2024-01-06 08:34:38
Just the right amount of orange, “panda” and vintage touches for a trendy chronograph (Nivada).
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Atlantic-tac
But also the rounded symbols of bubble hands, the elegance set in the extra-thin, the clockwork orange of a new life, the amicable agreement with a collector and the Dakar rebels…
RAKETA: Reconditioned titanium…
Lovers of “military” watches will inevitably fall for this watch“Underwater” inspired sonar offered by the independent Saint Petersburg manufacturer Raketa: it is a watch which displays the twenty-four hours of the day on its dial, a very useful device when you are on a deep-sea mission water, far from the marks of solar day and lunar night. We can spot on this dial which does not skimp on the Super-LumiNova (readability in dim light) six four-hour quarters (marked with blue and red lines), which correspond to the duty tours of a submarine crew . For these steel cases (44 mm, “manufacture” automatic movement, water-resistant to 200 m), there is a limited edition of 500 pieces, “Sonar Kashalot”, whose bezels are cut from a titanium panel of the monocoque of the sub. -Soviet sailor K-322 Kashalot (Akula class for the USSR, Uniform class for NATO), elements recovered during its demolition at the end of service. This limited edition “Cachalot” is offered in a pair box with a 1:450 scale model of the original Kashalot (count 2,800 euros for this limited edition, compared to 1,900 euros for the current edition).
BEAUBLEU: Symbolic curves…
The young independent French house Beaubleu consolidates its offerwith a “permanent” collection, Ecce, which perfectly sums up the original offering of this brand: a case of assumed formal modesty (39 mm), with shapes as round as the hour, minute and second hands, perfectly recognizable by the totally unusual simplicity of their roundness around the dial [dommage que le mouvement automatique soit resté japonais, alors qu’il existe à présent des alternatives françaises]. We quickly get used to reading the time using “bubble” hands, which give the passing time a certain ethereal lightness that the rigid classic hands do not have. Count on less than 1,000 euros for this gourmet watchmaking pleasure, with different color options for the dial or for the style of the bracelet. Beaubleu knows how to reconnect with a true tradition of “French” watchmaking elegance, that of the famous French Touch…
VACHERON CONSTANTIN: Ultra-flatly chic…
Let’s dream a little regarding technical and precious haute horology…The Overseas collection is the paragon of sporty chic at Vacheron Constantin, a Geneva manufacturer which has one of the most brilliant teams for high mechanics. With this white gold case, this very posh version of the Overseas offers you both a high-end ultra-thin mechanical tourbillon (it is housed under the Maltese cross, at six o’clock) and an invisible setting of 60 diamonds baguette on the hexagonal bezel. The indexes are also composed of nine baguette diamonds to punctuate the stroke of the gold hands. To reinforce the sporty aspect, a blue dial was essential, Vacheron Constantin offering this very refined Overseas with three bracelets (one metallic, one blue rubber and one blue leather, all easily interchangeable). 42.5 mm of white gold for the case, barely 10 mm thick once placed on the wrist: it’s difficult to get more chic and more elegant in the most precious of minimalisms! From the very great Vacheron Constantin, but we prefer not to tell you the price – which is only available “on request” anyway (count on six figures, with several units at the head of the parade of zeros)…
SEIKO : Gentleman driver…
This ice blue dial with three counters and these orange hands(those of the chronograph seconds and that of the minutes) confirm the “automotive” inspiration of this Prospex Speedtimer signed Seiko. Additional originality: the electronic movement (quartz) runs on solar energy, which reinforces the sporting vocation of this limited edition reserved for the European market (3,000 examples). Seiko offers us as a bonus two bracelets, one with traditional metal links and one in perforated leather, more vintage (count 780 euros for this 39 mm solar chronograph). If Seiko re-attacks the European market with such successful products, the Swiss brands will have to worry…
NIVADA GRENCHEN : Mechanical orange…
The young independent watchmaker (French!) Guillaume Laidet has made a specialty of : giving beautiful sleeping marks the kiss that can bring them back to life. The Nivada Grenchen house, which had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, has just benefited from this watchmaking version of Sleeping Beauty. Witness this Chronoking “Paul Newman” restyled in vintage fashion and which inevitably gives, in orange, the “panda” dial (contrasting sub-counters in sunray sand) and in the indestructible reference to Paul Newman (for the typography of these sub-counters). The best, however, is not in the look, but in the movement of this chronograph: a good old vintage Valjoux 23 VZ, superb mechanical column wheel and manual winding [un remontage à partir de mouvements restaurés, reconditionnés et retestés] – enthusiasts know that Patek Philippe equipped its own chronographs with these movements. Offered with different options of bracelets, each more vintage than the last (leather, metal, “tropical”, etc.) at a very reasonable price (count in the 4,500 euros), it is an elegant way to start the year with a nod to the tradition of beautiful chronographs from the golden age…
GOOD TO KNOW: In brief, in bulk and in complete freedom
•••• 2024 :The unanimous opinion is that a complicated watchmaking year is ahead, with a commercial slowdown observed in almost all the major watch markets, while considerable stocks of unsold watches have started to accumulate. accumulate there. First strategic meeting: the Watches & Wonders show, which will open its doors in Geneva on April 9. Which leaves three months for the brands to present us with some substantial new products… •••• CHRISTIE’S: move on, there’s nothing more to see! We will probably never know the terms of the amicable agreement signed between Christie’s and the Omani collector Mohammed Zaman, who felt wronged by the mediocrity of the proceeds from his sale of collector’s watches. All we know is that the terms of this agreement must remain ultra-confidential and therefore prohibited to the press, which might have cast a dangerous spotlight on the behind-the-scenes of collector’s watch auctions… • ••• REBELLION: watchmaking partner of the Dakar rally (formerly Paris Dakar) of which it has been the “official timekeeper” since 2019, the independent Swiss house Rebellion offers us this year a really muscular watch (ultra-light 48 mm carbon case ), with the no less monumental numbers 9 and 12 in sand color and the Dakar logo at six o’clock. Just in case, this new three-needle Predator 2.0 is waterproof to a depth of 50 meters – in Saudi Arabia, where this 46th Dakar Rally has just started, it might be useful! All Swiss Made as it should be to adorn the virile wrists of the drivers of the most prestigious endurance race in the world…
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