Tag

Watches & Wonders

Browsing
The Watches

Bulgari Unveils Thinnest Perpetual Calendar

Bulgari launches the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, extending its string of record-breaking ultra-thin watch debuts to seven since 2014. With a micro-rotor powering the watchmaker’s 2.75mm thin Caliber BVL 305, the new watch displays the time of day plus most the traditional perpetual calendar functions in a decidedly un-traditional ultra-thin 5.80mm-thick case.

The new Bulgari Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, in titanium.

The new perpetual calendar debuted last week during Watches and Wonders 2021 alongside other Bulgari collection updates. These include a new Serpenti high-jewelry model, four new gem-encrusted Divissima and Astrale cocktail watches and a special Octo Finissimo limited edition timer-only model designed by Japanese artist Tadao Ando.

Also new in 2021, Bulgari unveils this Octo Finissimo limited edition designed by Japanese artist Tadao Ando.

We’ll detail these watches in upcoming posts. Below, let’s take a closer look at the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar.

Retrograde displays 

It’s not just the size of the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar case that underscores Bulgari’s technical acumen. The watchmaker’s own history with retrograde displays, fueled in part by years of experience with this long-time Gerald Genta specialty (Bulgari purchased Gerald Genta in 2000), is front and center on the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar.

The dial’s headliner is a retrograde date display, commanding the top and center of the dial, while a retrograde-display leap years indicator sits patiently at 6 o’clock. Radial, hand-indicated day and month displays fill the remainder of the octagon-framed dial.

And if this dial seems a bit spare for a perpetual calendar, that’s because there’s no moonphase display. Bulgari deems the lunar subdial, frequently found on traditional perpetual calendars, as too classical to contribute to the contemporary style of the Octo Finissimo collection.

The watch’s displays are adjusted by means of three correctors: one for the date at 2 pm, another for the month at 4 pm and a third for the day between 8 and 9 o’clock.

The displays are adjusted via three correctors. One for the date is at 2 pm, another for the month at 4 pm and a third for the day between 8 and 9 o’clock.

Bulgari notes that it met the challenge of devising a perpetual calendar within a slender case by effectively reassessing how a movement is configured spatially.

Previous Octo Finissimo models, such as the Chronograph GMT Automatic (2019) and the Tourbillon Automatic (2018), employ a peripheral rotor to free space within the movement. However, here Bulgari opted to re-format most of the perpetual calendar’s 408 components on one level around an efficient new micro-rotor. This freed enough space to allow Bulgari to retain many components at full size – and optimal efficiency – despite the caliber’s 2.75mm limiting thinness.

Two cases

Bulgari will debut the new perpetual calendar with the same architecturally stepped 40mm sandblasted titanium case we’ve seen on previous record-breaking ultra-thin Octo Finissimo models, consistent with the collection’s modern style.

Bulgari is also simultaneously creating a platinum-cased, blue-dialed example. However, this models’ platinum case (a first for this collection) is not fully polished, as is often the case with the luxurious metal. Bulgari will finish this premiere piece with a clearly contemporary satin brushing mixed with polished accents.  

Prices: $59,000 (titanium case, titanium bracelet) and $89,000 (platinum case, alligator strap). 

Seven world records for thinness since 2014. All but one (for automatic watch, now held by Piaget) still stand.

 

Specifications: Bulgari Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar

Titanium model (Ref. 103200)

Movement: Automatic Manufacture movement, Caliber BVL 305, measuring 2.75mm thick, with indication of hours, minutes, retrograde date, day, month and retrograde leap year; 60-hour power reserve.

Case and dial: Sandblasted 40mm titanium, 5.80mm thick, sandblasted titanium crown with ceramic insert, transparent caseback; water-resistant to 30 meters. Dial is sandblasted titanium dial, 0.3 mm thick.

Bracelet: Sandblasted titanium with folding clasp.

 

Platinum model (Ref. 103463)

Movement: Automatic Manufacture movement, Caliber BVL 305, measuring 2.75mm thick, with indication of hours, minutes, retrograde date, day, month and retrograde leap year; 60-hour power reserve.

Case and dial: Satin-brushed/polished platinum case, 40mm diameter, 5.80mm thick, white gold crown, transparent caseback; water-resistant to 30 meters. Dial is lacquered blue.

Bracelet: Alligator leather strap with platinum pin clasp.

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Zenith Defy Gets Extreme

Zenith reinforces its Defy to create Defy Extreme, a new three-model collection that boasts an arsenal of components aimed at protecting the watch’s unusual dual-escapement El Primero 9004 movement from shock and moisture.

The new Defy Extreme extends the ongoing theme of the Defy El Primero 21 collection, a series of skeletonized, often colorful, high-speed (36,000 vph) timekeepers paired with an extra-fast (360,000 vph) chronographs, cased together in highly technical ceramic, titanium, carbon or steel dress.

Three Zenith Defy Extreme models are available. All are cased in sandblasted titanium with blue, black or rose-gold colored plates and matching accents.

With the new collection, Zenith has a true high-impact sport option for Defy fans wary that the existing Defy 21’s two escapements and its contemporary open work design leaves it vulnerable to physical stress and extreme elements.

Essentially, Zenith has toughened Defy’s specifications, starting with the case.

Defy Extreme’s 46mm case size is larger than the 44mm case Zenith uses within the existing Defy El Primero 21 collection. Zenith has reinforced the new case by adding extended pusher protection and a screw-down crown that, when combined with a thicker clear sapphire caseback, doubles the water resistance from the existing Defy rating of 100 meters to 200 meters for the new collection.

The new case is also rife with new angles, edges and lines. Even between the two crystals you’ll find elements that, as Zenith puts it, exude “robustness.”

Most notably, Zenith has a placed a twelve-sided ring just underneath the bezel and on the twelve-sided caseback.  The architectural ring nicely frames the dial while also adding another layer of shock protection to the movement. It serves to remind the wearer that Zenith has built an extra level of security into the Defy Extreme.

Three models

Zenith is making three Defy Extreme models, all cased in micro-blasted titanium. Two matte-finished titanium models (both $18,000) differ with a blue or black-colored mainplate and pusher protectors with matching rotor finishes, while the third model ($22,000) glows with rose gold bezel ring and pusher protectors on the titanium case and rose-gold-hued main plate and accents.

Zenith is supplying each watch with three different straps with quick strap-change mechanisms: A micro-blasted or polished and satin-brushed titanium bracelet, a rubber strap with a folding buckle matching the case and, in a first for Zenith, a Velcro strap that can be easily adjusted.

The El Primero 9004 movement inside the Defy Extreme is equipped with two regulating organs and escapements, one beating at 5Hz for timekeeping, and the other at 50Hz for the chronograph .

 

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

TAG Heuer Updates Aquaracer

TAG Heuer has updated its Aquaracer with the Aquaracer Professional 300, a collection that reshapes the brand’s dive watch with thinner cases, wider hour hands, shorter lugs and newly fluted ceramic bezels.

 

And look for seven full-line references in two sizes (43mm and 36mm) in the new collection. All but one of the new Aquaracer 300 Professional models will be cased in steel (with blue, black or silver dials) while one collection (with a green-dial) will be made using a titanium case.

All told, four of the new references will have a 43mm case diameter, and three will feature a case measuring 36mm, with one of the smaller size models sporting diamond hour markers.  An eight model is a titanium-cased limited edition celebrating the 1978 watch that led to the Aquaracer collection.

Fluted bezel

TAG Heuer has updated nearly all the characteristics that TAG Heuer has deemed essential for every Aquaracer since 1983. Since that year watches in the collection have included a unidirectional rotating bezel, a screw-down crown, water resistance to at least 200 meters, luminous markings, a sapphire glass and a double safety clasp.

For the new models, TAG Heuer started its update by adjusting Aquaracer’s twelve-sided bezel.

In addition to adding scratch-resistant ceramic inserts in the bezel, as noted above, TAG Heuer has fluted the bezel’s trademark twelve facets for a quicker grip when the bezel needs to be turned. When turning the bezel, the user might note smoother action because TAG Heuer has also re-engineered the bezel’s internal teeth so they mesh with less resistance. Also note the new engraved minutes scale just inside the bezel.

All eight hour markers are now actually lume-filled octagons on the dials of the new TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300.

Also new is an integrated magnifier, now positioned into the underside of the glass, over the date at 6 o’clock. Not only does the new position maintain an uninterrupted, flat sapphire crystal, but it also makes the date easier to read from wider angles.

Distinctive dials

TAG Heuer has also taken the shape of the bezel directly onto the dial. All eight hour markers are now actually lume-filled octagons. Similarly, a new twelve-sided crown has been added, matching the twelve-sided bezel. This helps maintain a design consistency, and confers a pleasing symmetry to the new Aquaracer.

But TAG Heuer didn’t stop at the markers. Note that the hour hand is wider with a more distinctive sword shape. Longtime fans might recognize it from the last of the TAG Heuer 2000 Series from 2004. However, TAG Heuer has narrowed, very slightly, the width of the minute hand to create a clearer distinction between the two hands.

Note the green and blue lume on the dial of the Aquaracer Professional 300.

 

The hands are further differentiated by luminosity hue, with green SuperLumiNova on the hour hand (and hour markers) and blue SuperLumiNova for the minute and seconds hands. The crown protection has been re-made as well. It’s now more rounded, echoing that first Ref. 844 from 1978.

If the central section of the dial looks familiar, it is. But it’s also different. TAG Heuer has kept Aquaracer’s familiar engraved dials with horizontal lines, but on the 43mm models those lines are set a bit further apart. The blue 36 mm model also has eight diamond hour markers and polished central bracelet links

Case study

Finally, as noted earlier, TAG Heuer has slimmed the case, bezel and metal bracelet, and shortened the lugs, without affecting the watch’s essential utility and performance. All models will maintain their full 300 meters of water resistance.

On the back of the new Aquaracer Professional 300 TAG Heuer again portrays an image of the same diving suit that first appeared on the Aquaracer caseback in 2004, but with a slight update. The helmet is more angular on the new collection, and the faceplate is twelve-sided, echoing the watch’s bezel shape.

The helmet on the new Aquaracer Professional 300 caseback is more angular, and the faceplate is twelve-sided, echoing the watch’s bezel shape.

Finally, each new reference features a new integrated metal bracelet equipped with a newer fine adjustment system that can extend or reduce the bracelet length by up to 1.5 centimeters.

Prices for the new Aquaracer Professional 300 start at $2,800 (36mm with black or white dial) and rise to $4,200 (43mm titanium model with green dial).

Limited Edition

In addition to launching seven new ongoing models within the Aquaracer Professional 300 collection, TAG Heuer is adding a limited edition titanium-cased watch in tribute to the Heuer Ref. 844, a diver’s watch released in 1978 that presaged the Aquaracer collection.

The Aquaracer Professional 300 Tribute to Ref. 844 is a tribute to original model from 1978.

That watch featured a dial design with a red 24-hour scale, prominent lume-filled hour markers and a rotating divers’ bezel with a minutes scale. The new tribute, called the Aquaracer Professional 300 Tribute to Ref. 844, is cased in Grade 5 titanium with visual elements from the archive piece. These include a flat black dial and a red 24-hour scale, originally intended as a quick conversion chart for divers.

The tribute watch also features vintage-hued luminescent material on its dial and arrives with a black perforated rubber strap that echoes the strap sold on the original. But here, TAG Heuer has made the perforations octagonal to maintain the new Aquaracer design code.

Only 844 examples of the Aquaracer Professional 300 Tribute to Ref. 844 will be made. TAG Heuer’s ETA-based (or Sellita-based) Caliber 5 automatic movement powers all eight references in the new Aquaracer Professional 300 collection. Price of the tribute model: $4,350.

 

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Hermès Launches the Cushion-Shaped H08

Hermès adds ultra-light graphene to one version of its all-new H08, a cushion-shaped debut that could become a flagship model of the brand’s contemporary watch collection. 

The 39mm H08 will debut with two titanium-cased models and one created using a novel graphene-filled composite case, topped by a brushed and polished ceramic bezel.

The new Hermes H08, with graphene-filled composite case.

This darker graphene version also offers a black gold-coated dial, distinctive Arabic numerals and black nickel-coated hands. The two other H08 debuts are titanium-cased, with one in matte black DLC-coated titanium and the second in satin-brushed titanium. These arrive with a black nickel-coated dial and can be matched with a blue or black fabric strap or a black or orange rubber strap.

As is typical from with Hermès watches, the dial font and the case’s pleasing geometric lines complement each other perfectly.

 

In fact, with H08 Hermès utilizes a dial font that specifically mimics the cushion shape of the case. Note how the namesake 8 and the 0, are especially evocative, with perfectly proportioned shapes that could also be called cushion-shaped.

The H can be seen in the link shape of the new titanium bracelet used on the brushed titanium model, as well as on the visible movement bridges and rotor.    

Inside each watch Hermès places its own H1837 automatic movement, visible through the sapphire caseback.

Prices: $5,500 (titanium on rubber strap or webbed fabric); $5,700 (titanium with DLC coating on rubber strap or webbed fabric); $6,050 (titanium on titanium bracelet) and $8,900 (graphene on rubber strap).

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Ulysse Nardin Launches UFO, a Clock that Rocks

Alongside a new dive watch (Diver X Skeleton) and a new chiming watch (the Blast Hourstriker), Ulysse Nardin just ahead of Watches & Wonders 2021 debuts UFO, a table clock that literally rocks as it displays time on three dials, all under a glass dome.

The new Ulysse Nardin UFO, a 10.3-inch high ‘swinging’ table clock with three dials.

We’ll provide details about the watches in upcoming posts. Below we help you identify the new Ulysse Nardin UFO.   

Collaboration

Teaming with Swiss clockmaker Maison L’Epée, well known in recent years for its whimsical collaborations with pioneering independent watchmaker MB&F, Ulysse Nardin has constructed UFO, a sixteen-pound, 10.3-inch tall aluminum and glass clock built with a rounded base that allows the clock to swing from side to side like mechanical waves around its axis. The UFO swings up to 60° from its axis – an amplitude of 120 degrees, with no affect on its precision.

The UFO, or unidentified floating object, is the futuristic interpretation of what Ulysse Nardin’s designers, engineers, and watchmakers think a marine chronometer should look like in 175 years, according to Ulysse Nardin CEO Patrick Pruniaux. “We always look ahead,” he says. “We wondered what a marine chronometer designed in 2196 would be like.”

The clock’s imbalance and swinging motion is meant to conjure images of the perpetual movement of the ocean. Ulysse Nardin’s 175-year history, which this clock honors, includes more than a century of making award-winning marine chronometers.

Six barrels confer a remarkable one-year power reserve when fully wound.

Glass and dials

The clock’s ‘imbalance’ starts with a blue half-spherical aluminum base fitted with a tungsten mass. The base and glass bell are connected to a bayonet mounting system, which echoes marine chronometer construction where the top glass could be unscrewed.

Romain Montero, a 26-year-old artisan glass blower who works for the Swiss-based Verre et Quartz, a technical glass-blowing workshop near Lake Neuchâtel, creates each glass cover by hand. The process is labor-intensive, and for each cover finished, two others were attempted without success, according to Ulysse Nardin.

L’Epée requires 663 components, and plenty of time, to build each UFO, with the three trapezoidal dials being among the clock’s most complex components to construct. According to the manufacturer it takes twenty-eight hours to manufacture eight of the dials. Three are placed into the UFO, which allows the owner to display three different time zones at once, each seen from a different angle.

One of three titanium dials on the UFO.

The three blue-hued dials face outward around the top the clockworks, which are fully visible. And among the many spectacular sights within the clock are the six massive barrels that confer an incredible year of power reserve when fully wound with forty turns of a key. Each dial has its wind-up notch, which is also used to the set the time (four notches in total, one for winding up and one for each time zone wound up using a single key).

UFO’s dramatic slow-beat, large-diameter (49mm) brass balance wheel. The size and the leisurely 3,600 bph frequency (one per second) of the balance soothes the viewer while also contributing to movement’s ultra-long power reserve.

At the top of the movement L’Epee and Ulysse Nardin have installed a dramatic slow-beat, large-diameter (49mm) brass balance wheel. The size and the leisurely 3,600 bph frequency (one per second) of the balance is meant to both soothe the viewer while also contributing to movement’s ultra-long power reserve. And to put a finer point on the clock’s meditative rate, you’ll find a dead-beat second indicator just below the balance. 

 

Specifications: Ulysse Nardin UFO

Movement: UN-902 caliber table clock, manually wound movement
 displaying three time zones, hours, minutes, deadbeat second, 
675 components, six barrels, extra-large oscillator (49mm),  0.5 Hz /3,600 Alt/H, one-year power reserve.

Case: Aluminum and blown glass measuring 263mm (H) x 159mm. Weight: 15.8 pounds, 
75 timepieces

Price: $41,100 (limited edition of 75)

 

 

by
Keep Reading