Los Angeles-based independent watchmaker J.N. Shapiro expands its Infinity series by adding 39mm tantalum cases to existing Infinity models cased in gold and steel.
Tantalum, a hard grey metal usually found in medical applications, is used only rarely used in watchmaking, especially outside of Switzerland.
In addition, the company, led by watchmaker Josh Shapiro, will be adding three new dial variations to the classically styled dress watch collection. These are:
The Infinity Tantalum Limited Edition. This model offers Navy blue dial with tantalum chapter rings, blue enamel ink and steel polished hands.
— Untreated palladium dial with tantalum chapter rings, blue enamel ink with blue steel hands
— Black ruthenium dial with tantalum hours chapter rings, rose gold hands, seconds rings and numerals
— Navy blue dial with tantalum chapter rings, blue enamel ink and steel polished hands.
The J.N Shapiro Infinity Tantalum LE with black ruthenium dial, tantalum hours chapter rings, rose gold hands, seconds rings and numerals.
Shapiro, who has been making watches from his California studio since 2013, reports that the same tooling that allows him to create cases also allows him to create tantalum chapter rings in-house.
The Infinity Tantalum Limited Edition’s palladium dial showcases Shapiro’s engine-turned patterns and a custom-made font.
The Infinity Tantalum LE with untreated palladium dial, tantalum chapter rings, blue enamel ink with blue steel hands.
The German-made Uwd 33-1 movement from Uhren-Werke-Dresden powers all the new models, which Shapiro decorates with a hand-chamfered gold serial plate.
Proceeds from the sale of the Infinity Tantalum Limited Edition will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Association to support their research into type 1 juvenile diabetes.
Just in time for the holiday season, Nomos adds new touches of silver and gold to its Orion collection.
The Nomos Orion 38 Silver, with gold-plated hands and indexes on a silvered dial.
Look for the new members of this minimalist Glashütte classic, namely the new Orion 33 Gold and the Orion 38 Silver, to inject a less-than minimal hint of luxury (or seasonal cheer) to the less-is-more collection.
On the Orion 33 Gold you’ll see gilded small seconds dial and applied indexes. The dial is galvanized and gold-plated.
While both Orion models will still be made with a hand-polished dial and applied indexes, the smaller model is now available with a steel case (instead of silver) and a gold-plated dial. The larger model, also cased in steel, will gleam with a silver-plated domed dial and gold-plated indexes and hands.
Both new Orion debuts are powered by the excellent Nomos Alpha manual-wind caliber, which boasts a 43-hour power reserve. And either watch can ordered with a custom engraving. Price: SEE WEBSITE
Zenith transforms two of its most complex watches into cosmic messengers with a new galactic theme, eye-catching blue PVD components and clear sapphire cases. The Le Locle watchmaker has re-finished and re-configured components within the existing Defy Zero G and the Defy 21 Double Tourbillon, to create a stunning contemporary limited edition version of each watch.
Defy Zero G Sapphire
For this update, Zenith brings space travel to the wrist with a miniature mosaic depicting Mars on the dial. Made by hand using meteorite, aventurine glass and miniature painting, the red planet is seen on the small seconds, partially eclipsed by the hour and minute dial.
The new Zenith Defy Zero G Sapphire.
Zenith finishes the mainplate and the bridges in a blue tone with contrasting metallic-grey chamfers, dotted with white stars. The wearer can also see this space-inspired finish on the movement’s cylindrical container, visible through the sides of the case. Zenith has also rebuilt the movement with a more contemporary architectural profile that occupies thirty percent less space than the original movement.
Back view of the Zenith Defy Zero G Sapphire.
You might recall that the Defy Zero G features Zenith’s El Primero 8812 S manual movement with a gimbal that maintains the balance and spring in a flat position, overcoming gravity’s effects on the watch’s chronometric precision (See complete specifications list below).
Defy 21 Double Tourbillon Sapphire
Zenith engraves stars on the dial of the new Defy 21 Double Tourbillon Sapphire and exposes a newly blued mainplate (a first for Zenith) through its skeleton dial. This watch still turns heads with two independent tourbillons. One rotates in sixty seconds at 36,000 vph (for time-keeping) while the second rotates once in five seconds at 360,000 vph to regulate the chronograph timer.
The new Zenith Double Tourbillon Sapphire.
The twenty owners of these two new watches can enhance their galactic experience by taking advantage of a special offer from Zenith. The watchmaker has teamed with Novespace, a subsidiary of the French National Space Center, to offer each owner a parabolic zero-gravity flight, slated for next February at the Novespace facility in Bordeaux.
Back view of the Zenith Double Tourbillon Sapphire.
Prices: $159,700 (Defy Zero G Sapphire) and $180,300 (Defy 21 Tourbillon Sapphire ) Each model will be issued as a limited edition of ten.
Specifications: Zenith Defy Zero G Sapphire
(Reference: 04.9000.8812/00.R920, limited edition of ten pieces)
Movement: Entirely skeletonized El Primero 8812 S. “Gravity Control” gyroscopic module that ensures horizontal positioning of the regulating organ. Now occupies only 30% of its initial volume. Frequency is 36,000 VpH (5 Hz) with a 50-hour power reserve. Platinum counterweight of the gyroscopic system.
Functions : Hours and minutes in the center. Double Tourbillon: 1 escapement for the Watch (36,000 vph / 5 Hz – cage makes a turn in 60 second) 1 escapement for the Chronograph (360,000 vph / 50 Hz – cage makes a turn in 5 seconds). 1/100th of a second Chronograph: Central chronograph hand that makes one turn each second, 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, 60-second counter at 6 o’clock, chronograph power-reserve indication at 12 o’clock. New bicolor signature on plates and bridges + milled Starry Sky.
Case: 46mm clear sapphire with 30 meters of water resistance.
Dial: Openworked with meteorite & aventurine hour & minute dial, hour markers are rhodium-plated, faceted and coated with SuperLuminova, hands are rhodium-plated and faceted gold, coated with SuperLuminova.
Bracelet: Black rubber with blue patterned rubber, grey stitching. Titanium double folding clasp.
(Reference: 04.9000.9020/00.R920, limited edition of ten pieces)
Movement: El Primero 9020 automatic, 1/100th-of-a-second double tourbillon chronograph, 1 tourbillon escapement for the watch (36,000 vph – 5 Hz) ; 1 tourbillon escapement for the chronograph (360,000 vph – 50 Hz). One rotation per second for the chrono hand. Certified Chronometer. Power reserve of 50 hours.
Case: 46mm clear sapphire with sapphire crystal. Water resistance to 30 meters.
Dial: Openworked with rhodium-plated hour markers and hands, faceted and coated with SuperLuminova SLN C1.
Bracelet: Black rubber with blue patterned rubber & grey stitching. Titanium double folding clasp.
A. Lange & Söhne is not content to update an existing model by simply expanding the watch’s case metal options, a tactic frequent among even the world’s finest watchmakers. We often see an existing model from this famed German watchmaker updated with a new movement, an updated dial treatment or even an entirely new case size.
The new A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Honeygold Lumen.
So yes, the new A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Honeygold Lumen, as its new name signifies, is newly draped in the watchmaker’s own warm-hued Honeygold alloy, the first time we’ve seen a Lumen watch cased in Honeygold.
But it should also surprise no one that the newest edition of one of A. Lange & Söhne’s most spectacular watches hosts several technical updates, in addition to its namesake new case metal.
Longer power reserve
The new watch also boasts Caliber L043.9, a new movement iteration. A. Lange & Söhne has updated the movement with a 72-hour power reserve, doubling the reserve of its predecessor model. This extends the operating time as it powers Zeitwerk’s three-disc jumping digital numerals mechanism.
Caliber L043.9, with an extended power reserve and a new constant force escapement.
A. Lange & Söhne has also heightened the caliber’s stability by adding a (patented) constant-force escapement to control the time display’s complex switching processes. As the watchmaker explains, the newest escapement generates the impulse for the jumping time display while also “drives the balance with nearly uniform power across the entire run time.”
The pusher at 4 o’clock is also new. This allows the hour indication to be separately switched, which makes setting the time quite a bit simpler.
And as the newest Lumen model in a series dating to the first Zeitwerk ‘Lumious’ from 2010, the Zeitwerk Honeygold Lumen employs the watchmaker’s specially developed light-permeable dial coating. This means all the numerals on the digital time discs – even those not visible on the dial – will absorb enough light needed to make them glow in the dark.
As you might expect from any watch leaving Lange headquarters Glashütte, this 41.9mm watch is finished to perfection. You’ll find hand-engraved balance and escape-wheel cocks, sunray-pattern winding wheels and filigreed, straight-grained constant-force escapement bridge that accommodates two recessed, screwed gold chatons.
Limited to 200 watches, the A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Honeygold Lumen is attached to a handsome dark-brown leather strap. Price: $145,000.
Last year producer and talent scout Swizz Beatz challenged De Bethune to create a “totally different Dream Watch 5.” This week, De Bethune debuted its response to that challenge with a watch worthy of the futuristic Dream Series.
The new De Bethune Dream Watch 5 Tourbillon Season 1 is a spectacular deltoid-shaped, blued-titanium and sapphire wrist rocket regulated by a De Bethune high-velocity tourbillon.
The new De Bethune Dream Watch 5 Tourbillon Season 1 .
The inventive Swiss company, lead by pioneering watchmaker Denis Flageollet, has built on its own Dream Watch legacy by refining its pointedly curved Dream Watch 5 case, first seen in 2014, into a skeletal sculpture that both showcases an open-set dial while also protecting it with two dramatic blued titanium bridges.
As De Bethune points out, there is nothing straight or flat about this latest Dream Watch 5 case, which is composed of seven different sapphire components ingeniously embedded into a polished blue titanium frame.
At the center, gripped by the watch’s titanium exoskeleton, is a three-dimensional orb that indicates the moon phases. Adjacent, and just below the blue bridges, the wearer eyes the hours and minutes directly through a hand-cut cabochon-shaped crystal.
The back of the watch (below) is almost as dramatic, especially since the ultra-clear sapphire back seems to magnifying the beauty of De Bethune’s mirror-polished DB2149 high-speed tourbillon caliber. The 30-second tourbillon oscillates at 36,000 vibrations/hour, set just beneath a slightly blued sapphire window. See specifications below for additional details about this expertly engineered, highly tuned movement.
De Bethune notes that to enhance the interior of the DW5 Episode 1, it collaborates with Swiss engraver Michèle Rothen, who has ‘retouched’ each surface with added micro-detail and greater dimension.
The De Bethune Dream Watch 5 Tourbillon Season 1 is a ten-piece limited edition.
Price: $520,000.
Specifications: De Bethune Dream Watch 5 Tourbillon ‘Season 1’
(Reference DW5TSB, a ten-piece limited edition)
Functions: Hours, minutes, central spherical moon-phase indication, 30-minute indication on the ultra-light silicon and titanium De Bethune tourbillon cage (appearing on the back).
Movement: DB2149 hand-wound, three positions (for winding, spherical moon phase and time setting), titanium balance-wheel with white gold inserts, De Bethune balance-spring with flat terminal curve, silicon escape-wheel, spherical moon-phase display accurate to within one lunar day every 1,112 years, De Bethune ultra-light silicon and titanium 30-second tourbillon, 36,000 vibrations/hour.
Dial: Blued grade-5 titanium aperture frame.
Case: 58mm by 47mm by 17mm tapered hand-polished and blued grade- 5 titanium, open-worked with sapphire blue inserts and hand-engraved motifs, cabochon-cut blue sapphire crown.
Bracelet: Blue canvas/leather with an additional rubber strap, titanium clasp with polished and blued titanium pin buckle.
The pusher at 4 o’clock is also new. This allows the hour indication to be separately switched, which makes setting the time quite a bit simpler.
