A shade of brown with a hint of red, “terra-brown” is similar to umber on the colour chart and is also the colour of the new Lange Saxonia Automatic. Presented for the first time at A. Lange & Söhne‘s new boutique in Tokyo, Japan, the Saxonia Automatic “terra-brown” adds diversity to Lange’s most affordable automatic watch (which is the latest in a series of entry-level timepieces including the Saxonia Thin 37mm and Saxonia Boutique Edition).
As with all Lange dials, the “terra-brown” is a disc of solid silver, finished with a fine grained surface and given a brown coating. All of the hour markers as well as the hands are made of solid gold.
Available in white or rose gold, the case is 38.5mm in diameter, equipped with the calibre L086.1, a self-winding movement with a three day power reserve. Being the brand’s basic automatic movement, the L086.1 is more simply constructed than Lange’s top of the line automatic (found in the Langematik perpetual calendar for instance). So it lacks gold chatons for the jewels and the rotor is gilded rather than solid gold, but still has high-end detailing like a platinum rotor rim, hand-engraved balance cock and blued steel screws.
Pricing and availability
Available from Lange boutiques and retailers, the Saxonia Automatic “terra-brown” is priced at €22,800 including 19 percent tax, or US$25,800.
While much of the watch industry is making smaller watches, out of modesty in straitened times or just following the fashion of the day, Breitling is admirably hewing to its traditional formula of oversized sports watches. While often overbuilt and designed like an invading army, Breitling’s biggest watches do have a certain appeal, exemplified with the newly announced Avenger II Seawolf Blacksteel.
The steel case is 45mm in diameter and 18.4mm high (making it as thick as most chronographs), with the “Blacksteel” moniker derived from its black carbon-based coating (a type of diamond-like carbon or DLC) that is scratch-resistant (Breitling has made a slew of Blacksteel limited editions in years past). Rated to 3000m, or 10,000ft, the case includes a a helium escape valve for the improbable activity of saturation diving.
The dial is a bright yellow, with the rotating bezel sporting Breitling’s trademark rider tabs at the quarters. And the movement inside an the Breitling calibre 17, which is actually a basic but robust ETA 2824 that is chronometer certified.
The Avenger II Seawolf Blacksteel is limited to 1000 pieces with the retail price yet to be revealed. The ordinary stainless steel version of the same watch retails for approximately US$4000, so expect this to cost slightly more.
The 20th wealthiest person in the world according to Forbes magazine, which estimates his net worth to be US$28 billion, Li Ka-Shing is the richest man in Hong Kong. Nicknamed “Superman” locally for his remarkable career, Li’s interests span the globe, ranging from real estate to telecoms.
Publicly known for his modest dress, Li reveals in an interview with Bloomberg that he wears a Citizen Eco-Drive, a solar-powered wristwatch with a black-coated case and bracelet, which he says cost about US$500. Always set a half hour ahead to ensure he is never late, the watch is practical, robust and inexpensive, according to Li.
And the irony: the reporter compares Li’s wristwatch to her own, which is a Audemars Piguet Royal Oak with a diamond bezel that probably costs 30 times as much as Li’s wristwatch.
That being said, one shouldn’t read too much into Li’s wristwatch that he shows publicly. After all, he might have a collection of rare and fine timepieces stashed away somewhere.
Though Hamilton typically makes simple and affordable timepieces, the Jazzmaster Face 2 Face II is anything but. The Face 2 Face II is a lot of watch for the money, both figuratively and literally. While the first instalment of the Face 2 Face was a watch with two standard movements, the Face 2 Face II is equipped with a novel, double-sided movement – and it is also priced more affordably.
Physically the Face 2 Face II is enormous, with the stainless steel case 53mm wide. But because it is oval in shape, the case is not overly long, allowing it to fit even smaller wrists (though the strap is a challenge). Its size is a consequence of the reversible case: an inner case containing the movement is pivoted on the outer case at three and nine o’clock, allowing it to swivel vertically.
The swivelling case is to accommodate the double-faced chronograph. On the front the chronograph is a typical Valjoux 7750 layout, with sub-dials for elapsed minutes and hours as well as constant seconds.
The serial number is engraved on the edge of the inner case
The reverse is where it gets interesting. A central blue seconds hand is mounted on a pinion that shares the same axis as the winding rotor. This seconds hand is connected to the centre seconds in front – a bit of extra gearing was needed to mirror the seconds on the back – and consequently travels anticlockwise when the chronograph is started.
Three scales are printed on the sapphire crystal on the back – telemetric, tachymetric and pulsometric – allow for the measurement of distance, speed and pulse rate respectively. While the double-face chronograph wristwatch is not a new idea, Franck Muller pioneered the idea in the early 1990s (ironically with the same Valjoux 7750 movement), the Face 2 Face II is much more affordable than any other double-face chronograph to date.
The movement inside Face 2 Face II is named the H-41, but it is actually a heavily modified Valjoux 7750 made exclusively for Hamilton by ETA (the largest movement maker in Switzerland that is conveniently Hamilton’s sister company in the Swatch Group). Besides the double-face chronograph display, the H-41 is also distinguished by the extended 60-hour power reserve, a quarter longer the the 48-hours of the stock 7750.
While the finishing of the movement is basic and done by machine, it is attractively done with the bridges ruthenium-plated and finished with circular graining. The good detailing extends to the dial and chapter ring: the open-worked chapter ring on the rear has bevelled edges while the dial is multi-layered with a combination of finishes, frosting, straight graining and azurage (concentric rings on the sub-dials).
The detailing on the case is also appealingly done, with enough alternating brushed and polished finishing to give it a look of quality. The lugs, for instance, are brushed on the top and sides, with a wide, polished bevel separating the two surfaces. Ditto for the chronograph pushers.
Though Face 2 Face II is not as large as its dimensions would imply, it sits awkwardly on smaller wrists because of the stiff strap that integrates into the case. That is its biggest shortcoming, though a change of strap would allow it to wear better on all wrists.
Pricing and availability
Limited to 1999 pieces, the Jazzmaster Face 2 Face II reaches Hamilton retailers in November 2016 and will be priced at SFr3895 or S$5730. That’s about US$3980.
The key feature of the Graham Chronofighter is the enormous lever that starts and stops the chronograph. It is strikingly large, but actually has roots in Second World War timers made for bombardiers (Christie’s sold an example in 2015). Worn on the wrist by crewmen who released bombs from bomber aircraft, this bomb timers were made by the likes of Longines, Zenith and Universal Geneve, and used by both sides in the conflict, with examples from the French, British and Italian air forces known.
Because the bomber crews wore thick gloves, the oversized lever was mounted on the pusher of the bomb timer to make it easier to use. These bomb timers had a seconds hand that could go forwards and backwards, with the counterclockwise function acting as a countdown from release to the bomb striking the target. Graham appropriated the lever for the original Chronofighter that made its debut in 2001. It caused quite a stir – Graham was then a nascent but cool independent brand named after a 17th century English watchmaker – and was widely copied.
But 15 years is a long time and the Chronofighter grew larger and more outrageously styled, becoming comically and desperately large. Fortunately Graham has gone back to the original look for the 15th anniversary with the Chronofighter Vintage. The lever over the chronograph button (the start and stop pusher is co-axial with the crown) is similar to that on the WWII bomb timers, while case is a manageable 44mm (albeit larger than the 43mm of the 2001 original).
Four dial variants of the Chronofighter Vintage are available, all in stainless steel. Though sufficiently legible the dial is still packed with information, including the day and date, as well as sub-dials for the elapsed minutes and constant seconds. Each version is also available as a 15-piece limited edition, numbered on the dial and distinguished by WWII roundels of the British and American air forces on the sub-dial at six o’clock. All versions are powered by the G1747 movement, actually a Valjoux 7750 modified to have a co-axial pusher on the crown.
Pricing and availability
The Graham Chronofighter Vintage retails for US$4950 and is available from authorised retailers.
Japan’s ancient capital, Kyoto was fortunately spared major damage during the Second World War, leaving it intact, pretty and subtle. While Tokyo is an incredible metropolis, it has a distinct and dreary sixties and seventies style about it. Kyoto, on the other hand, is charming.
The characters refer to the 21st year of the Heisei period, or 2009.
A traditional Japanese tea ceremony
Traditional Japanese aesthetics often emphasise simplicity, elegance, with an implication of quality craft. These qualities are especially evident in a city like Kyoto, where traditional manners and objects are preserved and prolific. It is a pleasure to quietly observe the texture of kimono fabric or the surface of a Raku teacup.
A Raku ware teacup
But despite being authentically antique, Kyoto, like the rest of Japan, has enough technology everywhere that it feels like a modern city. Old cities, especially grand and unchanging ones, can sometimes feel stuffy and frozen in time. But not in Japan. Where else in the world can one dine at a three hundred year old restaurant with a robotic toilet seat in the washroom?
The Vacheron connection
Vacheron Constantin recently threw a big party in Japan, attended by photographer Steve McCurry, to launch the Overseas sports watch, which included a stop in Kyoto. Your correspondent was invited along, and have the Overseas World Time on his wrist for a day.
In the world of luxury sports watches – timepieces that are almost too precious to be tossed around – Vacheron Constantin’s entry is the underdog some two decades in the making, but the Overseas is finally what it should be.
Audemars Piguet founded the segment when it introduced the Royal Oak in 1972, and Patek Philippe got on the bandwagon with the Nautilus in 1976. Both were designed by Gerald Genta, the inventive watch designer who enjoyed his zenith in the 1970s. Vacheron Constantin only arrived at the party a year later with the somewhat unenthusiastic 222, designed by Jorg Hysek who later became a star in the 1990s. The 222 evolves into the similarly lukewarm Phidias, before the fit and properly sporty Overseas finally arrived in 1996. At SIHH 2016, a full two decades later, the third generation Overseas was unveiled.
An underdog rises
At a distance the third generation Overseas looks very much like the last one; the bezel is familiar, as is the bracelet. The subtleties of the new Overseas are nuanced, but significant. Like a visit to Kyoto, the new Overseas needs to be observed and tangibly appreciated in order to be understood.
Being the underdog in the luxury sports watch race, Vacheron Constantin needs to run harder, and that extra effort is obvious in the latest Overseas. The efforts were pointed in a practical direction, and are neither flamboyant nor dramatic but satisfying useful.
Take for example the strap attachment of the new Overseas. A spring-loaded catch that’s easily operated with a fingernail instantly releases the bracelet or strap, allowing the wearer to rapidly swap between the two. This is not a novel idea, but it is a very good one, especially considering the competition demands a screwdriver and nimble fingers to exchange straps.
The well thought out utility extends to the steel bracelet, which includes a micro-extension so the bracelet can be pulled to lengthen it between two to four millimetres. Ditto for the folding clasp, which can be swiftly rotated and removed from the rubber strap and mounted on the crocodile band.
The Overseas World Time
Visually the new Overseas takes after its predecessors, with the lineage instantly discernible. The case has a more pronounced tonneau shape than before, which accentuates the 1970s style that gave birth to the original Vacheron Constantin sports watch. But the flanks of the case rise outwards, giving the bezel a larger footprint than the case back.
This is an uncommon design feature that makes the watch seem larger than it is, an understandable goal for a sports watch. While on the smaller Overseas models it works well (the basic, time-only Overseas is 41mm), on the 43.5mm Overseas World Time the case form pushes the limits of practical size.
The finishing of the case is carefully done, with the requisite brushed surfaces meeting mirror-polished bevels along a neat border. But because the Overseas case is marginally simple than those of its two great rivals, the finishing of the case is not as complex.
Unlike most world time watches that have the standard 24 time zones, the Overseas World Time boasts 37 time zones. That is a marginal advantage – most of the extra time zones are rarely visited places like Iran and Afghanistan – that means more cities on the dial, making it slightly less legible.
Fortunately the world map in the centre is easily readable, being combined with a sapphire disc that has one halve tinted to serve as a day and night display. The continents on the map are actually in relief, intricately formed and worth a look up close.
Across the Overseas
The winners in the Overseas line-up are undoubtedly the Ultra-Thins, the time-only and perpetual calendar. Both are gorgeously slim and powered by the refined, sophisticated and challenging calibre 1120. But both also verge on being preposterously expensive; the Ultra-Thin time-only costs just under €50,000, or about US$55,000.
Overseas Ultra-Thin
Overseas Chronograph
Arguably the best proposition is the Overseas Chronograph that costs just under US$29,000 in steel. Big and sporty without being unwieldy, the stopwatch function gives it the look of a sports watch, while the movement is the respectable, in-house calibre 5200.
The third generation Overseas is by far the best. Though it lacks the name recognition of its peers in the luxury sports watch segment, the Overseas can go toe to toe with the competition.
Voutilainen’s signature chronometer wristwatch with an added second time zone feature, the GMT-6 is the base for a one-off timepiece created to benefit Singapore children’s charity Kidz Horizon. Featuring a hand-made champlevé enamel dial, the GMT-6 Kidz Horizon is the only one ever made in titanium.
A collector’s legacy
The unique GMT-6 is the sixth watch in a series donated by the family of the late Duncan Wang. A Chinese-American businessman who passed away in 2009, the late Mr Wang was a prolific watch collector as well as a patron of many charities. Consequently, Mr Wang’s family, who helped found software firm Computer Associates, decided to create a unique wristwatch every year to be sold for charity in his memory.
Having raised over S$600,000, the “Duncan Watches” in past years have been collaborations with some of the world’s most noted watchmakers. Vacheron Constantin created a Chronometre Royal with a striking blue enamel dial in 2013, while the year before Audemars Piguet put together a Royal Oak Skeleton in titanium and cermet.
GMT-6 Kidz Horizon
This year’s Kidz Horizon timepiece is a Voutilainen GMT-6, the second example of such a watch Voutilainen has made for charity; in late 2015 a stainless steel GMT-6 was sold at the Only Watch charity auction in Geneva for SFr145,000.
While Voutilainen watches are typically made of precious metals, the GMT-6 Kidz Horizon is titanium – the only specimen in this alloy.
But unlike conventional titanium watch cases that have a matte finish, the GMT-6 case is mirror-polished. The surface is glossy enough that it could be mistaken for steel, with only the lightness of the case revealing it as titanium.
The dial is elaborately made and decorated. A grey-blue, the outermost section is made of solid silver and engine-turned, while the central portion of the dial is finished with a deep blue vitreous enamel.
This crescent-shaped section is actually a disc of gold, engraved with a barleycorn guilloche, and then enamelled – a technique known as champlevé. A sub-dial at six o’clock indicates the second time zone, with two champlevé enamelled inserts indicating day and night time.
The hands are, well, hand-made, with the main parts in white gold and accented with blued steel rings on the ends and centre. All of the hour markers are white gold.
Inside is Voutilainen’s own calibre 28, a hand-wound movement that’s impeccably constructed and finished. Plated in black gold, the German silver bridges have a frosted finish, while all of the wheels are made of solid rose gold.
Like precision chronometers of old, the calibre 28 has a very large balance wheel, one that is almost half the diameter of the movement. It’s held in place by a long steel bridge with polished, rounded arms, not unlike the bridge on a high-end tourbillon regulator.
Every detail of the movement, big or small, is beautifully executed. The black polish on the ratchet and barrel wheels is gorgeous, as are the polished countersinks for the jewels and screws.
Auction details
The GMT-6 Kidz Horizon carries a retail price of SFr102,000 or S$145,000. It will be sold at the Kidz Horizon dinner on August 20, 2016, at the Ritz-Carlton in Singapore.
All proceeds will go to Kidz Horizon, a charity the funds medical treatment for disadvantaged children.
Casio boasts some of the most advanced electronic watches in the world, with its G-Shock having become something of a cult object. To mark 20 years of the top of the line G-Shock, the MR-G, Casio recruited master metalworker Bihou Asano to create a limited edition that blends high tech electronics and centuries-old artisanal decoration like tsuiki. As cool, high-end gadgets go, this is a winner.
The MR-G 20th Anniversary “Hammer Tone” is made of titanium, with the bezel and bracelet links finished with tsuiki, a technique of hand-hammering traditionally used for copper ware and armour. Each component is finished by hand, using a small hammer with a ball tip.
To achieve the unusual silvery-grey finish on the bezel and bracelet, a finish known as oboro-gin (“hazy silver”) was applied. Oboro-gin is historically used for Japanese sword (katana) accessories, just like the akagane (“red metal” or copper) finish on the bezel screws, pushers and crown.
While the case finish is eminently traditional, the electronics of the watch are leading edge. The movement syncs with both Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and radio time signals, ensuring it is always spot-on.
In addition it has a world time function, stopwatch, countdown, alarm, perpetual calendar, battery level indicator and LED illumination. Charged by solar cells on the dial, the MR-G 20th Anniversary will run for 18 months on a full charge, with the power saving mode turned on.
With a look that is typical of Japanese electronics, the dial is extremely complex, with numerous markings and indicators. However, it is constructed as elaborately as it looks, being three-dimensional with applied markers and sub-dial rings.
Like most G-Shocks, the MR-G 20th Anniversary is a large watch, measuring 49.8mm in diameter and 16.9mm high. But being mostly titanium, it is relatively light, being just over 150g.
Limited to 300 pieces, the G-Shock MR-G 20th anniversary (ref. MRG-G1000HT) retails for US$6200 or S$8888. It will be available from G-Factory stores and select retailers worldwide; in Singapore it is available at Cortina Watch.
Parisian graffiti artist Cyril Phan, better known as Kongo, is the creative mind behind the multi-hued RM 68-01 wristwatch. Asymmetrical with curved hands and movement bridges, the RM 68-01 Tourbillon Kongo is a miniature of graffiti art, created by spray painting the movement with a custom-made airbrush.
Being painted by Kongo individually, each movement is decorated differently. The back of the movement is similarly graffitied with spray paint, while the bridges are shaped like a splash of paint. Like many Richard Mille calibres, the movement is constructed by complications specialist Renaud & Papi, with its bridges and base plate made of titanium. It’s a hand-wound calibre with a tourbillon regulator.
The case middle is made of NTPT Carbon, a carbon-fibre based composite, while the front and back plates of the case are black ceramic.
Pricing
With high-end streetwear becoming fashionable amongst the one percent, the RM 68-01 Tourbillon Kongo continues Richard Mille’s ability to capture the zeitgeist of the era for the rich. Limited to 30 pieces, the RM 68-01 Tourbillon Kongo is priced at US$685,000 or S$1.03m.
Omega made a splash with the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon three years ago, a variant of the Moon Watch made entirely of black ceramic. Now offered in white and all the colours in between, the ceramic case of the Speedmaster was merely the start. The Bienne watchmaker has just revealed the Seamaster Planet Ocean Deep Black, a 600m diver’s watch with a GMT function, made entirely of black ceramic – case, bezel, back and even the dial.
Available in four variants – with the top the line being the black ceramic and 18k Sedna red gold – the Seamaster Planet Ocean Deep Black features all of Omega’s latest case technology. The 45.5mm ceramic case has a black ceramic metal insert with markings in Liquidmetal, a specialised amorphous metal alloy. On the red and blue versions of the Deep Black, the bezel also has coloured rubber inlays to mark the first 15 minutes.
Another difference between the versions is the case finish: the red and blue have brushed case surfaces, while the black and gold models are polished.
The dial is black ceramic, mirror polished on the black and gold versions, but matte on the blue and red models. But regardless of the variant, the hands and hour markers are 18k white gold. The second time zone hand is tipped with an orange arrow, with the 24-hour second time zone scale on the inner flange of the dial.
The case back is also ceramic, and unusually for the material, the back screws in the case. Thanks to what Omega terms Naiad Lock, the back sits perfectly aligned with the case (in all likelihood the case back is secured with a bayonet lock).
Below the sapphire back sits the calibre 8906, one of the Omega’s latest generation Master Chronometer movements. It’s certified by Swiss measurements agency METAS and magnetism resistant to over 15,000 Gauss (equivalent to a small MRI machine) thanks to a silicon hairspring and secret alloys in the escapement.
The strap is rubber, moulded to resemble fabric on the front, and attached to a black ceramic coating folding clasp.
Pricing
The Seamaster Planet Ocean Deep Black costs approximately the same as the Dark Side of the Moon, making it pricey in comparison to the ordinary stainless steel Planet Ocean, but the quality of the case and dial alleviate the sticker shock. The Deep Black will hit stores in October 2016, with prices as follows:
Deep Black in black, ref. 215.92.46.22.01.001 – SFr10,400 or S$16,150
Deep Black in blue, ref. 215.92.46.22.01.002 – SFr10,400 or S$16,150
Deep Black in red, ref. 215.92.46.22.01.003 – SFr10,400 or S$16,150
Deep Black Sedna Gold, ref. 215.63.46.22.01.001 – SFr13,400 or S$21,500
