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MB&F Launches its First Chronograph, the LM Sequential EVO

For its first chronograph, independent watchmaker MB&F teams with Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell to launch the Legacy Machine Sequential EVO, a two-column-wheel chronograph with split-second, independent and lap timer modes – a watchmaking premiere.

The new watch, powered by MB&F’s twentieth caliber, boasts a ‘Twinverter’ switch that controls both chronograph systems.

The new MB&F Legacy Machine Sequential EVO,

The binary switch inverts the start/stop status of each chronograph. As MB&F explains: “this means that if both chronograph displays happen to be stopped (at zero position or otherwise), pressing the Twinverter (at 9 o’clock) will cause both of them to start simultaneously. If they are both running, the Twinverter makes them stop. If one is running and the other is stopped, the Twinverter stops the one that is running and starts the one that is stopped.”

Belfast-based McDonnell previously worked with MB&F to finalize the MB&F HM1 and most famously developed the GPHG-award-winning MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual.

His design for the new watch allows the user to perform the same functions as a split-seconds chronograph. But overall, McDonnell focused the design for everyday use rather than specifically for sporting functions, according to MB&F’s Charris Yadigaroglou. Most of the new timing modes are novel to this design and not available when using a traditional chronograph.

For example, in ‘independent mode’ the wearer can assist with varied cooking times. In this so-called ‘pasta mode” the wearer could operate the two chronographs via their respective pushers. One might start when placing pasta into boiling water and the other can separately time when vegetables go in the oven. Additional modes include Simultaneous mode, Cumulative mode and Sequential mode.

MB&F places McDonnell’s caliber into its sporty EVO case much like the case that houses the latest example of the LM Perpetual. This is a 44mm by 18.2mm zirconium structure with no bezel, a domed sapphire crystal, a screw-down crown (offering 80 meters of water resistance) and MB&F’s own anti-shock FlexRing system.   

MB&F will launch the new watch in two versions. One features an ‘atomic’ orange CVD dial plate and the second features a ‘coal’ black PVD dial plate. Both come with an integrated rubber strap with a folding titanium buckle.   Price: $180,000.

 

Specifications: MB&F Legacy Machine Sequential EVO

Movement: Fully integrated dual chronograph system developed for MB&F by Stephen McDonnell, featuring Twinverter switch allowing multiple timing modes. Manual winding with double mainspring; Balance frequency: 3Hz (21,600 vph). Three-days of power reserve. Flying balance wheel with regulating screws at 12 o’clock, Breguet overcoil. Superlative hand finishing; internal bevel angles highlighting handcraft; polished bevels; Geneva waves; hand-made engravings, darkened bridges (NAC finish). Power reserve indication at the back of the movement.

Dial: Galvanic black dials with Super-LumiNova on numerals and hands.

Functions: Time display (hours/minutes) at 6 o’clock.

Left chronograph: Seconds displayed at 9 o’clock and minutes at 11 o’clock; start/stop pusher at 10 o’clock and reset at 8 o’clock.

Right chronograph: Seconds displayed at 3 o’clock and minutes at 1 o’clock; start/stop pusher at 2 o’clock and reset at 4 o’clock.

Twinverter pusher at 9 o’clock: binary switch that inverts the current start/stop status of both chronographs.

Case: 44mm by 18.2mm zirconium. Water resistance to 80 meters. Screw down crown. FlexRing annular dampener fitted between case and movement, providing shock protection along the vertical and lateral axes. Sapphire crystals on top and display back treated with anti-reflective coating on both faces.

Strap: Integrated rubber with titanium folding buckle.

Price: $180,000.

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TAG Heuer Honors Indy 500 with a New Chronograph

The new 43 mm TAG Heuer Formula 1 Indy 500 2022 Limited Edition chronograph displays more racetrack-inspired details than we’ve seen on previous TAG Heuer Indy 500 watches.

 

The new TAG Heuer Formula 1 Indy 500 2022 Limited Edition chronograph.

In part that’s because this year TAG Heuer closely collaborated with its resident Indy driver Alexander Rossi, a TAG Heuer ‘friend’ who will be wearing the new watch during the famed Indy 500 race this Sunday, May 29.

Right away you’ll see the Indy 500 logo engraved in gold on the watch’s ceramic bezel framing an inner bezel colored to echo the brick red that gives the racetrack its Brickyard nickname. Look toward the 6 o’clock location however to see the 1/10th second chronograph counter and the dial’s real treat: a depiction of the track’s famed Pagoda control structure.

With an Indy 500 engraving dominating its case back, this Formula 1 Indy 500 2022 Limited Edition chronograph is ready to race. TAG Heuer adds that Rossi’s helmet will also reflect the look and colors of the new watch.

The quartz-powered chronograph is water-resistant to 200-meters and highly shock resistant. Its steel three-row bracelet fits the watch over a racing suit with use of a folding clasp with a double safety system and pilot extension.

TAG Heuer is offering the Formula 1 Indy 500 2022 Limited Edition chronograph as a limited edition of 500, each priced at $2,400.

 

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Girard-Perregaux Races Again with Aston Martin

The new Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph AM F1 Edition, the third model in partnership with Aston Martin and its Formula 1 team, once again is a winner right at the starting line. The watchmaker mixes racing carbon with titanium powder and rubber to premiere a watch with a very sharp-looking lightweight case and an ultra-strong high-tech Racing Green strap.

The new Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph AM F1 Edition.

As noted, the new watch, a very sporty black and green chronograph with an unusual carbon case, is the third collaboration from Girard-Perregaux and Aston Martin. The companies have previously collaborated on two watches: the Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges Aston Martin Edition and the Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin Edition.

Carbon case

In keeping with its partner’s racing lineage, Girard-Perregaux’s case makers mixed various carbon components used in two 2021 F1 race cars with titanium powder to forge the new watch’s case.

When combined with a green-tinted resin, the resulting 44mm octagonal Laureato case is as tough as steel, according to the watchmaker. In addition, this mixing of materials means each watch will display a slightly different green and black pattern on its case, bezel and crown protector.

The dial on the watch is presented in sunray ‘Aston Martin Racing Green’ and is adorned with a cross-hatching motif that can be traced back to the Aston Martin ‘AM’ badge of 1921.

Girard-Perregaux also extends its technical innovation to the watch’s strap to create another first for the watchmaker: The strap is made of rubber and carbon elements taken from two 2021-season Formula One racecars. The strap is then combined with Aston Martin Racing Green fabric covering and linked to the wrist with a micro adjustment system.

Inside Girard-Perregaux fits its excellent Caliber GP03300-1058, which is visible via a sapphire caseback­. That visibility is a first for any Laureato Absolute Chronograph.

Girard-Perregaux is limiting its Laureato Absolute Chronograph AM F1 Edition to 306 pieces, which represents the total distance in miles drivers Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel will aim to cover on race day at the 2022 British Grand Prix.

Price: $27,800.

 

Specifications: Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph AM F1 Edition (Reference: 81060-41-3071-1CX
, a limited edition of 306 pieces).

Case: 44mm by 15.15mm titanium and carbon case, with carbon extracted from two Formula One racecars. Sapphire crystal and back. Back with white Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team decal.


Dial: Sunray ‘Aston Martin Racing Green’ with cross-hatching, indexes with luminescent green emission. 
Hands: skeletonized baton type with luminescent green emission. Chronograph hands in yellow. Water resistance to 100 meters.

Movement: GP03300-1058 automatic, frequency of 28,800 Vph, power reserve of 46 hours. 
Functions: Chronograph, hours, minutes, small seconds, date.

Strap: GP Rubber Alloy in Aston Martin Racing Green – a mix of rubber and carbon extracted from two Formula One race cars used during the 2021 season, fabric effect and green stitches. Buckle: Folding with micro adjustment system, titanium with black PVD treatment.

Price: $27,780

 

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Hublot and Samuel Ross Mesh For Titanium Tourbillon

Multi-disciplinary artist Samuel Ross teams with Hublot to create the Big Bang Tourbillon Samuel Ross, a stylized, hexagonal 44mm watch with titanium honeycomb mesh featured on its sapphire dial, case, case back and strap.

The new Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Samuel Ross.

The debut is the Hublot ambassador’s first wristwatch built with the Swiss watchmaker, which has teamed with artists for more than a decade under its “Hublot Loves Art” initiative.

Hublot has worked with Ross previously, though not for a watch, when the watchmaker awarded Ross its Hublot Design Prize in 2019 as the artist unveiled a multi-material ‘fused’ sculpture designed to celebrate Hublot’s fortieth anniversary.

On the Big Bang Tourbillon Samuel Ross, the 30-year-old artist combines his signature use of color and geometry to make this lightweight, sporty tourbillon-regulated time-only watch. The watch’s multi-level sapphire and titanium dial is both eye-catching and technically impressive; its honeycomb caseback (below) delightfully mixes geometry and gearing.

Hublot explains that Ross opted for an orange color scheme to represent “energy and optimism” and has directed the color for the strap and accents on the crown and tourbillon bridge and lateral bumpers that protect the case. The bright color frames a grey, satin-finished case and bezel.

Inside Hublot sets its manufacture HUB6035 caliber (see specifications below) that offers an impressive seventy-two hours of power reserve. Hublot will make fifty Big Bang Tourbillon Samuel Ross watches.

Hublot is celebrating the debut by enveloping its Fifth Avenue boutique in New York City in orange. The ‘takeover’ will then be repeated in Hublot stores globally as the watch reaches showcases.

Price: $116,000.

Hublot Ambassador Samuel Ross, wearing the Big Bang Tourbillon Samuel Ross.

Specifications: Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Samuel Ross

(Ref. 428.NX.0100.RX.SRA22)

Case: 44mm by 13.75mm satin-polished titanium with satin-finished case back and bezel. Water resistant to 30 meters.

Movement: Caliber HUB6035 with self-winding micro-rotor, skeleton tourbillon, frequency of 3 Hz (21,600 vph) and 72-hour power reserve.

Dial: Skeletonized with honeycomb pattern titanium, three sapphire bridges.

Strap: Orange rubber with titanium deployant buckle.

Price: $116,000.

 

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Ulysse Nardin Launches Eco-Friendly Dive Watches

Ulysse Nardin this week debuts the Ocean Race Diver, a commercial version of its environmentally friendly Diver Net concept watch launched in 2020.

The new Ulysse Nardin Ocean Race Diver might be the greenest luxury watch available.

With a strap created entirely from recycled fishing nets and a case and caseback made using recycled steel, a carbon composite called Carbonium and more recycled fishing nets, the new Ulysse Nardin Ocean Race Diver might be the greenest luxury watch available. Ulysse Nardin teamed with French recycling experts Fil&Fab to source and develop the recycled material for the new collection.

Ulysse Nardin wants to raise awareness to protect the oceans by creating “new from old and regenerating materials, especially plastic.” The watchmaker co-branded the watch with its partner, the around-the-globe Ocean Race, for which Ulysse Nardin is official timer.

On the case back, the sapphire crystal is embellished with a white transfer of the logo of the brand’s partner, The Ocean Race.

As a 44mm dive watch, the Ocean Race Diver is water-resistant to 300 meters and features a high-visibility, green-accented unidirectional bezel made using Carbonium, the same fibers that are used for the fuselage and wings of the latest-generation aircrafts. The manufacture of Carbonium has a 40% lower environmental impact than other carbon composites, since it makes use of the offcuts of aircraft parts, according to Ulysse Nardin.

Ulysse Nardin taps an automotive industry steel recycling channel for the 44mm case, which is 80% to 85% recycled.

Ulysse Nardin teamed with Fil & Fab to make the strap and other components using recycled fishing nets.

Diver X

The watch’s dial echoes the watchmaker’s Diver X series with a double X signature on the dial, a power reserve indicator at the top and a small seconds hand at 6 o’clock. The dial, toned down when compared to the concept version, is composed of neutral textured anthracite (ruthenium) surface treatment.

Like the brand’s X-Skeleton series, you’ll also find the Ulysse Nardin logo etched into the crown and a visible crown protector.

Ulysse Nardin’s own dial maker stamps its double X on the dial with its half-matte, half-satin finish.

Even the movement, Ulysse Nardin’s own UN-118, is made with materials 95% sourced within a 30 km radius of the Manufacture, half of them coming from recycling channels (recycled steel and brass). All Ulysse Nardin movements utilize recycled brass.

The watch will be sold in a water-resistant pouch slipped into a dry bag recycled from the sea by Helly Hansen, a brand that is also a partner of the round-the-world Ocean Race.

Ulysse Nardin will offer the watch as a limited edition of 200 pieces starting in June. Price: $11,500.

 

Specifications: Ulysse Nardin Ocean Race Diver

Reference: (1183-170LE-1A-TOR/0A
UN-118)

Movement: Caliber UN 118 manufacture, 
Silicium & DiamonSil escapement technology. Power reserve is 60 hours.

Case: 
44mm steel with unidirectional concave rotating bezel, bezel decoration 100% Carbonium, sapphire crystal, 300 meters of water resistance.

  • Side-case and case-back 40% Carbonium and 60% recycled fishing nets.
  • Stainless steel case at least 80% recycled from automotive industry.

Dial: 
Green Super-LumiNova markers, 
 anthracite (ruthenium) surface treatment 
Double X
, The Ocean Race logo (white transfer), power reserve indicator.

Strap: Recycled from fishing nets, gray with green and white stitches, scratch closing.

Price: $11,500.

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