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Watches and Wonders 2024: Oris Upcycles Aquis

 

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.

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Watches and Wonders 2024: The TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph

 

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. 

      

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The Watches

Ulysse Nardin Dresses Freak X in Khaki 

Ulysse Nardin gives its Freak X a layer of military garb with the Freak [X OPS], which boasts a new khaki green carbon fiber case covering and a matching fabric strap.

The new Ulysse Nardin Freak [X OPS], pictured with khaki fabric strap.
The new hue and material are inspired by the irregular patterns of Damascus and nicely complement the Freak [X OPS]’s 43mm black titanium case, bezel and crown. A model with a black strap is also available.

As you might recall, the first series of Freak X models in 2019 were aimed at a new generation of Freak collectors with its somewhat simplified case and the addition of a crown to the formerly crown-free Freak. Ulysse Nardin refers to that original Freak X as “the easy-going Freak.”

Yet despite its pared down nature, the Freak X retained all the Freak’s primary characteristics, including movement bridges that double as hands.

With no dial, the watch’s one-hour orbital carousel tourbillon becomes the minute hand, and the hour hand is a pointer set on a rotating disc that sits under the movement.

Here, Ulysse Nardin coats the hour and minute indicators and hour markers in a matching khaki green SuperLuminova that glows green in low-light conditions. 

Ulysse Nardin has built the new Freak [X OPS] by combining that original Freak X design with the case covers, or flanks, that echo those found the 2020 Freak X Magma. But instead of the patterned red epoxy resin found on that model, this watch is created from carbon fiber and green epoxy resin. With the swirling resin mixture, each case will look marginally different.

Inside Ulysse Nardin fits its automatic UN-230 movement, itself a hybrid of the bedrock UN-118 and the high-tech UN-250 found in the Freak Vision. The watch is water-resistant to 50 meters. (See additional specifications below).

Price: $33,800.

 

Specifications: Ulysse Nardin Freak [X OPS]

(2303-270-2A-KAKI/0A (black strap) 2303-270-2A-KAKI/0B (green strap))


Movement and Functions: Caliber UN-230 Manufacture automatic, flying carousel movement rotating around its own axis, balance wheel and escapement in silicon, oversized oscillator in silicon, black movement with indexes and bridges in khaki green Super-LumiNova, oscillations at 21,600 vph. Power reserve is 72 hours. 

Case:  43mm by 13.38mm black DLC titanium case and bezel, black DLC titanium caseback with transparent sapphire opening, khaki green carbon flanks in ‘Magma’, an original composite, blending black carbon fibers and green epoxy resin.

Strap: Khaki green fabric or black fabric strap (recycled fishing net), hook and loop fastener. 

Price: $33,800.

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The Watches

TAG Heuer Launches Carrera Chronosprint with Porsche

TAG Heuer teams with Porsche to launch the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche, the latest Carrera model that merges design elements from both brands.

The seventh joint launch since TAG Heuer and Porsche officially partnered in 2021, the new 42mm watch is a vision in silver and red, with red details highlighting references to the 1970s Porsche 911 dashboard design.

The new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche. A rose-gold-cased version is also available.

Beyond the dial accents, TAG Heuer has also built into the new watch a special version of its new TH20 automatic movement, which debuted this past March during Watches and Wonders.

The new reference here, the TH20-08 movement, features a chronograph seconds hand meant to echo Porsche 911’s ability to reach the 100 km/h in just 9.1 seconds.

Here, the central hand accelerates faster than usual at the start of the chronograph activation thanks to a clever use of a two snail-shaped wheels, which also create a decelerating motion for the central hand after sixty seconds. TAG Heuer makes the wheels using the so-called LiGA lithographic etching process.

On the dial, TAG Heuer continues to reference the Porsche 911.

At 6 o’clock for example you’ll find a subdial that directly recalls the area around 50 km/h that was often highlighted to indicate the recommended speed in urban areas.

The red portion of the 9 o’clock subdial is meant to be a reminder of the ‘critical engine limit.’ TAG Heuer opts to place the red line at 6.8 hours, a nice reference to that 6,800 RPM limit. Red lines on the flange recall the Porsche 911’s ability to reach the 100 km/h in just 9.1 seconds, a clear reference to the very first Porsche 911.

Look for a steel and a gold version of the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche, each featuring the same retro-inspired double glassbox sapphire crystal seen on Carrera debuts earlier this year.

These domed and curved crystals echo similarly domed hesalite crystal designs from the 1970s, but here have been revamped to add a curve that flows over the tachymeter scale and blends into the case.

From the clear caseback TAG Heuer designs a rotor to replicate the famed Porsche three-spoke steering wheel.

TAG Heuer will launch the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronosprint x Porsche watches with a calfskin leather strap, in brown for the gold edition and in black for the steel edition, each with an embossed number “911” on the strap.

Prices: $9,200 (steel) and $23,550 (rose gold).

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Zenith to Exhibit Historic Pilot Watches in NYC

Zenith will exhibit a selection of its vintage pilots watches at the Watches of Switzerland Hudson Yards location in New York from August 8 until September 10. The exhibit is meant to celebrate the watchmaker’s new Pilot collections, which debuted earlier this year during the Watches and Wonders watch fair in Geneva.

A Zenith military pilot watch circa 1928-1930.

 

At the Watches of Switzerland Hudson Yards store visitors will find six Zenith Pilot heritage pieces alongside Zenith’s new Pilot collection, which includes stainless steel and ceramic three-hand automatics and flyback chronographs.

A Zenith Chronographe Cairelli Type CP2 from the 1960s.

Zenith will display an impressive selection of historic aviation watches, including the Dashboard Altimeter (1910s), Pilot Wristwatch (1928-1930s), Chronograph Tipo CP2 (1968-72), El Primero Pilot-Diver (1972), El Primero Rainbow Fly-Back (1997), and El Primero Pilot Big Date Special (2010).

An altimeter from 1910.

Collectors are likely aware that Zenith registered the trademark “Pilote” in 1888, followed by the English “Pilot” in 1904, which allowed the brand to exclusively use the word on its dials.

A new Zenith Pilot Chronograph in steel.

Zenith watches were worn by Louis Blériot, who made history by accomplishing the first flight across the English Channel in 1909.

The 1997 El Primero Rainbow Flyback.
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