Tag Archives: tool watch

Luminox Celebrates 35 Years Of Heritage In The Realms Of The Air, Land And Sea

For most of the big watch brands that are now part of even bigger watch groups, 35 years may not seem like a big deal, but for relatively new watch companies like Luminox, surviving the harsh landscape that is the horology industry for this amount of time is a definite cause for celebration. And celebrate they have, as this year they launched three new Luminox watches, one for the realms of air, land and sea, each drawing inspiration from a model from the brand’s storied past.

The brand, founded in 1989, was the brainchild of Barry Cohen who built Luminox based on two simple premises, luminescence and readability. Even the name Luminox was created from the Latin words ‘lumi’ which means light and ‘nox’ which means night. Thus, it makes perfect sense then that the signature element of most, if not all of their watches stems from their Luminox Light Technology which basically uses a completely sealed tube filled with tritium gas. This gas promises self-illumination without needing to recharge for at least 25 years.

As you would imagine, with a product built specifically on legibility in the absence of light, the watch would attract the attention of specialised industries. Over the last three and a half decades, Luminox has partnered with numerous military, police and rescue organisations around the world, outfitting their personnel with these reliable and precise timekeepers. For the most part, Luminox has not yet crumbled to the pressures of the modern watch industry, choosing to still power a majority of their watches with quartz movements rather than mechanically driven ones. This makes total sense if, as a brand, robustness is the unique selling point because quartz movements tend to fare a lot better when subjected to all sorts of extreme situations as compared to their mechanical counterparts.

That is not to say that Luminox has not kept up with current watchmaking tastes. In recent years they have started to add mechanical self-winding movements to their collection and even offer in-trend materials like a carbon composite (Carbonox) for their watch cases. Today, they have the full might of a Swiss watchmaking group behind them as well after being fully acquired by the Mondaine group back in 2016. And in case you were wondering, this is the same Mondaine that makes those watches inspired by the recognisable clocks found in Swiss Railway stations.

Sea

To celebrate its 35th anniversary, Luminox revives its Original 3001 Heritage model which is inspired by the very first 3001 from 30 years ago in 1994. For this piece, the design has been tweaked slightly but the biggest change comes in the form of the Carbonox material for the case. What we also liked about this model is the choice of stainless steel for the unidirectional bezel, the signature element of a dive watch. The core reason for this is to aid the reliability of the bezel rotation but as a side effect, the clicks feel extremely satisfying as it rotates. Other subtle touches include the number 30 on the bezel in red to signify the number of years since its origin story.

Air

Taking to the skies, Luminox looks to the Nighthawk model launched in 2007 to create its new F-117 Nighthawk x Skunk Works 6440 Heritage. Fans of military aviation will undoubtedly recognise the Skunk Works logo subtly hidden on the dial. This logo will blend into the black dial during the day but in the absence of light, it glows and comes alive. This is because the original watch was inspired by the F-117 jet which was built as a stealth fighter. Its iconic facets and black colour are reflected perfectly on the watch and because the watch was inspired by the skies, its bezel has a 12-hour scale so the wearer will be able to keep track of a second timezone without the need for additional mechanical complications. Additionally, where the original watch comes with a rubber strap, the new model comes with a strap in Kevlar, the same used on bullet-proof vests.

Land

On land, Luminox offers the RECON Point Man 8820 Heritage which references a model in the same collection from 2011. What is interesting about this piece is the inclusion of a tachymeter but not the kind most watch enthusiasts are familiar with. Where most tachymeters on watches today can be found on chronographs and can be used to measure the speed of motorsport vehicles, the one on this RECON Point Man offers a scale suited to measure walking speed instead. This is perfect for those going on hikes or maybe a long march and want to measure their pace. Although the dial is a little busier on this model, the watch is the largest of the three at 45mm in diameter giving it enough room to still be legible.

Each of these three models is, thankfully, not a limited-edition model but that is no guarantee that they won’t run out at specific Luminox retail outlets. They will each come with the 35th Anniversary insignia inscribed on the back and even a 35th-anniversary challenge coin included as a token of membership to the Luminox community.

Re-Invention Of Flight: Bell & Ross Improves Its Core BR 03 Collection With A New Case Size

The success of a watch collection is its own conundrum. What we mean by that is, if a watch is selling particularly well, do you mess around with the collection to update it for the future, risking changing something that maybe may not sit well with the fans? Or do you leave it be, risking getting left behind by the industry’s progress? Thankfully, for Bell & Ross, this is not a hard question to answer.

Over the course of the last 15-plus years, their Bell & Ross BR 03 has grown to become one of the staples of the brand, even inspiring the design for newer collections within their watch family. However, whether or not to update such an icon is not even a deliberation for the brand because the fundamental value upon which the BR 03 was built, is functionality. Thus, if there is an opportunity to improve on an existing design, they are definitely going to do it. Hence, we introduce the classic, but newly updated BR 03.

CLASSIC, REDEFINED

When the BR 01 made its debut, it was massive. 46mm wide to be exact and this was predominantly to facilitate its function as a tool watch. For those with a bigger wrist circumference, a 46mm watch sits well on the wrist but for the smaller wrist sizes, it was entirely too large and would sometimes wear quite uncomfortably as well. To fix this, Bell & Ross then launched the much more wearable BR 03 a year after the BR 01 first made its debut. And so, in 2006, the BR 03 and its smaller 42mm case was launched.

42mm was and still remains a sweet spot for sporty watches which is why for more than 15 years, the BR 03 maintained its sizing. It is not too large that it rattles around the wrist when strapped on, and yet it is not too small and still maintains its presence on the wrist. Since its launching in 2006, countless versions of this BR 03 watch have been made. In the early days, most of it revolved around aeronautical themes but then in recent years, the BR 03 has gone from the skies to race on land through their collaboration with Renault, and subsequently the Alpine Formula 1 team, and to the depths of the ocean as the world’s first square dive watch. It has been made with steel, titanium, bronze, carbon and ceramic cases and has seen all manner of complications including the chronograph and GMT functions. Now, as the next step of the BR 03’s evolution, it gets a further update to its design going from 42mm to, drumroll please, 41mm.

On paper, a difference of 1mm in case width may not seem like such a big deal but what the specifications don’t show is the adjustment of the proportions which makes the watch even more visually striking. The case size is shrunk down, by 1mm and the lug width is reduced from 4.5mm to 4mm. Additionally, the bezel has been beefed up slightly as well and when you put all these elements together, the eye can immediately perceive the bolder look of the BR 03.

Another fantastic update to the BR 03 comes from something that can’t even be seen. The BR-Cal.302 movement that has been powering most of the modern BR 03 watches has now been modified so that instead of the classic 42-hour power reserve the watch now gets 12 more hours with a new 54-hour power reserve. What this means in practical terms is that if you take your watch off on a Friday evening for the weekend, on Monday, when you put it back on your wrist for the week, the time will still be accurate.

TALKING SHOP

Following the launch, or rather, relaunch of the collection, we got to sit down with Fabien de Nonancourt, the Managing Director of Bell & Ross to dig a little deeper into the redesigning of this core collection.

DG: With the debut of the Kenissi made movements with the BR X5, was there ever a consideration to put these movements into the BR03?

FN: Just as how in the BR 05 collection you have both the Sellita and the Kenissi made movements, we decided to first go with the latest Sellita movements for the BR 03 because it is a movement that fits the needs of the majority of our users. Maybe in the future we could have a version that comes with the Kenissi movement. Also the Kenissi movement is slightly thicker and with a square watch, the thickness plays a more significant role in terms of aesthetics.

DG: Talk to me about the copper dial version of the BR 03 in steel. It is a very unique look.

FN: Yes, with the copper dial version, we chose the particular finishing to reflect watchmaking traditions. The dial was made with an old technique whereby the numerals are engraved on the dial and after that it was filled with black Super-Luminova. As opposed to the other dials which the numerals are printed on. And also, we have the blued-hands, in this case, done with a PVD coating.

DG: The pricing has increased a little from the previous generation of BR 03 watches. So where did the extra cost come from?

FN: Inflation [laughs]. Unfortunately everything costs a little more to produce these days.

DG: With the shrinking of the BR 03’s case, will we see this happen to the dive watch and the chronograph as well?

FN: Not necessarily because the idea is to provide different sizing for our customers. Like if you notice with most brands, the chronograph is larger than the three hands. Even our BR 05 if you notice that our chronographs are slightly larger as well. So with this BR 03 re-design we are giving more choice to our consumers.

DG: This will effectively replace the old BR 03? when can customers expect to see this in stores?

FN: We have already stopped supplying the 42mm BR 03 to our retailers so it is gradually starting to disappear from the stores. You still can get the 42mm for a few more months but after that stock is gone, it will be 100 percent 41mm BR 03s.

Each of these watches will come with a rubber or calfskin strap depending on the model and is water resistant up to 100m. Prices begin at MYR 15,600 onwards.

The new 39mm case of the Luminox Pacific Diver Ripple 3120M is a breath of fresh air

When you think of the iconic Luminox watch, you are probably imagining something with a black case and bezel made from a carbon compound material, tritium gas tubes glowing on the dial and most definitely something quite chunky on the wrist. With the latest iteration of their Pacific Diver Series however, Luminox seems to be taking a new approach with the collection as the new 3120M series comes packed with new dial colours and more importantly a sub 40mm case diameter.

The Pacific Diver series from Luminox distinguishes itself by offering a combination of a stainless steel case with a bezel made of the brand’s proprietary Carbonox material. Since its launch and even with the introduction of a chronograph version last year, the Pacific Diver collection has always remained closer to the 44mm mark. This year, however, perhaps in keeping with the trend that sees a reduction in the size of watches, the new Pacific Diver Ripple 3120M series offers a very wearable case size of a mere 39mm.

These new dive watches will be available in a total of six variations, which includes the choice of a white, black, or blue dial. Expanding the collection’s versatility, Luminox has even added an option featuring a mother-of-pearl dial and this, in combination with the slightly smaller case may convert new female fans.

When the Pacific Diver Chronograph was introduced in 2022, it came with a refreshing variety of colourful rubber straps. Unfortunately the lug width for these watches does not match the smaller 3120M series, so you will not have the same amount of variety but Luminox has created new colours specifically for this collection, which include Vivid Pink, Coastal Blue, Navy Blue, and Fresh White. Additionally, there is also a very stylish stainless steel jubilee-style bracelet to give the watch a more dressed-up look.

The new Pacific Diver Ripple 3120M series of watches are all powered by a Swiss quartz movement, have sapphire crystals and are water-resistant to 200m. And as always, they also feature the Luminox Light Technology, which utilises tritium gas tubes to provide illumination for up to 25 years.