Basel 2015

[tony20009]

For folks who don't know, Basel is the watch industry's annual consumer oriented trade show. It follows the SIHH watch industry business oriented trade show.

I'm not too big a follower of either because there are enough existing watches that I want and won't have time or money to buy. Even so, I like to keep an eye open to see what, if anything, new comes along that might be compelling enough to displace something near the top of my "buy this next list."

This year's Basel has one watch that might be, and surprisingly it's a Rolex. Now the surprising part isn't because Rolex don't put forth routinely with something each year, but rather because this year, for the first time in 50 years, Rolex introduced a watch having an entirely new movement. (http://www.rolex.com/watches/baselwo...ibre-3255.html) It's currently being offered in the DayDate models. I don't know if it'll show up in others or when. (http://www.ablogtowatch.com/rolex-da...selworld-2015/)




Rolex also introduced a new Oyster Perpetual that is priced quite close to where the now gone Air King was. (http://www.ablogtowatch.com/rolex-oy...selworld-2015/)



...And as if the Submariner needed to get sportier, Rolex has issued essentially that, and called it a Yachtmaster. (http://www.ablogtowatch.com/rolex-ya...ramic-watches/) I have to admit, this watch looks cool as can be.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=ec8cwj2gEZU


Other coolness introduced at Basel...

Sinn EZM 7 Limited Edition (http://www.ablogtowatch.com/sinn-ezm...selworld-2015/)




Eterna Super Kon Tiki 2015







Omega Globemaster -- Holy "Pie Pan," Batman! LOL (http://www.ablogtowatch.com/omega-gl...er-watch-2015/)





Frederic Jouvenot Sin



And in other news...

Omega Speedmaster Professional Apollo 13 Silver Snoopy Award Limited Edition (Omega aren't afraid to use a lot of letters when naming their models...LOL) (http://forums.timezone.com/index.php...89#msg_6989397)





Omega White Side of the Moon



Omega Dark Side of the Moon variants




So unfortunately, so far, all I've heard of coming out of Basel this year is on the "not cheap" to "downright expensive" side of things. Hopefully more modestly priced stuff will make its way to the surface eventually....

All the best.

[SLOWER]

Great post. That Dark Side of the Moon with brown strap is gorgeous.

[tony20009]

Just discovered these that also were introduced at Basel.

Nomos Tangent Automatik (quite nice, especially being that it's less than $3K)



Sapraneva Black Badger (http://quillandpad.com/2015/03/03/au...dic-seasons-2/)
Cool because the lume isn't SuperLuminova, but rather a composite material made by the Black Badger company (http://bridgeandbarrel.com/black-bad...ed-composites/ and http://www.blackbadger.se/) and it's glow is claimed to last through the night, which is something only vast amounts of SuperLuminova can do. This could be the next "new thing" in watch illumination and actually be an excellent alternative to tritium.









Hermes Slim
I don't know why, but for some reason, Hermes' watches are competitively priced, unlike everything else they offer. Indeed, given the movements they carry, they are a downright bargain seeing as those very same movements run about 2.5 times Hermes' price if you buy them inside a Parmigiani Tonda. (Parm and Hermes both have ownership of the movement maker Vaucher.)



MB&F Melchior -- No, it's not a watch, but it's cool as hell!



And let's face it, you can spend ~$35K for Melchior, or you can spend ~$25K for the JLC Atmos Mark Newson. I'll take the robot. Thank you, very much.



Tag Heuer - Monaco Panda



Movado Bold



Raymond Weil Toccata



Louis Vuitton Escale Worldtime - The thinnest world time watch in the world and hand painted/decorated. LV, like Hermes and Ralph Lauren watches are very serious watches. Some years back LV bought a haute horology class movement maker and they've been cranking out some serious "watch geek" pieces ever since. (http://quillandpad.com/2014/10/09/lo...ana-or-meyrin/) Like Hermes, their watches are usually priced competitively with other, similarly haute makers' products.

(http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/introdu...-travel-watch-)



Luois Vuitton Minue Repeater -- This one is actually priced well below, a couple hundred grand below, comparable minute repeaters, most of which lack hand painted dials and the cachet that comes with that sort of thing. I sure hope the trend for "fancy pants" designers making serious watches and pricing them below market continues. Heck, I hope the "below market" pricing extends to the rest of what LV and their ilk make. LOL



Laurent Ferrier -- Okay, LF watches are very hard to come by in the U.S., and they are never inexpensive and they are always more impressive than most any other simple, conservative watch one can buy, IMO. This watch, the Galet, isn't any different, and none of that is news. What's news is that this watch will be offered in stainless steel. That's a first for LF and a welcome move.



All the best.

[bkM3]

wow, was never a huge fan of omega except for the DSOTM but that silver snoopy looks amazing!

[K19BMW]

As much as i like omega they put out way to many limited editions!

I just hope they dont make any alaska project varients. I like mine being unique

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by K19BMW

As much as i like omega they put out way to many limited editions!

I just hope they dont make any alaska project varients. I like mine being unique

You probably shouldn't hold your breath on that. Omega is but one of the companies that have realized that there're great profits to be garnered form resurrecting and updating legacy models. If nothing else, the vast majority of design effort and cost is avoided. Really, having the original version is probably a good thing, for once Omega come out with the "second edition," it boosts the public's awareness of the "original" and thereby increases demand for it and in turn can spark a price bump in for it.

Seeing that Omega have a ton of past models that can be tweaked a bit here and there and reissued, there's no telling when they'll again put out something entirely new. After all, it hasn't been that long since they deployed a new movement (co-axial) and a new watch Aquaterra.

If uniqueness is what you desire in an Omega, the limited editions and Museum line are what you need to look at, that or commissioning them to do something expressly for you.

As for the quantity of limited edition pieces that resemble regular production pieces and offered by relatively well known makers, I don't know who does that more, Omega or Panerai. I put the qualifiers in the preceding statement because there are companies who make nothing but limited edition pieces. Arnold & Son, for example, only offer 250 or fewer pieces of every watch they make. Click over to Vacheron's Maitre d'Temps page and every watch there is a limited edition. I think the same is so for all their Historiques models. The higher one goes "up the ladder," so to speak, the more likely it is that the maker only offers limited editions.

All the best.

[DB9506]

Yatchmaster for me please Santa......

[Lmw160]

Love the pie pan! If I sell the car, I can buy that Farrier.

[Z K]

I think the Tudor North Flag looks pretty cool. Very modern looking and a new in house movement.

http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/the-tud...house-movement

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by Z K
I think the Tudor North Flag looks pretty cool. Very modern looking and a new in house movement.

http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/the-tud...house-movement

No two ways about it, that watch and the engine inside are a milepost for Tudor. No question that it looks pretty decent and it's every bit a modern and well designed and made watch. Even so, there are a few things that will keep me from making much of an effort to buy one:

• The power reserve indicator on the dial -- it's an automatic, uncomplicated watch. What logic is there to putting a réserve de marche on it? It's not hard to reset. There're no perpetual calendars or moonphases or other complications that constrain the window of time during which one can set the watch. It doesn't take forever and a day to wind it and even if it did, 30 seconds of winding will get the ball rolling enough so the rotor can do its job.
• The power reserve indicator on the dial -- even if one absolutely insists on having a power reserve indicator (PRI) on the dial, why does it need to stand out to the extent of being canary yellow rather than white like the other markings on the dial? After all, when are the primary times one would care what the PRI shows?
  • When taking the watch off
  • When one is going to sleep or is doing something else with the watch on and there'll be little motion to keep the rotor doing its thing

Otherwise when does the PRI matter? Rarely if ever.

• The power reserve indicator on the dial -- even if one must have a dial side PRI, why does it have to be implemented such that it ruins the visual symmetry and balance of the dial?
  
  
• The power reserve indicator on the dial -- it's an automatic, uncomplicated watch, and that alone reduces the need to have a PRI, much less one on the dial. The back of the watch is where it belongs if one must have it.
  
  

• The power reserve indicator on the dial -- Why does an uncomplicated, automatic watch need a PRI that pretends to make the watch seem complicated insofar as it puts something on the dial, cluttering it with a marker and hand that has nothing to do with telling time. It displays information about the watch itself and therefore isn't a complication, but rather just a watch feature or accessory. Moreover it isn't complicated at all.
  
  As the mainspring is wound, either by hand or by the self-winding rotor, the winding ratchet on the barrel is geared to the needle on the dial that indicates the reserve. Wind the watch up and see the needle move to the “full” side of the gauge. As the mainspring unwinds, the gearing on the barrel drives the needle in the opposite direction until it reaches the "empty" position.
  
  
  
  You don't think the fuel gauge on your dashboard is "all that" do you? Well the PRI on a watch is even less "all that" because unlike the fuel gauge, there is no need for one on an automatic, uncomplicated watch.

Please bear in mind that I like Tudor watches in general. I even like the one above in general. It's just that IMO, with that watch, Tudor joins the cavalcade of clowns who contrive to clutter and "complicate" a watch that would be quintessentially better without a dial-side réserve de marche.

All the best.

[SunnyD]

I'd like the new Plat DD40 plz.

[Z K]

Now that you mention it, that power reserve indicator does look out of place. The other aspects of the watch are very nice though.

[K19BMW]

Originally Posted by tony20009

You probably shouldn't hold your breath on that. Omega is but one of the companies that have realized that there're great profits to be garnered form resurrecting and updating legacy models. If nothing else, the vast majority of design effort and cost is avoided. Really, having the original version is probably a good thing, for once Omega come out with the "second edition," it boosts the public's awareness of the "original" and thereby increases demand for it and in turn can spark a price bump in for it.

Seeing that Omega have a ton of past models that can be tweaked a bit here and there and reissued, there's no telling when they'll again put out something entirely new. After all, it hasn't been that long since they deployed a new movement (co-axial) and a new watch Aquaterra.

If uniqueness is what you desire in an Omega, the limited editions and Museum line are what you need to look at, that or commissioning them to do something expressly for you.

As for the quantity of limited edition pieces that resemble regular production pieces and offered by relatively well known makers, I don't know who does that more, Omega or Panerai. I put the qualifiers in the preceding statement because there are companies who make nothing but limited edition pieces. Arnold & Son, for example, only offer 250 or fewer pieces of every watch they make. Click over to Vacheron's Maitre d'Temps page and every watch there is a limited edition. I think the same is so for all their Historiques models. The higher one goes "up the ladder," so to speak, the more likely it is that the maker only offers limited editions.

All the best.

I was under the impression that the omega darkside of the moon was a limited edition watch. So when i saw that they put out a bunch of color varients for it i thought that was b.s. because they were putting out more of a watch that was supposed to be a limited edition but now i just read that it was not a limited edition.

Also i already have a limited omega. I have an Alaska Project

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by K19BMW

I was under the impression that the omega darkside of the moon was a limited edition watch. So when i saw that they put out a bunch of color varients for it i thought that was b.s. because they were putting out more of a watch that was supposed to be a limited edition but now i just read that it was not a limited edition.

Also i already have a limited omega. I have an Alaska Project

Ah, now I understand from whence came your comments/sentiments.

All the best.

[GreatWhite]

put a deposit down for the OMEGA Apollo 13 Snoopy Award, hopefully I can get it around September or October.

[Fanta]

Any comment about Franck Muller and Richard Mille?

[phrozen06]

great thread

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by Fanta

Any comment about Franck Muller and Richard Mille?

I'm not aware of either maker introducing anything new at Basel 2015.

• http://forums.timezone.com/index.php...adt&frm_id=119

Franck Muller introduced some new stuff this year and those pieces are noted and pictured on their site. The Yachting Collection and Blue Dream pieces pictured below are among FM's new offerings.

• Franck Muller: https://www.franckmuller.com/en/news/
  
  blue Dream
  
  
  
  Yachting Collection - Introduced at Marina di Carrara in Italy
  
  Back in 2012 FM introduced the Vintage Curvex 7-Days watches at the World Presentation of Haute Horlogerie & Jewellery in Monaco.
  
  

You may want to check out Richard Mille's website to see what they've offered.

All the best.

[Fanta]

Originally Posted by tony20009

All the best.

Thanks.

Apparently these are very special watches.
Therefore I am try to find more comment.

[gtron]

regarding the original post:

those rolex's are hideous looking.

the last omega dark side all the way to the right (black/black/black) looks cool but anyone that buys it will be unhappy. i've had watches like that and it's super hard to tell the time because the hands blend in too much and you have to look at it too long to figure out where they are.

the rest look pretty cool.

[drkeng]

great post; thanks for all the pics
I love Snoopy on the Omega back--I had a plush stuffed Snoopy astronaut

Seiko also showed this Grand Seiko Spring Drive
titanium case, 700 pieces limited edition
same blue dial as last year's limited edition that was steel case

I'm hoping!