Video – The Baselworld 2018 Bvlgari Octo Watches (incl. the new World Record) Fully Explained
After successively launching the thinnest tourbillon watch (the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon), the thinnest minute repeater watch (the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater) and, at that time, the thinnest automatic watch (the Octo Finissimo Automatic), we thought that the Bvlgari Watches team was about to slow things down a bit, just to let us breathe. Wrong! For Baselworld 2018, we had to be stunned, again… Here are the Baselworld 2018 Bvlgari Octo Watches, fully explained by Guido Terreni (Managing Director of Bvlgari Watches), including the new world record watch and the superb Sandblasted Trilogy.
Last year, Jaquet Droz rolled out a first round of the Grande Seconde Moon in three editions, including two steel models, and an ivory-coloured enamel dial cased in red gold. Building on the model’s success (and the growing popularity of black and gold wristwatches across the board), the brand added a fourth model to the collection at Baselworld 2018 in the form of this elegant-yet-modern black enamel model cased in red gold. Given how smitten I was with the first iterations — especially the beautiful level of detail in the execution of their moonphase complication — I couldn’t wait to take a closer look. Vital statistics As noted, the changes with this new model are entirely visual. Powered by the self-winding caliber 2660QL3, which features a silicon hairspring and a pair of mainspring barrels delivering at 68-hour power reserve, its moonphase complication was executed to maintain accuracy for 122 years and 46 days before requiring a 1-day correction. I always find these sort of stats a little humorous, as this accuracy is effectively useless unless the caliber is maintained fully wound and running for that duration of time (which, by the way, is impossible considering the need for servicing along the way).…
This year saw Bell & Ross expand their popular Renault Sport collection, and add a smaller, regular dialled version. I had the pleasure of chatting with Bell & Ross co-founder and CEO, Carlos Rosillo, to discuss the new models, and hear his thoughts on the ongoing partnership with Renault Sport. Most people know Bell & Ross for their iconic aviation-inspired timepieces; however, Carlos sees the partnership with Renault as a natural fit, highlighting their fondness of Bell & Ross, and Renault’s Chairman and CEO, Carlos Ghosn, as key reasons for the partnership coming to fruition. Launching into F1 was foreign territory for Bell & Ross, but partnering with a fellow French brand makes sense. Now in year three of the partnership, Carlos has gained several insights into the sport, and what it takes to be successful — placing a high emphasis on teamwork and collaboration. CR: It’s like in any business – it’s all about teamwork. You need the right car and the right team; if you do, you have a better chance to succeed. Looking at the collection itself, we saw an additional model added, the BR 03-94, which features a ‘regular’ carbon fibre dial, and comes in at 42mm…
Given how much Hublot unveiled in Geneva back in January, the volume of additional novelties the brand had ready to go for Baselworld 2018 came as a bit of a surprise. Though nearly faced with a little analysis paralysis, given the broad range of models to choose from, getting a closer look at the Big Bang MP-11 14-Days 3D Carbon was a real no-brainer. The melding of the classic Big Bang case with the clever engineering of the Hublot Masterpiece collection is a total win-win, and provided ample motivation to take a closer look. Vital statistics As it says in the name, the big selling feature of the MP-11 is its staggering 14-day power reserve. Cased in what Hublot are calling “3D Carbon”— a variant of carbon fibre woven in a more three-dimensional fashion than conventional carbon fibre — this casing helps offset the additional weight found in the MP-11’s seven series-coupled barrels. Effectively, this multi-barrel configuration is a scaled-down version of what is found in the MP-05 LaFerrari, which uses 11 barrels to achieve a power reserve of 50 days. The trade-off with things like the LaFerrari is you’re then left with a much larger and elaborate case, whereas…
Twenty-five years is a milestone worth celebrating, so Omega have pulled out all the stops with their latest upgrade of the Seamaster Professional 300M, AKA the Seamaster Professional, AKA the SMP. The SMP is a fairly iconic watch, largely down to its prominent placement on the wrist of Bond (James Bond). Omega have made a host of small but sweeping cosmetic changes, from the bezel, to the dial (hello wave pattern), to the bracelet (thinner) and the case (slightly larger). However, the real change is on the inside: it’s now powered by the Master Chronometer Calibre 8800, which, in another SMP first, is visible through a clear caseback. It’s also available in a range of flavours. Steel, two-tone, bracelet, rubber — you choose. And the best thing, the price. Steel only on rubber comes in at $6375, on bracelet $6525. 
One of the big surprises of Baselworld 2018 was Patek Philippe’s decision to add a grand complication model – specifically a perpetual calendar – to the Nautilus line. Or was it? Nautilus-with-complication is an old story (travel time, chronograph, annual calendar have all featured over the years) and the pre-Basel rumour mill was promoting the ‘perpetual’ idea pretty heavily. So when Patek unveiled the ref. 5740 there was a definite sense of “Surprise – what surprise?” Vital statistics The movement is one of Patek’s all-time greats: the ultra-thin self-winding calibre 240 Q – also found in the current collection in the Calatrava-cased ref. 5327. It’s essentially the same movement that was introduced in the landmark ref. 3940 in the mid-1980s and continually improved upon over the years. Those improvements include a Gyromax balance wheel and Spiromax (silicium) hairspring. The perpetual calendar display indicates the day, date, month and leap year by hands, as well as a moon phase and 24-hour display. The white gold case measures 40mm (diagonally, from 10–4 o’clock), has a screw-down crown, helping to ensure water-resistance to 60 metres, and comes on a white gold bracelet with a folding clasp. On the wrist Although, for a Nautilus, there’s…
Now a third year into the Sixties series of watches — one that started with a limited production of five colourways of the watch seen here in 2016, and a similar set of colours in a square chronograph for 2017 — Glashütte Original have opted to cut choice out of the equation for Baselworld 2018. A beautifully textured green dial, stamped using vintage dies from the brand’s archives, will be available from boutiques and retailers for a one-year period (rather than being limited to a specific volume of watches). We’ve been seeing green making the rounds of luxury watch brands for a good couple of years now, but with the combination of colour choice, unique texture, and the generally funky ’60s-era vibe to this piece, I can’t help but lock it in as my favourite green dial to date. Now I know a lot of you will want to have my head for not picking the new green-dialled H. Moser Pioneer, but rest assured, it’s a mighty tight race between the two. Vital statistics Depending on the variant, as the new Sixties model is available as either a no-date or Panorama Date configuration, buyers have the option of either a svelte…