Originally available only in silver, the Tudor Heritage Advisor alarm watch is now available with a two-tone black dial.

Taking its cues from the 1950s Tudor Advisor alarm wristwatch, the Heritage Advisor was launched at Baselworld 2011. It features an in-house alarm module added to an ETA 2892 base. 

The first Heritage Advisor has a grained silver dial, which gave it an understated and vintage style. This year Tudor has given the Heritage Advisor a dial in different shades of black.

Mechanically the watch remains identical to the silver dial model with the same 42 mm steel and titanium case. This is available with either a steel bracelet or an alligator strap, both versions are packaged with an additional canvas strap as well.

– SJX

Tudor has just announced its second vintage style chronograph, the Heritage Chrono Blue (ref. 70330B). In blue, orange and grey, the new Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue is modelled after the 1973 Tudor “Monte Carlo” chronograph.

The first Tudor Heritage Chronograph launched in 2010 was a huge hit, and it began Tudor’s winning streak with vintage reissues, like last year’s Black Bay diver. This year sees the Heritage Chronograph return in another guise. Like the other Tudor Heritage reissues, the Heritage Chrono Blue is not an exact remake of its vintage predecessor (pictured below left), but it is close enough. 

Based on the “Monte Carlo” chronograph of 1973 with its distinctive blue, orange and grey dial, the Heritage Chrono Blue shares the same 42 mm steel case and bidirectional rotating bezel as the black and orange Heritage Chronograph.

Though the dial looks similar at first glance, the Heritage Chrono Blue is its own watch. The hands, indices and minute track are the most obvious differences; the new Heritage Blue Chrono has bevelled, applied markers filled with SuperLuminova. I daresay the Chrono Blue looks better and more original than the earlier Heritage Chronograph.

Inside is the same ETA 2892 based chronograph movement as before. And the other Tudor Heritage models, the Heritage Chrono Blue is supplied with two strap options: in this case a steel bracelet and a canvas strap.

No pricing yet but the black and orange Heritage Chronograph retails for about US$4000 so expect this to be in the same ballpark. – SJX

Equipped with a power reserve indicator and hack seconds, the Voutilainen V-8R is an evolution of the Vingt-8, with 70 components added to the movement.

The Vingt-8 is Kari Voutilainen’s entry level (if there was such a thing) wristwatch, and the V-8R takes the concept further. It has a hack seconds, as well as a power reserve display. But more notable is the cut-off for the mainspring, which limits the barrel to its optimal torque. Though the movement has a 65 hour power reserve in total, the V-8R runs for just over 48 hours thanks to a Maltese cross on the barrel, which is the period for which the mainspring delivers the most stable torque.

As a result of these additional features, the V-8R has 70 more components than the Vingt-8. The case is 39 mm, available in red or white gold, as well as platinum. This is limited to 25 pieces. – SJX

Kari Voutilainen recently announced a unique version of his 28 with a maki-e dial made by Kitamura Tatsuo.

Kitamura Tatsuo, who signs his work Unryuan, is created this unique Japanese lacquer dial for Voutilainen. Made with gold dust, gold leaf as well as various types of iridescent shell, the dial took several months to complete. Decorated with a contemporary motif, the dial requires many tedious processes to finish, including filling up engraved channels with gold dust, applying tiny bits of shell by hand, as well as lacquering and polishing multiple times. The yellow gold case is 37 mm, and inside is Voutilainen’s own cal. 28 movement. – SJX

Omega has just announced its Baselworld 2013 collection, which as usual includes extensions to all of its lines. Here are some highlights, including the Speedmaster in black ceramic.

Omega Speedmaster in black ceramic “Dark Side of the Moon”

Several new Speedmasters were presented at Baselworld, but the Speedmaster in black ceramic “Dark Side of the Moon” will certainly garner the most attention. This has a 44.25 mm black ceramic case with brushed and polished surfaces, just like the steel version, with a polished black ceramic bezel. The dial is also black ceramic, with white gold hands and indices. Inside is the cal. 9300 with silicon hairspring and co-axial hour and minute counters. And the case back is engraved “Dark Side of the Moon”. The strap is black Cordura fabric with a matching ceramic buckle. The same movement is used in the Speedmaster ’57 Co-Axial Chronograph. Inspired by the original Speedmaster of 1957, this has a 41.5 mm case available in steel, gold and titanium. The titanium model has a white dial with blued steel hands and indices.

Speedmaster ’57 Co-Axial Chronograph in steel

Speedmaster ’57 Co-Axial Chronograph in titanium

Several new Seamaster models were introduced, but the most notable is the Seamaster Aquaterra 15,000 Gauss. Inside is the antimagnetic cal. 8508 which was announced a few months ago, and uses an uncommon approach to ensuring the escapement is magnetism resistant.

Unlike most watches which have soft iron inner cages surrounding the movement, the Seamaster Aquaterra 15,000 Gauss uses non-ferrous alloys for certain movement components, giving it a higher degree of magnetism resistance than its competitors. This also means the movement itself is antimagnetic, so it can be viewed from the sapphire case back. The case steel is 41.5 mm and this is available on strap or bracelet. And the Planet Ocean line has grown to include the Seamaster Planet Ocean 600 m Good Planet. This has a 43.5 mm steel case, and is equipped with a second time zone GMT function.

Part of the proceeds from this will go to the Good Planet Foundation, to help conservation efforts in South-East Asia. Stayed tuned for more Baselworld news. – SJX