The latest crowdfunded watch brand is Humism, a Singapore based outfit that’s inspired by the kinetic art movement which enjoyed a boom in the 1950s and 1960s. Humism’s debut collection consists of three watches with dials featuring an animated spiralling pattern, and unlike most such watches, are powered by automatic Seiko movements.

While each model has a different dial motif, they all rely on the same principle for animation. Time is displayed in a simple yet intriguing fashion: a set of stacked, laser-cut discs with the hours and minutes each indicated by a solid and hollow circle respectively. The seconds disc is in constant motion, creating a kaleidoscopic effect as it rotates over the hours and minutes discs.

Eudaimonia

The three models are each named after ancient Greek philosophical concepts: Eudaimonia, Geist and Dasein. Eudaimonia consists of four concentric circles that dilate as the discs rotate, while Geist uses organic shapes to create an illusion of differing speeds, and Dasein is a geometric floral pattern that radiates from the center of the dial.

Geist

Dasein

The watches share the same 39mm stainless steel case. Inside is the trusty 24-jewel Seiko NH-35A movement that has a power reserve of 40 hours and a customised rotor visible through the sapphire caseback.

Price and availability 

Available for pre-order here, prices start at US$245 for the first 99 watches, and US$265 subsequently. Five percent of sales will be donated to The Red Pencil, a non-profit organisation based in Singapore that advocates the use of art as therapy to help children overcome emotional trauma.

Every year for over a decade now, IWC unveils a limited edition to raise funds for the Laureus foundation, a charity that brings sport to underprivileged children across the world. Each year’s Laureus watch has been different from the last – the preceding editions were the Da Vinci chronograph and ladies’ Portofino – but all share the same deep blue metallic dial.

The latest watch for the good cause is unusual, being the very first Laureus watch in black ceramic, the very first Laureus in a material other than stainless steel in fact. The Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII Edition “Laureus Sport for Good Foundation” has a glossy black ceramic case that’s 41mm in diameter, being the same case as that on the Mark XVIII Miramar.

And as is tradition the usual matte black dial has been replaced by one in metallic blue, with a red-tipped seconds hand for some colour.

The other feature that’s a Laureus tradition is the engraving on the case back that reproduces a drawing by a child selected by the foundation. This year’s motif was done by an 11-year-old Brazilian girl who is part of Instituto Reação, a Laureus-supported organisation in Brazil dedicated to improving the lives of slum-dwelling children with education and sports such as judo.

Like the standard Mark XVIII, the Laureus edition is powered by the cal. 35111, which is a rebadged Sellita SW300. And it’s enclosed by a soft-iron cage to protect the movement from magnetism, a standard feature on IWC’s aviator watches.

The watch is paired with a crosshatch embossed calfskin leather strap.

Price and Availability

The Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII Edition “Laureus Sport for Good Foundation” (ref. IW324703) is a limited edition of 1,500 pieces and is priced at US$5650 or S$8,650. Part of the proceeds from the sale of the edition will go to Laureus Sport for Good.

Frederique Constant was the first Swiss watchmaker to jump on the wearables bandwagon with its Horological Smartwatch that launched in 2015. But the Horological Smartwatch wasn’t a conventional touchscreen wearable, instead it fused smartwatch functions with traditional analogue display, making it more of a quartz hybrid than a smartwatch.

Now Frederique Constant has upped its game with the Hybrid Manufacture, a smartwatch powered by an in-house mechanical movement that the brand says is entirely Swiss, though its parent company is Citizen Watch of Japan.

The Hybrid Manufacture measures 42mm and is available in four iterations – three in stainless steel and another in rose gold-plated steel. Like the Horological Smartwatch, the dial of the Hybrid Manufacture is traditional with an engine-turned centre, Breguet-style hands and Roman numerals.

One of the four iterations, however, is an 888-piece limited edition with a slightly more sporty look, with luminous lance-shaped hands with applied hour markers.

Developed entirely in-house, the cal. FC-750 is a self-winding movement with a battery-powered module on top. A patented shield was developed to house the electronics, in order to prevent the mechanical portion of the movement from being magnetised by the smartwatch module.

The mechanical calibre is tells the time, with hours, minutes, seconds as well as the date, while the electronic module covers the same ground as any other smartwatch – sleep monitoring, activity tracking, health advice, as well as a world time function.

The sub-dial at 12 o’clock indicates a handful of basic smartwatch functions, with the full complement of data available on a paired smartphone thanks to a dedicated app. The watch links to a smartphone via Bluetooth, with the link established through the pusher on the left side of the case.

But the most interesting feature is the built-in equivalent of a Witschi machine that measures the rate, amplitude and beat error of the mechanical movement automatically every day, itself an evolution of the add-on measuring device Frederique Constant unveiled two years ago.

Visible through the case back, the mechanical movement has an open-worked rotor, runs at 28,800bph and offers a 42-hour power reserve, while the electronic module needs to be charged every seven days.

The watch is packaged in a wood box that contains both a winder for the automatic movement and a removable charger that can be used on the go.

Price and Availability

The Frederique Constant Hybrid Manufacture in steel with silver dial (ref. FC-750MC4H6) or with navy dial (ref. FC-750MCN4H6) cost US$3495.

The steel model with a grey luminous dial (ref. FC-750DG4H6) is a limited edition of 888 pieces, priced at US$3595.

And the rose gold-plated model (ref. FC-750MC4H4) is US$3795.

Bigger is not usually better, though in the case of the Sinn EZM 1.1, it is. While not as historical as the original EZM 1, the upsized remake is an intrinsically better watch in fit, finish and function.

Unveiled in 1997, the original EZM 1 (ref. 503.010) was a no-nonense, low-cost watch designed for the Zentrale Unterstützungsgruppe Zoll (ZUZ), the SWAT team of Germay’s federal customs authority, and not the GSG 9 police unit as sometimes assumed. Not long after, additional watches were also made for the customs service’s technical support unit Zentrale Technikgruppe Zoll (ZTZ).

As the story goes, the crown and pushers were position on the left of the case so to prevent them from digging into the back of the wrist while using firearms and dealing with heavily armed smugglers.

With perhaps 50 or so watches in total produced for both units – issued watches had the unit logo on the dial at six o’clock – plus around the same number made as a ZUZ limited edition for Japan, the EZM was also a commercially available wristwatch, priced at about US$2000 or so. The civilian versions had a “3H” logo on the dial, indicating the use of tritium, which was later replaced by an “Ar” logo when Super-Luminova became the standard luminous material on watch dials.

The original EZM, short for Einsatzzeitmesser, which translates as “mission timer”.

Made of titanium and powered by the economical Lemania 5100 movement, the EZM 1 was lightweight, distinctly no-frills, and discontinued in 2004 (though a 250-piece limited edition was made in 2008). Given the cult favourite it was, what happened late last year was not completely unexpected: revealed the EZM 1.1, a remake of the original boasting numerous upgrades.

Significantly larger than the original, the EZM 1.1 is 43mm wide and 16.4mm high, while the original was 40mm by 16mm. Though the watches share the same design, the increase in size is not exactly to scale – the EZM 1.1 is proportionately slimmer than the EZM 1, since its increase in diameter is way more than the increase in height. Additionally, the EZM 1 has a higher, more rounded domed crystal than its successor, making it feel even thicker.

The EZM 1.1, however, is much heavier, being steel instead of titanium. The change of material is a step forward because the steel is treated with Sinn’s Tegiment process (which is similar to Kolsterising) that hardens the surface, leaving it hardy and nearly scratch-proof. The case is uniformly finished with a fine sandblasting on all surfaces, giving it a look similar to the titanium of the EZM 1. The Tegiment steel is nevertheless a shade lighter than titanium, and also carries a faint tinge of yellow in certain light.

A less obvious upgrade is the bezel, which was a conventional snap-on bezel in the original EZM 1. Its bigger brother is equipped with what Sinn calls a “captive bezel”, one that is secured with screws, preventing it from being knocked loose as is possible with a snap-on bezel.

While in the hand the watch feels indestructible, on the wrist that makes it less comfortable. The EZM 1.1 sans strap and buckle weighs 106g, compared to just 61g for the EZM 1. The size and weight makes the watch feel reassuringly solid and well-made, but also large and clumsy. It’s always present on the wrist, unlike the titanium EZM 1 that can sometimes be forgotten (especially when worn with a strap). So it is somewhat of the quandary: when the lightness of the original EZM 1 gave it a bona fide military feel, as a watch it felt somewhat downmarket.

Notably, despite its increased size, the EZM 1.1 is rated to 200m, compared to 300m for the EZM 1.

Both EZMs, however, share the same “Ar-Dehumidifying Technology”, which is a copper sulphate capsule embedded in the case that’s meant to absorb moisture inside, as well as an inert gas injected inside the case during assembly. On the original EZM 1 the gas was argon – explaining the “Ar” logo and moniker – but sometime in the mid-2000s Sinn replaced argon with nitrogen, which functions the same way but costs less.

The copper sulphate capsule starts out as pale blue and darkens as its absorbs moisture.

The other major upgrade is the movement. The EZM 1 was powered by the Lemania 5100, an inexpensive movement with rudimentary finishing and a handful of low-friction plastic parts (partially explaining the low jewel count of 17), mainly because it had a central minute counter. All the chronograph registers were removed for legibility, giving the EZM 1 its characteristic look.

Although it’s now over 20 years old, the look is still one of the strengths of the watch. Though Sinn still makes admirably straightforward watches, its chronographs have gradually become fancier in design, leaving the EZM 1.1 the only chronograph in the catalogue with such a sparsely populated dial. And the design works, it is swiftly readable in practically any lighting.

While the EZM 1.1 keeps the same look and the central minute counter, the movement is actually derived from the Valjoux 7750. Named the SZ01, the calibre was developed in-house by Sinn, which modified the 7750 to give it a central minutes register.

One of the reasons the SZ01 was developed was because the Lemania 5100 was discontinued (though the movement later evolved into the low-cost calibre found in the Swatch automatic chronograph as well as entry-level Tissot chronographs).

The movement is probably the primary reason why the EZM 1.1 costs almost US$5000, or double what the EZM 1 did. While the jump in price is significant, it comes 20 years later, and puts the EZM 1.1 on par with other Sinn watches equipped with the same movement. More importantly, it still leaves Sinn competitively priced relative to the competition.

The affordable pricing does mean that the dial and hands are pretty basic, in terms of printing and finishing, when examined up close. The border of the white luminous paint on the black hands, for instance, is fuzzy. And there have also been several reports of misaligned minute markers on the dial, according to participants of the Sinn forum on Watchuseek.

The tally of pros and cons of the EZM 1.1 ends positive; the watch offers a lot for the money. Take it as a military-inspired watch – with bona fide military heritage – featuring all of Sinn’s technology bells and whistles, and it’s easy to be pleased with it. There isn’t quite anything else like it on the market today.

The EZM 1.1 is limited to 500 pieces, and by all accounts is selling briskly. The biggest drawback of the watch hinges on a potentiality: whether or not Sinn releases additional variants of the watch in the future (like one with a black-coated case for instance). If that did happen, it would diminish the appeal of the EZM 1.1, leaving it feeling a lot more expensive and run of the mill.

Elvis Presley sold 75 million records by December of 1960, becoming the first artist in history to do so. In February 1961 RCA Victor organised a celebratory charity concert, during which Elvis was presented with a plaque as well as a white gold Omega wristwatch engraved for the occasion.

Elvis then swapped the Omega for a diamond-studded Hamilton that was owned by the uncle of the current owner, who has now consigned it to Phillips, the auction house best known for selling the most expensive wristwatch ever, Paul Newman’s “Paul Newman” Rolex Daytona. Phillips’ watch department was set up to cater to serious minded watch collectors – watches are the most high-profile and successful category for the London-based auction house – so the Elvis watch is a bit of diversification. Historically rivals like Heritage Auctions, the largest domestic auction house in the United States, have been leaders in the memorabilia and collectibles market.

Elvis watches are not exceedingly rare, since the singer appeared to have owned a good number of them – estimates range from several dozen to several hundred – over his life. Several have come up for sale in the past, including an Omega Constellation that sold for almost US$40,000 at Antiquorum in 2014, as well as a Hamilton Ventura that was about by Hamilton itself for just over US$30,000 in 1999. This Omega, however, is more significant, having been gifted to mark a major milestone in the singer’s career, explaining the low estimate that’s equivalent to US$50,000, or about 10 times what a similar watch without the Elvis provenance would get.

The watch itself is unusual, being 18k white gold, instead of yellow gold, the predominant material for such watches at the time. And it is a very American watch: the case was produced domestically by New York-based case maker Jonell Watch Case Company, and the cal. 510 bears the American import marks “OXG”. It was also sold by Tiffany & Co., explaining the double signature on the dial at 12 o’clock. The also accompanied by certificates from the Elvis Presley Museum, as well as a copy of Elvis, a book by Dave Marsh that include photos of Elvis at the charity concert wearing the very watch.

Estimated at SFr50,000 t0 SFr100,000, the Elvis Omega will be sold at the Geneva Watch Auction: Seven that takes place on May 12 and 13.

Launched in 2015, the Glashütte Original Senator Cosmopolite is perhaps the most completely equipped travel watch on the market. Not only can it track 36 time zones, including the 13 that differ in half and quarter hours, but it also comes with a Daylight Savings Time function – an esoteric yet necessary feature that ought to exist in any travel watch. And despite the surfeit of information it can read, the watch retains a remarkably minimalist dial with a monochromatic palette. Indeed, at a glance one would be hard-pressed to know it’s a proper world time watch.

While it was previously available only in white or red gold, with the commensurate price tags, Glashütte Original has just unveiled the stainless steel version ahead of Baselworld 2018. The new Senator Cosmopolite is decidedly less formal in appearance, perhaps even more functional, featuring dark blue Arabic numerals instead of Romans over a matte white lacquered dial that also has a simplified minute track.

The case remains the same 44mm in diameter and 14mm in height. And so does the movement and functions. Local time is displayed with the central hands while home time is indicated in the subdial at 12 o’clock. A tiny aperture in the subdial shows the day or night at home while a power reserve indicator charts the movement’s 72 hour power reserve.

While a ordinary world time watch can only handle the 24 common time zones that are offset by one hour, the Senator Cosmopolite includes all of the world’s 36 time zones, each indicated by the three-letter official IATA location code that refers to the international airport in the zone.”BKK” is short for Bangkok and “PEK”, Beijing.

The 24 time zones offset by an hour are indicated in a black font, the nine time zones with half-hour offsets are in blue, while the remaining three are in red, allowing one to identify the offset from GMT at a glance.

The watch is straightforward and simple to operate: home time is set via the crown at two o’clock while local time is selected using the crown at eight. Local time can be adjusted in 15-minute steps using the crown at four o’clock, with the world time discs at eight o’clock moving in sync with the time setting. As the local time changes, the corresponding change of date is also reflected in the brand’s signature outsized date display. The day and night display at nine similar moves with the local time zone.

The caseback reveals the automatic cal. 89-02 with the large off-centre, gold-rimmed rotor over the three-quarter plate. Finished in typical Glashütte Original style, the movement features Glashütte ribbing, a hand-engraved balance cock and double swan neck regulators.

Price and Availability

The Glashütte Original Senator Cosmopolite in stainless steel is priced at €21,000 or S$32,700, or about half of what the 18k gold versions cost.

Named after Swiss Formula 1 driver Jo Siffert, who won several races in the late 1960s before being killed in a 1971 crash, the Heuer Autavia “Siffert” is characterised by an appealing combination of white dial, black registers and blue accents, features that make it one of the most desirable, and valuable, vintage Heuer watches. Now the Siffert livery has returned with a 100-piece limited edition created in collaboration with Calibre 11, an Australia-based TAG Heuer specialist site.

Based on TAG Heuer‘s modern day Autavia remake (itself modelled on another vintage Heuer named after another Formula 1 driver killed in his prime, the Autavia “Rindt” ref. 2446),  the Jo Siffert Collector’s Edition has the traditional Siffert colours along with a rotating minute bezel.

The dial has a smooth white finish, while the counters are black with a concentric azurage stamping. Blue is used for the central seconds hand as well as hour markers.

And in keeping with the vintage inspiration, the dial only has the brand logo and model name at 12 o’clock, doing away with the “Heuer 02” text at six o’clock that’s standard on ordinary versions of the Autavia.

The Jo Siffert edition shares the same steel case as the ordinary model, one that’s 42mm in diameter, with the Heuer-02 in-house automatic calibre inside (the same movement found in the recent Carrera 43mm). Notably the logo on the barrel bridge of the movement is the vintage “Heuer” logo, rather than the current emblem found on standard movements. Over the movement is a grey tinted sapphire crystal printed with Jo Siffert’s signature.

The Jo Siffert Collector’s Edition is presented in a special box with Siffert’s signature, along with both a “beads of rice” steel bracelet and a seamless, retro leather strap developed for this edition.

And it’s also worth pointing out that this is an officially sanctioned Jo Siffert edition. While the late driver was recruited as a brand ambassador for Heuer in the late 1960s, which is why he wore a Heuer wristwatch and had the brand’s logo on his racing outfit, the “Siffert” moniker was an unofficial nickname for the model. With this limited edition, however, Siffert’s name has been licensed from the company that owns his likeness (and makes memorabilia and inexpensive watches under his name).

Jack Heuer (left), with Jo Siffert

The original “Siffert” watches of the 1970s

Price and availability 

The Autavia Jo Siffert (ref. CBE2114) will be available exclusively on Calibre 11 starting 1pm US Eastern Time on February 21. The watches are numbered from one to 100, and priced at SFr5600, or about US$6100, which is essentially the same as the stock Autavia model.

First conceived of by American inventor Danny Hillis in 1986, the 10,000 Year Clock is now being built as a full-scale prototype inside a mountain in Texas. The three decades it took since the original idea might seem like a preposterously long time, but it is actually a mere blink of an eye compared to the ten millennia the clock is designed for. Also known as the Clock of the Long Now, the timekeeper will eventually be built inside a mountain in Nevada, drawing on lessons learnt during the building and running of the full-scale prototype.

While the first prototype of 1999 was slightly taller than a man, and is now on display in London’s Science Museum, the prototype now underway will be as large as the actual clock, as well as similar in design. The prototype’s installation just got underway on February 20, according to a tweet by Jeff Bezos, who is funding its construction. Estimated to cost some US$42m, the clock is nevertheless eminently affordable for the Amazon co-founder, who is now the richest man in the world according to Bloomberg, which estimates his net worth to be US$123 billion.

Installation has begun—500 ft tall, all mechanical, powered by day/night thermal cycles, synchronized at solar noon, a symbol for long-term thinking—the #10000YearClock is coming together thx to the genius of Danny Hillis, Zander Rose & the whole Clock team! Enjoy the video. pic.twitter.com/FYIyaUIbdJ

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) February 20, 2018

Mr Bezos’ money buys a lot of timekeeping. Drilling into the mountain to accommodate the clock started in 2009. The finished clock clock will be over 150m in length and gets its power from two sources: a weight that is wound by a human, as well as the ambient temperature difference between day and night in the desert. Time is kept via a regulator that takes the form of a torsional pendulum. Every day at noon, light from the Sun is focused through a lens onto a tensioned piece of metal that buckles with the heat, resetting the clock to noon.

More on the clock can be found on the website of The Long Now Foundation, which is backing the clock project.

A signature of the brand since Blancpain was revived in the 1980s, the triple calendar has been offered in various guises over three decades, but not with a second time zone, until now. The Villeret Quantième Complet GMT is the classic Blancpain complete calendar, with the addition of an additional hour hand in the centre.

Featuring a face on the moon phase disc, the calendar takes its usual position with two windows, as well as an elegant serpentine hand for the date, while the GMT hand runs along a 24-hour track for the home time zone (local time is shown via the primary, leaf-shaped hour hand). And because the second time zone adds another hand to the dial, it is now free of the seconds hand, which usually has a kitschy Blancpain logo counterweight on its end, resulting in an overall cleaner look.

Setting the time zones is straightforward: the crown moves the local time hour hand in one hour steps, backwards and forwards. The calendar, on the other hand, is adjusted via pushers on the back of the lugs, as opposed to the traditional recessed pushers on the band of the case. This is a Blancpain patent, and found across the width of its collection of calendar watches.

Inside is the cal. 67A5, a movement based on the Frederic Piguet cal. 1151. It’s automatic with a 72-hour power reserve, as well as a silicon hairspring.

Moderately sized at 40mm in diameter and 11.8mm high, the watch is offered in either 18k red gold or stainless steel. Both share the same opaline dial with applied Roman numerals in 18k gold matching the case alloy. They are available either with a matching metal bracelet or alligator strap.

Price and availability 

The Villeret Quantième Complet GMT is available in steel (ref. 6676-1127-55B) and in red gold (ref. 6676-3642-55B). Prices have yet to be announced, but using the prices for the triple calendar without GMT as a comparison, expect this to cost over US$15,000 in steel and US$26,000 in gold.

Launched two years ago and a bigger hit than its complexity or price would have predicted, the Legacy Machine Perpetual is MB&F‘s most complicated watch to date, boasting a cleverly constructed perpetual calendar mechanism devised by Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell. Having made its debut in white and red gold as well as platinum, it’s now the turn of the LM Perpetual Titanium.

The case is the same size and style, measuring 44mm wide, but now in titanium. That’s matched with a striking metallic green dial, of a similar shade as that found in the LM2 Titanium and LM1 Dubai edition.

The 581-part movement remains the same, with the most interesting bits visible on the front, under the oversized balance wheel that’s a signature of the Legacy Machine series. Almost all of the perpetual calendar mechanism is visible on the dial, and unlike conventional perpetual calendars, it was designed to be robust and easy to set.

Price and availability 

The LM Perpetual Titanium is a limited edition of 50 pieces, priced at US$148,000. It’s available at MB&F retailers and M.A.D Galleries.