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- Watches and Wonders Is Slowing Down; IWC Shows A Great Blue Ceramic Pilot; Patek Has A Different Grand Complication and Grand Seiko Goes Pink Dial On Pink Gold
Watches and Wonders Is Slowing Down; IWC Shows A Great Blue Ceramic Pilot; Patek Has A Different Grand Complication and Grand Seiko Goes Pink Dial On Pink Gold
We are back to our regular scheduled programming
Vuk Radic
March 29, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes
Hey friends, welcome to the It’s About Time newsletter. We’re finally back on track as craziness around Watches and Wonders is subsiding. IAT is returning to its regular format, hope you enjoy.
In this issue:
Striking Blue Ceramic IWC Pilot
A different Grand Complication from Patek
Pink dial on pink gold for a new Grand Seiko
Square watches from Bell & Ross and Hermès
And… invite your friends to win a Tiffany PRX
Today’s reading time: 6 minutes and 38 seconds
We’re starting off with a bang! We’re giving away TWO of this year’s hottest watches, The Tiffany Tissot PRX Powermatic 80
All you have to do is click the button below and have five of your friends subscribe. Both you and one of your friends will be eligible to win one of the watches
👂What’s new
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Instead of redesigning existing models or introducing new ones, IWC decided to use Watches and Wonders 2023 to do a slight refresh to their Pilot line. That’s why you’re only seeing this day on the third day of W&W. They were a bit overshadowed by all the other releases. But the blue ceramic Pilot might be in the running for the top 10 watches released a the show this year. Let’s see what they have:
Last year IWC introduced the Colours of TOP GUN collection, a series of monochromatic watches in colored ceramic - forest green Woodland; stark white Lake Tahoe; dusty beige Mojave Desert; matte black Ceratanium; and true black Jet Black. Now we get two new models - full black or full blue called Black and Oceana. Both are based on the Pilot’s Chronograph 41 and there are not additional surprises, other than the color and the smaller sizes as last year’s Lake Tahoe and Woodland chronograph models were 44.5mm watches. Expect around EUR 11,000.
Another update to the Pilot’s Chrono 41 is the addition of 18k rose gold for the first time. The blend of 5N gold with its coppery tones is paired with an emerald green sunburst dial and a matching rubber strap, playing into its sporty capabilities and 100m water resistance. Price should be around EUR 20,500.
Then there’s the update to the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar. Now it’s powered by the in-house calibre 52615 that covers a moonphase, day, date, month, year, leap year, and a 7-day power reserve. The stainless steel case brings out the lighter tones of the racing green dial, but it’s a beast at 46.2mm. It’s also priced like a beast - EUR 30,500.
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The new 5316P is not your run-of-the-mill grand complication. It features tourbillon, perpetual calendar and minute repeater complications in a 40mm platinum case topped by a smoky sapphire dial that shows off the insides and that’s somewhat of a departure from classically styled Grand Complications pieces. There aren’t a lot of platinum minute repeaters, as the density of the case muffles the sound of the chimes. It’s a beautiful piece and price is on request.
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Grand Seiko introduces the new SBGY026 "Hana-ikada" model, which is basically the SBGA413 "Shunbun" in a rose gold case with a pale pink dial and limited to 100 pieces. People who have seen the watch live call it a stunner, especially because of the dial - which has no rehaut, no date, no power reserve and no distraction - that curves slightly to follow the matching curve of the crystal.
Inside the SBGY026 is the manual-wind Spring Drive caliber 9R31. The rose gold case measures 38.5mm x 10.2mm. The new SBGY026 has a retail price of $27,500.
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Considering Bell & Ross is so heavily aviation-themed, is there any other model you should get other than the GMT? The brand heavily updated their GMT model in 2021 and are now introducing a new color with the BR 03-93 GMT Blue. The case remains the same - 42 × 42 mm - but the dial and bezel get the blue treatment. The dial is bright blue and gets brushed applied Arabic numerals and the Super-LumiNova coated hour indices, while the bi-directional rotating bezel is a two-tone blue and grey with a 24-hour scale. The watch comes on a blue calfskin leather strap and retails for EUR 4,400.
Then there’s the BR03-92 Diver White Bronze, a limited edition of 999 pieces. As the name suggests, it comes in a bronze case with a brown anodized aluminum bezel insert and a water resistance rating of 300 meters. Bell & Ross equips the watch with its BR-CAL.302, a movement based on the Sellita SW300-1. The watch complies with ISO 6425 and the NIHS standard 92611, making it a true diver. Price is €4,800.
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Unveiled in 2021, the Hermès H08 is the luxury French brand‘s sporty-chic watch. Now they introduce four new H08 models for Watches & Wonders 2023 feature a new lightweight composite case coupled with a grainy textured grey dial with colourful accents and matching rubber straps.
The 39 × 39mm case is crafted from a block of braided glass fibre composite coated with aluminium and slate powder, while the black ceramic bezel displays a sunburst-brushed finish. The dial of the H08 has an industrial concrete colour and a grained, gritty texture. The sea of grey is interrupted with splashes of color - blue green, orange and yellow - on the 5-minute markers of the minute track, the varnished seconds hand and the watch glass seal.
The new Hermès H08 models are presented on matching coloured rubber straps embossed with a woven pattern and retail for EUR 7,000.
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Montblanc purchased the famed manufacturer Minerva in 2007 and have since proudly expressed this heritage. For example, last year at W&W they introduced two limited editions of the Unveiled Secret Minerva Monopusher Chronograph in Lime Gold (limited edition of 18 pieces) and stainless steel (limited to 58 pieces).
Those were very limited, so now they’re showing the new Montblanc Unveiled Secret Minerva Monopusher Chronograph which will be limited to 88 pieces. The watch features the Minerva MB M16.29 movement, flipped back to front and exposed under an openworked dial, while the 43mm case features a distressed steel finish achieved through coating the stainless steel in black, then manually washing and brushing it with quartzite from the mountain Mont Blanc and limestone from La Combe Grède, the mountain opposite the Villeret Manfacture where Minerva is located. Price is EUR 42,000.
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Chanel can try as much as they want to escape their status of just a fashion brand that makes fashion watches, but it’s an impossible mission. While they have some interesting pieces that use ceramics, they’re of not much interest. So why feature them there? I found something interesting about Chanel watches! The J12 Eclipse Boxed set mimics an actual eclipse moving over the seven watches in the box, from full white to full black ceramics, and very cool two-tone gradients in between.
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A week after they announced the first new watch under the Daniel Roth name (but not actually made by Roth), LVMH announces they will be reviving another brand that was owned by Bvlgari, just like Roth. They will be remaking the Gerald Genta brand with the master watchmakers of La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, LVMH’s state-of-the-art watchmaking factory in Switzerland. FT reports that Genta’s widow is backing up the whole process, giving her green light on the relaunch, while continuing her task of securing the legacy of her husband.
The first models should come out in 2024 and it is said that the brand will focus on high-end watchmaking and forward-looking conception, not vintage revival.
🫳On hand
Our selection of the best reviews we stumble upon
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⚙️Watch Worthy
A look at an off beat, less known watch you might actually like
A year after the release of the Une Folle Journée collection, Trilobe adds the brand-new Dune version. Trilobe makes a small change with big results for an all-around rather spectacular watch. Une folle journée is French for “a crazy day,” and this is quite applicable here. It is not often that you run into a day displayed in three elevated circles, but that is what you get here.
⏲️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
IWC just reintroduced their new Ingenieur model, which reaches back to the Genta design. If you would like to know more on how that model came to be, read this pretty good piece.
Jay Z is a collector with fantastic taste. See how he got his hands on this one insanely crazy Patek Phillipe.
It’s that the 60s and 70s are completely overtaking as inspiration for watch design today. Even the New York Times agrees with this.
👀Watch this
One video you have to watch today
This will likely be the shortest video I post here. Yesterday F.P. Journe introduced their completely crazy FFC watch that uses a mechanical hand to display the time. Trust me, you will want to see how it works
💵Pre-loved precision
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