Japanese watches
In a matter of days, the Japanese conglomerate Seiko will start selling the new Grand Seiko Sport Collection Spring Drive GMT Limited Edition (Ref. SBGE245G) hybrid-powered wristwatch. With the luxury gadget being limited to the Japanese domestic market, the watch will be a bit difficult to come by if you happen to live on the other side of the globe. Yet, the device is so beautiful, so impressive that is seems to be absolutely worth going into all the trouble to get one.
Swiss Watches
Earlier this year, the German watchmaker Steinhart has issued their new take on the concept of a "vintage-modern pilot's watch". Successfully blending vintage exterior with a classic caliber and modern CNC machinery, the new Steinhart Nav.B-Chrono 47 Baumuster B Grey Edition (ref. 106-0877) offers, perhaps, the best "value for money" ratio for those interested in buying a relatively affordable brand new pilot's timekeeper.
Swiss Watches
Created in collaboration with MR PORTER, one of their major partners that sells all things luxury, the new Breitling Navitimer Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph 43 is limited to just 1000 pieces, packs a great in-house chronograph caliber, and, as real estate agents like to say, is priced to sell in a market over-saturated with equally elegant pilot's watches produced by well-established brands like Omega and IWC.
Japanese watches / Quartz watches
To some, the new Casio G-Shock Rangeman (ref. GPR-B1000-1 / 1B) line of adventure watches may look like a glorified steam engine trying to compete with sleek and glossy bullet trains. Still, offering solar-assisted GPS navigation, adequate (although not stunning) battery life, as well as a bunch of other usable (the watch won't bother you with incoming messages alarms, but will let you retrace your route step by step if you somehow get lost in a wilderness) functions, this gadget looks like a reliable backup for your standalone professional GPS tracker.
Buyer's Guide
Looking at our stats, I see that demand for recommendations regarding diving watches is a seasonal thing with most visitors coming in summer and then gradually declining till Christmas only to start growing again in early January. "Pilots" are different animals: I have an impression that people are always interested in "aviators" regardless of the time of season. So, for your reading pleasure, a choice of fifteen timekeepers from under $200 to more than $10,000 as priced by online retailers that I find worthy of being considered while shopping for your new (or maybe your very first!) pilot's watch this year.
Swiss Watches
This year, Doxa has released a number of "anniversary" timekeepers that celebrate the brand's first semicentennial in the business of making professional diving watches. While the gorgeous blackfaced Sharkhunter and the silverfaced Searambler attracted their fair share of attention from collectors and, um, more normal enthusiasts alike, it was the DOXA Sub 300 "Black Lung" Limited Edition automatic diving wristwatch that broke the brand's own sales record with the whole bunch of watches being pre-ordered during the first 24 hours after the registration officially commenced.
Swiss Watches
With this gorgeous Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba Automatic (ref. H82305931,) the Swiss-based watchmaker that mostly deals in relatively affordable timekeeping instruments not simply expands its line of diving companions. It finally offers a wristwatch that is not just "different" from the rest of the crowd, but -unlike their last year's Navy Frogman- can actually be worn by a casual person without attracting weird glances from persons who "just don't get it."
Japanese watches / Quartz watches
Already released as the Japanese Domestic Market (ah, that legendary 'JDM' abbreviation that's been rice-rocket freaks' and watch aficionados' darling for so many decades!) models, the new Seiko Prospex Diver Scuba Giugiaro Design Limited Edition (available as refs. SBEE001 & SBEE002) is an almost perfect re-issue of the wristwatch from the 1980s that had a great potential, but for some reason failed to become an icon of industrial design. Well, I can only welcome the Japanese brand's decision to give the collection a second chance, even as only a limited edition model.