rose gold

Watches and Wonders 2023: Frederique Constant Classic Tourbillon Manufacture

During its first appearance at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, which this year concluded on April 2, Frederique Constant unveiled a special thirty-fifth anniversary edition of its Classic Tourbillon Manufacture.

The new Frederique Constant Classic Tourbillon Manufacture, now measuring 39mm in diameter.

Offered in a now-smaller 39mm rose gold case and sporting a beautiful anthracite grey sun-brushed dial with gold hands, the new watch is a cleanly designed model that, at $27,595, is among the most ‘affordable’ in-house Swiss Made tourbillon-regulated watches available, a distinction in line with this Geneva manufacturer’s long-held aim to create high-value luxury watches.

As noted, this latest example of the Frederique Constant Classic Tourbillon Manufacture measures 39mm in diameter, the new size for the Classic Manufacture series. Previous examples of the watch measured 42mm in diameter. The three-hand watch continues to be powered by the in-house automatic FC-980 caliber, first developed in 2008.

Also celebrating its thirty-fifth anniversary, Frédérique Constant offers the watch as an anniversary model in a limited edition of 150, each one individually numbered. In keeping with the brand’s own traditions, the tourbillon is exposed at the 6 o’clock position.

Frédérique Constant fits the movement with a silicon escapement wheel and anchor, which means the owner will benefit from a non-magnetic movement unaffected by variations in temperature.

The watchmaker also engraves each watch’s individual serial number on the rim of the sapphire caseback.

Through the back, the owner can eye (and display) the FC-980 caliber’s fine decor, which includes beveling, beading, circular graining, straight-grained flanks and mirror polishing.

The Frederique Constant Classic Tourbillon Manufacture comes on a dark matte brown leather strap with deployant clasp. Price: $27,595.

Watches and Wonders 2023: The Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante

One year after debuting the world premiere Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, Parmigiani Fleurier this year follows up with another premiere jumping hand watch, the Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante.

The new Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante.

The new watch echoes last year’s GMT by performing a classic timing function with a new, simpler operation. Where that earlier model allowed for a hand-based display of GMT time, the new watch allows the user to check elapsed minutes on-demand via a second minute hand hidden directly under the primary minute hand.

Instead of turning a calibrated bezel (as on a dive watch), the user simply presses a pusher to move the second, gold hour hand to the desired time.

With the Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante, it’s the movement’s control of the second minute hand that performs the elapsed time display, not the user’s bezel-read calculation. The elapsed time is indicated when the primary minute hand reaches – and covers – the gold minute hand.

This display can be used for any fine calibration of the minutes over a specific period of time, or for any occasion or event requiring measurement of the minutes count, such as for cooking times or game times.

To use the function, the wearer can move the rose gold hand in either five-minute increments (via the pusher at 8’o’clock) or one-minute increments (via the pusher positioned at 10 o’clock). Once the two hands meet and superimpose, the period of time to be measured will have elapsed.

At any time, the wearer can return the gold hand to its position hidden underneath the rhodium-plated primary minute hand by pressing the crown-integrated pusher, in a similar way to the split-seconds function.

As on last year’s Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, this new hand-based time counting function is only visible when activated.

The movement that makes these functions possible, new caliber PF 052, is powered by an elegant rose-gold micro-rotor and is fully visible from the back of the 40mm steel case.

The functionality here is of course paired with the watchmaker’s high-end workmanship and finishing. These include a hand-cut Grain d’Orge guilloché dial in a sand grey color and 18-karat gold hands and markers. As on all Tonda PF models, the knurled bezel is platinum.

The new Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante is a welcome, ingenious addition to Parmigiani Fleurier’s new series of hand-based complication displays.

Price: $30,600.

Also new in 2023

In addition to the headliner Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante, Parmigiani Fleurier debuts a platinum-cased Tonda PF Flying Tourbillon with a stunning Milano blue dial ($163,700), a premiere all-platinum Tonda PF Microrotor model with time and date only ($92,800), and a trio of perpetual models displaying time using the Islamic, Chinese and Gregorian calendars.

The new all-platinum Tonda PF Microrotor.

The watchmaker also adds a rose-gold edition of last year’s premiere PF GMT Rattrapante, complete with a rich Grain d’Orge guilloché dial in Milano blue,($65,500) plus a rose-gold edition of its always impressive Tonda PF Split-Seconds Chronograph ($169,100).

A new rose-gold edition of last year’s premiere Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante.

The Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Split-Seconds Chronograph, now in rose gold.

We’ll have more about the debuts in future posts.

Watches and Wonders 2023: Bell & Ross in Green, Gold, Blue & White

Bell & Ross pairs a brilliant sun-ray-finished green dial with its third all-gold BR 05 model. The watch joins two equally colorful Bell & Ross debuts during Watches and Wonders 2023.

Green Gold

While gold cases are still a rarity within the Bell & Ross BR 05 series, this debut makes it clear that the BR 05’s sophisticated rounded-square case and integrated bracelet works just as well in this luxurious guise as it does in its original steel dress.

The dressier satin-brushed 40mm gold case and bracelet plays well with the deep green sunray dial as light reflects from each element to influence the other. Thus we see hints of green along the inner bezel ring and on the gold-coated markers and hands. Bell & Ross applied numerous layers of tinted green vanish atop a sun ray-finished dial plate to obtain the dial’s glimmering effect, which can seem to change hue whenever the light changes.

Bell & Ross coats all the hands (except for the seconds-hands), numerals and indices in C3 SuperLuminova and also polishes the edges around what is largely a satin-finished case. Via the sapphire crystal caseback the wearer can eye the automatic Sellita-based BR-CAL.321 movement sporting a gilded oscillating weight.

As a BR 05 model, the new Green Gold edition highlights it integrated bracelet, who here is satin-brushed gold with polished small links. Still, buyers can opt for an alligator-leather strap—a first for the BR 05 series.

Price: $22,600 on the alligator strap and $34,000 on the gold bracelet.

GMT Blue

Debuting at Watches and Wonders 2023 alongside the BR 05 Green Gold is this BR 03-93 GMT, now adorned with contemporary blue and grey coloring.

On the dial the blue displays daytime hours and grey indicates night-time hours. Bell & Ross pairs the BR 03-93 GMT Blue with a dressy blue Nappa Soft calf leather strap with tone-on-tone stitching. The watch’s blue steel bezel echoes its glimmering blue sunburst dial. Price: $4,200.

Bronze Diver in White

Bell & Ross expanded its ongoing bronze collection with the new BR 03-92 Diver White Bronze. The ISO-certified diver series, which currently includes a brown-dialed, bronze model, now adds this brighter edition.

The new Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Diver White Bronze.

The watch’s opaline silver dial contrasts nicely with the bronze case, especially alongside the red-tinted bronze shades. The unidirectional rotating bezel is also finished with polished bronze and fitted with a brown aluminum ring. A soft iron cage protects against magnetism.

Bell & Ross builds a 42mm case, water-resistant to 300 meters, protected by a screw-down crown and powered by an Sellita-based BR-CAL.302 movement. Available in a limited edition of 999 pieces, the watch is priced at $4,700.

Bulgari Launches First Octo Roma Chronograph

Bulgari focuses on its eight-sided Octo Roma collection for early 2023 as it launches the collection’s first chronograph. In addition, look for three new Bulgari Octo Roma Automatic dial options and four Octo Roma Tourbillon watches, each with its own technical twist.

Octo Roma Chronograph

As an early 2023 focus debut, the new Octo Roma Chronograph introduces a new Bulgari movement, Caliber BVL 399, visible through the watch’s clear sapphire back.

Two models are included in the debut, one with a black dial and one in blue. Both feature an eye-catching Clous de Paris, or hobnail, pattern that appears as small pyramids across the dial, here broken only by the three sunburst-pattern chronograph subdials.

Bulgari has been especially careful designing the pushers, which are nicely integrated into the 42mm by 12.4mm steel case. The pushers are only slightly visible, seemingly flowing from the angled lugs directly to the crown protector.

The new Bulgari Octo Roma Chronograph also features a screw-in steel crown with a ceramic insert, is water-resistant to 100 meters and offersSuperLumiNova-filled metallic hands, indexes and numerals.

Bulgari attaches the watch to the wrist with a polished and satin-brushed stainless-steel bracelet with a folding clasp and includes an easily interchangeable rubber strap with each watch.

Price: 9,900 euros.

Octo Roma Automatic

Sporting the same fetching Clous de Paris dial treatment as the new chronograph, the three new automatic models each offer a three-dimensional dial option to the Roma Automatic collection. Differing ambient light levels will subtly alter the character of the dial, though the large 12 and 6 and the long hour markers allow time to be read quickly at any angle. The hands, hour markers and Arabic numerals are enhanced with SuperLumiNova.

Bulgari offers three colors with the new dial pattern: blue, anthracite and white.

This 41mm by 9.1mm steel watch with three hands and date is powered by the existing in-house Caliber BVL 191 movement decorated with Côtes de Genève motif, visible through the clear sapphire back.

Bulgari equips both the Octo Roma Automatic and the Octo Roma Chronograph with a tool-free interchangeable wristband system. Each watch is also water-resistant to a depth of 100 meters.

Price: 7,900 euros.

Four Octo Roma Tourbillon Watches

Two of the Tourbillon models, the Octo Roma Precious Naturalia (165,000 euros) and Precious Tourbillon Lumière (190,000 euros) both feature minerals within their cases or dials.

The Bulgari Octo Roma Precious Naturalia features a slice of tiger’s eye on the caliber and the indexes.

The former includes polished tiger eye on its caliber, mainplate and indexes while then latter glows with diamonds set across a 38mm rose gold case.

The Octo Roma Precious Tourbillon Lumière features a new 38mm case size.

Two Bulgari Octo Roma tourbillon debuts are especially contemporary. One, the 44mm Octo Roma Papillon Tourbillon (130,000 euros) is a black DLC titanium-cased, jumping hour model named in reference to the Daniel Roth precursors of yore. Sporting a very rare central tourbillon, the watch shows the hour through a fixed window at noon, while the minutes are displayed on a semicircle graduated from 0 to 60 and alternately traversed by two diamond-shaped hands.

A sketch of the Bulgari Octo Roma Papillon Tourbillon. Images coming soon.

The second contemporary model is an Octo Roma Striking Tourbillon Sapphire (85,000 euros) that revives an earlier flying tourbillon chiming model, but with a newly refined black DLC titanium and sapphire case. We’ll have more information and images of these two new models in future posts.

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The Watches February 2, 2023

Bell & Ross Bronzes its Cyber Skull

Bell & Ross adds a new watch to its Skull collection with the BR 01 Cyber Skull Bronze, an updated edition of the contemporary design made with sharper edges and more light-reflecting facets.

The new Bell & Ross BR 01 Cyber Skull Bronze.

The new watch echoes the now sold-out 2020 Cyber Skull, but with an avant-garde twist that combines ceramic, sapphire crystal and bronze. Its gold-colored skull tops a Bell & Ross BR-CAL.210 manual-wind automaton caliber. When the wearer turns the crown, the jawbone moves as if the skull is speaking.

The skull itself is inserted between two sapphire crystal plates as if floating in the center of the 45mm x 46.7mm case.

Held with four femur-shaped supports, the skull covers much of the skeletonized movement. However, as with the earlier Cyber Skull model, the watch’s balance wheel becomes the visible ‘brains’ of the skull while a few winding gears remain in sight on the dial side. Most of the finely-cut movement is fully visible via the watch’s clear sapphire back.

Bell & Ross notes that as a bronze-cased watch, its appearance will change slightly as it is worn and develops a patina. This means each piece of the 500-piece limited edition will take on a unique bronze tone, depending on the wearer’s own body chemistry.

The new watch continues a long-running Bell & Ross concept that started in 2009 with the BR 01 Skull. The watchmaker has introduced several BR 01 Skull and BR 01 Laughing Skull models in the years since, including a bronze BR 01 Skull in 2015. A year later, Bell & Ross added a tourbillon to the BR 01 Skull Bronze in a unique-piece that sold during the Only Watch charity watch auction that year. In 2017, Bell & Ross introduced its first 3D skull with the BR 01 Burning Skull Bronze.

Bell & Ross is making the BR 01 Cyber Skull Bronze as a limited edition of 500 pieces. Price: $11,400.

Specifications: Bell & Ross BR 01 Cyber Skull Bronze

Movement: Manufacture BR-CAL.210 hand-wound mechanical.

Functions: hours and minutes. Moving skull jawbone when wound by hand.

Case: 45 mm x 46.7 mm. 13.70 mm thick. Satin-finished and polished CuSn8 bronze. Sapphire and CuAI7Si2 bronze caseback.

Dial: Skeletonized. Rose gold-plated brass skull (or bronze-colored skull). Gilt metal skeletonized SuperLumiNova- filled hour and minute hands. Balance at 12 o’clock. Sapphire crystal; water resistant to 50 meters.

Strap: Black rubber with satin-finished and polished CuAI7Si2 bronze pin.

Price: $11,400.

Watches and Wonders 2023: Frederique Constant Classic Tourbillon Manufacture

Watches and Wonders 2023: The Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante

Watches and Wonders 2023: Bell & Ross in Green, Gold, Blue & White

Bulgari Launches First Octo Roma Chronograph

Bell & Ross Bronzes its Cyber Skull

AIKON AUTOMATIC DATE 42MM- Maurice Lacroix

interchangable DEFY Extreme Diver straps- Zenith

Highlife Worldtimer Manufacture- Frederique Constant