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The Watches

Massena LAB Teams With Raúl Pagès

New York-based Massena LAB has teamed with independent Swiss watchmaker Raúl Pagès to develop its first proprietary movement, the M660, which will be placed into a new limited edition watch called the Magraph.

The Massena LAB Magraph.

The Bauhaus-inspired manual-wind watch features a geometric-patterned, off-white dial with bright blued hour, minute and seconds hands. Massena LAB frames the dial with a 38.5mm stainless steel case made to echo designs from the 1940s and 1950s.

The M660 movement is a manual-winding 4Hz movement with a power reserve of 48 hours. Pagès has finished the caliber with Côtes de Genève finishing and hand-chamfered plates and bridges, all of which are visible through its sapphire caseback. The watchmaker has hidden his signature flourish, a silhouette of a tortoise, under the balance wheel.

Massena LAB, founded by collector and watch expert William Massena, has attached a special strap to each Magraph. The deep indigo strap is made from sustainably-sourced sturgeon skin and features eye-catching iridescent turquoise accents, designed exclusively for Massena LAB by Jean Rousseau Paris.

Delivery of the Magraph will be on a first-come, first-served basis, starting in December 2022. Massena LAB will produce approximately fifteen to twenty watches produced per month. Each will include a two-year guarantee, box, deerskin travel pouch, papers, and a Massena LAB NFC card. Limited to only 99 examples, the Massena LAB and Raúl Pagès Magraph will be for sale exclusively on MassenaLAB.com.

Price: $8,675.

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The Watches

Victorinox Hikes the Alps

Alpine adventure inspired Victorinox as it designed its new Journey 1884 collection of 43mm steel-cased quartz and automatic watches.

An automatic model from the new Victorinox Journey 1884 collection.

The new collection, which includes two automatic models and five sporty quartz watches, features watches with blue or black dials and hands and colors that reference outdoor activities common just outside the doors of the Victorinox facilities in Delémont, Switzerland.

 

For example, the dials on the quartz models are finished to replicate a rocky hiking path.

The hands on all the watches replicate the signs seen while on those paths in Switzerland, while the counterweight of the seconds hands echo the shape of the familiar Swiss Army Knife, a product for which Victorinox is well known. Even the markers at 3 and 9 recall a pocket knife shape.

Victorinox differentiates the quartz models from the automatic models beyond the two movement types. The quartz models are sportier, with aluminum-inlay unidirectional rotating bezels, a black rubber strap option and its red seconds hand and red logo.

One quartz model is offered in a black PVD steel case with a matching bracelet (pictured above). The automatic models both feature ceramic-inlay unidirectional rotating bezels, yellow accents and a yellow seconds hand.

An automatic model from the Victorinox Journey 1884 collection, pictured with a genuine wood strap.

All models in the Journey 1884 collection are ISO certified for shock and water resistance (rated to 200 meters). Victorinox offers quick strap change options with all models allowing the wearer to change from strap to steel bracelet without tools. One particularly interesting strap option (offered on the blue-dialed automatic model) is made of patterned wood.

Victorinox notes that all its watch case components are made of stainless steel 316L that use a minimum of fifty percent up to ninety percent of recycled steel. The company also utilizes numerous recycling and energy efficiency system throughout its Delémont production facility.

Prices: $575 to $1,150.

 

Specifications: Victorinox Journey 1884

  • 43mm recycled stainless steel case (black PVD on selected model), manufactured in Delémont, Switzerland
  • Scratch-resistant and anti-reflective sapphire crystal
  • Water-resistant to 200 m (20 ATM / 660 ft)
  • Unidirectional rotating bezel with inlay in aluminum on quartz models and ceramic on automatic models 
  • Screw-in case back, with exhibition crystal on automatic models 
  • Protected screw-down crown

Dial and strap:

  • Swiss Super-LumiNova on hands, number, indexes and dot on bezel
  • Date calendar at 6 o’clock
  • Three-dimensional dial featuring military time
  • Genuine rubber, leather or wood strap and stainless steel bracelet
  • All straps/bracelet are tool free changeable

Movements:

  • Ronda 715 Swiss-made quartz movement with battery end-of-life indication
  • Selitta SW200-1 Swiss-made automatic movement with 38 hours power reserve

Special functions

  • ISO 764 certified antimagnetic protection for all quartz models
  • ISO 1413 certified shock resistance on all models (quartz and automatic)
  • ISO 22810 certified water resistance up to 200 meters / 20 ATM

Prices: $575 to $1,150.

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The Watches

Reservoir Hydrosphere Reflects Mayan Beauty

Reservoir’s unusual Hydrosphere dive watch gets a new look this month as the Paris-based independent watchmaker launches the Hydrosphere Cenote, a lushly colored tribute to Mayan undersea caves.

The new Reservoir Hydrosphere Cenote.

Since its debut several years ago, the Hydrosphere’s unusual retrograde minute display and jumping hour module set it apart from traditional dive models while still upholding a diver’s need for highly legible dive timing, unidirectional bezel, helium valve and a strong 250 meters of water resistance.

Reservoir colors the Hydrosphere Cenote with a green dial with sun ray finishes that echo the shades of its namesake locale. Formed as calcareous rocks collapsed, the Cenote is lit as sunlight entering the caves create and reveal bright color variations ranging from turquoise to azure blue, green and yellow.

Framing the colors, the watch’s 45mm bronze case and a ceramic bezel offer double graduation for reading dive-stop times. Three functions are visible: the jumping hour, the retrograde minute and the power reserve, all powered by Caliber RSV-240, composed of a proprietary, patented module of 113 parts on a Swiss-made manufacture movement built from a La Joux-Perret G100 base.

Price: $4,600.

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The Watches

Patek Philippe Launches New Chronographs and White Gold Nautilus

Patek Philippe launched three variations to its hot Nautilus (including a white gold successor to its retired Ref. 5711) and extended its collection of complicated chronographs as part of an eight-piece debut this week.

The new Ref. 5811/1G-001 Nautilus features a case and bracelet in white gold as well as a blue sunburst dial with a black gradation. Price is $69,785.

While the new Nautilus debuts garnered much of the initial attention, it’s the new set of chronographs that attract collectors of Patek Philippe’s legendary (and less commodified) complications. (Read all about the trio of new Nautilus models, including the 41mm successor to the Ref. 5711 , on the Patek Philippe site.)

The chronographs

And among those chronograph debuts, look no further than the new Ref. 5373P-001, a split-seconds mono-pusher chronograph with perpetual calendar, for some true novelty. The watch differs from its predecessor (Ref. 5372) with newly inverted displays, pushers and crown.

New Patek Philippe Ref. 5373P-001, a split-seconds mono-pusher chronograph with perpetual calendar, differs from its predecessor (Ref. 5372) with inverted displays, pushers and crown.

Made for specifically “for the right-hand wrists of left-handers,” according to the watchmaker, the new 38.3mm platinum-cased watch is a premiere design for the company.

Patek Philippe notes however that a 1927 one-of-a-kind watch inspired the design of the new model. Like the earlier watch, the new watch features its integrated chronograph monopusher at the 9 o’clock position with the split-seconds pusher set, unusually, at 8 o’clock.

The sporty red, black  and grey dial on the Ref. 5373P-001 is cleverly finished with a black gradation at its edge, framing snailed ebony-black subsidiary dials.

The watch’s beautifully finished caliber CHR 27-525 PS Q, still the thinnest split-seconds chronograph movement with perpetual calendar ever produced by the manufacture, can be admired through the sapphire-crystal display back, which is interchangeable with the solid-platinum back delivered with the watch. Among the many caseback highlights is a view of the movement’s two column wheels with their two polished caps.

Finally, like all of Patek Philippe’s platinum watches, the new Ref. 5373P-001 features a brilliant cut diamond on its case. But here Patek Philippe flips the diamond’s location, placing it at the 12 o’clock position rather than at the 6 o’clock position. Price Upon Request. 

The new Patek Philippe Ref. 5204G-001 split-seconds chronograph with perpetual calendar.

Split Seconds, right side

Also with a split-seconds chronograph with perpetual calendar, the new Ref. 5204G-001, with its standard, right-side crown and two pushers,  features a 40mm white gold case and an olive-green sunburst dial. The watch complements a version released last year with a slate-grey dial and a rose-gold case. Price Upon Request. 

The new Patek Philippe Ref. 5935A-001 self-winding World Time flyback chronograph stands out with its sporty vintage looks.

World Timer

In a premiere steel case, the Patek Philippe’s new Ref. 5935A-001 World Time flyback chronograph (with automatic caliber CH 28-520 HU) is bound to please collectors in search of steel Patek Philippe watches as well as those who covet its world timers.

A stunning rose-gold dial appears vintage while the ‘carbon’ motif’ dial interior is decidedly contemporary. That dial center is a reference to the 2020 limited edition inaugural model Patek Philippe’s newest manufacturing facility in Geneva. Patek Philippe includes two calfskin straps (grained taupe and beige with a velvet-like nubuck finish), each secured with stainless steel fold-over clasps. Price: $63,871.

 

The Ref. 7968:300R-001 Aquanaut Luce “Rainbow” chronograph in rose gold.

Luce Chronograph

Patek Philippe adds an automatic chronograph to its contemporary Aquanaut Luce collection for the first time, and then decorates the watch (Ref. 7968-300R-001) with a rainbow of sapphires and diamonds. Cased in 39.9mm rose gold, the watch’s white mother-of-pearl dial is engraved with an Aquanaut pattern as baguette multi-colored sapphires mark the hours alongside gold applied numerals. Price: $212,900. 

The new Ref. 5990-1A-011 Nautilus Travel Time chronograph is one of Patek Philippe’s rare steel watches.

Travel Time

Patek Philippe has debuted a steel-cased Travel Time model with an eye-catching blue dial with a radiant sunburst finish and a subtle black gradation. The new Ref. 5990/1A-011 Travel Time is powered by automatic caliber CH 28-520 C FUS, which combines a flyback chronograph, a Travel Time function (two time zones with two separate hour hands; the skeletonized hand shows home time) and an analog date synchronized with local time. Price: $68,603.

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The Watches

TAG Heuer and Nintendo Launch Two Mario Kart Formula 1 Watches

TAG Heuer teams once again with Nintendo to launch two Formula 1 X Mario Kart Limited Editions, each filled with fun references to the racing game series.

The TAG Heuer Formula 1 X Mario Kart Limited Edition Chronograph.

One model, a chronograph, is a 44-mm steel model with its Mario Kart logo clearly inscribed on its black polished ceramic tachymeter bezel. TAG Heuer has etched Mario’s M symbol on the crown while the Mario Kart logo is engraved on the screwed-down case back where, nearby, you’ll find an outline of Mario in a racecar.

The game’s hero also pops up on the chronograph’s checkered dial within the permanent seconds indicator at 9 o’clock, which is also circled in the same Mario-red hue. The same color can be also seen on the lacquered central hand, hour chronograph counter hand and 60-second or minute scale on the flange. 

For added humor, TAG Heuer replaces the date display with ongoing appearances by Mario Kart items such as Bullet Bill, the Banana and others.

Inside TAG Heuer fits its automatic Caliber 16 movement. This TAG Heuer Formula 1 X Mario Kart Limited Edition (Chronograph) is limited to 3,000 pieces.

Tourbillon Chronograph 

At the high end, TAG Heuer’s Formula 1 X Mario Kart Limited Edition Chronograph Tourbillon, limited to 250 pieces, showcases Mario’s world in more technical spaces.

TAG Heuer’s Formula 1 X Mario Kart Limited Edition Chronograph Tourbillon

A trio of Mario Kart characters rotate on the COSC-certified Calibre Heuer 02T tourbillon cage, which showcases Mario in his kart, the Spiny Shell and Bullet Bill.

Cased in 45mm titanium, the skeletonized chronograph tourbillon features a black polished ceramic bezel with a tachymeter scale and the Mario Kart logo. Red lacquer colors the 2 o’clock pusher and crown while the M symbol tops the crown.

Just as notable here is the pattern of red lines that frame the dial’s cutouts. At the top of the dial, TAG Heuer adds a gearwheel designed to echo the shape of racecar tire rims.

Mario dominates the back of the watch as well. A screwed-down titanium caseback is fit with sapphire glass emblazoned with the Mario Kart logo. Through the sapphire you’ll see the movement decorated with a trio of Mario Kart characters. I particularly like the Mario-red column wheel.

TAG Heuer attaches a black calf leather strap with contrasting red stitching and lining and a custom embossed pattern to both watches. The steel or titanium folding buckle is engraved with the M symbol.

Prices: $4,300 (Chronograph) and $25,600 (tourbillon chronograph). 

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