Rado’s high-tech ceramic True Thinline Collection, first seen in 2011, this month debuts the Great Gardens of the World collection with three models featuring dial designs meant to recall natural beauty.
The idea for the collection took root in 2017 when Rado partnered with Grandi Giardini Italiani, an association of 300 Italian and Maltese gardens. At that time Rado debuted a trio of True Thinline quartz watches with beautifully colored and patterned dials meant to represent earth, water and leaves.
Rado True Thinline Great Gardens of the World, Chapter 1.
Rado now extends that idea with three more of the sleek 40mm ceramic and titanium watches, each sporting an artisanal dial and powered by an automatic movement.
One model, called Chapter 1, sports a turquoise-colored ceramic case and bracelet and offers a matching mother-of-pearl dial. Rado decorates the dial with filigree and cloisonné-style organic elements and nature-inspired themes, including jasmine flowers. Diamonds mark each hour, while on the back you’ll find the phrase “Great Gardens of the World,” printed on a smoky sapphire and titanium caseback.
Rado True Thinline Great Gardens of the World, Chapter 2.
The second model, called Chapter 2, offers a similar pattern but on a black ceramic case with a dark, matching mother-of-pearl dial. Again, diamonds mark the hours.
Rado True Thinline Great Gardens of the World, Chapter 3.
The Chapter 3 watch presents a more sophisticated small central dial framed by an engraved oak leaf pattern in its mother-of-pearl and a ring of additional diamonds.
All this natural beauty arrives alongside Rado’s pioneering mastery of the ceramic case and bracelet technology, here all sporting richly colored and polished high-tech finishes. Rado builds each watch with a ceramic case, ceramic bracelet and crown, a titanium caseback (framing a sapphire center) and a titanium tri-fold clasp.
Each watch offers a titanium case back with black smoked sapphire and a printed phrase.
As noted, these Rado True Thinline models sport automatic movements. Inside Rado places the ETA-based Rado caliber R763 automatic movement with an impressive 80-hour power reserve and an anti-magnetic Nivachron hairspring, which Rado says exceeds standard test requirements from three to five positions.
Prices: $2,450 (Chapters 1 and 2), and $2,660 (Chapter 3).
To emphasize its broad collection of adventure watches, Luminox launches the Bear Grylls Limited Edition Rule of 3 Sea Series watch (333 pieces for the world) that includes a special removable sleeve on the strap with the ‘Rule of 3’ emblazoned on it.
The new Luminox Bear Grylls Limited Edition Rule of 3 Sea.
For the uninitiated, the Rule of 3 states that an adventurer can not survive without air for 3 minutes, shelter for 3 hours, water for 3 days and food for 3 weeks. This accounts for the extra-large numeral 3 on the dial in its appropriate position.
The new watch joins others in the Luminox Bear Grylls collection. However, unlike the existing models in this collection designed for the Luminox Land and Air series, this new model is the first in the collection designed with nautical (Sea) wear in mind.
Luminox cases the watch in a carbon composite called Carbonox and features a uni-directional bezel set with a blue, orange and white dive-timing sector. The watch is water resistant to 200 meters.
Of course, the watch is also set with luminous materials called Luminox Light Technology designed to be visible in low or no light conditions. Each timepiece is individually numbered, and a special certificate comes with each watch. Price: $545.
Specifications: Luminox Bear Grylls Limited Edition Rule of 3 Sea Series
Case: 42mm by 14mm Carbonox with crown protection, uni-directional turning bezel, steel screw-in caseback, hardened mineral crystal. Weight: 76 grams. Water resistant to 200 meters.
Dial: Black with orange and white hands and luminous material; date.
Movement: Ronda quartz 515 HF 6 with 50-month battery life.
Strap: Black genuine rubber w/ stainless steel buckle.
Watchmakers have been multiplying their automotive and motorsports collaborations in recent years. Here, we review a few prominent timekeeping/racing alliances.
By Y-Jean Mun-DelSalle
In this Part II of our four-part series outlining automotive-wristwatch partnerships, we highlight Casio and Ernst Benz.
Casio
Casio has been partnering with the AlphaTauri Racing Team since September 2020 and launched the second Edifice x AlphaTauri model last March.
Casio Edifice has been an Official Partner of the Scuderia AlphaTauri team since 2016.
Designed together with the F1 team around the theme of “speed and intelligence”, the super-sporty ECB-10AT in signature Scuderia AlphaTauri navy blue features a dial made of 6K carbon – a material used in racing car wings and floors – with the team’s logo engraved on the dial, caseback and band loop.
The super-sporty Casio Edifice ECB-10AT in signature Scuderia AlphaTauri navy blue.
For men on the move, the timepiece includes a schedule timer function that syncs with a smartphone’s calendar app and also sets the watch to local time automatically.
Demonstrating its dedication to motorsports, Casio Edifice has also teamed with Honda Racing for the past three years, resulting in five Edifice x Honda Racing models, with the latest released last September.
The Casio Edifice EFS-560HR-1A, with the Honda Racing logo.
That watch (EFS560HR-1A) sports a black Cordura strap with red accents to match the team’s emblematic colors, while its carbon-fiber dial mirrors the appearance of an asphalt racetrack and displays the Honda Racing logo, along with gold Edifice lettering to mark the model’s 20th anniversary.
Ernst Benz
Inspired by 1940s and 1950s aviator watches and the cockpit gauges that pilot, engineer and inventor Ernst Benz himself produced in the 1960s and ’70s, the brand is known for its timepieces that attest to its slogan: “Precision Instruments for Timekeeping”.
Ernst Benz and its affiliation with the world of motorsports evolved naturally from the field of aviation, according to Leonid Khankin, CEO of Ernst Benz. Both fields require accuracy, durability and performance.
“There is a natural connection between automotive timing and wristwatches, as wristwatches and chronographs were developed especially for aviators and timing cars,” Khankin notes. Both fields require accuracy, durability and performance and often share instruments. Benz was a gauge and instrument manufacture for two decades before creating his first wristwatch.
The Ernst Benz Coca Cola ChronoLunar
As the official timekeeper of the Nascar Coca-Cola 600 race, held last May at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Ernst Benz presented the winner, Kyle Larson of Hendrick Racing, with a special edition of the Ernst Benz ChronoLunar Officer tool watch commemorating a decade since the ChronoLunar’s first release. Since it debuted, the ChronoLunar has become the best-known Ernst Benz collection, with the Officer being the most recent interpretation.
Larson’s prize ChronoLunar has been customized with Coca-Cola red details, a brushed stainless steel case, black dial and alligator strap with red top-stitching. It pairs a chronograph with calendar functions, while its 47-mm diameter size optimizes legibility.
Mario Andretti wears his Ernst Benz ChronoScope at the ROVAL 400.
Ernst Benz has also served as the official timekeeper of the Nascar AAA 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway, as well as the Nascar All-Star Race and the Roval 400 in Charlotte, for which it will renew its participation in October 2021.
Personal approach
“We take a personal approach when we partner with motorsports brands,” explains Khankin. “ We look at each race on a case-by-case basis to create watches directly themed to the particular event.” That approach, he adds, is recognized by the racers and the fans as more heartfelt and generates a strong bond between Ernst Benz and its partners.
“I’m extra proud that car guys love our watches,” Khankin adds.
The Ernst Benz Chronoscope Camaro Fifty, with 47mm DLC brushed steel case.
Y-Jean Mun-DelSalleis a freelance journalist and editorial consultant who has lived on three different continents. She meets with inspirational individuals in pursuit of excellence: emerging and established artists, designers and craftsmen, engaging entrepreneurs and philanthropists, and the movers and shakers of the world today. She contributes regularly to regional and international titles such as Artsy, Asia Tatler, Design Anthology, Forbes, Portfolio, Robb Report, Shawati’ and Vogue, shining a spotlight in particular on art, architecture, design, horology and jewelry.
At the top end of G-Shock’s already premium MR-G series, the new G-ShockMRGB2000BS3A is a limited-edition ode to a samurai commander spirit known as Hana-Basara. Working from this theme, G-Shock combines a series of ultra-strong materials with hand-worked techniques to create the new titanium-cased MR-G watch.
The new G-Shock MRGB2000BS3A.
For example, G-Shock uses a titanium alloy called Cobarion to make the bezel on the new watch. The material, which G-Shock says is four-times harder than pure titanium, also features a facet-cutting technique as applied by polishing artisan Kazuhito Komatsu. He polishes the facets with varying angles, leaving a bright finish. His work frames curved indices meant to echo the curvature of a Japanese sword.
Likewise, G-Shock has forged the watch’s titanium case from DAT55G titanium, which is said to be three times harder than pure titanium. On the side of the case you’ll find a brown arc-ion-plated ring set with a commemorative plate engraved with “25th LIMITED” to mark the 25th anniversary of the MR-G line.
Brown arc ion plating is applied to the case along with this commemorative plate.
Samurai colors
The coloring across the watch’s dial and bezel also pay homage to the Hana-Basara. For example, G-Shock echoes the traditional Japanese hue kurogane-iro, or iron color, on the watch’s titanium band and screw-lock case back, paired with a newly developed, dark green DLC finish. G-Shock says that the color resembles the ironclad helmet and armor worn by Basara samurai commanders.
As expected with all MR-G models, G-Shock equips the new MRGB2000BS3A limited edition with its own Tough Solar Power, Super LED Light, Multiband 6 technology and Bluetooth connectivity (via the MR-G Connected app). This connection enables automatic time adjustment, world time displays and many other premium functions.
The new G-Shock MRGB2000BS3A (offered as a limited edition of 400 watches) is priced at $8,000.
In 1944, a Swiss engineer and employee of the Federal Swiss Railways named Hans Hilfiker created a clock that became the Official Swiss Railways Clock.
If you have ever traveled by rail in Switzerland you’ve seen the clocks at every station. Each is exceptionally easy to read with its white-dial, large black hands and markers and red seconds hand. That famous red seconds hand completes a rotation in 58 seconds and then pauses at the 12 o’clock mark for two seconds while the black minute hand jumps forward, starting its next rotation.
In 1986, this clock inspired the Bernheim family, which owns the Mondaine watch company, to turn the design into a watch collection — with official license from the Federal Swiss Railways. In 2013 Mondaine launched its Stop-to-Go watch collection comprised of watches that mimic the two-second-stop clock feature.
In 2017, Mondaine launched Essence, a so-called ‘watch of the future,’ with timepieces made with the latest in watch technology, along with seventy percent of the parts built from reusable materials.
One model from the Mondaine Essence collection.
International Watch recently interviewed Mondaine CEO Andre Bernheim about his company’s far-reaching sustainability programs. He offered updates on this topic with particular attention to Mondaine’s expansion of its Essence collection.
Ronnie Bernheim (left) and Andre Bernheim, co-managers of Mondaine.
Below is our full interview.
International Watch:Mondaine is among the few brands with an easily identifiable and iconic design with the Swiss Railway watches. What strategies do you use to maintain and possibly increase the brand awareness and keep momentum in the business?
Andre Bernheim:The Mondaine station clock design is a Swiss icon and has remained unchanged since 1944. It first launched as a wristwatch and wall clock in 1986, and thanks to the minimalistic design is as modern as it was then. Mondaine continues to expand the collection, without jeopardizing its design.
For example, the Backlight technology, offering at-a-glance visibility in any lighting, on our Stop2Go and Giant series, is a simple but very effective and useful patent. SuperLuminova is applied on the back of the hands, so that it does not affect the design but allows the viewer to read the time in darkness, like a ghost light.
The other strong pillar of Mondaine is sustainability. Mondaine has been active in sustainability for almost fifty years. Our Essence collection is made of a castor-compound material (case and strap), alternative straps are made of recycled PET bottles and the gift box is made entirely of rPET bottles and can be used as a handy pouch.
Mondaine uses castor bean oil in Essence cases and in many straps.
All Mondaine watches are being produced in our own Swiss factory, where we generate up to eighty percent of the electricity needed for production with our photovoltaic system on our roof.
Our second family, Mondaine’s Helvetica collection, is another icon with a clean, minimalistic design paying homage to Latin word for Swiss (Helvetica is the Latin word for Swiss – what can be more Swiss than Swiss? Beside that it is the most used font in the world, created in Switzerland, of course).
Since September 2019, Mondaine has utilized its own photovoltaic solar plant on the roof of its Swiss factory.
Another innovation is our pay chip, a contactless chip, which consumers can insert easily into the strap, or a patented loop that allows them to have a hands-free payment device on their wrist.
The technology has been implemented in Switzerland, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Belgium since 2016, and we hope to introduce pay chip in the United States soon now that more and more consumers use contactless payment terminals in shops and department stores.
The new Essence collection integrates up-cycled and/or recycled materials. How and when was the decision made to use a more eco-friendly approach and assign this a unique line within the Railway series?
Mondaine has been focused on sustainability for over fifty years, so the Essence collection was simply an evolution of efforts. We saw the opportunity to expand on our sustainability efforts in 2015. We then produced the line and launched the Essence collection in 2016.
The cases are made of a castor oil compound, which is made up of seventy percentnatural materials. The straps come in different but sustainable materials, such as a castor-compound, recycled PET, cotton. Production of the watches is done using up to eighty percent solar energy. The gift box is made of recycled PET bottles as well and can be used as a mobile phone pouch afterwards.
With your new carbon neutral certification as well as the solar array producing eighty percent of Mondaine’s electricity, it’s clear that you’re addressing environmental concerns. With this in-mind, have you considered a rechargeable battery system (induction or port supplied) for your quartz watches to eliminate one-time use batteries?
Yes, indeed! The issue is that there has been no such movement available in Switzerland sincethe mid 1990s.However, back in the 90s we did produce a Mondaine railway design watch with solar cells. But we are working on something better and newer to continue our commitment to sustainability.
Are there other sustainability goals that Mondaine is working on?
We will always continue our path of becoming better, step by step. We are constantly reducing our CO2 footprint by improvements in the supply chain, using longer-lasting materials with lower footprint and more natural matter, reducing weight and volume of our gift boxes and using more sustainable packaging.
In 2020, we became entirely CO2 neutral, as one of the first watch companies worldwide, thanks to our reduction efforts and CO2 compensation by reforesting with Fairventures. One of our goals is to phase in the use of a leather alternative for straps, even though we are using leather from the meat production and not from so-called ‘leather cows’ which are bred for its leather only.
We do have many straps made of other materials already, such as rPET, cotton, rPET felt, and are currently testing alternative materials made of natural products which come extremely close to the touch and feel, and quality, of leather.
Is it more expensive to use up-cycled or recycled materials to make your cases?
It is, but cost increase is minimal. Our goal is to produce watches that are affordable, like our Essence collection, which is below $200, and prove sustainability doesn’t always need to be more expensive than materials that are not good for our planet.
Besides using better materials, we are also on our path from cradle to cradle – from raw material to the end of product lifecycle. Therefore, we introduced a watch-recycling program, probably again as one of the first watch brands to do so.
Consumers can return their old watches to our factory, and we will dismantle and dispose the components of the watch to recycling plants as good as possible. We not only take our watches back, but also other brands, except their plastic watches. We are planning to expand this service to the United States as well.
Mondaine’s Essence White collection features white cases and straps of three different pastel colors.
Other brands have developed straps made from various “trash” plastics using fishing nets or plastic bottles. Do you see this as an option for Mondaine?
We are looking at these developments, too. For the Mondaine brand, we are currently using recycled PET bottles for making nylon straps as well as felt. For Luminox, the other brand I own alongside my brother, we launched a watch last summer with a case and strap made of recycled ocean waste developed by the Swiss company TIDE.
Does Mondaine have any conservation or charitable partners that you’d like to highlight?
As mentioned above, we are supporting reforesting with Fairventures, which is doing really fantastic work, not only by reforesting in a bio-diverse way, but also involving the local people in a very economical way so that they can earn money now and in the future. For more information on who we support, please see our sustainability report.
I would like to add a word about green washing in the watch industry if I may, please. I am the head of sustainability at the Mondaine Group, beside the president of the board. I am deeply passionate and involved in this area. Unfortunately, the watch industry is far behind many others in this area but many realize that there is a need to be part of it.
With modern consumerism and pressure to be sustainable, consumers need to be wary of companies green washing. Green washing is the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company’s products are more environmentally sound which happens often in our industry, unfortunately.
I am not saying we are the best or even good, but at least we are doing efforts to become better and better, step by step, along the supply chain, within our factory and headquarters for almost fifty years.
For this reason, I do strongly believe that we are one of or the most sustainable watch groups, and since 2020, we are CO2-neutral, again, probably as one of the first ones worldwide.
This is not only in some parts of our business. Our CO2 balance is calculated for all watch parts used, our factory operation, headquarters energy and our business travels.
We are continuously improving our CO2 emissions, along with the 3 R’s of sustainability, and compensate any CO2 we still create. Our sustainability report explains more about our sustainability path.
