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Frederique Constant adds three smaller-cased variations to its Classic Date Manufacture collection, all in steel and all with an enhanced manufacture movement.

At the same time, the Geneva watchmaker updates its Classic Moonphase Date Manufacture with new dials, a new movement and a longer power reserve. 

One of three Frederique Constant Classic Date Manufacture debuts.

Classic Date Manufacture

With a new-generation manufacture FC-706 caliber, the latest Classic Date Manufacture series now offers seventy-two hours of power reserve, a smaller (40mm) case size and a longer warranty, newly extended to five years.

Instead of the 42mm case of the existing series, the new 40mm size frames a new dial with no numerals, refined hour-markers and a new “chemin de fer” minute track. All this impressive novelty will be offered in three models with sunray pattern dials in silver, black or salmon.

The new movement features multiple improved technical features. 

In addition to a larger barrel to enhance power reserve (which jumps from thirty-eight hours to seventy-two hours), the new Manufacture FC-706 movement has also been newly finished.

Now, circular-grained and fan-shaped côtes de Genève finishes decorate the bridges rather than circular motifs. 

In part thanks to these enhancements, Frédérique Constant increases the Classic Date Manufacture warranty to a full five years. 

New hour-markers, hands and minute track designs also signify the new generation Classic Date Manufacture series. The hour-markers are applied, diamond-cut, polished and slightly reduced at 5 o’clock and 7 o’clock.

No numerals means greater attention to the minute track around the dial, which has also been made more prominent with its railway style. Finally,  there’s a new onion-shaped crown on the watch. 

One model on a brown alligator strap features a salmon-colored dial combined with a steel case, and silver-colored hour-markers and hands. The second model offers a silver sunray dial with a navy-blue alligator strap and the third, the most contemporary, contrasts a black dial with its steel case and silver-colored hands and hour-markers.

The newly updated series continues to underscore Frederique Constant’s ability to offer high-quality Swiss manufacture movements within classically designed watches at relatively affordable prices.

Price: $3,495.

Classic Moonphase Date Manufacture

With a new trio of dial variations and an enhanced power reserve of seventy-two hours, the Classic Moonphase Date Manufacture, a flagship model for Frederique Constant, is now available in three new steel-cased variations with a silvered, blue or green dial.

Boasting the technical upgrades found in all the new FC-700 series calibers, the new the new FC-716 movement powers a redesigned refined dial with a sunray finish and thin fine hands.

And like the date model debut (above), the new Classic Moonphase Date Manufacture also now comes with a five-year warranty.

Price: $4,095

 

Oris redesigns its 36.5mm Aquis Date as it updates and expands the full series with new dials and four new ‘Upcycle’ models featuring dials made of recycled PET plastic.

One of several new Oris Aquis Date debuts, which feature a new crown protector and reworked lugs.

Oris has reworked the lugs and crown protector on the Aquis Date to create a sleeker version of the best-selling sporty design, which also includes a newly tapered three-link steel bracelet with a wider central link.

In addition, Oris has re-proportioned the watch’s unidirectional rotating bezel and ceramic bezel insert while adding a newly polished hour markers to each dial.

The Oris Aquis Date Caliber 400

To further enhance the series Oris has added new Aquis-only typography, new hands and a new date wheel with a background color matching the dial.

Multiple sizes

The re-designed Aquis Date collection offers a choice of movement and case size seemingly for every taste or wrist size.

Oris Aquis Date

The 36.50 mm size includes one option with a dial made of recycled PET plastic plus new black or cream-hued mother-of-pearl dials.

The Oris Aquis Date Upcycle

Oris explains that the re-designed 36.5mm models feature a ‘softer profile’ enhanced by a narrower uni-directional rotating bezel with a ceramic insert engraved with baton hour markers. These appear a bit lighter visually than the Aquis Date’s standard Arabic numeral minutes scale.

The Oris Aquis Date Upcycle Caliber 400

These newest options are in addition to more dial choices within existing 41.50 mm and 43.50 mm Aquis Date case sizes, all of which are newly available in a blue, green, black or PET plastic dial and powered by the Sellita-based Oris Caliber 733.

The flagship of the series remains the Aquis Date Caliber 400 43.50 mm, which is powered by the Oris in-house five-day, anti-magnetic Caliber 400 automatic movement.

Oris Aquis Date Caliber 400

This model is offered with new green, blue or PET plastic dial options. These Caliber 400 models include the patented Oris Quick Change Strap system and a stainless steel folding clasp with a patented quick adjust clasp system.

Oris Aquis Date 36.5mm

“Aquis is the cornerstone of our collection and a symbol of our joyfully sustainable approach to watchmaking,” said Oris Co- CEO Rolf Studer. “This new generation forms the next chapter in a great story that continues to make people smile.”

New packaging  

Oris will box all the new Aquis Dive models in sustainable modular packaging made from low-weight, low-volume, recycled and fully recyclable cardboard and paper.

“Across the watch industry, packaging has one of the highest impacts on the environment of any of our activities, explains Studer. “Watch boxes are often heavy and take up lots of space on an airplane and then a lot of space in homes all over the world, without ever really serving a useful function. Many people throw them away.”

Oris Aquis Date Caliber 400

The newest Oris Aquis is priced starting at $2,500 for a Sellita-based movement edition with red Oris rotor) on rubber strap and $2,700 for a metal bracelet version, Upcycle models are $2,800.

New Oris Aquis Caliber 400 models start at $3,900 on a rubber strap and $4,100 on a metal bracelet, with Caliber 400 Upcycle models priced at $4,200.

 

The new TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph, TAG Heuer’s highlight Watches and Wonders 2024 debut, pairs the square Monaco case with a wholly new split-seconds chronograph caliber.

The TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph features an all-titanium TH81-00 mechanical split-seconds chronograph caliber.

Made entirely of titanium, the watch’s TH81-00 movement is the lightest automatic chronograph movement ever created by the watchmaker, which teamed with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier to create the caliber.

While Heuer dominated sports timing, particularly automotive racing, during much of the 20th century with its ground-breaking split-second chronograph pocket watches and timers, the Le Locle watchmaker had not previously offered a mechanical wristwatch with the same function. (In 1989, TAG Heuer introduced a quartz split-seconds chronograph wristwatch that became a favorite of racing legends such as Ayrton Senna, Gerhard Berger and Michael Schumacher.)

“In developing this new watch we spent months researching complications, and quickly knew it had to be a chronograph, and particularly with a split-second function, which is the queen of chronographs,” explains Nicholas Biebuyck, TAG Heuer’s Heritage Director. A split-seconds function is capable of measuring two separate time intervals concurrently.

“We found documentation dating to 1889 that advertises the Heuer brand as specializing in the rattrapante platform. As it turns out, we had never made a (mechanical) chronograph with a split second for the wrist,” he adds. 

No compromise

To rectify that somewhat surprising omission, Biebuyck and Carole Forestier-Kasapi, TAG Heuer’s movements director, worked with TAG Heuer’s technical team to create the watchmaker’s first wrist rattrapante “with no compromise.”

The team started with a high-frequency 5-Hz movement to enhance split-second accuracy, and quickly determined that to make a highly wearable, lightweight and ergonomically impressive debut wrist rattrapante, it would need to be made of titanium.

“The reason we chose titanium for the case was because we wanted to create something particularly comfortable to wear, but we then extended this to the movement as well,” adds Forestier-Kasapi.

TAG Heuer offers various titanium-cased Monaco chronographs, though all are powered with traditionally manufactured movements. 

“I cannot think of an example where we have made an entire movement in titanium previously. Certainly not in a commercially available product,” says Biebuyck. Even when the all sides of the 41mm by 15.2mm case and the movement are combined, the TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph weighs a wispy 85 grams.

The new watch enhances the timepiece’s overall novelty with extensive application of sapphire to the case. The clarity created by the clear sapphire offers an open view into the titanium Calibre TH81-00 movement.

The back offers an unobstructed view of the signature checkerboard pattern on the center bridge and the fine-brushed balance wheel bridge. From the edges of the case we can also see the movement’s two column wheels and decorated bridges.

TAG Heuer offers two Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph models. A red variation with black DLC coating is inspired by TAG Heuer’s long history in the world of professional automotive racing.

A blue model pays tribute to the original color code of the Heuer Monaco. Here, gradient blue dial arches transition from light blue, an effect created through a painstaking anodizing process.

Price: CHF 165,000. 

      

Arnold & Son sails into new horological territory with Longitude Titanium, the watchmaker’s first luxury sport watch and its first all-titanium collection.

One of three Arnold & Son Longitude Titanium debuts.

The nautically themed watch is a COSC-certified chronometer with a 42.5 mm titanium case and a matching titanium bracelet. Its vertical dial layout honors marine chronometers, which the famed British watchmaker and company namesake John Arnold pioneered.

Nautical references and rounded edges abound on the collection. While the middle of the case echoes the waterline of a ship, the bezel’s base has been notched sixty times to mimic the typical fluted ring John Arnold used on his historic marine chronometers. Satin finishes dominate all flat surfaces, which allows the few polish edges to stand out.

This relatively unadorned dial sets it apart from the typically complex Arnold & Son layouts, which typically feature skeletonized, moon phase and busier artisanal designs.

Particularly large, satin-finished, polished and luminescent hour-markers echo the shape of the hands and the bracelet links.

The vertically aligned layout features a mirror-polished power-reserve indicator at 12 o’clock and a prominent sub-seconds display at 6 o’clock.

Inside the Longitude Titanium Arnold & Son fits the new, COSC-certified in-house A&S6302 caliber, an automatic movement with a gold rotor carved to recall both a sextant and the prow of an 18th-century English frigate. As with all Arnold & Son movements, the power reserve here is long, offering a full sixty hours of autonomy on a full wind.

Arnold & Son again reaches back to its namesake with the dial options for the Longitude Titanium. To recall the coast of Cornwall, John Arnold’s birthplace, Arnold & Son offers the first collections in a sandy golden shade called Kingsand (a local beach), ocean blue and fern green.

The Kingsand model is a limited edition of 88 pieces. Each watch arrives with an additional rubber strap that is interchangeable with the titanium bracelet. 

Prices: CHF 22,600 (Kingsand) and CHF 21,500 (blue and green).

 

Specifications: Arnold & Son Longitude Titanium 

Movement: Calibre A&S6302, self-winding mechanical, COSC-certified, 36 jewels 36, Power reserve 60 hours, frequency 4 Hz/28,000 vph. Finishes mainplate: palladium finish, circular-grained bridges: palladium finish, polished and chamfered, ‘Rayons de la Gloire’ motif wheels: golden finish, circular satin-finished screws: blued and chamfered, mirror-polished heads, oscillating weight: 22-carat red gold (5N), skeletonized, chamfered, engraved.

Dial: Kingsand gold, ocean blue or fern green PVD treatment,  vertical satin finish power reserve: blue PVD treatment, golden finish or rhodium-plating, mirror-polished small seconds, snailed hour-markers: rhodium-plated or golden finish, coated with Super-LumiNova hands: rhodium-plated or golden finish, skeletonized, coated with Super-LumiNova.

Case: 42.5mm by 12.25mm titanium, Crystal: sapphire, anti-reflective coating on both sides, case back: sapphire crystal, anti-reflective coating, water-resistance: 100 m/330 ft.

Interchangeable bracelet: Titanium, folding clasp. Additional strap: blue or green rubber, titanium pin buckle.

Limited edition: Kingsand gold: 88 timepieces, ocean blue: not limited, fern green: not limited.

Prices: CHF 22,600 (Kingsand) and CHF 21,500 (blue and green).

H. Moser doubles up on green-dial mania with two debuts within its Pioneer Centre Seconds collection.

The new H.Moser Pioneer Centre Seconds Citrus

One model, the decidedly unsubtle 42.8mm steel-cased Pioneer Centre Seconds Concept Citrus Green, demands attention on the wrist thanks to its bright green dial. Entirely without a logo or any indexes, only the watch’s leaf-shaped hands are visible. With a generous helping of SuperLuminova, the hands are especially visible in the dark, framed by a SuperLuminova-filled inner flange circle.

H. Moser, an independent brand that revels in provocative dial design, calls the debut “a legit feel-good watch, it’s the perfect companion for hitting the waves or diving to the depths in style, all the way to 120 meters.”

A second, more traditional addition to the collection is the new Pioneer Centre Seconds Cosmic Green model, with a 40-mm steel case that only barely retains the H. Moser & Cie. logo.

The new H. Moser Pioneer Centre Seconds Cosmic Green

Visible upon close inspection, the logo can be seen, written in transparent lacquer, on the watch’s Cosmic Green fumé dial, which denotes time using classic faceted indexes and the same leaf-shaped hands as its brighter sibling.

H. Moser powers both models with its superb HMC 201 automatic caliber, which boasts automatic bi-directional pawl winding system, an engraved oscillating weight and a power reserve of three days.

See below for additional technical details for each of these H. Moser Green-dialed debuts.  

Price: $15,900. 

 

Specifications: H.Moser Pioneer Center Seconds Concept Citrus Green  

(Reference 3201-1204, steel model, Citrus Green fumé dial, rubber, textile, alligator leather strap or steel bracelet)

Case: Steel, 42.8 mm by 14.2mm, height without sapphire crystal: 10.6 mm. Domed sapphire crystal and see-through case-back, screw-in crown adorned with an “M”, water-resistant to 12 ATM.

Dial: Citrus Green fumé with sunburst pattern, leaf-shaped hour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova, white inner flange filled with SuperLumiNova.

Movement: HMC 201 automatic caliber, frequency: 21,600 Vib/h, 27 jewels, automatic bi-directional pawl winding system,

Engraved oscillating weight

Power reserve: minimum of 3 days

Hacking seconds

Original Straumann hairspring

Anthracite finish with Moser double stripes

Partially skeletonized bridges

Strap/bracelet:

Hand-stitched alligator leather, rubber, or textile strap or steel bracelet

Steel pin buckle engraved with the H. Moser & Cie. logo.

Price: $15,900.

Specifications: H.Moser Pioneer Center Seconds Cosmic Green

(Reference 3201-1201, steel model, Cosmic Green fumé dial, rubber, textile, alligator leather strap or steel bracelet)

Case: Steel, diameter: 40.0mm, height without sapphire crystal: 10.4 mm; Height with sapphire crystal: 12.0 mm, Domed sapphire crystal and see-through case-back, screw-in crown adorned with an “M”, water-resistant to 12 ATM.

Dial: Cosmic Green fumé with sunburst pattern

H. Moser & Cie. logo in transparent lacquer

Leaf-shaped hour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova

Faceted applique indices

Movement:

HMC 201 automatic caliber

Frequency: 21,600 Vib/h

Automatic bi-directional pawl winding system

Engraved oscillating weight

Power reserve: minimum of 3 days

Hacking seconds

Original Straumann hairspring

Anthracite finish with Moser double stripes

Partially skeletonized bridges

Strap/bracelet:

Hand-stitched alligator leather, rubber, or textile strap or steel bracelet

Steel pin buckle engraved with the H. Moser & Cie. logo.

Price: $15,900.