Corum adds five ceramic-cased models to its nautically themed Admiral Automatic collection.
The Admiral, with its twelve-sided case and pennant-markers, is one of Corum’s top-sellers and is usually fashioned from steel, titanium or precious metal. The new ceramic case option adds a contemporary option within the watchmaker’s Admiral offerings.
One of the new ceramic-cased Admiral 42mm offerings, here with a rose gold bezel.
Corum adds the ceramic option specifically to its 42mm Admiral series, the mid-sized watches set between Corum’s 38mm and 45mm Admiral offerings. Three white-cased models and two black-cased newcomers (one of which is a limited edition) mark the debut.
Two of the white ceramic models also sport a rose gold bezel, as does one black edition.
The two variations arrive with a matching rubber strap and gold-colored accents while two additional versions in each color sport artistic dials with pop-art markers and accents.
Of these two art-dialed options, the black ceramic model is a limited edition (of 50 pieces, pictured below) and features a luminous ‘Corum’ logo in graffiti-style across its dark dial.
The two white-ceramic pop-art version feature indexes and hands adorned with multicolored paint. One of these two white ceramic options also comes with a rose-gold bezel.
All the new Admiral watches are water resistant to fifty meters and are powered by CO 395, an ETA-based automatic movement.
Prices: CHF 14,800 (with ceramic bezel), CHF 18,000 (gold bezel) and CHF 18,500 (white ceramic artistic dial with gold bezel).
Bell & Ross partners with the Tara Océan Foundation to create the BR 03-92 Diver Tara, a new dive watch built to meet the needs of the crew on board the oceanography exploration schooner Tara. The ship carries out the organization’s marine biodiversity research aimed at observing and anticipating the impacts of climate change and pollution.
The new Bell & Ross BR03 Diver Tara
On board the Tara, researchers are wearing the new watch, which features a 42mm matte blue ceramic case and unidirectional rotating blue and orange ceramic bezel.
Now joining the Bell & Ross BR 03 Diver series, the new watch (a limited edition of 999 pieces) retains all the required dive specs, including the high-visibility dial, the aforementioned graduated bezel and a solid 300-meter water resistance rating.
Echoing other watches within the BR 03 Diver series, the deep blue dial displays highly visible indications even underwater thanks to its generous helping of white SuperLuminova on the applied indexes and graduated bezel. The seconds hand features an orange tint,
Inside Bell & Ross fits its Sellita-based BR-CAL 302 automatic movement, which powers the hour, minute, seconds and date displays.
“At its core, Bell & Ross is a supplier for explorers and elite units, with each watch designed to meet precise specifications set by the professional world it will enter,” explains Carlos-A Rosillo, President and Co-Founder of Bell & Ross. “That’s why we felt it was important to mark this joining of forces and celebrate the first year of our partnership with a new piece, the BR 03 Diver Tara.”
Rosella adds that for every watch sold, part of the profits will be donated to the France-based Foundation. Even the strap is built for conducting research in extreme weather with its blue woven rubber lined with an ultra-resistant technical material, all held to the wrist with a steel pin buckle.
“The Tara teams on board the schooner, and even at the North Pole in the near future, will be required to dive on a regular basis,” explains Romain Troublé, general director of the Tara Ocean Foundation.
Since it first launched, Zenith’s Chronomaster Sport has seen a variety of cases, dials, sizes and colors. Today, Zenith is releasing a collaboration on a new Chronomaster Sport with brand ambassador Aaron Rodgers, four-time NFL MVP and future football Hall of Fame quarterback.
The new Zenith Chronometer Sport developed with Aaron Rodgers.
Taking on the New York Jets team color, “Gotham” Green (pantone – PMS 7484 C), Zenith’s newest member of the Chronomaster Sport series keeps all the quality points and construction of its 41mm predecessors – this time in the affiliated garb of the brand’s favorite pigskin protagonist.
The El Primero Striking Tenth, which Zenith debuted in 2011, elevated the chronograph function to a logical zenith in human-actuated interval timekeeping. Zenith did this by taking the already high-speed El Primero movement beating at ten beats per second and adding a center chronograph seconds hand that moves along in 1/10th seconds intervals when actuated.
This finite timing, which breaks the second into tenths, is really at the very peak of human reaction time and represents both technical prowess and logical functionality. Of course there are mechanical watches that divide the second into hundredths, or even thousands, but when the best human reaction times to stimuli are at about .15 seconds, dividing the second into such small increments is more an example of technical achievement than actual useful functionality.
In addition to sporting the Gotham Green dial and bezel, this limited edition also has Aaron Rodgers’ logo engraved on the sapphire crystal back. Price: $12,800.
British watchmaker Bremont updates its Supermarine GMT dive watch collection of 40mm steel watches with a trio of models now featuring a 24-hour GMT bezel with an inner 60-minute scale, all presented with new colors and updated hand designs.
One of three updated Bremont Supermarine S302 models.
The new Supermarine S302 emphasizes its GMT mode on the bezel, and as a result we see a new model with a very cool bi-color blue and green aluminum 24-hour unidirectional rotating bezel.
A second model, a limited edition Supermarine Ocean chronometer (and boasting its chronometer rating on the dial) offers a sharp-looking grey-dial with blue SuperLuminova indexes.
A second update, the Supermarine Ocean, is a limited edition of 400.
Look for new blue SuperLumiNova coating on indexes and hands and a contrasting green hue applied to the GMT hands on the debuts. All the new S302 models are also outfitted with an automatic GMT (ETA-based) movement with 50-hour power reserve and a date display. All are also water resistant to 300 meters.
A third model in all-black livery, the S302 Jet edition, is cased in black DLC complemented by a black ceramic unidirectional rotating bezel and a sandblasted black dial.
The Bremont Supermarine Jet.
Upcoming Debuts
New CEO Davide Cerrato explains that the update to the Jet edition is “just a little bit sexier,” than existing all-black Jet editions, hinting at further debuts later this year.
“In November, we will arrive with some new additions of the 500-meter Supermarine models,” he explains. “We are focusing on adventure inspiration. This revolves around the idea that nothing is impossible. And we use explorers and adventurers to back this up,” he adds.
One of those adventurers is marine biologist Ocean Ramsey and her partner Juan Oliphant. Both will wear the new grey-dialed Supermarine Ocean (limited to 400 pieces) during their aquatic research on sharks and on turtle conservation. Bremont is donating a percentage of proceeds from all Supermarine Ocean watch sales to the ocean conservation charity Save the Turtles International.
Prices: Supermarine S302 Blue-Green: Strap: $3,750 (rubber or brown vintage leather strap) and $4,200 (bracelet),
Supermarine S302 GMT Jet: $4,250 (vintage leather or rubber),
Supermarine S302 Ocean Limited: $4,000 (rubber or brown vintage leather strap) and $4,450 (bracelet).
Ten years ago, business partners RT Custer and Tyler Wolfe created something new out of something old and brought the Vortic watch brand to life. Housing refurbished vintage American pocket watch movements into wristwatch cases crafted in the United States was a novel idea that brought renewed interest in an America’s watchmaking heritage, while simultaneously creating watches that could legitimately be called Made In the USA.
Successfully launched on Kickstarter, the Colorado Watch Company is following the founding duo’s desire to build watches in the USA – in this case with a modern movement and the ability to scale from hundreds of watches per year to thousands.
Colorado Watch Company Field Watch Prototype, pictured in four options.
“For us, Colorado Watch Company represents our desire to continue to do big, exciting things,” says RT Custer. “We know how to make hundreds of watches in America, and have been doing it with Vortic for nearly a decade. But what about thousands? What if we could create dozens of jobs, not just a handful? Colorado Watch Company represents our American Dream, and we like to dream big!”
As part of this expansion, the partners have relocated to a new facility in Fort Collins Colorado, and invested substantially in a series of machines and equipment critical to making cases and components for watches right in their own facility. Swiss lathes, five-axis CNC milling machines, automated pad printers and more have allowed the partners to take the next steps in American watchmaking.
Field Watch and GCT case machining process.
Initially, two case variations are offered; one is Tyler’s design (the 40mm Field Watch), and the other by RT (the 42mm GCT). Four variants of each are offered in total, each with two dial and two case options.
The Field Watch
At 40mm with 20mm between the lugs, the 316L stainless-steel Field Watch will comfortably fit on almost anyone’s wrist. It’s also slimmer than you might expect for an automatic watch at just 10.5mm due to the fact that the threaded case-back is recessed within the back and shaves off a couple of millimeters in height – a clever engineering solution for sure.
In the steel-case version, Colorado Watch decided to leave the subtle machining marks as a unique hallmark that adds an industrial effect while emphasizing that these cases were in fact made on-site.
The Field watch dial is machined and printed in Colorado.
Of course, these marks could be polished out and the makers could (and probably will) add different finishes in the future, but this clever bit of wabi-sabi adds an air of authenticity. DLC versions in black will not have the same effect and are polished before coating.
Field watch and GCT back view, showing FTS automatic movement.
Inside the case beats an Americhron 7020 automatic-winding movement built by FTS USA in Arizona. Shock resistant, accurate, and beating at a frequency of 28,880 bph, the 7A20 movements have a power reserve of around 40 hours and were designed by a team of watchmakers, including FTS’ own Chief Technical Officer.
FTS automatic movement, showing balance assembly.
Above the movement, the stepped dials are available in a smooth white finish or machined steel. They are also crafted in-house at Fort Collins with integrated (not welded) dial feet adding strength and security to a notorious weak spot in almost any wristwatch. BGW9 lume graces the hands and pip at 12 o’clock, while a domestically sourced sapphire crystal sits atop the case.
Even the screws and crown/stem combinations are made on site. Water resistance has been confirmed to 5atm with the non-screw-down crown, but expect a 10atm rating by the time they are delivered. Retail price is $995.
The Colorado Watch Company GCT Watch.
The GCT
Designed by RT, the GCT is slightly larger than the Field Watch at 42mm, but much more wearable than its 49mm inspiration – the original Military pocket-watch conversion that became a favorite among Vortic collectors.
In this modern homage to the original, the screw-down crown is relocated to the 12 o’clock position, while the stepped dial features Super-Luminova that recalls the colors of the aged radium look of the military original.
Like the Field watch, the GCT case is available in the raw steel version or the black DLC. Similarly, the stepped dials are available in a flat black or machined variation. The same Americhron 7A20 movement beats inside and is visible through the exhibition back in all versions.
Water resistant to 10atm when the crown is screwed down, the GCT also retains some water resistance even when the crown is in the unscrewed position thanks to a gasket system that acts as a backup for the absent-minded watch enthusiast. Retail price is $1,395.
Growing from Vortic to adding Colorado Watch Company while installing the machinery and expertise is no easy task. Neither is it easy to build an American watch manufacturer that can scale up to produce thousands of watches per year.
The GCT’s steel components.
Nevertheless, Custer and Tyler have taken another massive step in bringing watchmaking back to life in the United States and I congratulate them on their success and look forward to following their watchmaking journey wherever it may lead them in the future. Learn more at the Vortic Watches site.
A second model, a limited edition Supermarine Ocean chronometer (and boasting its chronometer rating on the dial) offers a sharp-looking grey-dial with blue SuperLuminova indexes.
Even the screws and crown/stem combinations are made on site. Water resistance has been confirmed to 5atm with the non-screw-down crown, but expect a 10atm rating by the time they are delivered. Retail price is $995.
Water resistant to 10atm when the crown is screwed down, the GCT also retains some water resistance even when the crown is in the unscrewed position thanks to a gasket system that acts as a backup for the absent-minded watch enthusiast. Retail price is $1,395.