The Carl F. Bucherer Manero ChronoPerpetual

Recently launched at BaselWorld 2012, is the Carl F. Bucherer ChonoPerpetual, which combines two of the most favourable functions, the Chronograph and the Perpetual Calendar.  If you missed the first limited edition of this excellent timepiece in 2010, here is a second chance to own one – and fear not, the re-workings are imperceptible to all but the most trained eye, it still combines modern and traditional styling and it is every bit as noble and handsome as its predecessor.

Intelligent dial design ensures that all the indications are functional, readable and useable.  Clever use of dual-purpose subdials – hours and days at 6 o’clock, minutes and months at 9 o’clock and dates of the month and seconds at 12 o’clock – allows enough space to showcase that superb silvery moon-phase disc on the right of the dial.  Recessed displays and contrasting finishes are employed to individualise the indications.

The intrinsics are no less accomplished.  A precision Flyback Chronograph will time the hours, minutes and seconds, whilst the Perpetual Calendar will use its mechanical memory to mark the days taking into account the variations of days in each month, as well as leap years – this piece will need no intervention by the wearer until March 1st 2100, which will be a Secular year. Inside is the Carl F. Bucherer 1904 automatic calibre with 50 hours of power reserve, viewable through an exhibition caseback.

The wearing of a Carl F. Bucherer watch should be enough to ensure high esteem in a room full of watch aficionados, this one with its substantial complications should without doubt elevate the wearer to head honcho.  Carl F. Bucherer watches are, after all reassuringly exclusive.

The Carl F. Bucherer Manero ChronoPerpetual will be a limited edition of 150 pieces with stainless steel case, 100 pieces with rose gold case and an additional 30 piece Stallion edition, shown above, which features a beautiful, but very manly hand-decorated calfskin strap.

That’s A Cool Graham You Have There, Graham.

Graham watches have a new ambassador, IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal.  As Brand ambassadors go, he’s quite a catch – the youngest pole winner in the Series to date, he is a youthful and talented driver.  Graham maybe the son of Bobby Rahal, the CART supremo but he is quickly making a name for himself on the track.  And he is a self-confessed watch enthusiast.

Graham Rahal joins the growing list of  “Graham People” – quite an eclectic mix of individuals.  Ross Brawn F1 maestro times his team to perfection with his Tourbillograph Trackmaster, Mike Tindall leaves his Swordfish in the locker before scrumming down with the England Rugby team, motorcycle roadracer Guy Martin can just about squeeze his Chronofighter beneath his racing leathers and can probably disassemble it too, Jay Kay grooves with his Chronofighter Classic Black and super chef Marco Pierre White?  he will never overcook an egg as long as he’s wearing his rather dapper red gold and black Swordfish PVD Carbide.

Zenith Star Open Collection New For 2012

Zenith are back.  It’s been a great year or two for the brand’s design department which has taken them back to their traditional values and classical styling.  If you like the watches then you’ll know that we like them.  After a superb collection of Pilot watches, here comes something for girly wrists – a new collection of Zenith Star Open models.

If you've admired the Star Open collection in the past, perhaps you've appreciated it’s compendium of curves – rounded case, feminine pushers and curly, swirly graduating numerals.  I featured one as a Valentine’s Day special, the Queen of Love Star Open – surely the most romantic chronograph available.  The new pieces see a departure from the circular case to an equally voluptuous cushion-shaped case  and with a nod to classical-ism some elongated Roman numerals – an instant make-over which creates a more formal and elegant variation.

Two dial editions are available, white mother-of-pearl or silvered guilloché, two case editions are available, stainless steel or rose gold – but these are trivialities, what is most important and what draws the eye is the heart-shaped cut-away where a seductive little heart counts the seconds and through which the escapement of the El Primero Calibre 4062 can be viewed.

The case measures 37x37mm with sapphire crystal front and back, neat tucked-in pushers and tapering lugs.  The hour and minutes hands are faceted and a central chronograph hand reaches right to the dial edge which features a fine railtrack chapter ring, an elegant detail echoed in the 30-min counter at three o’clock.  Further dressing-up, if it were needed comes thanks to a perfect little cabochon sapphire-set crown.  Those in the know will shun the sparkle and go for the stainless steel lesser-diamond version, serious kit and not in the slightest bit syrupy.

Zenith El Primero Espada – Sometimes Three Hands Are Enough….

For those who lean towards choosing a wristwatch with an uncluttered face.  For those among you who do not feel the need to time a lap or maybe just an egg.  For those who never feel inclined to split the seconds then sometimes three hands are enough.

The Zenith El Primero Espada, released earlier this year ticks all the boxes – clean, classical, uncomplicated and quite frankly, gorgeous.  The decider? Inside is the El Primero 4650B automatic movement, the non-chronograph variety,  industriously vibrating at 36,000 vph.  Read more about it here.

The Zenith Academy Minute Repeater

2012 – A fortuitous year for Zenith?  I’ll say.  Jean-Frédéric Dufour, the brand’s CEO has overseen a restructure which has brought them back into the limelight, back to their classical styling and traditional values and back in to favour with their customers.

This year’s splendid trio of Pilot watches were the darlings of the watch media, a new El Primero 1969 Chronograph was the perfect blend of retro and cutting edge and the new Star Open Collection for ladies, a cushion-shaped beauty, certainly caught my eye.

So – how do you crown such a year?  Zenith do it with a hat-trick of Masterpiece models to add to their Academy Grand Complications Collection, one of which we feature here, the Zenith Academy Minute Repeater.

A Minute Repeater is a notoriously tricky complication and its complexity would confound all but the most skilled and patient Master Watchmakers.  Zenith bring to  the bench a new patented mechanism – one track, three chimes, designed to ensure clarity, consistency of tone and perfect precision.  Integrated into and working alongside the Minute Repeater is an automatic high precision chronograph – that’s a total of 461 micro engineering components packed into a 45mm case – superb.

The El Primero 4043 movement is housed in the elegantly rounded Elite case, and wisely Zenith choose to construct it from 18 carat Rose Gold, warm and luxurious.  Finishing is meticulous including a 22-carat gold oscillating weight embellished with Côtes de Genève decoration.

Add a silver-toned guilloché dial, a little snailing on the counters, a combination of blued and gold hands and some slender elongated Roman Numerals and the result is unconditional and understated perfection.  More if it were needed comes in the form of a look-see through to the tiny hammers on the dial between 2 and 4 o’clock.

The Zenith Academy Minute Repeater comes presented on a lined alligator strap with an 18 carat gold triple folding clasp.

The Automates & Merveilles Exhibition 2012 – Automata, Marketing, the Movies and more ……

The year may be young, but here’s a date for your diary – the upcoming Automates & Merveilles Exhibition which will run from April 28th to September 30th 2012.  This will be a co-operative event – three museums in three cities – the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Neuchâtel will host the Jaquet Droz and Jean-Frederic Leschot exhibit, the Musée International d’Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds will focus on “Marvellous Movements and Amazing Mechanisms” and in Le Locle the Musée d’Horlogerie will feature Masterpieces of Luxury Miniaturization.  Whether you be a horological historian, an fan of eclectic engineering or simply a lover of all things beautiful, prepare to be amazed – this will be the event of the year.

Readers of the Watch Press.com will already know the name Jaquet Droz – we love these exceptional, flawless timepieces.  The Swatch Group, a very modern-thinking company may own the brand now, but between 1768 and 1774 Pierre Jaquet Droz had an ingenious marketing idea to help sell his timepieces.  Along with his son, Henri-Louis and also Jean-Frederic Leschot he created three astounding Automata, the Musician, the Drawer and the Writer – human-like mechanical dolls so-named because each could realistically perform their given task.  The concept was simple – almost Biver-esque in its resourcefulness, those who viewed these superb Automata would be suitably impressed, making the timepieces produced under the Jaquet Droz name highly desirable, and those who he sought to excite were no ordinary individuals, these potential clients were the Kings and Emperors of Europe, China and beyond.

Modern wristwatch calibres contain hundreds of micro components, with added desirability gained from the hours and days invested in its assembly.   The Automatons were constructed from parts numbering in the thousands, and are considered by many to be the first computers, such was their ability to be “programmed” albeit via the use of mechanical cams and switches – complexities made even more astonishing considering the conditions under which they were made – no power tools or well-lit clinically clean workshops.  What is, perhaps even more astonishing is that all three survive to this day, bought by the History and Archeology society of Neuchâtel and donated to the local museum who have cared for them ever since.

Curiously, the art of the illusionist and the art of Automata are intrinsically linked.  Movie fans may have seen Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” – an adventure based on the life story of Georges Méliès – film maker, illusionist and automated toymaker.  “Hugo” is Hugo Cabret, son of a Master Clockmaker, who when orphaned takes responsibility for his late father’s project – restoration of a broken automaton – who writes with a pen.   It is a movie with a story so interwoven with horology that it is simply unmissable for anyone in the industry – see if you can spot a cameo appearance by an exquisite “Mystery Clock”.

The trio of Automates & Merveilles exhibitions will run simultaneously in French, English and German, with pieces from both private and public collections on loan for the first time.

The Jaquet Droz Eclipse Onyx

Worthy of the portfolio, this one has a dial constructed from onyx, housed in a generous 43mm trim-bezeled steel case.  Naturally the eye is at once drawn to the celestial scene of the moonphase and its ensemble of stars.  This is a moon face with an appearance which is almost as humanistic as the renowned Automatons which have gained so much publicity for the brand recently, but is a wonderfully playful arrangement as it peeps out from behind a perfect little moving disc.

A seductive serpentine hand encircles the dial to indicate the date, recessed twin apertures display the day and month and the hour and minute hands are suitably slender.  This is dial devoid of hour numerals ensuring an abundance of empty onyx which simply begs to be admired.  Inside is the Jaquet Droz Calibre 6553LZ with 68 hours of power reserve.

The Jaquet Droz Eclipse Onyx comes presented on a black alligator leather strap.

The Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Off-Centred Ivory Enamel – Shatterable. Frangible. Delicate. Breakable.

This is the Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Off-Centred Ivory Enamel watch.  It features a dial made from shatterable, frangible, delicate, breakable enamel and to state that it’s creation demands the skills of an experienced and patient craftsman would be a vast understatement.

A traditional Grand Feu enamel dial is created using fine glass powders, which are laid onto metal before being oven-fired.  The extreme heat melts the ultra-fine powders.  The result, when successful is loupe-worthy perfection of the utmost purity.  Jaquet Droz are experts in the art of enamel dial-making – even so, I bet that the most experienced Artisans at the La Chaux-de-Fonds workshops have, on occasion had cause to mutter a few curses under their breath as another brittle sliver of enamel proves to be flawed and therefore useless.

The Grande Seconde Off-Centred Ivory Enamel featured here is just about as quirky as a Jaquet Droz timepiece can be.  It’s two interlocking dials which form the fortuitous number 8 are off-set and its winding crown is relocated to the 4 o’clock position.  Of course, the seconds dial still dominates with its wonderfully elongated slender hand, offering the wearer and envious on-looker a superb perspective of time.  The previously released Off-Centred Black Enamel edition had its logo positioned at 10 o’clock, perhaps to add balance to the atypical crown, not so with this model which positions it within the seconds dial leaving empty milky-white enamel aplenty with nothing to obscure it.

The Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Off-Centred Ivory Enamel is framed with a 43mm red gold case and is powered by the Jaquet Droz 2663A automatic movement with a double barrel producing 68 hours of power reserve.

TAG Heuer Hackett Chronograph and Hackett Watches

TAG Heuer release two new limited edition watches – the TAG Heuer Hackett Chronograph and the TAG Heuer Hackett Watches.

The latest releases form part of the iconic Carrera collection and are a collaboration with Hackett London, the purveyor of quintessentially classic British clothing and accessories.  The pieces use the signature Hackett cornflower blue to subtle but pleasing effect, on the seconds hand for both pieces, on the date window surround on the three-handed model and around the counters on the chronograph.

The TAG Heuer Hackett Watch
The three-handed watch features the Hackett “H” in place of the number 12, measures 39mm and is powered by the Calibre 5 Automatic movement.
At the heart of the chronograph is the Calibre 16 Chronograph movement and this edition measures 41mm.  Water resistance is to 100m for the chronograph and to 50m for the three-hand piece.  Both feature scratch resistant crystal and exhibition casebacks.

The TAG Heuer Hackett Chronograph
The use of Hackett-style Arabic numerals on the dials gives both of these models a fresh and unique approach and the understated use of the Hackett logo is admirable and very er………… British.
Limited to 100 pieces of each edition the TAG Heuer Hackett watches are presented on calfskin leather straps with blue contrast stitching.

TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 17 Jack Heuer Limited Edition

Amid the hubbub and glitz of Basel world 2012, TAG Heuer debut a special limited edition Carrera to celebrate the 80th birthday of the great Jack Heuer.

First appearing in 1963, the Heuer Carrera, now of course the TAG Heuer Carrera, has endured constantly morphing styles and trends over the passing decades yet still is immediately recognizable as the watch which had such a profound impact, being the catalyst from which today’s ‘sports chronograph’ sector emerged, just under 50 years ago. Incredibly, it is still as desirable as ever and is found in number among motor racing enthusiasts and indeed, many participants.

The new 2012 Jack Heuer Carrera Calibre 17 is, fittingly, a beautifully commissioned piece, with several cues which trace right back to the watch’s origin, such as the flat-top chrono pushers, a clean uncluttered dial, the minimal bezel and the period perforated leather strap with a glimpse of red adding a further little dash of luxury (a stainless steel link bracelet is an option). Jack Heuer’s signature in red and the Heuer family coat of arms decorates the caseback.

With the narrow bezel pushed right back so as to allow the crystal to cover almost all of the face, the Carrera has always given the appearance of a wide, expansive, perfectly legible face, and on this special piece the dial is finished in a grained bare metal, contrasting with the black circular grooving of the two slightly recessed subdials at the 3 and 9 o’clock positions for the 30-minutes and 12-hour chrono counters.

The only other colour present is the red of chrono seconds hand and the tips of the small chrono counters as well as for the 80mph mark on the tachymetre scale, but most importantly for this edition – the TAG Heuer motif is replaced with the original’s Heuer logo which sits just above centre dial.

I knew what a TAG Heuer Carrera was many years before I knew who Jack Heuer was and so it is nice to revisit this classic in words and for us too to wish Jack a great year and a happy 80th birthday.