A new Chronograph from Ocean7, Mitch Feig’s Dive Watch company – is in fact a Pilot Watch! I remember the first Ocean7 Chronograph I bought, Swiss Made using the Valjoux 7750 movement costed $1800. This new Pilot uses the same basic parts and even comes DLC coated and only runs $799! This certainly is a very attractive price point for buyers as it puts an automatic Swiss Made chronograph well below $1000. From what I’ve seen from Ocean7 in the past as far as quality is concerned, this should be a very solid buy.

From Ocean7: “The OCEAN7 Watch Company has released one of the most affordable handmade Swiss ever made available on the market: the Pilot Chronograph. The Pilot Chronograph features a Swiss ETA 7750 chronograph movement and many desirable features:

Sandblasted, DLC coated case
Swiss ETA 7750 Chronograph Movement
44 mm diameter
15 mm height
Swiss Orange Super Luminova
Domed Sapphire Crystal
PU Rubber Sport Strap with Black, PVD Coated Buckle
Water Resistance – 5atm
22mm Lug Spacing”

In preparation for Baselworld 2012, new watch models are being announced by many of the participants. Always an exciting time of year! One of Blancpain’s annoucements is a very fine timepiece with a beautiful dial and white gold case.

40mm Solid 18K White Gold Villeret Case with beautiful blue Sunburst Flinque lacquered dial with retrograde seconds and pointer date complications. Flinque is a technique that involves putting on several layers of translucent lacquer on the dial to create an impression of depth. One of the more exciting features of this timepiece is the In-House Blancpain caliber 7663Q featuring 34 Jewels and 3 Day Power Reserve. Crystal is AR coated Sapphire and the case is Water Resistant to 30m.

Hell of a watch – the dial looks absolutely outstanding!

And the movement looks fantastic too!

Awesome! Zenith hits another one out of the park with the new Zenith Pilot Montre d’Aeronef Type 20 – a limited edition production of 250 pieces. This bad ass watch has a case diameter of 57.5mm, and uses the in-house pocketwatch caliber 5011. The watch is part of their Military Legacy watches series and is a limited edition created for the Smiling Children Charity Event.

Since this is such a limited production, I don’t think it will be in my own budget – but I can always dream can’t I!

Here is a shot of the Zenith 5011 in a Pocket Watch from Zenith:

Oris has revamped the Diver line with new Ceramic Bezels and updated cases. The new Aquis line features Stainless Steel Cases and Sapphire crystal and water resistances to 300m. They have added screwed-in crown guards for an extra touch of sophistication and a bit of faceting on the lugs as well. Nice looking pieces that update the look while still remaining quintessentially Oris in design.

There are two sizes available, a full size mens model at 43mm and a women’s sized model at 36mm. They are also available in two colors: Black and Blue. The photos appear to make the ceramic bezel insert on the blue model look glossy, while the ceramic bezel insert on the black model looks to have a brushed finish. Nice distinguishing features I think.

The watches continue with the integral style bracelets with an option for rubber as well. I like that they don’t have the rounded cushion sides that the older TT1 style had. I think that was my biggest dislike of the previous case. While I owned a couple and did really like them, the rounded case sides eventually started to bother me. Retail on the 43mm model is about $1,900US and $1,850 for the 36mm.

Specs:
Case Size: 43mm or 36mm
Dial Colors: Blue or Black
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Strap: Stainless or Rubber
Movement: Selitta SW-200

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!

I’ve been eyeing Lum-Tec for a while, ever since they started releasing the Combat Models and they started showing up on eBay a few years back. Some great designs combined with quality German-made cases really caught my attention. But then they started releasing a bunch of PAM-looking stuff without trying to look too much like a Panerai, which kind of turned me off. I do note that they have become immensely popular with the general buyers, however.

The new Lum-Tec 300M-2XL is another story, however. It features relatively traditional diver styling, but adds a few Lum-Tech features such as the Super Luminous Bezel, which is covered in Sapphire Crystal – Nice. It also has the Trademarked (Not Patented) MDV Technology, which stands for “Maximum Darkness Visibility”. See the writeup below for a little more detail on the MDV Lume application:

Overall, a nicely styled diver with some trademark Lum-Tec features and good quality parts inside and out. While the Sii NH35 movement is not quite as desireable as an ETA 2824-2 in my opinion, its still a good movement with hacking and handwinding – unfortunate that it beats at 21,600, which will have a choppier second sweep. Price direct is $925, discounted to $786.25 currecntly, so it is not a cheap watch!

Specs:
45mm width excluding crown.
24mm lug width.
316L Stainless steel.
Titanium Carbide PVD hard coating.
Uni-directional 60-click rotating luminous bezel with sapphire insert.
Alternating brushed and high polished finish.
21,600 BPH Sii NH35 Japan automatic movement with hacking and handwinding features.
Sapphire crystal with clear double side Anti-reflective coating.
Threaded solid stainless steel caseback.
LUM-TEC MDV technology®. (2-tone)
Screw lock crown with double diamond sealing system.
300 Meters / 990 ft. water resistance.
2 straps included. Stainless steel bracelet with diver’s extension and molded rubber.
One year limited warranty.
Free lifetime timing adjustments.

This limited edition timepiece from Glashutte commemortates Julius Assmann, one of the fathers of watchmaking in Glashutte. The piece is clad in a 44mm 18K White Gold case, and is limited to only 25 pieces – the age at which Julius Assmann founded his watch manufacture. The watch features the Calibre 100-14, which has two barrels and bi-directional 21k gold rotor. The watch also features a big date complication, small seconds complication, and power reserve indicator.

I’ve been pining for another Glashutte in my collection since I sold off my Senator Sixties. While I know this won’t be the pieces due to my inability to afford it, perhaps I will refresh my search for another Glashutte!

As the newest addition to the Historiques collection, the bold character and sculptural lines of the Historiques Aronde 1954 captures the creativity and savoir-faire of Vacheron Constantin.

Featuring a rectangular case, hand-made guilloche dial, double-rounded curve on the case flanks reminiscent of wings, and a domed sapphire crystal, the Historiques Aronde 1954 is an iconic creation from the Vacheron Constantin collection.

Perfectly suited to accent the wrist of any gentleman with an appreciation for daring design and mechanical excellence.

It is indeed a beautiful watch housed in 18K Pink Gold, featuring a handwind 1400 AS movement with the Geneva Hallmark:

Reference: 1400 AS
Energy: manual
Thickness (mm): 2.60
Diameter (mm): 20.65 (9”’ )
Number of parts: 98
Number of jewels: 20
Frequency: 4 Hz (28’800 v.p.h.)
Power-reserve (hours): 40 approx.
Indication: hours, minutes, small second
Certification: Hallmark of Geneva

This is a little crazy looking for me, but hey, I’m sure there are many folks out there willing to shell out $16,500USD (15,000CHF) for an iridescent watch. Nothing like taking what is already a pretty funky looking watch, and making it funkier!

From Graham:
The multitude of colours is hypnotic. The iridescence of the Swordfish Booster Iris, similar to the most beautiful natural wonders, is eye-catching. Do you know what Iris means in Latin?

Rainbow.

This rainbow effect is not due to pigment but interferences of light. It means that light waves interfere with one another on a surface refracting parts of the spectrum which create the iridescent colors. You have probably already seen it in a soap bubble or in an oil stain on a wet pavement but it results from a high-technological process.

The change of colours is also due to the extremely complex composition of the layers’ oxide. The steel case and components have been placed in big vacuums producing plasma reaction.

This unique coating contains multi-layered structures that provide thin-film interference. The thickness across the surface causes changes of colours in reflected light. Iridescence adds a new dimension to “surface”.

Graham Swordfish Booster Iris

Functions
Chronograph (seconds, 30 minutes and 12 hours counter) Hours, minutes, seconds

Calibre
Calibre G1710, automatic bi-compax chronograph, 28’800 A/h (4 Hz), Incabloc shock absorber
34 jewels
Power reserve: 48 hours

Case
48 mm steel case with black PVD coating and interferential substrate (iridescent effect) with two portholes at 3 and 9 o’clock
Steel right hand control pushers with “Clous de Paris” high grip pattern
Steel bezel with black PVD coating and interferential substrate (iridescent effect)
Flat sapphire crystal, anti-reflective coating
See-through sapphire crystal case back, screwed-down case back

Water Resistance
330 feet / 100 m

Dial
Black mother-of-pearl dial. Hours and minutes black snailed counters. Counters are magnified by 15%.
Skeleton central hands with black tip, black numerals and indexes, black seconds hand, grey hours, minutes counters’ and chrono hands

Strap
Integrated green croco
Black ceramic pin buckle

Price
15’000 CHF

With just 12 pieces to go around, this is a timepiece for the truly entitled (that’s not me). An absolutely stunning masterpiece, like all Urwerk timepieces. If only I had the money….

With its orbiting satellites and arrow-shaped time-indicating torpedoes, the UR-110 ZrN Torpedo is a truly stellar timepiece. Its radiance has been maximized thanks to a coating of Zirconium Nitride on the bezel, which provides the distinctive pale gold hue that gives rise to the “Champagne Supernova” nickname.

Zirconium Nitride is a high-performance ceramic machine tool coating, commonly used for industrial parts and aerospace components. While only a few microns thick, it is extremely hard (2,000 Vickers) and provides superb scratch, wear and corrosion resistance, while exhibiting excellent lubricity and ductility.

The UR-110 ZrN Torpedo is an Édition Spéciale of just 12 pieces, each distinguished by a red satellite hour numeral. Available exclusively from Chronopassion (Paris), Marcus (London), The Hour Glass (Singapore) and Westime (Los Angeles).

Model: UR-110 ZrN Torpedo

Case: Titanium with bezel in 316L sandblasted stainless steel treated with *Zirconium Nitride (ZrN); caseback in titanium; surface finishes micro-sandblasted

Movement: calibre UR 9.01 self-winding, unidirectional winding rotor coupled to twin turbines

Indications: Revolving satellite complication with rotating hour/minute modules mounted on planetary gears. Control board: day/night indicator, “oil change” indicator and running seconds

Dimensions: 47mm x 51mm x 16mm

*Please note that ZrN (Zirconium Nitride) is an industrial treatment that can result in variations in and the colour/hue on the bezel and between individual models.