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The Watches

Porsche Design Celebrates the Rennsport Reunion 

To celebrate the upcoming Porsche Rennsport Reunion, slated to begin later this year (on September 28) at Leguna Seca in California, Porsche Design launches a U.S. limited edition watch: the Chronograph 1 – Rennsport Reunion 7 Edition.

The new Porsche Design the Chronograph 1 – Rennsport Reunion 7 Edition.

As an enhanced edition of the famed Porsche Design Chronograph 1 from 1972, the watch retains the original’s pioneering black livery. But instead of the original’s PVD steel case, the new models are forged using a more scratch-resistant titanium carbide case. But the revived watch still enthralls with same matte black dial, red chronograph seconds hand and 41mm case size as the original.

For this special edition, Porsche Design engraves a ‘7’ on the strap to celebrate the seventh Porsche Rennsport Reunion. 

Turn the watch over to see more commemorative markings, including a platinum-colored winding rotor in the form of the RS Spyder wheel rim with a colorful Porsche Crest (used exclusively for this edition). The rotor winds the superb COSC-certified Porsche Design caliber WERK 01.140.

Porsche Design offers customers two bracelets with this commemorative watch. Buyers receive a classic black titanium bracelet and the sporty black leather strap with stitching and Race-Tex in blue (and the embossed “7”). Porsche Design makes its strap materials from originals used in the interiors of Porsche sports cars.

The Porsche Design Chronograph 1 – Rennsport Reunion 7 Edition is priced at $12,500 and is limited to seventy-five pieces in celebration of 75th anniversary of Porsche. 

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Bremont Celebrates Coronation With Commemorative MBII

To celebrate tomorrow’s coronation of King Charles III, British watchmaker Bremont has launched the MBII King Charles III, a commemorative watch within the brand’s military MBII “Martin Baker’ series.

The new Bremont MBII King Charles III.

Offered as a limited edition of fifty, the new 42mm steel watch (available through Bremont boutiques and the Bremont website) makes its allegiance clear with a stainless steel closed caseback nicely engraved with the official King Charles III Coronation Emblem.

A long-time supplier of specialized watches to numerous branches of the British military, Bremont previously also supplied a watch to royalty. In 2011 Bremont supplied a pocket watch to Prince Philipe as part of the celebrations for the late Queen’s Jubilee. Bremont was also commissioned by Jaguar to create bespoke car clocks for Queen Elizabeth II’s fleet of Jaguar automobiles.

Bremont maintains a classic livery for the MBII King Charles III watch, offering a tasteful white dial with luminescent hands and date display.

The only nod to royalty on the dial is the regal purple seconds hand. Inside Bremont fits its ETA-based, chronometer-rated Caliber 11 1/2’’’ BE-36AE automatic movement.

Bremont will also include a commemorative coin with the MBII King Charles III watch. The coin will also be included with any non-customized Bremont watch purchased in the near term and while coin supplies last.

Bremont explains that the coin is inspired by the concept of a traditional military challenge coin and features the official Coronation Emblem of HM King Charles III.

Price: $4,995. 

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The Watches

Hublot’s Spirit of Big Bang Sang Bleu Enhances Artistic Series

Hublot’s new Spirit of Big Bang Sang Bleu watches, with highly faceted crystals and multi-level, sectional cases, underscore the watchmaker’s ongoing creative collaboration with tattoo artist Maxime Plescia-Buchi and his Sang Bleu design house.

One of five new Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Sang Bleu models. Watches are offered in King Gold (above), titanium or black ceramic.

The existing series, first introduced in 2016, is now available in the barrel-shaped Spirit of Big Bang case and with newly elongated and bevelled features.

Geometric tattoos alternate and overlap from the case to the bezel. The series revels in new triangles and a multiplicity of case finishes that, while unorthodox within Swiss watchmaking, again demonstrates Hublot’s ability to nurture and sustain a serious artistic partnership.

While elongated, the cases here still fit the wrist nicely thanks to carefully arched caseback and back crystal.

Hublot exposes portions of its HUB4700 automatic skeleton chronograph movement through angular disc hands that echo the shape of all Hublot’s Sang Bleu designs. Through the clear caseback you’ll see an impressively skeletonized Sang Bleu rotor.

The new Spirit of Big Bang Sang Bleu watches, each 42mm in diameter across a barrel-shaped case, offer their angularity in three different case materials, with two of the options also enhanced with a choice of diamond-set cases.

Hublot will offer 200 watches in either titanium or all black ceramic and 100 examples in King Gold. In addition, two titanium and King Gold models are each set with 180 diamonds.

Prices: $28,300 (titanium) to $70,400 (King Gold with diamonds).  

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MeisterSinger Polishes White-Dial Basics

MeisterSinger launches three of its bedrock one-hand designs with new, highly polished white dials, golden numerals and blue hour markers. The watches, MeisterSinger No. 01, MeisterSinger No. 03 and the Perigraph (with date indication) remain in their traditional 43mm stainless steel cases under domed sapphire crystals.

MeisterSinger No.01.

MeisterSinger’s watches focus on one-hand time displays. The relatively young German-based watchmaker offers a leisurely option for displaying time, producing a wide range of watches featuring one hand that rotates over combined hour and minute markings around the dial – essentially echoing dials on many pre-eighteenth-century clocks.

MeisterSinger No. 03.

MeisterSinger’s top-selling models, the manual-wind No. 01 and its sister model, the automatic No. 03, are among the most basic within the watchmaker’s collection, with easy-to-read hour markers separated by clearly defined five-minute markers.

The MeisterSinger Perigraph.

And while Meistersinger has added various displays and colors to its Perigraph model over the years, this edition simply shows the date via an exposed, rotating date ring.

The No. 01 model features a decorated solid caseback.

MeisterSinger powers each model with a modified Sellita movement. On the No. 3 and the Perigraph, the automatic movement is visible through the watch’s sapphire caseback. The No. 01 model features a decorated, solid back.  

Back view of MeisterSinger No. 03.

 

MeisterSinger has added a wide range of calendar displays and several handsome moonphase models to its collections, but all retain the single-handed design found in the No 01 model.

“Luckily, I soon realized that the basic design elements of the № 01 need to be maintained in every model of the collection – no matter what complication it may have,” explains MeisterSinger founder Manfred Brassler.

   

Prices: 1,690 euros (No. 01, manual-wind), 1,990 euros (No. 03, automatic) and 2,190 euros (Perigraph, automatic). 

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Reservoir Launches ‘Black Sparrow’ Pilot Tribute

Reservoir pays tribute to Eugene Bullard, an African-American pilot who fought for France during World War I, with the new Reservoir Black Sparrow, the latest model in the French watchmaker’s retrograde minute, jump hour collection.

The new Reservoir Black Sparrow, here in a black PVD case.

The U.S.-born Bullard carried out around twenty aerial combat missions during WW1 and was described as a “true French hero” by Général de Gaulle, earning the nickname “The Black Sparrow of Death”.

Eugene Jacques Bullard, the first African American combat pilot, who fought for France in WWI.

Reservoir designed the Black Sparrow’s dials to recall the colors and styles of WWI cockpits, which collectors may also recognize from early 20th century pilot watches.

 

All maintain the Reservoir jump hour dial layout, which indicates minutes via a large hand sweeping 240-degrees across the dial and jumping back to restart each hour. Hours are shown digitally in the aperture at the 6 o’clock position.

The launch encompasses a new 42mm steel or black PVD case and black or sand-colored dials with Art Nouveau-inspired luminescent numerals. Reservoir mounts these on a black or brown Barenia leather strap.

All the debuts picture a propeller and wings laser-printed onto the watch’s clear sapphire caseback.  Reservoir explains that the propeller and wings is a popular military insignia used to identify various aviation-related military units especially the French Aeronautique Militaire.

Through that back you’ll see the Reservoir Caliber RSV-240, the watchmaker’s latest update of its signature jump-hour movement.

Introduced last year, the caliber is made in association with the Swiss engine manufacture TELOS. The automatic caliber makes use of a La Joux-Perret LJP-G100 base with a proprietary 113-piece module. With the new Caliber RSV-240, power reserve jumps to an impressive fifty-six hours

Price: $3,800.

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