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The Watches

Bulgari Unveils Thinnest Perpetual Calendar

Bulgari launches the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, extending its string of record-breaking ultra-thin watch debuts to seven since 2014. With a micro-rotor powering the watchmaker’s 2.75mm thin Caliber BVL 305, the new watch displays the time of day plus most the traditional perpetual calendar functions in a decidedly un-traditional ultra-thin 5.80mm-thick case.

The new Bulgari Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, in titanium.

The new perpetual calendar debuted last week during Watches and Wonders 2021 alongside other Bulgari collection updates. These include a new Serpenti high-jewelry model, four new gem-encrusted Divissima and Astrale cocktail watches and a special Octo Finissimo limited edition timer-only model designed by Japanese artist Tadao Ando.

Also new in 2021, Bulgari unveils this Octo Finissimo limited edition designed by Japanese artist Tadao Ando.

We’ll detail these watches in upcoming posts. Below, let’s take a closer look at the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar.

Retrograde displays 

It’s not just the size of the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar case that underscores Bulgari’s technical acumen. The watchmaker’s own history with retrograde displays, fueled in part by years of experience with this long-time Gerald Genta specialty (Bulgari purchased Gerald Genta in 2000), is front and center on the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar.

The dial’s headliner is a retrograde date display, commanding the top and center of the dial, while a retrograde-display leap years indicator sits patiently at 6 o’clock. Radial, hand-indicated day and month displays fill the remainder of the octagon-framed dial.

And if this dial seems a bit spare for a perpetual calendar, that’s because there’s no moonphase display. Bulgari deems the lunar subdial, frequently found on traditional perpetual calendars, as too classical to contribute to the contemporary style of the Octo Finissimo collection.

The watch’s displays are adjusted by means of three correctors: one for the date at 2 pm, another for the month at 4 pm and a third for the day between 8 and 9 o’clock.

The displays are adjusted via three correctors. One for the date is at 2 pm, another for the month at 4 pm and a third for the day between 8 and 9 o’clock.

Bulgari notes that it met the challenge of devising a perpetual calendar within a slender case by effectively reassessing how a movement is configured spatially.

Previous Octo Finissimo models, such as the Chronograph GMT Automatic (2019) and the Tourbillon Automatic (2018), employ a peripheral rotor to free space within the movement. However, here Bulgari opted to re-format most of the perpetual calendar’s 408 components on one level around an efficient new micro-rotor. This freed enough space to allow Bulgari to retain many components at full size – and optimal efficiency – despite the caliber’s 2.75mm limiting thinness.

Two cases

Bulgari will debut the new perpetual calendar with the same architecturally stepped 40mm sandblasted titanium case we’ve seen on previous record-breaking ultra-thin Octo Finissimo models, consistent with the collection’s modern style.

Bulgari is also simultaneously creating a platinum-cased, blue-dialed example. However, this models’ platinum case (a first for this collection) is not fully polished, as is often the case with the luxurious metal. Bulgari will finish this premiere piece with a clearly contemporary satin brushing mixed with polished accents.  

Prices: $59,000 (titanium case, titanium bracelet) and $89,000 (platinum case, alligator strap). 

Seven world records for thinness since 2014. All but one (for automatic watch, now held by Piaget) still stand.

 

Specifications: Bulgari Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar

Titanium model (Ref. 103200)

Movement: Automatic Manufacture movement, Caliber BVL 305, measuring 2.75mm thick, with indication of hours, minutes, retrograde date, day, month and retrograde leap year; 60-hour power reserve.

Case and dial: Sandblasted 40mm titanium, 5.80mm thick, sandblasted titanium crown with ceramic insert, transparent caseback; water-resistant to 30 meters. Dial is sandblasted titanium dial, 0.3 mm thick.

Bracelet: Sandblasted titanium with folding clasp.

 

Platinum model (Ref. 103463)

Movement: Automatic Manufacture movement, Caliber BVL 305, measuring 2.75mm thick, with indication of hours, minutes, retrograde date, day, month and retrograde leap year; 60-hour power reserve.

Case and dial: Satin-brushed/polished platinum case, 40mm diameter, 5.80mm thick, white gold crown, transparent caseback; water-resistant to 30 meters. Dial is lacquered blue.

Bracelet: Alligator leather strap with platinum pin clasp.

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The Watches

MB&F Dresses its Perpetual Calendar in Zirconium

MB&F wants you to wear its new Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO anywhere you go.

The new watch, which MB&F debuts today, is an exuberant, ultra-tough version of its innovative and GPHG-award-winning Legacy Machine Perpetual (from 2015) that MB&F has now dressed in a new case and outfitted with enhanced shock resistance and increased water resistance.

The new MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO.

Cased in lightweight zirconium, an extremely durable silvery-grey metal frequently used by medical instrument makers, the new watch immediately differentiates itself from the earlier LM Perpetual by displaying no bezel. Instead, MB&F has fused the watch’s domed sapphire crystal directly to the 44mm case.

This re-configured case/crystal configuration opens up the wearer’s view of the watch’s eye-catching, hovering balance wheel, a signature MB&F design element. But more than that, the new design also decreases the watch’s overall height-to-diameter ratio, which can reduce the chances of accidental impact to the crystal.

Zirconium, while difficult to machine, makes for a particularly lightweight case; it also features enhanced hypoallergenic and anti-microbial properties.  MB&F has only used zirconium to case two previous watches, the HM3 Frog and HM5.

FlexRing

Perhaps the most critical addition to the original perpetual calendar’s movement design is a one-piece stainless steel dampener called the FlexRing. MB&F fits this new round component between the watch’s case and movement to enhance shock protection along the vertical and lateral axes.

MB&F designed a new shock-resistant component called FlexRing for the new movement.

According to MB&F, the new component “makes for the most robust Machine ever to emerge from MB&F.”

In addition to these adjustments, MB&F has transformed the watch’s pushers, which are larger and oblong instead of small and round, and has enhanced the water resistance of the crown (which is now screw-down) on this updated perpetual calendar. The sleeker pushers in particular signal the EVO’s sportiness.

To increase the watch’s water resistance to 80-meters MB&F has connected the crown to a new type of winding stem that disengages the crown from the winding mechanism when it is pushed in and tightened. This also prevents the wearer from over winding the mainspring barrel.

The movement

As a reminder, Stephen McDonnell effectively redesigned the traditional perpetual calendar when he first devised the LM Perpetual for MB&F five years ago.

McDonnell built the LM Perpetual with a “mechanical processor” (a series of superimposed disks) that takes the default number of days in the month at 28 and then adds the extra days as required by each individual month. This removes the chance that the date will jump incorrectly. He also built in a safety feature that disconnects the pushers during the date changeover to eliminate any risk of damage to the movement when the date is changed.

One of three plate color options, dubbed Atomic Orange, is new for MB&F.

New colors

In addition to bolstering the shock and water resistance of its perpetual calendar, MB&F is also emphasizing the LM Perpetual’s EVO’s sporty nature with new movement plate PVD or CVD colors and a rubber strap that fits snugly between two polished lugs.

One of three plate color options, dubbed Atomic Orange, is new for MB&F. The watchmaker says it has devised a new coating material and CVD coating technique that allowed it to add this sporty hue to its component color options.

The clear caseback reveals superlative hand finishing throughout respecting 19th century style with internal bevel angles and hand-polished bevels.

MB&F is offering two other dial-plate colors, PVD black and CVD blue, for the LM Perpetual EVO and is producing each of the three shades in a limited series of fifteen pieces (in celebration of the brand’s 15th anniversary). Strap colors are white, grey and black. Price: $167,000.

 

Specifications:  MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO

Movement: Fully integrated perpetual calendar developed for MB&F by Stephen McDonnell, featuring dial-side complication and mechanical processor system architecture with inbuilt safety mechanism. Manual winding with double mainspring barrels, bespoke 14mm balance wheel with traditional regulating screws visible on top of the movement. Superlative hand finishing throughout respecting 19th century style; internal bevel angles, polished bevels, Geneva waves, hand-made engravings. A FlexRing, an annular dampener fitted between case and movement, provides shock protection along the vertical and lateral axes, screw-down crown, 72-hour power reserve, 18,000 bph balance frequency (2.5Hz).

Functions/indications: Galvanic black dials with both SLN numerals and hands (except for the leap year and power reserve). Hours, minutes, day, date, month, retrograde leap year and power reserve indicators.

Case: 44mm by 17.5 mm zirconium, water resistance to 80 meters, sapphire crystals on top and display back treated with anti-reflective coating on both faces

Strap: Rubber strap with titanium folding buckle.

Price: $167,000.

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Watch Of The Day

Seiko Celebrates its Founder with Black & Gold Astron

Eight years after Seiko debuted its GPS-connected, light-powered Astron, the Tokyo-based watchmaker launches a new Astron dedicated to Seiko’s founder Kintaro Hattori. The new Seiko Astron GPS Solar Kintaro Hattori 160th Anniversary watch commemorates Hattori with a special sixteen-facet zirconia ceramic bezel, representing one facet for each decade since Hattori’s birth.

The new Seiko Astron GPS Solar Kintaro Hattori 160th Anniversary Limited Edition.

This latest Astron, powered by the GPS-controlled Caliber 5X53, is a dual timer with automatic high-speed timezone adjustment (including Daylight Savings Time) while traveling in any time zone, with accuracy to 15 seconds per month even without receiving the GPS signal. The watch’s 42.8mm case and bracelet are made of titanium with a scratch-resistant coating. The watch’s dark hue, accented in gold, is meant to honor Seiko’s heritage.

 

Seiko has placed Hattori’s name and three reminders of his legacy on the case back, including the trademark “S” that he registered in 1900.  His motto “One step ahead of the rest” appears above it near the name Seiko, which the company first used in 1924.

Seiko is offering the watch, a limited edition of 2,500, in a presentation box with a commemorative “S” mark badge and includes a card carrying a message from Kintaro’s great-grandson and the company’s current Chairman & CEO, Shinji Hattori.

The Seiko Astron GPS Solar Kintaro Hattori 160th Anniversary Limited Edition will be available in October, the month of Kintaro’s birth, at Seiko Boutiques and at selected retail partners worldwide. Price: $3,900.

Specifications: Seiko Astron GPS Solar Kintaro Hattori 160th Anniversary Limited Edition (Limited edition of 2,500)

Movement: Caliber 5X53
GPS controlled time and time zone adjustment, dual-time with AM/PM indication, perpetual calendar correct to Feb 2100
, automatic DST adjustment, high speed time zone adjustment
, time transfer function
, signal reception result indication, world time function (39 time zones), power save function. 
Accuracy: ±15 seconds per month (without receiving a GPS signal and at temperatures between 5°C and 35°C)

Case: 42.8mm x 15.6 mm titanium case with super-hard black coating zirconia ceramic bezel, dual-curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, water resistance to 200 meters, magnetic resistance to 4,800 A/m,

Bracelet: Titanium with three-fold clasp with push button release. 
A crocodile strap is also included.

Price: $3,900.

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The Watches

Frederique Constant Revives Highlife

Frederique Constant this week brings back its Highlife collection, one of the Geneva watchmaker’s earliest lines,  updated with an integrated steel bracelet and a contemporary dial design. The watchmaker debuts the newly returned collection with three new models: The Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture, Highlife Heart Beat and Highlife Automatic COSC.

One model from Frederique Constant’s new Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture collection.

All three new Highlife models display the same 41mm case as the original collection from 1999, but the new dials feature a globe design that the Geneva brand says is “intended to unify the collection and symbolize the Earth, harmony, and perfection of the circle.”

While not Frederique Constant’s first integrated bracelet, these Highlife debuts mark a premiere of a newer, interchangeable bracelet that allows the wearer to swap the bracelet without additional tools by pressing on the two pushpins at the end of the bracelet or strap to disconnect it from the case and click a new one into place.

Versatility is a focus here. Each watch will come with an additional leather strap and a rubber strap, and Frederique Constant is also offering a set of three additional crocodile calf suede straps in brown, blue, and black (purchased separately).

Perpetual Calendar

When it made its first perpetual calendar four years ago, Frederique Constant stuck to its mission of offering a high value-to-price ratio across all its collections. That premier Slimline Perpetual Calendar model wowed collectors and critics alike with its thin Caliber FC-775 movement, attractive dial layout and a double-take price (less than $9,000 for the steel-cased model).

With this latest example, the Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture, Frederique Constant’s continues that mission. The watchmaker’s starts with that in-house FC-775 perpetual calendar caliber and places in the newly integrated steel case/bracelet, fronted by the globe design on the dial.

As with previous examples, the new Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture features three counters: day at 9 o’clock, month and leap year at 12 o’clock, date at 3 o’clock and moon phase at 6 o’clock. The watch’s polished hands and all the index hour markers are topped with a luminescent material.

Frederique Constant is making three different variations of the watch. One (pictured above) offers a very cool two-tone style that combines steel and rose gold plating on the bezel, bracelet, and crown. For added luxury you’ll also get a textured black rubber strap with a rose gold-plated buckle.

The second version features a blue dial with silver hands and index hour markers and comes with a blue rubber strap and a steel pin buckle. The third version comes with a white dial, silver index hour markers, a black leather strap and a black rubber strap. Prices start at $9,095.

Open Heart

The new Highlife Heart Beat collection revisits this brand’s initial ‘iconic’ design.

When it debuted in 1994, the Heart Beat was only serially produced non-skeleton Swiss-made collection that boasted an open dial, displaying the automatic caliber’s escape wheel at the 12 o’clock position. Frederique Constant kicked off a design trend with that original Heartbeat collection, and today regrets the fact that it never protected the initial design, an error the brand says was “rooted in the brand’s youthful inexperience.”

From the new Frederique Constant Highlife Heart Beat collection.

The new versions retain that open window into the movement at the top of the dial, which here appears at the pole position on the globe dial design. Portions of the automatic Sellita-based FC-310 caliber are visible from both front and back through the sapphire crystal.

This Highlife Heart Beat model offers a variation with a rose gold-plated case and a white dial, set with a brown leather strap and shipped with a rubber strap in the same shade.

The new Highlife Heart Beat is now available in three different steel versions. The first offers a white dial and rose gold-plated case with only a brown leather strap and a brown rubber strap. The second features a blue dial with a steel bracelet, complemented by a blue rubber strap and the third features a black dial with a steel case and bracelet and arrives with a black rubber strap. Prices start at $1,995.

New and Certified

As the first COSC-certified watch from Frederique Constant, the new Highlife Automatic COSC (Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute) echoes the original Highlife collection from 1999.

A two-tone model from Frederique Constant’s new Highlife Automatic COSC collection.

The simplest design of the new globe-dial Highlife collection, this time-only series combines the hands seen on the Heart Beat and the date from the Perpetual Calendar Manufacture, but powers them both with its automatic Sellita-based Caliber FC-310.

Look for four models: one with a two-tone steel bracelet and a white dial, one with a steel bracelet and a blue dial, and a model with a black leather strap and a white dial. The fourth design offers a variation with a rose gold-plated case and a black dial, all set with a brown leather strap and shipped with a rubber strap in the same shade. Prices start at $1,895.

 

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Casio

Connecting with a Slimmer Casio Edifice

 

Casio’s Edifice collection has long been the more conventional, metal-cased choice for those who enjoy the laundry list of high-tech features found on Casio’s wildly popular G-Shock watches, but prefer a thinner, polished case under their sleeve. Earlier this year Casio further endeared itself to all who even sometimes want a more traditional steel watch by releasing new full-featured Edifice bracelet models inside even slimmer cases.

The Casio Edifice EQB1000D-1A

       The Casio Edifice EQB1000D-1A is a recently released example of that Edifice focus. I’ve been wearing this watch for a few weeks, and it feels more luxurious than I expected for a brand known more for fit and function rather than eye-candy. Perhaps it’s the watch’s shiny aqua day/mode scale and matching second-time-zone hour hand.

      Most likely, that tinge of luxury is the result of its thinness. The watch is slim (just 8.9 mm thick compared to the 13.1mm of the previous models), an update Casio made despite incorporating the same multi-hand display, Bluetooth and Tough Solar functions.

The case is 8.9 mm thick, about 30 percent thinner than the previous model, which measured 13.1mm thick.

      And of course, when using the Casio Edifice app in conjunction with the watch, myriad additional features are available to wearer. Connecting via Bluetooth, the watch gets much smarter, accessing the correct time for up to 300 cities worldwide, even updating with the latest time zone and daylight saving time information.

The brushed bracelet is easy to adjust; the clasp is secure.

      Also when connected, the watch resets regularly four times a day by the smartphone to show both home time and world time correctly. You can also reset the watch manually with just a push of a button when crossing between time zones.

 Phone Finder

For the forgetful, however, there’s one feature that might prove to be the most useful: the Phone finder. Pressing a button on the watch causes your phone to sound a tone, even if it is in silent mode. This means you can quickly locate your phone if it’s reasonably close. I found that if I left my phone even fifteen feet away, the alarm would continue to sound. 

      But even without the connectivity, the watch offers more than you’d expect for what is essentially an analog model. Its dual timer enables users to view the current time plus the time in another time zone simultaneously –with a clear indication (at 12 o’clock) of daytime or nighttime at that zone. Additional features include water resistance up to 100 meters, a 1/1000th second stopwatch, 200-lap memory, a daily alarm and a full calendar.

            All these features would tend to tax the battery life on a standard smartwatch, but here, despite the Bluetooth and additional connected features, the Edifice EQB-1000D is actually smarter. It doesn’t need to be charged every day, or even every month. Casio’s superior Tough Solar feature allows a fully charged internal battery to last for five months, even if you or your watch hasn’t seen any sunlight for weeks. That’s because the Edifice’s battery charges from not only sunlight, but also from any artificial source, including florescent or LED light.

Casio’s solar power system transforms even weak light from sources such as fluorescent lamps into ample energy.

    The Casio Edifice EQB1000D-1A also boasts a sapphire crystal (not always found at this price point) with non-reflective coating. Priced at $330, it will be also be available with a sportier versions (with added tachymeter bezel) that opt for a black dial with red accents and a silver stainless steel band (EQB1000XD-1A; $330) and with a black dial with blue accents and a black IP coated stainless-steel band (EQB1000XDC-1A; $380).

 

The watch in a sportier version (with tachymeter and textured dial) is also available with red accents or with all-black case and blue accents.

Specifications: Casio Edifice EQB1000DC-1A 

Tough Solar (Solar powered)

Mobile link (Wireless linking using Bluetooth

Dual time (Home city time swapping)

One-second stopwatch (measuring capacity: 23:59’59). Others: Flyback, direct timing start from the timekeeping mode

Daily alarm

Power Saving (hands stop to save power when the watch is left in the dark)

Full auto-calendar (to year 2099)

Date display

Day indicator

Regular timekeeping

Analog: 3 hands (hour, minute (hand moves every 10 seconds)

Four dials (24-hour, day, dual time hour and minute, dual time 24-hour)

Accuracy: ±15 seconds per month (with no mobile link function)

Approx. battery operating time:Five months on rechargeable battery (operation period with normal use without exposure to light after charge) or nineteen months on rechargeable battery (operation period when stored in total darkness with the power save function on after full charge)

Module: 5604

Size of case /total weight: EQB-1000D………49.9 x 45.6 x 8.9 mm / 130 g

 

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