The new Shinola Monster GMT, this Detroit-based watchmaker’s first automatic GMT model, makes tracking time in multiple time zones simple and pleasing thanks to a particularly handsome blue dial and blue bezel.
The new Shinola Monster GMT is the Detroit-based watchmaker’s first automatic GMT model.
Starting with its ‘diver down’ flag at 12 o’clock, and over to the large calendar aperture at 3 o’clock, this nicely proportioned navy blue dial is a pleasure to eye. Shinola then enhances that visual pleasure by offering the option to swap the steel quick-release bracelet with a patterned blue strap made from recycled ocean bound plastic.
The watch is especially attractive to those with smaller wrists or collectors who prefer sporty watches with moderate case diameters. This new model at 40mm is smaller than other models in Shinola’s impressive Monster series, which measure 43mm and 45mm.
You’ll find the requisite 24-hour markers needed to track time in another timezone plainly positioned along a navy-blue ceramic bezel insert.
The independently set blue and orange-tipped GMT hand, which rotates once a day, allows you to check that second timezone quickly.
Inside Shinola fits a Sellita automatic movement with a solid 56-hour power reserve. The movement, protected with 100 meters of water resistance, is visible through the watch’s fully open caseback.
Greubel Forsey today unveils a new GMT Earth sporting a contemporary blackened titanium case, a black dial and black bridges.
The dark titanium Greubel Forsey GMT Earth.
A limited edition of eleven pieces, the newly darkened GMT Earth is Greubel Forsey’s third and final interpretation of the groundbreaking watch. When it first appeared in 2011 it featured a partial view of its dial-set titanium globe, which displays time around the world. Seven years later, in 2018, Greubel Forsey set the orb within a clear sapphire frame, which allowed unobstructed views of the laser-engraved globe.
The GMT collection has expanded in the years since that debut and now also includes the GMT Sport, the GMT Quadruple Tourbillon and the GMT.
This latest and final GMT Earth, with its titanium case, is the lightest of the trio (at 117 grams) when compared to the earlier white gold and platinum-cased editions. Titanium also brings with it full non-magnetic and hypoallergenic properties.
Darkest yet
The dial here is the darkest we’ve seen in the GMT collection. Underscoring its black theme, Greubel Forsey uses a black treatment to darken the globe, all the frosted bridges, the mainplate and the sectorial subdials. Even the natural rubber strap is black.
As a reminder, the GMT Earth features four primary displays on its dial side. These include the off-center hours, minutes and seconds display, the red-handed GMT indicator, the power reserve indicator (near the crown) and of course the globe.
Situated between 7 o’clock and 9 o’clock, the Earth, which rotates once every 24 hours, features an engraved sapphire ring around the equator that acts as a day/night indication. This means you can quickly determine which hemisphere is in the daytime and which is at night.
A peek through the side of the case reveals the globe’s equator. And of course a wearer can enjoy the whirling Tourbillon 24 Secondes, positioned just below the power reserve display, which contributes to the watch’s high level of precision. Price: CHF 590,000.
Specifications: Greubel Forsey GMT Earth
(Limited edition of 11 pieces)
Movement: Greubel Forsey GMT with Tourbillon inclined at a 25 angle 1 rotation in 24 seconds. 72-hour power reserve, 21,600-vph frequency
Case: 45.50mm by 16.18mm titanium with titanium plates, engraved, hand-finished with text, screwed to the caseband, three-dimensional, asymmetrical, synthetic sapphire crystal bezel, water resistant to 30 meters.
Dial: Multi-level hour-ring in synthetic sapphire, galvanic growth hour indexes, engraved and lacquered minutes and small seconds, power-reserve and GMT indicators in gold, engraved and lacquered, circular-grained with black treatment. Rotating globe with day-and-night UTC indicator in synthetic sapphire, engraved and lacquered. Indications: GMT, 2nd time zone, rotating globe with universal time and day-and-night, complete and global view from northern to southern hemisphere, universal time on 24 time zones, summer and winter time, cities observing summer time, hours and minutes, small seconds, power-reserve.
Strap: Rubber or hand-sewn alligator and titanium folding clasp, engraved with the GF logo.
De Bethune bills its new DB25 GMT Starry Varius as the smaller (42mm) alternative to the 45mm DB25 World Traveller, which debuted in 2016. For the most part, that’s true, though you won’t find a series of city names positioned around the dial on this new dual-time model to quickly display global times.
The new De Bethune DB25 GMT Starry Varius.
The new watch, however, adds a GMT function to the displays, which smartly retains the original model’s multi-level, concentric spheres and its unusual miniature gold and blued-steel orb, dubbed the ‘microsphere.’
In its smaller guise (42mm by 11.8mm), the new watch also retains other characteristics De Bethune builds into its entire DB25 Starry Varius collection. These include a polished grade-5 titanium case, a starry sky accompanied by its Milky Way and De Bethune’s characteristic integrated, open-worked lugs.
Reading the dial
With the date visible in the central disc visa a jumping hand, the two time zones can be discerned with a check of the blued central hands (local time) and the mysteriously circling dual-metal orb (second ‘home’ time). You’ll even know whether it’s daytime or nighttime at home thanks to the orb’s two halves: one blue (evening) and the other pink gold (daytime). For added realistic affect, the slow-rotating microsphere very gradually reveals both sunrise and sunset.
De Bethune’s microsphere is an unusual miniature gold and blued-steel orb that displays both a second time zone and daytime and nighttime.
To add an even more poetic display to the dial, De Bethune places a polished pink gold sun in the dial’s center, just across from the beautifully blued and polished titanium miniature night sky dotted with white gold ‘star’ pins.
De Bethune powers its new DB25 GMT Starry Varius with its hand-wound Caliber DB2507, the independent watchmaker’s twenty-ninth movement.
De Bethune powers its new GMT Starry Varius with its hand-wound Caliber DB2507, the independent watchmaker’s twenty-ninth movement.
Visible through the watch’s sapphire caseback, the movement operates by drawing on an extensive list of advanced features, all of which again underscore De Bethune’s well-earned reputation for technical mastery.
Just a partial list of these features includes: A titanium balance with white gold inlays, a balance spring with a De Bethune flat terminal curve, an escape-wheel made of silicon and a regulator held in place by a triple pare-chute system which combines a titanium bridge held in place by a leaf-spring system. The movement’s two barrels, which are partially visible from the caseback, boast an impressive five-day power reserve. Price: $110,000.
As Grand Seiko celebrates its sixtieth birthday in 2020 (and specifically on December 18) the watchmaker’s U.S. division is releasing a new Spring Drive GMT sport watch, the latest variant of the Grand Seiko series we first saw this summer, but newly decorated with a dial color inspired by the American eagle.
Grand Seiko Spring Drive GMT ‘Eagle’ U.S. Limited Edition SBGE263.
Grand Seiko artisans have applied the deep brown color of the eagle’s feathers to the dial and bezel of the Spring Drive GMT SBGE263, which the brand says are meant to recall the “warm tones of the earth – reliable and dignified.”
Continuing its ode to the eagle, Grand Seiko also devised the watch’s radiating dial pattern to represent the bird’s flight, while the gold arrow of the GMT hand is “reminiscent of the eagle’s powerful beak.” The watch’s 40.5mm steel case features a contrasting mix of Zaratsu-polished and hairline surfaces.
As a GMT watch in the truest sense, powered by Spring Drive Caliber 9R66, the watch allows the wearer quick access to a second time zone. With the caliber, the local hour hand is independently adjustable while the GMT hand remains fixed to home time. This means that when the wearer arrives at new location in a different time zone, he or she can simply jump the hour hand to the correct hour without having to reset the watch.
The watch is offered as a U.S. limited edition of 110 and will be available in January at Grand Seiko Boutiques and for members of the newly expanded GS9 Club, now open to members in United States. Price: $6,700.
Specifications: Grand Seiko Spring Drive GMT ‘Eagle’ U.S. Limited Edition SBGE263
(Limited edition of 110)
Movement: Caliber 9R66 Spring Drive, accurate to +/-15 seconds month (when static), power reserve of 72 hours.
Case: 40.5mm by 14.7mm steel, brown ceramic bezel, dual curve sapphire crystal, water resistant to 200 meters.
Dial: Ridged pattern brown, raised and beveled markers.
Oris has once again partnered with the Florida-based Coral Restoration Foundation to create the new Aquis Carysfort Reef Limited Edition, a steel version of the fifty-piece gold limited edition introduced earlier this year. The new model will offered as a limited edition of 2,000 timepieces. Sales will support the Foundation.
The new Oris Aquis Carysfort Reef Limited Edition, with steel bracelet.
The Carysfort Reef collection is named for the eponymous coral reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It is part of the Florida Reef Tract, the third largest barrier reef in the world and the only barrier reef in the United States. Sadly, a changing climate has caused it to degrade over the past several decades and the coral populations to concurrently dwindle. This, in turn, affects the health of our oceans, which produce seventy percent of the world’s oxygen.
The watch
The new watch features a 43.5mm steel case with a bi-directional ceramic bezel and GMT scale. The watch’s blue gradient dial forms the backdrop for SuperLuminova-treated hands and indexes and a date window at three o’clock, while the solid screwed caseback features special engravings alluding to the brand’s support of Carysfort Reef. Oris has worked with the Coral Restoration Foundation since 2014.
As you might expect, Oris has made the watch fully prepared for use outdoor and even underwater. The watch is water resistant to 300 meters, thanks in part of its screw-in stainless steel security crown.
The automatic movement (the Sellita-based Oris 798) includes multiple functions: hours, minutes, seconds and 24 hour indication via central hands, as well as an instantaneous date and 24-hour corrector, fine timing device and stop seconds. Its power reserve is 42 hours.
The back of the watch shows its solid screwed caseback with engravings noting Oris’s support for the Carysfort Reef.
In its new steel case, the Oris Aquis Carysfort Reef Limited Edition can be strapped to the wrist with a solid Oris stainless steel bracelet or an orange rubber strap, both of which are complemented by a stainless steel security folding clasp with an extension. The presentation box is both attractive and satisfying: it is constructed using sustainable algae. Prices: $3,000 (metal bracelet) and $2,800 (orange rubber strap).
Inside Shinola fits a Sellita automatic movement with a solid 56-hour power reserve. The movement, protected with 100 meters of water resistance, is visible through the watch’s fully open caseback.
The automatic movement (the Sellita-based Oris 798) includes multiple functions: hours, minutes, seconds and 24 hour indication via central hands, as well as an instantaneous date and 24-hour corrector, fine timing device and stop seconds. Its power reserve is 42 hours.
