Watches NEWS
2020 Cartier Prive Tank Asymetrique (Specs & Price)
From its rich jeweller-watchmaker tradition, the French Maison Cartier has built an unrivalled legacy in creating fascinating shaped watches.?Since 2017, the Cartier Prive collection highlights the design of some of the brand's legendary models. Unlike the 1998-2008 Collection Privee Cartier Paris (a.k.a CPCP), which was characterized by strict codes (uniform guilloche dials and Roman numerals, with Cartier Paris logo and a rosette, burgundy straps, etc), the new Cartier Prive collection leaves more scope for creativity and variations. After the Crash, the Tank Cintree and the Tonneau, it is time for the Tank Asymetrique to be reinterpreted.The 1930s were a period of intense creativity for Cartier. With Art Deco, wristwatches came in a multitude of geometric forms.?The iconic Tank theme underwent numerous variations. Among these, the unapologetically elegant Tank Asymetrique, which was known at the time as the Parallelogramme or Losange. Created in 1936, the model stands out with its o
IWC Portugieser Tourbillon Retrograde Chronograph IW394005 Review
During the 2020 online edition of Watches & Wonders, IWC unveiled this complicated Portugieser flying tourbillon, retrograde date and flyback chronograph model. Marking the top-end releases in the new Portugieser collection, along with an equally impressive Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon, the tourbillon chronograph watch was presented in precious metal cases of gold or platinum. If you think this combination of complications already existed, you'd be right since they made their debut in the IWC Da Vinci Tourbillon Retrograde Chronograph of 2017 and later that year in the one-off Portugieser Tourbillon Retrograde Chronograph for Laureus Charity Night 2017. The gold model with blue dial ref. IW394005, which is also a Boutique Edition, was our candidate for today's hands-on session. Boutique editions refer to IWC models that combine gold cases and blue dials, very fitting given the maritime theme of the Portugieser.Portugieser lineageThe Portugieser is one of IWC's oldest a
Longines Timepieces in Bathyscaphe Trieste And On The Wrist of Piccard
We, human beings, have a fascination for exploration. We are pioneers, adventurers and mostly, we’re curious to know everything about our planet and what’s around it. Man has travelled through space, has been on the Moon, flew in ultra-fast planes, and also explored the deepest point on planet Earth, Challenger Deep near the?Mariana Trench. On 23 January 1960, swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh were the first crew to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep, a story well known by watch enthusiasts, thanks to the involvement of in the project. But what is far less known is the presence of Longines timepieces, both onboard the Trieste, and on the wrist of Piccard himself (at least in the first record dive of 1953). And today, with a bit of help from the Longines Museum, we give you more details about this Longines x Piccard connection.?Piccard, father and sonBehind the story of the Trieste and all the subsequent record dives to finally reach
The Longines Column Wheel Chronograph - Monochrome Watches
Since its launch in 2009, Longines’ Calibre L688.2 has become the engine for The Longines Column Wheel Chronograph collection. ?Longines, who invented the column wheel (1878) as well as the flyback function (1936), knows a thing or two about chronographs. ?The Calibre 13.33Z (1913), the famous Calibre 13ZN (1946) and the Calibre 30CH (1947) have all employed a column wheel. ?The L688.2 automatic chronograph movement features a blued steel column wheel, 27 jewels, and accentuating decoration.ETA?specifically?created this new and exclusive movement for Longines ?to incorporate the column wheel, which is considered superior for a chronograph’s operation.? This movement is used in the Heritage 1973, while a variation on the L688, namely caliber L788 with a mono-pusher, was used in the?Column-Wheel Single Push-Piece Chronograph 180th Anniversary, which we reviewed for you here. The various watch models in this collection represent a modern development of Lognines’ historic
Oris Aquis Date Calibre 400 41.5mm (Specs & Price)
The Aquis is, without doubt, one of the most accomplished and acclaimed collections by Oris. A modern, robust and well-equipped dive watch, it has long been available with an outsourced automatic movement by Sellita. Yet, Oris had different plans and recently introduced a manufacture movement to offer watch enthusiasts more power, higher accuracy, more reliability and magnetic resistance. This engine, the Calibre 400, was first introduced in late 2020 into the larger 43.5mm edition of the Aquis. And now, for 2021, it finds its way in a more compact edition of this watch inside the Aquis Date Calibre 400 41.5mm Collection, in three different colours.At first, not much appears to have changed with these new models. The Aquis Date remains almost identical visually. A watch that has been in the collection for many years, it was revamped in 2017 with a slightly more refined and modernised design. Originally offered in a relatively large case of 43.5mm, followed by a 39.5mm edition, last yea