While the summer is often a low ebb for the horological tide, this month proved that Swiss, German and Japanese firms have all been hard at work developing and releasing products to hold us over between the important early-spring trade shows and those occurring in late fall and winter. A non-limited Eastern Arabic-dial dress watch from Longines is a welcome addition to watches inspired by the Middle Eastern market, while a sub-$1K diver from Seiko celebrating 60 years of PADI offers a relatively affordable (and robust) timepiece for those who prefer to spend a healthy chunk of their time underwater.
Meanwhile, collectors of high-end independents will be well served by new pieces from the likes of De Bethune, Armin Strom and J.N. Shapiro, and fans of brands such as Bulgari and Grand Seiko will be delighted with fresh takes on classic models. All this (and more) is on offer below — happy perusing, and we’ll see you in July!
Finding an accessible watch with an Eastern Arabic dial is easier said than done — typically, these are sold only in the Middle Eastern market and only in a limited production run. The new Arabic Dial within Longines’ Master Collection, however, is both a regular-production model, and remains relatively attainable when considering its specs: handsome silver “barleycorn” dial with applied Eastern Arabian indices and matching blued steel lead hands; the automatic Longines cal. L888.5 automatic movement visible via a sapphire caseback; and your choice of blue leather strap or matching bracelet. Now if they’d only get rid of that date window and shrink it down to 36 or 37mm…
Those in search of an ultra-thin dress watch inspired by classical tropes would do well to check out the new Blancpain Villeret Ultraplate. Coming in at 38mm with a case height of just 8.35mm, this stainless steel or red gold piece is fully automatic, with an impressive four-day (100-hour) power reserve courtesy of a slower beat rate of 3 Hz. Available in steel with gold-toned opaline or — in a first for the collection — in a sunburst salmon dial, it features applied 18K white, red or yellow gold Roman-numeral indices depending upon the reference. Designed with a stepped bezel and long, polished lugs, it nevertheless features several modern touches in the form of a subtle date window, luminous syringe hands and a folding clasp.
Based upon the incredibly rare SUB 200 T. GRAPH from 1969, the new SUB 200 T. GRAPH II is a (slightly) smaller, fully automatic dive chronograph with DOXA’s famous no-decompression bezel; a colorful dual-register design with 30-minute and running seconds registers (plus a date window); a 42mm stainless steel cushion case; and a cool beads-of-rice bracelet or rubber dive strap. Available in classic Professional (orange), Sharkhunter (black), Searambler (silver) or — new for this model — Caribbean (blue) colorways, it’s perhaps most exciting in the latter, where its plentiful orange, yellow and white accents give it a true summery feel. No matter which version you choose, however, you’re getting a wildly capable professional-grade diver in a case that wears much smaller (and more comfortably) than you might think.
For a more compact version of high-end independent De Bethune’s spectacular creations, try the DB25xs — equipped with a classically inspired round case and hollow lugs, it straddles distinctly vintage and modern horological eras to spectacular effect. The new Sand Winds iteration — which uses a heat-treated titanium dial with hand-executed random guilloché patterns to call to mind desert dunes — is one of the sub-collection’s most inspired references. Covered in a smattering of small white-gold star markers, the dial requires a second (or third) look to fully appreciate all its nuances, while polished Grade 5 titanium construction, the aforementioned hollow lugs and spectacular finishing throughout the movement make for a level of dynamism largely absent in many lesser watches.
A large revamp of Grand Seiko’s Evolution 9 collection sees no fewer than five fresh Spring Drive references and four mechanical references being added to the lineup. Inspired by diverse Japanese landscapes, each is truly a work of art — though to our mind, the ref. SLGH035 may be the most spectacular. Outfitted with the automatic hi-beat cal. 9SA5 movement boasts an 8–hour power reserve; it also features a 40mm ever-brilliant steel case and bracelet paired to a light-blue textured dial inspired by streams in the Genbi Valley in the Iwate Prefecture, near Grand Seiko’s Studio Shizukuish. The best news? The matching bracelet finally features a more pronounced taper, which has long been a request of dedicated Grand Seiko fans.
While Bulgari may have shrunk its Octo Finissimo Automatic down to 37mm, it has no intention of abandoning the larger 40mm references that have dominated the catalog until now. New in that size is a fresh interpretation of the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, a watch that automatically keeps track of (and displays) the day, date, month and leap year in addition to local time. What makes this execution special? The case is made from titanium treated with blue PVD, lending it a unique look complemented handsomely by the addition of a steel crown. Paired to a matching blue alligator leather strap, it’s somehow both dressier and more irreverent than its sandblasted titanium and rose gold cousins.
High-end independent maison Armin Strom has a history of developing envelope-pushing designs. The Orbit, held within the brand’s System 78 collection, is a fine example: measuring a hefty 43.4mm in stainless steel, it features a unique on-demand date complication that features interaction between the watch’s automatic movement and its bezel. By activating a pusher at 10 o’clock, a centrally mounted pointer hand indicates the correct date — which changes over automatically at midnight — as displayed along the fixed ceramic bezel. Engage the pusher again, and the hand jumps back to the 12 o’clock position, instantly decluttering the dial. Meanwhile, a small midnight purple fumé dial — which is matched to a frosted purple mainplate — indicates the time.
While Bauhaus-inspired design language and minimalist aesthetics are generally indicative of dressier fare, German brand NOMOS is perfectly at home carting over these visual cues into the realm of robust sport watches. The Ahoi Neomatik — an automatic timepiece with 200m of water resistance despite a case height of just 9.1mm — is perfectly at home beneath the waves or at a seaside bar, especially in its new light-blue Sky and golden-toned Sand colorways. Fitted with the brand’s in-house cal. DUW 3001 has automatic movement and is given plenty of green-glowing lume for use in low-light environments. Both references come paired to a textile strap that’s perfect for summertime use.
American watchmaker Joshua Shapiro continues to dazzle with his command of the rose engine lathe via the new Radiant Monopusher Chronograph. Part of the brand’s Infinity Series, it consists of a monopusher design housed within a 38mm tantalum case measuring just 10mm thick, with the option of a fully tantalum bracelet produced by MING for an additional cost. Powered by the Swiss-made La Joux-Perret cal. 5000-4 hand-wound movement, it comes in two stunning editions: while the first features a slice of the Gibeon Meteorite with a heat-blued zirconium chapter ring, the second boasts Shapiro’s signature basketweave guilloché pattern in blue. Limited to an initial production of 75 pieces, this is an impressive watch from an American master craftsman.
In celebration of 180 years of operations and 25 years of the Freak collection, Ulysse Nardin revamped the Freak X by shrinking the case size down to a more manageable 41mm and simplifying its movement architecture, adding a DIAMonSIL escapement with a silicon balance wheel and hairspring (along with 35 other patented components and systems). Available in stainless steel with a matching grey dial on leather, stainless steel with a blue dial on a matching steel bracelet or in 18K rose gold with a black dial on a matching black alligator leather strap, it features the unique crownless design and rotating movement that made it such a head-turner upon its release in 2001.
Limited to just 50 pieces, the TAG Heuer Monaco Speed 12 reimagines the brand’s famous automatic racing chronograph in the guise of a 12-cylinder engine. Designed by the mad geniuses at LVMH-owned La Fabriques du Temps, the cal. TH84-00 features 12 “pistons” controlled via a special cam system. As the time progresses and the watch’s central minutes hand revolves around the dial, a piston revolves 90° to reveal the correct hour as the previous one is hidden. A kind of automotive take on the wandering hours complication, the system is housed within a square 40mm case fabricated from titanium, while a black and silver dial with a lacquered minute track completes the futuristic look.
Celebrating PADI’s 60th anniversary and a decade of partnership between the international diving organization and Seiko, the new Seiko Prospex PADI 60th Anniversary Limited Edition offers a relatively affordable entry into the dive watch world. Large at 45mm in a stainless steel cushion case, it’s an ideal underwater timekeeper given the ample surface of its blue dial with PADI globe motif, red accents and luminous hour plots and hands. (The day-date display also comes in handy when back on dry land.) A ceramic bezel insert with a count-up scale in white is perfect for timing bottom or decompression time, while a matching steel bracelet (in addition to a black rubber dive strap) gives the wearer lots of optionality.
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