Swiss made

The Watches June 23, 2023

Blue Duo: Bell & Ross and Oris

Two recently debuted blue-dialed watches, the Bell & Ross BR 05 GMT Sky Blue and the Oris Aquis Small Second Date 45.5mm, demonstrate how versatile —and attractive — the azure tint can be when perched on a wrist. And both debuts sport serious specs and can be worn anytime and in any workday or playtime environment.

Oris

If your typical day takes you in or near the water, the Oris Aquis Small Second Date 45.5mm ($2,900) is your best bet here given its much-greater-than-average 500-meter water resistance rating.

Oris notes that the watch’s water resistance rating is actually greater than the standard model within its Aquis dive series, which typically includes watches rated to 300 meters of water resistance.

The watch, with its ocean-inspired deep-blue dial, represents a new size the Oris Aquis time-and-date-only series. It retains all the dive-ready specifications you’d expect from Oris, including a small seconds indicator (at the 9 o’clock position) with a luminous hand, a screw-down crown with protection, a uni-directional rotating bezel with a ceramic insert, and either a metal bracelet or rubber strap equipped with the Oris-patented extendable security folding clasp.

Oris has launched an impressive selection of colorful watches in recent years, especially within its Big Crown series. Even the watchmaker’s ProPilot collection now includes hues unexpected within such a technical series.

The new Oris Aquis Small Second Date 45.5mm revels in its ocean-colored dial, bezel insert and rubber strap. (See below for detailed specifications).

Bell & Ross

Inspired by summer skies, Bell & Ross finishes its latest BR 05 GMT with a sky blue sun-ray pattern dial. Earlier BR 05 GMT models have only been available with a black dial or a white dial.

Framed by the Bell & Ross’s own circled-in-a-square case shape, the dial allows the wearer to determine time in a second time zone thanks to the blue-tinted GMT hand. With its easy-to-read large white arrow-shaped tip, the hand allows means wearer can quickly determine the hour in any of 24 timezones emblazoned along the graduated inner bezel.

Bell & Ross enhances this flange with a sky blue and silver color treatment. The colors allow the wearer to further differentiate whether the second time zone hour is in the daytime (silver) or nighttime (blue). Bell & Ross coats the hands and the rhodium-plated baton-shaped indexes with a healthy amount of SuperLuminova.

Inside Bell & Ross fits its bedrock BR-CAL.325 movement, a Sellita-based automatic caliber. And, for all-weather wear, Bell & Ross supplies a screw-in crown to guarantee water resistance to 100 meters. (See below for detailed specifications.)

Bell & Ross offers two types of attachment for the BR 05 GMT Sky Blue. The first is a stainless-steel bracelet and second is a blue rubber strap tinted to match the dial color.

Price: $5,000 (rubber strap) and $5,500 (steel bracelet).

Specifications: Oris Aquis Small Second Date 45.5 mm

(Ref. 0174377334155–0742469EB)

Case: 45.5 multi-piece stainless steel with ceramic bezel insert, sapphire domed crystal, anti- reflective coating inside, screwed steel back with special engravings, stainless steel screw-in security crown, water resistance to 500 meters.
Movement: Oris 743, Sellita-based automatic with center hands for hours, minutes and seconds, date, Oris fine timing device and stop-second. Power reserve is 41 hours.

Dial: Ocean Blue with SuperLumiNova applied indices.

Bracelet/strap: Multi-piece stainless steel metal bracelet with folding clasp with extension. Also available on a blue rubber strap with stainless steel security folding clasp with extension.

Price: $2,900.

Specifications: Bell & Ross BR 05 GMT Sky Blue

Movement: Calibre BR-CAL.325 Sellita-based automatic mechanical.

Functions: hours, minutes, central seconds, date and second 24-hour time zone. Quick setting of the GMT hand, independently of the hour hand.

Case: 41 mm wide. Satin-polished steel. Satin-finished rhodium-plated and blue two-color flange, with 24-hour scale. Screw-down crown. Crown guard. Sapphire case-back with 360° oscillating weight. Crystal is sapphire with anti-reflective coating. Water-resistance to 100 meters.

Dial: Blue sun-ray finish with numerals and indices coated in white SuperLumiNova,, metal skeletonized SuperLumiNova-filled hour and minute hands.

Strap: Blue rubber or satin-polished steel with satin-polished steel folding buckle.

Price: $5,000 (rubber strap) and $5,500 (steel bracelet).

The Watches June 22, 2023

Alpina Celebrates 140th with Vintage Carrée

To celebrate its 140th birthday, Alpina releases a limited edition rectangular watch with a restored manual-wind caliber made in 1938.

The new Alpina Heritage Carrée Mechanical 140 Years.

The new Heritage Carrée Mechanical 140 Years features Caliber 490, which was designed, assembled and finished in 1938 by one of the firms in the Union Horlogère, Alpina’s original entity. Such fully in-house construction was not typical of the era, when generic ébauches (movement-blanks) were more commonly used throughout the Swiss market.

Alpina has created two rectangular silver-cased models as a tribute to its anniversary. One new series features a black dial and is available in the United States and globally; the other offers a silvered dial and is available outside the United States.

Alpina explains that the slow frequency (18,000 vph) rectangular-shaped movement was built to provide extra protection against water and dust and was elegantly finished with a sun-brushed ratchet and fully beveled components.

Only a few of the movements still exist, and Alpina has done well to shape the new watch’s case to fit the shaped movement.

Alpina’s records indicate that the original case for a watch using the movement was made from steel or gold depending on the model. Alpina made the new 29.5mm x 35.7mm by 9.71mm case from mirror-polished silver and has placed anti-glare sapphire crystal on the front and back, which allows a clear view of the Caliber 490.

The Alpina 490 Caliber, pictured showing front and back.

Both of the limited editions (of fourteen pieces each) display Alpina’s period logo, two thin central hands and a typical 1930s small seconds. A period-true rail track minute circle runs around the dial.

On the U.S. version, Alpina places solid Arabic numerals on the black dial accompanied by beige hands and a circular small second hand display. The other version (not pictured here) sports a silvered dial, black hands and 1920s-style Arabic numerals. Alpina finishes the watch with a light brown ostrich leather strap, with vintage white stitching and pin buckle.

Price: $5,395.

Specifications: Alpina Heritage Carrée Mechanical 140 Years
(AL-490BA3C10, a limited edition of 14 pieces)

Movement: Alpina vintage AL-490 caliber, hand-winding with 42-hour power reserve, 18,000 vph.

Case: Polished silver 2-part, 29.50mm x 35.70mm by 9.71mm, anti-reflective convex sapphire crystal, water-resistant to 30 meters, engraved and see-through screwed case back.

Dial: Black with matte finishing, beige printed Arabic numerals and beige graduation, beige hour and minute hands, small second counter at 6 o’clock with beige hand.

Strap: Light brown Ostrich leather with off-white stitching, pin buckle.

Price: $5,395, available starting in July.

The Watches June 21, 2023

Parmigiani Fleurier Launches Tonda PF Sport

Parmigiani Fleurier launches a pair of sporty models within its Tonda PF collection, adding the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph and Tonda PF Sport Automatic, two models that effectively replace the watchmaker’s Tonda GT collection.

The new Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Sport Chronograph, available in a 42mm steel or rose gold case.

Both watches extend the watchmaker’s Tonda PF collection, first introduced two years ago as a slate of knurled platinum-bezel dress models with clean dials and revamped bracelets.

The new Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Sport Automatic is available in a 41mm steel or rose gold case.

The new ‘tailored’ approach to the design drew has drawn strong collector acclaim. The watchmaker has responded with a series of high-profile rattrapante designs and complicated models within the expanding Tonda PF collection.

Parmigiani Fleurier offers the new models in both steel and rose gold. As sporty watches within a fairly dressy collection, both the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph and Tonda PF Sport Automatic display design touches that confirm their sportier appeal, including a bolder bezel and broader guilloché dial pattern.

The knurled bezel on each Tonda PF Sport watch features 160 cuts rather than the finer 225-incision bezel found on the dressier Tonda PF collection.

The new dial features a hand guilloché ‘triangular nail’ pattern known as clou triangulaire, a sportier look when compared to the guilloché grain d’orge of the existing Tonda PF collection.

In addition, Parmigiani Fleurier coats the applied hour markers here with black SuperLuminova while also supplying each watch with a rubber-treated textured and stitched strap. Both watches are water-resistant to 100 meters.

For the 42mm by 12.9mm ‘panda’-style chronograph, Parmigiani Fleurier has removed the large date found on the firm’s previous GT chronographs in order to leave space for the PF logo.

This mimics the dial on the current, dressier, Tonda PF chronographs. The (smaller) date is now found between the 4 o’clock and 5 o’clock position. In addition, the new design features shorter indexes and a somewhat smaller flange.

Similarly, on the 41mm by 9.8mm Tonda PF Sport Automatic the watchmaker places a small date aperture at the 6 o’clock position to allow for a clean dial marked only by a logo at the 12 o’clock position.

The PF Tonda Sport Chronograph displays its Caliber PF070 movement via a clear sapphire back.

Inside the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph Parmigiani Fleurier fits its stunning Caliber PF070, a superb high-frequency (5Hz – 36,000 vph) manufacture movement with an integrated column wheel chronograph and a vertical clutch. The COSC-certified chronometer offers a power reserve of sixty-five hours.

A view of the caliber PF770 from the back of the Tonda PF Sport Automatic.

Inside the Tonda PF Sport Automatic you’ll find a Caliber PF770 with a serial-mounted double barrel and a power reserve of sixty hours. To extend the sporty design, the watchmaker also created a new, skeletonized oscillating weight for both watches. The watchmaker says the rotor now looks somewhat like the steering wheel of a Ferrari 250 GTO.

Prices: $50,200 (chronograph in rose gold), $29,000 (chronograph in steel), $38,200 (automatic in rose gold) and $21,300 (automatic in steel).

Featured Events June 16, 2023

Patek Philippe Rare Handcrafts in Tokyo

In addition to the wristwatches Patek Philippe is currently debuting during its the grand exhibition “Watch Art” Tokyo 2023, the Geneva watchmaker is also displaying a spectacular new collection of ‘rare handcrafts’ models, including dome clocks, table clocks, pocket watches and wristwatches, each decorated with artisanal dial and case work inspired by Japanese culture.

In all, Patek Philippe is unveiling a collection of forty creations (eight dome clocks, five table clocks, nine pocket watches and eighteen wristwatches), all one-of-a-kind or limited-edition pieces. Each pays tribute to hand engraving, hand-executed guilloché work, gemsetting and various forms of enameling. The exhibition also presents a selection of some 190 pieces belonging to the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva.

Below we’ve assembled a selection of the rare handcrafts items on display at the exhibition in Tokyo until June 25.

Kyudo pocket watch with miniature painting on enamel, flinqué enamel and hand engraving.

The Japanese garden decor on the case back was hand-engraved and hand-guilloched, and then coated with translucent and opalescent enamels, a technique known as flinqué enamel.

The Katagami pocket watch with hand-engraving.

The case back was first hand engraved with a pattern of vertical grooves using line engraving and chased to obtain alternating matte and shining finishes suggesting textile fibers.

The Portrait of a Samouri is a pocket watch with case back in wood marquetry and dial in enamel.

Shizuoka and Mount Fuji pocket watch with cloisonné enamel, flinqué enamel and hand-engraving.

Opposite side of the Shizuoka and Mount Fuji pocket watch.

The Eagle pocket watch in cloisonné enamel, paillonné enamel and miniature painting on enamel.

Close-up on the dial of the Eagle pocket watch..

The Snow-Covered Landscape Golden Ellipse wristwatch with dial in cloisonné enamel enriched with miniature painting on enamel.

Bird on a Red Maple is a ladies’ minute repeater wristwatch with dial in cloisonné enamel enriched with miniature painting on enamel.

Hanami dome table clock in cloisonné and paillonné enamel enriched with miniature painting on enamel.

The Japanese Stamps Dome table clock in cloisonné enamel with hand-engraving.

The stamp motifs were rendered by hand with line engraving and coated with translucent brown enamels to create the effect of shadows and patina.

Patek Philippe Debuts Complications in Tokyo

For its grand exhibition “Watch Art” Tokyo 2023, which is open through June 25, Patek Philippe launches six limited editions, including a new Quadruple Complication (Reference 5308P-010) and the first World Time watch equipped with a date display synchronized with local time (Reference 5330G-010).

The new Patek Philippe self-winding Reference 5308P-010 combines a minute repeater, a split-seconds chronograph and an instantaneous perpetual calendar.

Patek Philippe also debuted a new edition of its World Time Minute Repeater (Reference 5531R-014) and ladies’ Moon Phase model (Reference 7121/200G-010). The watchmaker also added two new Calatrava models (References 6127G-010 and 7127G-010) especially made for the Japanese market. All other Special Editions will also be offered primarily in Japan, with prices on request.

In addition to these wristwatches, Patek Philippe also created a new collection of ‘rare handcrafts’ models, including dome clocks, table clocks, pocket watches and wristwatches, each decorated with artisanal dial and case work inspired by Japanese culture. We’ll show you these spectacular works of horological art in a second post tomorrow.

The Minute Repeater

This Quadruple Complication (Reference 5308P-010) is a limited edition of fifteen watches and as noted above unites a minute repeater, a split-seconds chronograph and an instantaneous perpetual calendar in apertures.

Patek Philippe explains that its watchmakers were inspired by the existing Triple Complication Reference 5208 from 2011, with minute repeater, chronograph and instantaneous perpetual calendar. To add the split-seconds mechanism, which requires more energy to operate, watchmakers devised a new platinum mini-rotor in order to increase winding power.

The resulting new caliber (R CHR 27 PS QI, with 799 parts),offers two patented inventions that reduce energy consumption with regard to the clutch and the split seconds.

The instantaneous perpetual calendar ensures instant advance of the day, date and month disks. Patek Philippe delivers the watch with two interchangeable case backs: one in sapphire crystal adorned with the transfer-printed inscription “Patek Philippe Tokyo” and the other in solid platinum engraved with the same wording.

The World Time Minute Repeater

This limited edition Reference 5531R-014 will be made a a limited edition of fifteen watches.

The Ref. 5531R features a self-winding R 27 HU caliber combining a minute repeater with the World Time display.

At its center you’ll see a Grand Feu cloisonné enamel decoration representing the historic Chuo district in the center of Tokyo. The name “Tokyo” appears in red on the city disk.

Patek Philippe originally launched the watch in 2017 as the first minute repeater that always chimes the local time, which is displayed by a pierced hour hand in rose gold. Echoing the other minute repeater, this model is delivered with two interchangeable case backs.

World Timer Tokyo

Patek Philippe has endowed this new World Time model with a patented world first: a date display synchronized with local time (the time zone selected at the 12 o’clock position and displayed by the center hands.)

This new World Time model Reference 5330G is endowed with a patented world first date display synchronized with local time.

The watch’s plum-colored dial is embellished with a hand guilloched center while its date display is located on the beveled dial flange and indicated via a center hand in glass with a red tip. To further customize the watch, Patek Philippe has placed the name “Tokyo” in red on the city disk. Furthermore, Japan’s national emblem replaces the classic sun symbol on the 24-hour disk.

The watch is a 40mm polished white-gold model with curved two-tier fluted lugs and is worn on a strap in shiny black alligator leather with plum-colored hand stitching, secured by a fold-over clasp in white gold.

The sapphire-crystal back is adorned with the transfer-printed inscription “Patek Philippe Tokyo”.

Ladies’ Moon-Phase

A year after Patek Philippe launched a new edition of this model, the watchmaker adds a special edition version (Reference 7121/200G-010) as a limited edition of 200 watches.

The watch’s classic round Calatrava case in white gold (diameter 33 mm) with an Officer’s style design in pearl grey with rounded flanks, straight lugs with screwed strap bars. Around the dial we see two rows of diamonds in a lace setting.

Inside Patek Philippe fits its excellent manual-wind caliber 215 PS LU, the smallest complicated movement made by Patek Philippe.

The transparent sapphire-crystal back bears the transfer-printed inscription “Patek Philippe Tokyo”.

Two Calatrava References

Patek Philippe created a new Calatrava case that emphasizes two-tier fluted and bezeled lugs for these two models (Ref. 6127G-010 and Ref. 7127G-010).

The men’s Reference 6127G-010, measuring 36mm in diameter, is distinguished by its light blue lacquered dial.

Launched as a pair, the watches display white gold baton-style applied hour markers and cheveu-style hands.

The men’s Reference 6127G-010 (diameter 36 mm) features a light-blue lacquer dial and a matching shiny alligator-leather strap.

This 31mm Calatrava 7127G features lugs inspired by Reference 5270.

The smaller model, measuring 31mm in diameter, offers a lilac colored dial. Both feature white-gold cases engraved with“Patek Philippe – Tokyo”. Inside each is a caliber 215 PS manually wound movement.

Patek Philippe offers them in Japan as two editions limited to 400 watches each, of which 300 are sold as a set in a double presentation box for the two watches, while 100 may be acquired separately.

Blue Duo: Bell & Ross and Oris

Alpina Celebrates 140th with Vintage Carrée

Parmigiani Fleurier Launches Tonda PF Sport

Patek Philippe Rare Handcrafts in Tokyo

Patek Philippe Debuts Complications in Tokyo

AIKON AUTOMATIC DATE 42MM- Maurice Lacroix

interchangable DEFY Extreme Diver straps- Zenith

Highlife Worldtimer Manufacture- Frederique Constant