WristWatchReview.com

Serket’s classy new Telson

John Biggs — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:33:49 +0000

Serket, formerly Scorpion, is one of my favorite US-based boutique manufacturers and I’m quite impressed by their latest, the Telson. it’s a 48mm watch with ETA 6497 manual wind movement and exhibition back showing off Cotes D’ Geneve engraving with a scorpion.

The movement is a workhorse - I believe Glycine uses it in their Incursore line - and the design is quite striking, especially the blue, shown here. They’re water resistant to 10ATM and come on a strap or a bracelet.

Now for the bad news: The new models cost $1,250. This one is part of a 200 piece set so you’re getting something amazingly unique, which is great. The Reef Diver 2.0, their beautiful 47mm diver, still costs $999, though, if you’re so inclined.

The new Culinary Watch

John Biggs — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:28:45 +0000

This is an odd duck. A company called Morpheus Watches has just released the Culinary watch, a $400 quartz piece with 41.5mm case and design cues that come from high-end cookwear.

. The Culinary features a concentric circle texture on the dial, calling out the same relief found in fine cookware. The shape of the case itself resembles a skillet, and the crown and pushers are formed in the style of high end oven or cook top knobs.

Fair enough. It uses a Swiss ISA movement and has an alarm for timing dishes, reserve de marche battery meter, and luminous hands. It comes on leather or steel and has a sapphire crystal.

I’ve always said that watchmakers need to target famous chefs. After all, when they’re on TV their wrists are always showing. A lost Rolex in the pudding might even make for a great gift for a lucky diner.

Vogard announces a new twist on an old concept, the Chronozoner

Dave Freeman — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:48:31 +0000

Vogard is a name you may not have heard before, but they have been around for a while. Recently as Baselworld, they announced the “Chronozoner” - a world time chronograph with a rather unique method of changing time zones.

By simply turning the bezel on the front of the watch, it is possible to select from any one of the 24 major time zones. And to celebrate the launch of the Chronozoner, Vogard has announced a limited edition 24 piece run (one for each time zone). The limited edition pieces will feature a platinum bezel, and be numbered from -12 to +12.

Garmin Fortrex 401/301 released

Dave Freeman — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:37:24 +0000

Garmin announced a new wrist wearable GPS today, which I think looks remarkably like military tech seeping into the civilian sector. Considering that GPS technology itself was originally military, this doesn’t come as a great shock. And while there have been other wrist wearable GPS options available, the Foretrex line seems to be hitting that sweet spot of functionality and features. Garmin has brought some wrist based units to market before, but they have been aimed more at the jogging crowd and less at the high adventure types.

Currently, there are only two units in the Foretrex line, the 401 and 301. Both units are WAAS (used to improve the accuracy of the GPS system) enabled, and highly sensitive, intended to lock on and stay locked on in order to track your path as you move on your hike or trek or off road adventure. Both models are expected to be released in the 3rd quarter 2009, with the 301 retailing for $199, and the 401 for $249. For the price difference, I’d definitely recommend the 401, the compass and barometer could save your life. Here’s the press release with all the info:

OLATHE, Kan./June 16, 2009/Business Wire - Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the Foretrex 401 and Foretrex 301 GPS navigators, integrating a high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver and USB interface into a lightweight, waterproof device for light hikers, skiers, campers and military personnel to wear comfortably on their wrists.

“Whether you’re on a leisurely hike or in the toughest conditions imaginable, you need navigation that’s simple to use and easy to access,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “Our new Foretrex models help you keep your hands free and your focus on the path ahead, all while ensuring you make it to your destination as easily as possible.”

Rugged and waterproof, Garmin’s new Foretrex 301 and 401 models boast a high-sensitivity GPS receiver with HotFixTM that quickly acquires and maintains satellite reception – even in heavy tree cover or deep canyons – and accurately monitors and stores your routes, tracks and waypoints. When the day’s activities are done, just turn on the TracBack® feature, and Foretrex will retrace your path right back to where you started. With Foretrex, you can always find your way back to any important place, like your campsite or vehicle, using the breadcrumb trail, data fields and compass screen on the easy-to-read LCD display. The new Foretrex models feature dual-position readout so that you can view your current location in multiple formats, including latitude/longitude and an alternate position format of your choice, simplifying navigation for professional, military, search-and-rescue and recreational uses. Foretrex 301 and 401 also incorporate a trip computer, sunrise/sunset and hunting and fishing information and can connect to your PC or Mac via USB connection.

Adding even more features to the mix, Foretrex 401 has an electronic compass and a barometric altimeter. Foretrex 401 allows you to wirelessly share routes, tracks and waypoints between certain Foretrex, Oregon and Colorado devices, and it is also compatible with Garmin heart-rate monitors and cadence sensors.
Weighing about 3 ounces and powered by 2 AAA batteries, Foretrex won’t weigh you down while enduring a day’s adventures with up to 18 hours of battery life in the 301 and up to 17 hours in the 401. And you can chronicle your activities by storing up to 500 waypoints, 20 routes or a tracklog of up to 10,000 points and 10 saved tracks.

Foretrex 401 and Foretrex 301 are the latest breakthroughs from Garmin, which has spent 20 years using technology and innovation to enhance users’ lives, making Garmin a household name in the automotive, aviation, marine, wireless, outdoor and fitness industries. For more about features, pricing and availability, as well as information about Garmin’s other products and services, go to www.garmin.com, www.garmin.blogs.com and G-shock design, the Baby-G is water resistant to 100 meters, solar powered, syncs with the atomic clock, and has the typical combination of 5 alarms, a 1/100th of a second stopwatch, world clock, and an LED light.

Retailing for $99, expect to find the Casio Baby-G at your favorite woman’s jewelry counter.

DualTow by Cristophe Claret

John Biggs — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:26:10 +0000

Man alive: look at this monster. It’s the DualTow watch by Cristophe Claret. This watch has a single-pusher chronograph and striking mechanism to chime when you activate the chronograph. The coolest additions are the two belt displays showing the hours and minutes. Then you’ve got a tourbillon to round things out.

It’s a manual-wind movement with 50-hour reserve and only 68 will be made.

Technical Specifications:

Movement
Manual-wind
582 parts
73 jewels
50-hour power reserve
twin barrels placed in parallel

Tourbillon
Swiss lever escapement
Balance oscillation frequency 3Hz (21,600 vph)
Tourbillon rotation frequency: 1 revolution/minute

Functions
Hour and minute display on belts
Single-pusher planetary-gear chronograph
Mechanical striking mechanism sounding each change of function (start, stop and reset)
12-hour, 60-minute and 60-second chronograph counters
Operating mode indicator
Power-Reserve display

Case
Sapphire watch crystals specifically designed to enhance wearer comfort
Rectangular, curving, fitted with exclusive mobile lugs enabling a perfect fit on the wrist
Dimensions: 42.75 x 48.20mm (not counting the lugs)
Water resistance 30 meters

Display belts
In rubber with transferred hour and minute numerals

Flange
Flange with chronograph five second markers cut from five different stones

Dynamometric crown and pusher
Partially rubber-moulded

Dial
sapphire crystal serving as a bridge for the chronograph counters and featuring transferred chronograph hour and minute counters, chronograph operating mode

Buckle
Triple-blade folding clasp with decorative covers and an innovative system enabling comfort-enhancing 10mm wrist extensions

Ladies and gentlemen, the ugliest watch ever produced

Dave Freeman — Tue, 26 May 2009 21:19:56 +0000

Diesel, what were you thinking? Admittedly you don’t make the prettiest watches around, but I find it amazing that you are responsible for this abomination. This is like trying to cross an elephant with a pig, it might seem like a good idea, but no good can come from it.

This is not a photo-chop, just a poor design decision; even down to the half-leather, half-steel band. Retail on this ugly POS is $219.00, but honestly, you shouldn’t buy it even if it was available for $10.00.

Just say no to bad design! This is how the Edsel came to be, people!

Inside the Blu MT3 Majesty

John Biggs — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:46:39 +0000

First off, why didn’t anyone tell me about TimeTV? These guys have created a video blog about watches and the production quality is excellent. They just came back from Basel and I’ll try to share a few videos with you guys once I dig through their mess of video.

Second off, this is the Blu MT3 Majesty Tourbillon, a watch that uses an amazingly small and light Tourbillon movement to reduce the total weight of the watch to mere grams. The bugger doesn’t even really have a face, just a little hand that rides the Tourbillon wheel. Very cool.

The watch costs 205,000 euro. Just sayin’.

via my good buddy at Fratello

Debaufre updates their fatty Aviator line

John Biggs — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:34:44 +0000

Debaufre, a watch company that uses great movements inside cool cases, has redone their line to reflect a more personal touch - a great move considering their Aviator-8s were just on the edge of copyright infringement. The new models have a curved case with a different, more attractive marker font and come in all of the Aircraft-8 colors. The new models also have an exhibition back and run a hand-wind Unitas movement.

Pop over to their store right now to grab the watch for $485. More specs after the jump.

# 44-mm stainless steel case.
# Swiss Unitas hand-wind movement.
# Domed sapphire crystal glass.
# Anti-reflective coating.
# Mineral exhibition window.
# Special “Cote de Geneve” engraving.
# 24-mm x 24-mm leather strap.
# Sweeping Second Hand.