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The Watches

2022 Favorites, Part I 

At the end of the year, it’s time to note our favorite 2022 debut watches. Starting today, and through the end of the week, we’ll re-acquaint you with our top timekeepers of the year.

Today, we re-post entries about our favorite 2022 debuts, in no particular order.  We’ll have additional entries throughout the week.  

The TAG Heuer Autavia 60th Anniversary Flyback Chronograph.

TAG Heuer: 60th Anniversary Autavia Flyback Chronograph

TAG Heuer in early 2022 fit a Caliber Heuer 02 COSC Flyback movement into two new Autavia 60th Anniversary Flyback Chronographs.

One of the two new flyback chronographs features a ‘panda’ style silver dial framed by a polished stainless-steel case. The second Autavia flyback model features an all black dial and black DLC-coated case. As a reminder, the flyback function makes it possible to reset the chronograph hand and immediately restart a new timing event.

Prices: $6,300 (silver dial flyback chronograph), $6,950 (black dial, black case flyback chronograph) and $4,200 (GMT). 

 

Delma: Blue Shark III Black Edition

Independent Swiss watchmaker Delma continues to swim with the sharks with a new dive watch made to venture far deeper than most of its similarly priced competitors.  

The new Delma Blue Shark III Black Edition, water resistant to an incredible 4,000 meters, retains this collection’s very sporty technical features, including professional-level helium escape valve and crown protection, but now offers added protection of a scratch resistant black DLC coating on its 47mm steel case.

Built as a limited edition of 300 pieces, the new watch is hyper-visible on a diver’s wrist with large luminous hands and indexes and luminous markers along its broad bezel. 

Delma is making 300 examples of the new Blue Shark III Black Edition in each of three dial colors: black, blue or orange dial. All three versions come with an additional black genuine rubber strap and a black DLC-coated buckle with tools for interchanging the bracelets.

Price: $2,750. 

 

RGM: Fat Arrow

American watchmaker Roland G. Murphy, whose eponymous Pennsylvania-based RGM Watches pioneered independent watchmaking in the United States, teamed with renowned watch photographer and artist Atom Moore to create a terrific limited edition series of ‘Fat Arrow’ military style watches.

The series, the Equation of Time Fat Arrow, reprises a late 2021 prototype developed by Moore and Murphy’s Equation of Time division, which specializes in watches designed with input from collectors.

Moore’s original dial art piece “Fat Arrow” is based on the name given to the World War II-era watches with the larger dial arrows, which were used to signify British military equipment.Starting with Moore’s Fat Arrow dial design, Murphy devised a complementary steel-cased 36mm military style watch.

Visible through the caseback is a manual-wind Sellita SW210-1 finished with Geneva stripes and radially brushed gears. Price: $2,995 (limited edition of 99).

 

Franck Muller: USA Limited Edition Bill Auberlen Vanguard Racing

The seconds indicator on the new Franck Muller USA limited edition Vanguard Racing Skeleton Bill Auberlen starts with double zero at the bottom of the dial, not at the top. This layout, while rare on a watch dial, allows seconds to be read from both ends of the seconds hand and echoes the dashboard Auberlen would see while piloting his racecar.

The dial layout is just one of many racer-friendly details that Franck Muller built into the sporty automatic watch. The watch is the latest Franck Muller model built with Auberlen’s direct. One of America’s most successful racecar drivers, Auberlen has won sixty-three races.   

Another example can be found in Franck Muller’s choice of case materials for the tonneau-shaped 44m by 53.7mm Vanguard watch. One version of the watch is built with carbon, the same ultra-light, high-performance material racecar makers utilize. Another version features an unusual blue-tinged high-tech composite called Technologie Bleu, which the watchmaker says is created by mixing ‘high purity metals and other exotic elements.’

Franck Muller offers its Vanguard Racing Skeleton Bill Auberlen in three case materials:  rose gold ($34,000), carbon ($27,400) and Macro molecular Technologie Bleu ($26,200). 

 

Frederique Constant: Classics Worldtimer Manufacture

Frederique Constant celebrated the tenth anniversary of its Classics Worldtimer Manufacture with a pair of attractive blue-and-grey-dialed limited edition references.  

In keeping with this Geneva brand’s ‘affordable luxury’ tenet, the Classics Worldtimer has been among the highest-value Swiss-made examples of it type, particularly as it’s supplied with an in-house worldtimer caliber (visible through the sapphire caseback).

We’ve seen Frederique Constant release the Classics Worldtimer Manufacture in a variety of hues and metals during the past decade. This new offering, in a choice of a rose gold or steel case, combines the most classic combination that represents the earth’s blue oceans surrounded by white clouds.

The worldtimer dial allows the time to be read in twenty-four time zones with clear daytime or nighttime indication. Frederique Constant applies luminescent indexes (and on the hands in the steel model) to the fairly traditional globe décor world time display. This all frames a handsome sunray guilloché date hand display at the 6 o’clock position. 

Prices: $4,695 (steel) and $21,995 (pink gold). 

 

G-Shock: GMWB5000RD-4

 Casio in 2022 added an eye-catching, all-new watch to the G-SHOCK Full Metal Series, the brand’s premium line. 

This GMWB5000RD-4 carries on the look and feel of the original G-Shock DW-5000C with its classic square case shape and digital display. To that, G-Shock adds a hard-to-miss red stainless-steel case with screw-on back. And while it looks fashionable, the bracelet is as tough as the case, according to G-Shock, as it is made of solid stainless steel, here finished with a red IP color and diamond-like carbon finish that matches the case.

G-Shock lets the wearer rest assured that the Full Metal watch’s fashionable good looks are accompanied with G-Shock technical features, including Bluetooth Connectivity via the G-Shock Connected app, and Multi-Band 6 Atomic Timekeeping for self-adjusting hour and date display virtually anywhere on earth.

Additional technical specifications include: shock resistance, 200-meters of water resistance, Super Illuminator LED light, world time in 39 cities, stopwatch, daily alarms, countdown timer, 12/24 Hr. formats and a full automatic calendar.

Price: $600.

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The Watches

Tutima Adds 40mm Case to M2 Seven Seas S

Tutima Glashütte adds two new two watches to its sporty M2 Seven Seas S collection, each with a smaller case than existing 44mm models and each with a colorful dégradé dial.

Tutima offers the new 40mm M2 Seven Seas S MariTimer with a stainless steel case and bracelet.

The new M2 Seven Seas S MariTimer series, with its mid-sized 40mm case and 500-meter water-resistance rating, offers a somewhat dressier option to what is one of this brand’s bedrock collections.

The Tutima M2 Seven Seas S MariTimer, with a two-component strap made of rubber and leather with color-coordinated stitching.

The strong case construction, even in its new 40mm size, offers a a screwed back and threaded crown with protective flanks that make it useful for snorkeling and diving. Its partially polished stainless steel bezel (with luminescent marker at 12) can only be rotated counterclockwise around a solid 2.5-mm-thick sapphire crystal.

Tutima’s M2 Seven Seas S MariTimer also offers integrated lugs for a snug fit. And as is true throughout the series, the new watch assures its wearer of precise timing. Inside you’ll find an ETA-based automatic Caliber 330 with a 38-hour power reserve.

Within the pair on offer, there is a slight variation in bracelets. While the M2 Seven Seas S MariTimer in blue comes with a stainless steel bracelet, the red-dialed model is available with a stainless steel bracelet or a two-component strap. The red edition’s strap is made of impregnated leather with skin-friendly rubber on the underside. Red stitching along the wristband’s sides matches the dial’s color and adds a nice accent.

Prices: $2,350 (on bracelet) and $1,980 (on a strap).

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From Royal Watchmaker to Rolex USA

By Laurent Martinez

I’d like to share with you a story of one watchmaker’s fascinating journey.

Archak Boyadjian was born in 1906 in Bulgaria to a family of watchmakers. His grandfather was a talented clockmaker who could easily fix a hairspring in the palm of his hand with his trusty tools. His father was also a watchmaker. 

When Archak turned seventeen, his father sent him to study horology in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.

Archak Boyadjian was born in 1906 in Bulgaria to a family of watchmakers.

After graduating from school, Archak went back to Bulgaria, to a town called Varna. It was there he got a job through a family friend as a watchmaker repairing clocks. After a while, Archak moved to the capital city, Sofia, with his dad to launch a family watch repair business. 

There was one particular customer who often came around to the store, not only asking plenty of questions but also bringing in quite a collection of clocks to repair. After many of these visits, Archak finally asked about the clocks. 

He was surprised to discover that they belonged to His Majesty Czar Boris III of Bulgaria. The Czar was an avid collector of timepieces with a penchant for cuckoo clocks. Archak serviced and repaired the Czar’s clocks from 1932 until 1937, after which he moved to Paris and then to the United States.

New name and Navy

Once he landed on the shores of the U.S., Archak changed his name to Archie Boyer to begin his new life in America. In 1939, he joined the Navy as a watchmaker, first fixing chronometers, clocks, and watches on the East Coast before being sent to the West Coast. 

During World War II, 15% of all total watch imports coming into the U.S. were destined for the military.  At one point during the War, Archie was seemingly sent to the sick bay (at least on official documentation) but in reality, he journeyed on a cargo plane to the South Pacific to fix something.

Omega and Rolex

After the war, Archie joined Bulova and then Omega. Finally, in 1951, he began his career at Rolex, which was located on Fifth Avenue and 45th Street in New York City. As the head of repairs, Archie was always in charge of fixing watches that belonged to dignitaries. For example, he fixed President Eisenhower’s golfing watch and President Kennedy’s timepiece.

Archie’s son Michael remembers his dad bringing watches home all the time to fix them at his workbench at night and on weekends. Archie was always tinkering away at something, whether building, restoring, or repairing. Archie was also the head of the Rolex training program for distributors around the country.

The Rolex USA technical team. After 30 years at Rolex USA, Archie retired in 1971 as Technical Director.

Reviewing all the correspondence that Michael brought to the interview, I could feel and sense the respect that Archie received from peers and clients. They penned beautiful notes of thanks and appreciation.

After 30 years at Rolex USA, Archie retired in 1971 as Technical Director. Michael describes his dad Archie as a reserved man, not very expressive but charming and gifted, and as you can imagine, a perfectionist. He took his craft very seriously and he loved working at Rolex. As Michael described it, Archie was happiest when attending Christmas parties at the company’s headquarters.

Archie Boyer at one of the many Christmas parties at Rolex USA.

Life is an amazing journey and Archie’s is a true testament to his passion, love, and talent for making sure the timepieces under his care worked flawlessly. I could feel Michael’s emotions when he spoke of his late father, who he describes as an “unsung hero.”

Laurent Martinez is the proprietor of Laurent Fine Watches, Greenwich, Connecticut. Read more by him at blog.laurentfinewatches.com or visit his store’s site at www.laurentfinewatches.com

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Lemmings & Collabs

By Gary Girdvainis 

Two trends that are not necessarily new have been seriously amplified in recent times. One is the “Lemming” collector, the other is the “Collab” watch.

The first is pretty clear. At the high-end or at more affordable price-points, many watch buyers are almost afraid to miss their chance at acquiring the current hot watch. Whether a luxurious and hard-to-acquire SKU from one of the big names, or a run on a particular micro-brand, the watch collector crowd seems to be in full-on bandwagon mode in recent years.

FOMO drives not only active and engaged watch enthusiasts, but also acts as a magnet to the investment crowd – who may or may not even like the design of the particular monetary device.

Let’s be honest, this is how a lot of buyers view a fine timepiece.

Both types of lemmings drive prices artificially high and promote these hard to buy watches to a Grail/Unicorn status that only exacerbates the rampant pricing. The last buyers in line buy at ridiculously inflated prices and may not have much room left for the price to spike. But they do get bragging rights of owning a watch that they know others covet. Paying too much for it is almost a totem of their status.

This is when the heavy hitters with more ego and money than sense keep the unicorn express running full speed ahead. Sooner or later prices inevitably settle on the majority of these watches, whether through satiating the market (which Rolex and Patek NEVER want to do) with enough product, or when the bottom falls out as the house of cards collapses.

New Patek Philippe Nautilus, Ref. 5811-1G-001.

Collabs

The other trend, collaboration watches, is just screaming ahead at full speed.

Historically a retailer might partner with a watch brand for a special dial or to simply have their logo stamped on a traditional model. Occasionally other entities (COMEX comes to mind) that purchased a larger batch of watches were granted the space on the dial by Rolex or others for their logo to reside.

In today’s watch market hardly a week goes by when I don’t see a press release for some new joint effort in watches. Whether a musician, designer, graffiti artist, skateboarder, surfer, free climber, or even (yuck) an influencer that no one has heard of but has a “huge” following, it seems that every other press release I receive includes some kind of partnership beyond the watch.

 I can’t wait for the hot new green dials of the new Pickle Ball watch sponsorship by brand “X.”

While some of these make sense and are natural combinations, others scream of desperation. Desperation to attract an audience via the collaborator, desperation to take an aging design and breathe new life into it, desperation not to be left behind (see lemmings) in the new era of collabs, and desperation to remain relevant in an ever more crowded field of wristwatch options. 

This article first appeared in the Fall/Winter 2022 edition of International Wristwatch. 

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The Watches

H. Moser Genesis Melds Virtual and Physical

H. Moser & Cie. steps firmly into the metaverse with a project that links both physical and virtual dimensions.

The new H. Moser Endeavour Centre Seconds Genesis, with a micro-blasted 40mm steel case with a 3D-printed titanium crown and ‘pixelated’ bezel.

The new Endeavour Centre Seconds Genesis, is a micro-blasted 40mm steel watch with a 3D-printed titanium crown, an ultra-dark Vantablack dial and a bezel that seems pixelated.  

The watch’s virtual appearance is underscored by multiple digital assets, including a unique QR code engraved on its sapphire crystal that allows the owner to authenticate watch ownership.

The code will also allow priority to purchase certain future limited editions, blockchain authentication, membership of the Moser community and a virtual Swiss chalet, plus access to various H. Moser launch events.

The watch is also the first piece in a triptych, and its owner will have access to the next two pieces.

H. Moser is offering the time-only Endeavour Centre Seconds Genesis model as a limited edition of fifty pieces. Price: CHF 27,000.

Specifications: H. Moser Endeavour Center Seconds Genesis

(Reference 1200-1238)

Case: 40mm by 11.3mm micro-blasted steel, 3D-printed titanium crown and bezel with pixelated look, sapphire crystal with engraved QR code, see-through case-back. 

Dial: Vantablack with black leaf-shaped hour and minute hands. Hours, minutes and central seconds.

Movement: H.Moser HMC 200 automatic caliber, frequency: 21,600 Vib/h, automatic bi-directional pawl winding system, solid 18-karat gold oscillating weight engraved with the H. Moser hallmark, 3-day power reserve, original Straumann hairspring. 

Strap: Hand-stitched grey kudu leather, micro-blasted steel pin buckle.

Price: CHF 27,000.

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