Porsche Design celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Porsche 356 ‘No. 1’ roadster, the first namesake automobile made by Ferry Porsche.
The celebratory model, called the Chronograph 1 – 75 Years Porsche Edition, echoes the first blackened steel Porsche Design watch from 1972 with its Porsche dashboard-inspired matte-black dial with Porsche Design logo and lettering, red seconds hand and tachymeter.
For the new model, Porsche Design updates the 40mm case, which here is glass-bead-blasted and carbide-coated black titanium. And instead of the Valjoux 7750 found in the original, Porsche Design’s own excellent COSC-certified WERK 01.140 powers the chronograph.
For this limited edition, however, Porsche Design also adds a few flourishes, starting with the caseback. This Chronograph 1 – 75 Years Porsche Edition features a winding rotor in the shape of the famed Fuchs wheel, including a Porsche crest in color, as well as the specific limited edition number.
Porsche Design has also created a new textile/leather strap with light blue stitching and a woven red stripe in the middle to mark the anniversary. The chronograph is also available with a black leather strap and matching black stitching. Both straps can be changed quickly using Porsche Design’s snappy quick-change system.
MB&F is back at the race track with the new HM8 Mark 2, a more compact version of its auto-inspired HM8 that combines the supercar styling of the watchmaker’s HM5 with the driving watch display and open ‘hood’ of the MB&F HM8 from 2016.
The new watch also features a similar horizontal time display optically magnified and projected 90 degrees to the wearer via a series of sapphire prisms.
But instead of the titanium and gold casing used in the earlier models, the new HM8 Mark 2 is built from titanium topped with CarbonMacrolon, a composite material composed of a polymer matrix injected with carbon nanotubes.
The material, developed for MB&F, is eight times lighter than steel and can be colored, polished, bead-blasted, lacquered or satin-finished.
MB&F takes full advantage of those properties to create a lighter, smaller and more brightly colored driving watch, inviting a more unisex appeal to the debut.
For this debut, MB&F opts for a white or British racing green finish, matte on the top and high polish on the sides. The white version is paired with a green CVD rotor and light-green minute markers.
The British racing green version (a limited edition of 33) comes with a red gold rotor and balance wheel and turquoise minute markers.
MB&F explains that the double-curved sapphire it uses on three sides of the HM8 Mark 2 is thirty to forty times more expensive than standard domed sapphire, and a result the watchmaker could find only one supplier for the component.
The trademark battle 22-karat gold axe rotor is also a chore to construct as it is only two-tenths of a milimeter thick and can’t be made by machine. Instead, it must be stamped, with the engraving already incorporated into the stamp.
The new watch’s crown is also unusual. Echoing the “double de-clutch” system found on race-cars, it operates by pushing it in and turning it three-quarters of a turn to release it. This ensures the watch’s 30 meters of water resistance while also maintaining a less intrusive profile.
The MB&F HM8 Mark 2 launches in two editions: Titanium and green CarbonMacrolon body (limited to 33 pieces) and titanium and white CarbonMacrolon body panel.
Price: $78,000.
Specifications: MB&F HM8 Mark 2
Movement: Three-dimensional horological ‘engine’ composed of a jumping hour and trailing minutes module developed in-house by MB&F, powered by a Girard-Perregaux base movement. Mechanical movement, automatic winding with 22-karat gold automatic winding rotor. Power reserve is 42 hours, balance frequency is 28,800 bph.
Functions/indications: Bi-directional jumping hours and trailing minutes, displayed by dual reflective sapphire crystal prisms with integrated magnifying lens.
Case: Grade 5 titanium with green or white CarbonMacrolon, dimensions: 47mm x 41.5mm x 19mm. Water resistance to 30 meters. Sapphire crystals on top, front and display back treated with anti-reflective coating on both faces. Dual reflective sapphire crystal prisms with integrated magnifying lens.
Strap & Buckle: Calfskin: White for the British green model and green for the white model with a titanium tang buckle.
Roger Smith’s Pocket Watch Number Two sold for $4.9 million during the Phillips New York Watch Auction Eight held June 10 and June 11, setting a new record for any British timepiece while marking the fourth highest price ever achieved for a pocket watch at auction.
The English watchmaker worked for five years to create the watch by hand in order to win the approval of the late George Daniels and secure an apprenticeship in Daniels’ legendary workshop on the Isle of Man.
As Phillips explains “With Pocket Watch Number One rejected by Daniels, it was the perfection of this timepiece – Pocket Watch Number Two – that led Daniels to proclaim to Smith, “You are now a watchmaker.”
In addition to the Roger Smith sale, two Patek Philippe watches sold for more than $1 million, including the Ref. 2481 Pristine Forest (which sold for $1.1 million) as well as the Philippe Dufour Simplicity 37, which sold for $863,600.
An Audemars Piguet Grande Complication pocket watch in platinum, completed in 2011, sold for $635,000, more than ten times its low estimate.
Watches from Zenith also did well, including a tropical A384 El Primero which sold well past its $6,000-$12,000 estimate to $50,800, setting a new record for a vintage El Primero model. Zenith’s Chronomaster Original Pink “Unique Piece” for Susan G. Komen” sold for $30,480, of which 100% of proceeds, including Buyer’s Premium, will be donated to the breast cancer organization.
The auction realized total sales of $26.4 million, selling 100% by lot and 100% by value. See the Phillips website for full results and details.
Chronoswiss continues to explore the universe with the new Space Timer Solaris, the independent Swiss watchmaker’s third watch in its relatively new Space Timer collection.
Like the earlier Space Timer Moonwalk and Space Timer Jupiter models, the new entry into the regulator-style collection boasts an unusual high-tech dial inspired by galactic-themes, patterns and colors.
As its name implies, the Space Timer Solaris’s fiery orange and red dial is meant to mimic the surface of the sun. Chronoswiss artisans created the dial’s textured surface by placing seventeen layers of nano-printed and laser-sculpted metal onto a gold-plated surface.
The watch’s multilayered dial is composed in part of a raised date disc and hour ring, each built from clear ITR2, a carbon nano-tube synthetic material.
Though employing a regulator dial display like the existing Open Gear ReSec series, the newer Space Timer collection offers a celestial dial theme that replaces that collection’s retrograde seconds hand with a large moon phase and date sub-dial.
That date subdial is a heat-colored titanium globe with SuperLuminova that display the moon’s rotation and a few stars. Around the globe, miniature steel (0.6mm) ’planet’ balls serve as date indicators between Arabic numerals.
The remainder of the dial echoes the familiar Chronoswiss Open Gear regulator dial layout, with a polished and skeletonized bridge supporting the raised, decentralized hour display.
A long central minute hand and central seconds hand both rotate above the full Space Timer Solaris universe.
Chronoswiss fits its ETA-based C.308 automatic caliber into a 44mm by 15.2mm steel case to power this impressive galactic display.
Grand Central Watch in New York is offering a Father’s Day gift set for watch and whisky fans.
Until the end of June, the famed watch repair and sales spot offers a complimentary heirloom watch consultation with eligibility to receive a keepsake book about the restored timepiece.
In addition, whisky fans can obtain a $100 discount code for The Balvenie (when purchased through the Thirstie or Caskers websites.)
Founded in 1952, Grand Central Watch buys and sellsvintage watches, bracelets and straps and offers watch repair on a wide selection of top brands, including Rolex and Patek Philippe. The family operated business also provides same-day battery changes and water testing.
To take advantage of the Father’s Day whisky and watch special, contact Grand Central Watch HERE through June 30.
Grand Central Watch is located at Grand Central Terminal, 45th Street Passageway, between tracks 38 and 39. For details, visit grandcentralwatch.com