Mondaine adds three new black and white models to its minimalist Neo chronograph series. Each offers a variation of a classic panda-syle dial, and all retain the Mondaine red-dot seconds hand as seen on clocks at all Swiss railway stations.
These 41mm quartz chronographs feature brushed steel cases that frame the classic three-sub-dial chronograph layout on each watch. One model is a classic Panda, with dark sub-dials amid a white primary dial, a second is all white while the third is a ‘reverse-panda’ dial, with white sub-dials amid a black primary dial. The latter example features white markers to extend visibility.
Each watch is also made ultra-visible with Mondaine’s generous application of SuperLuminova on the top of Neo’s broad hands.
Mondaine attaches each of the cases here to an unusual black grape leather strap. The watchmaker has replaced all its leather straps with vegan leather examples, with this type made from organic waste from wine production. All three watches are water resistant to fifty meters.
While a glance at the newest Frederique Constant Slimline Moonphase Date might reveal a classical moon-phase subdial with a hand-date, a closer inspection reveals something much more unusual. The hour markers on the two hand dress watch seem oddly askew, scattered around the dial as if forgotten during assembly.
The new Frederique Constant Slimline Moonphase Date Manufacture Seconde/Second/Limited Edition
What’s more, the brand’s logo and the date display appear to be written by hand. Even the moon and stars within the moon-phase disk look uneven, as if written by an amateur.
Rest assured that the dial typography and finish are not made in error, but are a result of an unusual collaboration by Frederique Constant with artist Romaric André, known as ‘Seconde/Seconde/,’ that is meant to highlight the hand-assembled nature of the watchmaker’s products.
Each of the askew elements themselves are actually perfectly executed and embellished by hand, but their placement and tentative nature are aimed at emphasizing how Frederique Constant hand-finishes its dials, movements and cases.
The caseback gives the game away. The watch’s sapphire display back features a telltale explanation of the collaboration, with “How do we tell the world that manual‐assembly is at the core of our Manufacture? We asked artist seconde/seconde/. He took it too far” printed on the back.
Just beneath the message the owner can eye the Frederique Constant FC‐705 in‐house automatic caliber that artisans have finished with perlage graining on the base plate, côtes de Genève striping on the bridge and blued screws throughout.
André notes that “As watch lovers, we’re looking for perfection… but when it becomes too perfect, we start to regret the lack of soul, the lack of connection with the ‘artisanal roots’ of watchmaking.”
Frederique Constant and André have created two limited editions of the watch. One is an online boutique limited edition of ten pieces that features rose gold accents on the case and dial. The second model is limited to 100 pieces encased in steel and available at Frederique Constant retailers worldwide. Price: $3,495.
Specifications: Frederique Constant Slimline Moonphase Date Manufacture Seconde/Second/Limited Edition
(Ref.FC-705SOC4S6, limited edition of 100 and FC-705SOC4S2 with gold-colored indexes, limited edition of 10)
Movement:FC-705 in-house caliber, automatic 38-hour power reserve, 28,800 alt/h.
Case: 42mm by 11.3mm polished stainless steel 3-part. Anti-reflective convex sapphire crystal, water-resistant to 30 meters, see-through case back.
Dial: Silver with matte finishing, Frederique Constant Geneve logo hand-written by artist Seconde/Seconde, hand-applied off-center silver color indexes, hand-polished silver color hour and minute hands, moonphase at 6 o’clock, date by hand at 6 o’clock written by Seconde/Seconde.
Strap:Black alligator leather with matte finishing and tone-on-tone stitching, stainless steel folding buckle.
Bell & Ross expands its bronze-cased offerings with the new BR 03-92 Diver Black & Green Bronze, the latest model in the watchmaker’s dive collection.
The new Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Diver Black & Green Bronze.
Boasting a color that might recall recent green-dial additions to the above-ground BR 05 collection, the new watch’s dial appears as a subdued matte green rather than the glossy green of those earlier land-based examples.
Bell & Ross teams the green dial with a bronze case that fits perfectly withinexisting bronze-cased offerings in this collection. Last year the watchmakerlaunched one new model in bronze, and a year earlier we saw the debut of two bronze-cased BR 03 Dive models.
Bronze cases are valued by many collectors for their ability to display the results of oxidation, a process that creates an individualized brownish, reddish or green patina pattern on each watch. Bronze is also an alloy of choice on sailing boat fittings. As Bell & Ross notes, “bronze gives watches extra soul and puts the wearer in touch with nature.”
As with all Bell & Ross dive watches, the new BR 03-92 Diver Black & Green Bronze is built to meet international standard ISO-6425, which states that a “diving watch” is a watch that must withstand immersion in water to a depth of at least 100 meters and have a highly visible time control system, among many other dive-ready specs.
Bell & Ross employs its automatic BR-CAL.302 movement (based on Sellita SW300-1) that beats at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations/hour and guarantees a 54-hour power reserve.
Protecting the movement, the solid steel caseback has been engraved with an image of a vintage bronze diver’s helmet. Bell & Ross attached the case to a black rubber strap with ‘ultra-resilient’ black synthetic fabric.
MB&F adds an eye-catching light blue dial color to its collection of titanium-cased Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO watches, which the independent watchmaker first launched in 2020.
The new MB&F LM Perpetual EVO Blue
When MB&F debuted the EVO, it was a zirconium-cased, sportier version of the award-winning Legacy Machine Perpetual, initially decked out in an orange, blue or a black dial plate. MB&F then added a titanium-cased version with a green dial plate to the collection in 2021.
This latest edition retires that 2021 model, replacing it with the LM Perpetual EVO Blue, whichboasts a cool icy blue CVD dial plate.
The Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO built its sporty chassis and new hues around the original GPHG-award-winning Legacy Machine Perpetual from 2015, devised for MB&F by watchmaker Stephen McDonnell.
McDonnell effectively redesigned the traditional perpetual calendar when he built the LM Perpetual with a so-called ‘mechanical processor.’ Essentially a series of superimposed disks, the component makes the default number of days in the month at 28 and then adds the extra days as required by each individual month.
McDonnell 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.
With the 2020 EVO edition, MB&F added a series of technical upgrades to that watch, effectively toughening its resistance to shocks and moisture. The EVO offers a redesigned, sleeker case, ergonomic double-sprung pushers, an integrated rubber strap, Super-LumiNova, a specially developed ‘FlexRing’ shock-absorbing system, a screw-down crown and 80 meters of water resistance.
MB&F is now shipping the new LM Perpetual EVO Blue with its all-new icy blue CVD dial to its retailers. Also look for a few in the MB&F eShop. Price: $198,000.
Hublot teams once again with the British band Depeche Mode, launching the new Spirit of Big Bang Depeche Mode watch in support of a new album, a world tour and to raise funds for several charities.
The new the new Spirit of Big Bang Depeche Mode watch.
The new watch, a limited-edition Spirit of Big Bang 42mm tonneau-shaped black ceramic watch, depicts a skull-and-hourglass motif on its dial.
The Swiss watchmaker first partnered with the band fourteen years ago to raise awareness and funds for environmental and humanitarian causes. Since that time, the ongoing partnership has raised more than $2.3 million for the Teenage Cancer Trust and Charity:Water.
With the new watches, Hublot is assisting the band as it raises funds and awareness for Conservation Collective, a global charity that unites a network of regional philanthropic foundations working to protect, conserve and restore natural environments.
Taking a cue from the title of the new Depeche Model release called Memento Mori, Latin for ‘remember you must die’ and intended to prompt reflection on the transience of life, Hublot filled portions of the dial’s skull design with small black ceramic spheres that symbolically flow back and forth as the wrist moves.
Depeche Mode initials DM appear at the bottom of the dial while the indexes are pyramid-shaped studs made to mimic the pattern Hublot has etched the watch’s black ceramic bezel. The caseback, pictured above, offers logos of the band and of the Conservation Collective.
Hublot’s Spirit of Big Bang case measures 42 mm across and is constructed of sand-blasted and polished black ceramic. Inside Hublot fits its superb automatic HUB1710SD movement with a 50-hour power reserve.
For this model Hublot offers two straps, each interchangeable. One strap is made of Velcro and recycled materials to echo the Conservation Collective’s plastic pollution initiatives.
The second, a ‘rock and roll’ strap (pictured below), is made of black rubber with a black titanium folding clasp and the same pyramid-shaped studs seen on the bezel and dial.
Each watch in this 100-piece limited edition is shipped with a 10” vinyl single of Depeche Mode’s 2023 song Wagging Tongue. The single, produced using green energy and recycled PVC, is only available as part of this package.
