HANDS-ON: A Panerai for the suit and tie – the Luminor Due PAM00943
It would be easy to dismiss the Luminor Due — Panerai’s latest fully fledged line — as a collection oriented towards women. After all, it’s the collection that houses 38 and 42mm watches. But the fact that I am on record as being more than a little partial to the 42mm model aside, there are the larger members of the Due family, PAMs 943 and 944 respectively. Both are 45mm steel cases, which sees them aimed firmly at the fellas. If the larger size wasn’t enough of a giveaway, the more subdued colour palette should cinch it. Gone are the playful blues and fashion-forward strap options, in favour of stunning, shimmering anthracite. And really, this is a watch where the dial shines over the details. Don’t get me wrong, the details are good — classic Panerai design codes rendered in rich ecru lume, with a smidgen of text and a date window thrown in for good measure — but they don’t compete with the richness of the dial texture. This is one of the dressiest Panerais I’ve had the pleasure of wearing, and that’s absolutely OK. This is a Luminor Due, after all. And while the dive watch heritage is there,…
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The story in a second: Classic on the outside, contemporary on the inside. Baume & Mercier are onto a winner here. I’ve always thought Baume & Mercier were at their best when they were playing with the classics. The Clifton, with its classical proportions, vintage inspiration and strong value offering, is a proposition that was hard to beat. But beat it they did, with the deceptively simple Clifton Baumatic, and its powerful movement. The case An elegantly proportioned case is a hallmark of the Clifton family, and this Baumatic version delivers, with neat and tidy dimensions of 40mm across by 10.3mm tall. But even though it’s a Clifton, it’s not quite the same Clifton as before. The regular — non-Baumatic — Clifton is shade wider at 41mm. It’s not just the overall width here that’s slimmer, the lug shoulders are more slender too, giving a greater air of timelessness overall. As you’d expect, the crystals are sapphire on the front and the rear, and it’s rated to 50 metres of water resistance. The dial The classic aesthetic that’s evident on the case continues onto the dial, which could perhaps be best described as simple but stylish. Crisp black printing on…
Let me level with you. There’s an official tie-in between this watch and the oh-so-English Goodwood Festival of Speed, one of the world’s leading events for motor enthusiasts. I could spend the next few hundred words talking about the synergy between the automotive and the horological (don’t get me wrong, there are real and entirely meaningful links), but for someone who hasn’t been to Goodwood and isn’t a “car guy” per se (I leave that to Andy), the backstory is kind of beside the point. The point being that this is an absolutely awesome-looking watch. First unveiled last year, the TimeWalker Manufacture Chronograph was already a pretty big step up for Montblanc’s core sports collection, as it graduated to the big boy leagues with a solid in-house column wheel chrono. The first generation, with its panda face, was a pretty good-looking offering, but this vintage-tuned model is even better. The base dial is a rich creamy colour, which looks like it was inspired by faded tropical dials or the rich, ivory paper stock (both work for a Montblanc watch). The subdials are a contrasting deep brown, while the rally-style strap is a glorious golden tan. It’s not all old school,…
One of Girard-Perregaux’s leitmotifs is the golden bridge. Typically deployed in a trio, the golden bridges — with their broad, arrow-headed shoulders and pleasing, perfectly aligned symmetry — have been holding the brand’s wheels and balances in place since 1860. The golden bridges first showed up in a wristwatch in 1981, and these days it serves as a de facto logo. Girard-Perregaux has also been playing with tradition, with their modernist neo-bridges watches and this new, more accessible model, the Classic Bridges, which sees two bridges take pride of place on the dial; the smaller of the two looking after a balance wheel instead of the loftier tourbillon. That’s not to say that the Classic Bridges isn’t an impressive piece — this 40mm version (there’s also a suitably more epic 45mm option) is pure flex, with a large, no-nonsense pink gold case, and exceptionally finished, partially openworked dial. The satin polished steel components provide a nice contrast to those bridges and the broad, brushed hour and minute hands (there’s no seconds hand). The combination of contrast and power is compelling enough, but for me it’s the balance of the in-house movement that takes the Classic Bridges to the next level. The bridges are…
Last week we had a look at the ‘regular’ version of Cartier’s updated Santos, and today the less-is-more Skeleton is under our lens. To be specific, we’re talking about the large steel model (though there’s a pink gold version as well), which comes on the QuickSwitch and SmartLink equipped steel bracelet, replete with those prominent screws — you also get an additional alligator strap, allowing you to change your look should the fancy take you. So far, so standard for the new Santos. But what’s special here is the dial, or lack thereof, as you would expect. The manually wound 9611MC movement has been designed from the ground up as a skeleton movement, a process that means the architecture has been designed for maximum visual impact — the bridges have taken the form of Cartier’s iconic exploding Roman numerals; a pleasing blend of negative space and mechanics. And while the stripped-back style of the skeletonised Santos might not be to all tastes, it’s an important skill in Cartier’s history, and there’s no faulting the execution here. 
One of the finest openworked watches on the market right now (and one that, paradoxically, didn’t make our list of skeletonised watches) is the Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked from Audemars Piguet. Visually, this pink gold case with predominantly steel movement architecture is everything you’d expect — that classic RO case and bracelet looking boss, with a deep, complex openworked dial. And while legibility is the main concern here (there’s not a heap of contrast between the movement and those gold hands, compared to earlier versions with a grey movement finish), it quickly becomes apparent that the titular double balance, nestled at eight o’clock is the star of the show. What, I hear you ask, precisely is a double balance? Well, the role of a balance is to regulate the accuracy of the watch. This watch offers not one, but two balance wheels — which is good, as more mass equals more accuracy. What’s more, the balance wheels are set against each other to hopefully offset any variance in its twin. The case measures in at 37mm across, making it a solid, and solidly opulent, choice for more slender wrists. But regardless of whether it’s worn by a king…
Few watches can rival Cartier’s Santos in terms of on-the-wrist recognition and sheer weight of history. The design debuted in 1904 and has remained fundamentally unchanged in form since. But while the new Santos might look familiar, quite a lot has changed. Small changes have been made to the design and ergonomics of the case, resulting in a watch that looks and wears better on the wrist. Bigger changes have been made to the inside, with an in-house movement upgrade and, most excitingly of all, a new QuickSwitch strap change system that allows you to swap your strap quickly and painlessly. This is something I’d be really excited to see rolled out more widely across the Cartier collection. On a related note, there’s a similar functionality for the bracelet, allowing you to add and remove links without tools. These changes on their own are all fairly incremental, but package them up together, on a design as strong as this, and the Santos suddenly becomes a very compelling proposition.
Let’s be real here. Ever since we saw the new Laureato last year, we knew the chronograph version was inevitable. After all, what’s a luxury sports watch without the option of the default sports complication? There’s no doubt that this good-looking sporty option is the brand’s commercial focus, so it makes sense that a veritable bevy of chronograph models was released at SIHH 2018. Offered in 38 or 42mm, in steel or pink gold, strap or bracelet, and a range of dials (including a real cool black with blue registers option), there might not quite be something for everyone, but you’re certainly spoiled for choice. I opted to look at what is perhaps the safest/most classic of the combos: 42mm, steel, blue dial on bracelet. Honestly, it’s a winning combination right out of the gate, but it’s the details that make it. Let’s kick off with the dial, the hobnail texture is familiar and looks good. There’s contrast thanks to the circular grain on the chrono registers, as well as the brighter blue hands and indices, which really go full-on electric in the right light. I’m sure the date at four will grind the gears of some reading this, but…
Of all of Montblanc’s fine timepieces, I’ve had a soft spot for the distinctive Rieussec line, an uncommon take on the common chronograph that draws its inspiration from the daddy of them all, the original chronograph device invented by the eponymous Frenchman, Nicolas Rieussec. The Rieussec has been in the Montblanc family for a while, but to me it’s always occupied a somewhat liminal space, sitting above the more accessible TimeWalkers and their ilk, yet not quite in the same league as the famed Minerva-based chronographs. But that’s not to say that the Montblanc Rieussec isn’t a serious piece of kit, the MB R2000 is a solid movement, modern, with an interesting layout. It boasts a column wheel, vertical clutch and 72-odd hours of power. On top of that it looks darn good, too. That same statement definitely applies to the exterior of the watch as well. Fundamentally, the design of the big 44.8mm (and a good 15mm tall) watch’s dial has been tweaked; the date now has a more balanced, six o’clock position, instantly giving the watch a less cluttered look than previous iterations. But the changes don’t stop there. The heavily textured dial is dominated by the classical…
The story in a second: A lot of value for not a lot of case. Though “perceived value” has become the new marketing-speak of the last couple of years in the watch industry, there still aren’t that many brands in the luxury watch industry that have taken any real significant strides. Sure, we’ve seen prices nudge their way down from Zenith through to Bell & Ross, but in my opinion these moves have been more about correcting past price creep rather than delivering greater bang-for-your-buck than what’s already been on the market. Of all the players at the big table, I never imagined it’d be Cartier leading the real value charge, but in the case of the Cartier Drive de Cartier Extra Flat in steel this is precisely the case. Great design, a killer hand-wound calibre, and an unrivalled (for the dollar) case profile all make this new release a home run, especially now it’s being offered in non-precious metals. When the first white gold and rose gold models were announced in 2017 there was a hefty outcry from the industry’s media dying for a steel offering to be added, and clearly there was enough marketing data to back it…