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The Watches

Bulova Adds GMT to Oceanographer 

Bulova adds a GMT function to its vintage-style Oceanographer dive watch collection and creates three models to inaugurate the new series.

The new Oceanographer GMT retains the retro look of the existing Bulova Oceanographer ‘Devil Diver’ models, but with a new GMT hand to account for a second time zone.

One of three new Bulova Oceanographer GMT watches.

Two of the debuts feature 41mm steel cases, steel bracelets and a corresponding bi-directional rotating 24-hour bezel.

The third 41mm steel-cased model (below) comes with a rubber-strap instead of bracelet and also differs with an internal 24-hour track in place of a 24-hour bezel.

You might recall that the original 1972 Oceanographer dive watch was often called the Devil Diver when Bulova inscribed “666 feet” on the dial to note its underwater depth rating according to the Imperial system, which differed from the Swiss rating system.

Bulova revived the Devil Diver monicker several years ago within its Archive series with a hot-selling vintage-styled Oceanographer model.  

Bulova calls on a workhorse Miyota 9075 automatic movement to power the GMT hand to keep track a second time zone while also displaying the local time and date indications. The movement maintains accuracy of -10/+30 seconds per day and offers a 42-hour power reserve.

Look for three models in the new collection. One combines brown and black tones with an IP-plated rose gold tone steel case and bracelet. A second steel-cased edition features a familiar red and blue GMT design often built into dive watches as well as a matching steel bracelet.

The third Bulova Oceanographer GMT model boasts a more monochrome look with a gunmetal IP-plated case and bezel set with a full luminous white dial.

Here the unidirectional bezel offers elapsed time indication rather than the 24-hour display, which instead is seen  on the dial inside the bezel. Bulova fits the watch with a matching grey silicone textured strap.

All watches in the trio offer a screw-down crown, a double-domed box sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating and, of course, the 200 meters of water resistance as symbolized by the “666 feet” displayed on the dial, just below the excellent vintage descriptor “snorkel.”

Prices: $1,295 (luminous dial and rubber strap) and $1,395 (steel bracelet).

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On The Wrist

On The Wrist: Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate 

When Parmigiani Fleurier debuted its first set of Tonda PF watches just a few years ago, the watchmaker called the then-new series sartorial, with a look inspired by fine clothing design.

Wearing one of the earliest models to emerge from the collection, the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate, gave me a new appreciation of that reference and a clearer idea of why the description so aptly applies.

The Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate.

On the wrist the watch feels lighter than you might expect from a solid steel bracelet watch, especially one with a relatively weighty platinum bezel and a solid platinum micro-rotor. Both these flourishes of high-end watchmaking weighed more on my psyche than on my wrist.

Knowing that this rare and highly coveted element was built in to my (borrowed) timepiece conveyed a warm feeling of luxury. This is in part intended I presume, considering Parmigiani Fleurier rightfully humble brags about using platinum on and within the Tonda PF series.

Notes of the precious metal enhanced my enjoyment of the many details Parmigiani Fleurier builds into its watches. Wearing the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor for a week, I also enjoyed other built-in details, some sartorial and some technical, that added to the pleasure.

For instance, after staring at the slate-colored matte guilloché dial for some time I was delighted to realize that the date window perfectly matches the dial’s minute track. The longish hands, cut from real gold, are open-worked to nicely expose the slate dial.

The watch’s gently knurled platinum bezel reflects the ambient light and provides a distinctive yet subtle  – yes, sartorial – frame for the hands, date and dial.  

As the 40mm watch is only 7.8mm thick thanks to the space saving micro-rotor powering its automatic Caliber PF703, the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate slips easily under a long sleeve. (Note that even the newer, smaller (36mm) steel Tonda PF Automatic 36, at 8.6mm thick with a traditional full-size rotor, rests slightly higher on the wrist than this earlier example.)

Wearing the watch during a warm summer, I didn’t quite try out this particular attribute, but I’m confident that the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate would slide nicely under even a tight-fitting cuff. 

Parmigiani Fleurier updated the Tonda bracelet when introducing the new Tonda PF collection two years ago. Now wider near the bezel and narrower along the length, the bracelet is silky smooth and feels slimmer than it appears. It offers an eye-catching horizontal-satin-finished surface that perfectly echoes the upper surface of the lugs.

I enjoyed wearing the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate very much and would happily recommend it to any collector in search of a comfortable steel dress watch with loads of genuine luxury detail. Price: $22,900.

Specifications: Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Steel Slate

Movement: Automatic Caliber PF703 with platinum micro-rotor and 48-hour power reserve, 21,600 vph.

Case: 40mm by 7.8mm steel with platinum bezel, anti-reflective sapphire crystal and sapphire back. Water resistance to 100 meters. 

Dial: Slate grey Guilloché Grain d’orge, delta-shaped custom hands, rhodium plated applique markers. 

Bracelet: Steel with horizontal satin finish.

Price: $22,900. 

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The Watches

Teak Tock 

Swiss watchmaker Cvstos has been making avant-garde mechanical watches for eighteen years at workshops in the center of Geneva, with production facilities just outside the city. 

Specializing in bold, tonneau-shaped watches, Cvstos reports that it concentrates primarily on creating an “ultra-contemporary, yet sporty dimension to the most sophisticated complications.”

The Cvstos Challenge Sealiner PS.

Among the latest set of Cvstos debuts, the Challenge Sealiner PS certainly embodies all those descriptions. At 41mm by 54mm, the watch’s impressive sapphire case is endowed with a non-reflective coating on both sides and is affixed with specialized Cvstos polished titanium screws.

And while the sapphire case allows a clear view of the movement from the back, it’s the teak dial that really sets the watch apart from other nautically themed models.

Just below the stylized luminous hands (including a very cool propeller-shaped small-seconds hand) lies a teak-wood plate, echoing the woodwork found on many an ocean-cruising yacht.

Additional Challenge models include examples with colorful sapphires set in titanium framing the teak plate.

Cvstos will make twenty-five examples of the Challenge Sealiner PS with orange or turquoise dial and crown accents and matching rubber strap.  Price: $49,500. 

Specifications: Cvstos Challenge Sealiner PS

 (A limited edition of 25 in each of two colors) 

Case: Tonneau-shaped 53.7 x 41 mm sapphire crystal with non-reflective coating on both sides.

Caseback is open with sapphire crystal. Crown is screw-down with polished titanium Grade 5 or 5N rose gold rubber insert. Polished titanium (grade 5) screws in exclusive pattern.

Dial: Teak wood plate, rhodium-plated or golden decorative applique polished with Côte de Genève finish. Colorful sapphire indexes and Super-Luminova treated hands.

Movement: Skeletonized Cvstos CVS410, self-winding mechanical with 42-hour power reserve. 

Bracelet/Strap: Rubber, alligator leather or Alcantara with folding clasp.

Price: $49,500. 

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The Watches

Bell & Ross Adds Smaller BR 03 Models

Bell & Ross introduces a new size to its BR 03 ‘circle-within-a square’ series, adding six models with a 41mm square case size.

Among the debuts is this model with an attractive copper dial, achieved through a galvanization process and enhanced by engraved black numerals and indexes.

Smaller by 1mm, watches in the new series also include a slimmer strap, narrower lug distance (from 4.5mm to 4.0mm) and a new automatic movement, BR-CAL.302, a Sellita-based caliber with an extended power reserve of fifty-four hours. All remain water resistant to 100 meters.

For the first time Bell & Ross combines a matte black ceramic case with a khaki dial on this new BR 03 Military Ceramic.

“With the new BR03, we modified the proportions of the collection by respecting its canons,” explains Bruno Belamich, Bell & Ross’ co-founder and Creative Director. “Our goal was to preserve the identity that has made the BR03 so successful, while adapting it to the new times and maintaining its allure.”

Look for three new models in a black case: Black Matte, Phantom and Heritage, as well as three new versions in polished steel – Black Steel, Blue Steel and Golden Heritage.

The latter feature truly retro black, blue and brown dials. Among the debuts is a models sporting a distinctive new copper dial model and another in a sharp-looking khaki-colored ceramic case.

Prices: $3,600 to $4,300.

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Featured Events

Only Watch 2023 Favorites: Bell & Ross  

We continue to highlight a few of our favorite watches from among the more than sixty watchmakers that have created timepieces for the Only Watch charity auction, which commences Sunday, November 5, in Geneva. Christie’s will auction these incredible one-of-a-kind watches to raise funds that benefit research in the battle against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

While you may have seen a few of the watches set for auction earlier this year when Only Watch announced them, we thought you’d enjoy seeing many of these impressive designs again just ahead of the event.

The watches are currently touring the globe. After concluding their U.S. visit at Christie’s in New York on September 17, the tour will visit Monaco next, followed by stops in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai and back in Geneva. See the Only Watch website for tour dates and details. 

The Bell & Ross BR 03 Cyber Rainbow.

In this post we highlight the BR 03 Cyber Rainbow, the Bell & Ross entry to Only Watch 2023. The colorful model is a new take on the watchmaker’s own Cyber concept series, 

It offers a black DLC case measuring 42mm x 43.7mm and a full 3D skeleton movement with an oscillating weight with bridges made from DLC micro-blasted metal.

The movement is suspended by bridges filled with colorful varnish; the watch’s micro-blasted metal hands are enhanced with white SuperLuminova. All indices are metalized inside the sapphire.

Bell & Ross has even colorized the rubber strap using varnish, resulting in an eye-catching mosaic pattern. 

Estimate: CHF 45,000 -CHF 55,000.

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