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Porsche Design Revives Military Chronograph 

Porsche Design revives a late-1970s military flyback chronograph with the new Chronograph 1 Utility – Limited Edition, the watchmaker’s first titanium carbide chronograph not connected to a specific Porsche sports car.

The new Porsche Design Chronograph 1 Utility – Limited Edition.

By making the new watch using a titanium carbide case instead of a steel case like the original model, Porsche Design makes the chronograph’s case more scratch-resistant, much lighter and hypoallergenic.

But by remaking the matte black dial and using same easy-to-read font of the original, the watchmaker has created a technically updated ode to that 1979 design. 

While the dial of the historical model (which was made for the flying squadron of the U.S. Air Force) featured a tiger’s head, the new watch offers a screaming marmot image between 4 o’clock and 5 o’clock.

The “Mankei” (marmot) name on the dial also refers to the Mankeiwirt, Ferdi Porsche’s newly opened destination for car enthusiasts located near Studio F. A. Porsche in Zell am See, Austria. 

In addition to the font and technical features, the Chronograph 1 Utility – Limited Edition also pays homage to its historical model in several other ways. 

A new “TiC” logo is placed in the characteristic position between 1 and 2 o’clock on the dial referencing the use of titanium carbide, and is a modern reinterpretation of the 3H symbol (for tritium) of the military model. Tritium is here replaced by bright blue SuperLuminova.

The watch also features the historic Porsche Design logo on the dial and winding crown. Two dots on the dial at 12 o’clock provide a clear orientation of the displays in the dark.

The new watch (right) with the original model from 1979.

There are few differences of course, most critically the new movement and the larger case size. Originally 38mm, the new watch measures 42.7mm in diameter.

The watch is powered by a COSC-certified Porsche Design WERK 01.240 chronograph caliber that retains the flyback function of the original watch.

The back of the the new Chronograph 1 Utility – Limited Edition, showing the aviation style leather strap.

Also new: a thicker seconds hand and a larger minute hand.

Porsche Design attaches the new watch to a slate grey ‘Bund’ strap made of Porsche vehicle leather with a quick-release mechanism. As an additional option, the chronograph also comes with a white textile strap with a badge on which the coordinates of the F.A.T. Ice Race are printed.

The watch also comes with a white textile strap with a badge on which the coordinates of the F.A.T. Ice Race are printed.

Collectors can pre-order the Porsche Design Chronograph 1 Utility – Limited Edition now for $13,000. The watch will be available in stores starting January 15, 2024.

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Chronoswiss Launches Titanium Opus

Chronoswiss lightens its groundbreaking Opus skeletonized chronograph with the new Opus Chronograph Titanium, a modernized update of the original Opus, a watch Chronoswiss introduced in 1995 as one of the first serially-produced automatic skeletonized chronographs.

The new Chronoswiss Opus Chronograph Titanium, also available with green accents.

It’s hard to overstate the influence of the original Opus, which graced watch publications (including this one) and collector wrists worldwide in the years after its debut. Its transparency exposed a new generation of aficionados to the artistry and technical beauty of mechanical watchmaking.

The industry saw a general uptick in skeleton-dialed debuts from a wide range of watchmakers for years following the Opus debut.

Chronoswiss is now offering a contemporary take on the classic Opus design, casing two variations in grade-5 titanium.

The same levers, gears and cams remain as visible as ever here, with Chronoswiss adding a CVD-coating to the watch’s caliber C.741S, an ETA Valjoux-based integrated chronograph movement.

With galvanic black skeletonized bridges, the movement retains its mesmerizing allure to enthusiasts while adding a stealthy modern twist. Look for two color options, green and blue, each of which frame and complement the movement’s web of blackened and CVD-coated gears and levers. (See specifications below).

Offered in steel within the current Chronoswiss collection, the modern Opus Chronograph has not previously been made using a titanium case with the exception of a customized thirty-piece collection created with the Singapore-based Grail Watch.

“The new Opus Titanium arrives just in time to mark our 40th anniversary,” explains Oliver Epstein, CEO of Lucern-based Chronoswiss. “This watch is not just a product; it’s a statement of our relentless pursuit of innovation and our respect for tradition.”

Price: $14,500. 

Specifications: Chronoswiss Opus Chronograph Titanium

(References CH-7543T.1S-BL2 and CH7543T.1S-DGR) 

Case: 41mm by 14.80mm, solid 23 pieces, grade-5 titanium, with satin finish and polished, bezel with partial knurling and curved, double coated anti-reflective sapphire crystal, screw-down case back with satin finish and sapphire crystal, onion crown, water resistance to 100 meters, screw-in lugs with patented Auto bloc system. 

Movement: Chronoswiss Caliber C.741S, automatic (ETA Valjoux-based), skeletonized, 4 Hz., 28,800 vph, power reserve of 46 hours, skeletonized and CVD-plated rotor with Côtes de Genève, ball bearings; polished pallet lever, escape wheel and screws; skeletonized bridges and base plate with perlage, galvanic black.

Dial: Skeletonized, blue or green CVD-coated matte finish, Breguet lozenge-shaped hands, rhodium plated. 

Strap: Textile cordura. 

Price: $14,500

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TAG Heuer Introduces Monaco Chronograph Night Driver 

TAG Heuer brightens up the dial of its legendary Monaco with the new Monaco Chronograph Night Driver, a 600-piece limited-edition titanium-cased Monaco with a fully luminescent dial.

The new TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph Night Driver.

The watchmaker takes full advantage of the Monaco’s two-piece dial construction to create an impressive light show. Designers have added dark gray SuperLuminova to the circle at the center of the dial in order to contrast with the bright hour dots and the blue SuperLuminova hour, minute, and chronograph seconds hand. The dial even incudes brightened minute/seconds hash-marks.

TAG Heuer notes that it was inspired by the midnight blue, charcoal grey and matte black dials of vintage Monacos when designing this new model.

The outside portion of the dial becomes vivid blue at night as the black-lacquered indexes mark the hours. That same blue appears within the chronograph registers, again contrasting with the black minute and hour marks and their hands.

TAG Heuer adds that the wearer can expect the Monaco Chronograph Night Driver dial to retain its luminescence for three hours after being fully charged. 

Also new here is the use of titanium for a Monaco chronograph case. TAG Heuer coats the titanium in black DLC (diamond-like carbon) and finishes its nicely with a fine-brushed and polished finish.

Inside you’ll find TAG Heuer’s in-house Heuer 02 movement with a visible blued column wheel and an impressive eighty hours of power reserve. The watch’s sapphire caseback opens up a view of the blue printing on the black rotor and exhibits the blue column wheel.

TAG Heuer offers the Monaco Chronograph Night Driver Limited Edition as a limited edition of 600, each priced at $9,550.

 
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TAG Heuer Launches Carrera Chronosprint with Porsche

TAG Heuer teams with Porsche to launch the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche, the latest Carrera model that merges design elements from both brands.

The seventh joint launch since TAG Heuer and Porsche officially partnered in 2021, the new 42mm watch is a vision in silver and red, with red details highlighting references to the 1970s Porsche 911 dashboard design.

The new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche. A rose-gold-cased version is also available.

Beyond the dial accents, TAG Heuer has also built into the new watch a special version of its new TH20 automatic movement, which debuted this past March during Watches and Wonders.

The new reference here, the TH20-08 movement, features a chronograph seconds hand meant to echo Porsche 911’s ability to reach the 100 km/h in just 9.1 seconds.

Here, the central hand accelerates faster than usual at the start of the chronograph activation thanks to a clever use of a two snail-shaped wheels, which also create a decelerating motion for the central hand after sixty seconds. TAG Heuer makes the wheels using the so-called LiGA lithographic etching process.

On the dial, TAG Heuer continues to reference the Porsche 911.

At 6 o’clock for example you’ll find a subdial that directly recalls the area around 50 km/h that was often highlighted to indicate the recommended speed in urban areas.

The red portion of the 9 o’clock subdial is meant to be a reminder of the ‘critical engine limit.’ TAG Heuer opts to place the red line at 6.8 hours, a nice reference to that 6,800 RPM limit. Red lines on the flange recall the Porsche 911’s ability to reach the 100 km/h in just 9.1 seconds, a clear reference to the very first Porsche 911.

Look for a steel and a gold version of the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche, each featuring the same retro-inspired double glassbox sapphire crystal seen on Carrera debuts earlier this year.

These domed and curved crystals echo similarly domed hesalite crystal designs from the 1970s, but here have been revamped to add a curve that flows over the tachymeter scale and blends into the case.

From the clear caseback TAG Heuer designs a rotor to replicate the famed Porsche three-spoke steering wheel.

TAG Heuer will launch the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche watches with a calfskin leather strap, in brown for the gold edition and in black for the steel edition, each with an embossed number “911” on the strap.

Prices: $9,200 (steel) and $23,550 (rose gold).

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Zenith Expands Defy 21 Chroma with Two New Colorful Models

Zenith presents two encore editions of its colorful Defy 21 Chroma, a white ceramic Defy 21 watch from 2022 characterized by a rainbow of colors on its dial and on its visible high-frequency movement components. The Le Locle manufacture unveils the Defy 21 Chroma II, a new edition of the watch, which Zenith is offering in a black ceramic case and a white ceramic case.

On the black ceramic Zenith Defy 21 Chroma you’ll find hues based on the primary colors.

The newest models, which maintain the original’s 44mm case diameter, offer their own range of colorful accents. On the black ceramic edition you’ll find hues based on the primary colors.

On the white ceramic Defy 21 Chroma Zenith emphasizes brighter colors like blue and pink.

On the white ceramic version the accents are brighter, emphasizing blues and pinks. On both, colors mark the hours and the 1/100-of-a-second scale and then continue to the crown’s rubber grip ring and the strap.

The color show continues within the movement, where Zenith has applied a different metallic color to each bridge, each coordinated with the adjacent dial marker color. From the clear sapphire back you can see more hues, notably the blue-colored oscillating weight and a colorized escapement bridge.

The movement here is Zenith’s 1/100th of a second chronograph movement, the El Primero 9004 automatic (the El Primero 21), which features two independent regulators and gear trains for the timekeeping and chronograph functions, operating at frequencies of 5Hz (36,000 VpH) and 50Hz (360,000 VpH), respectively.

Zenith is offering each model as a limited edition of 500 pieces. Price: $15,600. We expect these colorful models to sell quickly given the strong response to the original edition, which Zenith reports sold out of its 200-piece production run not long after its debut during LVMH Watch Week in 2022.  

 

Specifications: Zenith Defy El Primero 21 Chroma II

(Reference: 49.9014.9004/01.R953, white ceramic model)

Movement: El Primero 9004. Frequency of 36,000 VpH – 5Hz (Watch) and 360,000 VpH – 50 Hz (Chronograph) with a power reserve of 50 hours (Watch) and 50 min (Chronograph). Certified Chronometer.  “Rainbow” PVD-coated bridges and special blue-colored oscillating weight with satined finishings.

Functions: Hours and minutes in the centre. Small seconds at 9 o’clock. 1/100th of a second Chronograph: Central chronograph hand, 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, 60 second counter at 6 o’clock, Chronograph power-reserve indication at 12 o’clock (approx. 50 min).

Case: 44mm matte white ceramic with flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides; caseback also with transparent sapphire crystal. Water resistant to 100 meters. 

Dial: White open-worked with rhodium-plate, faceted and coated with rainbow varnish. Hands also rhodium-plated, faceted and coated with colored varnish.

Bracelet: White rubber strap with rainbow stitching. Titanium double folding clasp.

Price: $15,600

 

Specifications: Zenith Defy El Primero 21 Chroma II

(Reference: 49.9013.9004/21.R952—black ceramic model)

Movement: El Primero 9004. Frequency of 36,000 VpH – 5Hz (Watch) and 360,000 VpH – 50 Hz (Chronograph) with a power reserve of 50 hours (Watch) and 50 min (Chronograph). Certified Chronometer. “Rainbow” PVD-coated bridges and special blue-colored oscillating weight with satined finishings.

Functions: Hours and minutes in the center. Small seconds at 9 o’clock. 1/100th of a second Chronograph: Central chronograph hand, 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, 60-second counter at 6 o’clock, Chronograph power-reserve indication at 12 o’clock (approx. 50 min).

Case: 44mm black micro-blasted ceramic with flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides; caseback also with transparent sapphire crystal. Water resistant to 100 meters. 

Dial: Black open-worked with rhodium-plated hour markers, faceted and coated with “Rainbow” varnish. Hands are rhodium-plated, faceted and coated with colored varnish.

Bracelet: Black rubber strap with rainbow stitching. Titanium double folding clasp.

Price: $15,600

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