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Greubel Forsey Updates GMT Sport, Adds Bracelet

Greubel Forsey debuts its first metal bracelet today as it adds contemporary updates to its titanium GMT Sport. The all-new, fully integrated titanium bracelet echoes the new look of the unusual elliptical bezel, complete with the high level of hand finishing you’d expect from Greubel Forsey.

The new Greubel Forsey GMT Sport, with the brand’s first-ever metal bracelet, here made in titanium.

You might recall that when this high-end watchmaker first showed the world the GMT Sport in 2019, the watch’s distinctive ovoid bezel attracted just as much attention as the watch’s new movement featuring such Greubel Forsey specialties as a Tourbillon 24 Seconds and eye-catching three-dimensional GMT globe.  

Likewise, the new bracelet here might garner outsized attention given its premiere status for this brand. Greubel Forsey has devised a three-link bracelet finished with many of the same styles we see on the 45mm-by-15.7mm case and bezel, notably straight graining, frosting and top-tier hand-polished beveling.

Greubel Forsey notes that it opted to frost-finish the lugs to better emphasize how the case and bracelet link directly along an uninterrupted row. The somewhat darker frosting continues along both edges of the bracelet as well, underscoring the visual unity of the two components.

Functionally, the bracelet features a fine adjustment system that allows the wearer to quickly loosen or tighten the bracelet’s fit. The watch will also arrive with a blue rubber strap with text in relief and a titanium folding clasp with engraved logo.

The watch will also arrive with a blue rubber strap with text in relief and a titanium folding clasp with engraved logo.

Clean bezel

While adding a bracelet to the GMT Sport, Greubel Forsey has also removed something: The GMT Sport’s wide, undulating bezel is now free of the raised engraved text espousing the brand’s values. Instead, the elliptical bezel, which curves gently at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock, is cleaner, sporting expert hand-finished horizontal straight graining on top and a hand-polished frame.

Thus, instead of reading words like ‘perfection’ and ‘harmonie’, the wearer can focus on the GMT Sport’s intricate, multi-dimensional dial components and displays amid the bright new blue and titanium color scheme.

Indeed, the new color scheme of this GMT Sport highlights a matte blue finish on the mainplate, bridges, globe, second time zone dial and 24-second indicator ring of the Tourbillon 24 Seconds. The color nicely contrasts with the polished components of the steel and titanium movement components.

In addition, to draw attention to new blue color scheme, Greubel Forsey has decided to skeletonize the highly visible central suspended arched bridge and the tourbillon bridge.

The blue color splashes across the multi-level dial plates, replacing the dark grey hue of the previous GMT Sport. Between the blue plates wearers can check the time via a central hours and minutes display while eyeing a second time zone at 10 o’clock, a power reserve indicator at 3 o’clock and the GMT rotating terrestrial globe at 8 o’clock.

On the GMT Sport caseback is a sapphire disc displaying city names surrounded by two rings.

The GMT globe, first seen in 2011 and used within the GMT Black in 2015, displays the second time zone (as seen on the auxiliary dial just above at 10 o’clock). When the wearer combines this with the globe’s universal time display, he or she can read the current time anywhere in the world. And of course a wearer can enjoy the whirling Tourbillon 24 Secondes, positioned between 12 o’clock and 2 o’clock, which contributes to the watch’s high level of precision.

Greubel Forsey will make the new GMT Sport with the new titanium bracelet in a limited edition of thirty-three units. The price has not yet been announced, though the previous GMT Sport was priced at $500,000.

 

Specifications: Greubel Forsey GMT Sport

Features: 
In titanium, blue movement, limited edition hand-wound movement with three patents, GMT, 2nd time zone indication, rotating globe with universal time and day-and-night, universal time on 24 time zones, summer and wintertime indication, cities observing summer time, 24-second tourbillon, hours and minutes, small seconds, power-reserve indictor.

Movement: Greubel Forsey manual-wind caliber with 63 domed jewels in gold chatons, Tourbillon inclined at a 25° angle 1 rotation in 24 seconds, 72-hour power reserve, 21,600 bph,

Case: 45mm (with bezel) by 17.8mm (with crystals) titanium with curved synthetic sapphire crystal, three-dimensional, variable geometry-shaped bezel, hand-polished with hand-finished straight graining, 100-meter water resistance. O back is a sapphire disc displaying city names surrounded by 2 rings

Bracelet: New three-row metal bracelet in titanium, folding clasp with integrated fine adjustment, engraved GF logo. Also: rubber with text in relief, titanium folding clasp, engraved GF logo. 

 

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The Watches

MB&F Celebrates Legacy Machines with LMX

Ten years after debuting its first Legacy Machine, ground-breaking independent watchmaker MB&F debuts LMX, a new dual-dial Legacy Machine that echoes the premiere Legacy Machine, but with new dial angles, a dual-display power reserve indicator and updated precision.

The new MB&F LMX, in rose gold.

Like the first MB&F Legacy Machine, the new LMX also features two white lacquer dials displaying hours and minutes in two different time zones. But where those dials were flat on that first model, the two white dials on the new LMX are tilted at an angle, much like dials we’ve seen on the MB&F LM Flying T and LM Thunderdome. This meant MB&F needed to add conical gearing to the movement in order to transfer the energy from the horizontal movement to the tilted dials.

Where the first Legacy Machine featured a somewhat traditional dial plate, the new LMX shows off its battle-axe-shaped escapement bridge and components of the gear train. Specifically,  MB&F exposes three large wheels, namely the two gears that rotate when setting each dial, plus the gear at 6 o’clock, which is the common seconds wheel.

New power indicator

Also new is a much more complex power reserve indicator. While the first Legacy Machine itself broke new ground with a three-dimensional power reserve display, the LMX offers a nod to that debut with a three-dimensional, hemispherical display that is also customizable.

The wearer can select between two modes of counting down the power reserve. Here we see the days of the week. The opposite side is numbered 1-7.

The wearer can select between two modes of counting down the power reserve. MB&F places two markers on opposite sides of the hemisphere. One features a scale numbered from one day to seven days, and the other scale shows the days of the week.

The new display, likely the first of its kind on a wristwatch, allows wearers to choose their preferred mode of power-reserve indication.

Through the sapphire case back the viewer can see three barrels placed evenly around the center.

Finally, MB&F has built a new balance wheel for the LMX. The exposed balance, hanging from arched titanium bridges, is for many the primary characteristic of the first Legacy Machine and is repeated throughout the decade-long Legacy Machine lineage. MB&F has built a new balance wheel measuring 13.4mm in diameter with inertia blocks rather than more traditional screwed balances. MB&F explains that this choice “offers greater accuracy to the watchmaker in regulating the heart of LMX.”

 

MB&F is offering the new LMX in two limited launch editions:

– Eighteen pieces in red gold with black NAC treatment on plates and bridges ($128,000);

– Thirty-three pieces in titanium with green CVD treatment on plates and bridges ($112,000).

Specifications: MB&F LMX

Movement: MB&F three-dimensional manual winding with three mainspring barrels. Power reserve of 7 days (168 hours), new 13.4mm balance wheel with inertia blocks floating above the movement. Balance spring is traditional Breguet curve terminating in mobile stud holder; balance frequency is 18,000bph (2.5Hz), gold chatons with diamond countersinks, superlative hand finishing throughout respecting 19th century style; internal bevel angles highlighting hand craft; polished bevels; Geneva waves; hand-made engravings; polished arms of the straight bridges exposed on the dial plate, manually finished to a curved “bercé” profile on their upper surfaces.

MB&F has opened the watch’s dial to expose more of the movement’s most active gears and components

Dial: Completely independent dual time zones displayed on two dials. Unique hemispherical power reserve with choice of weekday or 7-day indication; rotates to adjust the preferred power reserve indication. Left crown at 10 o’clock for setting time of left dial; right crown at 2 o’clock for setting time of right dial and winding.

Case: 44 mm wide x 21.4 mm in two launch editions: 18-karat 5N+ red gold case limited to 18 pieces or grade-5 titanium case limited to 33 pieces. High domed sapphire crystal on top and sapphire crystal on back with anti-reflective coating on both sides.

Strap: Black hand-stitched alligator strap with 5N+ gold folding buckle for red gold version, and grey hand-stitched alligator strap with titanium folding buckle for titanium edition.

 

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The Watches

Meteorite Highlights New De Bethune DB28XP

With this week’s debut, the DB28XP Meteorite, De Bethune has underscored its fascination – and expertise – at using material hewn from meteorites as watch dials.

The new De Bethune DB28XP Meteorite.

The independent watchmaker has placed the extraterrestrial material into several of its watches over the years, including as the dial material for the brand’s Dream Watch 5 Meteorite and on the DB28 Kind of Blue Tourbillon Meteorite. This latest example highlights the eye-catching dial by framing it with the well-known ‘floating lug’ De Bethune DB28 case, now dramatically finished in matte black zirconium.

De Bethune differentiates its meteorite dials from others by heating the space-borne slice, a process that results in a spectacular blue shade while also enhancing the material’s random geometrical crosshatched patterns.

Sky map

As the newest example of this technique, the dial on the new DB28XP Meteorite mimics its own celestial origins, complete with varying shades of blue, black and even purple. De Bethune takes full advantage of the scene by adding small white gold pins that appear as stars and planets amid the celestial void.

With this ‘sky map’ in mind, De Bethune will allow each DB28XP Meteorite owner to choose to have the brand customize their watch’s dial by specifying a constellation at a specific date, time and place.

Each customized dial will be placed within the DB28XP case, which here remains 43mm in diameter with its familiar round, ultra-thin crown at 12 o’clock, its hunter-type back and, of course, those dramatic architectural lugs.

The dial’s hour circle echoes the darkened case and is topped by an almost hidden De Bethune signature at 12 o’clock. The watch’s pink gold hands are identical to those on the De Bethune DB28XP Starry Sky dial.

With distinctively terrestrial origins, De Bethune’s own Caliber DB2115v7 represents its own mechanical universe. The manual-wind caliber, with its balance visible at the 6 o’clock position, is built with De Bethune’s well-known, award-winning technical proficiency.

Among those proprietary techniques: the use of a titanium balance with white gold weights placed around the rim, a silicon balance wheel, an in-house balance spring with a flat terminal curve and self-regulating twin barrels that ensure six days of power reserve.

Price: $138,000. De Bethune will make ten examples of the new DB28XP Meteorite.

 

 

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Seiko Recreates Historic Diver and Adventure Watches

Among Seiko’s wide-ranging 2021 debuts, two new Prospex models stand out for near-perfect fidelity to the original Seiko watches that inspired their re-interpretation. One, the Seiko Prospex Alpinist, revisits a Seiko sport model from 1959, while a second, the new Seiko Prospex Naomi Uemura 80th Anniversary Limited Edition, revisits a historic dive watch Seiko made in 1970.

What makes both these debuts even more vital for Seiko collectors, and sports watch enthusiasts in general, are the updated collections based on these historic designs.

First, let’s take a look at the diver’s watch.

The Seiko Prospex Naomi Uemura 80th Anniversary Limited Edition watch, showing blue silicone strap.

Seiko Prospex Naomi Uemura 80th Anniversary Limited Edition

As worn by Japanese adventurer Naomi Uemura in the mid-1970s when he completed a 12,500-kilometer solo dog-sled run from Greenland to Alaska, a 1970 Seiko dive watch offered both reliability and protection. The watch was also notable for its unusual asymmetrical extension that protected the crown at the four o’clock position.

The curved extension of the case fully protects the screw-down crown.

Revisiting that 1970 design, Seiko in 2021 offers two new 44mm steel models. One (Reference SLA049) is a limited edition of 1,200 watches that echo the case’s original shape, high-visibility and three-hand dial, but now offer a special ‘mountain-pattern’ blue dial and blue bezel, said to recall the “blue tones of the earth’s upper atmospheric layers.” 

The original Seiko 1970 divers watch.

Seiko of course has modernized the tribute watch in several ways, primarily with the updated movement. Inside you’ll find Seiko’s dive-centric Caliber 8L35, made at the Seiko Shizukuishi Watch Studio in northern Japan.

The dial is also extra luminous, with all hands and all hour markers coated generously with Lumibrite. Seiko has also coated the case with a protective, anti-scratch layer, and has placed an anti-reflective coating on the dual-curved sapphire crystal.

The caseback is engraved with Uemura’s name and the watch’s number.

Finally, Seiko has increased the watch’s water resistance, now rated to 200 meters. For this limited model, Seiko includes a blue silicone strap that has the same train-track pattern as the original model.

Seiko Prospex 1970 Diver’s Modern Re-interpretation.

In addition to the blue-dialed limited edition that commemorates the 80th anniversary of Naomi Uemura’s birth, Seiko adds a gray dialed version to the Prospex collection. The watch shares the same textured pattern dial as the limited edition but is in a charcoal gray color that is similar to the 1970 original. It shares the same case design, features and specifications as the commemorative watch and will also be available at the Seiko Boutiques and selected retail partners worldwide in July 2021.

Prices: $3,100 (Ref. SLA049–limited to 1,200 pieces), $2,900 (With gray dial, Ref. SLA051)
 

The Alpinist

Seiko introduced its first watch made for mountain climbers in 1959. Called the Seiko Laurel Alpinist, it marked the start of Seiko’s march into the much broader sports watch market. Seiko followed that debut model with a series of watches specifically tailored for sports, including stopwatches and diver’s watches.

The original Seiko Laurel Alpinist, circa 1959.

For 2021 Seiko revives that debut 1959 design with two odes to the original. One, the Seiko Prospex 1959 Alpinist Re-creation, is a 36.6mm limited edition that retains the original’s dial markings and its sporty leather cuff. A second model, the Seiko Prospex 1959 Alpinist Modern Re-interpretation, is slightly larger, at 38mm, is fitted with a different movement and is offered on steel bracelet (and two dial options) and on a leather strap.

The new Seiko Prospex 1959 Alpinist Re-creation (Reference SJE085), a limited edition of 1,200.

Seiko Prospex 1959 Alpinist Re-creation

The re-creation brings back the black dial and large markers found on the original, but now adds a date window and stronger water resistant (to 100 meters). In addition, its box-shaped sapphire crystal is now treated with an anti-reflective coating on the inner surface. Finally, the movement is updated with Seiko’s thin automatic Caliber 6L35, which has a power reserve of 45 hours. Despite the addition of a date and the new automatic caliber, the case is just 1.0mm thicker (11.1mm) than the original model. And of course, Seiko has faithfully reproduced the leather strap and cuff, using the same jagged stitch design as its predecessor.

Seiko’s slimline Caliber 6L35 has a power reserve of 45 hours.

The re-creation will be available as a limited edition of 1,959 at the Seiko Boutiques and selected retail partners worldwide in August. Price: $2,900.

Prospex 1959 Alpinist Modern Re-interpretation (below)

One of two steel-bracelet models in the new Seiko Prospex 1959 Alpinist Modern Re-interpretation collection (Reference SPB243).

The three other new watches that pay homage to the 1959 Alpinist sport a more contemporary dial treatment and offer a choice among two steel bracelet models and one attached to a leather strap. This collection of three models is one of Seiko’s best values among all its 2021 debuts.

The green-dialed Seiko Prospex 1959 Alpinist Modern Re-interpretation collection comes on a leather strap.

Their slightly larger (38mm) polished cases are notably more modern than the Re-creation, and the Caliber 6R35 offers a stronger power reserve, at 70 hours. In addition, the water resistance is to 200 meters, twice the rating of the Re-creation. Two watches (cream-colored dial and black dial) are offered on stainless steel bracelets while the green dial version comes with a leather strap.

The new Seiko Prospex 1959 Alpinist Modern Re-interpretation, Reference SPB241.

All three of these Prospex 1959 Alpinist Modern Re-interpretation watches will be available at the Seiko Boutiques and selected retail partners worldwide in August. Prices: $750 and $725 (leather strap).

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Nomos Celebrates Glashütte with Colorful Club Debuts

Nomos Glashütte previews its spring releases by debuting three limited-edition 40mm Club automatic models with three new dial colors: olive green, onyx black and blue.

The new Nomos Club automatic in olive green is limited to 175 models in honor of 175 years of fine watchmaking in Glashütte. The watch is also available with onyx and navy dials.

The steel Club Automatic watches, limited to 175 pieces in each color, feature in-house automatic caliber DUW 5001 built with Nomos’ own ‘Swing System’ escapement and adjusted to chronometer standards.

The Nomos special edition Club automatic features automatic caliber DUW 5001, equipped with the proprietary Nomos Swing System adjusted to chronometer standards.

Water resistant to 200 meters and sporty in nature, the Club automatic model is one of Nomos’ most casual designs, with two models (olive green and blue) offered on fabric straps and one, the black (onyx) model, on the brand’s relatively new steel bracelet.

All three watches also exhibit their sportiness with a generous application of luminous material on markers and hands. The dial is highly legible even if it is a bit idiosyncratic with its mix of both Arabic hour markers and ‘sticks’ around the dial, interrupted only at 6 o’clock by the small seconds subdial.

The new limited edition selection follows two previous collections, within the firm’s higher-priced Lambda and Ludwig lines, that celebrate 175 years of watchmaking in Glashütte, the center of German watchmaking.

Prices start at $2,620.

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