Torgeon have a handy 20% discount code on their website right now, which can be applied to the orange strap/dial versions of its 45mm T18 model.
Powered by a Swiss ETA quartz movement, it’s a striking, modern watch that is aimed at the younger consumer. And KTM owners.
Here’s the blurb from Torgeon;
Designed in partnership with Team Pelfrey Star Mazda racers, this watch brings flight speed to the race track.
Equipped with a wide range of functional tools for race car and aviation enthusiasts living in high speed, this watch includes a Swiss Made ETA G10.212 quartz chronograph movement. With large, clearly displayed orange digits that add a hint of colour, a blue carbon fibre dial, a blue silicone strap and a heavy duty stainless steel buckle, this is an elegant timepiece with a thrilling edge.
Eza watches has sent us some info on their new Sealander Bronze model, which retails for just over £1100.
Obviously there’s a bronze 41mm case, with an ETA 2824 movement inside – these movements are becoming increasingly rare from Indie brands, so that is worth a price premium to an extent, as many now have Miyota/Seiko engines inside.
The watch is made in Germany, so when you buy for $1095 you have 20% VAT and UK imkport duties on top, plus any admin fees the delivery service can apply. We reckon it will total up at £1100 plus, but sadly nobody knows unless they buy it.
This ongoing problem with import duties and other fees needs to be fixed, otherwise watch sales are going to become difficult for Indie makers. Big brands can use Freeport warehouses to get around this mess, but smaller companies are trapped and can only push all the admin and costs onto the customer.
Great looking dive watch, 300m depth, and an ETA engine – it has a great deal of plus points. Long term, an Oris might hold its value better, but you will pay more than £1400 for an Oris with 300m rating.
Here’s the tech spec on the Sealander;
Movement
Swiss Calibre ETA 2824 Automatic, Ligne 11-1/2’”, 25 jewels, 28.800bph, 38-40 hour power reserve, adjusted by Eza Watches to six positions. Functions
Automatic & manual winding, Display by means of hands: hour, minute, second. Date calendar, Stop second device, Shock-absorber for balance staff. Case
CUAI9 bronze case with mixed brushed and high gloss finish. Case diameter 41.0mm, lug width 22.0mm, case thickness 14.2mm (including the double domed glass), lug to lug 49 mm.
High gloss 316L Stainless Steel Caseback with engraved logo.
Dial
Dial with high gloss indexes filled with C3 SuperLuminova™.
Ceramic bezel insert with C3 SuperLuminova™ at 12 o’clock. Crystal
Double domed anti-reflective, scratch resistant sapphire crystal. Water resistance
Water resistant to 30 ATM, 300 meters. Strap
Vintage leather and nato strap. Ratings
Adjusted to six positions and tested.
Bell + Ross has sent us some info on their latest model, which has MASH army green vibe going on.
Bell & Ross’ diving watches offer a professional solution
to an environment that is as fascinating as it is dangerous.
Its HYDROMAX® model held the world record for water
resistance up to 11,100 m deep in 1997.
Released in 2017, the brand’s first square diving watch became a collection in its own right and pursued its expansion ever since.
Since its origins, Bell & Ross has built a strong history in
the underwater exploration, and now extends its DIVER
collection with a new model that reflects its core DNA and
reaffirms the brand’s functional approach.
Based on the brand’s principle that the superfluous should
never shadow the essentials, the Bell & Ross’ engineers
have designed a utilitarian diving watch perfectly suitable
for professional use, the BR 03-92 DIVER MILITARY.
CERAMIC DESIGN
Made entirely from ceramic, the BR 03-92 DIVER MILITARY
is lightweight, high-performance and virtually, unscratchable.
Reminiscent of the anti-reflective finish used on aircraft
instrument panels, this new model is perfectly in tune with the
aeronautical codes so crucial to the Bell & Ross philosophy.
By releasing a high-tech material in the professional underwater
instruments, Bell & Ross has created a new must-have tool and
reinterprets the original values of the iconic BR 01.
The UK price is £3990 and the edition is limited to 999 pieces.
Verdict; Expensive dive option compared to many Indie brand 300m rated watches. The ceramic case is a unique feature, but the trouble with pottery is that it breaks easily. On the upside the straps are silicon or fabric, so you don’t have that broken Rado link problem to worry about.
Green is everywhere this year, from Boris Johnson’s latest attempts to micro-manage our entire lives by banning gas boilers, bacon sandwiches and petrol cars, to the myriad – yes we used myriad – green dial watches showcased by Rolex, IWC, Patek, Tudor and others at Watches & Wonders.
Now TAG has joined th party with a green dial variant on their classic Monaco model. I refuse to say `iconic’ because some herberts on local news websites are now describing their local bus depot as iconinc. It’s laughable. OK then, classic TAG Monaco features like the 39mm case, black sub-dials, plus it a luminous green glow at night on the hands and markers. The see-thru caseback has some green text, plus there’s a dash of green on the movement too.
Yours for £5500 and there are just 500 pieces available. Verdict; we still the Gulf Porsche racing colours is the best TAG Monaco of modern times. There, we said it.
Ball Watch are always creating variations on their chronograph theme, so here is the latest Roadmaster Rescue.
Whether by air, land or sea, every rescue mission is unique. But there’s one common truth: timing is everything. A purpose-built tool for critical search and rescue situations, the new Roadmaster Rescue Chronograph delivers extreme accuracy, easy readability and high functionality. Engineered with a patented pusher locking system, the chronograph function works in unison with the pulsometer scale to measure heart rate, while two illuminated sub-dial counters track elapsed time. And for countdowns at all hours, the ceramic diving bezel features a bold micro gas tube inset. Vital functionality and versatile form that’s ready to venture wherever necessary.
The new Roadmaster Rescue Chronograph with blue ceramic bezel insert is limited to 1,000 pieces each. Now available for pre-order until 2 June 2021 at an exclusive price. Constructed from a titanium-steel combination, the 41mm case affords high impact strength, lightweight wearing comfort and trusted durability – even at extreme temperatures. And with a case thickness of just 14.8mm, the tool watch fits securely with diverse types of gear. Atop the robust case, the steel bezel features a virtually scratchproof ceramic ring with countdown markings. And in the center of the triangular marking, a micro gas tube inset ensures an instantly bright glow in darkness, allowing the uni-directional rotating bezel to be used for countdowns at all hours.
Colour options include all blue, white dial and a black dial/bezel combo. Price is £1590 on the pre-order deal.
There’s lume, then there’s Superlume and finally, all over the dial lume. Some people really love it, and a used Timex Indiglo is one of the easiest watches to sell on eBay or Amazon at the right price. Why? It just makes telling the time at night, when you waken from some bizarre dream that much easier, and a whole lotta folk like that feature.
So the Bell+Ross Vinatge chronograph with a metal dial costed in C5 Superlume may well win some fans. It’s a 41mm case size watch, with sapphire glass, box-crystal on the front and a sapphire crystal on the see-thru caseback too. The dial has a bit of blue contrast lume on a sub-dial too. You can choose a yellow or green lume plus there’s a steel bracelt or tropic rubber strap option.
As you would expect from a Bell+Ross watch this has big numbers on the dial and a general aviation sort of feel. Inside you find an in-house BR calibre 301 movement, which is based on the ETA 2894 automatic movement. So reliability is guaranteed, as is ease of servicing by an Indie watchmaker. Those are all plus points but the downside is the price; £4300.
OK this is a limited edition of 250 pieces, but there are better value chronograph options out there with Swiss movements inside them, although they don’t have the all-over dial lume. For example you could buy an Omega Speedmaster 38 for £4300 and know that its resale value will always be at least £1000 better than any Bell+Ross model. Or you could buy a TAG Heuer F1 with its grey dial, bright yellow markers and hands option for £1700. Yes, it’s a quartz, but superbright dial day or night.
That also leaves you enough change to buy a Tudor Black Bay 58 from your £4300 budget. Nice.
There are lots of green watches this year. For example JLC has launched a green Reverso, which retails at £7200 and has a green strap option too. Then there’s that weird Rolex palm tree thing. Hmmm, let’s move on.
Thing is, the green Reverso works well because this is a physically small watch, designed back in the days when gents wore little 32mm case things because you stood a good chance of being hit by a fascist/communist goon, industrial machinery etc so it made sense to keep an expensive Swiss watch up your sleeve. That is how wristwatches became popular, because getting a pocket watch out in the trenches of WW1 was a bad move.
So yes, we love the Reverso in its green colours. But it looks handsome in blue as well – and blue is THE most popular dial colour in gents watches.
Other green dial watches lauched recently include the 18ct gold Tudor Black Bay 58, the Patek Nautilus in olive green, plus three AP Royal Oak variants all featuring green. The tourbillon Royal Oak is actually very 1960S Time Tunnel, with its strange, almost psydelic swirling green pattern. Crazy ass watch as about $180,000 so we expect to see Floyd Maywether sporting this one very soon.
It’s no Submariner Hulk, is it?
But when you look at the Tudor 58 in green, it’s kinda in-your-face and although the Rolex Sub Hulk is a very collectable watch, we cannot think of another all-green wristwatch that carries the same cred when it comes to watch collecting, pre-owned shops and pawnbrokers. Seriously, when was the last time you stuck your nose onto a jewellers shop window and lusted after a green watch?
Yes, we can sympathise with fans of the IWC Big Pilot 43, because the 2021 model with green dial looks the part, no question. It’s probably fair to say that the blue version looks equally stunning but we bet you £50 that when it is time to sell you will get about £500 less for the green dial version, maybe £1000 less. They just don’t sell and as I worked in a pawnbrokers for two years and a jewellers for five years, I know what sells.
It’s this in a nutshell; blue dial gents watches, followed by black dials, and then maybe a white dial if the lume/hands/numbers combo is sharp and clean. Cheap Accurist or expensive Omega. Blue dials win, all day long.
We begin the farewell to our popular 17-series with the 17.09: an evolved daily wearer, with new, extra functionality and overall design updates. We also aim to address the increase in demand with a new ordering system which should allow more collectors to experience a MingVersion 2.0
This one has a Sellita movement inside, a two-piece dial with a Clous-de-Paris pattern and a brushed outer track. There’s also a bit of lume in the sapphire crystal, which is something different and really catches the eye. It has a feel of the 1950s US neon shop and bar signage that spread from Miami across the East Coast. They are very striking watches.
You have a 38mm case size, in stainless steel, which is an ideal dress watch size for many collectors. You can pull the crown out and move the hour hand independently of the minute, which is handy if you are lucky enough to blag some travel this year. Price is 1950 Swiss Francs and stocks are limited, you can buy on the 15th April and get it delivered in July 2021.
Ball Watch has a new Engineer model, here’s the press info;
The originator, pacesetter, visionary. In 1891, Webb C. Ball created the official railroad standard of accuracy using stricter criteria than the modern COSC. On our 130th anniversary, our legacy of precision becomes even more exacting with our new in-house movement: Chronometer Manufacture Caliber RRM7309-S.
Powering the new Engineer M Pioneer, this watchmaking achievement takes BALL’s standards even further with an accuracy range of -2/+5 seconds per day. New technological advancements, highlighted by an ingenious silicon balance spring, withstand magnetic fields up to 2,500 Gauss and deliver superior shock resistance. Even in the dark, its precision is on full display thanks to our revolutionary micro gas lights. Once again, we are forging ahead with belief that excellence always moves forward. Limited to 1,000 pieces each, the Engineer M Pioneer is available for pre-order at a special price until 26th May 2021.
In Engineer M Pioneer, our designer has taken a bold step with the design of the dial, featuring large Arabic numerals formed by micro gas tubes at every hour. When it comes to the colors of the micro gas tubes, the Engineer M Pioneer offers 2 choices that are vastly different in styles: the standard classic version with the green and yellow gas tubes creating a harmony of light or the special version with 6 different gas tube colors mimicking the rainbow, a hidden gem that is only revealed in darkness.
All three hands are also outfitted with the micro gas tubes, with the added luminosity from the Super LumiNova coating.
SILICON BALANCE SPRING
The balance spring, the delicate part within a caliber that regulates its accuracy, is particularly susceptible to the effect of magnetism. A magnetized movement will run abnormally fast or worse, will stop running at all.
In the creation of the RRM7309-S, our watchmakers combined new material with traditional watchmaking and created something truly marvelous. As a material choice, silicon offers high anti-magnetism and corrosion resistance, it also offers enhanced stability to temperature fluctuations. Extremely lightweight and yet harder than steel, turning silicon into a delicate balance spring that is finer than a human hair requires a next-level expertise. However, as accurate oscillations – and therefore a precise movement – depend on the balance spring, silicon is an ideal material selection with these increased levels of efficiency.
We believe longevity is one of the core attributes that make mechanical timepieces more than a mere object. Thus, while we use silicon balance spring that works in combination with a new escape wheel and lever that are made in nickel-based material to deliver enhanced performance, our watchmakers have decided to retain the classic structure of the components to ensure that the fine-tuning of the remarkable precision and the serviceability in the long run is never a concern.
OK, we are in two minds about the latest Rolex Explorer with two-tone bracelet. Yes, it adds a kinda executive touch to a watch that has looked a little bit dated for a few decades. But 18ct gold centre links? Hmm, yeah it’s a bit Swiss Tony. Plus a 36mm case size is too small for much of the 50-60-something, male dominated market that Rolex enjoys. The watch collector market has got used to 40mm being the default size for a statement watch on the wrist. That’s all we are saying Rolex, so get that 39/41mm case option prototype tested and in production for September.
Rolex is presenting its new-generation Oyster Perpetual Explorer. At 36 mm, it returns to the size of the original model launched in 1953 following the first ascent to the summit of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on 29 May that year.
The new-generation Explorer is notably released in a yellow Rolesor version (combining Oystersteel and 18 ct yellow gold). The black dial, now lacquered, bears the index hour markers and emblematic 3, 6 and 9 numerals that are the cornerstones of the model’s personality, evoking the determination and spirit of adventure that give rise to great achievements.
The new-generation Explorer’s Chromalight display is particularly impressive. In dark conditions, the intensity of the blue glow emitted by the hour markers and hands now lasts longer thanks to the innovative and exclusive luminescent material with which they are filled or coated. In daylight, these display elements also have a brighter white hue.
The new-generation Explorer is equipped with calibre 3230, a movement at the forefront of watchmaking technology. Like all Rolex watches, the Oyster Perpetual Explorer carries the Superlative Chronometer certification, which ensures excellent performance on the wrist.
AN EXPLORATION TOOL
Presented in 1953, the Explorer is emblematic of the close ties between Rolex and exploration. In the 1930s, the brand began to equip numerous Himalayan expeditions with Oyster watches. Among these was the group that Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were part of when they became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest, at 8,848 metres (29,028 feet).
This pioneering move illustrated the company’s ambition to use the world as a laboratory, testing its watches in real conditions in order to continually improve them. The feedback that Rolex received from the members of these different expeditions therefore had a direct influence on the evolution of its watches, making them more precise and robust.
GOLD CENTRE LINKS
Rolesor, the combination of 18 ct gold and Oystersteel on a Rolex watch, has been a signature feature of the brand since 1933, when the name was registered. It is a meeting of two metals: one, noble and precious, attractive for its lustre and stability; the other, highly resistant to corrosion, assuring strength and reliability. All of these qualities mirror the elegance and performance that come together in a Rolex watch.
On the yellow Rolesor version of the new-generation Explorer, the bezel, winding crown and centre links of the bracelet are in 18 ct yellow gold, while the case and outer links of the bracelet are in Oystersteel.
100m WATER RESISTANCE
The new-generation Explorer’s 36 mm Oyster case is guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 100 metres (330 feet). Its middle case is crafted from a solid block of Oystersteel, a particularly corrosion-resistant alloy. The case back, edged with fine fluting, is hermetically screwed down with a special tool that allows only Rolex watchmakers to access the movement. The Twinlock winding crown, fitted with a double waterproofness system, screws down securely against the case. The crystal is made of virtually scratchproof sapphire. The waterproof Oyster case provides optimum protection for the watch’s movement.
MODERN MOVEMENT, PLENTY OF RESERVE
The new-generation Explorer is equipped with calibre 3230, a movement entirely developed and manufactured by Rolex that was released in 2020. At the forefront of watchmaking technology, this self-winding mechanical movement led to the filing of several patents, and offers outstanding performance in terms of precision, power reserve, resistance to shocks and magnetic fields, convenience and reliability.
Calibre 3230 incorporates the Chronergy escapement patented by Rolex, which combines high energy efficiency with great dependability. Made of nickel-phosphorus, it is also insensitive to magnetic fields. The movement is fitted with an optimized blue Parachrom hairspring, manufactured by Rolex in a paramagnetic alloy that makes it up to 10 times more precise than a traditional hairspring in case of shocks. The blue Parachrom hairspring is equipped with a Rolex overcoil, ensuring the calibre’s regularity in any position. The oscillator is fitted on the Rolex-designed and -patented high-performance Paraflex shock absorbers, increasing the movement’s shock resistance.
Calibre 3230 is equipped with a self-winding module via a Perpetual rotor. Thanks to its barrel architecture and the escapement’s superior efficiency, the power reserve of calibre 3230 extends to approximately 70 hours.
