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Results for Caliber 9SA5

633 articles · 2,325 videos found · page 25 of 99

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Schwarz Etienne Jun 25, 2023

A Week in Watches Ep.55: Variety is the Spice of Life

On this week’s episode of A Week in Watches, Zach Weiss covers a diverse group of new releases. We start at the high end with some new chronographs by Singer Reimagined and then head over to a limited quartet by Elka with some help from Ace Jewelers. Next up was a truly wild creation by Schwarz Etienne that was designed by vaunted designer, Eric Giroud. Last, we celebrate Alpina’s 140th anniversary with a look at their incredibly limited and incredibly cool new square watches powered by a vintage caliber. This week’s episode was brought to you by the Windup Watch Shop. For an excellent and ever-growing catalog of watches, straps, clocks, and more, head to windupwatchshop.com. The post A Week in Watches Ep.55: Variety is the Spice of Life appeared first on Worn & Wound.

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Breitling Launches a Pair of Motorcycle Themed Collaborations in their Permanent Collection Worn & Wound
Breitling Launches Jun 23, 2023

Breitling Launches a Pair of Motorcycle Themed Collaborations in their Permanent Collection

Breitling’s long history has continuously been dotted with opportunities to push the brand forward and introduce a new crowd to the Swiss brand. One way to do this is through a continued focus on partnering with brands that complement the Breitling’s mythology, particularly those with a focus on adventure, speed, and adrenaline. Take, for example, the latest releases from Breitling’s Top Time line-up. Originally designed in the 1960’s by Willy Breitling, grandson of the family company’s founder Léon, as a response to the growing interest in motosports. The popular model, worn by design aficionados and 007’s alike, has only increased in popularity over its six-decade span. Now, both Triumph and Deus Ex Machina are putting their own spin on the Top Time platform once again, after a series of previous successful collaborations along similar lines. Released this week, both the Top Time B01 Triumph and Top Time B01 Deus nod to the freewheeling spirit of the decades before while situating their own mark on the brand for the modern wearer. Both the Triumph and the Deus follow a blueprint established in previous collaborations, including the ice blue dial on the Triumph and playful accents on the Deus, but the new watches feature Breitling’s B01 chronograph caliber, whereas the earlier references used an ETA derived Caliber 23. That upgraded caliber is housed within the same 41mm stainless steel case as its predecessors. Often called the “unconventional chronograp...

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Singer Reimagined Introduces a Pair of Smaller Chronographs with Updated Movements and Features Worn & Wound
Jun 21, 2023

Singer Reimagined Introduces a Pair of Smaller Chronographs with Updated Movements and Features

If there was an easy knock you could make against the previous iterations of the Singer Reimagined chronographs, it’s that they were too big. At 43mm in a big cushion case, they have a ton of wrist presence to be sure, and require a larger wrist to pull off effectively. But they’re mechanically ingenious, and, in my opinion, pretty great looking from a purely aesthetic perspective, so I was always willing to forgive them for their size. Now, with a pair of watches in the brand’s new Singer 1969 collection, they’ve gone a long way toward answering doubters who made the large size of their earlier watches a dealbreaker. They’ve also incorporated new functionality, refining the mechanical piece to make their watches even more intuitive.  The 1969 Chronograph is the heavy hitter of the pair of watches announced today. This watch features an updated Agengraphe caliber that’s smaller (to fit the new 40mm case) and also includes a time display. Elapsed time is still read from the centrally mounted hands, but the current time is now displayed in an aperture at 6:00 via a pair of rotating discs. The chronograph incorporates jumping minutes and hours for precision, and the caliber is capable of timing events of up to 60 hours, which is a feat only Singer can claim.  The more modest 1969 Timer is my personal favorite of the two new watches. This is effectively an update of Singer’s Flytrack watches, which incorporate a 60 second timer via the centrally mounted running...

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Citizen Series 8 Welcomes New 880 GMT Collection Worn & Wound
Citizen Series 8 Welcomes New Jun 19, 2023

Citizen Series 8 Welcomes New 880 GMT Collection

The Series 8 is Citizen’s take on the integrated bracelet sport watch genre that was introduced into the premium end of the brand’s catalog under the The Citizen banner, sporting the brand’s flagship movement developed in partnership with La Joux-Perret. It’s a watch we were quite fond of in our hands-on. This year, the Series 8 is taking a step in a new direction with the addition of this 880 GMT collection using the 9054 caliber, and some slightly familiar color schemes. This is a watch that ticks all meta boxes for the moment, and while it makes a lot of practical sense, has us wondering how it will fit into the broader Series 8 project in the long term.  Integrated sports watches and so-called ‘flyer’ or ‘traveler’ GMT complications are certainly having their moment this year, which is great for consumers looking for more options at a wide range of price points. Combining the two seems only natural, however the landscape of integrated cases housing GMT movements is relatively sparse. Citizen brings the two together in this Series 8 880 GMT collection making use of the 9054 automatic caliber, which offers that ‘flyer’ functionality, and offers a higher magnetic resistance than the 9075 upon which it is based. The movement offers plenty of practical features, though will be pushing the price ceiling of watches using other variants. But a watch is more than a movement. There’s a full steel case and integrated bracelet here, which should justify the ...

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Breitling Introduces New Classic AVI “Co-Pilot” With 42mm Case Worn & Wound
Breitling Introduces New Classic AVI May 25, 2023

Breitling Introduces New Classic AVI “Co-Pilot” With 42mm Case

Breitling revealed their modern Super AVI collection in 2021 at an airstrip in Dallas, with actual war planes and pilots on hand. We brought you live coverage right here, and as nice as we found some of the designs, the cases themselves, which clocked in at 46×15.9mm, were a tougher pill to swallow. In an attempt to address this, Breitling has introduced a new Classic AVI family into the collection, which features a more wrist-friendly 42×14.7mm case at the expense of the GMT complication found in the Super AVI family. Further still, within this release is a 41mm ref. 765 1964 Re-Edition that stays true to old school form both inside and out.  The new Classic AVI watches bring the same design language we saw in the Super AVI, which itself is a reference to the Breitling reference 765 from the early ‘50s, a watch that earned the nickname “Co-Pilot” for its usefulness to pilots of the time. The Super AVI watches featured designs that drew inspiration from iconic WWII planes, and the Classic AVI collection makes use of the same schemes to great effect. This includes the P-51 Mustang, Vought F4U Corsair, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, and Mosquito planes, which are each represented in the 4 different colorways. The newest AVI watches use the Breitling Caliber 23, which is their modified Valjoux 7753. This means the pricing is also considerably more attractive than the Super AVI collection, with prices starting at $5,800 for leather strap equipped watches, and $6,200 if you pre...

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The Three Watch Collection for $5,000: Reader Edition – Chris W. Worn & Wound
Grand Seiko fan May 5, 2023

The Three Watch Collection for $5,000: Reader Edition – Chris W.

Editor’s Note: In this edition of the 3 Watch Collection for $5,000, reader Chris W. shares a personal trio of watches that serve as foundation pieces in his own collection, representing a diverse cross section of watch making, and encompassing unique styles in the process. If you’d like to submit your own 3 watch collection for $5,000 can you do so at the form right here.  I own these watches as part of a 21 watch collection. While I’m a big Seiko and Grand Seiko fan with 7 (Grand-, King- and other) Seiko’s in the box, I do love my French, German and British watches too. I can never quite say what my favourite 3 piece collection would look like.  For his budget, on this rainy day, this is the set I’d choose to keep. Tomorrow, my answer might be different. Nomos Ahoi Neomatik Atlantik 36 – ~$2,500 I picked up this watch in 2017, and it has proven to be a true go anywhere, do everything watch. Stick it on a cordovan strap, and you can wear it with a suit because of it’s discrete 36x9x48mm dimensions. If you stick it on the included canvas strap, you can go snorkelling, hiking or biking with it because of the solid 200m water resistance.  The polished case will look great with a bit of wabi-sabi from wear and tear, and the movement is the first completely in house developed and produced Nomos caliber, at 3,2mm thick including the rotor.  The somewhat strict looking Bauhaus design is made much less stark because Nomos excels at little splashes of colour, whe...

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An Unexpected Dive into the World of De Bethune Worn & Wound
De Bethune When you go Apr 20, 2023

An Unexpected Dive into the World of De Bethune

When you go to Watches & Wonders, you hope to have an experience like the one Zach Weiss and I did with De Bethune. The Geneva based brand was actually not exhibiting at the show, but had space in the Beau Rivage hotel, right on the lake, along with a dozen or so other independent brands, all taking good advantage of the watch world absolutely descending on the city for an entire week. I have long been an admirer of De Bethune, but always from afar. They are not the easiest indie to get your arms around, both literally and figuratively. The watches are very rare and hyper specific in their design language, and for a long time I had the sense that they might appeal to exactly the 200 or so people per year that are able to obtain a new piece, no more no less. But then the last three years happened, and every independent brand took off like a rocket ship, and since De Bethune watches kind of look like rocket ships to begin with, their rise was perhaps even steeper. The DB Eight Monopusher We were there, ostensibly, to see two watches. The brand’s latest novelties both happen to be more classically styled than the avant-garde pieces they’ve become known for. The DB Eight monopusher chronograph is about as classic as it gets. The case design, with those flared lugs, is based on the DB1, the very first De Bethune, also a chronograph. This one, though, has a brand new caliber and is fashioned from grade 5 titanium as opposed to solid gold. While the aesthetic of the watch is ...

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Panerai Radiomir Quaranta Steel Apr 18, 2023

Everyday Lookbook: Introducing The Panerai Radiomir Quaranta Steel

The Radiomir Quaranta Steel collection brings a casual touch to one of Officine Panerai’s most classic formats. The collection is a modern interpretation of their first-ever watch, bringing the look of the legendary divers of the 1940s to contemporary, enthusiast-friendly proportions. Pared down yet commanding in presence, the Radiomir Quaranta features Panerai’s iconic details and precision reinvented in a stylish, everyday package. The new Radiomir Quaranta Steel collection is available in multiple versions, with three variants featured here: a white dial with beige Super-LumiNova® and brown strap (PAM01292), a blue dial with white Super LumiNova® and dark blue strap (PAM01293), and a dark anthracite dial with beige Super-LuminNova® and black strap (PAM01294). And starting today, Panerai has added a 4th exclusive model, a green dial and brown strap combination (PAM01386), which is an E-commerce exclusive limited to 500 pieces. Now there’s a look for everyone with colorways that perfectly complement your mood, environment, and attire. Technical details include the P.900 caliber a 4.2mm thick next-generation automatic movement, the first of its size from Panerai to combine the date, three days of power reserve, and water-resistance to 50 meters. It’s clear that this is a package geared for everyday styling and wear. The post Everyday Lookbook: Introducing The Panerai Radiomir Quaranta Steel appeared first on Worn & Wound.

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eBay Finds: Diver Chronographs, Full Kits, & NOS Goodness Worn & Wound
Omega Seamaster Jumbo Going Apr 6, 2023

eBay Finds: Diver Chronographs, Full Kits, & NOS Goodness

eBay Finds is back! This bi-monthly installment will feature a selection of watches currently listed on eBay that have caught the eye of editor Christoph McNeil (@vintagediver). If you come across any hidden gems on the ‘Bay drop us a note at info@wornandwound.com for potential inclusion! Vintage Omega Seamaster Jumbo Going to start this week off with a bang with this stellar vintage Omega Seamaster! This circa late 1950’s reference 2975-1 SC is simply gorgeous and not one you see too often. Seller calls it ‘jumbo’ in the title but it’s just under 35mm wide, which is a classic Seamaster size. The unpolished steel case has tapered lugs rather than the ‘fat lugs’ style, but honestly I love this case/lug style. The caseback is fantastic with the oversized and deeply engraved Hippocampus logo, which is really uncommon. The original dial has a nice, fairly even patina, and killer applied steel arrow markers. The steel dauphine hands have some oxidation on them, but overall the whole watch is a beauty. Correct crown with deep grooves. The caliber 500 automatic movement is clean and seller states it runs well. If you’re pining for a vintage Seamaster, check this one out! View auction here. Vintage Baylor Dive Chronograph Next up we have a nice vintage Baylor chronograph diver. I have no idea why the seller has the workd ‘Heuer’ in the title other than clickbait. The steel skindiver style case measures 37.5mm wide and looks unpolished but does exhibit light w...

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[VIDEO] Chopard Grants Alpine Eagle L.U.C Movement In New 41XPS Worn & Wound
Chopard Grants Alpine Eagle L.U.C Mar 29, 2023

[VIDEO] Chopard Grants Alpine Eagle L.U.C Movement In New 41XPS

Chopard expanded their Alpine Eagle collection in big ways this year, with the introduction of the new high-beat Cadence that gets a full titanium case and bracelet, and they’ve finally given the watch one of their lovely L.U.C calibers. This is the new Alpine Eagle 41XPS featuring the 96.40-L micro-rotor movement. It’s extra thin and extra beautiful as a result, mated to a salmon dial with no date, and a subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock. This isn’t the only new watch to receive this movement, as it can also be found in the stunning L.U.C 1860, which feels a more natural habitat for such a movement, leaving the jump to the Alpine Eagle collection all the more welcome.  The Alpine Eagle 41XPS is, as you might have guessed, built in the 41mm case using Chopard’s Lucent Steel A223, an alloy that incorporates a high amount of recycled steel, and is smelted multiple times for increased hardness and brightness. It’s quite lovely in person, though I don’t know I’d be able to place it as something different without that knowledge beforehand. It’s worth noting the Chopard is working to transition more of their steel watches to Lucent steel in the coming years. The 41XPS uses the L.U.C 96.40-L caliber, which itself is a shade over 3mm in thickness allowing for an exceptionally thin case. It’s COSC certified and quite a looker through the exhibition caseback. Its placement within the Alpine Eagle collection pushes this steel watch into a different price realm, at ...

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Rolex Reveals New Formal Collection With 1908 Worn & Wound
Rolex Reveals New Formal Collection Mar 28, 2023

Rolex Reveals New Formal Collection With 1908

Among the bevy of new Rolex watches released this year were a few unexpected watches, which isn’t a phrase we often mutter about the brand. We saw some unusually colorful dials (more on those later), and the launch of an entirely new formal collection called the Perpetual 1908, a reference to the brand’s name coinage by Wans Wilsdorf. With its introduction, the existing Cellini line has come to a close. The 1908 lives within the ‘classic’ range alongside the likes of the Oyster Perpetual and Sky-Dweller, but feels distinctly different from any existing line. Coming from a brand that’s been at the center of the sport watch craze over the past decade, the 1908 feels like a breath of fresh air. The Perpetual 1908 is a three hand time only watch offered only in 18k white or yellow gold. The trim case measures 39mm in diameter with a divided, partially fluted bezel framing the austere dial. Within resides the Rolex automatic caliber 7140, which gets a healthy amount of decoration worthy of being presented through an exhibition caseback. This is a new move from Rolex this year, appearing on both this watch, and the 60th anniversary platinum Daytona. The bridges of the 7140 receive a finish that the brand is calling “Rolex Côtes de Genève”, a re-interpretation of the classic technique seen often in Swiss movements. It differs from traditional Côtes de Genève in that it places a narrow polished groove between each of the parallel bands. Being a Rolex, there’s a...

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Grand Seiko Introduces the Tentagraph SLGC001 SJX Watches
Grand Seiko Introduces Mar 27, 2023

Grand Seiko Introduces the Tentagraph SLGC001

Grand Seiko made a big splash at last year’s Watches & Wonders with the launch of the Kodo Constant-Force Tourbillon, the brand’s first complicated mechanical wristwatch. For 2023, the brand is back with another first-time complication that will likely be one of the most talked-about watches of the show, the Grand Seiko Tentagraph SLGC001. The first purely mechanical Grand Seiko chronograph ever, the Tentagraph is a high-spec sports chronograph that fills a hole in the Grand Seiko portfolio. “Tentagraph” is a portmanteau of the four key features of the watch: TEN beats per second, Three-day power reserve, Automatic winding, and of course, the chronoGRAPH. Initial thoughts The Tentagraph is an important watch for Grand Seiko that enables the brand to stand toe to toe with Rolex, Omega, Zenith, Breitling, and other stalwarts in the popular category of mechanical sports chronograph. Not only is the category a hitherto untapped commercial opportunity for Grand Seiko, it is an opportunity for the brand to demonstrate its technical know-how and ambition. In this context, I would have expected the brand to release an integrated chronograph movement, perhaps based on the 6S movement family. But Grand Seiko has chosen to build a modular chronograph calibre based on the 9SA5, the flagship Grand Seiko automatic movement introduced in 2020, signalling the brand’s commitment to the calibre and its proprietary Dual Impulse Escapement. My colleague Richard Lee notes that the 9S...

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Atelier de Chronométrie Debuts their First In-House Movement with the New AdC22 Worn & Wound
Feb 15, 2023

Atelier de Chronométrie Debuts their First In-House Movement with the New AdC22

Last month, Atelier de Chronometrie, the Spanish independent brand led by one time vintage watch dealer Santiago Martinez, began teasing something that could only be described as unexpected: a new movement. Atelier de Chronometrie had, in a very short period of time, built a name for themselves almost entirely on the basis of expertly restoring and luxuriously finishing classic vintage movements, and using them in thoughtfully designed watches inspired primarily by timepieces of the 1930s and 40s. The brand offers a high level of customization, with clients able to dial in little details as they see fit, effectively making each watch coming out of the atelier a piece unique, or very close to it. This was a niche that didn’t really exist before Atelier de Chronometrie, at least at the very high end, and they’ve absolutely owned it. Now, with the release of the AdC22 less than a month after that initial social media tease, a new caliber bearing the brand’s name has opened up all kinds of new possibilities for Atelier de Chronometrie’s future.  The new movement, dubbed the M284 and described as “in-house” by the brand, was developed in partnership with independent watchmaker Luca Soprana. The caliber has been designed to resemble classic hand wound calibers from the 1940s, both in appearance and function. The construction, featuring small bridges for the going train, a large plate with hand applied côtes de Genève, and an exposed balance beating at a vintage ap...

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Vacheron Constantin Welcomes Panda Dial Chronograph to Overseas Collection Worn & Wound
Vacheron Constantin Welcomes Panda Dial Chronograph Feb 7, 2023

Vacheron Constantin Welcomes Panda Dial Chronograph to Overseas Collection

The small world of high-end steel chronographs gets a little bigger today with the introduction of a new Overseas Chronograph reference from Vacheron Constantin featuring a ‘Panda’ dial colorway. The Overseas Chronograph has seen a range of colorways over the years, including a reverse panda that currently exists in the collection, but never a white/silver base dial with contrasting black sub-dials. As this colorway is known to do on already handsome watches (and even some not so handsome watches), it looks pretty damn good. As presented here, we’re left with what might be the cleanest manifestation of the Overseas Chronograph design to date.  The Overseas collection was first launched in 1996 (though it is the spiritual successor to the 222 first introduced in the mid ‘70s), and the Overseas Chronograph has seen a variety of executions in that time. In 2016, the watch welcomed the in-house caliber 5200 which moved the distinctive dual-aperture date complication to a single aperture at 4:30. It also gained a couple of millimeters in the process, going from 40mm to 42.5mm in diameter, and to 13.7mm in thickness. That said, it’s still a pretty nice watch on the wrist, as the case tapers under the bezel, and it’s a pretty flat profile along the bottom, so while it’s not wearing quite as trim as something like a Daytona (the 4130 caliber shares the same dimensions as the 5200 btw), it’s indeed more comfortable than you might expect. The real star of the show h...

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Zenith Adds a Smaller 36mm Defy Skyline to the Collection in a Range of Colors (Diamonds Optional) Worn & Wound
Zenith Adds Jan 20, 2023

Zenith Adds a Smaller 36mm Defy Skyline to the Collection in a Range of Colors (Diamonds Optional)

Most of the attention focused on Zenith following their LVMH Watch Week releases has been focused on the new skeleton dial version of the Defy Skyline and a raiding of the archives in the form of a red dialed Defy. But it’s another new addition to the larger Defy camp that might prove to be the biggest hit with the widest possible audience: the Defy Skyline 36mm. This smaller and more compact Defy is decidedly unisex, and offers a classic case size with the Skyline’s more contemporary styling in a range of color options. It also forgoes the high frequency El Primero caliber found in the larger Skyline in favor of a thinner Elite series movement, a decision that proves to offer a range of benefits.  The pitch for this watch is actually very simple. A smaller Skyline for a broader array of wrists, simplified. The 36mm stainless steel case features the same highly angular case construction and shares the same profile as the larger Skyline, and borrows a dial design from last year’s watch as well. The four-pointed star motif can be had in blue (the same blue as last year’s 41mm model) or pastel shades of green and pink. The dials have a metallic finish that is satin brushed, giving them a subtle sense of texture and a bit of deeper complexity. If you’d like, you can choose to have the 12 sided bezel set with diamonds. A little less under the radar, perhaps, but we support brands giving customers options.  Besides the size, the key differentiator between these watch...

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INTRODUCING: The Yema Wristmaster Traveller Micro-Rotor is a charming take on the integrated bracelet sports watch Time+Tide
Yema Nov 15, 2022

INTRODUCING: The Yema Wristmaster Traveller Micro-Rotor is a charming take on the integrated bracelet sports watch

One of the things that sets Yema apart from their competitors, whether you ever considered them a microbrand or not, was that they had their own affordable in-house movement. The YEMA2000 was definitely an improvement upon the off-the-shelf calibers from ETA or Sellita that we would expect to see, however its use was more of … ContinuedThe post INTRODUCING: The Yema Wristmaster Traveller Micro-Rotor is a charming take on the integrated bracelet sports watch appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

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Rolex Explorer Guide Teddy Baldassarre
Rolex Aug 23, 2022

Rolex Explorer Guide

The Rolex Explorer is in many ways the quintessential dressy tool watch from Rolex’s Oyster Perpetual collection - less flashy than the GMT-Master, less bulky than the Submariner, while still rooted, like those two models, in a history of adventure and discovery. While it has changed very little since the 1950s, today’s Rolex Explorer is the culmination of many decades of aesthetic and technical evolution, guided by a watchmaker for whom the subtlest details make all the difference in the world to its avid legions of fans. Underpinning the Explorer: Oyster Case and Perpetual Caliber The Rolex Explorer, like all Oyster Perpetual timepieces in Rolex’s Professional collection, is an expression of two technical milestones that Rolex and its visionary founder Hans Wisdorf contributed to watchmaking history. The first is the so-called Oyster case, developed in 1926, which revolutionized the construction of watch cases with its dustproof, waterproof, hermetically sealed structure, secured by a threaded caseback and a crown that screwed tightly into the case. In 1931, Rolex made history again with the creation of its first “Perpetual” movement (below), whose self-winding mechanism was driven by an oscillating rotor. The marriage of these two inventions gave rise to the “Oyster Perpetual” line of timepieces that remain at the heart of Rolex’s collection today, beginning with the Datejust in 1945 and coming to full fruition with the tool-oriented, yet still luxuri...

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Zodiac Watches: A Comprehensive History and Guide to the Modern Collec Teddy Baldassarre
Zodiac Aug 3, 2022

Zodiac Watches: A Comprehensive History and Guide to the Modern Collec

If you’ve only recently discovered Zodiac watches - a strong likelihood, as its most well-known and popular model, the Super Sea Wolf, has only been back on the market since 2015 - you may be surprised to learn that Zodiac traces its watchmaking history all the way back to 1882, and that it launched the first Sea Wolf dive watch back in 1953, placing it in the same historical company as other pioneering dive watches debuting in that seminal year, like the much more heralded Rolex Submariner and Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. Today the most prestigious and historical watch brand within the huge, Texas-based Fossil Group, Zodiac continues its longstanding tradition of offering distinctively styled Swiss Made watches at accessible prices, with some of the most popular models reviving its milestone designs from the mid-20th Century. THE BEGINNINGS Second-generation watchmaker Ariste Calame founded the workshop that would grow into the Zodiac watch company in 1882 in Le Locle, in Switzerand’s Jura Mountains. The first timepieces Calame made there were originally branded under his own name. In 1895, the founder’s son Louis Ariste Calame, who had also trained as a watchmaker, took over the business at the age of 20 and registered the name “Zodiac” in 1908, applying it to the innovative flat pocket watches, called Zodiac Triumph, which the company began producing in 1924, equipped with the in-house Caliber 1617 (below, via Watchuseek). In the wake of World War I, however, ...

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Breitling Introduces Navitimer Cosmonaute B02 Limited Edition SJX Watches
Breitling Introduces Navitimer Cosmonaute B02 May 24, 2022

Breitling Introduces Navitimer Cosmonaute B02 Limited Edition

One of the watches synonymous with the pioneer era of spaceflight is the Breitling Cosmonaute, which was worn by Scott Carpenter on the 1962 Mercury-Atlas 7 mission, making him the second American to orbit the Earth and the Cosmonaute the first Swiss-made wristwatch to make it into space. The Cosmonaute has been part of the Breitling catalogue in various forms in the decades since, but now for the 60th anniversary of Carpenter’s journey to space on board the Aurora 7 spacecraft, Breitling has unveiled a remake, the Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Limited Edition. The 362-piece edition is faithful to the original in terms of design, but upgraded with the in-house Caliber B02 and a bit of luxe in the form of a platinum bezel. A page from the 1964 Breitling catalogue showing the Navitimer-Cosmonaute ref. 809, the same model worn by Carpenter in space Initial thoughts I’ve always liked the distinctive aesthetic of the Navitimer – it is actually an aviation instrument – and the Cosmonaute is essentially a more complex version of the same thing, making it even more of an instrument. Granted all of that functionality has very limited use in the modern world, but it is still an appealing watch that possesses significant history. That in turn makes the Cosmonaute remake an appealing watch, especially since Breitling did a good job reproducing the original. The diameter remains the same but the modern-day version is necessarily thicker due to the in-house B02 movemen...

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Winners – 2021 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève SJX Watches
Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem Nov 5, 2021

Winners – 2021 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève

The award ceremony of 2021 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) just kicked off the biggest week in Geneva’s horological calendar. Widely regarded as the all-encompassing awards of watchmaking, the GPHG is made up of fourteen prizes for individual categories, plus a special prize for the watch of there year. And here are the year’s winners. Aiguille d’Or Grand Recognised for its aesthetic and technical qualities – it is the thinnest perpetual calendar wristwatch ever – the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar took home the top prize of the event. Audacity The winner certainly lives up to the name of the prize. The Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem is over the top but finely decorated in an artisanal manner, with an impressive movement that combines an automaton and minute repeater. Innovation Deserving of its prize, the Bernhard Lederer Central Impulse Chronometer is one of the most technically impressive watches of 2021. And that’s because it’s kitted out with a double-wheel escapement powered by twin going trains, each equipped with a remontoir d’egalité constant force mechanism. Men’s Watch Grand Seiko’s Elegance SLGH005 “White Birch” is equipped with an impressive, latest-generation calibre, the cal. 9SA5. It was a worthy winner, though it has to be said that the competition was not especially strong this year. Launched last year for Grand Seiko’s 60th anniversary, the cal. 9SA5 is the brand’s highest-end mechanical movement ...

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EVENT: 5 rare high-complication watches from Jaeger-LeCoultre in a stunning vineyard setting Time+Tide
Jaeger-LeCoultre Mar 10, 2021

EVENT: 5 rare high-complication watches from Jaeger-LeCoultre in a stunning vineyard setting

Jaeger-LeCoultre are known as the watchmaker’s watchmaker with good reason. Over their nearly 190-year history, the brand has produced movements used by most major Swiss watch brands with more than 1000 calibers developed over that time. And while 2021 is all about the Reverso as the brand celebrates the 90th anniversary of the famous design, … ContinuedThe post EVENT: 5 rare high-complication watches from Jaeger-LeCoultre in a stunning vineyard setting appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

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Breitling Introduces the Chronomat Red Arrows SJX Watches
Breitling Introduces Mar 3, 2021

Breitling Introduces the Chronomat Red Arrows

Best known for its pilot’s watches, Breitling has long enjoyed relationships with airforces across the world, including the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force (RAF), especially its fabled aerobatic team, the Red Arrows. Continuing a partnership that is three decades old, Breitling has just announced the Chronomat Red Arrows Limited Edition. This is the latest in several Red Arrows editions that began in the 1990s, but the first that’s based on the latest-generation Chronomat, which also means it’s the first with an in-house movement, the Caliber 01. Not as revered by enthusiasts as the Navitimer with its distinctive slide-rule bezel, the Chronomat is nonetheless underrated. Introduced in 1984 to mark Breitling’s 100th anniversary, the modern-day Chronomat was a return to form for the brand, being a bold, brand-new design equipped with a mechanical movement, specifically the Valjoux 7750. Made even more distinctive with its Rouleaux bracelet made up of baton links, the Chronomat quickly became a bestseller that defined Breitling in the 1990s. Initial thoughts Given that fact that perhaps the best known Breitling-Red Arrows watch was a 1995 Chronomat with a red dial, the new edition makes perfect sense. That said, the Red Arrows watch is essentially the same as the standard Chronomat with a blue dial, but with the Red Arrows logo at 12 o’clock. Having more Red Arrows-specific elements incorporated to the design would have made it more distinctive, but since this ...

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Grand Seiko Debuts the GMT “Seasons” Collection SJX Watches
Grand Seiko Debuts Mar 3, 2021

Grand Seiko Debuts the GMT “Seasons” Collection

A simple but bestselling complication for Grand Seiko, the dual-time zone GMT received a makeover for Seiko’s 140th anniversary. The result is a quartet of GMT watches that evoke the changing landscapes in Japan as the seasons change. Made up of both Hi-Beat and Spring Drive models, the Grand Seiko Elegance GMT “Seasons” all share the same classically-styled case that has been associated with the GMT since the very first model. Each of the four watches is inspired by specific phases of each season. In East Asian cultures, each of the four seasons is further divided into six phases – known as 節気, or sekki, in Japan – to capture the subtle changes within a season. Each of the new GMT models is inspired by a sekki from each season. Consequently, the watches are each distinct in colours and finish, having inspiration as varied as green-cherry trees to the dark, moonlit sky. The GMT “Shunbun” SBGJ251 Initial thoughts The quartet exemplifies the style of modern-day Grand Seiko, especially in the splendid dials that translate the local landscape into intricate stamped patterns. And the cases are elegantly shaped but solid, and finished with Zaratsu flat polishing that is synonymous with Grand Seiko. Because all four watches are powered by longstanding movements – instead of the latest-generation 9SA5 that costs a lot more – the prices are all in line with existing models, US$6,300 for the Spring Drive GMT and US$7,100 for Hi-Beat automatics. Though ...

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Insight: Marco Lang Introduces the Zweigesicht-1 SJX Watches
Dec 22, 2020

Insight: Marco Lang Introduces the Zweigesicht-1

Marco Lang is now an independent watchmaker in the literal sense, having left Lang & Heyne last year. He’s set up a one-man workshop in his hometown of Dresden, and has just announced the first watch of his newly-established eponymous brand – Marco Lang Mr Lang’s first creation is the Zweigesicht-1, a highly-finished, time-only wristwatch with a few novel twists. Zwei gesicht is a literal description of the watch, translating as “two face” – the watch has the time display on both sides, with easily removable lugs that allow it to be worn on either side. The Zweigesicht-1 worn movement side up Initial thoughts As a watchmaker known for a devotion to old-school quality, Mr Lang’s second act promised to be noteworthy. The Zweigesicht-1 appears to live up to expectations, being a simple watch executed in an elaborate manner and finished by hand to a high standard. Harsh sounding to non-German speakers, the Zweigesicht-1 is ironically intricately constructed and finished. But unlike his earlier work that was modelled on pocket watch movements, the Caliber ml-01 looks modern and original, while still incorporating finely-shaped components as well as gears made of solid, 14k gold. The contrast of the steel bridges against the rose gold-plated base plate is jarring – especially with the aggressively pointed bridges with border outlines – but there’s not mistaking the quality, even in images, because Mr Lang knows what he’s doing. The chapter ring for the ...

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