Tag

Sellita

Browsing
Oris

Oris Big Crown Now With All-Bronze Bracelet

By Nancy Olson

Anyone who knows Oris knows the flagship Big Crown Pointer Date, with its oversized crown and prominent crescent-tipped central date indicator. It’s been in continuous production since 1938, first created by the Holstein-based brand for glove-wearing aviators who appreciated its user-friendly attributes.

The Big Crown has had a variety of incarnations over the years, in varying sizes and materials. Notably, in 2018 on the 80th anniversary of its debut it was introduced in a 40mm commemorative edition with a bronze case and fitted on a leather strap.

The Oris Big Crown Bronze Pointer Date Collection.

Bronze is once again the metal of choice for the newest Big Crown, this time—and for the first time—with a bronze bracelet and clasp, in addition to its case, fluted bezel and security crown.

The 40mm Big Crown Pointer Date Bronze collection includes four dial colors, visible beneath the watch’s domed sapphire glass—green, brown, Bordeaux and blue—and each lends a distinctly vintage-y vibe to the watch’s already-retro look. The printed Arabic numerals and indices feature SuperLumiNova, and the pointer date offers a familiar pop of red.

Inside beats the automatic Oris Caliber 754 (based on the Sellita SW200-1), as seen in earlier Big Crown iterations. It, and its signature red-lacquer rotor, may be seen through the transparent screw-in caseback. Its functions include hours, minutes, seconds and date.

The seven-link brushed bracelet has a folding clasp, while the sustainably sourced brown leather strap option has a pin buckle.

I like both options, but if you’re going for the bronze, I say go big.

Oris maintains its reputation for producing affordable, well-made watches. The Big Crown Pointer Date Bronze on a bracelet is priced at $2,600, while the leather-strap version is $2,100.

 

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Meistersinger Darkens Stratoscope

One of our favorite moon phase watches, the Meistersinger Stratoscope, is set to release its darkest model yet.

Announced a few weeks ago, and now ready for delivery, this younger and slightly larger cousin of the excellent Meistersinger Astroscope hits the ether (and stores) with a limited edition model bathed in a rugged diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating. The Meistersinger Stratoscope debuted earlier this year in a steel case with a more traditional sunburst blue and black dial.

The one-handed 43mm watch displays a large, luminescent moon phase using a photorealistic image of our sole natural satellite. Around the lunar image we see Meistersinger’s characteristic double-digit numerals 01 to 12, divided into fifteen-minute increments.

 

The Meisteringer Stratoscope is now available (in a limited edition) with an all-black dial and case.

For this new Black Line Edition, limited to twenty pieces, the moon rotates across a very dark night sky, which is framed by an equally dark black diamond-like carbon (DLC) case. The moon and time display glow in the dark.

Inside Meistersinger utilizes its Sellita-based automatic MS Luna movement to calculate the time and the moonphases. In theory, this moon phase indicator only requires a slight adjustment after 122 years.

Price: 3,990 euros, or about $4,600.

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Accutron Recalls Gridiron Nicknames

As football season continues, Accutron reminds collectors that the inspiration watches for two of its new Legacy models drew catchy gridiron nicknames in the 1960s.

The two models, the Accutron 565 and 203, were both initially launched in 1966 and were notable for their distinctive asymmetrical case designs, which accounted in part for their football-related nicknames.

The new Accutron Legacy 565. The original model 565 was known as the ‘Football Cross Hatch’ watch.

One watch, model 565, was known as the ‘Football Cross Hatch’ watch thanks the spiral pattern on its bezel. Likewise, fans called the 203 model the ‘Football Gold Relief’ watch primarily because of its case shape, which somewhat echoes that of the pigskin.

The new Accutron Legacy 203.

Accutron’s Legacy collection, first seen in late 2020, includes newly re-imagined versions of those original watches plus many others from the 1960s and 1970s. For these models (and the full Legacy collection) Accutron wisely resists the modern tendency by watchmakers to upscale retro editions by housing them in larger cases.

New versions

Accutron today adds the distinctive bezel cross hatch pattern to the crown (at 4 o’clock) on the new Legacy 565 ($1,390). This model is 34mm in diameter and features a silver-tone stainless steel case with a three-hand silver white dial, large hour markers and an outer minutes ring.

The new Accutron Legacy 203 ($1,450) offers the same 34mm size case, but with two-tone finish, a three-hand champagne-colored dial, Arabic numerals and thin markers on the outer ring. It’s sold with a brown croco-embossed leather strap with a double-press clasp.

The full Accutron Legacy collection is available online and in select stores with each design limited to 600 watches. All models feature sapphire crystals, a Sellita-based automatic movement and are water resistant to 30 meters.

All Accutron Legacy watches are priced at less than $1,500. Most retain what are now called unisex sizes, from 34mm to 38.5mm in diameter, and almost all are sold in both silver-tone steel and gold-tone steel cases. While several offer steel or gold-tone bracelets, most echo the era and come with croco-embossed or retro-style leather straps.

 

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Bell & Ross Adds Luxury to BR 05

Bell & Boss expands its BR 05 collection with two models that offer luxurious options within the BR 05 design, which features a round-edged square case, wide bezel and round dial notably held together with a fully integrated bracelet.

The new Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Gold, here on a black rubber strap.

One model, the BR 05 Skeleton, is now available with a full gold 40mm case and gold bracelet. While we’ve seen gold models within the BR 05 collection, this debut finds the skeletonized version with the precious dress for the first time.

This new gold case underscores the BR 05’s mono-case design. Fully 155 grams of gold encase the openwork dial, which gleams with its own gilded attributes.

All the dial’s appliqué indexes and skeletonized hour and minutes hands are coated with gold, as is the movement itself. Bell & Ross then smartly inlays a strip of white SuperLuminova on the hands and indexes with to enhance nighttime visibility.

The movement, a Sellita-based Bell & Ross BR-CAL.322, is wound by a 360° rose gold-plated oscillating weight that has been open-worked. And finally Bell & Ross and imprinted a metallized logo on the watch’s sapphire case-back.

Bell & Ross will make ninety-nine BR 05 Skeleton Gold models with the new gold case. The watch will be offered on the integrated gold bracelet ($34,700) and also with a black rubber strap ($23,700).

BR 05 Diamond

Those who prefer diamonds to gold for their luxury statement can now choose from among three steel-cased Bell & Ross BR 05 Diamond models, which sport the gem set into the bezel around a sunray black BR 05 three-hand dial with date.

The new Bell & Ross BR 05 Diamond, here on a rubber strap.

Bell& Ross offers three options, all with a fully diamond-set bezel. One model sports a black rubber strap ($10,700) while another attaches a steel bracelet ($11,200). The third new Bell & Ross BR 05 Diamond adds includes the steel bracelet but also adds diamonds to the bracelet’s central links ($21,500).

Inside Bell & Ross places its automatic Sellita-based BR-CAL.321 wound with a 360° oscillating weight visible through a sapphire back.

 

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Deep Blue Lights Up

By Gary Girdvainis

One of our favorite American-based dive watch specialists has released another water watch you’re sure to appreciate. Deep Blue’s Daynight Alpha Marine 500 Tritium T-100 Swiss Automatic may be a mouthful to pronounce, but you’ll like what you see at a glance.

The Deep Blue Daynight Alpha Marine 500 Tritium T-100 Swiss Automatic.

Deep Blue is known for its intense lume and superior water resistance, and this new model certainly fills the bill. The watch is cased in a 45mm 316L stainless steel case and is 15mm thick. Inside beats a Sellita SW-200-1 Automatic oscillating at 28,800 vph.

Visible through the 33mm dial aperture are the numerous flat and round self-illuminating tritium tubes, in this case complemented by a fully illuminated dial. Clearly its all about the glow on this watch. Even the 120-click ceramic bezel combines Superluminova numerals and markers with a tritium pip.

As expected, Deep Blues utilizes an extra thick sapphire crystal with AR coating underneath, and another crystal offers a view of the movement from the reverse side.

Water resistant to an impressive 500 meters, the watch head is held in place by a stainless steel bracelet with a multi-function safety and micro-adjustment deployant clasp. Price: $999.

by
Keep Reading