Horological Meandering

… some appetizers while we are already working on more detailed reports.

Please have a look in alphabetical order, to get an idea about what is coming …

This message has been edited by Ornatus-Mundi on 2015-03-29 10:16:38

25 years (1990-2015) of World Time Watches with indication of different time zones by Andersen Genève. The Tempus Terrae is the 5^th Limited Edition World Time Watch offered to watch collectors.

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of the company, but very promising ones ...

The watches are not perfect yet, but very promising

Oliver

be below the outer ring representing cities on Earth.

Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe, a new iteration with a matt-finished RG case

L-evolution collection - Blancpain reunites once again a tourbillon with a carrousel in a new tuned form factor.

Villeret collection - Blancpain and les Me?tiers d’Art, a highly successful concept in this market segment.

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10 years Tradition collection – time to mature, and for this anniversary it really shows:

A highly unusual and original minute repeater with fusée for activation, vertically acting hammers, and a main gong shaped like a ‚B’ (for Breguet), complemented with an mysterious lateral automatic winding system.

The Chronographe Indépendant – another Breguet which takes its inspiration from the past. The shocking news: no column wheel, instead we find a rocker. The system is conceptually closer to a cam/lever system, and feels (a bit) like that.

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The brand moves deeper and deeper into true manufacture terrain – this year we were pleased to see they have their first in-house time-only automatic movement, called Cal. B35, ready.

70h of power reserve – this is certainly not a run-of-the-mill solution. It came in the Galactic Unitime SleekT, albeit with a solid back (as it is tradition with Breitling). E" lang="DE">We are trying to extract more information from them...

Another new movement: The Cal. B14 now offers a hand-wound monopusher option, presented in the new Transocean Chronograph 1915, a truly adorable piece. Presented.

The B55 Connected – Breitling’s take on the smart watch, intelligently done – and different: while most smartwatches are merely a display on what is going on at the xxx (fill in with respective smart device), the B55 connected takes the entire opposite road: the iPhone simply diplays what the watch tells it to do. It can also be set through the iOS app. Cool!

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a very nice addition to their collection and (probably) much appreciated by people with bigger wrists.

Thanks!

Oliver

DeBethune took a rather slow approach and presented refinements on the collection. The DBS Tourbillon, marvelous with luscious hands, and the DB25 Quetzalcoatl. Its dial left us a bit sold to tell the truth.

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I'm not much into DeBethune - too clinical and cold for me. I have to reevaluate what they stand for, though. This is fantastic, with the serpent and the little micro temples, textures, gold, symbolical. Wow, just wow.

because for me it was the other way round. Good or bad? No, just different taste!

Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts!

Oliver

Fabergé is maker to watch from now on seriously: They pledged to revamp their entire watch collection all based on in-house movements! First and most remarkable one is a ladies’s watch driven by a retrograde hand-wound movement created by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht:

Wiederrecht got totally free hand in doing so – with very clever solutions to appreciate.

Wonderful, and more is to come!

The men’s collection features this flying tourbillon (by Guilio Papi) – very architectural, with guilloched movement plates constituting the dial. Put this on your wrist and the night is yours – whatever might happen…!

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The brand is no longer being considered haute horlogerie (by Swatch Group, not by us ;-)), a fact that has not tainted their creativity. We found a captivating new pilot Senator Observer, …

And the Senator Cosmopolite, a very ingenuous interpretation (and implementation) of a bona fide travel watch. The mechanism is based on the exquisite Grande Cosmopolite Tourbillon, but had to be reworked comprehensively.

Finally, lots of blue, which is a very tricky dial colour to work with. GO seems confident to have mastered it.

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on this

Thanks!

Oliver

This is the most significant news from SWATCH Group.

So, Breguet and Blancpain are still haute horlogerie? A very select and lowered workload for the Haute Horlogerie Division at SWATCH. 

One of the justification for SWATCH brands being members of FHH was the haute horologerie "intention".

Now, GO and Omega etc are demoted to mid-range products like what LVMH did with Tag Heure and Richemont did with Montblanc.....?  Everyone has their niche and no cannibalisation.

Regards,

MTF

I didn't realize Swatch made this decision years ago. Can you share with me where you read this. Thanks!

The small manufacturer from Dresden surprised us with two watches representing extreme ends of the(ir) spectrum: An argenté  version of the Friedrich III. in red gold…

… and the Friedrich August I., concentrating and showcasing everything the manufacture can produce in-house: marvelous engraving (in fact one of the very best in industry!) as well as class-leading enameling:

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The other manufacture from Glashütte demonstrated last year what it can do – going a decisive step towards independence: an own escapement (Glashütter Schwingsystem) implemented without a rise in consumer prices – Gratulation!

This year they went again one step further, an evolutionary one: their first automatic movement, Cal. DUW 3001 (with the NOMOS Schwingsystem), presented in a new watch called Minimatik:

The Minimatik represents an entirely new chapter for Nomos, with a far more complex case construction than we are used to, yet still instantaneously recognised as a Nomos. There is a lot to write about, but so far: we are impressed!

In addition, the classic Tangente gets the new movement as well. Difference in case thickness to the handwound version: 0.2mm – well done!

End of Part I and next will be Omega …

 

Oliver & Magnus

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Breguet really "pushed" it hard this year
They definitely turned the page
but most captivating piece from part I for me is Tempus Terrae
Sincerely
Damjan

May I ask you about some details on this? I don´t disagree (100%), but would like to get your view on it ;-)

Best my friend,
Oliver

Terra Tempus or Orbus Tempus but must admit Tempus Terrae sounds better.

"central part of dial" that transforms from
something looking like mother of pearl to something looking like
engraving (speaking from your great shots)
hands that I find very nice for this type of complication
and specially how, again, central part is recessed
sharp lugs are also nice for me and very well balanced
with sharp hands
+
having wt watch that is nothing shy of PP wt for fraction of price
These are some of details and I even don't have a clue about how back or movement looks like

Sincerely
D

NT