New King Seiko Gets Spectacular Chrysanthemum Dial, Glashütte Original Show Off Golden Bay and Ocean Versions Of Their Seventies Chrono And New Roger Dubuis Is As Ridiculous As The Car It Is Inspired By

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In this issue:

• Seiko Introduces The King Seiko SJE095 With A Chrysanthemum Design On The Dial

• Glashütte Original Show Off Golden Bay and Ocean Breeze Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date Limited Editions

• The New Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Monobalancier Is As Ridiculous As The Car It Is Inspired By

• Bovet Introduces New Chiselled And Lacquered Baby Blue And Vibrant Green Dials On The Recital 23

Today’s reading time: 6 minutes and 54 seconds

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👂What’s new

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Seiko Introduces The King Seiko SJE095 With A Chrysanthemum Design On The Dial

With its gentle pink notes, the Grand Seiko Cherry Blossom is perhaps the most famous dial in modern watchmaking. But a company that is known for making incredible dials at every price point is bound to make more bangers. And the just released King Seiko SJE095 limited edition that has a patterned white dial based on the chrysanthemum, a flower of great significance in Japanese culture that represents longevity and rejuvenation, might just be a banger.

A quick history lesson, if you happen to not know what King Seiko is. The line is not new, despite being revived in 2020, and in the ver-growing hierarchy of Seiko sits just below Credor and Grand Seiko as the two undisputed rulers of the brands. Back in the early 60s, Seiko wanted to introduce a more luxurious offering to their watches, but did so in a fantastic way - by setting up both Grand Seiko and King Seiko and kept them as separate operations, actually pitted against one another to stimulate competition. While Grand Seiko saw a continuous rise ever since and became an independent entity in 2017, King Seiko failed and was soon forgotten.

Forgotten until 2020, that is, when it was revived with a limited re-edition based on the 1965 King Seiko KSK. The new SJE095 with a chrysanthemum dial represents the slimmer SJEXXX models powered by Seiko’s slimline calibre 6L35 automatic movement with date. The SJEXXX continues to be inspired by features of their ancestor, the 1965 King Seiko KSK. Made from stainless steel, the case has a 38.6mm diameter, a thickness of 10.7mm and a lug-to-lug distance of 45.8mm. And just like the KSK the case features flat surfaces, razor-sharp angles and the large, bevelled area on the lugs. King Seiko also employs Zaratsu or mirror polishing on the bezel and facets to produce the classic sparkle associated with Grand Seiko watches. The tapering articulated stainless steel bracelet, with its seven rows of faceted, brushed and polished links, is also close to the original.

What’s brand new is the dial with a geometric pattern that represents a chrysanthemum, one of Japan’s national flowers. Depicted using a series of finely intersecting lines called kiku tsunagi-mon, the profile of the chrysanthemum is in relief. The applied indices are polished and without any lume, while the flat broad razor-edged hands are faceted and Zaratzu polished to create a distortion-free shine and are accompanied by a sharp hacking seconds hand.

Inside the watch is the calibre 6L35, a slimline in-house movement. Beating at 4Hz and delivering a 45h power reserve, with an accuracy rating of -10/+15 seconds/day. The watch comes on a stainless steel bracelet and an additional grey leather strap whose color and texture complement the patterned dial.

The watch will be available at Seiko Boutiques in Octover. Unfortunately, this is limited to just 600 pieces and retails for EUR 3,500. You can see more on the Seiko website.

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Glashütte Original Show Off Golden Bay and Ocean Breeze Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date Limited Editions

A brand can run the risk of becoming monotonous if they stick to one thing religiously (just look at the Royal Oak company). It get’s even worse if that one thing are super serious watches. Like the kind the stoic German manufacturer Glashütte Original makes, with their serious pieces of horology like the SeaQ and PanoMatic. Thankfully, they know how to stray away from the serious in the best possible way - with the retro Seventies Chronograph collection. The spectacular green-dial version of the watch is one of the best things money can buy, but for 2023 the brand is releasing two new limited editions called the Ocean Breeze and Golden bay.

At their core, the two new watches are essentially pastel versions of the 2022 models with black chronograph counters instead of monochrome display. This means that you get a 40mm x 40mm square case in stainless steel presented on either a rubber strap or steel bracelet. What’s brand new are the dials. Made in-house by the brand’s dial maker in Pforzheim, the new matte sandy yellow and blue colours – Golden Bay and Ocean Breeze – are designed to evoke summery vibes and created using lacquer.

The watches are powered by the Glashütte Original Calibre 37-02, an automatic chronograph movement with 70-hour power reserve in addition to hours, minutes, chronograph seconds, small seconds, 30-minute counter, 12-hour counter, panorama date and power reserve indicator. The 12-hour counter is the long aperture located above the hand stack, while the oversized date indicator is situated above 6 o’clock.

The Golden Bay and Ocean Breeze versions of the Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date are limited to 100 pieces in each colour. They will be available in August 2023 at Glashütte Original Boutiques and authorised retailers worldwide. The retail price is EUR 15,600 for the rubber strap option and EUR 16,800 for the steel bracelet. Check them out yourself on the brand’s website.

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The New Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Monobalancier Is As Ridiculous As The Car It Is Inspired By

Like so many people, I don’t know what to think of Roger Dubuis. On one hand it makes insanely advanced watches in the world that is known as “hyper-horology”, makes leaps and bounds into the future with their avant-garde approach to design and provoke conversation wherever they show up. On the other, they’re ugly. There’s no getting around that. Ugly is not necessarily bad. It works for Roger Dubuis and a select few people that can pull them off with a serious face. The rest of us just have to look at them with wonderment. However, their latest edition, the Excalibur Spider Monobalancier Huracán Sterrato, makes absolute perfect sense as it is as ridiculous as the car that inspired it.

The Huracán Sterrato in the name refers to the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato, a V10 powered sports car from Lamborghini that gets to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds, all the while being modified to go off-road with meaty tires and a lifted ride height. It is equal parts stupid and awesome. Just like the Roger Dubuis watch that gets a blue colorway. And just like the Lambo, the Excalibur case is made from Sheet Molding Compound Carbon, a hyper-technical material reminiscent of the Huracán’s monocoque chassis and body panels. The watch’s design pays homage to the Sterrato with enlarged lacquered markers on the titanium bezel inspired by the car’s fender protectors. The distinctive racing nut crown adds another element of sports and racing cars to the timepiece. It comes on a camo pattern rubber strap.

The watch is powered by the automatic RD630 calibre movement, explicitly developed for the partnership with Lamborghini Squadra Corse, and it mirrors the hexagonal air intakes of the Huracán. The balance wheel takes centre stage at noon, tilted at a 12° angle to evoke Sterrato’s rev counter. The date display at 6 o’clock maintains the balance of the dial, while its rotation in front of a coloured decoder makes for a fascinating visual effect.

Only 28 pieces will be made and the first five customers to purchase the watch on the brand’s website will receive a “custom-made, hand-painted helmet” that echoes the watch’s looks. The watch will set you back $70,000, which is to be expected. See more on the Roger Dubuis website.

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Bovet Introduces New Chiselled And Lacquered Baby Blue And Vibrant Green Dials On The Recital 23

The air where Bovet operates so incredibly rare. Their complex in-house movements, dramatically staged complications, and lavish artistic flourishes that give its watches their unique and highly expressive character. The Récital 23, Bovet’s first women’s watch with a ‘writing slope’ case and a three-dimensional moon phase indicator, returns with new textured baby blue and vibrant green dial colours and dazzling diamond-set cases.

The oval case measures 38.7mm by 43mm, and while Bovet claims this shape has been developed as women’s watch, it’s very gender neutral. But very over the top. These two new watches are made of 18k red gold, and set with 174 round-cut diamonds around the sides and 72 more on the bezel. Along with the cabochon crown, this is truly a piece of jewellery beyond the abilities of most watchmakers.

Then there’s the “Writing Slope” - the whole case is angled downwards so that the dial is easier to read when your arms are laying on a desk. It’s not that rolling your wrist an extra few degrees is actually difficult, but the idea behind the design adds a romantic flair that writers will adore. The miniature clock display which tells the time appears from a distance to look like some kind of precious stone, but it’s actually a hand-chiselled guilloché and lacquer finish in either “vibrant green” or “baby blue”. The ornate handset ensures there’s not a single boring part of the watch, and also forms a heart s ymbolonce every hour.

The rest of the dial sparkles in silver, with a shooting star heading towards a three-dimensional moonphase display that can be adjusted from the cabochon pusher. The calibre 11DA17-MP uses twin barrels for a generous 62-hour power reserve.

Bovet 1822 watches are made in a limited capacity, however there is no limited edition number applied to the new Récital 23 models. What will limit it is price - EUR 120,000. However, Bovet is reasonable and will work for you if you need a cheaper watch. You can have the same with diamonds set only in the bezel, and that will set you back EUR 70,000. For some strange reason these two new Bovet variants are not on their website, but you can browse other versions of the Récital 23 line.

🫳On hand

Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon

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Hands on with the retro-cool Baltic Aquascaphe Bronze with brown gradient dial

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A review of the 37mm Royal Oak with turquoise stone dial

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Hands-On with the Lebois & Co Heritage Chronograph

⚙️Watch Worthy

A look at an off beat, less known watch you might actually like

Charismatic, sleek, and gleefully excessive, the new limited edition Vieren Gold Sunray is a love letters to the age of Studio 54

Vieren keeps the stylistic volume turned up for the Gold Sunray’s semi-skeleton dial. Like the case, everything from the sunburst brushed outer dial surface to the simple polished stick hands is rendered in gold, which gives the dial a serious visual punch but does notably hamper legibility. Vieren looks to mitigate the visibility issues with its two polished solid 18K gold elements – the engraved minutes scale on the outer rehaut, and the inner pointer date ring.

⏲️Wait a minute

A bunch of links that might or might not have something to do with watches. One thing’s for sure - they’re interesting

• For nearly thirty years, a phantom haunted the woods of Central Maine. Unseen and unknown, he lived in secret, creeping into homes in the dead of night and surviving on what he could steal. To the spooked locals, he became a legend—or maybe a myth. They wondered how he could possibly be real. Until one day last year, the hermit came out of the forest. This is the strange and curious tale of the last true hermit

• Tony Harris was a moderately successful basketball player whose career brought him to Brazil to play some 15 years ago. One day his teammates reported he was acting strangely and wanted to take a taxi from one city to the next. Somewhere in Bahia, though, he jumped from the moving vehicle and ran off. Another account had him disappearing while the driver refueled, leaving his luggage in the vehicle. Two weeks later his body was found, and still nobody knows what happened.

• This will blow your mind. A new study suggests that insects have surprisingly rich inner lives and likely feel joy and pain. This revelation, of course, has wide-ranging ethical implications. Especially since I just committed genocide on a couple of million ants that are attempting to take over my kitchen.

👀Watch this

One video you have to watch today

A couple of weeks I linked to a documentary on the Barkley Marathons, a cult race that should be interesting to non-runners like myself as well. It’s interested because it’s put on by a… let’s just call him different… guy who is most definitely living alone in the woods. But his marathon is known as the toughest, most draining race in the world, that hardly anyone manages to finish. And the documentaries surrounding the events are usually crazy looks deep down into what humans are capable of doing. So why not check out a doc on the 2023 marathon.

💵Pre-loved precision

Buy and sell your watches. Think of this section like old school classifieds - i don’t guarantee anything except that a bunch of people will see your ad and I’ll put the buyer and seller in touch. Want to advertise your watch? Contact us 

• LOOKING TO BUY: One of our readers is looking to purchase three very specific watches: an Islander ISL-133 Mother of Pearl, a Sinn 556 Mother of Pearl or a Zelos 300m GMT Mosaic Mother of Pearl. If you’re selling any of these, reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch

• FOR SALE: Longines Heritage Skin Diver, box and papers. €1400. Reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch

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