INTRODUCING: The Seiko Automatic Divers Re-creation Limited Edition SLA025
Seiko’s venture into the dive watch world came hard and fast. Releasing their first dive watch in 1965, just three years later they upped the ante and introduced the Seiko 6159. A one-piece cased 300m rated diver, powered by a hi-beat movement that until then was being used only by the Grand Seikos of the time. Now, 50 years later – and revealed here at Baselworld 2018 – Seiko have re-created the original, with the brand new SLA025. Vital statistics With its black dial and bezel highlighted by polished golden hour markers, hands, and 60-minute scale, it has all the looks of the original. But, then, there’s also the framed date window at 3 o’clock and a familiar touch of red at the tip of the seconds hand that completes the package. Things are then taken one step further, by Zaratsu-polished lugs that define the sharp shape of a 44.8mm – and 15.7mm thick – monocoque steel case, with a screw-down crown. And, of course, there’s still a hi-beat calibre inside, racing away at 36,000 vibrations per hour – the modern Seiko 8L55. A slightly less finished version of the Grand Seiko 9S85, the 8L55 has a power reserve of 55 hours, and was designed and crafted for…
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The foundation upon which modern Grand Seiko is built is the calibre 9S, first unveiled 20 years ago. Basel 2018 sees the Japanese brand pay tribute to this important movement with this new Grand Seiko model, the SBGH267 Vital statistics Grand Seiko’s dial and case finishes are rightly lauded for their high level of quality. But the far less visible movement is just as significant. And, if the watch is automatic, the chances are high that movement is the 9S. First introduced in 1998, this movement, with its high level of precision, lengthy power reserve and rock-solid construction, was ahead of its time for a high-volume commercial calibre. With a distinctive purple oscillating rotor in the style we’ve come to expect from Grand Seiko’s LEs, it forms the heart of this watch, which features a subtle mosaic pattern dial in Grand Seiko’s blue, as well as a completely new 39.5mm wide by 13mm tall case. This version is in steel, but there’s also a yellow gold version and a platinum model with a V.F.A. (very fine adjusted) movement, which promises accuracy of +3/-1 seconds, compared to the +5/-3 range of the SBGH267. On the wrist Classic Grand Seiko. The design is…
In addition to the scene-stealing 9S 20th anniversary pieces, Grand Seiko have announced two new Spring Drive models at Baselworld 2018. Reference SBGA373 with a champagne dial, and SBGA375 in rich blue. Vital statistics With its inexorably smooth sweeping seconds hand, there’s something hypnotic about Grand Seiko’s Spring Drive technology, powered and regulated by an ingenious combination of kinetic, magnetic and electrical energy. And while the Snowflake tends to garner the most attention, there are other time and date members of the collection, the most recent being these two. Both are powered by the 9R65, visible through clear casebacks on both models, and housed in broad-shouldered 40mm, 44GS-inspired steel cases. It’s worth noting that these pictures are of prototype models, and I’ve been told that the (very) large crowns are likely to be replaced by something a little smaller and more balanced. On the wrist Grand Seiko’s champagne dials are exceptional and — apparently — very technical, requiring numerous layers of lacquer to achieve that soft golden colour that is nigh on impossible to capture with any accuracy. In direct, bright light it fades to silver. It may lack the flash of the brand’s more distinctive dials but it’s still…
What if you were a brand born in a cockpit and were an ace at aviation-inspired watch designs? What would be your next step? Why, you’d design a plane, of course! And that’s exactly what Bell & Ross have done. The brainchild of Bruno Belamich – co-founder and creative director of Bell & Ross – the BR-Bird is a way-out V12-powered propeller-engine aircraft that’s designed for speed. With short, broad wings placed nearly at its tip and a single-seat cockpit set as far back as possible, the ultramodern bird was designed to compete at the Reno Air Races – an extreme aviation speed competition set on the edge of the Nevadan desert. To commemorate this flight into the world of aviation, Bell & Ross have also introduced two brand-new limited-edition watches inspired by the decorative elements of the BR-Bird. Vital statistics Limited to 999 pieces and dubbed the BRV Racing Birds, the pair – consisting of a three-hander, and a chronograph – sport the colours and aesthetic of their high-flying inspiration. White dials are highlighted by hints of orange and grey, and the font for the blue Arabic numeral hour markers is taken straight from the on-board counters of the…
Longines have a well-earned reputation for exceptionally strong heritage releases, and while their Baselworld 2018 collection featured a particularly hot blacked-out Legend Diver, it was newer lines, like the extensions to Record and V.H.P. that really stood out. On the one hand, the new gold and two-tone additions to the traditionally styled Record impressed with their simplicity and everyday wearability, while on the other, Longines added a chronograph and a GMT to their super-accurate V.H.P. collection. This line in general is well beyond your average quartz collection. Longines’ Baselworld 2018 collection goes to show that this twin focus on making quartz cool and COSC-level accuracy accessible seems to be a real winning formula for the brand.
Cola was the hot topic leading up to Baselworld 2018 when it came to speculation about new Rolex releases. Would the Big Crown twist the lid off a new ‘Coke’, a two-colour red and black Cerachrom bezel GMT-Master II model, or rather open a cold can of Pepsi, referring to the two-colour red and blue Cerachrom bezel GMT-Master II? The fact that it was the latter was not a surprise as much as the fact that it was in stainless steel, or ‘Oystersteel’, as 904L steel is to be known henceforth. The new generation Jubilee bracelet choice, as well as a new movement — the 3285, extending the power reserve from 48 to 70 hours — made this a very meaningful evolution of the wildly popular collection. Rolex’s dextrous little parry landed a hit squarely on journalists, fans and the industry, but no sooner was that noted by the scorers then the other releases also started to emerge. In addition to the expanded GMT-Master II range, which also includes the first ever Everose GMT-Master II, we have a proportionally improved Deep-Sea Sea-Dweller and a gem-set Daytona that is hot, hot, HOTline bling.
