A few weeks ago Seiko announced a pair of limited edition watches for the 100th anniversary of the first Seiko wristwatch, the Laurel. These Presage limited editions have fired enamel dials in white with a red XII, in a nod to the 1913 Laurel wristwatch. Think of this as a Credor Eichi on a budget.

Seiko Presage limited edition with the Laurel of 1913

The first model is the SARW005 with power reserve, and date indicator at six o’clock, using the 6R27 movement. This will retail for JPY105,000 with tax (about USD1230).

Seiko Presage SARW005

The other is the SARX011, a simple time-only automatic with date. Inside is the 6R15 movement. The retail price will be JPY84,000 (which is USD985).

Seiko Presage SARX011

Both are limited to 500 pieces, and have 40.5 mm steel cases with display backs. The SARW005 with power reserve is 13.3 mm high, while the SARX011 is 12.9 mm. For an enamel dial, mechanical wristwatch, these represent tremendous value. The date of release in Japan is January 12, 2013. – SJX

The most notable of the SIHH 2013 watches previewed by Cartier so far is without a doubt the Ballon Bleu de Cartier Tourbillon Double Jumping Time Zones. As the name implies, this is a flying tourbillon with twin, jump hour time zones.

Ballon Bleu de Cartier Tourbillon Double Jumping Time Zones in rose gold

Laid out in a regulator format, the dial is skeletonised, revealing the double jump hour mechanisms of racks, snails and springs.

The calibre has the Geneva Seal and is finished appropriately. All of the wonderful anglage and perlage on the dial side is visible.

The double jump hour module was added to the flying tourbillon movement (based on a Roger Dubuis calibre). Because of the thickness of the jump hour module, the tourbillon had to be raised by several millimetres in order to bring it level with the dial. Over on the back, however, the base movement looks inappropriately small inside the 46 mm case.

The second time zone is advanced by the pusher at ten o’clock. One shortcoming of this as a travel watch is the lack of a day and night indicator for the home time. According to Carole Forestier, the decision to leave out the day and night display was to leave the dial free of clutter, so as to reveal as much of the mechanism as possible. Though that comes at the expense of practicality, the movement is indeed beautiful. This is limited to 50 pieces each in pink and white gold, with an expected retail price of about EUR90,000 and EUR96,300 respectively. A discussion on this watch can be seen on the Cartier forum. I moderate. – SJX

An addition to Cartier’s Fine Watchmaking range for SIHH 2013 is the Rotonde de Cartier Perpetual Calendar Chronograph. Using the 1904CH MC in-house movement with the addition of a perpetual calendar module, the new Rotonde fills a niche that was empty till now.

Rotonde de Cartier Perpetual Calendar Chronograph in white gold

The case diameter is 42 mm. Two metals are available, white gold with a classic silver dial (about EUR53,500) or rose gold with a chocolate dial (about EUR50,000).

Notably the movement finishing has been improved compared to earlier iterations of the 1904 MC movement used in the Fine Watchmaking line. The calibre now sports a monochromatic, sunray brushed finish on the bridges, along with prominent polished and bevelled edges. – SJX

Calibre 9422 MC

Next year Cartier will finally take the covers off the Calibre de Cartier Chronograph, the new entry level, in-house chronograph for Cartier, equipped with the new 1904CH MC automatic movement.

The Calibre de Cartier Chronograph is the brand’s first in-house chronograph in the entry level price segment. In contrast to its predecessors like the Santos 100 which used ETA calibres, the Calibre de Cartier Chronograph utilises the 1904CH MC movement. Equipped with two counters, for minutes and hours – a constant seconds was omitted for aesthetic reasons – the Calibre de Cartier chronograph uses the column wheel controlled 1904CH MC movement, which is based on the 1904 MC movement of the Calibre de Cartier automatic. 

The 1904CH MC movement has several notable features that are increasingly standard for mid to high-end chronographs today: column wheel, vertical clutch and single reset hammer. Additionally, it also has double barrels as well as unidirectional, “magic lever” winding.

The vertical clutch specifically ensures that the torque delivered to the escapement is constant, regardless of whether the chronograph is activated; that means there is no “chronograph drag” assocated with lateral coupling chronographs which causes amplitude to drop. Another interesting notable feature, that is now commonly found in mid to high-end chronographs, is the linear reset hammer. This gives a precise reset for all the chronograph subdials, since there is a single reset hammer for all the chronograph hands. In addition, the linear hammer is flexible – note the springs that are part of the hammer – which reduces wear. In terms of aesthetics, one key element is the minute scale engraved on the inner rim of the bezel. This gives the watch as a whole a much cleaner look, as compared to have it on the dial.

As with the original Calibre de Cartier Automatic and Cartier watches in general, the case finishing is excellent and amongst the best relative to its peers. The lugs for instance have a wide and precisely polished bevel.

With a retail price starting at €7400 for the steel model on leather strap, the Calibre de Cartier chronograph is a competitive entrant into the sporty, in-house chronograph segment which is the stronghold of brands like Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, and even Omega and Rolex. The steel and gold on bracelet pictured above will sell for about €11,000.

Next year at SIHH, Cartier will unveil its iconic Crash with a tear drop-link bracelet. Previously only available with a strap, the new Crash will be available in two guises. Either with a diamond set bezel (150 diamonds totalling 2.15 carats), or with diamonds on the bezel as well as bracelet (471 diamonds totalling 4.27 carats).

Both versions will be available in white or pink gold. In each metal, the diamond set bezel Crash is limited to 267 pieces and the fully set Crash is limited to 67 pieces. The case measures 38.45 mm by 25.5 mm, and inside is a small, manual-wind calibre, likely from Frederic Piguet. As for the origins of the Crash, the watch was first presented in 1967 by Cartier London (back then, each of the Cartier offices in London, Paris and New York were all separate entities).

According to legend, a Cartier watch, likely a Maxi Ovale or Baignoire, was damaged in a car accident and returned to Cartier for repair. The head of Cartier London at the time, Jean-Jacques Cartier, was so enamoured with the crashed wristwatch that he created the Crash. Currently the Crash is only available as a special order timepiece on a limited basis, so this limited edition is good news for those seeking one. – SJX

Cartier Crash with full diamond setting

Cartier Crash with diamond bezel

Blancier is a small brand that sells watches assembled from off the shelf parts that come from Asian suppliers. There are countless other outfits doing the same online. Their latest product, however, is unusual – the dial is a flattened Nespresso capsule.

Because the capsule is brightly coloured, anodised aluminium, the effect is quite attractive. Various dial colours are available, and each watch is packaged with additional capsules. The case is steel and 42 mm, with a manual wind movement. They start at USD650 and are available online. – SJX

IWC has just announced a new variant of its Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar. This has a red gold case with a matching gold dial. The specs are identical to the regular Big Pilot perpetual calendar: 46.2 mm diameter and 15.8 mm height.

IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Boutique Edition

There are already way too many Big Pilot limited editions in a multitude of combinations and colours, but this version looks exceptionally striking, albeit ostentatious.  It is only available at IWC boutiques. – SJX

At 9.4 mm high, this is the thinnest minute repeater today.  Also, the cushion-shaped case is also water-resistant to 30 m, which is unusual for a minute repeater with a slide. This is the second striking watch from Piaget, the first being a grande et petite sonnerie developed by FP Journe for Piaget in the nineties.

Inside is the in-house 1290P calibre, which stands at only 4.8 mm high – that is remarkably slim. Built on the 1200P ultra thin movement, the minute repeater movement is a micro-rotor automatic, with a 40 hour power reserve. Its thinness means many of the components are miniscule; some wheels, for instance, are just 0.12 mm high, while a human hair measures 0.08 mm. This makes assembly much more challenging. One consequence of the ultra-thin construction is the downward action of the repeater slide, in contrast to the conventional upward slide.

The repeater chimes in the fifth octave, at G sharp for the hours, and the minutes at A sharp. The loudness of the striking is 64 decibels, which is very audible and similar to the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Minute Repeater and last year’s Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon. Though the watch I saw and heard was a prototype, it still sounded good, and I expect the final product to score high marks. Though the case is large at 48 mm, as much material as possible was removed to maximise resonance and sound transmission. To that end, the movement is secured to the case at four points, while the gong mount is screwed to the movement as well as the case.

Because the watch has a sapphire dial, all the workings of the repeater are visible. Everything is finished to a high standard; though it has to be remembered Piaget movement finishing in general is excellent.

I have always liked the Emperador Coussin case, even with a large diameter like this it remains elegant. When paired with ultra-thin movements as is the case for Piaget, the cushion shape sits very well on the wrist.

The Emperador Coussin repeater is a limited edition of 10 pieces in rose gold, with an estimated retail price of approximately CHF250,000, or about USD270,000. And to close with some interesting historical trivia: this is not the thinnest minute repeating wristwatch ever. That record is held by the self-winding Gerald Genta minute repeater movement from sometime in the eighties that was just 2.72 mm high; around the peak of the craze for ultra-thin movements which mimicking the slimness of quartz that started in the seventies.  But that thinness came at the price of poor reliability and exceptionally delicate mechanics. Given today’s technology and Richemont’s highly developed industrial processes, I expect this Piaget will work robustly. – SJX

For 2013 Montblanc has another addition to the successful Nicolas Rieussec line of chronographs. The Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours with the MB R220 calibre features a novel day and night indicator at 12 o’clock.

Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours

In the aperture at noon is the wandering hours, but what makes this unusual is the integrated day and night display. The hours is comprised of two discs, the top one with the hour numerals cut out, and a lower disc that is shaded half in black and the other half in light blue. As the day passes, the disc below will rotate, so that the hour numerals will appear either as blue or white, depending on the time of day. At six o’clock each day, both in morning and night, the six numeral will show exactly half in each colour.

This is accomplished with a day and night disc that rotates at a varying rate throughout the day, thanks to a Maltese cross mechanism with twin cams. So from nine to three (and vice versa), the disc is not engaged. But after three the disc engages and turns at an increasing speed, until 4:30 when it rotates at the same rate as the hour disc above. And after 7:30 the disc declerates, until nine when it disc engages and stops. Variations on this mechanism has been used in other watches, most notably for the Urwerk 103 and AP Starwheel. Pictured here in rose gold, this will also be available in platinum as well as steel, with the platinum version limited to 28 pieces. – SJX

Jackie Chan, as well as four of his co-stars, will sport the Urwerk 202 AlTiN in his upcoming film, CZ12, or Chinese Zodiac. The 202 is of course the predecessor of the recently unveiled UR-210. Here are photos of Mr Chan with the 202, taken during the Beijing launch of the film. – SJX