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A Black Tie Timex

By Gary Girdvainis

Giorgio Galli’s CV includes over thirty years in the watch industry with designs and collaborations with numerous brands we all recognize. Today, as the creative director at Timex, Galli has launched a design that is so pure and elegant that it demands our attention.

The new Timex Giorgio Galli S2.

The eponymous release is called the GG(Giorgio Galli) S2 and it takes the Timex brand into new realms of movements, price-points, and unfettered design. 

The black dial with the notched metal ring is subtly elegant without the clamor of ostentation or affectation. Upon closer inspection, the attention to detail comes to light in the multi-faceted hour and minute hands.

To my eye the flat hands typical of so many affordable watches falls flat on me. When beveled, watch hands capture and reflect light, not only making the watches easier to read on a black background, but also adding a depth and panache to any watch in which they are installed.

Galli also made the right choice to eschew the date function on this watch. No-doubt the purity of this design would have been deflated by any distractions on this austere dial.

From the back you’ll note that rather than a threaded case-back Galli opted for a back held in place with six-screws. While it is more difficult to get higher levels of water resistance in this type of construction, it does look good to the eye and has the advantage of always having the case back oriented in the vertical position. Still, the GGS2 is water resistant to 50 meters, which is more than sufficient for a dress watch of this type.

The GGS2 also represents a new price point for Timex and is effectively double the cost of the nearest Timex I could find on the company’s website. Having said that, there is a lot of watch for the money embedded in this design.

The Swiss-made watch houses a Sellita SW 200 automatic winding mechanical movement, combines injection molded steel and titanium into the perfectly proportioned 38mm case, and features flat sapphire crystals front and back. Add to that a solid steel deployant buckle and a chemical resistant nitrile rubber strap and you end up with a lot of watch for $975. 

To Timex and Giorgio Galli I say bravo for creating the Black Tie(mex), a watch retailing for under $1,000 that would look right at home at any black tie affair.

Giorgio Galli wearing the watch he designed.
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The Watches

Hublot Unico Sky Blue Celebrates Summer 

Hublot celebrates the remainder of summer with the Big Bang Unico Sky Blue 42 mm, a new Big Bang model cased in light blue ceramic with a matching ceramic bezel and two matching straps.

The new Hublot Big Bang Unico Sky Blue 42.

As a ceramic-case pioneer, Hublot has created watches with myriad ceramic case colors, offering the lightweight, scratch-resistant material throughout its collections, and especially within the wide ranging Big Bang series.

While we’ve seen the light blue hue on a full ceramic model with a matching ceramic bracelet, this summer-themed edition of the Big Bang Unico sheds the bracelet and arrives with two straps instead.

Hublot’s emblematic six bezel screws contrast nicely against the blue ceramic bezel.

One is a white Velcro strap with a sports fastener and the second is a white and light blue lined natural rubber strap with a titanium deployant buckle.

The watch’s open dial reveals Hublot’s automatic HUB1280 caliber, a self-winding chronograph movement with a 72-hour power reserve. The movement’s gearing, date wheel and even its column wheel are fully visible from the dial, while its rotor, finished plates and escapement are visible through the watch’s sapphire back.

Hublot will make the the Big Bang Unico Sky Blue 42mm as a limited edition of 200 pieces.

Price: $23,800.

Specifications: Hublot Big Bang Unico Sky Blue 42 

(441.EX.5120.RX, limited to 200 pieces) 

Case: 42mm by 14.5mm light blue ceramic, polished and satin-finished with 100 meters of water resistance. Light blue ceramic and polished caseback. Light blue polished and satin-finished ceramic bezel. 

Movement: HUB1280 Unico Manufacture, automatic chronograph with 72-hour power reserve.  

Dial: Light blue, matte finish atop skeletonized design.  

Strap:  First strap: light blue and white lined rubber. Additional strap: white calfskin leather with Velcro fastener and light blue ceramic buckle. 

Price: $23,800.

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The Watches

Chronoswiss Adds Purple Mystery to Open Gear ReSec Series

Chronoswiss expands its Open Gear ReSec collection with the purple-and-black-dialed Open Gear ReSec Voodoo.

The new Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Voodoo.

Meant to recall “ancient Voodoo rituals” the hand-cut guilloche dial is both dark and somewhat mysterious thanks to both its color and its multi-layer, regulator-style dial layout.

Named for its premier function (ReSec stands for Retrograde Seconds), the watch’s jumping seconds hand operates in a half-circle, leaping from the thirty seconds position back to start its arc to complete counting each minute.

The Open Gear design displays off-center hours (at 12 o’clock position) and a large central minutes hand in addition to the retrograde seconds display at the 6 o’clock position.

In addition to the regulator layout, the Open Gear ReSec Voodoo features all the expected Chronoswiss design codes, including a three-dimensional dial, an onion crown and a fluted bezel.

The watch’s case measures 44mm by 13.35mm and is coated with black DLC that Chronoswiss then decorates with a matte and vertical satin finish.

Here, Chronoswiss allows the viewer to penetrate the dark dial with extra bright Super-LumiNova pillars and an unusual luminous strap, both of which combine to add spooky allure to the limited edition model.

Chronoswiss creates its One Gear ReSec series with its caliber C. 301, an automatic movement built using an in-house jumping seconds module atop a sturdy ETA 2892 caliber.

Chronoswiss then coats the Open Gear ReSec Voodoo rotor purple to match the dial. The full movement is nicely decorated with Côtes de Genève, a polished pallet lever, escape wheel and screws and perlage-finished bridges and plates.

Chronoswiss will make fifty Open Gear ReSec Voodoo watches, each priced at $12,500.

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The Watches

Breitling Launches Limited Edition Navitimer 

Breitling introduces the Navitimer B01 Chronograph 46 U.S. Limited Edition, a small series production version of its classic Navitimer aviation watch.

The new Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 46 U.S. Limited Edition.

The watch melds the classic Navitimer details, including a circular slide rule, baton indexes, three chronograph counters and notched bezel, with a modern slim case profile and a Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01, a COSC-certified chronometer movement. The movement provides an extra-long seventy hours of power reserve.

The watch combines a sharp-looking dark slate dial with black sub-dials and red accents, all within a 46mm stainless steel case and rose gold bezel.

Collectors will recall that Willy Breitling developed the “navigation timer”—or Navitimer—in 1952 as a wrist-worn chronograph with a circular slide rule that would allow pilots to perform all necessary flight calculations.

In 1954 the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association named the watch as its official timepiece, which is why the association’s winged logo was emblazoned at 12 o’clock. This model features that logo back at the same position. 

Breitling will produce the new watch in the limited quantity of 300 pieces specially for the United States market.

Price: $11,900.

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The Watches

Oris Backs Conservation With New Aquis  

Oris underscores its collaboration with the European environmental conservation organization Common Wadden Sea Secretariat with the Dat Watt Limited Edition II, a green-dialed Aquis dive watch.

The new Oris Dat Watt Limited Edition II.

The watch is the second Oris has created to emphasize its backing of the group’s conservation work for the Wadden Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site along the coast of Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. 

Inspired by the shimmering green hue of the Wadden Sea’s salt marshes, Oris added a light green dial to the Aquis model.

As a true dive watch, the 43.5mm steel-cased Dat Watt Limited Edition II is water-resistant to 300 meters and features a uni-directional rotating bezel with a minutes scale on a grey tungsten bezel insert. In addition, the dive specs also include a screw-down security crown with a protector, and luminous hands and indexes.

Oris also equips each watch with a with a blue rubber strap and a three-link stainless steel metal bracelet. Both are set with a safety clasp and an extension system that allows the watch to be easily worn over a wetsuit.

Oris fits the watch with its automatic Sellita-based Caliber 743. The movement powers the hands, which includes a small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock and an unusual circular date function.

The dial hue is inspired by color of salt marshes. Note the unusual circular calendar.

The independent watchmaker is offering 2,009 pieces of the new Oris Dat Watt Limited Edition II. The limited-edition figure signifies the year the Wadden Sea was awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

Price: $3,200. 

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