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The Watches

Under the Radar: The Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date

 

All week we’re reviewing 2022 debuts presented during Watches and Wonders 2022 that, perhaps, you didn’t read too much about in the first wave of online reporting.

As Montblanc’s first diving watch, the 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date catches your eye with its ‘frozen’ dial. Not actually ice (though that would be impressive) the dials on all three versions of this 41mm steel dive watch artfully mimic a glacier.

Up close on the dial of the new Montblanc Iced Sea Automatic Date.

More specifically, the dial makers report that they climbed up to the glacial lakes of Mont Blanc to find their muse. Ascending via the Chamonix Valley to the Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice), Montblanc designers say they “were captivated by the texture of the glacial ice with its interlocking network of crystals that have been frozen in time for millennia.”

The dial work, made possible with an age-old technique called gratté-boisé, is stunning. The dial’s depth and intricate crags and crevices are all better when viewed live than they appear in pictures.

The new Montblanc Iced Sea Automatic Date.

And turning the watch over reveals a case back with a three-dimensional relief engraving of an iceberg and a scuba diver exploring the waters below.

As a certified diving timing instrument, conforming to the ISO 6425 norm, the 1858 Iced Sea has undergone the Montblanc Laboratory 500 Hour Test to ensure that it is shock resistant, anti-magnetic, extreme temperature resistant and water-resistant (to 300 meters). The 12.9mm-thick steel case protects an automatic Sellita movement.

This watch also includes a wet-suit adjustable v-shaped stainless-steel tapered bracelet that the wearer can easily swap for a rubber strap without the need to return to the boutique or use of any tools.

Montblanc offers the 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date with three different dial colors, blue, green and black, each with a matching unidirectional bezel.

Prices: $2,975 to $3,190.

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The Watches

Under the Radar: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph

All week we’re reviewing 2022 debuts presented during Watches and Wonders 2022 that, perhaps, you didn’t read too much about in the first wave of online reporting.

Somewhat lost amid the other 2022 TAG Heuer debuts like the Aquaracer Pro 1000 Superdiver and the Carrera Plasma Tourbillon Nanograph, this Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph conveys several stories simultaneously about this bedrock Swiss watchmaker.

The new TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph.

The new watch both represents TAG Heuer’s first entry into the light-powered watch arena while also demonstrating a slow but steady move by Swiss watchmakers to build greater sustainability into their products, and even into their day-to-day operations.

The 40mm black DLC-coated stainless steel watch is powered by light thanks to its all-new solar-powered movement designed and built by La Joux-Perret, the Swiss-based movement maker owned by Citizen. (We’re inquiring as to how much of Citizen’s existing Eco-Drive expertise the Swiss manufacturer has utilized.)

The sun not only powers the movement of the TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph, but it also lightens the distinctive SuperLuminova elements of the watch’s very cool light-marbled bezel, as well as its dial and hands.

As the SuperLuminova blends with the black carbon during the manufacturing of the bezel, it creates a unique pattern that essentially makes each bezel slightly different.

This Solargraph movement means the wearer will not need to change the watch’s battery, which recharges in sunlight or even in artificial light. After two minutes in full sunlight the watch will operate for one full day, and when fully charged after about twenty hours under the sun, the watch can run for six months. If the timepiece stops working, the wearer need only expose it again to light for ten seconds to make it start once again.

Price: $2,950.

Specifications: TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 200 Solargraph

(Ref. WBP1112.FT6199)

Movement: TH50-00 by La Joux-Perret.

Dial: Black sunray brushed w/black applied indexes with Super-LumiNova
black hour and minute hands with Super-LumiNova Polar blue color central hand with SuperLumiNova angled date.

Case: 40mm Black DLC steel, sandblasted. Carbon with SuperLuminova unidirectional turning bezel with 60-minute scale, sapphire crystal with double anti-reflective treatment, black DLC steel screw-down crown at 3 o’clock, black DLC steel screwed case back. 
Water resistance: 200 meters.

Bracelet: Black rubber strap, black DLC steel folding clasp with double safety push buttons with adjustment link extension.

Price: $2,950.

Availability: October 2022.

 

 

 

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Oris

Under the Radar: The Oris Big Crown Pointer Date Caliber 403

All week we’re reviewing 2022 debuts presented during Watches and Wonders 2022 that, perhaps, you didn’t read too much about in the first wave of online reporting.

While Oris focused on its Oris ProPilotX Caliber 400 during the recent debut event at Watches and Wonders 2022, this watch also benefits from the long-power reserves found in the Oris Caliber 400 series of movements.

The new Oris Big Crown Pointer Date Caliber 403

For the first time in a Big Crown Pointer Date production piece, Oris also launches this Big Crown Pointer Date Caliber 403, which is updated with that new movement. This 38mm steel-cased model, with small seconds and pointer date complications, is now fit with namesake Caliber 403, which we first saw in the 250-piece Hölstein limited edition in 2021.

Echoing the entire Caliber 400 series, Caliber 403 has elevated levels of anti-magnetism, a five-day power reserve and a ten-year warranty. It’s also accurate to -3/+5 seconds a day – which would pass chronometer testing – and has ten-year recommended service intervals. As production allows, we expect Oris to phase in additional models in this collection fit with calibers from the excellent Oris long-power-reserve movement series.

Price: $3,400.

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The Watches

Under the Radar: Chopard’s L.U.C XPS 1860 Officer

All week we’re reviewing 2022 debuts presented during Watches and Wonders 2022 that, perhaps, you didn’t read too much about in the first wave of online reporting.

With a trio of glorious chiming watches and a terrific flying tourbillon model highlighting Chopard’s 2022 Watches and Wonders debuts, it’s no wonder this handsome limited edition might have garnered less attention than it deserves.

Chopard’s L.U.C XPS 1860 Officer.

With a gold 40mm case, a forest green guilloché gold dial and a hinged officer-type back cover, the new L.U.C XPS 1860 Officer, which bears the Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark, is both distinctive and elegant.

Much of its distinction lies within its gold case. Inside Chopard has placed its celebrated ultra-thin (3.30mm) L.U.C 96.01-L movement, which is the first Chopard Manufacture caliber from 1997.

Built with Chopard Twin technology and a 22-karat gold micro-rotor, the movement supplies two stacked barrels that guarantee a 65-hour power reserve and confer chronometer-certified precision. All L.U.C models with a small seconds display are certified by the Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC).

As noted, the watch’s forest green dial is built on a solid gold base. In the center you’ll find a hand-guilloché honeycomb motif that also adorns the back cover. Until the 1920s, Chopard engraved all its watch movements and covers with this beehive and bees to symbolize industry.

The bees appear in random manner, which means each watch engraving is slightly different from another. Chopard reprised the bee symbol at the advent of the L.U.C collection in 1996.

L.U.C Caliber 96.01-L

 

Price: ($33,500, limited to 50 pieces)

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The Watches

Watches and Wonders 2022: Grand Seiko Adds Five Sporty Titanium Watches

At Watches & Wonders 2022 earlier this month, Grand Seiko introduced five sport models in its Evolution 9 collection. And echoing many of the other high-end watchmakers at the show, Grand Seiko also focused its debuts on titanium-cased designs.

(Grand Seiko also debuted its first mechanical complication watch, the Kodo Constant-force Tourbillon, which we’ll discuss in a future post).

But unlike all other watchmakers, Grand Seiko is able to offer a level of precision rare for any pure mechanical offering thanks to its proprietary Spring Drive movement, a mechanical-electronic hybrid built and finished to high watchmaking standards.

One of two new Spring Drive GMT models (SBGE285).

Within its relatively new Evolution 9 collection, Grand Seiko adds two GMT models (SBGE283 and SBGE285), two Chronograph GMT models (SBGC249, a blue-dialed 15th Anniversary Limited Edition, and SBGC251), and a 200-meter dive watch with caliber 9RA5 (SLGA015), a movement with an impressive five-day power reserve. All these titanium-cased watches offer screw-down crowns and a strong anti-magnetic resistance to 4,800 A/m.

For the debuts, Grand Seiko has refined its cases as well as various dial details. All the new models benefit from wider lugs and thicker bracelets. Also note the collection’s bolder hands that point to a new font along the bezel, notably on the GMT models. In addition, Grand Seiko now coats all its hands and indexes with more Lumibrite than we’ve seen previously. In addition, crown guards are somewhat smoother than on earlier sports models.

New Grand Seiko Spring Drive GMT (SBGE283).
Up close on the dial of Spring Drive GMT SBGE285.

Spring Drive GMT

These two 41mm debuts (above) feature highly textured pattern dials in either black (SBGE283) or light gray (SBGE285). Both offer a box-shaped sapphire crystal, a 72-hour power reserve and are powered by Spring Drive Caliber 9R66, which offers incredible precision of plus or minus one second per day. Price: $8,400, and available in August.

The Grand Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph 15th anniversary edition (SBGC249).

Two chronographs

The first of the two new 45.3mm Evolution 9 chronographs features a blue dial and offers a higher rate of accuracy than the already phenomenal one-second per day. This Grand Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph 15th anniversary edition (SBGC249, above) is adjusted to achieve an enhanced accuracy rate of just half-a-second per day, (or plus or minus 10 seconds per month) and is offered as a limited edition of 700. In addition to the
 12-hour chronograph, the watch also features a rotating bezel and a GMT hand. Price: $12,400.

The black-dialed version (SBGC251, below) delivers the standard high accuracy of 1-second per day (±15 seconds per month) and otherwise offers the same design and specifications as the limited edition. Price: $11,400.

The SBGC251, one of two new new 45.3mm Evolution 9 chronographs.

Dark Dive Watch

Finally, Grand Seiko adds an impressive new 200m diver’s watch (SLGA015) to the Evolution 9 collection. As is often the case at Grand Seiko, the watch’s textured black dial arrives on your wrist already wrapped up with an inspiring origin story.

Grand Seiko’s impressive new 200m Black Stream diver’s watch (SLGA015).

Inspired by the Kuroshio Current, also known as the Black Stream, the dial echoes the darkness visible in the waters that flow northwards past Japan towards the North Pacific. The Black Stream’s darkness inspired Grand Seiko’s artisans to create the new watch’s particularly evocative dial.

Powered by Spring Drive Caliber 9RA5, the new 43.8mm by 13.8mm titanium Black Stream dive watch offers an accuracy rate of ±10 seconds per month and a five-day power reserve.

The diver’s hands are among the boldest we’ve seen on a Grand Seiko dial, and this bezel among the most robust. In fact, Grand Seiko has forged the bezel’s inside from ceramic to reduce the possibility of scratching. Price: $11,600 and available in August.

 

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