Baselworld 2018 – Czapek Unveils its First Chronograph, the Faubourg de Cracovie (with a Vaucher Movement)
After the successful inaugural Quai Des Bergues watch, later followed by a complex tourbillon piece, the Place Vendôme, it is time for Czapek to unveil its third complication, this time with a sportier inspiration. As you probably noticed already, the new Czapek “Faubourg de Cracovie” (named after the location of Czapek third boutique) features a chronograph movement – and not the worst of them, as this watch is the first equipped with Vaucher’s brand-new calibre.
It very quickly became apparent — after only a few hours on the ground at Basel 2018 — that GMTs were everywhere, and not just the obvious Pepsi-bezelled, Jubilee-braceleted option from the Big Crown. So Andy and I took some time out from our busy schedules to discuss this phenomena, and some prime examples. So, in addition to the Rolex GMT-Master II, we noted that Patek had doubled down on their Calatrava Travel Time. TAG Heuer added a little more complication to their Carrera Heuer 02, adding a blue and black bezelled GMT into the family. And finally Tudor, not to be outdone, announced their own two-timer — a Black Bay that borrows its GMT bezel from both the BB Red and the BB Blue. So there you have it. GMTs in 2018, trend status — confirmed.
Named after the Carrera Panamericana, a legendarily dangerous car racing event of the early 1950s that took place across the open roads of Mexico and was cancelled after resulting in too many fatalities. The TAG Heuer Carrera is an icon of the motorsport-inspired watch world. And this year it celebrates 55 years since its release with a stable of new releases, like this pair of heritage-inspired Carrera Calibre 16 Chronographs, released at Baselworld 2018. Vital statistics There are two colours available, a black dial and a blue. Both with contrasting white subdials and highlights of red and orange. The top subdial measuring the chronograph minutes, while the bottom does hours, and a running small seconds takes the position at 9 o’clock. Ceramic bezels are embedded with a tachymeter scale and sit atop 100m water-resistant steel cases that measure 41mm wide and house the TAG Heuer Calibre 16, which is either a Valjoux 7750 or Sellita SW-500 movement. And a stainless-steel bracelet will come on the blue dial version, while the black dial gets a black perforated leather strap with red stitching. On the wrist They’ve definitely captured the look of many of the Carreras of days gone by. However, the…
We all love a birthday. And watch brands love them as much as anyone – an excuse to celebrate, a hook for a new collection. At Baselworld 2018 Omega have marked the 25th anniversary of the Seamaster Professional Diver 300M (aka the James Bond watch) with a revamp. It was the SMP that kicked off Omega’s relationship with the Bond franchise, becoming something of a late-1990s icon as Pierce Brosnan wore a series of tricked-out, weaponised versions of the watch over the course of four movies. Vital statistics With 14 new variations – six in stainless steel and eight in steel-gold combos, three dial colours and a choice of rubber strap or steel bracelet – Omega’s revamp of the Seamaster Professional Diver 300M is about updated materials and mechanics rather than a major redesign. The case diameter has increased from 41mm to 42mm and the Seamaster’s distinctive cone-shaped crown for the helium escape valve sits at the 10 o’clock position. For the first time on a Seamaster Diver 300M, the case-back is sapphire crystal. The movement is Omega’s well-proven co-axial chronometer calibre 8800 (introduced in 2016), which is METAS-certified for magnetic resistance to more than 15,000 gauss and has a…
