The Breitling Watch Blog

VENTURA – SPARC MGS®

Having developed the first automatic watch with a digital display, Ventura and its founder Pierre Nobs disappeared from the watch scene in 2007. Now, however, they have returned to centre stage with the SPARC MGS®, the first high-end automatic watch with a digital display driven by a micro-generator visible in the upper part of the case. Wrist movements feed an accumulator providing power to the high-performance microprocessor. Multiple functions, like the 100-year perpetual calendar, are now just a fingertip away, thanks to the timepiece’s EasySkroll® operating system. Cutting-edge ergonomics!

Movement
Automatic, barrel-powered micro-generator, 45-day power reserve, tungsten rotor

Functions
EasySkroll® operating system with the following indicators: T1/Date, T2/Date 2, T1 and T2 Alarm, perpetual calendar, chronograph, countdown, choice of display – 12 or 24 hours and 3 date formats

Case
Scratch-proof Durinox® hardened stainless steel, or black PVD-treated, 56.3 x 38 mm
Upper part with rotor and micro-generator; lower part with digital display
Sapphire crystal
Water-resistant to 30 m /3 ATM

Dial
LCD screen, LED backlighting

Strap/Bracelet
Rubber, or Durinox® steel (black PVD-treated or not), with safety folding clasp

CORUM – Golden Bridge Automatic

When it was presented in 1980, the Golden Bridge baguette movement made a deep impression and opened a new chapter in horology. Thirty years on, this exceptional linear movement still exerts its magic and once more finds itself at centre stage with, for the first time, an automatic version in a larger red or white gold case. And in the spotlight is the new CO 313 calibre, a linear movement demanding an exceptionally high level of horological savoir-faire. The two-sided dial and the case’s four sapphire crystal sides have been carefully structured to highlight this exceptional automatic movement. A limited edition, not surprisingly, with 130 watches available in red gold and 70 in white gold.

Movement
Automatic baguette with linear winding, CO 313 calibre, mechanism with slip-spring and variable-inertia balance, 194 components, 26 jewels, 28,800 vib/h, 40-hour power reserve. Platinum rotor, 18K gold hand-engraved plate and bridges, vertical guilloché decoration

Functions
Hours and minutes

Case
Tonneau, polished and satin-finished 5 N (18K) red gold or 18K white gold, 37.2 x 51.8 mm
4 sapphire crystals, shaped and cut
Sapphire crystal back to reveal movement
Fluted crown at 6 o’clock
Water-resistant to 30 m / 3 ATM

Dial
Black or grey
Applied hourmarkers
Gold skeleton hands

Strap
Black, hand-sewn crocodile leather with red or white gold buckle

De Grisogono is always pushing the envelope of creativity with their watches, ones that I know I’ll never be able to afford, but what the hey – They look awesome.

DE GRISOGONO – Meccanico dG

Following its worldwide success, the Meccanico dG is now being offered in a new exclusive version. A veritable technical masterpiece designed by Fawaz Gruosi and a treasure-house of virtuosity, this exceptional piece displays the time for two time zones on a double analogue and mechanical digital display. For the first time, these are in white rather than green or gold. The timepiece, which won the Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie in 2009, is a veritable interplay of contrasts with hourmarkers and micro-segments decked out in white to offset the watch’s dominant matt black appearance to greater effect. The dark alligator strap sets off a design that is both understated and impulsive. An exclusive foretaste of a special collection to be unveiled in its entirety at Baselworld.

Movement
Hand-wound, 28,800 vib/h, DF 22-93 calibre, 111 jewels, 36-hour power reserve

Functions
Hour and minute analogue display on the upper dial
Mechanical digital display of second time zone on lower dial

Case
Curved rectangular in matt black titanium, 55 x 51.40 mm
Sapphire crystal, front and back
Black rubber correctors and crown-cover
Water-resistant to 30 m / 3 ATM

Dial
Matt black brass with white hourmarkers
Two time-zone displays, analogue and mechanical digital, de GRISOGONO patent
White dauphine hands

Strap
Matt black alligator leather, matt blackened triple folding clasp

FREDERIC JOUVENOT – Solar Deity Collection

Here for the first time is a watch that tells the time without conventional hands, numbers or discs! Frédéric Jouvenot has achieved a real tour de force with its Solar Deity collection, named after the sunbeam design of its hour display. The path of the sun and the alternating day/night cycle are shown by means of 12 radio-concentric, three-dimensional rays. At midday, when the sun is at its zenith, all the sunbeams are golden to represent full daylight. As time passes, the sunbeams turn black one by one as day moves towards night. All the models are named after a god, like the Helios, which won the GTE 2011 Superwatch Award, or the Inti. A revolutionary, avant-garde timepiece offered in a limited edition.

Movement
Hand-wound, 42 jewels, 21,600 vib/h, 45-hour power reserve; balance with bi-metallic screws, rhodium-plated, Côtes de Genève bridges; ratchet-wheel with polished ridge

Functions
24 hours, minutes, and day/night indicator

Case
Black DLC-treated titanium, 44 mm
Anti-reflective sapphire crystal, front and back
Water-resistant to 50 m / 5 ATM

Dial
Patented hour display without discs or hands – 12 sunbeams for day/night indication
Central rotating disc minute indicator

Strap
Black alligator leather with titanium folding clasp

Other version
Inti: 18K pink gold case, Inca engraving on bezel and three-dimensional pyramids on dial, limited edition

Two new products from Clerc, one in their Hydroscaph diver style and one very unique model called the Odyssey Silicium, featuring some out-of-this-world materials!

CLERC – Hydroscaph Steel GMT

Clerc begins the year with the Hydroscaph Steel GMT, one of the world’s most sophisticated diver’s watches. Water-resistant to 1,000 metres, it revisits the underwater world in confident and dynamic style, resolutely geared up for adventure. Sporting a new material, colour and dial, the collection is optimised while maintaining its characteristic design features: the 103-part octagonal case, extreme readability, and the automatic helium valve.

Movement
Automatic, exclusive Calibre C606, 28,800 vph, 28 jewels, bevelled bridges adorned with “Côtes de Genève” motif and blued screws, 45-hour power reserve

Functions
Hours, minutes, seconds, date, dual time-zone display and power-reserve indicator

Steel
316L steel, 44.6 mm
Exclusive crown-activated rotating bezel mechanism
Automatic helium valve
Sapphire crystal with anti-glare treatment, front and back
Water-resistant to 1,000 m

Dial
Second time zone at 12 o’clock
Power-reserve indicator disc at 6 o’clock
Date window at 3 o’clock

Strap
Crocodile-patterned rubber with folding clasp

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CLERC – Odyssey Silicium

The Odyssey S is made from materials derived from aerospace industry research, such as its silicon regulating organ. The Manufacture-made calibre is equipped with twin barrels ensuring a six-day power reserve. A dial opening at 10 o’clock provides a view of the balance-spring and balance, protected by a blue-tinted sapphire crystal, while the countdown is read off on the inner rotating bezel, and the three-dimensional dial provides an admirable stage-setting for the various displays.

Movement
Automatic, Manufacture-made, twin-barrel Calibre C201, 45 jewels, 28,800 vph, black gold-plated bevelled bridges, six-day power reserve

Functions
Hours, minutes, seconds, retrograde date and power-reserve indicator

Case
Stainless steel and grade 5 polished titanium, 44 mm
Inner rotating bezel
Exclusive sliding protective mechanism for the pushers and crown
Sapphire crystal with anti-glare treatment, front and back
Water-resistant to 100 m

Dial
Openworked with balance visible through a blue-tinted sapphire crystal
Retrograde date between 1 and 4 o’clock
Power-reserve indicator at 6 o’clock

Strap
Black alligator leather with folding clasp