News from the Watch Industry

Ref. SBGH349Grand Seiko introduces the reference SBGH349, a high-beat mechanical watch inspired by the beauty of an icefall. Building on the distinctive dial design first seen in the reference SBGH347, this model captures the frozen cascades of Mount Iwate with a texture and icy-blue hue that evoke ice solidifying mid-flow. 
Technical Specifications: The case, in high-intensity titanium, measures 40mm x 46.6mm x 13mm. It has a dual curve sapphire, a sapphire display back, and it is water resistant to 100 meters.Movement is the Japanese automatic Grand Seiko in-house caliber 9S85 with 35 jewels, 36,000 vph and a power reserve of 55 hours. It is magnetic resistant to 4,800 A/m. Functions are: hours, minutes, central seconds, and date.Icy-blue dial inspired by the frozen cascades near Mount Iwate. Polished steel hands.It comes on a 20mm high-intensity titanium bracelet with a three-fold clasp.MSRP is $7,400. Available at Grand Seiko boutiques and select retail partners in January 2025.Thanks.

Limited Edition of 60 PiecesIckler celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, and to celebrate they have developed a special watch, the Chronograph 100, as a very limited edition with a special movement.Every single watch is tested by the Glashütte Observatory and certified as a chronometer. All tests take place in the Glashütte Observatory in cooperation with the Thuringian State Office for Consumer Protection (TLV) and the State Office for Metrology and Calibration (SME).Technical Specifications: The case, in brushed stainless steel, measures 42mm x 51mm x 15.6mm. It has a domed AR-coated sapphire crystal, a sapphire display back, and it is water resistant to 200 meters. “100 Years Anniversary” engraving.Movement is the Swiss ETA caliber 7754 TOP with 25 jewels, 28,800 vph and a power reserve of 48 hours. Ickler personalized rotor. It is certified as a chronometer. Functions are: hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph, and GMT.Black dial with SuperLuminova numerals and indices. White hands with SuperLuminova. Orange GMT hand. Special Archimede logo.It comes on a 22mm brushed stainless steel bracelet with fine adjustment. Also available with a black leather strap with a specially engraved steel pin buckle.
MSRP is 3,800 to 3,940 Euros. The certificate from the Glashütte Observatory accompanies the watch in high-quality special packaging.Thanks.

The case, in stainless steel, measures 35mm x 8.2mm. It has a Hesalite box crystal and a display back. It is water resistant to 50 meters.Movement is the Swiss quartz ETA caliber 955.112 with 7 jewels. Gilded and blue finish. Functions are: hours, minuntes, and central seconds.The brass dial can be had in viridian green, dusty blue, radiant burgundy, or white silver.It comes on an 18mm grey suede leather strap with a steel pin buckle.Thanks.

Limited Edition of 60 Pieces EachBovet introduces a new version of the Récital 21, this time with a sapphire crystal dial available in three hues green, blue, and brown. Every Bovet timepiece is designed to display the necessary information in the most readable way. With the Récital 21, the minute and hour hands are located in the center of the timepiece, providing more space in the periphery for perpetual calendar information.The sapphire crystal dial, colored and slightly smoked, gives a glimpse of the complex mechanism powering this timepiece. You can see the day of the week and the month coming, along with the gears, pinions, and wheels making things move.With the exception of the date, indicated by a retrograde hand that rotates around the hours and minutes, the discs display the days and months in vertical apertures at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock respectively, while the leap year cycle is displayed in a circular aperture at 3 o’clock.The new sapphire crystal dial puts all of the perpetual calendar mechanism on display, so you can see how everything works, while not distracting from the purpose of the complication to display the information you truly need. Getting the sapphire crystal exactly the right color with the right amount of transparency without any distortion is a challenge, but one Bovet realized to perfection. Coated liberally with Super-LumiNova, the key information glows brightly at night.To add to the visual impact, Bovet’s watchmakers developed a mechanism that slows down the date hand during its retrograde jump, a dramatic effect that can best be appreciated when the last day of the month changes to the first. A treat worth staying up until midnight for, especially on New Year’s Eve.Turning the timepiece over to the movement side, you can see the patented double coaxial seconds mechanism, as well as the power reserve indicator, which, when fully wound, displays a five-day power supply from a single barrel. The power reserve is optimized by the complete hand-finishing of all the components, and the in-house balance spring and regulating organ, entirely designed and manufactured in the Bovet workshops.To further enhance the collector’s ease of use, Bovet’s technicians introduced an ingenious system that streamlines adjustments to all the indications. There are, of course, dedicated correctors for the day and date, day of the week, and month functions, and the day and date corrector advances every indication on each push.So, if you want to adjust your timepiece after it has stopped for several days, you simply have to press this unique corrector until the correct date is shown. All the other functions of the perpetual calendar (day of the week, month, leap year) are synchronized at the same time.Technical Specifications: The case, in polished titanium, measures 44.4mm x 15.4mm sloping to 10.2mm. It is of the Dimier “writing desk” style. It has an AR-coated sapphire crystal, a sapphire display back, and it is water resistant to 30 meters.Movement is the Swiss manual-wind Bovet in-house caliber 13DM05-QPR with 37 jewels, 21,600 vph and a power reserve of 5 days. Functions are: hours, minutes, sub-seconds (patented coaxial seconds), day, retrograde date, month, leap year, and power reserve indicator.Green, blue or brown sapphire dial with SuperLuminova hands and indices.It comes on a shiny green, blue, or brown alligator leather strap with a polished titanium ardillon buckle.Thanks.

Limited Edition of 50 PiecesZenith introduces the final creation in its bold trilogy of 1/100th of a second chronographs inspired by Earth’s most extreme environments. It is the world’s fastest automatic chronograph, delivering 1/100th of a second precision.Technical Specifications: The case, in brushed titanium, measures 45mm. It has an AR-coated sapphire crystal, a sapphire display back, and it is water resistant to 200 meters. Tiger’s eye gemstone inserts.Movement is the Swiss automatic Zenith in-house caliber El Primero 9004 with 53 jewels, 36,000 vph and a power reserve of 50 hours. It features a 1/100th of a second chronograph movement. Exclusive dynamic signature of one rotation per second. One escapement for the watch (36,000 VpH – 5 Hz); and one escapement for the Chronograph (360,000 VpH – 50 Hz). Chronometer certified. Finishing includes a khaki green colored main plate on the movement, and a special khaki green colored rotor with satined finishes. Functions are: hours, minutes, sub-seconds. 1/100th of a second chronograph functions. Chronograph power-reserve indication at 12 o’clock. Central chronograph hand, 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, 60-second counter at 6 o’clock.The dial is a tinted sapphire crystal with three tigered-colored counters. SuperLuminova rhodium-plated and faceted hands and indices.It comes on a titanium bracelet with an additional khaki green rubber strap and a black Velcro strap.MSRP is $26,900.Thanks.