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10 WatchTime August 2014

Have you been following developments withleap seconds lately? I admit I have not. Thatsa blot on my escutcheon, I know. Given all thehuffing and puffing in these pages about ultra-accuratetime measurement, I should be a leap-second junkie. So,recently I have been boning up on things. For those ofyou, who, like me, have been blithely paying no atten-tion, heres whats going on.

The leap-second lords at the IERS (InternationalEarth Rotation Service) in Geneva, who determine ifand when to add a leap second to the calendar, passedon adding a leap second on June 30. They will announcein mid-July whether the world needs one in the secondhalf of this year. If so, they will add 1 second to the endof the day on Dec. 31. They make the decision sixmonths in advance to allow the worlds computer pro-grammers time to make the adjustment. Speaking per-sonally, I am rooting for IERS to give a big thumbs-upfor Dec. 31. That day would have 86,401 seconds ratherthan the usual 86,400, which means the New Years Evebash would run even longer. Booyah!

But in truth, its not really up to the IERS. Theirhands are tied. Whether or not we get a leap second inany given year depends entirely on the rotation of theEarth. The Earths rotation on its axis determines thelength of a day. The problem, as Markus Kuhn of theUniversity of Cambridge explains, is that Tidal frictionwithin the Earth, caused by the gravitational pull ofboth the moon and the sun, continuously slows downthe daily rotation of our planet. As a result, days aregetting longer, measured by astronomic time, also calledUniversal Time 1 (UT1).

Heres the problem: days are not getting longeraccording to atomic time, a measure introduced in 1958using a network of atomic clocks. International AtomicTime (TAI) is, of course, ultra-accurate: atomic clockshave a deviation of 1 second in 20 million years. To rec-oncile the two times, Universal Coordinated Time(UTC) was created in 1971 as the standard for globaltime. With it came a new concept: the leap second.When the discrepancy between atomic time (TAI) andthe time as measured by the rotation of the Earth (UT1)grows to just under 1 second, the IERS inserts a leap sec-ond in the calendar. Since 1972, when the system wasimplemented, it has added 25 leap seconds (which givesyou an idea of how much the Earths rotation is slowing

down). The tradition is to tack the extra second onto thelast day of either June or December.

Dont bother trying to predict when well get thenext leap second. Its useless. The good old Earth spinsat an unpredictable pace. In the eight years between1972 and 1979, for example, IERS had to add 9 leapseconds. Conversely, in the seven years between 1999and 2005, there were none. Chalk that up to anunusual temporary acceleration of the Earth, Kuhnsays. The last time a leap second was necessary wasJune 30, 2012.

Heres the alarming part for leap-second fans. Thereis a serious move afoot to get rid of them. Space con-straints prevent me (mercifully) from going into thedetails here. In short, some international scientific organ-izations want to modify the definition of UTC and aban-don the leap-second system. A U.S. delegation recom-mends replacing it with a leap hour. A vote on the futureof the leap second is scheduled for the World Radiocom-munication Conference in Geneva in the fall of 2015.

Kuhn, who gave a presentation at a 2003 colloquiumon the UTC time scale at which the idea of abandoningthe leap second was first discussed, is alarmed by theleap-hour alternative. Introducing a leap hour intoUTC will be perceived by computer operators as apotentially catastrophic hazard to the correct operationof millions of mission-critical computer systems, hewrites in a web post. A UTC leap hour is a once-every-few-centuries matter that will hardly play any role inany system designs and will therefore hit those respon-sible for dealing with it largely unprepared . Is it real-istic to expect IERS a small and obscure service forastronomers and a United Nations radio-standardsagency will have the political power (or will even stillexist) to cut an hour out of UTC when the first leaphour is due in the 27th century? Back in 1582, the Popestill had enough power to cut 10 days from the calen-dar, but even that took half a millennium to be acceptedeverywhere. And that was before we had computersand liability!

Who knew there could be such Sturm und Drangover a not-so-silly little second? The fate of the leap sec-ond hangs in the balance. Were on the story. Stay tunedfor further developments.

The Brewing StormOver Leap Seconds

EDITORS Letter

Joe ThompsonEditor-in-Chief

A single little second iscausing an international

brouhaha amongtimekeeping experts.

WT_0414_EditorsLetter_02 04.06.14 17:57 Seite 10

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CONTENTSWatchTime, July-August, 2014

COVER STORY98 TWO TIMERS

By Alexander Krupp | One sporty chrono, the TAGHeuer Carrera Calibre 1887 Jack Heuer Edition,meets another, the Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue, inour comparative test.

TESTS & REVIEWS 106 TEST CASE

By Mike Disher | Is Cartiers new dive watch, theCalibre Diver, more than just a pretty face? Wefind out.

114 FLYING SAUCERS By Martina Richter | These three pilots watches allhave humongous cases, like those of the earliest watchesfor flyers. We take a close look at the distinctive featuresof all three: the IWC Pilots Watch Top Gun Miramar,the Bell & Ross BR 03-51 GMT and the Zenith PilotMontre DAronef Type 20 GMT.

122 WRITE ON TIME By Martina Richter | Montblanc Montre launched theMeisterstck Heritage Collection to mark the 90thbirthday of its well-known Meisterstck pen. We testthe collections perpetual calendar model.

128 CODE NAME ULTRA By Mike Disher | Bremonts latest limited-edition watch,the Codebreaker, is literally made of the stuff of history Britains WWII intelligence operations, to be precise. We testthis GMT flyback chronograph to decipher its story.

98 106

WT_0414_TOC_03 05.06.14 14:19 Seite 14

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CONTENTSAugust 2014

46 FINALLY, SOME SENSIBLE PRICINGBy Joe Thompson | Baselworld showed signs that Swissbrands are adjusting to the post-China-boom landscape.That means a greater focus on lower-priced products.

50 THE NEW WATCHESOur annual roundup of new watches from the worldsbiggest watch fair

83 ETERNA EYES THE U.S. MARKETBy Joe Thompson | China Haidian, the Hong Konggroup that bought the Swiss brand Eterna in 2011, isinvesting heavily to revive it on global markets.

84 ULTRA COMPLICATIONS GO ULTRA THINBy Joe Thompson | Breguets Ref. 5377 is the thinnestautomatic tourbillon watch on the market. The brandsCEO Marc A. Hayek tells the story behind it.

SPECIAL REPORT: BASELWORLD 2014 86 THOMAS MERCER MAKES BASELWORLD DEBUT

By Mike Disher | The once-famous British marine-chronometer maker Thomas Mercer, out of business fora quarter century, is back. This year it made its maidenvoyage to Baselworld.

94 BABIN BEGINS THE BULGARI MAKEOVERBy Joe Thompson | Now under the leadership of CEOJean-Christophe Babin, Bulgari unveils the thinnesttourbillon watch ever.

96 SHINOLA EXPANDS ITS OPERATIONSBy Joe Thompson | Since opening its factory in Detroitin 2012, Shinola has been expanding its operations there.New this year: a leather factory and a line of watches forFilson.

5046

128

WT_0414_TOC_03 05.06.14 14:19 Seite 16


DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS10 EDITORS LETTER

The brewing storm over leap seconds

20 ON WATCHTIME.COMA glimpse at whats on our site to keep you up to dateon the latest watch news

26 WORLD OF WATCHTIMESee the global reach of WatchTime and its partners

28 READERS FORUM WatchTime readers protest a recent watch-test score,debunk tourbillons, point out anachronistic watches inmovies, and more

32 WATCHTALKNew CEOs at Rolex, Zenith, and Raymond Weil;Jaquet Drozs newest writing mechanism; Thierry Sternplans a party; the biggest U.S. watch advertisers for2013; Viscontis see-through watch; and more

44 WATCH QUIZA commemorative quiz on Patek Philippe, which turns 175 this year

136 FACETIMEA photo mlange of readers and their watches

138 LAST MINUTERichemont, retail giant

ON THE COVER: The TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 1887Jack Heuer Edition and the Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue. Photo by Nik Schlzel

CONTENTSAugust 2014

32 114

122

WT_0414_TOC_03 05.06.14 14:19 Seite 18

ON WATCHTIME.COMVisit our website for more information about theworld of fine watches. To read the stories shownhere, go to watchtime.com/on-watchtime.

Scan this codewith your smart-phone to visitwatchtime.com.

ULYSSE NARDIN IMPERIAL BLUE:

CHIMES PLUS TOURBILLON

Ulysse Nardin has a notable history in

chiming watches, from its award-winning

minute-repeater chronograph at the

1893 Chicago Worlds Fair to modern

timepieces such as last years Stranger. At

Baselworld 2014, the brand introduced

its latest chiming watch, the Imperial

Blue, which also has a ying tourbillon.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

ABOUT THE MONTBLANC

TIMEWALKER

CHRONOGRAPH 100

At this years SIHH watch fair

in Geneva, Montblanc

introduced its Timewalker

Chronograph 100, capable

of measuring elapsed times

to 1/100-second. Here are

ve interesting facts about it.

10 MILESTONES FROM

10 YEARS OF GREUBEL FORSEY

A look back at the rst decade of

Greubel Forsey, the ultra-high-end

watch brand specializing in watches

with multiple tourbillons.

PANERAIS WATCH FOR TRAVELERS:

THE LUMINOR 1950 3 DAYS GMT

Panerai, known for its divers watches,

has brought out a watch suited for

world travelers: the Panerai Luminor

1950 3 Days GMT 24H, the rst

Panerai to contain the new

manufacture Caliber P.9003.

TAG HEUER SIGNS SOCCER

STAR RONALDO

TAG Heuer has signed a

new celebrity endorser:

Portuguese soccer champion

Cristiano Ronaldo, forward

for Real Madrid and captain

of Portugals national team

in this summers World Cup.

GETTING TO KNOW NOMOS

Nomos watches are well known

in their native Germany but not

in this country. As the brand

makes a push for broader

recognition here, we offer a

sampling of six of the brands

models.

WT_0414_onwatchtime_02 05.06.14 17:22 Seite 20

Editor-in-Chief/Associate Publisher Joe ThompsonExecutive Editor Norma BuchananManaging Editor Dara HinshawTechnical Editor Mike DisherAssociate Editor Jay Deshpande

Digital Media Editor Mark BernardoArt Direction/Design Publishers Factory, MunichContributing Writers Gwendolyn Benda

Gisbert L. Brunner Rdiger BucherMaria-Bettina EichJens Koch Alexander Krupp Alexander LinzMartina RichterGerhard SeelenThomas WankaNeha S. BajpaiAishwarya Sati

Translations Howard Fine

Magdalena Grau

Joanne Weinzierl

Photographers Robert Atkinson

Nina BauerMarcus KrgerNicolas Lieber

OK-Photography

Eveline Perroud

Maik Richter

Nik Schlzel

Zuckerfabrik Fotodesign

THE MAGAZ INE OF F INE WATCHES

WatchTime (ISSN 1531-5290) is publis hed bimonth ly for $49.97 per year by Ebner Publishing Inter national, Inc., 274 Madison Avenue, Suite 804, New York, NY 10016. Copyright Ebner Publishing International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. July/August 2014 issue, Volume 16, Number 4. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WatchTime,

WatchTime Subscription Service, P.O. Box 3000, Denville, NJ 07834-3000, Tel. 1-888-289-0038. Publications mail agreement no. 40676078: Return undeliverableCanadian addresses to P.O. Box 503, RPO West Beaver Creek, Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 4R6.

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WT_0414_Masthead 04.06.14 18:03 Seite 22

Management & Administration

Managing Director & Publisher Dominik Grau Advertising & Event Sales Director Sara M. Orlando

Event Manager Minda LarsenOffice Manager Steve Brown

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IT Infrastructure Terry King

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THE MAGAZ INE OF F INE WATCHES

WatchTime, watchtime.com, Inside Basel.Geneva and IBG are protected through trademark registrationin the United States and in the foreign countries where WatchTime magazine circulates.

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THE WORLD OF

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WatchTime is a subsidiary of Ebner Publishing of Germany, whose flagship watch magazines are WatchTime(USA, India, Middle East) and Chronos (Europe, Asia). Ebner also owns the 'Inside Basel.Geneva' event brand.

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READERSForum

GOOD FOR SOMETHING?I very much enjoyed the article about the newBreguet Classique Chronomtrie 7727 [thecover story of the April issue, by Joe Thomp-son], and Im impressed with the pieces inno-vations. The 1/20-second indication at 1oclock is visually interesting, but as this watchis not a chronograph, is there any utility to thisfeature, or am I missing something?

Dave HughesLas Vegas, NV

Joe Thompson replies:The point of the 1/20-second subdial is toshowcase one of the watchs distinguishing fea-tures, its 10-Hz (72,000 vph) frequency, whichenables it to measure time to the 1/20-second.The indicator does not have any utility beyondthat.

ROYAL GOOFI was rereading the letters in the April 2014issue and decided to pen/type this quick note toyou, but only after acknowledging that: 1. thisis not a criticism of you and/or the mag; and 2.I figure you have already received many noteson this. With that said, I am still going to chimein regarding the Kings English comment inyour response to Paul Cheseks letter [aboutprofanity in Joe Thompsons article on theShinola watch brand in the December 2013issue]. You arent returning to the Kings Eng-lish, but rather the Queens, as England is stillruled by a queen, at least as I write this note,and the sitting monarch is the one who gets thenod. When there is a power succession in GreatBritain, if the throne passes to one of theboys and they get a king, then English getsone too!

David AbramsVia e-mail

Joe Thompson replies:Yours is in fact the only letter we have receivedabout our mistake. Thanks for pointing it outand our apologies to Her Majesty.

ALL SIZZLE?I have been a reader of WatchTime for quite afew years and I have to say the latest crop ofnew stuff in your April 2014 issue was themost interesting in quite a while. The pushseems to be in the direction of thinner move-ments especially when it comes to complica-tions. For instance Jaegers new Ultra Thin Per-petual and Hybris 11 Repeater-Tourbillon areboth amazing in terms of packaging density toachieve slim cases.

I also note that there are dozens of Swisstourbillons proliferating on the market recently.Even the least expensive of these is still severaltens of thousands of dollars. The Arnold & Sonmodel you reviewed in that same issue wasmentioned as a virtual bargain in comparison atonly $59K or so, (roughly the cost of adecked-out Audi, BMW or Mercedes), thoughthe Arnold would not be my choice due to thevery small dial in relation to its large case, (a petpeeve of mine why do so many watch compa-nies do that?)

I understand exactly how a tourbillonworks, and its actually not as difficult to imple-ment as the watch companies would like us tobelieve. The only real difference between thatand a simple, ordinary running train is the sta-tionary fourth wheel and a small gear on theescape wheel to orbit the balance-wheel cagearound it. To me, its much, much simpler thanthe many extra gears and levers and columnwheel to implement a chronograph, forinstance. Thus, it does not need to be animmensely costly feature.

To prove this hypothesis, I recently pur-chased a brand-new watch with a flying tour-billon, coaxially mounted, which keeps perfecttime. The movement has ctes de Genve fin-ishing; it claims to be made in Switzerland; ithas a deployant buckle and it even has a mete-orite dial, and all for only several hundred dol-lars! Admittedly the case is only gold-plated,but it really looks the part.

I also know a fair bit about the history ofwatchmaking in Switzerland and I know that inthe old days of farmer-ateliers assemblingwatches, the watch companies used to paytwice as much for a minute-repeater caliber as

WHY DOES A MINUTE REPEATER COST INTO THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS THESE DAYS? MYSTIQUE, NOT MUCH ELSE, IN MY OPINION.

THE WORLD OF F INE WATCHES

TESTS

H. MOSERREMADEBABIESGOT BACK

BREGUETMAGNETS IN THE MOVEMENT

7 S T A R S F R O M S I H H

BREGUETMAGNETS IN THE MOVEMENT

The ClassiqueChronomtrie 7727

A. LANGE & SHNEJAEGER-LECOULTREORISARNOLD & SONMHLE-GLASHTTEVS. MEISTERSINGERBAUME & MERCIERLONGINES

A. LANGE & SHNEJAEGER-LECOULTREORISARNOLD & SONMHLE-GLASHTTEVS. MEISTERSINGERBAUME & MERCIERLONGINES

',(('' #*

72,000 vph: If youve got it, flaunt it witha 1/20-second subdial.

WT_0414_Readers Forum_04_Proof 05.06.14 14:23 Seite 28

2014 Citizen Watch Company

Citizens exclusive caliber 9012 automatic movement with specially-designed

rotor and 24 jewels viewed through an exhibition caseback.

One-way rotating bezel. Water resistant 300m. 44mm case. Sapphire crystal.

GRAND TOURING SPORT

citizen-signature.com

WATCH_ppcoplcd 0844.1 1/22/14 9:42 AM Page 1

READERSForum

for a simple three-handed, time-only caliber ofequivalent quality. So why does a minuterepeater cost into the hundreds of thousands ofdollars these days? Mystique, not much else, inmy opinion. I believe the present-day watchcompanies are in danger of killing the goosethat laid the golden eggs if they continue toinsist on selling the sizzle instead of the steak. Atourbillon or a minute repeater is undoubtedlya fun, historic kind of thing to have, but I do notbelieve they need to cost large multiples morethan any other kind of fine watch. My twocents, (adjusted for inflation).

Chris RussellVia e-mail

SETTLING A SCOREI know its subjective, but dont you think you(or Mike) were a bit tough on the score for theArnold UTTE [The Thinner Spinner byMike Disher, April 2014]? If you block outthe scores you awarded, and read the nine sec-tions of the score card, avidly mad WIS stu-dents of WT, as I am, would absolutely be for-given for thinking Here is an 88-90. Nearperfect timekeeping in the real world for sucha complicated timepiece should surely out-weigh a perceived tiny difference in the finish-ing, which, by the way, is not at all evident inthe excellent enlarged illustrations of themovement. [Editors note: Disher gave thewatch an 85.]

David G. L. WorlandSutton, Australia

Mike Disher replies:Though there is a potential for overlap, in facteach category in the WatchTime scoring sys-tem rates different things, and a score in onecategory does not necessarily influence thescore in a different category. For example, leg-ibility and design are related, as are comfortand strap/clasp, but good legibility does notautomatically translate to a high design score,

and a well-made strap is no guarantee of a highcomfort score. The weight we assign eachcategory is reflected in the number of possiblepoints. For example, the movement is worth20 points, while rate results are 10. These pos-sible maximums represent WatchTimes valueswhen judging watches.

We consider the movement and its rateresults separately, so good rate results are noguarantee of a high movement score, and viceversa. Pedestrian movements can keep timequite well, and timekeeping accuracy can varyfrom sample to sample, so rate results have rel-atively less weight in terms of the overall score.When we score the movement, we look at fac-tors such as its technical sophistication, origi-nality, level of complication, and finish. TheArnold received a perfect 10 for timekeeping,as it should have, and in the movement cate-gory, it received a 17 because though it is atourbillon, it is not a highly complicated move-ment, and though the movement was well fin-ished, as we noted, it was not up to the higheststandards. If you can imagine movements thatare more complicated, more sophisticated, andbetter finished than the Arnolds, you can seewhy the movement did not merit a higherscore.

The overall score for the watch is the sumof its parts, taking WatchTimes values intoconsideration. You may have different values,but in terms of rate results, remember thatanother sample of the same model may per-form better, or worse, than the sample we tested.

TIME-WARP WATCHESJust saw American Hustle. Great movie. But Ihave to say Bradley Cooper should have left hisyellow gold IWC Da Vinci with brown straphome. (I doubt that watch was available dur-ing the 1970s!) Also, his boss wore a goldRolex Sub with ceramic bezel (also not a 1970swatch). I just thought Id let you know.

Mo SadrpourVia e-mail

I KNOW ITS SUBJECTIVE, BUT DONT YOUTHINK YOU WERE A BIT TOUGH ON THE SCORE FOR THE ARNOLD & SON UTTE?

WatchTime welcomes cor-respondence from readers.Send comments to editor-in-chief Joe Thompson at274 Madison Avenue,Suite 804, New York, NY10016 or via e-mail [email protected]. Please include yourfull name, city and state,and country (if outside theUnited States). Letters maybe edited for length orclarity.


A tourbillon: easier to make thana chronograph?

Too tough on Arnold & Sons UTTE?

WT_0414_Readers Forum_04_Proof 05.06.14 14:24 Seite 30


WATCHtalkWATCHtalk

R olex has named Jean-FrdricDufour as its new CEO. Dufour,most recently the CEO of Zenith,will replace Gian Riccardo Marini. As ofpress time, Rolex had not said when thetransition would occur.

The move surprised many in the watchindustry. Rolex has never before chosen aCEO from outside the company. Sourcessay several Rolex executives were con-tenders for the CEO post, which, asMarini, who is in his mid-60s, approachedretirement age, was expected to be vacantsoon.

Dufour was named CEO of Zenith in2009. Since then, he has refocused the

brand on its history as a maker of manu-facture movements, most famously the ElPrimero chronograph. Prior to his tenureat Zenith, he spent seven years atChopard. Before that, he worked forBlancpain for two years and UlysseNardin for three.

Rolex has historically had very fewchanges in management. Until a few yearsago, the company boasted that it had hadjust three CEOs in its entire history. Its firstwas Hans Wilsdorf, who founded Rolexin 1905. After he died, in 1960, AndrHeiniger took over. Heiniger in turn gavecontrol to his son, Patrick, who was CEOfrom 1992 until 2008.

Recently, though, new CEOs havebeen coming fast and furious. AfterPatrick Heiniger stepped down, BrunoMeier, formerly Rolexs finance director,became CEO at the end of 2009. He wasfollowed by Marini, the former head ofRolex Italy, in 2011. Now with Dufourtaking the helm, the privately owned com-pany will have had four CEOs inside ofseven years.

At Zenith, which is owned by the lux-ury-goods giant LVMH, Dufour has beensucceeded by Aldo Magada, effective July1. Most recently, Magada was interna-tional sales and business developmentdirector at Breitling. His watch-industrycareer began in 1984 when he joined theSwatch Group (then known as SMH). Hethen moved on to Piaget and back toSMH, with the Omega brand. In 2000, hebecame president of Gucci Timepieces,and then, between 2002 and 2009, led thewatch brand Technomarine; Reuge, whichmakes music boxes; and the Badolletwatch brand. Before joining Breitling,in 2010, Magada founded his own con-sulting company.

JAY DESHPANDE

WATCHtalkWATCHtalk

Rolex Names a New CEO

Jean-Frdric Dufour

The Crowned Heads of RolexA century-plus of CEOs

Hans Wilsdorf

1905 to 1960

Andr Heiniger

1960 to 1992

Patrick Heiniger

1992 to 2008

Bruno Meier

2009 to 2011

Gian RiccardoMarini

2011 to 2014

For the first time, Rolex picks a CEO from outsidethe company: Zeniths Jean-Frdric Dufour.

WT_0414_WatchTalk_07_Proof 05.06.14 14:30 Seite 32

WATCHtalkWATCHtalk

New CEO at Raymond Weil

Kobolds New Digs

E lie Bernheim has been named CEOof the Raymond Weil watch brand.He is the grandson of founderRaymond Weil, and has been involved inthe companys operations for the last eightyears. Bernheim succeeds his father, OlivierBernheim, son-in-law of Raymond Weil,who became CEO in 1996.

Elie Bernheim attended the HospitalityManagement School of Lausanne beforetaking on responsibilities at RaymondWeil in Geneva. Before becoming CEO,he was in charge of the brands global

marketing strategy. In 2012, he and hisyounger brother Pierre started anotherwatch brand, 88 Rue du Rhone, whichmarkets moderately priced, Swiss-madequartz and mechanical watches.

Raymond Weil, who founded hiseponymous watch brand in 1976, died inJanuary. At the time of his death he washonorary president of the company.

Olivier Bernheim will remain with thecompany as president of the board ofdirectors and as a consultant.

J. D.

I n April, Kobold celebrated the openingof a new headquarters and manufac-turing facility in Volant, Penn., in theheart of Amish Country. The site is the170-year-old Merry Oaks Farm, 60 milesnorth of Pittsburgh. Kobold began plan-ning the facility in 2010 and spent fouryears renovating the original barn to out-fit it as the companys headquarters. Thepicturesque location will house Koboldsbusiness operations as well as its manu-facturing. At Merry Oaks, Kobold willproduce components for its watch casesand movements, as well as dials, handsand straps.

Joining founder Michael Kobold atthe opening were Gerd-Rdiger Lang, thefounder of Chronoswiss, and writer andexplorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, whoappears in Kobold advertisements. Some250 guests attended.

Kobold was founded in 1998 as part ofan entrepreneurship project at CarnegieMellon University. In 2008 it brought outthe Spirit of America, the first watch indecades to have its case made entirely inthe U.S. The brand specializes in ruggedtool watches for outdoorsmen, and nowalso produces knives for a similar clientele.

J. D.

Kobolds new headquarters inPennsylvanias Amish Country

Gerd-Rdiger Lang presents Michael Kobold (second from right) with a 200-year-old polishing tool tocelebrate the opening of the new facility. Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Jack Roseman, a professor at CarnegieMellon, are on the far left and right, respectively.

The watch quiz on page 46 of theJune issue gave an incorrect answerfor one of the questions. GaryPlayer is sponsored by Rolex, notAudemars Piguet.

Correction:



WATCHtalkWATCHtalk

J aquet Droz has brought out a newminiaturized mechanical device: amachine that can duplicate its own-ers signature. Dubbed the SigningMachine, it follows in the tradition ofJaquet Droz automata.

Designed to be comparable in size to asmartphone its five inches long andthree inches wide the Signing Machineat first looks like a nondescript black andgray cassette. Unlock it with a four-digitsecurity code and wind it via a lever on itsside, though, and the mechanism comesto life. When you press the button on topof the case two times, a hinged arm and asmall black stylus slide out. Fit the peninto the arm and press the button oncemore, and the machines complex geartrain will execute your signature. Andwhile your John Hancock is taking shape,you can watch the mechanism at workthrough a window on the case.

The Signing Machine has 327 compo-nents. It is made mostly of titanium toreduce its weight, and it also has brass andstainless-steel elements. It is 0.6 inches thick.

The La Chaux-de-Fonds watch brandhas long drawn upon the heritage of itsnamesake, Pierre Jaquet-Droz, the 18th-century watchmaker whose automataincluded highly realistic human figuressuch as the Writer, which can be pro-grammed to write out a sentence on asheet of paper. The Jaquet Droz brand hasrecently brought out a number of newdevices and automata, including the TimeWriting Machine, which can write out thetime, and several watches with lifelikemechanical birds on the dials.

Signature Piece

Thierry Stern, Party Planner

The Signing Machineat rest (left) and witharm extended

P atek Philippes 175th-birthday cele-bration is going to be one helluvabash, says Thierry Stern, the com-panys president. During a one-day trip toNew York in May to host an event withLondon Jewelers, Stern was fired up aboutthe festivities hes put together for hisguests in Geneva this October. Weve cre-ated something amazing, he said. Thelayout that people will see will be quiteastonishing. There will be at least fiveseparate events. Each will have around400 guests: retailers, collectors, suppliers,the press, and Patek employees, many, ifnot most, flown in from faraway lands atPatek Philippes expense.

Most interesting of all, he promises,will be the watches he unveils at the

events. He vows that the collection, or atleast part of it, will be accessible, relativelyspeaking, to the brands non-billionairefans. I have gotten many questions frompeople asking, Are you only going tolaunch a unique piece that I cannot get?But I have to think of people who dontwant to pay $3 million for a watch [the ap-proximate price for Calibre 89, the center-piece of Pateks 150th-anniversary collec-tion]. I had to do something that wouldsatisfy, well, not everybody, I cant do that.But that would satisfy more than just oneor two people. So there will be differentlevels of watches, for men and for ladies.

The collection will nonetheless have astar piece. Many have tried to guess whatit is, Stern said. So far, only one has suc-

ceeded. When I was at Basel, one littleboy, 12 years old, who was there with hisfather, said, I think youre going to dothus and so, and he guessed it exactly. Hewas right.

NORMA BUCHANAN

Scan here for a video showing the Signing Machine in action.http://www.watchtime.com/?p=46884

The Signing Machine is available as abespoke piece. Pricing is based on the sig-nature to be duplicated. For more infor-mation, visit www.jaquet-droz.com.

J. D.


Manfredi Jewels Greenwich, CT

Longs Jewelers Boston, MA | Sylvans Columbia, SC | Old Northeast Jewelers Tampa & St. Petersburg, FL | Levy Jewelers Jacksonville, FL

Madison Jewelers New York, NY | Abt Time Boutique Glenview, IL | New York Jewelers Chicago, IL | Benari Jewelers Exton & Newtown Square, PA

Swiss Time Portland, ME | Schwarzschild Jewelers Midlothian, VA | London Jewelers Greenvale & Southampton, NY | E.D. Marshall Jewelers Scottsdale, AZ



WATCHtalkWATCHtalk

17-year absence. It spent $8.24 million.The other was the new Shinola brand,which spent $4.66 million, enough to placeit in 25th place. There were many brands in the top 25that werent there in 2012. Chopard,Armitron, Audemars Piguet, Hublot, andBreguet all appeared on the list for the firsttime in recent history. Like Chanel, Baume& Mercier returned after a one-yearabsence. Leaving the top 25 last year were Casio,David Yurman, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton,Timex, Luminox, Ulysse Nardin,Raymond Weil, and Bulova.

J. D.

U.S. Watch Ad Spending Up Again

I n 2013, watch brands spent almost halfa billion dollars on advertising in theU.S. The total was $492.68 million: arecord high, and up 23.3 percent from the2012 total. That figure comes from KantarMedia, which each year compiles estimatesof ad spending for a range of differentproducts. The figures for 2013 signal thatthe U.S. watch market is still growing,especially as Swiss luxury brands turn theirsights back from China to this country.

Last year was the fourth year in a rowof growth in U.S. watch advertising. Sixty-nine brands spent more than $1 million onads, a new record. To reach last years top25, a watch company had to spend $4.66million. Thats 28 percent more than ittook to make the list in 2012.

Rolex continued to hold its spot at thetop of the list. The brand has been numberone since 2000, when it dethroned Timex.Last year, it spent $61.48 million, making itthe first brand ever to exceed $60 million.Rolex beat its 2012 record of $52.14 mil-lion by 17.9 percent.

Stronger than ever in the number-twospot was Breitling, which spent $43.85 mil-lion. Although Breitling has been in secondplace for seven years, its 2013 total was ahuge jump: 48.7 percent. It hadnt broken$30 million before this. (No one but Rolexever had.) The brand spent more than $33million on magazine advertising. That wasalmost as much as Rolex, which spent $36million.

In third place, Cartier increased its U.S.spending by 22.7 percent to hit $24.58 mil-lion. Cartier was number five on the list in2012, but last year it pushed past Omegaand Citizen to its new spot.

The full list of watch firms spendingmore than $1 million is available on our web-site, but heres a sampling of some majorpoints from Kantar Medias 2013 data: Omega spent 1 percent less than in 2012,when the brand made a major media pushbecause of its role as official timekeeper ofthe London Olympics and golfs RyderCup, which was held in the U.S. It droppedto number four, spending $22.96 million. In 2013, all of the top 10 brands spent

over $10 million; the year before, onlyeight brands had spent more than $10million. Breguet spent $9.58 million, an increase ofalmost 2,000 percent from its 2012 spend-ing of less than half a million dollars. Fellowhigh-end brand Patek Philippe spent $7.66million, a 31-percent increase over 2012. Three brands were in the top 10 that didnot make that list in 2012: Chanel,Longines, and Seiko. Chanel had been inthe top 10 in 2011. Last year it spent$17.87 million, about the same as twoyears earlier. Bulova, which spent $2.97 million, fellprecipitously to number 41. It had been inthe top 10 since 2008. In 2012 it was num-ber six, spending $20.02 million. Bell & Ross and Montblanc also left thetop 10 in 2013, dipping to numbers 16 and19, respectively. Hublot made a splash last year, returningto the top 25 for the first time since 2010. Itspent $7.59 million in 2013, up 218.2 per-cent from the year before. Audemars Piguet, just behind Hublot inthe rankings, increased its spending by 665percent to $7.39 million. The brand spentless than $1 million in 2012. Two brands in the top 25 last year werentin the U.S. market the year before. One isTudor, which returned to the U.S. after a

Top 25 Watch Advertisers 2013

Source: Kantar Media

1308 09 10 11 12

HALF A BILLION OR BUSTEstimated total U.S. watch advertising

($ millions)

Rank

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14.15.16.17.18.19.20.21.22.23.24.25.

Brand

RolexBreitlingCartierOmegaTAG HeuerCitizenMovadoChanelLonginesSeikoBreguetTudorPatek PhilippeHublotAudemars PiguetBell & RossDiorSwatchMontblancBall WatchArmitronChopardRadoBaume & MercierShinola

Amount ($ millions)

61.4843.8524.5822.9622.0020.7219.8317.8716.0211.159.588.247.667.597.397.116.056.055.645.375.355.204.954.924.66

Source: Kantar Media

400

350

500

450

300

250

200

Scan here to see a list of the brands that spent$1 million or more on advertising in 2013.http://www.watchtime.com/?p=46887


WATCHtalkWATCHtalk

Viscontis See-Through WatchThe well-known maker of transparentdemonstrator pens creates a Crystal Demowatch with a sapphire case and bracelet.

L ast year, to celebrate its 25thanniversary, the Italian luxury-penmaker Visconti took a page out ofMontblancs book: it launched a watchline. Its a natural diversification for thebrand, Visconti founder Dante DelVecchio says: The pen and the watch arethe only universally acknowledged jew-elry for a man.

Visconti watches are designed andproduced in Florence using Swissmechanical movements. Del Vecchio hastransferred to his watches the designcharacteristics of his pens bold, high-styled looks often made with unusual

materials like ancient ivory, ebonite andLucite. Viscontis headliner watch atBaselworld this year, for example, wasthe limited-edition Crystal Demo, featur-ing a case and bracelet made out of sap-phire. Visconti has been making transpar-ent pens, called demonstrators, for twodecades. Del Vecchio reasoned: Why notmake a demonstrator watch?

Under the direction of AntonioAmbuchi, a former Anonimo executivewho heads research and development forViscontis watch division, the firm hasproduced a watch that is a head turner.The giant case (47.5 mm wide, 57.7 mm

long and 15.2 mm high) is made of pol-ished sapphire. The front and back of thewatch are covered with a flat sapphireglass. The result is that you can see intothe watch from every angle. One versionof the Crystal Demo has a bezel andcrown protector made of 18k rose gold.This is limited to 38 pieces priced at$38,500. Another version comes with abezel and crown protector made of grade5 titanium; this is limited to 88 piecespriced at $25,000. The bracelet on thewatches is made of nine sapphire linksand stainless steel with either gold or tita-nium elements.

The chronograph model instainless steel

Viscontis gold-and-steel CrystalDemo watch

The Scuba Abyssus 3000 M watchwith a bronze case


WATCHtalkWATCHtalk

The second dominant feature of thewatch is the two curved stainless-steelbridges that span the case and are stampedwith the Visconti logo. The curved-bridgemotif, inspired by the famous PonteVecchio over the Arno River in Florence,has been Viscontis symbol for 15 years. Iwanted to make an Italian watch, DelVecchio says. The bridge is a wonderfulmetaphor, a smooth flowing arc joiningtwo opposite banks. If man were a builderof bridges rather than a defender of bor-ders, mankind would be a far happier andadvanced species. Del Vecchio calledViscontis original collection of six watchesintroduced last year the Bridge Over Timecollection ($2,900 to $5,500). All thosewatches feature two steel bridges over around dial. This design, which DelVecchio calls squaring the circle, isViscontis signature watch look.

Del Vecchio didnt want to use astandard commercial movement forthe Crystal Demo. Instead, his teamworked with Switzerlands Technotime todevelop an exclusive demi-squelette, twinbarrel, automatic movement. ViscontiCaliber VI-AC304-01 has 45 jewels, aGlucydur balance wheel and a five-daypower reserve. Visconti says its averagerate is -3/+12 seconds per day. The see-through dial shows two retrograde dis-plays: a date calendar at the 1:30 posi-tion, and at the 5 oclock position apower-reserve indicator (in days). The

hour and minutes hands have an exclu-sive Visconti design, with tips reminiscentof fountain pen nibs.

Visconti has serious watch ambitions,Del Vecchio told WatchTime. Growth inthe luxury-pen business has slowed inrecent years, he says. Florence has a tradi-tion of watchmaking. (Panerai, for one,was born there.) His goal is to revive lux-ury watchmaking there and create a newbusiness opportunity for Visconti. He hascreated a luxury-watch manufacturingarea within the historic Medici villawhere Visconti pens are produced.

In addition to the Crystal Demowatch, Visconti introduced at Baselworldits first chronograph watch, in the BridgeOver Time series, with limited-editionpieces (250 each) in titanium, bronze,black PVD, and stainless steel. Thewatches contain an ETA 2892A2 basemovement with a Dubois Dpraz chrono-graph module and are priced at $6,950 to$7,250.

The company also introduced its firstprofessional divers watch, the ScubaAbyssus 3000M. It comes in titanium,bronze and steel versions (399 pieceseach). Its monobloc case measures54.4 mm (at the crown) by 57.9 mm andis 17.5 mm thick. The watch is waterresistant to 3,000 meters. The watchesare powered by a Soprod movement andcost $8,350 to $8,950.

JOE THOMPSON

Dante Del Vecchio, Visconti founder

Visconti is best knownfor its luxury pensmade in Florence.


WATCHquizsWATCHquiz

Test your knowledge ofPatek Philippe, whichturns 175 this year.

Patek.Past andPresent

Answers: 1A; 2C; 3A; 4D; 5C; 6B; 7C;

8C; 9A; 10A; 11D; 12B; 13D; 14C; 15A

What was the Gondolocollection named after?

10. What was the Gondolo collectionnamed after? A. The Rio de Janeiro retailer Gondolo &

Labouriau B. Joachim Gondolo, Pateks chief watch-

maker C. The gondola boats Antoine Norbert de

Patek saw on a trip to VeniceD. The gondola shape of its case

11. What title was Antoine Norbert dePatek given in the 1860s?A. Count of the Republic of GenevaB. Captain of the Knights of MaltaC. Knight of the Legion of HonorD. Count of the Republic of San Marino

12. Patek Philippes first minute-repeatingwristwatch was made for Americanautomotive engineer Ralph Teetor in1924. What did Teetor invent?A. Windshield wipersB. Cruise controlC. The differential gear system D. The speedometer

13. Which of the following is true ofCalibre 89, the ultra-complicated watchPatek Philippe unveiled in 1989?A. It weighs nearly one pound.B. It was stolen from the Patek Philippe

museum but later recovered.C. Patek made just one sample of the watch.D. None of the above. They are all false.

14. In the world of Patek Philippe, towhom or to what does the nicknameJumbo refer?A. Calibre 89B. The Stern family mansion on Lake

GenevaC. A particular version of the NautilusD. Claude Peny, company CEO

15. Before Patek Philippe introduced thePatek Philippe Seal in 2009, all themovements in its mechanical watchesbore what quality seal or certificate?A. The Geneva SealB. The Chronofiable sealC. COSC certificationD. The Timelab certificate

5. In 2009, Patek Philippe SA Genvebecame the companys official name.Which of the following has never been itslegal name?A. Patek Philippe & Cie.B. Patek, Czapek & Cie.C. Patek, Gostkowski & Co.D. Patek, Philippe SA

6. According to President Thierry Stern,about how many watches does PatekPhilippe make each year?A. 25,000B. 50,000C. 75,000D. 100,000

7. Which of the following did PatekPhilippe patent?A. NivaroxB. GlucydurC. Gyromax balanceD. Microstella screw

8. The Calatrava was introduced in whatyear?A. 1921B. 1927C. 1932D. 1941

9. What Patek Philippe collection waslaunched in 1976?A. NautilusB. Golden EllipseC. Twenty-4D. Gondolo

1. Before he joined forces with AntoineNorbert de Patek, what was Jean AdrienPhilippe best known for?A. Developing a crown-winding systemB. Making top-quality marine

chronometersC. Marketing the first wristwatchD. Founding the Journal de Genve

2. Patek Philippes Supercomplicationfetched the highest price ever for atimepiece when Sothebys auctioned it offin 1999. What was that price? A. $6,007,000B. $15,060,500C. $11,002,500D. $24,350,000

3. What two U.S. business tycoonscompeted with each other to possess themost complicated Patek Philippe watches?A. James Ward Packard and Henry

Graves Jr.B. Henry Graves Jr. and J.P. MorganC. Henry Ford and J. Paul GettyD. John D. Rockefeller and Andrew

Carnegie

4. Prior to buying Patek Philippe in 1932,brothers Jean and Charles Henri Sternowned what kind of horological businessin Geneva?A. An bauche companyB. A watch-strap companyC. A finishing subcontractorD. A dial-making company


WT_0414_Quiz_02 04.06.14 18:06 Seite 44


BASELWORLD 2014The Scene

Swiss brands are adjusting to thepost-China-boom landscape.

he remarkable thing about this yearsgreat global gathering of the watch worldknown as Baselworld was its strikingun-remarkableness. Normally the throngsin the fairs bustling halls are buzzingabout something. Last year it was the eye-poppingly expensive new booths in thereconstructed Hall 1. In previous years itwas the astonishing high-speed rise ofChina as a luxury-watch power. Andtheres always chatter about some remark-able, must-see new watch or some corpo-rate derring-do like Citizens acquisition ofLa Joux-Perret days before the 2010 show.

But not this year. The throngs werethere (official attendance at the fair heldMarch 27 to April 3 was around150,000, according to show organizers)but the buzz wasnt. Baselworld deliv-ered mixed signals [about] the luxurymarkets outlook, noted Frank Mller,founder of The Bridge To Luxury con-sulting firm, in an assessment of the fairin his newsletter. The show lacked trueproduct highlights. Any hope that Patek

Philippe would provide some gee-whizwatch fireworks on the occasion of its175th anniversary this year were quicklydashed when Patek announced that itwouldnt unveil its new commemora-tive collection until the fall.

The shows buzz-free climate seemedto reflect a watch world adjusting to thenew, post-China-boom landscape. Thatboom went bust big time last year, whenSwiss watch exports there dropped 12.5percent. The result is that the Swiss nowface a world without a true hot spot. Thatsaid, business is not bad. The value of

FINALLY,

TPRICING

$EN$IBLE

BY JOE THOMPSON

some

WT_0414_Basel_watches_Intro_04_Proof 05.06.14 14:52 Seite 46

August 2014 WatchTime 47

Swiss watch exports was up 4.5 percentfor the first quarter of 2014. The firstquarter marked a very good start to theyear for exporting companies, noted theFederation of the Swiss Watch Industry,which releases monthly export data. Butsignals, as Mller noted, are mixed.Watch exports to five of Switzerlands top10 markets were down in value throughMarch (see Switzerlands Top 10 Mar-kets on next page). Number one HongKong has rebounded from a poor 2013.But the much-hoped-for revival of theU.S. market (see Rediscovering America

in the June 2014 issue) did not material-ize in the first quarter. China, meanwhile,continued to limp along. It should soonmove out of the red, the FH noted, astatement that would have been unthink-able two years ago.

The mood at Baselworld, like busi-ness generally, was fine, although therewere few surprises on the product front.There was, however, one notable newdevelopment. For the first time since theglobal financial crisis of 2009, somewatch brands are making efforts to intro-duce new products at lower prices. With

the bloom off the China rose, luxury-watch demand has fallen and pressure onwatch prices has eased. The SwissExhibitors Committee, in a show-recappress release, cited a trend among pres-tige brands to include affordable styles intheir collections that will appeal toemerging markets fast-growing middleand upper classes.

This year the show is dominated bypresentations of lower-priced product.Thats what Im seeing, Swatch GroupCEO Nick Hayek Jr. told WatchTime.Everybody tries to go into the price seg-



ment of Longines because they recognizethat too-high prices are creating a prob-lem. You see it with many brands.Because the people in the higher end arestagnating.

Pricing is really a question now,Yves Vulcan, head of communications forthe Swiss Exhibitors Committee, toldWatchTime. The brands need betterentry-level prices.

Mller noted, The times of substantialprice increases seem to be over for now.

Examples of affordable pricingappeared up and down the watch-pricepyramid. Harry Winstons new limited-edition Z8 GMT watch, the latest in itsseries of watches made with a zirconium-based alloy called Zalium, has a retailprice of $20,300. Previous Z-series mod-els have cost between $30,000 and$40,000. Among Rolexs introductionsare new unisex (36 mm) Oyster Perpetualmodels with new dials, priced at $5,400.Frdrique Constant introduced a watchwith an in-house movement with a siliconescapement in its Heart Beat Manufac-ture collection; the steel version costs$6,500. Oris introduced its first watchwith an in-house movement in 35 years,the Oris 110 Years Limited Edition; the

MIXED PICTURESwitzerlands Top 10 Markets

Source: Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry

Watch exports, January - March 2014(million Swiss francs)

Market Value % Change 1. Hong Kong 968.6 +6.52. U.S. 537.2 +3.23. China 322.8 -0.24. Japan 304.9 +30.85. U.A.E. 281.5 +18.56. Germany 270.5 -5.97. Singapore 243.1 -4.58. Italy 239.1 -3.39. France 229.9 -3.010.U.K. 188.4 +2.6

steel version costs $6,500. New Orismechanical watches start at $1,900 (theArtix Pointer Day). Claude Bernard, abrand that specializes in Swiss-madewatches at an affordable price, offers achronograph watch with a DuboisDpraz module for $1,450. So it went.

As noted, there was no dramatic newproduct trend. Trends this year were sim-ilar to those at recent Baselworld fairs.Here are a few noted by WatchTimereporters: Tourbillons continue to proliferate. Asat SIHH, a new trend is toward ultra-thin tourbillons. Breguet and Bulgarioffered unusually thin tourbillonwatches at the show.

Clean, classic looks on mens dresswatches remain strong.

Skeleton watches, full or partial,remain in vogue.

In terms of dial colors, blue predomi-nates, prompting the oft-repeatedremark at the show that Blue is thenew black.

Gray, meanwhile, is the new blue, i.e.,the up-and-coming chic color.

Japanese producers continue to inno-vate with high-tech satellite technology.Seiko, Citizen, and Casio introduced

new versions of GPS watches usingsatellite-wave technology.

So-called NATO straps, made of nylonor other fabric and used on militarywatches, are very popular.

Aluminum staged something of arevival at the show with some brandsfavoring its ultra-light, ultra-durablequalities for sports watches.Baselworld will be slightly earlier next

year, running from March 19 to 26.



BASELWORLD 2014 The New Watches

WHEN ROLEX launched the Sea-DwellerDeepsea in 2008, it deep-sixed the Refer-ence 16600 Sea-Dweller a well-knownwatch with a dedicated following. Sure,the Deepsea offered 3,900-meter waterresistance and a beefy 44-mm case, but totraditionalists, the Deepsea launch wasRolexs New Coke moment. This year atBaselworld, Rolex launched its CokeClassic, and its called the Sea-Dweller4000. It combines a time-honored lookwith a range of improvements.

The case measures a traditional 40mm in diameter, and it features a heliumescape valve at 9 oclock. The bezel isRolexs patented, in-house Cerachrom, ahigh-tech material that is scratch resistantand does not fade. The hour markers andhands are illuminated with Chromalight,another Rolex exclusive that glows brightblue for excellent legibility in the darkand under water.

The new Oyster case is water resistantto 1,220 meters, or 4,000 feet, hence the4000 in the watchs name. The patentedTriplock crown contributes to this rating.The case is machined from a block of904L steel, which is harder and more cor-rosion resistant than the 316L steel that isused by many watch brands.

The case protects the Rolex Caliber3135. This automatic movement is pro-duced entirely in house and certified as achronometer by COSC. The movementfeatures Rolexs exclusive Parachrom bal-ance spring, which Rolex says offers

superior stability and shock protection.The Oyster bracelet with solid links isalso machined from 904L stainless steel.It features the Oysterlock folding safetyclasp with the Glidelock extension sys-tem, which allows the bracelet to be

extended by up to 20 mm in 2-mmincrements for a comfortable fit, and theFliplock diver extension link, which adds26 mm to the overall length, allowing thewatch to fit over a wetsuit. The Sea-Dweller 4000 is priced at $10,400.

Rolex

WT_0414_Basel_watches_part1_04_Proof 05.06.14 14:58 Seite 50

C9 HARRISON JUMPING HOUR MK I I L IMITED EDIT ION

Bespoke ETA 2824-2 Jumping Hour automatic modication by Master Watchmaker

Johannes Jahnke / Each piece, of only 250, personally assembled by Johannes and

his team in Switzerland / 43mm, surgical grade stainless steel case with sapphire

crystal and transparent case back / CITES certied, premium grade, Louisiana alligator

deployment strap / 5 year movement guarantee

Swiss movement, English heart




COMING ON THE HEELS of last yearstechnically innovative Constant Escape-ment, Girard-Perregaux followed up thisyear with another watch designed todemonstrate the companys watchmak-ing prowess: the Tri-Axial Tourbillon.Unlike a traditional, single-plane tourbil-lon, the Tri-Axial rotates in three cages,on three planes, at three different speeds:30, 60 and 180 seconds. The entire mech-anism is 13.78 mm in diameter andweighs only 1.24 grams. The cage anddrive systems are steel while the supportpillars are titanium. The balance wheelhas 16 gold micro-adjustment screws andbeats at 21,600 vph (3 Hz). The mechan-ical ballet is visible through a dial aper-ture at 9 oclock. A dome in the sapphirecrystal allows sufficient space for thetourbillon to rotate.

The manual-winding Caliber GP09300measures 36.10 mm in diameter and16.83 mm in height. It contains 317pieces and offers a 52-hour powerreserve, which can be tracked via acurved display on the dial. The move-

ment features several types of handfinishing, including mirror polishing,chamfered edges, and circular graining. Asapphire window on the left side of thecase allows a view of the tourbillon.

Skeletonized rose-gold hands displaythe hours and minutes on a small dial that

Girard-Perregaux

features a clous de Paris motif with rose-gold numerals and indexes. The minutesare indicated on a separate ring with whitenumerals against a black background.

The Girard-Perregaux Tri-Axial Tour-billon will be limited to 10 pieces, eachpriced at $510,900.




PATEK PHILIPPE expanded its collec-tion of complicated Nautilus models withthe launch of the new Ref. 5990/1A TravelTime Chronograph in steel. This modelreplaces the Nautilus chronograph, Ref.5980/1A, which was first presented in2006 to mark the 30th anniversary of theNautilus collection.

The new Nautilus displays two timezones with two hour hands on the sameaxis. The lower, home-time hand is skele-tonized, and the upper, local-time handmatches the minutes hand. When yourehome, the two hands are superposed.When youre on the move, you can adjustthe local-time hour hand in one-hoursteps with the plus and minus correctorson the left side of the case. Each hour

hand has its own day/night indication.The dial is black with a light-to-dark colorgradation on top of the familiar horizon-tal embossed Nautilus pattern accentedwith 10 applied luminous hour markersin 18k white gold.

Adding the travel-time complicationrequired a new case design, and a newmovement. The caliber is CH 28-520 CFUS. It features a chronograph mecha-nism with a traditional column-wheeldesign and an innovative disk clutch, sup-plemented with the travel-time mecha-nism. Patek says this device dates back toa patent it received in 1959.

The date display coupled with localtime (originally an aperture date at3 oclock in the Ref. 5980 Nautilus

chronograph model) has been reposi-tioned to 12 oclock as an analog date,and the counter at 6 oclock that talliedhours and minutes has been convertedinto one that tallies minutes only: 60rather than 30 as before. This new con-struction required 47 additional parts, yetthe new movement is only 0.3 mm higherthan its predecessor. Patek saved space byreplacing the tall Breguet overcoil balancespring with its proprietary Silinvar Spiro-max spring, which is flat.

The new Nautilus Travel TimeChronograph is priced at $57,300.

Patek Philippe


For more information please contact:

Mhle Glashtte USA 727-896-8453 www.muehle-glashuette.dep p

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Since 1869, Mhle-Glashtte is all about precise measurement. Already at the end of the 19th century, Robert Mhle created

measuring devices capable of measurement accuracy to within hundredths or even thousandths of millimetres.

In order to read these values precisely, the millimetres were displayed by a small macro dial gauge, and the

large micro dial gauge made the fractions of the measuring unit visible. The new M 29 Classic Kleine Sekunde

invokes this design and reinvents it in the language of timepieces by Nautische Instrumente Mhle-Glashtte.

M 29 Classic Kleine Sekunde


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A HARLEY DAVIDSON concept motor-cycle called the B-Rocket provided inspi-ration for two new Bell & Ross watches,the BR01 B-Rocket and the BR03B-Rocket. Bell & Ross commissionedShaw Harley-Davidson to design thebike, which the watch company saysharks back to experimental jet design ofthe 1960s, a period Bell & Ross describesas a heyday in aeronautics when any-thing seemed possible. Both watcheshave the same red and black color schemeas the bike and the same matte metal fin-ish. The red triangles at 12 oclock onboth watches were borrowed from redtriangles on the bikes tachymeter scaleand turbines. The watches paddedleather straps, with red edges, were mod-eled on the bikes seat.

The BR01 B-Rocket ($7,200) isan automatic chronograph with atachymeter scale, date window at 4oclock, 30-minute and 12-hour countersat 9 and 6 oclock, respectively, and smallseconds subdial at 3 oclock. The case,which is steel and 46 mm across, is squarelike the cases of the brands other BRmodels.

The BR03 B-Rocket ($5,800) is anautomatic with a 42-mm case. There is abig date display under 12 oclock, towardthe center of the dial. Cutouts in the dial

provide a view of the two date disks. At 6oclock, theres a circular power-reserveindicator that resembles the fuel gaugesin racing cars and motorcycles.

Both watches are water resistant to100 meters and have luminous hour andminutes hands and sapphire crystals withnonreflective coatings. Both are alsobeing manufactured in limited series of500 pieces.

The BR03 B-Rocket

The BR01 B-Rocket

The B-Rocket bike thatShaw Harley-Davidsondesigned for Bell & Ross

Bell & Ross




WHEN TAG HEUER launched theMonaco V4 as a non-functioning conceptwatch in 2004, many were skeptical thatthe watchs revolutionary belt-drivemovement could be made to run reliably.Indeed it took the company five years tobring the watch to market. (See PilotProjects in WatchTimes August 2012issue.) As it turns out, perfecting the orig-inal V4 was only a training exercise forprojects yet to come.

At Baselworld this year, TAG Heuerlaunched the Monaco V4 Tourbillon.The brands fighter-pilot-turned-physicist

Guy Smon told us that this new V4 is afully functional product, not a prototypeor concept watch, and that he views theV4 not as a one-off movement, but as aplatform for future development. Trans-lation: well see more belt-drive compli-cations in the future.

The new models tourbillon is beltdriven: no surprise since the watch is aV4. The power-delivery system is thesame as that in the original V4, thoughthe belts have been modified for thismodel. Each of the Tourbillons fourtransmission belts is a mere .07 mm indiameter, which is thinner than a sheet ofphotocopier paper. TAG claims that thebelt-drive system eliminates the backlashassociated with wheel-and-piniondesigns, allowing the tourbillon to runmore smoothly. The Tourbillon alsoincorporates the original V4s linear-masswinding system.

The movement is housed in a 41-mm-square case in polished grade 5 titaniumwith a black carbide coating.

The Monaco V4 Tourbillon isdesigned and hand assembled in house atTAG Heuers haute horlogerie work-shops in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The V4Tourbillon will be produced in a limitededition of 50 pieces, priced at $165,000.

TAG Heuer




OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, Jacob &Co. has brought out a new, highly com-plicated watch at each Baselworld. Thisyears was the Astronomia Tourbillon,which provides a high-mechanical yetwhimsical take on the celestial watch. Todevelop it, Jacob & Co. collaboratedwith Studio 7H38, a high-mech designworkshop based in Vaumarcus, in thecanton of Neuchtel.

In essence, the Astronomia plays onan idea of orbits. There are four elementsaround the perimeter of the watch face: askeletonized dial with hour and minuteshands, a tourbillon, and two spheres rep-resenting the Earth and the moon. Allfour elements rotate around the center ofthe dial, making a complete revolutiononce every 20 minutes. But thats just thebeginning. While the four planets arespinning around the dial, theyre alsoturning on their individual arms. Both themoon and the Earth rotate around theirarms axes once every 60 seconds. Themoon is represented by a spherical,briolette-cut diamond with 56 facets. TheEarth is a white-gold globe that has

been enameled and hand engraved toaccurately represent the planets oceansand landmasses.

The four elements are attached to afour-armed carrier, beneath which is amotor barrel. Motor barrels are an alter-native to the traditional mainspring bar-rel, and were popular at the start of the20th century. Essentially, a motor barrelreverses the roles of the barrel and arborfound in a standard barrel. Whereas in astandard barrel you turn the arbor towind the mainspring and then the gearedbarrel transmits power to the going train,here the barrel winds the spring, and thatpower is then transmitted through thearbor to the going train. (The Astrono-mia is manually wound via the caseback.)The benefit of a motor barrel is that itreduces friction and wear on the barrel,transmitting power more efficiently.

The barrel and central carrier alsoturn the time display and tourbillon, butat different rates than the Earth andmoon. The tourbillon, which beats at18,000 vph, makes one rotation on itsaxis every 60 seconds, as most tourbil-

lons do. Additionally, it revolves on thearm that carries it, turning once every 5minutes. Since its also rotating aroundthe dial once every 20 minutes, the tour-billon turns on three different axes atonce.

With all these axes of rotation, youdthink it could get pretty difficult to readthe time. It doesnt: the arm that holds thetime-display dial is equipped with a dif-ferential system, keeping the dial uprighteven as it makes its 20-minute orbit.Whatever position the dial is in, it willstill keep 12 oclock at the top so that itseasily legible.

To fit all of these moving parts, theAstronomia has a highly domed sapphirecrystal. Its case (47 mm in diameter, 18mm thick) is made of a DLC-coated poly-carbonate composite with rose-gold fea-tures. Underneath the various orbitingbodies, the dial is made of blue aven-turine to resemble a star-filled sky. TheAstronomia Tourbillon is being producedin a series of nine pieces, each priced at$540,000.

Jacob & Co.


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netic watches, by contrast, rely on a pro-tective Faraday cage to shield the move-ment from magnetism. Omega says itssystem makes the Seamaster resistant toup to 15,000 gauss (1.5 tesla), the highestlevel of antimagnetism on the watch mar-ket today. Because the watch has noopaque inner case, Omega was able to fitthe Seamaster with a transparent case-back. From now on, Omega will useMaster on all its watches with thisantimagnetic feature (and has added theword to the Aqua Terras dial).

Caliber 8400 is a COSC-certifiedchronometer and is water resistant to 300meters (the 300 in the watchs name). Itruns in 38 jewels and has a power reserveof 60 hours. Its frequency is 25,200 vph.

The black dial of the Seamaster 300has been sandblasted, and its triangularhour markers are recessed into the dial.These indexes are partly filled with vin-tage Super-LumiNova, and their color-ing is unlike what one finds on most con-temporary dials. In the dark, these emit ablue light. The luminous material on thehour and seconds hands also shines blue,while the minutes hand and the dot at 12oclock on the bezel shine green.

THIS YEAR OMEGA brought out anupdated version of its 57-year-old diverswatch, the Seamaster 300. The new modelis very close in appearance to the 50smodel: it has a thin black bezel, a largearrow on the hour hand, and pointedhour indexes. Even the coloring is nearlythe same, giving the new watch a vintageappearance. But underneath the dial, theSeamaster 300 is entirely fresh, with anew manufacture caliber that drawsupon Omegas most recent technologicaladvances.

The Seamaster 300s dial reads Mas-ter Co-Axial. As Omega fans know, theCo-Axial in the label refers to thewatchs co-axial escapement, invented bythe great British watchmaker GeorgeDaniels and a mainstay of the Omegabrand. Master, however, is a new des-ignation and refers to the watchs anti-magnetic properties. The movement, Cal-iber 8400, incorporates the same anti-magnetic technology that the brandintroduced last year with its SeamasterAqua Terra. It is based on the use of anti-magnetic materials for various movementcomponents, including the balancespring, which is silicon. Most antimag-

Omega

The bezel is made of polished blackceramic, with diving-scale markers inOmegas proprietary Liquidmetal. Thebezel rotates in one direction. Thescratch-resistant sapphire crystal has anonreflective treatment on the inside. Thecase, made of stainless steel, has a 41-mmdiameter. It comes on a polished andbrushed stainless-steel bracelet. Thebracelet uses a rack-and-pusher claspsystem that was patented by Omega andcan be extended to fit over a wetsuit.

Six different versions of the new Sea-master 300 are being produced, in plat-inum, titanium, or Omegas Sedna gold (arose-gold alloy that includes palladium).There are also two-color versions. Thestainless-steel Seamaster 300 shown herecosts $6,600.

The original Seamaster 300 from 1957

The new Seamaster 300


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BASELWORLD 2014The New Watches

ArminStrom

LAST YEAR BLANCPAIN brought outan updated version of its Fifty FathomsBathyscaphe, which was introduced inthe late 1950s. This year the brand fol-lowed up with a flyback chronographversion of the watch. It contains a newin-house movement, which features auto-matic winding, a column-wheel chrono-graph mechanism, vertical clutch, and asuper-fast frequency of 36,000 vph.

The watch (including its chrono push-ers, which, unlike those on many watches,can be operated under water) is waterresistant to 300 meters. The balancespring is made of silicon, which resistsmagnetism. The rotor is made of 18kgold, coated with the platinum alloy NAC.The dial, like that of its 1950s predecessor,is domed and indicates the hours bymeans of simple lines and dots rather

than numerals. The date appears in a win-dow at 4 oclock. The dial has a sunburstfinish while the subdials (chrono countersand small seconds) have snailed finishes.The rectangular hour and minutes handsare also a nod to the original Bathyscaphe.

The unidirectional rotating diversbezel is made of ceramic and has hourmarkers filled with the patented Liquid-Metal alloy, which enhances the bezelsscratch resistance. The hands and indexesare coated with Super-LumiNova. Thecase, fitted with a see-through back, is 43mm in diameter and available in abrushed black ceramic version with blackdial (shown here, $17,000) or in brushedsteel with a gray dial ($15,000). Thewatches are fitted with either a NATOfabric or sail-canvas strap; the steel ver-sion also comes on a metal bracelet.

Blancpain

BIENNE-BASED Armin Strom hasadded a date display to its Gravitywatch, which has a micro-rotor visiblethrough the dial. The original Gravitywatch debuted at Baselworld last year.The Gravity Date has Armin Stromscharacteristic off-center time display,with the brand name along the right sideof the dial. The subdial for the small sec-onds at 9 oclock has two skeletonizedhands. The larger one points to the date,marked in a ring inside the seconds ring.The shorter one is a 24-hour hand andaids in adjusting the date. The black andwhite halves of the subdial signal dayand night. Caliber ADD14, including itsgold escape wheel and pallets and its micro-rotor at 5 oclock, is visible through the

dial. The watch has a singlebarrel with a five-day pow-er reserve. Its case is 43.4mm in diameter and 13 mmthick. In keeping withArmin Stroms other collec-tions, the Gravity Datecomes in four versions namedafter the four elements: Air(titanium case, white alligatorstrap), Earth (black PVD-coatedstainless-steel case, black alligatorstrap), Water (shown here; stain-less-steel case, blue alligator strap),and Fire (rose-gold case, brown alli-gator strap). Each is limited to 100pieces. The price for the Water versionis $18,300.



THE SIGNATURE of the German brand MeisterSinger is itsone-hand dials. In most of its watches, a single hand circlesthe dial once every 12 hours; 5-minute increments aremarked between the hour indexes so the wearer can readboth hours and minutes from the same hand. The newSalthora offers a different twist on that theme: it, too, hasjust one hand, but that hand indicates minutes only. Hoursare shown in a jumping display at 12 oclock. The Salthorais the first MeisterSinger model with a jumping-hour mech-anism. The watch is powered by an automatic ETA 2824-2caliber with an added module for the jumping hour. Thewatch has a 38-hour power reserve. To prevent any uneven-ness of rate that the energy-intensive jumping-hour mecha-nism might cause, the tension for the switching arm of thehour disk is provided over the course of the 60 minutes by ascrew attached to the minutes wheel. Power is thereforesiphoned from the barrel continuously rather than all atonce, and the rate is not affected much, MeisterSinger says.The Salthora has a 40-mm stainless-steel case with an exhi-bition caseback. It is water resistant to 50 meters. An exactU.S. price was not available at press time, but it was expectedto be about $3,300.

MeisterSinger

THE EZM 13 from Sinn is a divers watch designed to with-stand rugged use. Its case, with a diameter of 41.5 mm, ismade of bead-blasted stainless steel. The watch is waterresistant to 500 meters and is certified based on the Germanstandard DIN 8310. (It is also certified for the German div-ing standard, DIN 8306.) The watch is protected from mag-netic fields up to 80,000 A/m. Special oils lubricate its mov-ing parts to ensure that it works properly from -45 degreesto +80 degrees C (-49 to +176 degrees F). The EZM 13 usesSinns Ar-Dehumidifying Technology, which keeps the dialfrom fogging up after rapid temperature changes. Theindexes and hands have a luminous coating. A date windowsits below 4 oclock. Small seconds are at 3 oclock. TheEZM 13 is powered by Sinns automatic SZ02 movement,which is a modified version of the ETA 7750 with a 60-minute counter instead of the usual 30 minutes. The move-ment has 25 jewels and runs at 28,800 vph. The watch hasa rotating bezel. The screw-down crown and pushers are onthe left side of the case so they wont restrict the motion ofthe hand. As an additional protection that many diverswatches lack, the push-piece pins are mounted directly in acase aperture so that the chronograph can be activated underwater without damaging the movement. Price: $2,900.

Sinn



Casio

Tudor

A NEW ADDITION to the Pro Trek family,the PRW6000Y is a rugged outdoorswatch with a compass, barometer andaltimeter, among other functions. WithCasios Triple Sensor Version 3, the sen-sors for these functions are significantlysmaller than in older models with similarfunctions: they take up only 5 percent ofthe space they used to and consume 1/10of the energy. The watch takes altitudereadings once per second at a resolutionaccurate to one-meter increments. Thecompass can take 60 seconds of continu-ous measurement.

The solar-powered watch is designedto charge in low levels of sunlight or influorescent light. It also has an automaticbacklight that adjusts to ambient condi-tions so that it gives the appropriateamount of illumination. An atmosphericpressure-trend alarm can alert you to

The Ranger has a high-contrast dial,with hand-painted, Super-LumiNovanumerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9 oclock. Thenumerals are domed to give the dialgreater depth. The watch is powered byautomatic ETA Caliber 2824. Its case is

sudden shifts in barometric pressure. Ifthe weather is changing and youre aboutto be caught in a downpour, the watchwill make sure youre the first to know.

For accurate timekeeping, thePRW6000Y employs Casios Multi-Band6 technology, receiving radio signals fromsix atomic clocks around the world. Thewatch synchronizes automatically withtimekeeping stations in the U.S., the U.K.,Germany, China and Japan (which hastwo stations).

The PRW6000Ys other featuresinclude a 1/100-second stopwatch, acountdown timer, multiple alarms andworld time. All of the functions can beaccessed by way of the electronic crown,which lets you toggle between differentmodes and activate the various functions.The watch comes on a carbon insertstrap. Price: $600.

THE TUDOR HERITAGE RANGERdraws upon a military-style watch of thesame name that the brand introduced in1967. The most distinctive feature of theRanger is its brown leather bund strap.Like a NATO strap, it is a single piece ofmaterial, running underneath the watchcase. It is especially tailored to the watch,with a tapered oval to fit the shape of thecase. It has visible white stitching alongthe sides; the thin edges are painted black.Leather also runs around the crosspieces,so the watch is fully embedded in its strap.

If the bund strap isnt your cup of tea,Tudor also offers the Ranger with a steelbracelet, or a darker brown strap in amore traditional style. All these optionshave a satin-finished folding clasp andsafety catch. All versions of the Rangeralso come with an additional fabric strapin a distinctive woven camouflage pattern.

41 mm in diameter and is waterproof to150 meters. The crystal is made of sap-phire and is domed. The bracelet versioncosts $2,950; the leather strap optionsare $2,825 each. The Ranger will be instores in July.



THE HEADLINER for Tutima at Basel-world was the Saxon One Chronograph.The watch has two unusual features. Oneis the center-mounted minutes counterthat tallies elapsed minutes. The other isthe chronograph pushers, which followthe curve of the case and are quite incon-spicuous when the watch is viewed head-on. There is a subdial at 12 oclock thatshows 24-hour time. Running secondsare at 9 oclock and a 12-hour countersits at 6 oclock. The case is 44 mm indiameter and 15.3 mm thick. The crystalis made of sapphire and has a nonreflec-tive coating on the inside. The brandssignature red stroke indicates the 12oclock position on the bezel. Price:$7,700 for the bracelet version and$7,550 for the reptile-leather-strap one.

Tutima

THE MOST IMPORTANT new watch for Citizen this year was theEco-Drive Satellite Wave F100. The watch can receive time signalsfrom satellites orbiting the Earth and automatically adjust itself todisplay the time in any of 40 time zones, indicated by a ring of city ini-tials around the dial periphery. Citizen introduced its first satellite-signal watch in 2011 and last year brought out another with a moresensitive antenna. The F100 is an improvement over these watchesbecause it can pick up the signal faster, in 3 seconds or less, shaving 1second off the time required by the 2013 version. The watch is alsomore precise, Citizen says, and will gain or lose no more than 5 sec-onds a month, compared to 15 seconds for the previous version. Thecase, made of titanium, is 45 mm in diameter and 12.4 mm thick. Thebezel is coated with DLC. The watch is powered by Citizens Eco-Drive system, which converts natural or artificial light into electricityand stores it in a cell, eliminating the need for battery changes.

The Satellite Wave F100 (F100 is the name of the movement)also has a perpetual calendar. There is a date window at 3 oclock;a subdial between 7 and 8 oclock shows the day and also containsan indicator showing how much light is entering the watch at anygiven time. Three indications near the top of the dial give informa-tion about the satellite signal reception. RX means the watch is inreception mode, OK means it has picked up a signal, and NOmeans it has failed to pick one up. Price: $2,000.

Citizen



THE MOTTLED EFFECT on the bezel of Clercs newHydroscaph 140 Carbon Limited Edition Chronographis due to the unusual material from which the watch ismade: NTPT (North Thin Ply Technology), a lightweightcarbon composite made of many layers of carbon fiberno thicker than 30 microns. NTPT has many uses,including for sails on Americas Cup yachts and forFormula 1 racecars. Its advantages for use in watchcases are that its extremely rigid, it is very easilymachined, and, thanks to the process used to make it, ithas a distinctive, wood-grain-like look.

As its name suggests, the Hydroscaph, water resistantto 500 meters, is a divers watch. The case, 44.6 mm indiameter (49.6 mm if you include the lateral protectors),is composed of 103 components and is, the companysays, the most complex case on the market. (The 140in the watchs name is a reference to the 140 years thathave passed since the original Clerc company was foundedin Paris.) The bezel, which the wearer rotates via thecrown at 10 oclock, can be locked into position bymeans of a retractable flap on the middle section of thecase. The lugs are flexible and can be adjusted to fit overa wetsuit. The caseback is transparent.

The movement, an automatic, is Caliber C608.Elapsed minutes are indicated by a center-mounted handrather than on a subdial. A 24-hour display sits at 9oclock. The indexes and hands are coated with graySuper-LumiNova. The watch is being made in a limitededition of 140 pieces. Price: $12,900.

Clerc

THE CERAMIC TOUCH TECHNOLOGY that Rado intro-duced last year has now been added to the HyperChrome col-lection. The HyperChrome Ceramic Touch Dual Timer canimmediately be recognized as a touch-controlled watch, since ithas no crown. It has hour and minutes hands for two timezones, displayed on the main dial and on a subdial at 6 oclock.To set the main time, place your finger at 10 oclock on theceramic case. When the minutes hand moves and the watchbeeps, it is ready to be set. Sliding a finger along the left side ofthe case will set the hour hand forward or back; the right sidechanges the minutes. The minutes hand on the second-time-zone subdial will also move to stay aligned with the local-timeminutes hand. To set the second time zone, place a finger at 8oclock until the watch responds. Setting the hours works thesame way as with the larger time display; the minutes on thesubdial move in 15-minuteincrements. This way, thewatch can be set to any timezone, even ones that are aquarter hour off from yourhome time. To swap the timeon the two displays, touchthe case at 9 and 3oclock simultaneouslyand the hands willswitch places. Thewatch comes ingray, white orblack ceramicand on a leatherstrap. The ver-sion shown hereis $3,000.

Rado



BASELWORLD 2014The New Watches

ChristopheClaret

THIS YEAR CHRISTOPHE CLARETSnew models included the Maestoso. Thiswatch is doubly rare: it incorporates botha cylindrical balance spring and a pivoteddetent escapement that took Claret sevenyears to perfect. These components dateto the golden age of precision chronome-try, when an accurate timekeeper onboard a ship meant the differencebetween knowing your location andbeing lost at sea. Detent escapementstrump even tourbillons for timekeepingprecision, yet they are almost never foundin wristwatches because they areextremely sensitive to shocks.

Claret solved the problem with amechanism in which an anti-pivot cam,integral to the spring balance, works inconjunction with a safety finger. Theensemble pivots on a ball bearing thatdistributes the load on the escapement. Aseparate, flexible thrust bearing absorbsexcess energy. Sapphire bridges providean unobstructed view of the mechanism.

WE RECEIVED A BIG surprise at theDoxa booth this year. How big? Fifty-seven millimeters big. This year marksDoxas 125th anniversary, and to cele-brate the occasion, the brand presentedthe limited-edition (125 pieces, naturally)57-mm-wide 8 Days Manufacture. Itspowered by a revived version of the eight-days movement the company patented in1907 for use in a pocketwatch. Indeed,Doxa claims to have been the first Swisscompany to have patented an eight-daysmovement.

The 21-jewel movement featuresGeneva-waves finishing, hand engraving

Doxa

The movement isalso unusual in thatit runs at 2 Hz, or14,400 vph. Twinbarrels housing fourmainsprings providethe power. To guar-antee stable energydelivery throughoutthe 80-hour powerreserve, Claret fittedthe movement with aconstant-force spring,wound by the barrel.A patented stop-seconds mechanismfacilitates precisiontime setting. All of this fits in a case meas-uring 44 mm in diameter.

The Maestoso is available in threeversions: 5N rose gold ($215,000),anthracite PVD titanium with white gold($209,500), and anthracite PVD titaniumwith rose gold ($205,000).

and blued screws. The watch is availablein six different models. Two are in stain-less steel with complete dials in black orwhite, each with a power-reserve indica-tor. Two have partly skeletonized whitedials and power-reserve displays: one instainless steel and one with 10-micron-thick rose-gold plating. Two have nopower-reserve indicators: one with a fullwhite dial, and a pilots model with ablack dial in stainless steel with a vintage-looking brown riveted strap. Each offersa view of the movement through a sap-phire caseback. Water resistance is 30meters. All models are priced at $3,900.



Mhle-Glashtte

GERMANYS EQUIVALENT of the Navy SEALs are knownas the Kampfschwimmers, or combat swimmers. Thesespecial operations forces train for deployment on land, seaand air. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the elite unitsfounding, Mhle-Glashtte is launching the Kampfschwim-mer watch. The sunburst dial is an attention-grabbing elec-tric blue. The buzz-saw bezel is a nod to the commandodivers insignia, which prominently features a sawfish. Thecomplete insignia, with a special 50th-anniversary notation,is engraved on the solid caseback. The case measures 44 mmin diameter; the crystal is d

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