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Grand Seiko Looks Ahead to Spring With Hi-Beat Debuts 

Grand Seiko drops the case diameter of its 62GS Heritage Collection offerings to 38mm for two new seasonal Hi-Beat 36000 debuts.

One, the SBGH341 “Sakura-Kakushi” (hiding cherry blossoms) features a pink dial inspired by Shunbun, which is the vernal equinox of late March.

The new Grand Seiko SBGH341 “Sakura-Kakushi”

Its colors echo the effect of snow as it covers blooming cherry blossoms of the Tohoku region.

The new Grand Seiko SBGH343 Sakura-Wakaba.

The second debut, the SBGH343 Sakura-Wakaba, is inspired by the Seimei season of early April with its patterned green dial that blends cherry blossom hues and the colors of young leaves.

Both offer a 38mm 62GS titanium case finished by Grand Seiko artisans to the high standards of Zaratsu polishing. Each also is attached to the wrist with a beautifully finished ‘high-intensity’ titanium bracelet secured by a three-fold clasp.

Inside each watch Grand Seiko fits its highly-touted Hi-Beat 36000 9S85 Caliber, calibrated to deliver +5 to -3 seconds of accuracy per day with an impressive fifty-five hours of power reserve.

Like all the Heritage models in this collection, you’ll find extra-strong anti-magnetic protection (to 4,800 A/m) and water resistance to 100 meters.

Price: $7,300.

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The Watches

Girard-Perregaux Adds Meteorite to Bridge Series

Girard-Perregaux expands its Bridges collection with a celestial twist. The new Free Bridge Meteorite features a central bridge framed by fragments from the asteroid belt.

The new Girard-Perregaux Free Bridge Meteorite.

As each slice of the Gibeon meteorite (discovered in Namibia) displays a slightly different Widmanstätten pattern, each dial is unique.

With its inverted movement, the watch displays its bridges at the front of the watch. This dial symmetry nicely echoes historic (and award-winning) Girard-Perregaux Three Gold Bridges pocket watches, but with a modern treatment.

Skeletonized hands sit atop a bridge that straddles the visible gear train wheels. The open-worked approach continues with a see-through spring barrel at the top of the dial. 

The meteorite pieces here are made of an iron-nickel alloy with small amounts of cobalt and phosphorous, and along with their Widmanstätten patterned lines, create a nicely contrasting tone on the bridged dial.

To create the namesake meteorite dial decor, Girard-Perregaux artisans first slice the meteorite. After machining them into the correct shape, the slices are then pierced with two holes to accommodate two functional and decorative screws. Each plate is then rhodium-plated to protect the iron-rich meteorite, inhibiting corrosion.

Girard-Perregaux polishes the watch’s 44mm stainless steel case with a blend of polished and satin-finished surfaces.

Inside the Free Bridge Meteorite the watchmaker fits its superb caliber GP01800-2085, a self-winding movement equipped with silicon components. 

Price: $25,700.

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The Watches

Bell & Ross Adds Green to Bronze Diver

Bell & Ross expands its bronze-cased offerings with the new BR 03-92 Diver Black & Green Bronze, the latest model in the watchmaker’s dive collection.

The new Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Diver Black & Green Bronze.

Boasting a color that might recall recent green-dial additions to the above-ground BR 05 collection, the new watch’s dial appears as a subdued matte green rather than the glossy green of those earlier land-based examples.

Bell & Ross teams the green dial with a bronze case that fits perfectly within  existing bronze-cased offerings in this collection. Last year the watchmaker  launched one new model in bronze, and a year earlier we saw the debut of two bronze-cased BR 03 Dive models.

Bronze cases are valued by many collectors for their ability to display the results of oxidation, a process that creates an individualized brownish, reddish or green patina pattern on each watch. Bronze is also an alloy of choice on sailing boat fittings. As Bell & Ross notes, “bronze gives watches extra soul and puts the wearer in touch with nature.”

As with all Bell & Ross dive watches, the new BR 03-92 Diver Black & Green Bronze is built to meet international standard ISO-6425, which states that a “diving watch” is a watch that must withstand immersion in water to a depth of at least 100 meters and have a highly visible time control system, among many other dive-ready specs.

Bell & Ross employs its automatic BR-CAL.302 movement (based on Sellita SW300-1) that beats at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations/hour and guarantees a 54-hour power reserve.

Protecting the movement, the solid steel caseback has been engraved with an image of a vintage bronze diver’s helmet. Bell & Ross attached the case to a black rubber strap with ‘ultra-resilient’ black synthetic fabric. 

Price: $4,900 (limited edition of 999 pieces).

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The Watches

Hublot and Depeche Mode Team for Charities

Hublot teams once again with the British band Depeche Mode, launching the new Spirit of Big Bang Depeche Mode watch in support of a new album, a world tour and to raise funds for several charities.

The new the new Spirit of Big Bang Depeche Mode watch.

The new watch, a limited-edition Spirit of Big Bang 42mm tonneau-shaped black ceramic watch, depicts a skull-and-hourglass motif on its dial.

The Swiss watchmaker first partnered with the band fourteen years ago to raise awareness and funds for environmental and humanitarian causes. Since that time, the ongoing partnership has raised more than $2.3 million for the Teenage Cancer Trust and Charity:Water.

With the new watches, Hublot is assisting the band as it raises funds and awareness for Conservation Collective, a global charity that unites a network of regional philanthropic foundations working to protect, conserve and restore natural environments.

Taking a cue from the title of the new Depeche Model release called Memento Mori, Latin for ‘remember you must die’ and intended to prompt reflection on the transience of life, Hublot filled portions of the dial’s skull design with small black ceramic spheres that symbolically flow back and forth as the wrist moves.

Depeche Mode initials DM appear at the bottom of the dial while the indexes are pyramid-shaped studs made to mimic the pattern Hublot has etched the watch’s black ceramic bezel. The caseback, pictured above, offers logos of the band and of the Conservation Collective.

Hublot’s Spirit of Big Bang case measures 42 mm across and is constructed of sand-blasted and polished black ceramic. Inside Hublot fits its superb automatic HUB1710SD movement with a 50-hour power reserve.

For this model Hublot offers two straps, each interchangeable. One strap is made of Velcro and recycled materials to echo the Conservation Collective’s plastic pollution initiatives.

The second, a ‘rock and roll’ strap (pictured below), is made of black rubber with a black titanium folding clasp and the same pyramid-shaped studs seen on the bezel and dial.

Each watch in this 100-piece limited edition is shipped with a 10” vinyl single of Depeche Mode’s 2023 song Wagging Tongue. The single, produced using green energy and recycled PVC, is only available as part of this package.

Price: $34,100. 

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The Watches

Zenith Launches Titanium Chronomaster Sport 

Zenith launches its lightest Chronometer Sport with the new Chronomaster Sport Titanium, the latest model in the much-heralded collection powered by the Zenith El Primero 3600 high-speed automatic chronograph movement.

The new Zenith Chronomaster Sport Titanium.

In addition to using lightweight titanium to construct the 41mm case and bracelet, Zenith also offers the watch paired with an all-new integrated rubber strap design, an option that further reduces the watch’s overall weight.

In order to emphasize the new case-metal, which reduces the overall weight of the watch by thirty percent, Zenith artisans have given the new watch a largely satin-brushed finish, notably on the crown and pushers. Also differing from existing steel models, the titanium bezel, with its 1/10th-of-a-second scale, is finished with a sunburst satin-brushed decor. Similarly, Zenith polishes the edges of both the case and bracelet, the rim of the bezel and the back.

And since the new titanium casts a largely grey tone to the case, Zenith has added shades of grey to the Chronometer’s well-known tricolor sub-dials. Thus, amid the galvanic nickel-grey hue dial Zenith colors the chronograph counters in three different tones of anthracite, grey and silver.

The new strap options, available in black, blue, green and white, are made using supple FKM rubber, which Zenith calls the “gold standard of rubber.” As usual, you’ll have an unobstructed view of the El Primero 3600, with its blue column wheel, open-work rotor and Zenith star logo.

Price: $11,800 on titanium bracelet or $11,300 on new FKM rubber strap in a choice of black, blue, green or white.  

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