Tag Archives: watch

Omega unveils the new Bond watch with Daniel Craig

In honour of the soon-to-be-released 007 movie ‘No Time to Die’ in April 2020, Omega reimagines its iconic Seamaster Diver 300M as the new Bond Watch.

And Daniel Craig, the man who plays the iconic special agent 007 and also Omega’s brand ambassador has worked closely with the luxury watchmaker to bring the new Bond watch to life and ensure the timepiece is made to be a quintessential wrist-wear for James Bond himself.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 04: Daniel Craig speaks during the Omega Bond Watch Unveiling on December 04, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for Omega)

 

“When working with OMEGA, we decided that a lightweight watch would be key for a military man like 007. I also suggested some vintage touches and colour to give the watch a unique edge. The final piece looks incredible.”

-Daniel Craig on the new Omega Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition.

 

Appearing on the silver screen will be a Seamaster Diver 300M reimagined with Grade 2 Titanium case and mesh bracelet, while “tropical” brown aluminium is employed for the dial and bezel ring. The exquisite elements not only meet the military needs of a special agent but also makes the timepiece a statement with a chic, classic accent for James Bond.

The timepiece highlights a NAIAD LOCK caseback engraved with a series of numbers that follow the format for genuine military-issued watches. Inside, houses the OMEGA Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 8806 – the industry’s highest standards of precision, chronometric performance and magnetic resistance.

Swipe the gallery to take a closer look at Omega Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition:

This article was originally published on www.lofficielmalaysia.com.

Adeline Ziliox joins Maurice Lacroix, the latest of Fine Women in Watchmaking

Fine watchmaking has historically been the territory of men, but this type of mentality has become increasingly outmoded over the years, and even more so in the current political climate.

So when the likes of Maurice Lacroix, Audemars Piguet, and Rado announced their decision to partner with three women fashion and lifestyle artists to design their major collections, the reaction was closer to that of collective excitement than of surprise.

The result has simply been, to put in one word: stunning. The timepieces borne out of these collaborations are ideal for the modern working woman – relevant, timeless, sophisticated, and still fun – just like the designers themselves. These are watches created for women, by women.

MAURICE LACROIX x ADELINE ZILIOX (and the origins of an AIKON)

Founded and launched in 1975, Swiss timepiece atelier Maurice Lacroix is perhaps one of the younger brands to achieve status as a fully integrated watchmaker (including casemaking when they acquired the Saignelégier based Queloz S.A.), especially notable that given very few watchmakers in the segment of value price positioning actually bother to pursue this path. That said, this achievement placed the brand in good stead to not only eventually produce its own manufacture movements, but also, to create its own iconic case in the 90s – the out-of-production Maurice Lacroix Calypso series.

In 2018, the most recognisable element of the Calypso, the complex brushed and polished “bezel with claws”, returned in the newly re-interpreted AIKON series. Daring and bold, the new Maurice Lacroix AIKON eked a share of mind in the highly competitive “luxury steel sports watch” segment. Given its fearless bravado, it is little wonder that manufacture has unveiled an exciting partnership with French couture designer Adeline Ziliox for its new AIKON Automatic 35mm wristwatch, a gorgeous modern chic accessory made specially for women.

Adeline Ziliox’s aesthetic sensibilities lean towards the bold and unabashedly sensual. In that respect, Maurice Lacroix is sympatico with the daring designer.

The company has chosen the fiercely distinctive and original fashion maven to design the latest AIKON collection because of her avant-garde sensibilities that lend themselves seamlessly to the brand’s own aesthetics and vision.

The Timepiece

The AIKON Automatic 35 mm can be described as the modern woman’s dream watch. Full of character and sophistication, it comes in four different models, all aimed at accentuating the busy lives of the career lady out about town. The watch, which is fitted with classic materials like the mother of pearl, is packed with a magnificent blend of precision craftsmanship, exceptional patience, and a daring design vision.

The Designer

Adeline Ziliox enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame, thanks to one Martin Margiela’s fascination with her. She quickly became his favourite, and the darling of the couture industry, working alongside him, before striking it out on her own. Her signature look can be described as luxury ready-to-wear. Her latest collection, presented alongside Maurice Lacroix, also showcases high fashion in an eco-friendly manner.

AUDEMARS PIGUET x CAROLINA BUCCI

The new Carolina Bucci-designed Royal Oak Frosted Gold was launched earlier this year in celebration of the model’s fourtieth birthday. The marriage of Audemars Piguet, known for its luxurious elegance, and the classic and chic bijouterie sensibilities of Bucci, is a match made in couture watch-jewellery heaven.

The Timepiece

Audemars Piguet is quick to emphasise that “nothing has been added, and nothing has been removed” in this reimagined piece of timeart. Rather, what Bucci has done is simply intensified the brightness and shine of the watch’s signature Rose Gold tone through an ancient family gold hammering process known as the Florentine Technique.

The Designer

Born in Florence, Italy, Carolina Bucci is the product of both a long lineage of goldsmith masters (her great-grandfather was the first in the family to make bespoke gold chains and jewellery at the end of the 19th century), and that of prestigious education, having graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She took over the family business in the 2000s, and is now its creative director.

RADO x BETHAN GRAY

Rado is known to push the boundaries on watchmaking, so the partnership with English furniture designer Bethan Gray should come as no surprise. This latest joint effort sees the Swiss watchmaker take its more contemporary True Thinline model even further into the realm of distinctive flair and individuality.

The Timepiece

Perhaps the most eccentric of the three, if only because of its gold studs and black strap, the Rado True Thinline Limited Edition is all about spunk and personality. London-based Bethan Gray has taken elements reminiscent of homeware products to create a bold statement piece that features a glowing grey marquetry pattern dial encased in a ceramic matte-black monobloc outer ring.

The Designer

Bethan Gray launched her eponymous furniture line Bethan Gray Design in 2008, after a ten-year stint as design director at UK homeware retailer Habitat. Her designs are often described as original yet functional, owing to her nomadic Rajasthani roots. She won the award for Best British Designer at the 2013 Elle Design Awards.

This article was originally published on www.luxuo.com

Tudor Only Watch 2019 Black Bay Ceramic One

In 2013, Tudor unveiled a matt black monobloc ceramic case through its Fastrider Black Shield chronograph and in that moment, just as the Daytona came to be emblematic of brother Rolex’s sportive chronograph collection, the Fastrider Black Shield represented Tudor’s cross-disciplinary approach to design, bridging high octane motorsports with its own increasingly unique brand of watchmaking.

Taking that growing expertise in high tech ceramics, Tudor has offered its first Black Bay model in ceramic for Only Watch 2019. Indeed, the legacy of collaborative projects pioneered since the debut of Tudor’s professional diving watches supplied to some of the world’s most renowned military navies, eventually extended to Ducati and now, the progress of an ever growing body of Tudor’s watchmaking know how has been applied for the first time to a Tudor Black Bay Ceramic One Only Watch edition.

Tudor Only Watch 2019 Black Bay Ceramic One

Granted, though the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic One is a single edition produced specifically for the Only Watch auction in support of research for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the model teases to the wider potential hinted at by another all black, non-ceramic edition of the brand’s most popular diving watch – the Tudor Heritage Black Bay Dark.

For a few years, unauthorised “bootleg” editions of Submariner diving watches were a point of constant consternation for both Tudor and brother, Rolex. The Heritage Black Bay Dark hinted to the potential of an official all black diving watch with great panache thanks to its white and red marker accents contrasted with its 41 mm wide steel case, finished with a black PVD-treated (Physical Vapour Deposition) coating. However, the general understanding was that over time, the black PVD would wear down through scratches and dings, showing the silvery glint of steel beneath, leading some to wonder if Tudor would ever produce a Black Bay in ceramic since the brand already possessed the knowhow from their Fastrider collection.

For Only Watch 2019, the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic One is an answer, albeit, a unique one to that question. Keeping true to its heritage of both technical and aesthetic innovation, the Black Bay Ceramic One is a unique 41mm diving watching with matte black ceramic mid-case, black PVD finished titanium bezel and black PVD stainless steel caseback with a sapphire window, showcasing the Manufacture Calibre MT5602, complete with black PVD-coated rotor.

Tudor’s 2019 Only Watch eschews even contrast markers and boasts a daring new all-black look, including dial and hands that are filled with black luminescent material and then accompanied with its matching hybrid rubber and matte alligator strap. Fingers crossed that they make a variation of this a serial production model.

Tudor Black Bay Ceramic One Price and Specs

Movement Automatic Manufacture Calibre MT5602 with 70 hours power reserve
Case 41mm monobloc ceramic case with 200 metres water resistance
Strap Hybrid black alligator leather and rubber strap
Price Estimate USD  4,500 – 5,500

This article was originally published on www.luxuo.com.

Blancpain Quantième Perpétuel, the new star in the game

Over the years, Blancpain has never stopped building upon the savoir-faire and capability to build marvellous timepieces that astound the world of watch collectors.

And for 2019, the star masterpiece to stun the world is the Blancpain Quantième Perpétuel, a new addition to the Villeret collection, which remains as Blancpain’s most exquisite and finely created watches that house the most sought after complications in horology.

As a boutique exclusive, the Blancpain Quantième Perpétuel (ref. 6656-3440-55B) comes in as an entrant to the esteemed Villeret collection which has already been established as one of the foremost series of dress timepieces in the Swiss watch industry.

This version has a prominent blue dial that contrasts handsomely with the luxurious platinum case of the watch. The blue dial of the watch, of course, displays the true functionalities of the watch –  the perpetual calendar mechanism that is a major complication Blancpain is well known for.

This boutique exclusive release of just 88 limited edition pieces provides accurate time, day and date tracking over the months, years and leap years so that one does not need to remember to correct these indications over the transitions of those periods.

On top of that, the watch also features indications for the moon phase. Ultimately, what the dial showcases is the ability of Blancpain’s watchmakers to create a beautiful and engaging display for all these functions via the Roman hour markers juxtaposed against the subdials that house the registers for the day, month and date.

Best of all is the whimsical smiling moon phase indicator that comes along for the ride anchoring the entire timepiece as though mirroring the smile on the face of the owner of the timepiece as he gazes upon it.

Below the dial lies the in-house Blancpain automatic calibre 5954 which powers the watch for an impressive three days. This masterful creation of haute horlogerie consists of 351 separate parts working in an intricate manner to make the entire timepiece work flawlessly.

One can view this marvel via the sapphire display case back to see it in action up close.

 

For more information about the Blancpain Quantième Perpétuel, visit the Blancpain Boutique KLCC or on www.blancpain.com.

Hautlence HL Sphere

Hautlence made a big splash in 2013 with an innovative time display using chains. For Baselworld 2019, the Neuchatel Manufacture heralds the Hautlence HL Sphere. Powered by the brand’s 8th in-house calibre, it once again revolutionises time display complications, adding a jumping hour sphere to its pantheon of high novelty time indications like half-trailing hour chains and jumping hour discs.

With only a singular blue hand for minutes, the blue sphere indicating hours dominates your attention. Occupying the left hand of the case, the box sapphire with small dome amplifies the visual drama and majesty of the Hautlence HL Sphere’s raison d’etre. Featuring twelve engraved numerals filled with lacquer, the magic of the HL Sphere depends on its hidden three rotational axes which allow the sphere to perform its stationary orbit, as if in a seemingly random hypnotic dance.

Limited Edition Hautlence HL Sphere headlines Baselworld 2019 for the Neuchatel Manufacture

That said, it’s the mechanical wizardry of this new Hautlence Baselworld 2019 novelty which allows the HL Sphere to instill a sense of wonder – four conical gears that move around two crossed spindles inclined at an angle of 21 degrees. The namesake sphere is comprised of two polished blue PVD titanium cases capped over a conical differential to create a yin and yang composition. A feat of technical engineering which Hautlence used in a SIHH 2019 novelty – their table clock.

To the right of the time display complication sits another Hautlence horological motif – a retrograde minute display and the gear train which drives it. When the minute hand of the Hautlence HL Sphere snaps back to zero, the gears serve to regulate its speed so as to reduce the impact of forces which could potentially adversely affect the chronometry of the balance adjacent to it.

The differential and snail used to trigger the jumping hour can also be seen beneath the minute hand. The minute track and the applied silvered diamond-polished minute numerals are fixed to an intermediary sapphire crystal dial with a smoked metallic finish that adds contrast to the HL Sphere’s transparency, allowing you an unobstructed, legible view of important time display elements without the distraction (but still the perception) of the other gears and pinions which allow the finish and decoration of Hautlence’s 8th manufacture calibre to shine.

Entirely developed, designed and produced in-house, the manually wound HTL 501-1 calibre powers the Hautlence Baselworld novelty, the skeletonised balance bridge allows the owner to admire the oscillations of the proprietary balance spring produced by Precision Engineering AG, sister company within the group. The skeletonised drum reveals the mainspring, incidentally serving as a power reserve indicator of sorts. As with most high complications, Hautlence has incorporated mechanical safety features to prevent incorrect adjustment during reverse time setting.

Aesthetically, the signature Hautlence TV box case returns albeit slightly reworked – the rehaut lies a little closer to the sides allowing a wider opening for the dial and manufacture calibre lying beneath it in order to increase the dramatism of the fine engineering on display.

HL Sphere Limited Edition Price and Specs

Movement Manual winding HTL 501-1 calibre with 3 days power reserve
Case 39mm satin-finished and polished white gold case with 30 metres water resistance
Strap Blue alligator
Price S$150,000
Limited to 28 pieces

Casio designs 18k gold G-SHOCK watch

This is not your ordinary Casio watch. This is the G-D5000-9JR, an 18-karat yellow gold piece was revealed by Casio to celebrate their 35th anniversary of the iconic digital watch. The Japanese brand introduced the most expensive watch to date and only 35 pieces will be made available.

Casio reveals $70,000 G-SHOCK for its 35th anniversary

The G-D5000-9JR will be featuring its impact- resistant square case, brand and screws all made entirely of 18K yellow gold with a black LCD case – outrageously luxurious. As with all G-SHOCK, the G-D5000-9JR adopts the original G-SHOCK square case and is packed with Casio technology and function. This timepiece includes a split-second time correction owning to radio waves from six stations across the globe. This ultimate edition of G-SHOCK is powered via Casio’s trademarked Tough Solar charging system and boasts the same shock-resistant double-case construction.

It is no surprise that many would see G-SHOCK as a reasonably-priced watch option, typically retailing over a few hundred dollars or less. The concept model was presented at BASELWORLD, the world’s largest watch and jewellery fair held in Basel, Switzerland in 2015. Though many requested sales, Casio did not carry out the product evaluation as it was only a concept model. It was only made possible to sell once Casio developed for commercialization as “Dream Project” and cleared product evaluations and made it possible to sell. The 18K G-D5000-9JR is a rare release by Casio and is set to retail for approximately $69,500 (7.7m yen), excluding taxes.

Those interested can make reservations for the watch can be made at selected G-shock boutiques in Japan starting May 15, 2019, which the watch will later be shipped in December.

Baselworld 2019: Rolex GMT-Master II “Batman”

More often than not, watch aficionados appreciate when a watch brand introduces a completely new model as a celebration of innovation. What new watch models tend to offer is a fresh perspective without any preconception. That being said, there are exceptions where subtle and more nuanced improvements are valued over an entire facelift as well. Indeed, for a brand like Rolex, it is exactly the case.

Introducing the New Rolex GMT-Master II Ref.126710 BLNR

Rolex brought to Baselworld 2019 an updated version of the Rolex GMT Master II “Batman”, modified with a new caliber 3285 movement and a Jubilee bracelet. Comparatively, the new GMT is more a revitalised version of last year’s GMT Master II “Pepsi” than the blue and black BLNR GMT Master II from 2013.

The new Batman echoes the same features as last year’s Pepsi – the emblematic two-tone bezel, 40mm Oyster case and slightly redesigned lugs to accommodate the new bracelet. There is not much evolution in terms of the design and its functions. The watch still flaunts the central axis, a date window and GMT hand, as well as the ability to display two different time zones simultaneously.

The most significant difference is the blue and black bezel in contrast to Pepsi’s red and blue, giving a modern twist to the slightly vintage looking watch. As far as a sports watch goes, this is about as charming as it can get.

Equipped with the new caliber 3285, the Batman boasts Rolex’s advancement in watchmaking technology. Despite being visually identical to the BLRO GMT and the original BLNR GMT, this model represents what Rolex does best to resonate with Rolex enthusiast: Taking a cult favourite model and improving them in minimal, tangible ways rather than flashing new models every now and then.

And since the old Batman and the BLRO GMT with an Oyster bracelet are officially discontinued, Loyal GMT lovers can now revel in the launch of the new BLNR available in a highly comfortable, perfectly executed Jubilee bracelet.

Rolex GMT-Master II Ref.126710 BLNR Price & Specs

Movement Automatic Calibre 3285 with 70 hours power reserve
Case 40mm Oystersteel with 100 metres water resistance
Bracelet Jubilee bracelet with Oysterlock clasp
Price From SGD12,430 or CHF 8,800

 

Longines introduces The Conquest Chronograph by Mikaela Shiffrin

Just in time for the winter season, Longines brings a new masterpiece into its signature Conquest Line, which is personalised by Mikaela Shiffrin, the Alpine Ski Champion and Longines’ Ambassador of Elegance.

Earlier this April, Mikaela Shiffrin paid a visit to Longines’ Saint-Imier headquarters in Switzerland to explore its museum and production workshops, where she took the rare opportunity to personalize her own watch from the Conquest collection.

And from the design to machinery and material, the Conquest Chronograph by Mikaela Shiffrinwatch symbolises Longines’ commitment to the world of sports and its prestigious role as a sports timekeeper.

 

“I am proud to lend my name to a Longines timepiece. The Conquest Chronograph by Mikaela Shiffrin reflects my sporting character without compromising its feminine styling.”

– Mikaela Shiffrin

Furnished with the finest craftsmanship, the blue dial of Conquest Chronograph by Mikaela Shiffrin is crafted with aventurine and sophisticatedly adorned with glitter, which sparkles under the light to evoke the dazzling snow crystals that cover the ski slopes.

With all the sparkles and cool hues, dashes of red are added to reminisce the colours of the American flag, honouring the skier’s home country.

Visit www.longines.com to find out more.

This article was originally published on www.lofficielmalaysia.com.