonated because of its attention to the original’s perfectly designed proportions. For its Legacy collection, Accutron wisely resisted the modern tendency by watchmakers to upscale retro editions by housing them in larger cases.  

Thus, the new Accutron Legacy 521 retains the same ‘TV-shaped’ design framed by the same incredible Space Age lugs as the original, complete with the modest 32.8mm x 32.5mm case dimension, silver-white dial and stylized double-stick hour markers. And while Bulova’s Accutron division in 1960 cased the original in fourteen-karat gold, Accutron has created its new Legacy 521 with a gold-plated steel case.

The original Accutron 521 was unique among the era’s debuts in that it was the only model in the series topped by a mineral glass crystal and a snap-on case back. Accutron today replaces the mineral glass with sapphire and clears a partial view of its movement via a clear sapphire caseback.

And while the original Accutron 521 was among the first designs to house the groundbreaking Accutron electronic tuning fork movement, this new edition will be powered by a modern Sellita automatic caliber.

The original Accutron 521 from 1960.

Accutron also fully embraces the new watch’s 1960s vibe by attaching the 521 case to a gold-hued steel bracelet patterned to echo the mesh-style bracelet popular during the era, with double-press deployant clasp. Alternatively, Accutron offers a version with a brown lizard-embossed leather strap. The new 521 is limited to 600 pieces in each bracelet option.

Prices: $1,550 (mesh-style bracelet) or $1,450 (leather strap).

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Watch Of The Day

TAG Heuer Launches Special Edition Carrera Porsche Chronograph

TAG Heuer and Porsche, which share deep ties to the world of auto racing, expand their collaboration this week with the TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph, the first TAG Heuer watch that pairs imagery from the two brands.

The new TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph
 Special Edition 44 mm Caliber Heuer 02 Automatic.

The new watch adds a host of Porsche automotive references to TAG Heuer’s recent, well-received Carrera Sport Chronograph design. Most noticeable is TAG Heuer’s widespread use of the Porsche dashboard font on both the bezel of the new watch and to denote the watch’s primary indexes, which are numbered to echo a speedometer. TAG Heuer also places the Porsche name prominently, in red, at the top of the bezel.

Furthermore, TAG Heuer utilizes red, black, and grey colors prominently on the new watch, echoing Porsche’s frequent use of the same hues. On the watch’s Caliber Heuer 02 automatic movement, TAG Heuer also places the names ‘Porsche’ and ‘TAG Heuer’ on the rotor, which is visible through the sapphire caseback.

Furthermore, TAG Heuer colors the dial to mimic asphalt in order to emphasize a ‘passion for the road,” according to the brand.  

TAG Heuer has collaborated with Porsche on a variety of ventures for decades, most recently since 2014 with the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and on the upcoming FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). This year we’ll see series partnerships in ten editions of the worldwide one-make cup series Porsche Carrera Cup. TAG Heuer also engages in virtual racing by supporting the Porsche TAG Heuer E-sports Supercup.

Both companies are set to expand their collaborations. Porsche, for example, is running its own golf activities like the Porsche Golf Cup, and since 2015 has sponsored the Porsche European Open golf tournament. TAG Heuer has announced that it will join both these events. 

The watch will be sold on a calf leather strap with Porsche-style stitching, or on an interlocking race-style steel bracelet. TAG Heuer will deliver the Carrera Porsche Chronograph in packaging with a black watch box that features the logos of TAG Heuer and Porsche in white. Inside the box is a black travel pouch that boasts a Porsche red interior.

Price: $5,850 (leather strap) and $6,050 (steel bracelet).

Specifications:  TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph
 Special Edition 44 mm Caliber Heuer 02 Automatic

References: CBN2A1F.FC6492 (leather strap) and CBN2A1F.BA0643 (steel bracelet)

Movement: Caliber Heuer 02 automatic chronograph with 80-hour power reserve, vertical clutch and column wheel.

Case: 44 mm steel polished, fine brushed; ceramic black tachymeter fixed bezel, Porsche inscription. 
Domed and beveled sapphire crystal with double anti-reflective treatment. Steel crown at 3 o’clock with red accent. 
Steel screw-down sapphire case back with special engraving
. Water resistance to 100 meters.

Dial: Grey asphalt color with three black chronograph counters. Black gold plated applied indexes with white SuperLuminova rhodium-plated hour and minute hands with white SuperLuminova rhodium-plated central hand w/red tip. 
TAG Heuer applied logo, 
date at 6 o’clock.

Strap/Bracelet: 
Embossed black calf leather strap with hand stitching; calf skin black lining and steel folding clasp with double safety push-buttons (on reference CBN2A1F.FC6492), or steel H-shape bracelet with steel folding clasp with double safety push-buttons (on reference 
CBN2A1F.BA0643)

Price: $5,850 (leather strap) and $6,050 (steel bracelet).

 

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Watch Of The Day

Piaget Skeletonizes its Steel Polo

Piaget has skeletonized its luxury sport Polo steel watch, creating an airy new open-worked dial framed by the Polo’s famed cushion-shaped dial cutout, rounded bezel and curved case. And, with a notably thinner case, the new Piaget Polo Skeleton mingles Polo’s chic legacy with Piaget’s identity as a groundbreaking force in ultra-thin watches.

The new Piaget Polo Skeleton, with blue PVD Caliber 1200S movement and steel bracelet.

In order to create a thin Polo Skeleton, Piaget designed a new 42mm steel case that still echoes the familiar shape of the all-gold 1979 Polo debut. That shape was most recently revived in 2016 when Piaget debuted a new-generation sporty Polo collection cased in steel.

With this new skeleton model, Piaget introduces a new steel Polo case that measures a wispy 6.5mm thick, thirty-percent thinner than the 9.4mm cases that define current non-skeleton Polo offerings.

Equally critical here is Piaget’s work to create a pared-down version of its caliber 1200S, the ultra-thin automatic skeleton movement Piaget places within its existing Piaget Altiplano skeleton models, among others. The same Altiplano collection also includes a range of ultra-thin watches featuring Piaget’s award-winning (and even thinner) ultra-thin 910P and 900P calibers.

Robust yet thin

Piaget says that despite the leaner movement and case, its new Polo Skeleton will still act like a general sports watch. This seems fair, but the watch’s sportiness is limited as the watch demonstrates water resistance to a basic thirty meters, which will keep the Caliber 1200S movement free of moisture while worn in the rain but prevent it from being rated for diving. The movement’s platinum rotor does contribute to the robust forty-four hours of power reserve.

Piaget is offering its new Polo Skeleton with two designs – the first with a movement in Piaget Blue PVD and the second in a slate gray finish. Piaget places the watch on an interchangeable steel bracelet that allows the wearer to quickly change the look of the watch by attaching a leather strap. Piaget provides one leather strap with each watch.

Price: $28,500.

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