Tag

Swiss made

Browsing
The Watches

Carl F. Bucherer Adds a Perpetual Calendar 

Carl F. Bucherer harnesses its peripheral winding system to power the new Manero Peripheral Perpetual Calendar, one of this Swiss brand’s more complicated designs.

The new Carl F. Bucherer Manero Peripheral Perpetual Calendar.

The watchmaker nicely melds a perpetual calendar and a moon-phase display on the dial of the new watch, which is offered within a luxurious 41.6mm by 11.73mm rose gold case.

In a more traditional style than we typically see from Carl F. Bucherer, the new watch allows easy-to-read displays showing the leap year, date, day, month and moon phase. The latter display is particularly appealing, with hand-engraved rose gold moons on a disc of glittering aventurine.

And thank to this brand’s unusual in-house movement design, the back of the watch offers its own visual pleasures, notably a rotor that spins around the edge of the movement.

On this CFB A2055 caliber, a bidirectional oscillating weight turns on three frictionless ceramic ball-bearings housed in shock-absorbing mountings. 

Such  peripheral oscillating weights are still rare, even among Carl F. Bucherer’s peers in high-end watchmaking, and they always catch my eye when employed as they offer a truly unobstructed view of the finely finished manufacture automatic movement.

Carl F. Bucherer is offering the Manero Peripheral Perpetual Calendar with a choice of black, green and taupe dial hues, each displaying a handsome sunray brushed center and opaline index track.

All feature matching calfskin straps with a ‘Milky Way’ texture, quick release system and an 18-karat rose gold pin-lock folding clasp.

The limited edition model features a rose-hued dial.

A limited edition model (of eight pieces) with a rose-hued dial is also available only at Bucherer 1888 retail locations.

Price: $45,000. 

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

DOXA Launches Sleeker SUB 300 

Doxa slims its SUB 300 dive watch to create the new SUB 300 Beta, a contemporary edition of the technical series, but with sleeker, colorful ceramic bezels and sunburst-finished dials.  

One of the new models in the Doxa SUB 300 Beta collection.

While thinner at 11.95mm (compared to the SUB 300T’s 13.65mm thickness) and with a slimmer bezel height, the new series still retains the collection’s 42.5mm diameter size as well as its range of deep diver specs.

The look is decidedly less retro than existing models in the 300SUB series, with a contemporary black ceramic bezel, wave-motif dial and slightly longer hour markers.

Doxa maintains a screw-down crown, helium release valve, a flat sapphire crystal and a screw-in steel caseback on this high-value 300-meter dive watch.

Doxa livens up the series with colorful accents and matching rubber strap options with a white, silver, black or blue dial.

Also available on request is Doxa’s historic stainless-steel “rice grain” bracelet.

Both options come with a deployant clasp featuring a wetsuit extension and Doxa’s own fish logo.

 

Specifications: Doxa SUB 300 Beta 

Case: 316L Stainless steel, diameter: 42.50mm x 44.50mm, height: 11.95mm, helium release valve. Crystal: ‘Flat’ sapphire with anti-reflective coating, Screw-in steel caseback, black ceramic screw-down crown. Water-resistance: 300 meters.

Dial: Sunburst finish with wave pattern, colored hands, orange or tone-on-tone, highlighted with SuperLumiNova, outer minute track, painted, glossy black.

Bezel: Black ceramic, unidirectional rotation, outer ring: depth in feet (black tone-on-tone indications), SuperLumiNova dot at 12 o’clock. Inner ring: Duration in minutes (black tone-on-tone indications).

Movement: Swiss mechanical, self-winding, 3 hands, power reserve of 38 hours,Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz), Doxa decorations.

Strap/Bracelet: FKM rubber strap, tone-on-tone matching the dial (or white for ‘Caribbean’ and ‘Searambler’); black PVD-coated folding clasp with ratcheting wetsuit extension, Doxa fish symbol.

or

316L stainless steel ‘beads of rice’ bracelet; stainless steel folding clasp with ratcheting wetsuit extension, Doxa fish symbol.

Price: With stainless steel bracelet: $2,290. With rubber strap: $2,250.

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Greubel Forsey Launches Thinner Balancier 

 

Greubel Forsey launches Balancier 3, a thinner and less pricey model within its double-curve-case Convexe collection.

The new Greubel Forsey Balancier 3.

The new 41.5mm x 13.55mm titanium watch retains the watchmaker’s emblematic arched bridge and multi-level architecture, but here the case lugs no longer have screws—a first for Greubel Forsey.

The watch’s three prominent bridges and its namesake balance wheel dominate the dial. One bridge houses the barrel, the second holds the large (12.6mm) balance wheel, and the third is attached to the seconds counter, supporting the hour and minute hands.

All the bridges feature Greubel Forsey’s signature hand finishes: a curved polished surface, polished bevels and hand-polished screws.

Both of the watch’s two series-coupled fast-rotating barrels (one turn in 3.2 hours) are also quite prominent at the top of the dial. The barrels provide a chronometric power reserve of three full days.

In another first for the Convexe collection, Greubel Forsey has placed the Balancier 3’s power reserve indicator on the caseback.

The watchmaker will make the new Balancier 3 with either a black or blue dial, each limited to eighty-eight pieces with a rubber strap or a Greubel Forsey titanium bracelet upon request.

Price: $182,000. 

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Zenith Polishes its Defy Extreme 

Zenith adds a highly reflective mirror finish to a new model in its Defy Extreme collection.

The new Zenith Defy Extreme Mirror.

The very contemporary Defy Extreme Mirror reflects all colors with its fully mirror-polished metal exterior, familiar Defy angular case and polished integrated bracelet. The stark combination offers a dramatic, monochromatic option within the watchmaker’s rugged Defy chronograph collection.

Without colors, the new watch seems to blend with its environment. Zenith pairs the mirror-finish with an equally dramatic multi-layered open dial that features a sapphire center, finished to be both translucent and reflective.

The watch’s 1/100th-of-a-second chronograph scale features satin-brushed metallic elements, which retains the Defy’s easy-to-read dial, despite the watch’s metal-head theme.

Inside the watch the wearer will see an El Primero 9004 high-frequency chronograph movement, found in all the Defy Extreme models. The movement offers 1/100th-of-a -second time measurements with two independent escapements. One beats at 5Hz (36,000 VpH) for timekeeping while the second vibrates at 50Hz (360,000 VpH) to activate the chronograph function.

Zenith customizes each model in the Defy Extreme collection with a specially decorated rotor. On the Defy Extreme Mirror, the star-shaped winding rotor is finished in a silvery-grey metallic tone to match the case and dial elements.

Zenith attaches the new watch to the wrist with a black Velcro strap and a rubber strap, which can be easily swapped with the steel bracelet using the quick strap-change mechanism on the back of the case.

Price: $26,100.

Specifications: Zenith Defy Extreme Mirror 

Movement: Zenith El Primero 9004 with a frequency of 36,000 VpH (watch) and 360,000 VpH (Chronograph). 

Power reserves: 50 hours (watch) and approx. 50 min (chronograph).

Functions: Hours and minutes in the center,  small seconds at 9 o’clock. 1/100th of a second chronograph with a central chronograph hand that makes one turn each second, 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, 60-second counter at 6 o’clock, Chronograph power-reserve indication at 12 o’clock. Special oscillating weight with satined finishings.

Case: 45mm polished steel, water resistant to 200 meters, flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides, caseback with transparent sapphire crystal.

Dial: Mirror tinted sapphire with three silver-colored counters, hands and markers are rhodium-plated, faceted and coated with SuperLuminova SLN C1.

Bracelet: Full interchangeable strap system. Full polished metal bracelet with folding clasp. Two straps included: 1 Rubber with folding buckle and 1 Velcro.

Price: $26,100. 

by
Keep Reading
American Brands

Benrus Revisits Ultra-Deep 

Benrus revives one of its best-selling dive watches with the new Benrus Ultra-Deep, a recreation of one of the watchmaker’s historic models from the 1960s.

The new Benrus Ultra-Deep.

Originally created in response to the rise of scuba diving for sport, the Benrus Ultra-Deep retains the 36.5mm case size of the original model’s ‘compressor’ case. Such cases, built for the U.S.-based Benrus by Swiss-based Ervin Piquerez, would become more water resistant as the diver went deeper because the caseback would pressurize. Modern screw-down cases fulfill the same role in new watches.

The revived Benrus Ultra-Deep also retains the dual-crown design found on the original model.  

One crown rotates an inner timing bezel instead of an external bezel, which makes it less likely the bezel will be shifted by mistake, leading to timing errors under water.

Also note the same cathedral-style hour and minute hands and magnified date window as the original.

The new models of course benefit from numerous technical updates, including a screw-down winding crown, C3 SuperLumiNova hands and dial markers. Inside, Benrus fits a reliable Soprod P024 automatic movement. The watch arrives on a high-end Jubilee-style stainless steel bracelet and also includes a blue nylon NATO dive strap.

Price: $1,095. 

by
Keep Reading