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.

Breitling has announced the replacement for the Chrono Avenger M1, and it is a steel SuperOcean with the same Magentic pusher technology with an added bonus of being water resistant to 2000M named the SuperOcean Chronograph M2000. It has some interesting strap options as well as the new Professional III bracelet.

From Breitling:
The first chronograph water-resistant and operational at a depth of 2,000 m. Breitling has created a new champion of abyssal depths, equipped with an exclusive magnetic pushpiece system. Within this patented system, the chronograph controls are operated via the metal of the case. This means that the Superocean Chronograph M2000 may be used in water to the fabulous depth of 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) without any risk of water seeping in. The 4 mm-thick sapphire crystal guarantees exceptional sturdiness, while the original appearance of the black dial is enhanced by red, black, blue or green-ringed counters.

Now here is a interesting and cool new model from Breitling! Introducing the new Breitling Caliber 05, this new World Time movement combines all the virtues of the B01 with an added double disk system that allows you to easily change timezones as well as see timezones in all 24 of the world’s timezones. All of this housed in Breitling’s distinctive and classically inspired Transocean case.

BRINGING THE WORLD TO THE WRIST

Breitling reasserts its horological mastery by launching a “world time” chronograph equipped with a new caliber entirely developed and produced in-house. Thanks to its double disk, the Transocean Chronograph Unitime simultaneously and constantly indicates the time in all 24 timezones. An innovative system based on a patented mechanism enables the user, when changing timezone, to adjust all the indications in one smooth and easy move by simply turning the crown. An exceptional new instrument makes its grand entry into the world of exclusive fine mechanisms.

TIME FOR TRAVEL

While the chronograph and instruments for professionals have established themselves since 1884 as Breitling’s domain of excellence, travel watches have also played an important role in the history of the brand with the winged B. In sharing the finest hours in the conquest of the skies, Breitling accompanied the boom in air transport and long-distance travel. During the 1950s and 60s, the brand distinguished itself by introducing a sophisticated model named Unitime, a selfwinding “world time” watch that has since become a much sought-after collector’s item. Today, Breitling is further extending its invitation to enjoy travel and performances by combining universal time and the chronograph function within a new model in the Transocean range – a collection reflecting all the refinement and prestige of luxury long-distance journeys. Associating innovative technology with stylish aesthetics, the Transocean Chronograph Unitime is distinguished by its modern, pure lines and the infinite care lavished on the smallest details – such as its dial bearing a globe pattern. It comes in steel or red gold versions with the city bezel available in several languages. That unmistakable first-class feeling on the wrist.

PERFORMANCE AND COMFORT

In creating Caliber 01, the Breitling engineers devised the world’s best chronograph movement. In developing the new Caliber 05, based on the same high-performance architecture, they have also reinvented the world time mechanism by equipping it with an adjustment system boasting unprecedented user friendliness. The Transocean Chronograph Unitime features two mobile disks: a 24-hour disk and a disk bearing the names of 24 cities representing the world’s 24 timezones. The time shown by the central hands corresponds to that of the timezone displayed at 12 o’clock. The city disk also bears indications serving to take account of “summer” or daylight saving time (DST).

When the user changes timezone, he need only pull out the crown and turn it forwards or backwards in one-hour increments in order to correct the hours, the city disk and the 24-hour disk in one smooth move. Meanwhile, the calendar is easily adjusted in both directions to the date corresponding to local time. During these maneuvers, the minute and seconds hands continue turning normally without any loss of precision, and without perturbing any chronograph timing operations in progress

Breitling releases another Limited Edition model, the Chronomat 44 TopGun Limited Edition. The US Navy TopGun aviation school, has joined with Breitling to offer this special watch released in a limited number of 500. Previously, this distinction belonged to IWC and their Ceramic Pilot Chrono, but I guess it is now Breitling’s Honor.

The watch is based on Breitling’s Chronomat 44 and will probably feature the same Breitling 01 Caliber that is in all Chronomat 44′s and also share the same case. Major differences with this TopGun limited edition will be the dial and the case back, which will feature an engraved TopGun logo.

An interview with Jerome Lambert, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, while he is driving around in his Aston Martin Rapide in Geneva Switzerland. Very cool! Interview is by Wei Koh of Revolution Magazine. He talks about the relationship with Aston Martin, the Spherotourbillon and Clive Owen.

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