The Breitling Watch Blog

I have posted a new Strap Review on Paneraisource.com of Atelier Du Cuir’s Leather Zulu Strap. Fantastic Zulu strap, probably one of the best that I’ve ever experienced. These are great Italian Leather straps, superbly crafted and priced affordably at $55. I was very impressed – take a look at the full review below:

Their current only web presence is on Etsy, where they have some other interesting Leather goods:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/DuCuir

Steinhart has joined the semi-in-house movement crowd such as Dornblueth and Nomos (And even Panerai’s base movements for that matter) with some heavily modified and customized versions of the ETA Handwound Unitas movements that are so popular. Announced on their 10th Anniversary, these movements are very cool, with customized ratchet wheels, 3/4 bridges, swan neck regulator as well as a beautiful screw balance – all very German in their production.

ST. 1 Premium Gold

ST. 1 Premium Silver

ST. 1 Premium Black

Specs:
Base caliber ETA Unitas 6497-1, 16 1/2″
17 jewels
18,000 vibrations per hour
3/4-bridge with escape wheel island of our own production
Radial, decentralized Geneva stripes
Pallet fork bridge pearled
Two-spoke screw balance
Bevelled swan-neck fine adjustment of our own production
Skeletonized and brushed ratchet wheel
Perlage under the ratchet wheel

I’m a little late to the party, but I have been so busy I haven’t had a chance to digest the new offerings until now. There aren’t as many differetnt types of new models as in previous years, which is in many ways a good thing, since Panerai has established a good base of regular edition models now. Seems they’ve focused on a few offerings, and given slightly different variations of the same watch, with four Radiomir 1940’s models offered this year – a very cool in my opinion.

2013 Historic Models
Basically four different Radiomir 1940’s watches.. One of these might be my next PAM.

Radiomir 1940 PAM 512

Radiomir 1940 Oro Rosso PAM 513

Radiomir 1940 3 Days PAM 514

Radiomir 1940 3 Days Oro Rosso PAM 515

2013 Contemporary Models
The new Regatta timer movement in the PAM 526 is a cool new feature.

Luminor 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic PAM 524

Luminor 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Oro Rosso PAM 525

Luminor 1950 Regatta 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Titanio PAM 526

2013 Specialities Model
Luminor 1950 8 Rattrapante Days Titanio PAM 530

2013 Special Editions
Nice watches, with a new Bronzo, and an awesome Pocket Watch that is way too cool for school.

Luminor Submersible 1950 2500M 3 Days Automatic Titanio PAM 364

Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Power Reserve Automatic Bronzo PAM 507

Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Ceramica PAM 508

Pocket Watch Tourbillon GMT Ceramica PAM 446

Nice batch of new watches, and I dig the direction they’re heading in right now.

Thin is in. At least at JLC it is. SIHH 2013 releases from JLC and several other brands tell us that Thinner, sleeker watches are back in vogue. Check out some of the ultra-thin offerings from JLC for 2013:

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Jubilee

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin 41

Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso Ultra Thin Duoface

In addition to the ultra-thin models, we have some updates and absolute masterpieces as well. One of the pieces that I really think is the Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Chronograph Cermet, which features a case made of an “aluminum matrix” reinforced by Ceramic particles and topped with a 40 micron thick ceramic coating.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Chronograph Cermet

Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Cylindrique à Quantième Perpétuel Jubilee

Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Celestial

Just a little snippet of some of the cool stuff that JLC has in store for us this year. Lots of thin, and lots of bling. Only time will tell of this ultra-thin craze will stick!

I mentioned that I had picked up a Tactico TC2 watch in an earlier article about Crepas, and it has landed! This is a hell of a watch, and much more interesting that I had initially thought. It came in a cool waterproof plastic tube with a screwdown top and reminded me a bit of Doxa but still kind of different.

Here’s the 42mm Tactico TC-2, mounted on the Stainless Steel bracelet. The watch also comes with two custom nylon nato-style straps, one in black and one in vintage that match the dial perfectly. The dial is very clean, and shows the hour, minutes and seconds along with the date. Lume is great, with vintage superluminova that is even in the bezel, which I thought was a very nice addition. The dial is a matte black, which goes great with the matte bezel. These are some of the small details that give this watch its unique character.

The bezel is a 120-click, unidirectional affair, that is a bit hard to turn. When you look at it from the side, it actually flares out towards the top, which is a nice touch. The bezel appears to be a plastic insert into the stainless steel ring.

Here’s a shot from the side, showing the neat shape of the Tactico TC-2’s case. Kind of a vintage style look, and it reminds me of the Glycine Airman D24 a bit in the main part, but with a dive bezel mounted on top. The caseback really sticks out a lot from the back so it sits on the wrist a bit high, but I kind of like that since it gives it a different look on the wrist than a watch that sits lower and conforms to the wrist more. The crown is signed with the Tactico logo and is screwdown.

The caseback is heavily engraved, and totally solid, helping with the 500m water resistance. Each watch is numbered and the number is engraved on the caseback along with some of the essential specs such as the Sapphire Crystal, Anti-magnetic properties and water resistance. As you can see, the endlinks are not solid, which is too bad, but doesn’t really bother me as much as I thought it would. Movement is a Swiss ETA 2824-2, the reliable workhorse.

And there’s the wrist shot! Looks bigger in the photo than it doesn’t in real life, but it wears more like a 40mm Submariner than it does a 42mm watch. The bezel is quite a bit smaller than the case so that’s probably why it wears a bit smaller than the specs would make you think. I think it wears great, and it actually exceeded my expectations. This is a unique watch, with a reliable Swiss Movement, and great style and attention to detail. I am very impressed with this offering from Tactico, and will be keeping my TC-2 for now.

For specs, you can check the bottom of my original Tactico TC2 post.