It keeps getting better. Breitling has just released a PR blurb regarding its Transocean series of classic-styled wrist watches. Equipped with their relatively fresh in-house chronograph movement, the new 2013 Breitling Transocean Chronograph GMT adds second time zone functionality to the elegant collection.
The Grande Heure is one of the most stylish collections in JD’s product line up. Their Petite Heure Minute is nice and the Grande Seconde is plain gorgeous, but the Grande Heure is truly a work of art in Hans Hofmann’s meaning of the word: by removing all the unnecessary, JD’s designers allowed the necessary to speak. The Swiss brand has updated their single-hander a year ago by presenting a beautiful Grande Heure Onyx (Ref. J025030270) at Baselworld 2012 show. This spring, the watchmaker expands the line with a more versatile Jaquet Droz Grande Heure GMT model.
Back in 2012, Alpina has presented its rugged-looking Alpina Extreme Diver 300 Automatic three-hander. For this year, the Swiss-based brand updated the collection with a chronograph version of the watch predictably calling it “Alpina Extreme Diver 300 Automatic Chronograph“. Although the function is clearly superfluous even for an amateur diver (I can’t really imagine a guy going underwater without an electronic diving computer), the mechanical movement that powers it is based on a legendary work-horse, which is known for its bullet-proof reliability and adequate accuracy.
Next week, the German watchmaking house plans to proudly present its unique A. Lange & Sohne Lange 1 Time Zone Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este wrist watch. Limited to just one piece, this timekeeper is a meticulously redecorated version of the original A. Lange & Sohne Lange 1 Time Zone (Ref. 116.039) model that was presented almost exactly a year ago.
Mostly known for its rather uninspiring design language, the company, which is usually associated with highly durable and versatile (and also quite expensive) Swiss Army knives, has finally produced an item worthy of a long second glance. Surprisingly, this new quartz-powered Victorinox Swiss Army Chrono Classic 1/100 chronograph features a skeletonized dial with a nice-looking guilloched plate covering its large date display.
Patek Philip‘s classic Calatrava line has just been updated for this year. Featuring a tried and tested automatic movement and a body of classic proportions, the new Patek Philippe Calatrava (Ref. 5227) automatic watch looks emphatically modest, even in its precious rose gold body.
Back in April, the Kempele, Finland-based electronics manufacturer Polar Electric has updated its popular line of training computers with a new version of the well-known RC3 GPS model. Called Polar RC3 GPS Tour de France, the refreshed device, which is primarily targeted at cyclists, adds real-time GPS-based altitude information to its extensive list of functions. If you are lucky enough to live in a mountainous area near the Mediterranean Sea, the new feature may be especially useful for building that perfect training program.
With its new Oris Royal Flying Doctor Service (Ref. 01 735 7672 4084-Set LS) that was presented last week at Baselworld 2013, the Swiss-based maker of affordable timekeepers keeps exploring the niche of vintage styled watches with a sweet modern flavor. Featuring the same 44 mm body with the easily recognizable grooved bezel as their previous “pilots” (like, say, the classic Oris Challenge International de Tourisme 1932 Limited Edition), the device also sports a quite contemporary dial with its hands and scales resembling instrument gauges on military planes.
For the last Baselworld 2013 event that ended on Thursday, the Swiss entry-luxury brand Tissot has updated its range of analog-digital chronograph watches. Compared to earlier iterations of the model, this new Tissot T-Race Touch looks a lot more interesting and, well, even expensive. However, I am still not sure whether the actual production versions of the watch will look as good as the heavily photoshopped image on the promotional photo that you can see right after the jump.
Baselworld 2013 will finally close its doors tomorrow, but there are still dozens of watches I plan to tell you about during the coming weeks. Among them, the new Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe clearly stands out thanks to its vintage-styled body, which is crafted using the most high-tech materials and manufacturing processes.
