Review – Seiko Prospex Diver 300m Hi-Beat SLA025 – The Ultimate Collectible Seiko Dive Watch?

While in 2017 Seiko re-issued its first professional dive watch with the SLA017, based on the 62Mas, this year the brand celebrates the 50th anniversary of another icon, the first hi-beat diving instrument ever created, the mighty 1968 Ref. 6159-7001. With this new Seiko Prospex Diver 300m Hi-Beat SLA025, the Japanese brand again brings a watch that no one can question in terms of style (it has been almost unanimously praised), yet at a price of EUR 5,500, some were doubtful about its positioning. So it’s time to go hands-on, to see it in the metal and to understand why this SLA025 is not your usual Seiko Prospex dive watch.

8 years ago

VIDEO: From a piece of steel to a finished watch – how the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris is made

Holding a watch in your hands, and wearing it on your wrist is one thing. But seeing where that small, highly precise piece of machinery was designed, and how it comes to life is something completely different, as I found out when I visited Jaeger-LeCoultre’s manufacture in the Vallée de Joux earlier this year, and saw, firsthand, how the Polaris is made. Of course I had seen the watches before, when the new collection was presented at SIHH, but seeing them at the Salon, accompanied by glossy power points, held by white-gloved hands in orderly display trays, is completely different to seeing them in their birthplace. There are certain phrases that we’re prone to trotting out in the watch industry, expressions like ‘in-house’ and ‘hand-finished’, which become a lot more real when you visit that house, and shake the hands of the people who do the finishing. Seeing the very human care and time that goes into these watches — on every step of the way — is a really worthwhile reminder that these watches are about so much more than telling the time.  

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8 years ago

Hands-on – Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked Black Ceramic

This year, at the SIHH 2018, Audemars Piguet came with many (really, a lot) novelties. If the Extra-Thin 15202IP in titanium and platinum stole our hearts and if there was a strong focus on ladies watches – see the Double Balance Wheel Openworked 37mm Frosted Gold or the Millenary Frosted Gold Opal Dial – there was clearly more to please us. This includes the Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked reference 26343CE, the first time this complex and powerful watch is encased in black ceramic.

8 years ago

HANDS-ON: The record-shattering Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic

The tit-for-tat battle between Piaget and Bulgari for title of “Master of the Ultrathin” rages on, and it would seem Bulgari has struck another blow at Baselworld in 2018 with the new Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic. The new piece dethrones Piaget’s latest self-winder, the Altiplano Ultimate Automatic 910P that launched ahead of SIHH 2018 as the new thinnest automatic watch, and at the same time swipes the title from Audemars Piguet of world’s thinnest tourbillon, which the brand has been holding onto since 1986. Bulgari was able to swipe the title for thinnest tourbillon movement in 2015; however, it took them an additional few years to build a piece suitable to take on the mighty slender AP. Achieving both of these records in a single piece is impressive to say the least, so we had to take a closer look. Vital statistics   A 3.95mm thick case, housing a 1.95mm thick caliber, the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic is a real work of art (not to mention engineering). Its wafer-thin mainspring still delivers an above industry-standard 52 hours of power reserve and, all told, the brand still managed to make its movement design visually appealing, which isn’t an easy task when…

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8 years ago

Review – Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Chronograph 42mm: the need for speed

The Polaris Chronograph is one of the five members of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s new 2018 Polaris collection. To date, we have seen the new Polaris Geographic World Time and reviewed the entry-level Polaris Automatic, the vintage-inspired Polaris Date and Polaris Memovox models. To complete the pentalogy, we’ll take a look at the Polaris Chronograph. The sportiest of the newcomers, this 42mm …

8 years ago