With its CVD-coated blue case and swirling black dial, the new Chronoswiss Open Gear Blue Spark is meant to echo the energy of an electrical charge.
The new Chronoswiss Open Gear Blue Spark.
The watch melds a classical regulator dial layout with a stunning hand-guilloche swirling dial pattern meant to remind its wearer of pure energy.
The Chronoswiss Open Gear series is comprised ofregulator dial watches thatfeature a prominent, separate central minute hand and secondary hour and seconds hands. The layout was historically placed on reference clocks for use by watchmakers to quickly read the time while setting new or repaired timepieces.
The swirled black dial here provides an energetic backdrop for a blue hour ring at the 12 o’clock position. This is paired with the long minute hand and a small seconds display at six o’clock, which provides its own whirlpool of time.
The display is presented on two levels with the upper level showcasing skeletonized gear train bridges and the hour and seconds indicators and the lower showcasing the intricate, hand-crafted dial work.
The Chronoswiss Open Gear style is present throughout the watch with its 41mm stainless steel case, satin-finished and polished knurled bezel and onion crown. Through the clear sapphire back you’ll see Chronoswiss’s Caliber C. 299, an automatic movement with a skeletonized rotor.
Greubel Forsey is launching its Balancier Convexe S² and its Double Balancier Convexe with smaller titanium cases, with the former now 2mm smaller at 41.5mm across while latter model drops 1mm to now measure 42.5mm across.
The new sizes retain the watchmaker’s existing Balancier and Double Balancer movements and places each into a slightly slimmer Convexe titanium case.
The new Greubel Forsey Balancier Convexe S² (41.5 mm, at left) and the Double Balancier Convexe (42.5 mm).
Greubel Forsey’s Convexe collection is characterized by an undulating bezel, first presented in 2019, and a curved layout that dramatically displays the caliber’s open-worked gears, wheels and bridges.
The new Greubel Forsey Balancier Convexe S², now in a slimmer 41.5mm titanium case.
The collection is meant to be this high-end maker’s contemporary ‘daily wear’ collection. You’ll see none of the Greubel Forsey foundational phrases engraved on the dial or bezel within this collection. And, with 100 meters of water resistance and fully integrated lugs, the watches fits snugly on the wrist for wearing comfort rain or shine.
The watchmaker says the new sizes retain the “harmony of their proportions and the architectural requirements of the movement.” Each model limited in production and only be available between 2023 and 2026.
Balancier Convexe S²
Notably, the new size of this model places the hour ring closer to the sapphire crystal while the remaining double open-worked arch bridge maintain’s the multi-dimensional architectural design of the original.
Look for the newest Balancier Convexe S² in either a grey or blue livery (two editions).
In the grey model, Greubel Forsey utilizes a wide range of finishes meant to magnify each chromatic variation. This is created using frosted plates and straight-grained and mirror-polished surfaces. Breaking the grey layout is a colorful power reserve featuring an arrow that points out the long seventy-two-hour reserve performance.
On the blue version, Greubel Forsey offers a lighter-hued mainplate, a dark blue hour-ring and raised luminescent hour-markers. These make the large balance and small seconds display at 8 o’clock stand out.
Greubel Forsey will make eighty-eight pieces of each new 41.5 mm Balancier Convexe S² in titanium.
The Greuble Forsey Double Balancier Convexe is slightly smaller in a 42.5mm titanium case.
Double Balancier Convexe
For this model, Greubel Forsey has re-configured the case as well as the movement. The new 42.5mm case now slips more easily than its larger forebear under a fitted sleeve. It also displays a more natural titanium hue with a polished bezel with satin finishes, allowing for more dramatic light reflection, depending on the viewing angle.
Flanking each corner are the watch’s namesake two balance wheels, each inclined at 30° and separated by a constant spherical differential between the 6 o’clock and 7 o’clock positions that ‘calculates’ their average timing rate. (See below for full specification details.)
Within the bezel you’ll seem elements of contrasting light and shadow. For instance, the lettering on the barrel cover blends well with the case while the bridges of each balance wheel reveal the high level of hand-applied black polishing that characterizes Greubel Forsey movements.
Greubel Forsey offers the 42.5 mm Double Balancier Convexe with a grey rubber strap or on a beautifully integrated titanium bracelet.
Highlights: Hours and minutes, small seconds, power-reserve, 30° inclined Greubel Forsey balance wheel system.
Movement: Manual Wind with 72-hour power reserve, frequency of 21,600 vibrations/hour.
Barrels:Two coaxial series-coupled fast-rotating barrels (1 turn in 3.2 hours), one of which is equipped with a slipping spring to avoid excess tension, relief-engraved text, circular-grained, black treatment.
Bridges and main plates: Titanium, frosted, polished beveling and countersinks, anthracite or blue treatment according to the version, multi-level, open-worked suspended-arch bridge, black treatment, straight-grained and polished, polished beveling and countersinks.
Movement side: Frosted bridges, polished edges and beveling, gold plate with engraved limitation number, circular- grained, polished beveling and countersinks, straight-grained flanks .
Escapement:Titanium inclined at a 30° angle with frosted, polished countersinks, large straight-grained inclined facet, multi-level, open-worked balance wheel bridge, straight-grained and polished, polished beveling and countersinks.
Case: 41.5mm by 12.48mm (14.80mm with sapphire crystal) titanium with curved synthetic sapphire crystal, three-dimensional, variable geometry-shaped bezel, hand-polished with hand-finished straight graining, profiled lugs, screwed fixing, transparent back with high domed synthetic sapphire crystal, titanium security screws, raised engraving “Balancier Incliné” and “Greubel Forsey.”
Dial: Three-dimensional, variable geometry hour-ring, polished, with engraved and lacquered minute-circle, three-dimensional, variable geometry hour indexes, polished, with Super-Luminova, power-reserve indicator, engraved and lacquered, gold small seconds dial with polished bevel.
Strap and clasp:Non-animal material, rubber with texture in relief, titanium folding clasp, engraved GF logo. Three-row metal bracelet in titanium, folding clasp with integrated fine adjustment, engraved GF logo on demand.
Highlights: Double Balancier, hours and minutes, small seconds, 4-minutes spherical constant differential rotation, power-reserve display.
Movement: Hand-wound movement with 72-hour power reserve. Frequency of 21,600 vibrations/hour.
Bridges and main plates: Titanium with frosted, polished beveling and countersinks, grey treatment, multi-level, open-worked centre bridge, polished beveling and countersinks.
Movement side: Flat black polished steel differential bridge, gold plate with engraved limitation number, circular-grained, polished beveling and countersinks, straight-grained flanks.
Barrels: Two coaxial series-coupled fast-rotating barrels (1 turn in 3.2 hours), one of which is equipped with a slipping spring to avoid excess tension, relief-engraved text, circular-grained, black treatment, polished chamfer.
Escapements:Inclined at a 30° angle, steel, straight graining, hand-polished beveling and countersinks, polished steel pillars, open-worked steel balance wheel bridges, hand-polished beveling and countersinks, flat black polished.
Case: 42.5mm by 14.35mm (with crystal) titanium with curved synthetic sapphire crystal, three-dimensional, variable geometry-shaped bezel, hand-polished with hand-finished straight graining, profiled lugs, screwed fixing, transparent back with curved synthetic sapphire crystal, titanium security screws, raised engraving “Double Balancier” and “Greubel Forsey.”
Dial:Three-dimensional, variable geometry hour-ring with engraved and lacquered minute-circle, three-dimensional, variable geometry hour indexes, polished, with Super-Luminova, power-reserve indicator, engraved and lacquered, differential rotation and small seconds indicators ingold. Power-reserve hands, 4-minutes and small seconds in polished steel, blued according to the version, flat black polished head.
Strap and clasp:Non-animal material, rubber with texture in relief, titanium folding clasp, engraved GF logo. Three-row metal bracelet in titanium, folding clasp with integrated fine adjustment, engraved GF logo on demand.
With the new Open Gear ReSec Tiger, Lucerne-based Chronoswiss continues its impressive roll-out of inventive dial treatments within its regulator-layout Open Gear ReSec collection.
The new Chronoswiss Open Gear ReSec Tiger.
For the latest example, Chronoswiss artisans create the illusion of a tiger fur pattern in guilloché using a rose engine turning machine from 1924. Paired with a blackened three-dimensional regulator components, the unique, deep-cut dial almost roars with its dramatic orange and black hue.
The dial, which is actually part of the automatic Chronoswiss C.301 movement, highlights the regulator’s large central minute hand that crosses atop the prominent hour display at 12 o’clock.
Named for its premier function (ReSec stands for Retrograde Seconds), the watch’s jumping seconds hand along the lower half of the dial operates in a half-circle, leaping from the thirty seconds position back to start its arc to complete counting each minute. The leaping hand echoes ‘the ‘danger of the solitary hunter’, as Chronoswiss vividly explains.
The 44mm Open Gear ReSec Tiger, with the familiar Chronoswiss knurled bezel and onion crown, is a limited edition of fifty.
Frederique Constant refreshes its Classics Heart Beat Moonphase Date with a new model that boasts a rich blue dial emphasizing the watch’s mostly contemporary design.
The Frederique Constant Classics Heart Beat Moonphase Date, now with a rich blue dial.
In this handsome update, the light blue classic moonphase display nicely balances the very modern open Heart Beat aperture exposing a portion of the movement – a long-time Frederique Constant signature.
This pleasing symmetry is just one of many pleasures Frederique Constant reliably (and affordably) delivers with this refreshed design, which the Geneva-based manufacturer first debuted with lighter dials eight years ago.
The 40mm steel watch allows the wearer to read the current moonphase, the time and the date while also gazing at a portion of the balance wheel within the Heart Beat aperture beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour. On display is the watch’s Sellita-based automatic FC-335 movement, which is also visible through the sapphire back.
The watch’s Sellita-based automatic FC-335 movement is visible through the clear sapphire back.
To maintain its visual balance, the watch features no third aperture to display the date. Instead, a fourth hand with its own arrow tip points towards the date, shown in a circle on the flange.
The watch’s winding, hours, minutes, date and moon phases are all adjusted with the single crown. Its four positions allow for full control of the displays. The first position winds the movement, while the fourth adjusts the time. In an unsurprisingly display of technical fluency, the wearer can change the date in the second position and the moon phases in the third, as long as the hands are first positioned at 10:10. This protects the mechanism from being damaged.
As is often the case with Frederique Constant’s Classic models, the dial here is decorated with Clou de Paris guilloche.
Specifications: Frederique Constant Classics Heart Beat Moonphase Date
(Ref. FC-335MCNW4P26)
Movement: Automatic FC-335 caliber (Sellita-based), 38-hour power reserve, 28,800 vph.
Case: 40mm by 10mm polished stainless steel, two-part, scratch-resistant convex sapphire crystal, see-through case back. Water-resistant to 60 meters.
Dial: Navy blue with clous de Paris guilloché in the center. Printed white Roman numerals , date graduation on outer ring, white hour, minute, second and date hands. Heart Beat opening at 12 o’clock, moonphase display.
Strap: Navy blue calf leather with off-white stitching, steel pin buckle.
Leading with a newly designed Travel Time watch that now includes an annual calendar, Patek Philippe at Watches and Wonders 2022 debuted twelve new watches, including three models designed with a feminine focus.
The new Patek Philippe new Ref. 5326G-001 Annual Calendar Travel Time.
But first, another debut
Perhaps to give the new Annual Calendar Travel Time its own spotlight, Patek Philippe waited until just after the Geneva show to launch a splashier technical innovation: the new 41mm platinum-cased Patek Philippe Ref. 5470P-001, a 1/10-of-a-second monopusher chronograph.
Patek Philippe Ref. 5470P-001, a 1/10-of-a-second monopusher chronograph.
To engineer its first high-frequency chronograph Patek Philippe started with its existing CH 29- 535 PS caliber from 2009. Watchmakers amped the frequency from 4 Hz to 5 Hz (36,000 vibrations per hour, or ten steps per second) and then equipped the movement with an additional 1/10th of a second chronograph mechanism.
As Patek Philippe explains, the designers provided the caliber CH 29-535 PS 1/10 with two independent and synchronized chronograph mechanisms, each of them driving a different central hand. The hand that performs a complete revolution per minute shows the stopped seconds in the traditional manner. The other hand (in red lacquered Silinvar) performs one revolution per twelve seconds.
We’ll have more details about the new Cal. 5470P in a future post. For details and a video, see the Patek Philippe website.
Travel time
The totally new Ref. 5326G-001 Annual Calendar Travel Time arrives in a new 41mm white gold Calatrava case with a terrific hobnailed case-side treatment meant to recall the hobnail bezels that have long characterized Patek Philippe’s traditional Calatrava collection.
The watch will also draw stares to its light-refracting textured charcoal gray dial that darkens to black toward its minute track. Vintage-styled applied numerals and white gold hour and minute hands are coated with an equally retro beige luminescence.
(This same dial, case, hand and marker layout is also found on another 2022 debut, the less complex Cal. 5226G, a three-hand 40mm white gold Calatrava with date–see below.)
The new Cal. 5226G, a three-hand 40mm white gold Calatrava with date, sports the same dial treatment as the new Annual Calendar Travel Time.
Patek Philippe’s watchmakers designed a new self-winding caliber (new 31-260 PS QA LU FUS 24H) for the new Annual Calendar Travel Time in which the Travel Time mechanism controls the Annual Calendar.
A view of Caliber 31-260 PS QA LU FUS 24H from the case back of the new Annual Calendar Travel Time.
The unusual setup, in which the watch’s date display is synchronized with local time, allows forwards and backwards date correction.
And to better retain the dressy Calatrava style, Patek Philippe resisted the need to install two pushers to control the two hour hands (a solid hand for local time and a skeletonized hand for home time). Instead, the wearer can correct the local time via the crown. Calendar indications can be adjusted via small case-side correctors located near their respective functions: day at 10, month at 2, date at 4 and moon phases at 8 o’clock.
For this debut, Patek Philippe also updated its legendary Annual Calendar, which the brand essentially invented for the wristwatch in 1996.And, Patek Philippe’s engineers shortened the Annual Calendar’s changeover time. Thanks to a new cam system, the changing dates and move to local time is five times faster (eighteen minutes) than the same actions in earlier annual calendars.
This change is among many that Patek Philippe has cited in eight patent applications for the new caliber.
Patek Philippe delivers its Ref. 5326G-001 Annual Calendar Travel Time with two interchangeable straps, one beige calfskin with nubuck texture. The second black calfskin strap has embossed textile finish and beige decorative stitching. Price: $76,882.
Additional highlights among the twelve 2022 Watches and Wonders debuts for Patek Philippe include:
Patek Philippe Ref. 5320G-011.
Cal. 5320G-011 Perpetual Calendar, an eye-catching new version of the contemporary vintage Patek Philippe perpetual calendar in 40mm white gold with a stunning rose-gilt opaline dial. With its three-tiered lugs, this debut recalls a Patek Philippe model from 1945. Price: $94,624.
Patek Philippe Ref. 5172G-010.
Cal. 5172G-010 Chronograph, a new version of the manually wound Manufacture chronograph in 40mm white gold, also features a rose-gilt opaline dial (above). You might recall this model from 2019 with a blue dial. $80,431.
Patek Philippe also added a trio of olive green-dialed models and one green lacquered watch during Watches and Wonders 2022.
We’ll have more reporting about the remaining Patek Philippe 2022 debuts in future posts. These debuts include several artisanal updates to the firm’s Worldtimer plus new gem set options for the platinum-cased Ref. 5374/300P Grand Complication with a minute repeater and a perpetual calendar and the Ref. 7121 Ladies’ Moon Phases watch.
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