The Zenith Elite 6150 was released in 2015 as a steel dress watch. It is now also available in rose gold. The cambered dial has a sort of Bauhaus purity, with engraved baton hour markers and narrow leaf-shaped hands, and nothing (not even a date window, a commendable and courageous move) disturbing the classical elegance.…
Zenith works in a number of vintage territories, such as motorbikes, but more importantly classic cars. The El Primero 36.000 VpH Classic Car fits the image perfectly, with its high-speed column-wheel chronograph movement, the classic three counters in different colours, a “brushed engine” finish on the dial, and the perforated leather strap that recalls driving…
It looks like a classic pilot’s watch, but the Zenith Heritage Pilot Café Racer has a marketing campaign designed to connect with a different set of clients: classic motorbikes. The Café Racer movement was born in England in the 1920s, when riders customized their motorbikes and souped up their engines. The watch has all the…
This is a limited edition of Zenith’s El Primero chronograph, with an open dial revealing parts of the movement. Colours have been given a minimalist treatment, with everything in shades of grey except for the touches of red on the chronograph hands. The sense of depth on the dial is enhanced by the moulded letters…
The DS Podium Lady by Certina is an attractive women’s watch, 29 mm in diameter, with mother-of-pearl dial, Roman numerals, and an ETA 2671 self-winding mechanical movement. It is available in several versions, and in the variant with PVD rose gold trim on the bezel, crown and bracelet, it has a classical beauty that stands…
The DS-1 by Certina has been completely reworked, and the style of the pieces launched at Baselworld 2016 reflects 1960s watches. Available in several versions, DS-1 is an attractive three-hand watch, at prices ranging from €665 to €745. The principal features of their design are the domed dial with sunray finish, triangular hour markers, faceted…
Mini, because the case diameter has been reduced from the original 55 mm of the B-Uhr specification to 45 mm. But the Mini-Replica by Laco is still a large and impressive watch, with dark sandblasted finish and anti-fingerprint coating. The ordnance number FL 23883 is engraved on the caseband. Differently to the orginal B-Uhr, this…
The Laco Mission Manx Limited Edition celebrates vintage motorcycling and is perfect for those enthusiasts who own vintage motorbikes, and also dress the part, with bushy beards, soft caps, helmet and goggles, and aged leather gear. This piece is dedicated in particular to the Tourist Trophy race on the Isle of Man, and a German…
This is a new pilot’s watch by Laco presented at Baselworld 2016. The piece is 42 mm in diameter, and its principal characteristic is that dial and stainless steel case have been specially treated to give them an aged look. They are very convincing, with marks of oxidation on the solid caseback, and a dial…
Modern pilot’s watches don’t really have a practical function today. In the years from the 1920s up until the 1950s, they were essential parts of equipment, and so gained their characteristics of large size, and long leather straps so that they could be worn over a flying suit. Today even sports pilots have all sorts…
Laco was one of the few companies that made so-called Beobachtungsuhren (B-Uhr, observation watches) for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, to specifications that included a size of 55 mm, an indirectly-driven centre seconds hand with stop-seconds function, black dial, radium-coated numerals and hands, precision in timekeeping at temperatures down to 20°C below zero,…
Part of the extensive Laco collection of pilot’s watches, the Ju 52 is a very wearable model with a 42 mm stainless steel case, 12.8 mm thick, with black PVD coating that gives it a sleek, modern look. The watch is part of the Type C collection, linked to pre-WW2 watches with cathedral hands and…
After his watches Variocurve and Quickindicator, Daniel Nebel, founder, owner, watch designer and builder at Nord Zeitmaschine, has launched a new timepiece: Freesdial. The name is a brilliant play on words, and the timepiece is unlike anything seen before. As the large minute hand moves around the dial over the course of an hour, parts…
One of the trends at Baselworld 2016 is for so-called Heritage watches, based on pocket watch designs from the early 20th century. These often have bold Arabic numerals in gold and a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock; several brands have introduced pilot’s watches in the same pattern. There are some traditional brands that have…
If you like Panerai watches but don’t like their prices, Rado‘s new HyperChrome 1616 offers the same sort of style at a fraction of the cost. Its cushion shape and prominent crown protector contribute to its distinctive looks. This piece is a new version of the brand’s Cape Horn collection, and it has a large,…
Breguet began making pilot’s chronographs in 1955, with the Type XX commissioned by the French air force and naval air arm. This was followed by the Types XXI and XXII, and they have been in production ever since. This year, Breguet presents the new Type XXI 3817 chronograph, an evocative piece with a vintage-look dial…
The Tutima Glashütte M2 Seven Seas, presented at Baselworld 2016, is a very attractive diving watch, sleek and compact enough to be perfect as an everyday sports watch, but with a performance that makes it robust and reliable underwater. The case is in pure titanium, 44 mm in diameter, 13 mm thick, with 3mm-thick watchglass and…
This pilot’s watch by Ingersoll 1892 is a new product that will be launched in June 2016. In a 43 mm case, it has some appealing visual features, such as the cathedral hands and the knurled bezel that reinforce the vintage effect. Unfortunately the designers have added a date window which mars the dial’s overall…
Tangente by NOMOS Glashütte has been a favourite since 1992, loved for the purity of its Deutscher Werkbund-inspired dials and its in-house movements. Up until now, Tangente has had a hand-wound movement. Now it is available with a new automatic calibre, DUW 3001, slim and with a chronometer-level of precision. The dial is pure perfection,…
The Senator Excellence is one of Glashütte Original‘s new product launches for Baselworld 2016, but it is much more than just three new references including a classic pilot’s watch design. Its new Calibre 36 movement incorporates a lot of research and development, and it will become the foundation of a whole new series of watches.…