A few days ago Omega announced a new 50th Anniversary Edition of the Seamaster James Bond 300m. The new Bond movie coming out this year is called Skyfall, and this does not appear to be a movie edition of the 007 watch.. so we might be seeing two Bond editions of the Seamaster 300m this year!
Beautiful watch. Some of the interesting features on this one are the red “50” marker on the new Ceramic dive bezel rings.. Yes, Ceramic! Very cool. If you didn’t figure it out already, the red “50” is to symbolize the 50th Anniversary. This new version has a Helium “He” periodic symbol on the Helium Escape valve, and also a combination of screws and pins now holding the new Bond Bracelet together. The photos seem to suggest that the new Bond Bracelet is a bit more angular and cut a bit better than before, giving it a fresher look.
Awesome caseback, which is the true highlight of this watch in my opinion. The barrel rifling lines that are the Bond signature as well as the back of a bullet, complete with dimpled primer! The view of that would suggest that you are looking from the back of the barrel rather than the business end.
The watch will feature the Co-Axial Calibre 2507 from Omega, and come in two sizes, 41mm and 36.25mm. The 41mm version will be limited to 11,007 pieces, and the 36.25mm version will be limited to 3,007.
I really like the detail and effort put into this 007 watch!
This is my recently posted Video review of my Montblanc Timerwalker Chrono, with the automatic Valjoux 7750 movement in it. Nice watch. I recall that the ads featured Nicolas Cage on them at one point. Great detailing on the case, and a very interesting stainless bracelet to boot. I determined that the style wasn’t really for me, but I did appreciate the craftsmanship of the case and bracelet. Montblanc has ventured into in-house movements now with some of their high-end pieces, so that’s good to see too.
I was thinking it was about time that I reviewed a Wolf Designs winder. I think the Wolf Designs winders are some of the best bang for buck winders out there and I know several people that have them. They are affordable, well-made, look great, and have good response and customer service from what I’ve heard. Their pricepoint makes them easily affordable and much better than the plastic stuff that is out there.
The Module 2.5 Single is a basic model with no cover to protect from dust. This is important to some people, and less important to others. The outside of the winder is a leatherette, with the inside portions made from “silk fabric”. While it doesn’t feel like silk to me, it is nice to the touch. The winder has a single control on the front allowing you to switch between A (Clockwise), B (Counter-Clockwise) & C (Bi-Directional). The winder is pre-set to 900 TPD, which is just the right amount for most single directional winding movements such as the Valjoux 7750.
There is also a green light on the metal front control. From Wolf Designs Website: “A green light indicates normal winder operation. A red light indicates either low battery power or that the drum is incorrectly turning.” The winder is interesting in that it runs through a cycle of charging up the mainspring, and then into a sleep cycle for 18 hours to allow the mainspring to unwind and discharge stored up energy, which is supposedly better for you watch. Operation is almost completely silent, but with the 18 hour sleep cycle, you can time it to be sleeping when you are!
The cuff locked in and can hold a watch with a strap size of up to 10″! That’s definately most people out there. The cuff compresses via a spring inside. When pushed in, the cuff clicks into place and holds the watch firmly. I have heard of some people having problems with the cuffs not staying in after a while with heavier watches, but that the Wolf Designs customer service fixed the problems quickly and easily when it happened.
There’s the butt-shot! As you can see, a compartment for D-Cell batteries as well as a jack for the AC Adapter. They recommend Lithium batteries as they last twice as long as Alkaline. The watch runs great with the AC Adapter and that’s what I use, however, with Batteries the winder can be put inside a safe as well and kept running, also a nice feature.
Overall its a good bang for buck winder with better-than-basic features and superior build quality. The interior structure of the winder is wood-framed, and the electronics do use fairly sohpisticated timing systems compared to basic winders. Wolf Designs sells these for $195 at regular price and occasionally a deal can be had.
Lots of amazing watches released at SIHH 2012 this year… with a fabulous lineup from Panerai as well as some very cool new offerings from Audemars Piguet and Cartier as well. One of my personal favourite pieces is the Chronomaster 1969 watches from Zenith. In particular, I really dig the standard Chronomaster 1969 Chronograph. This bad boy has a nice open heart dial and uses with very cool vintagey looking 1969 case.
I like my Chronomaster just fine, but this 1969 version has some understated, classic lines that just really call out to me. I will be buying one of these in the near future – just a matter of time!
Specs:
Movement El Primero 4061
Components: 282
Jewels: 31
Frequency: 36,000 VpH – (5 Hz)
Case: Stainless steel
Diameter: 42 mm
Crystal: Box-shaped sapphire crystal with anti-reflection treatment on both sides
Case-back: Transparent sapphire crystal
Here are all the Panerai Releases for SIHH 2012 this year.. they really pulled a quick one on everyone, sneaking in several surprise models that we were not aware were coming out. A nice spread of new watches from Panerai this year totalling 18 watches, with a few announced earlier than SIHH. Some notables include the black coated movements and only two new watches using non-in-house movements, both special editions. The introduction of the two watches featuring the 1940’s style Radiomir case is also a highlight, which is also the same two watches using the non-in-house movements. The 1940’s Radiomir is basically a Radiomir case with Luminor style lugs. Strange isn’t it? Anyway.. Here they are!
Panerai PAM 424 – PAM00424
Radiomir California 3 Days
P.3000 Movement
47mm
Panerai PAM 425 – PAM00425
Radiomir S.L.C. 3 Days
P.3000 Movement
47mm
Panerai PAM 421 – PAM00421
Radiomir 3 Days GMT Oro Rosso
P.3001 Movement
47mm
Panerai PAM 422 – PAM00422
Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days
P.3001 Movement
47mm
Panerai PAM 423 – PAM00423
Luminor 1950 3 Days Power Reserve
P.3002 Movement
47mm
Panerai PAM 439 – PAM00439
Radiomir Oro Rosso
P.999 Movement
42mm
Panerai PAM 441 – PAM00441
Luminor 1950 3 Days GMT Automatic Ceramica
P.9001 Movement
44mm
Panerai PAM 438 – PAM00438
Tuttonero Luminor 1950 3 Days GMT Automatic Ceramica
P.9001/B Movement (Black colored 9001 Movement)
44mm
Panerai PAM 388 – PAM00388
Radiomir Black Seal 3 Days Automatic
P.9000 Movement
45mm
Panerai PAM 392 – PAM00392
Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days Automatic
P.9000 Movement
42mm
Panerai PAM 393 – PAM00393
Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days Automatic Oro Rosso
42mm
Panerai PAM 323 – PAM00323
Radiomir 10 Days GMT
P.2003/6 Movement
47mm
