The French fashion brand Saint-Honore has finally expanded its affordable Worldcode family with a quartz-powered diver. Although the new Saint-Honore Worldcode Diving Quartz (ref. 861202 71DBN) model sports all the necessary attributes of a diver and features different finish to its highly legible dial, the family DNA is still here, which is good.
First offered around a year ago, the quartz-powered Breitling Colt 33 diver (sic!) gets updated for this year with a wide choice of straps that are crafted from Sahara leather: a natural material that is easy to recognize on first sight thanks to the numerous "dunes" that are embossed on its surface.
With its mirror-polished body, guilloched dial, and a set of finely-cut diamonds, the 2012 TAG Heuer Link Lady (ref. WAT1414.BA0954) could have been a serious competitor to the gorgeous Omega DeVille Ladymatic (425.65.34.20.63.001), if only it wasn't powered by a simple quartz movement instead of a high-grade automatic caliber. On the other hand (no pun intended), the watch is still a good contender for the right to be chosen by those ladies who don't care about the movement and other technicalities and simply look for a beautiful trinket that also tells time.
The quartz-powered Tissot T-Race Danica Patrick Limited Edition 2012 (ref. T048.217.27.016.00) chronograph is, as you have probably already guessed, named after Ms. Danica Sue Patrick, a well-known American auto racing driver that also happens to be a model, Tissot's "brand ambassador," and the only woman to win in the famous IndyCar Series. Being a limited edition model, the timekeeper will be offered in a total lot of 4999 pieces.
A great fan of the Bauhaus approach to industrial design, I always liked the beautiful simple layout of the Swiss Railway Clock and its numerous more compact reincarnations currently sold by the Swiss watchmaker Mondaine. Thanks to the people from the U.S.-based WatchCo.com online retailer, I finally have the pleasure to review one of the recent additions to the growing family: the simple, yet elegant Mondaine Classic Big Date (Ref. A669.30008.11SBO).
The quartz-powered Roamer Vanguard is strongly influenced (to put it mildly) by the legendary Jules Audemars Extra-Thin collection by Audemars Piguet. Although featuring the same style and looking great in general, in small details the watch, to my deepest regret, clearly shows that it is at least ten times cheaper than the gorgeous piece of technical marvel that it pays homage to.
