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Casio

Casio Celebrates Honda Racing

Casio this week expands its Edifice collection with a new Honda Racing Collaboration Model (EFS560HR-1A).

The new Edifice Honda Racing Collaboration Model (EFS560HR-1A).

Like previous Edifice Honda models, this latest solar-powered sporty chronograph watch is dressed with the colors of the Honda Racing team. The watch’s black Cordura band and red accents match the signature colors of the team.

In the same lane, the Edifice’s carbon fiber dial is meant to recall the look of an asphalt racetrack. The dial, resplendent with the Honda Racing logo, is also clearly marked with a gold reminder of the Edifice collection’s 20th anniversary.

In keeping with the Honda theme, the watch’s metal strap keeper and caseback are engraved with the Honda logo, where it joins the Edifice 20th anniversary logo.

The strap itself is covered with Cordura fabric with Kevlar fiber inserts.

As with all recent Edifice light-powered watches, this model’s solar charging system generates power using the light that enters through the inset dial openings. The watch will operate for up to six months of operation without exposure to light on a full charge.

Look for the Honda Racing Collaboration Model (EFS560HR-1A) in October at select retailers nationwide, as well as Casio.com. Price: $400.

 

Specifications: Casio Edifice Honda Racing Limited Edition

Case: 50.2mm x 45.4m x 10.3m mm steel with black ion plated bezel, sapphire crystal with non-reflective coating,

100-meter water resistance

Movement: Light powered Edifice quartz chronograph with elapsed time and 1st and 2nd place time displays, accurate to 20-seconds per month.  Operating time from full charge until hands stop is approximately six months.

Dial: Carbon fiber, two hands (hour, minute), three chrono subdials (seconds, stopwatch minutes, stopwatch seconds), battery-level indicator. 

Strap: Cordura and Kevlar

Price: $400.

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Watch Of The Day

Rolex Brightens its Oyster Perpetual

Among Rolex’s 2020 debuts, the watchmaker’s colorful additions to the Oyster Perpetual lineup will likely attract more new fans to the brand (if that’s possible) than will be drawn by Rolex’s updates to the latest Submariner.

The new Rolex Oyster Perpetual, now with a 41mm size option.

Where Rolex altered the case size by one mm (to 41mm) and updated the caliber on this year’s Submariner and Submariner Date, the Geneva giant matched these for the new Oyster Perpetual collection, but also included a wider range of dial hues, brighter dial luminescence and the premiere use within the Oyster Perpetual line of the excellent folding Oysterclasp and the Easylink extension link.

The Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41

New size & colors

Echoing the new Submariner size, Rolex adds a 41mm case size to the Oyster Perpetual lineup in 2020, replacing the 39mm models. This means that the collection’s other 2020 debut, a new lineup of the already popular 36mm models, will be even more in demand by those who prefer a smaller size.

Oyster Perpetual 41, showing updated luminescent Chromalight. 

Rolex also expands the fun factor of this relatively affordable collection (the starting price is $5,600, compared to $8,100 starting price for the Submariner) with a slate of eye-catching colorful lacquer dials for the Oyster Perpetual 36. The include candy pink, turquoise blue, yellow, coral red and green.

A colorful Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36
Oyster Perpetual 36

But these aren’t the only dial options that will attract new fans. One version of the Oyster Perpetual 41 sports an interesting silver, sunray-finish dial with hands and hour markers in 18-karat yellow gold. A second version offers a bright black sunray-finish dial with white gold hands and hour markers.

Throughout the Oyster Perpetual collection Rolex updates the hands and markers with its own luminescent formula called Chromalight, which emits a long-lasting blue glow.

Upgraded caliber & bracelet

The Oyster Perpetual 41 and the new versions of the Oyster Perpetual 36 are equipped with its also-new Caliber 3230 (which powers the new, date-free 41mm Submariner as well).  This caliber enhances the Oyster Perpetual considerably, upgrading and already solid technical resume by adding Rolex’s own ultra-efficient and anti-magnetic Chronergy escapement and the brand’s Paraflex shock absorbers, increasing the movement’s shock resistance.

Oyster Perpetual 41

For collectors who like to swap their wrist wear frequently, the new seventy-hour power reserve that comes along with the new caliber might be the most useful enhancement with the 2020 collection.

The Oyster Perpetual 41 and the new versions of the Oyster Perpetual 36 are equipped with Caliber 3230, now with a 70-hour power reserve.

And finally, this newest Oyster Perpetual will secure to your wrist with the Rolex Oystersteel bracelet fitted with Rolex’s folding Oysterclasp and the Easylink comfort extension link. This allows the wearer to adjust the bracelet length by five millimeters. This is the first time that this extension system has been used on a bracelet for the Oyster Perpetual range.

You can learn more about all Rolex’s 2020 debuts here.

 

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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

Ulysse Nardin Updates its Dual Timer

Ulysse Nardin this week refreshes its Executive Dual Time with a slightly smaller case, reduced lug size, thinner bezel and a decidedly cleaner dial. This new, dressier version, however, retains the watchmaker’s instant second-time-zone display adjustment, a feature Ulysse Nardin debuted in 1994 well ahead of just about any other manufacturer.

Ulysse Nardin’s system, still among the simplest available, allows the user to adjust the local time hour hand forward or backward (in one-hour increments) with the touch of the “+” and “-” pushers located opposite the crown. The ‘dual time’ window will continue to display the hour at the wearer’s home. The date adjusts automatically with the local time as indicated by the hands, though it can also be adjust manually using the crown.

Subdued dial

Now in the same case as the newly prominent Skeleton X models, the new Dual Time presents a more subdued dial, with several alterations, when compared with the previous version. The new case also measures 42mm in diameter, a bit smaller when compared to the earlier collection’s 43mm measurement.

First, smaller Roman numerals at the twelve, three, six and nine o’clock locations no longer dominate the dial as they do on existing models. In addition, Ulysse Nardin has moved the watch’s seconds markers from the rectangular track in the dial’s center to the inner bezel. And finally, the ‘dual time’ text no longer circles the round home time display, but more simply abuts it on two lines.

Ulysse Nardin’s Caliber 24, which combines the brand’s superb dual-time module to an upgraded ETA base caliber, is visible through the exhibition case back. Look for a new oscillating weight with a prominent, encircled UN logo Ulysse Nardin through the sapphire back.

Ulysse Nardin is offering the new Dual Time in either a rose gold case with a blue dial or a stainless steel case with a blue or a black dial. All are water resistant to fifty meters and each piece is individually numbered. Prices: $22,800 (Rose gold), $8,300 (black or blue dial, steel case).

 

Specifications: Ulysse Nardin Dual Time

Movement: Caliber UN-24 (UN module on ETA base), patented quickset second time (home) display at 9 o’clock, patented Big Date display, small seconds-hand counter. Power reserve is 42 hours.

Dial: Black or blue with home time at 9 o’clock, large date

Case: 42mm stainless steel or rose gold, sapphire crystal,
50 meters water resistance

Bracelet: Alligator leather strap with pin buckle or rubber strap with pin buckle

Prices: $22,800 (Rose gold), $8,300 (black or blue dial, steel case)

 

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The Watches

Zenith’s Black & White Debuts Defy Color

Zenith re-interprets its Defy 21 and Defy Classic contemporary skeletonized collections with stylish black and white simplicity on two new boutique editions. Each Defy model is paired with a white ceramic bezel, a matte black ceramic cases and a white rubberized strap.

Zenith Defy 21 Black & White

The basic non-color motif defies (see what I did there) Zenith’s attention to vibrant hues seen on earlier Defy Classic and Defy 21 models, which the watchmaker has bathed previously in blue, orange and even violet dress.

Zenith Defy Classic Black & White

Zenith has nicely utilized the Defy’s architecture to enhance its yin and yang, dark and light theme for these new editions. The red synthetic rubies and blue silicon escape wheel, seen within the skeletonized movement of each watch, are the only hints of color visible on either new model.

The only hints of color on either new model are the red synthetic rubies and blue silicon escape wheel.

The Defy 21, for example, emphasizes the eye-catching 1/100-of-a-second scale and its 30-minute chronograph counter by making them white, contrasting strongly with the black, skeletonized movement. The white ceramic bezel carries the theme to completion. 

On the Defy Classic, Zenith emphasizes the blackened star motif by framing it with a white flange ring and a white ceramic bezel. Zenith’s black and white cordura-effect rubber strap completes the achromatic scheme.

Both watches feature a matte micro-blasted black ceramic case (44mm for the Defy 21 and 41mm for the Defy Classic). Both editions of the Defy Black & White also come with a second strap in textured black rubber.

Zenith is offering the Defy 21 Black & White and Defy Classic Black & White at Zenith Boutiques and online at its own e-shop. Prices: $13,600 (Defy 21) and  $8,200 (Defy Classic)

 

Specifications:

Zenith Defy 21 Black & White

Reference: 49.9007.9004/11.R923

Movement: El Primero 9004 automatic, 1/100th of a second chronograph movement. Dynamic signature of one rotation per second. One escapement for the watch time (36,000 VpH) and one escapement for the chronograph (360,000 VpH – 50 Hz). TIME LAB Chronometer certified. Power reserve 50 hours.

Functions: 1/100th-of-a-second chronograph functions, chronograph power-reserve indication at 12 o’clock. Hours and minutes in the center, small seconds at 9 o’clock, central chronograph hand, 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, 60-second counter at 6 o’clock

Case: 44mm black matte ceramic with white ceramic bezel, water resistant to 100 meters

Dial: Openworked with two different-colored counters, hands and markers rhodium-plated, faceted and coated with SuperLuminovaSLN C1

Bracelet & Buckle: Black rubber with white “cordura effect” rubber. Titanium double folding clasp with Black DLC coating.

Price $13,600

 

Zenith Defy Classic Black & White

Reference: 49.9005.670/11.R943

Case: 41mm Black Ceramic with silicon, white ceramic bezel, 100 meters water resistance  

Movement Elite 670 SK, Automatic with silicon escape wheel and lever, frequency of 28,800 VpH (4Hz), power-reserve of 48 hours, hours and minutes in the center with central seconds hand. Date indication at 6 o’clock

Dial: Black open-worked, rhodium-plated, faceted hour markers coated with SuperLuminova SLN C1

Bracelet & Buckle: Black rubber with white “cordura effect” rubber. Titanium double folding clasp with Black DLC coating.

Price: $8,200

 

 

 

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