Watch Stops 2011: BaselWorld – Rolex Releases New Explorer II

Here at BaselWorld, Rolex unveils the new Oyster Perpetual Explorer II, enlarged from 40 to 42mm and housing the new   calibre 3187 designed and manufactured by Rolex. Crafted in a 904L stainless steel superalloy, polished and satin finished, the watch features a fixed bezel, winding crown, TWINLOCK double waterproof system,  sapphire crystal with a scratch-resistant sapphire CYCLOPS lens (2.5 ×) over the date and is water-resistant to 330 feet.

The Officially certified Swiss chronometer  offers 24-hour hand GMT with independent rapid-setting of the hour hand. The watch features 31 jewels and a self-widing bi-directional perpetual rotor. It offers 48 hours of power reserve. Dial choics are white lacquer with luminescent hands or black satin finished.  It will retail for 7,400 Swiss francs – but any way you do the translation – it’s a bully of a watch.

Watch Stops 2011: BaselWorld – Ulysse Nardin Does Jaquemarts Like Nobody Else

There are many things Ulysse Nardin does right – astronomical watches, silicium and other high-tech, experimental materials, and jaquemarts. Yes, this brand could be synonymous with jaquemarts – the figures on dials that move with the sequence of repeater watches. Ulysse Nardin is a master at building Jaquemarts – from its famed San Marco timepieces (wherein the two jaquemarts hammer the bell atop the tower in San Marco Square, Venice, as the repeater chimes, to its beloved Safari repeaters where tigers, monkeys and other jungle animals move in rhythm to the chiming time.
 Now, Ulysse Nardin again conquers of haute horology with its new Alexander the Great Minute Repeater Westminster Carillon Tourbillon Jaquemarts – in honor of one of the world’s greatest conquerors and ambitions leaders – Alexander the Great. The watch features a visible one-minute tourbillion integrated into the dial. The Westminster chime has four gongs, each with a different tone and all four gongs sound in three different sequences for the quarters.
  What makes this watch even more special, however – if, it could be more special than it already is – is the fact that it houses cutting-edge technology– history in the making.  The watch features a Polycrystalline Diamond Dial. The development and use of manmade diamond signifies years of research, investments and revolutions in watchmaking by Ulysse Nardin. This decorative diamond is the culmination of millions of small, faceted diamond crystals engineered to grow together to form a continuous diamond layer. The result: an authentic, highly resilient, two-dimensional diamond surface that sparkles with intensity, exhibiting various colors depending on its purity.
The Jaquemarts on the watch consist of five figures of Alexander the Great completely clad in armor. Each is in a different fighting position. In one, he is on horseback with spear, in another he is standing with bow and arrow. Every time the gongs sound, the different figures take action depending on whether it is the hours, quarters or minutes chiming the time.  The fantastic movement is housed in a 44mm white or rose gold case. Just 100 (50 pieces in each color of gold) of these very special, limited edition timepieces will be made.
 

Watch Stops: BaselWorld – Patek Philippe Unveils Triple Complication

Patek Philippe is known for unveiling amazing new pieces here at BaselWorld and this year is no exception. While it focuses strongly on women’s watches this year — to be covered in detail shortly — the brand has an acute sense of complexity for men this year, as always.
Actually, Patek Philippe releases, among other things this year, six new Grand Complications – making it a truly exceptional year for collectors around the world. Shown here is the Ref. 5208 Triple Complication with minute repeater, chronograph, and instantaneous perpetual calendar with aperture displays.
It is the first Patek Philippe wristwatch with this combination of functions, yet it remains easy to use and to read. The column-wheel chronograph is a mere 2.4 mm thick, the perpetual calendar features large aperture displays that advance simultaneously and instantaneously every day at midnight. The watch houses the complicated caliber R CH 27 PS QI, composed of 701 individual parts. The case is a classic Calatrava style in platinum, with a sapphire-crystal back.
This watch ranks second on the brand’s most complicated wristwatches list, right after the Sky Moon Tourbillon. It is the first Patek Philippe Triple Complication with a chronograph and also one of the very rare highly complicated watches that are self-winding. Additionally, it is the manufacture’s first genuine Grand Complication that integrates silicon-derived Silinvar® components: the revolutionary Pulsomax® escapement and the Spiromax® balance spring – an impressive blending of innovative technology and centuries of craftsmanship. This is one you won’t want to miss – get on the waiting list now!
 

Watch Stops 2011: Franc Vila Reveals new Supersonico

Soaring onto the scenes, this newest bold beauty comes from Franc Vila: the FVa35 Supersonico 5-Minute Repeater. The titanium and 18-karat red gold watch features movement bridges made of aeronautical high-tech materials such as lightnium and aluminium all visible through the case crystal. Created in a limited edition of 88 pieces, the watch offers minute repeater function and is a superb combination of technical advancement and watchmaking prowess. The absence of the dial makes this a wonderful work of art and mesmerizing tracker of time. 

 

Watch Stops: BaselWorld 2011 Preview – DeWitt Loves the City

If you love architecture and grand skylines, as well as fine watchmaking, of course, then this timepiece is for you – at the right price. The DeWitt patented Twenty-8-Eight Regulator A.S.W. Horizons with Automatic Sequential Winding device, driven by a peripheral oscillating rotor and featuring the dead-beat seconds connected directly to the tourbillon cage. The dial of this watch is a supreme work of art with its architectural rendition of a city skyline. The Art Deco design pays tribute to post-Depression Era America and was inspired by architecture of the 1930’s.

The timepiece, which was shown around a few months ago, makes its official debut at BaselWorld and will be available for purchase – though only 150 of this mechanical marvel will ever be made. The watch houses the DW 8014 caliber with 320 components. It is a bold, seductive statement on time past, present and future – and is a real collector’s delight.

Time Capsules: New Product – Louis Vuitton Gets Oriented

Aptly named the Tambour Orientation, this new 44mm Tambour X large steel watch from Louis Vuitton is one bold, cool timepiece. If you’re sailing by the night skies or hiking in the woods, this is the watch you want to have with you. Its brown and black engraved dial features counters at 12:00 and 6:00. It offers North direction indication and Sunstone indicating the solar time. The Louis Vuitton watch houses the LV 122 automatic movement and has a transparent caseback for viewing the caliber – but with this watch – the dial is so much better to look at.

Watch Stops: BaselWorld 2011- Ulysse Nardin Dives In to the Black Sea

For decades, Ulysse Nardin has been known as one of the foremost brands offering marine chronometers. Its Maxi Marine series brings divers the best of watchmaking prowess and functional precision. Now the brand releases its bold yet alluring new Maxi Marine Diver collection, the Black Sea. The 42-hour power reserve diving watch houses a self-winding movement with oversized small seconds register and a large date display.  The stainless steel case is specially treated and has undergone complex vulcanization process to produce a matte-black rubber coated finish. The watch is water resistant to 200 meters and features a unidirectional rotting bezel. Its rubber strap includes some ceramic component for rugged strength and scratch resistance. It retails for $12,900. This is one sea you want to wear, not just see.

 

Watch Stops: BaselWorld 2011 Impending Arrival

BaselWorld is around the corner. The long-anticipated, easily most important watch exhibition in the world, has arrived once again. This week, in Basel, Switzerland, the world converges. Beginning tomorrow, throngs of watch and jewelry brands, international press, retailers and collectors will begin their preparations and  plans to migrate to Basel. On Wednesday, press day begins — followed by the opening day on Thursday — when the show halls begin housing thousands of watch and jewellery brands exhibiting their wares. These companies are here to unveil their newest, greatest and latest pieces — some that have taken years and years of research to bring to fruition. For a solid week, we will meet with  watchmakers, company executives, designers and some behind-the-scenes folks. We will review entire new collections, and will do our best to bring some highlights to you while on the road in Basel. Naturally, we will continue to bring new pieces to you afterwards, as well. Meanwhile, we will most likely be foregoing our weekend sojourns during BaselWorld, as timepieces are all-intensive. But, we’ll do our best to bring you some flavor of the fair.  Stay Tuned.

Time Capsules: Commentary — A Retrospective on BaselWorld

One of the original Ikepod monocased mechanicals.As BaselWorld 2011 approaches — the fair is due to open next week, and slated to open its doors to thousands of exhibitors and tens of thousands of visitors — we all eagerly anticipate the newest product that will make its way onto the scene. Yes, there will be complications, mind-staggering new technology, new escapements, new high-tech materials. Some brands will make their debut. Old brands will re-emerge. Yes, BaselWorld is easily the most important watch fair in the world.
As such, I have been reflecting on years gone by. This year marks my 25th or 26th year (one loses track) attending BaselWorld. Of course, my first time was many years ago, and it was simply referred to as Basel. The halls were not so grand, the stands (or exhibitor booths) were not so elaborate, and the space was more workable. The watches were still the limelight! The events were always larger than life. In those first years attending during the mid to late  1980’s and going forward, I met Romero Britto at a Movado breakfast, I remember the Concord Exeter and the Movado Warhol watches being unveiled to the world — timepieces that would go down in history. I recall Gerald Genta (the real watchmaker himself, in the flesh) unveiling the Gefica, and I sat down with him to discuss the Mid-1980s and early 1990s Hublot, Alain Silberstein, IWC DaVinci, Franck Muller Mickey Mouse watches in great detail at a tiny booth in the center of the fair beside an escalator to the second floor. In those days, Patek Philippe was known for its important movements, and unveiled several of its most complex timepieces (not much changes). In fact, I was there in 1989 when the brand unveiled at Basel the Caliber 89 pocket watch, then the most complicated watch  in the world with its 33 complications. Ulysse Nardin was fairly a new-comer on the scenes in an open, simple blue-adorned dark-wood booth on one-level showing its first Jaquemarts to the world. Yes it was a fair to  remember.
During those early years, Hublot launched its rubber-strapped luxury watch (HUH?! rubber on a luxury watch??!) and a real scandal ensued when a watch was stolen from the cases (or was it?)! In those first years, many brands of the Richemont Group (though it wasn’t the Richemont Group back then) exhibited at the fair — before the launch of SIHH caused such a stir. The exodus of those brands was sure to cause the downfall of the Basel Fair. Hmmm?? Here we are — going to BaselWorld. The watches were smaller then, and those who brought out anything bigger than 38mm were daring.  Sport watches were Hublot flip-top watch. always finding a focus in the dive or automotive world (again, some things don’t change), and jeweled watches were always a key unveiling — though back then, no one had figured out how to set gemstones into steel yet.  These are a few of my favorite watches of the times — ones I accumulated from those early days– when quartz was all the rage.  Stay tuned next week for the newest introductions of this quarter century of my BaselWorld visits.

Time Capsules: News – Longines Races in as Official Timekeeper of Kentucky Derby® Home Track

Swiss watch brand, Longines – long known for its sports timing – has partnered with Churchill Downs Incorporated to become the Official Timekeeper on this most prestigious horseracing event. The Kentucky Derby has been run without interruption since 1875, and is America’s oldest and continuously held sports event.

 This year’s Kentucky Derby takes place May 7, and during it, Longines will present The Column-Wheel Chronograph. A classic beauty that epitomizes equestrian sports, its stainless steel case houses an exclusive self-winding caliber with a blue column-wheel that can be admired through the transparent caseback. This model displays a silvered dial with 13 indexes and offers the chronograph functions, central seconds sweep, 30-minutes and 12-hour counters. A dark brown alligator strap puts the finishing touch to this elegant watch. It retails for $2,850.