The Breitling Watch Blog

Linde Linde Linde. I been wanting one of these suckers for a long time… and I finally made it happen with a Linde Werdelin The One 2.6. The heart and soul that goes into the engineering of Linde Werdelin’s designs is second to none. The watches are designed as pure sport timepieces that allow conversion to an instrument using the indentations on the side of the cases to hold the dive and ski instruments that Linde also makes.

The Linde Werdelin The One 2.6 has an imposing case size of 46 x 49mm, and it shows. The watch is a beat on the wrist, but due to the sleek case shape and angles, it doesn’t stick out from the wrist but instead molds to the curvature of the wrist very well. The unidirectional dive bezel has superluminova dots painted onto it, which gives it a neat look.

The strap is held on by two hex screws for each side of strap. They are easily removed with the hex tool that is provided with every Linde Werdelin watch. The strap removal screws are the ones that are located on the watch case, not the ones located on the bracelet. The screws on the bracelet are used to hold the strap retention bars on the strap itself.

The watch is meticulously crafted, with every faceted surface perfect and finished immaculately. Even the surface underneath where the straps mount is perfectly bead blasted with a finish that is the same as the caseback which gives it a sense of perfection. One thing is for certain: Linde Werdelin takes price in their cases.

The dial is a matte black, with large SuperLuminova indices that glow like a hot damn. They are fantastic. The 2.6 has a nice chapter ring also outfitted with some SuperLuminova and seconds markers. The bezel is very easy to turn and quite functional, with nice grippy indentations cut crisply into the edge – another hallmark of precision casemaking. The bezel is pressure fit, not screwed in.

The “armadillo” style bracelet is VERY nicely finished as well. At $750 it is not a cheap bracelet, but still about half the price of a Breitling Pilot or Navitimer bracelet. The links are pinned, not screwed, which I would have liked to see. Nice signed and hidden double butterfly clasp with pressure release buttons tucked away on the sides. The bracelet is semi-rigid and while comfortable, is not the most comfortable I have worn. I like to wear the Linde a bit looser than other bracelets because of this.

The One 2.6 is water resistant to 1000 ft, not too shabby. It also houses a ETA 2892-A2 movement, without too much extras. Linde will be making a switch to Concepto movements in the future I have read. The watch keeps spot on time, which is not surprising for the movement inside – fully capable of COSC spec timing.

Overall it is a fantastic watch. I have sent this one to a new home, since I ended up picking up a Linde Werdelin 3-Timer as well, both with a black dial so I only need one. I plan to keep my Linde for quite a while, and wouldn’t mind adding another to the collection as well, probably one with a white dial though. Overall a watch that I would encourage anyone to get if they are attracted to the sharp lines and overall look of the Linde Werdelin watches.

Blacksand burst onto the watch scene last year at Baselworld 2011 creating some very impressive looking timepieces. Their new watch, the Stratographe, features their first completely in-house designed movement, the Calibre 2002. The watch features a monopusher chronograph, and some beautiful looking parts.

Specs:
Single-pusher chronograph with crown-activated start/stop/reset functions
Blacksand column wheel and index assembly Central 60-second chronograph hand – 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock Small seconds at 9 o’clock – hand-wound – 50-hour power reserve – 28,800 vph – Chamfered mainplate and bridges, black satin-brushed, sandblasted and circular-grained decoration Chamfered straight-grained steel parts. Polished screws.
Case 46mm in Titanium and Ceramic or Gold.

There’s always a showstopper every year, and one of them this year is the Opus 12 from Harry Winston. This is a hell of a timepiece and an absolute stunner. The Opus 12 will be a limited edition of 120 pieces in 18kt White Gold. The 46mm case will house the new Calibre Opus 12 featuring a whopping 80 jewels and 607 parts!

This watch is flat-out cool. No doubt about it.

I’m probably like the 1000th person to blog about this, so I apologize for the tardiness but its been a busy weekend!

When Rolex registered the trademarks around a year ago, all the buzz was about what this new Sky-Dweller would be like, and now its out! The new Sky-Dweller, which looks suspiciously like a Yachtmaster-II to me, is not the pilot watch I was expecting. The new Calibre 9001 is quiet impressive, and carries a lot of hidden features.

The Sky-Dweller features the SAROS Annual Calendar, among many other things: Ring Command Bezel, 72hr Power Reserve, COSC Certification, off-centre 24hr reference time, and more all in a 42mm 18kt White, Yellow or Everose Gold case. I’ll let the video from Rolex below explain all the wonderful features since it does it much better than I can!

Its been a busy few days at Baselworld and there have been a few watches that have caught my eye. I tend to get drawn towards the watches that I feel are in my affordability range and strike me as very wearable. One of these watches is the Zenith Espada.

Ultrawearable at 40mm, and featuring a dumbed-down version of the El Primero movement, named the Calibre 4650B. This 36,000vph movement is ultra-slick and ultra-smooth. The dial and case captures that classic Zenith look that I have been really dying to get my hands on. Water resistant to 100m, Sapphire Crystals front and back.