Even though the Monaco Grand Prix, originally scheduled for last weekend, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, TAG Heuer is still presenting a special-edition timepiece in tribute to the event and to the Monaco collection.
The new TAG Heuer Monaco Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Limited Edition features the race’s red-and-white color, but now includes a small silver classic car logo at the 1 o’clock position in honor of the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique race.
Additional race-imagery can be found on the caseback where TAG Heuer has printed the race’s logo on the inside of the transparent sapphire glass.
Inside, and visible through that caseback, TAG Heuer fits its in-house Caliber Heuer 02 chronograph movement, featuring a column wheel and a vertical clutch. The movement also offers an unusually long 80-hour power reserve. The new watch is to be made in a limited edition of 1,000, each of which is engraved with its unique number and the words “One of 1000”.
As is often the case with its limited editions, TAG Heuer is placing the new watch in its a themed package, which in this case is a red watch box decorated with a checkered racing flag. The new watch is available for pre-orders via www.tagheuer.com and in select TAG Heuer boutiques before its launch on July 27, 2020.
A scene from an earlier running of the Monaco Grand Prix Historiques, which was canceled this year due to COVID-19 concerns.
TAG Heuer is the Official Sponsor and Timekeeper of the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique as well as the Official Watch of the Monaco Grand Prix and the Official Watch Partner of the Monaco Top Cars Collection museum.
Price: CHF 6,700 (or approximately $6,885)
Specifications: TAG Heuer Monaco Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Limited Edition
(Reference CBL2114.FC6486, limited to 1,000 watches)
MOVEMENT: TAG Heuer Automatic Caliber Heuer 02 Manufacture automatic chronograph, 33 jewels, balance oscillating at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz), 80-hour power reserve
FUNCTIONS: Chronograph with minutes and hours, permanent second indicator; date, hours, minutes; central chronograph seconds hand.
CASE:39mm fine-brushed and polished steel, fixed bezel, sapphire crystal with Grand Prix de Monaco Historique logo printing on the back, polished stainless-steel crown at 3 o’clock and push buttons at 2 and 4 o’clock, water-resistant to 100 meters, stainless-steel case back with limited-edition number engraving.
DIAL: Rhodium-plated red sunray brushed dial, rhodium-plated indexes and hour and minute hands with white SuperLuminova, red lacquered central hand, Grand Prix de Monaco Historique logo at 1 o’clock on the dial.
STRAP: Black calfskin leather strap, folding clasp in polished stainless steel
With its pennant-shaped markers and distinctive case shape, Corum’s Admiral Cup is as identifiable on the wrist – even when seen across a room – as the Corum Bubble. This in part explains why the relatively young Swiss watchmaker (founded in 1955) frequently turns to the popular nautical-themed collection when introducing new materials or enhanced functions.
Corum is again tapping the Admiral’s Cup collection (here dubbed the Admiral 42) to sport a relatively rare feature for Corum: a bronze case.And while the first such model, an Admiral 45 Chronograph seen several years ago, showed us a dark ‘pre-patinated’ bronze alloy, this latest example starts with a brighter satin-finished bronze case.
The newer bronze alloy will patina over time evenly, according to Corum, imbuing the entire satin-finished 42mm by 10mm twelve-sided case and bezel with a nautically appropriate vintage look that Corum says will “pay tribute to the beauty and strength of the brass material used in old ships.”
Subtler markers
As seen throughout the Admiral collection, the new bronze model features twelve 5N gold-coated, pennant-shaped hour markers on the dial. But unlike many other Admiral’s Cup models, these marker are subtly marked with one color (to match the dial) rather than touched in multiple hues.
Apparently to underscore the watch’s eventual vintage bronze case color, Corum has also added an interesting vintage-looking Admiral logo at the top of the running seconds subdial just above the 6 o’clock position. Nice.
Blue or green dial
Corum offers the watch in either a navy blue or maritime green dial, each fit with a matching alligator strap. Skeletonized gold Dauphine hands are filled with either green or blue SuperLuminova that will glow to match the dial color.
Inside the watch Corum places the ETA-based CO 395 automatic movement, which it makes visible through the sapphire case back. Price to be determined.
Zenith unveils the Chronomaster Revival Shadow, another winning retro model designed as a result of Zenith’s deep dive into its own El Primero history.
The newest watch updates the look and feel of a black-cased El Primero watch Zenith made as a prototype in the early 1970s. Dubbed the Shadow, the update utilizes an original A384 case shape and 37mm size, the same case Zenith revisited for last year’s Chronomaster Revival El Primero A384.
Zenith has re-created the stealthy look using micro-blasted titanium rather than the darkened steel Zenith discovered on the early “Shadow” model.
Not surprisingly, unlike the prototype from 1970 powered by a manual-winding chronograph movement, the Chronomaster Revival Shadow features Zenith’s date-free El Primero (4061), visible through the display back.
As Zenith explains “only a handful of this spectral prototype was made, but the model was never officially produced or commercialized. Many watchmakers and longtime employees of Zenith had heard of and even seen one of the rare prototypes, even though official records about this piece are extremely scarce.”
The Le Locle-based watchmaker spent much of 2019 documenting its El Primero history as it celebrated the pioneering, high-beat chronograph movement’s fiftieth anniversary by issuing a series of celebratory watches, many of which were made to echo the case and dial designs of early Zenith watches fitted with the El Primero movements.
The new Zenith Chronomaster Revival Shadow pairs grey subdials with a matching tachymeter scale, and both contrast nicely with matte black dial. Perhaps to emphasize its stealthy name, the watch’s hands and applied markers are filled with white SuperLuminova that emits a green glow. The watch’s strap is textured black rubber with white stitching. Price: $8,200
Movement: El Primero 4061 Automatic with column-wheel chronograph, 36,000 VpH frequency with 50-hour power reserve, visible from clear caseback.
Functions: Hours and minutes in the center, small seconds at nine o’clock. Chronograph: central chronograph hand, 12-hour counter at six o’clock, 30-minute counter at three o’clock. Tachymetric scale.
Case: 37-mm micro-blasted titanium using original A384 case shape, water resistant to 50 meters
Dial: Black dial with grey counters and tachymeter scale, hand and markers rhodium-plated, faceted and coated with SuperLumiNovaSLN C1
Bracelet & Buckle: Black “cordura effect” strap and white stitching. Microblasted titanium pin buckle.
For 2020, IWC Schaffhausen is updating and expanding its Portugieser collection, focusing on equipping the entire collection with in-house calibers while also re-emphasizing the design’s nautical history.
Among the highlights: a smaller (40mm) Portugieser Automatic model, a smaller diameter (42mm) perpetual calendar, additional examples of the Portugieser Chronograph newly set with an in-house caliber, a new Yacht Club watch with a moonphase display, plus an all-new edition of the watch with a tide indicator. In addition, IWC added several complicated Portugieser watches that combine a tourbillon with a perpetual calendar and a chronograph.
The new IWC Portugieser Automatic Chronograph, also available with green dial or with blue dial (on gold Boutique model).
New Chronographs
The Portugieser Chronograph (Ref. 3716), long a best seller for IWC, is newly equipped in the standard version with the IWC in-house 69355 caliber and a clear sapphire-glass back. The two stainless-steel models ($7,950), one with deep green dial and one glowing in deep ‘claret’ red, are equipped with the newly developed folding butterfly clasp. A third model, elegant in 5N gold, (Ref IW371614, $17,800) features a blue dial, gold markers and gold hands.
The new Portugieser Automatic 40 (Ref. 3583) is fit with IWC-manufactured Caliber 82200.
Automatic, now at 40mm
The Portugieser Automatic 40 (Ref. 3583) marks the return to the collection of the three-hand design with the small seconds at 6 o’clock. You’ll find it now in a compact case with a 40-millimetre diameter–and bearing the collection’s entry price of $7,250.The new automatic model gets its power from the IWC-manufactured 82200 caliber with Pellaton winding. Four versions are available in 18-karat 5N gold or stainless steel cases.
IWC Portugieser Automatic, 40mm
A fifth Portugieser Automatic, in a larger (42mm) case, sports its power reserve display and small seconds on the dial and will be offered as either a gold-cased boutique edition (blue dial, $23,900) or with a the same rich red dial ($12,700) found on the new Portugieser Chronographs. These offer a longer power reserve than the 40mm models (up to seven days) thanks to their larger case diameter, which allows space for two winding barrels.
IWC Portugieser Automatic 42 (boutique Edition), with seven-day power reserve.
The new IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 (Ref. 3442).
Smaller Perpetual
IWC adds its own in-house caliber 82650 with 60-hour power reserve to the Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 (Ref. 3442). Thanks to the new movement, IWC was able to case it in a smaller 42mm diameter size (above). This could be the sleeper hit given its moderate starting price ($22,900) and full, easy-to-read perpetual functionality. All the displays are perfectly synchronized with each other and can be adjusted with a quick turn of the crown. In this version of the calendar, the displays for the date, month and day of the week are seen in three subdials.
This new IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar (Boutique Edition) features a 44mm diameter & displays the calendar information on four subdials and it has a four-digit year display, a small seconds hand and a power reserve display.
Also look for a boutique 5N gold edition of the classic 44mm Portugieser Perpetual Calendar ($37,900, above). This model, with a nautical design, features a blue dial and shows the year in four digits–a feature IWC pioneered with its earlier Kurt Klaus-designed perpetual calendars starting in 1985. Thanks to its slightly larger dimensions of the boutique edition, the movement has room for two barrels that offer a power reserve of seven days.
Yacht Club
Three new Portugieser Yacht Club watches combine a 44mm diameter with a recognizable Yacht Club bezel shape, flat casing ring and very useful flyback function.
The new IWC Portugieser Yacht Club Chronograph.
The Portugieser Yacht Club Moon & Tide (Ref. 344001) is the first watch from IWC to feature the newly developed tide display.
One, the Portugieser Yacht Club Moon & Tide (Ref. 344001, $33,100) is the first watch from IWC to feature a newly developed tide display, which shows the expected times of the next high and low water. The Portugieser Yacht Club Chronograph (Ref. 3907, starting at $13,100) comes with either a stainless-steel bracelet or a two-tone bracelet in stainless steel and 18-karat 5N gold.
By the mid-1970s, the Yacht Club had established itself as one of the most successful models ever manufactured by IWC.
IWC will ship more of the Yacht Club models to its boutiques, including those with expanded maritime-inspired colors (blue and gold). These are identifiable with their blue dials, braided blue calfskin straps and cases in 18-karat 5N gold or 18-karat Armor Gold. The latter is a new alloy that demonstrates a higher hardness value than traditional 5N gold alloys.
IWC History: In 2003 IWC launched the Portugieser Perpetual Calendar (Reference 5021).
Complications
Two watches in the new collection underscore IWC’s expertise at the high end. These are the new Portugieser Tourbillon Rétrograde Chronograph (Ref. 3940, starting at CHF 105,000), which combines a tourbillon with a retrograde date display and chronograph, and the Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon (Ref. 5045, starting at CHF 115,000) that combines a tourbillon and perpetual calendar.
The Portugieser Tourbillon Rétrograde Chronograph (Ref. 3940) combines a flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock with a retrograde date display at 9 o’clock and a chronograph.The Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon IW504504 boutique edition with 18-karat Armor Gold case, blue dial, gold-plated hands, gold appliqués, blue calfskin strap.
The new Audemars Piguet [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph is a reinterpretation of a 1943 Audemars Piguet chronograph. Now with a larger (40mm) two-tone steel and 40mm pink gold case, the new watch retains the original’s olive-shaped pushers, steel lugs and champagne dial.
Art Deco numerals enhance the vintage aspect, as do the pink gold hour, minute and seconds hands, blue chronograph hands and a blue transferred tachymetric scale. For 2020, Audemars Piguet has rearranged the chronograph counters, but retains the original watch’s 4/5 indication above the 15 minutes mark inside the 30-minutes counter at 9 o’clock to allow the wearer to record up to 45 minutes.
The watch’s sapphire caseback reveals the integrated flyback chronograph with column wheel (Caliber 4409) and the 22-karat pink gold oscillating weight, displaying its satin-brushed and decorated “Clous de Paris” decoration.
Audemars Piguet includes two straps with the watch, including a light brown hand-stitched calfskin strap and an additional dark brown alligator strap. Price: $53,100 (limited to 500 pieces).
Specifications: Audemars Piguet [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph 40 mm
FUNCTIONS: Flyback chronograph, hours, minutes and small seconds.
CASE: 40mm steel case and lugs, 18-karat pink gold bezel, crown and push pieces, glare-proofed sapphire crystal and caseback, water-resistant to 20 meters.
MOVEMENT: Selfwinding Manufacture caliber 4409
DIAL: Yellow gold-toned dial, blue tachymetric scale, pink gold hour, minute and seconds hands, blue chronograph hands.
STRAP: Hand-stitched light brown calfskin strap with stainless steel pin buckle. Additional brown alligator strap.
