Glashütte Original introduces an all encompassing travel watch with the Senator Cosmopolite, covering 37 time zones and accounting for daylight saving time, packaged in a 44 mm gold case with a classically styled dial.

Three years ago Glashütte Original introduced the Grande Cosmopolite Tourbillon, a €325,000 travel watch with a tourbillon, perpetual calendar and dual time zone. Now the first two complications have been removed to create the Senator Cosmopolite, a dual time zone watch that covers all of the world’s 37 time zones and even accounts for summer time, and is also much more affordable. The Senator Cosmopolite displays local time on the main hands, while home time is shown on the sub-dial at 12 o’clock. A day and night indicator at nine o’clock is synced with home time.

Two windows at eight o’clock show time zones denoted by IATA airport codes, for instance MEX refers to Mexico City International Airport, while JFK means John F. Kennedy airport in New York City. The upper window is for daylight savings time, and the lower one is for standard time. So the display below shows the time in Mexico City during when summer time is in effect, and the time in New York City.

To allow easy distinction between standard one hour offset time zones and all the others, the time zone city codes are in black text for the standard 24 time zones in the world. For the 10 time zones offset by 30 minutes they are in blue. And for the last three time zones offset by 15 or 45 minutes, the IATA code is in red. 

Local time is set via the crown at four o’clock. Turning it counter-clockwise turns the hands backwards, for a traveller going West. For a traveller going in the other direction the setting is reversed. The big date moves backwards or forwards together with the local time display. The dial also has a big date display at four o’clock, along with a power reserve display integrated into the home time sub-dial. A new calibre 89-02 was developed for this movement, building on the mechanism developed for the Grande Cosmopolite Tourbillon. Self-winding with a three day power reserve, the movement comprises 430 parts, more than a conventional chronograph or perpetual calendar. It’s constructed in typical Glashütte style with a three quarter plate and engraved balance cock. The rotor is rimmed with a 21 ct. gold weight.

The case measures is 44 mm in diameter, and is only available in gold. In white gold it costs €38,000 or 70,200 Singapore dollars. And in red gold the price is €36,500 or 67,400 Singapore dollars. There is no steel model available yet.

A self-taught clockmaker who specialises in complex, sculptural skeleton clocks, Miki Eleta hails from Bosnia but has lived in Switzerland since 1973.

Now based in Zurich, Eleta teamed up with independent watchmaker Marc Jenni to realise the Timeburner a hand-wound wristwatch with piston minutes display.

The Timeburner is inspired by the pistons inside the cylinders of a reciprocating internal combustion engine, an automotive theme that is reminiscent of the Urwerk and MB&F Nitroglycerin colloration.

An aluminium piston moves the minute display, which travels on a linear track, showing the minutes as they pass. It travels inwards towards the 30 minute mark, then reverses and moves outwards towards the top of the hour. Hours are shown in the window at six o’clock on a disc that turns continuously (it is not a jump hour mechanism).

Fellow AHCI member Marc Jenni collaborated with Eleta to make the movement, which is based on the Unitas 6497-1, a robust hand-wound movement originally designed for pocket watches. A large mainspring makes it useful for complications that require significant torque, like a piston indicator.

The Timeburner has a 48 mm wide case, with the minute display accounting for nearly half that diameter. It’s made of steel with the bezel and crown in untreated bronze that will develop a patina.

Three models are available, the Silverlight ME1 in polished and bead blasted steel, the Chrome-Rider ME2 with a partially black coated case, and the All-Black ME3 that is self-explanatory.

Each version of the Timeburner is limited to 99 pieces and priced at 12,673 Swiss francs. It’s available from Eleta Timepieces.

Update 2 April 2015: Miki Eleta has revised the price of the Timeburner downwards to 7750 Swiss francs, paradoxically due to strong demand for the watch.

Eleta explains that allows him to buy components in larger quantities at lower prices, hence the new lower price. All buyers who paid the higher, initial price will receive a refund of the difference.

Deck watches were precision pocket watches with concise, functional dials used on deck (marine chronometers were too bulky and fragile to be moved) for astronomical observation and navigation, hence the name. The Glashütte Original Senator Observer is modelled on such deck watches, with a dial layout just like a deck watch, with an oversized date display that’s a concession to modernity and convenience.

This is a variation on the current Senator Observer models, all of which are based on deck watches, with seconds at nine o’clock and a power reserve at three. Unlike the current models that feature printed, non-luminous Arabic numerals in a sans serif font, the new Senator Observer has large, retro-style numerals.

All the hands (which are made of white gold) as well as the markings on the dial are painted with Super-Luminova, so the entire dial, including the sub-dials, are readable in the dark.

The Senator Observer is equipped with the calibre 100-04, an automatic with a 55 hour power reserve and the brand’s trademark big date display. Like all of Glashütte Original’s movement it is in-house (a consequence of the town’s turbulent history). It’s constructed in the typical Glashütte style with a three-quarter plate and jewels in chatons. And the rotor has a 21 ct. gold weight along with the double-G logo of the brand.

The case is steel and 44 mm in diameter, with the option of a calfskin strap or steel bracelet. The Senator Observer is priced at €9900 or 18,300 Singapore dollars.

At Baselworld 2015, Seiko unveils the Prospex Kinetic GMT as part of its “Land” series of explorer’s watches, equipping it with a hybrid electro-mechanical movement and second time zone function.

Last year Seiko introduced the Prospex Kinetic GMT “Tuna” Diver, an affordable dual time zone diver’s watch. The same movement is used in the newly unveiled Prospex Kinetic GMT intended for mountaineers and explorers, modelled on the top of the line Prospex Landmaster watches Seiko sells only in Japan.

The steel case is 45.6 mm in diameter and fitted with a rotating compass bezel, and a 100 m water resistance rating. Pressing the button at two o’clock shows the power reserve of the movement through the sweep of the second hand. The crystal is Hardlex, Seiko’s proprietary, hardened mineral crystal that is more scratch-resistant than ordinary mineral glass.

Prospex Kinetic GMT ref. SUN049P1

The movement inside is the calibre 5M85 that is wound via an oscillating weight just like a mechanical watch. But instead of winding a spring, the rotor generates electricity that is stored in a capacitor that powers the watch. The movement has a power reserve of six months, and keeps time to +/- 15 seconds a month, a tenth of the variance of a traditional mechanical watch.

From left: Model ref. SUN053, SUN047 and SUN051

Four models in a variety of finishes are available, including one with a green dial that Seiko has used on its other explorer’s watch, the Alpinist. Prices start from €410.

TAG Heuer launches the Carrera Calibre Heuer 01, a reinterpretation of its classic rally chronograph that takes a leaf from the Hublot playbook, executed with a modular and highly customisable construction.

TAG Heuer has oscillated between classic, vintage-style and modern, edgy designs over the last decade, especially with the multiple iterations of the Carrera. Now with LVMH watch chief Jean-Claude Biver in charge, the pendulum has now swung far in the direction of edgy with the Carrera Calibre Heuer 01. It’s the first of a new line of Carrera watches all based on the same modular case that can be customised by playing around with the constituent parts. The Carrera Calibre Heuer 01 takes the place of the short lived Carrera CH 80 chronograph that was launched at Baselworld last year, only to be scrapped almost immediately after. That featured a brand new, in-house movement, which was also abandoned.

Instead, the Calibre Heuer 01 works off the existing calibre 1887 that TAG Heuer has used for several years. The calibre 1887 is derived from the Seiko 6S37 (or TC78) movement, which TAG Heuer acquired a license to manufacture. The key differences between the Heuer 01 and 1887 are mainly aesthetic, the addition of a red-coated column wheel, and redesigned rotor as well as chronograph bridge.

Borrowing from the visual identity of Hublot, the other brand Jean-Claude Biver runs, the Carrera Calibre Heuer 01 has a skeleton dial with an open-worked date mechanism and disc. Like the case the dial can be modified in multiple ways by playing with the indices, hands and calendar mechanism.

And in the same vein, the 45 mm case is made up of 12 components, namely the case band, four lugs, buttons and crown, gaskets as well as bezel and case back. Such modularity means it can be put together in countless ways, with varying colours for each part, just like what Hublot has done with its Big Bang chronograph.

The Carrera Calibre Heuer 01 will cost 7200 Singapore dollars or CHF 4900.

Patek Philippe unveils the new Annual Calendar Chronograph Ref. 5905P in platinum, featuring a four year calendar and 60-minute chronograph in a 42 mm platinum case, larger than the model it replaces.

Last year Patek Philippe discontinued its Annual Calendar Chronograph Ref. 5960 in all precious metals, replacing them with an atypical steel version, the Ref. 5960/1A. The replacement for the precious metal versions has just been introduce at Baselworld, in the form of the Annual Calendar Chronograph Ref. 5905P. The dial of the 5905P features a geometric grid connecting the baton hour markers, along with dauphine hands, giving it a look similar to the annual calendar Ref. 5205.

Mechanically the new 5905P is nearly identical to the model it replaces, except that it is a 60-minute chronograph, meaning it can only record elapsed times of up to an hour. In contrast, the Ref. 5960 had a 12 hour counter, making it useful for the rarely used purpose of recording extremely long times. Despite the change in the chronograph totaliser, the movement inside is largely the same, with the same view through the display back that shows the calibre Caliber CH 28-520 QA 24H. This is fitted with a silicon Spiromax hairspring and has a 55 hour power reserve.

Hour counter aside, the other key difference is the larger case, now 42 mm in diameter with oblong chronograph buttons. That’s significantly larger than the 40.5 mm of the 5960.

The new 5905P is available only in platinum for the moment, with either a glossy black or metallic blue dial. And as is convention for all platinum Patek Philippe watches, the case band is set with a small diamond at six o’clock.

Pricing is nearly identical to the last price of the Ref. 5960P, with the Ref. 5905P carrying a price tag of US$78,200 or 100,400 Singapore dollars.