Typically, the end of the summer is a kind of no-man’s land — with Europe on vacation, we typically make do with a few harmless additions to the horological landscape with little fanfare. This year, however, the weeks leading up to Geneva Watch Days were filled with genuinely compelling announcements from numerous brands: anOrdain, for example, is launching a gorgeous new porcelain-dialed watch, Ming is releasing its most affordable world timer yet and DOXA’s latest limited-edition diver is one of the year’s coolest tool watches. As we head into fall, check out these 11 new releases from some of our favorite marques — then, be sure to gear up for later in the year for whatever Dubai Watch Week has in store for us.
Malaysian watchmaker Ming is responsible for some of the most inspired case, dial and complication designs on the market. Take its new 57.05 Comet, for example — the brand’s most affordable world timer yet, this elegant, sub-$10,000 travel watch features several innovations that come together in a distinctive and compelling package. Its bezel, split into two pieces, features an outer rotating ring that tracks cities observing daylight saving time. Meanwhile, its color-changing dial, stepped lugs and brightly glowing lume give it the appearance of some kind of futurist Art Deco artifact. Limited to 200 pieces, it comes on leather or a Polymesh bracelet.
A collaboration between San Diego-based independent retailer Belmont Watches and DOXA, the new DOXA Sub 300 Beta “Frogger” celebrates the traditional California home of Naval Special Warfare in Coronado. Measuring 42.5mm in sandblasted stainless steel, it features a wildly cool, matte, grained kelp-green dial with applied black indices and a vintage-styled lume, plus a black ceramic bezel with an inner elapsed-time scale in orange and an outer depth scale in green. Water resistant to 300m and paired to a matching sandblasted beads-of-rice bracelet, this cool limited edition is being produced in just 100 pieces.
The combination of influences, brands, personalities and manufactures involved in bringing the new Massena LAB x Atelier Wen Inflection to life is stunning. A collaboration between French-Chinese watchmaker Atelier Wen and Massena LAB, the brainchild of collector William Massena, it features a solid 18K white gold dial base plate, hand tremblage executed by Swiss dial specialist GT Cadrans and a “California” dial layout with custom Arabic numerals and Chinese calligraphy commissioned by Atelier Wen. The tantalum case extends to a matching integrated bracelet, while power is provided by the Girard-Perregaux cal. GP03300 automatic movement. Good luck finding something similar anywhere else!
Most watchmakers plot a fairly conventional course when producing a black-dialed dive watch. Not Wren Watches, whose new Diver One Abyss uses Musou Black, a color that absorbs some 99.4% of visible light. Executed in a “sandwich” configuration, the black upper dial is situated atop a lower plate covered in aqua-glowing lume, making for a striking look. Complementing the dial is a black ceramic bezel insert, a clear DLC-coated flat-link bracelet as well as a black rubber strap and the Sellita cal. SW200 automatic movement. Each of the first run of 100 pieces, meanwhile, is individually numbered.
L.A.-based microbrand Nodus teamed up with accessories maker Holme & Hadfield on a cool new version of the former’s Sector II Dive platform. In typical Nodus fashion, it features restrained proportions, classic tool watch inspiration and an affordable price tag courtesy of a Seiko automatic movement. Where Holme & Hadfield comes in is via the accents: a bronze bezel and crown nod to the company’s handsome wooden display boxes for watches, knives and other EDC, while a simple black dial and DCL-coated steel bezel insert provide contrast. Water resistant to 100m and paired to a steel bracelet, it’s a steal itself at $650.
Updating its signature everyday watch, Formex has given the new Essence 39 several key upgrades for better wearability and utility: While a new screw-down crown works in concert with the brand’s case suspension system to ensure 100m of water resistance, a fresh butterfly clasp accommodates tool-free changes to the bracelet length in 3mm increments. Meanwhile, a longer power reserve of 65 hours means “weekend-proof” operation via the Sellita SW200-2 Power Plus caliber. Available in Alpine White with blued hands and indices and new Radiant Bronze — plus a standard Blue colorway — the Essence 39 is a ton of watch for just $1,980.
In 1953, Blancpain produced one of the first modern dive watches in the form of the Fifty Fathoms, which was designed for military divers. Just three years later, its Bathyscaphe skin diver offered a slightly stripped-down, more accessible entry point into the market for civilians. The new Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe 70th Anniversary Limited Edition honors the 70th anniversary of that model by recreating a 1968 reference down to a “T”: There’s the 37.4mm steel case; the oversized, luminous block indices; the date window at 3 o’clock and more. And, this being a modern Blancpain, it packs an automatic movement with a whopping 100 hours of power reserve.
Produced in celebration of 50 years of ECO-Drive — Citizen’s pioneering light-powered technology — the new ECO-Drive Photon ref. BJ6560-53W features an impressive marriage of case, dial and movement designs that come together in a distinctly futuristic whole. Crafted from Super Titanium with a matching, integrated bracelet boasting serpentine H-links, it features a color-changing dial composed of overlapping slits that cover a structural film. The movement itself is the ECO-Drive cal. E036, an impressive engine that offers a one-year power reserve on a single charge. Limited to 5,000 pieces worldwide, it’ll be available this fall.
Taking inspiration from its significant back catalog of historical models, the Glashütte Original Senator Chronograph Navigator builds upon the pilot’s watches made in Saxony during the 1940s. Flanked by dual mushroom-shaped pushers and a large onion crown, the watch’s matte-black dial features luminous Arabic numerals, Super LumiNova-coated sword hands and white lacquer-finished small-seconds hand and sub-register hands. Powered by the brand’s cal. 37-24 automatic movement, it features an outsized date display above 6 o’clock, a 70-hour power reserve, and your choice of a fabric strap, leather strap or a steel multi-link bracelet.
Seeking to expand its production capacity several years ago, Scottish independent brand anOrdain added a line of porcelain-dialed watches to its signature enamel collections. Now, a new collection of white-dialed pieces with custom typography is joining the brand’s offerings. A Model 1 with a 38mm stainless steel case and an automatic movement from Swiss maker La Joux-Perret, it features a gorgeous white porcelain dial with blue typography by artisan Kia Tasbihgou that calls to mind historical pocket watches from the likes of Breguet. (Buyers also have the option of securing a version with a more decorated movement, if they so choose.)
Made in celebration of the 140th anniversary of Mercedes-Benz, the new IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet 140 Years Mercedes-Benz utilizes IWC’s ProSet feature, a mechanism that allows all of a perpetual calendar’s functions to be adjusted forward or backward via the crown. Housed in a 42mm stainless steel Big Pilot’s case and water resistant 100m, this is one of the most capable QPs on the market with respect to performance and robustness. (It even ships on a rubber strap, as if to drive the point home.) Limited to 140 pieces, it’s also a great looking watch, with subtle branding present mostly on the caseback.
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