The calendario quattro anni (cqa)

From ochs und junior -

Courtesy of ochs und junior

In honor of their 20th anniversary, ochs und junior has released an annual calendar good for four years.

This is a pre-order item, deliveries are anticipated to begin in October. Initial price is: CHF 6,900 – Export price 

CHF 7,460 – incl. 8.1% Swiss VAT

Here are the pertinents -

Case:

Grade 5 titanium, 40 mm  

Dial: 

circular graining in oj blue patina with markers decorated with white gold | Hour and minute hands, adorned in white gold | Second hand in orange | Date and month display in orange  

Movement:

ETA 2824-2 

Strap: 

Enzian in Ecopell calfskin, with or without orange stitching, available in sizes small, medium, large, or extra-large 

Weight: 

65 g (with buckle and strap) 

Warranty: two years 

Non-customizable.

The BR-03 Green Steel

From Bell & Ross -

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

This is the latest in the BR-03 family. A three-hand automatic with date - in green.

The case is of stainless steel and measures 41 mm in diameter. The movement is self-winding with a power reserve of 54 hours.

Here are all the pertinents -

Movement : Calibre BR-CAL.302-1. Automatic Mechanical Movement. 54-hour power reserve.

Functions : Hours, minutes, seconds and date.

Case : 41 mm wide. 9.65 mm thick. Satin-finished and polished steel.

Dial : Green sunray with black gradient, coated with glossy lacquer. “Baignoire-style” applique indices and numerals filled with white Super-LumiNova® X1 (green glow). Skeletonised rhodium-plated hour and minute hands filled with white Super-LumiNova® X1 (green glow).

Crystal : Sapphire with anti-reflective coating.

Water resistance : 100 metres.

Strap : Black-coloured box calfskin leather and black ultra-resilient synthetic fabric.

Buckle : Pin. Satin-finished and polished steel.

Priced at $4,100.

The Rallye Méca Quartz Chronographe GPFH 2026

From Lip -

Courtesy of Lip

This is the latest from the folks in Besançon. A new take on their Rallye chronograph collection.

In their own words -


LIP Rallye Chronograph Grand Prix de France Historique – Limited Edition 2026

The house of LIP has created a third exclusive model, in a limited and numbered edition, co-branded with the Grand Prix de France Historique to celebrate its third year as the Official Timekeeper. This season’s inspiration comes from the cyan blue run-off stripes that are iconic on the Circuit Paul Ricard.

The case is of polished stainless steel, and measures 39 mm in diameter.

The movement is a meca quartz.

Limited to 1,906 pieces, and priced at €349.00
Tax included.

The People You Meet on Vacation...Seven Days with the Manifesta

From Rotoris -

What I miss about BaselWorld, but am hoping to see more of in Geneva moving forward is the random chance meetings with emerging brands.

And one such meeting involved the founders of a watch brand that I had never heard of, but suspect will be the talk of watch fans moving forward. More about Founder and CEO Aakash Anand, and Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Prerna Gupta in a later post. Today is all about the Rotoris Manifesta.

Courtessy of Rotoris

The Manifesta is an interesting paradox. It is an extremely well-crafted, beautifully executed self-winding watch that is priced well within reach of almost any watch fan from the thrifty yet aspiring to the deep-pocketed. And in truth? This is a watch that will appeal to everyone across the board.

Rotoris is driven by the ethos of creating a luxury watch in India. But (and this might just be my perception) there also seems to be a desire to make a product that is not beyond the reach of everyone. Let's call it inclusive luxury.  While many of the watch components are from outside of India, the Manifesta is assembled in India. 

The beating heart (in this case, quite literally) of the Manifesta is the RSGA01. This is a calibre developed in partnership with Seagull, built on the ST2502K architecture, but specifically modified for Rotoris.

Seagull has come a very, very long way in terms of quality and stability. And the performance of the Manifesta in terms of time keeping have been top-notch. It has had no significant deviations (loss or gain) in time keeping. But more than that, the setting and winding has been surprising - in a good way. The crown is tactile, yet very smooth and forgiving to the touch, and the winding is gentle, not brittle or scratchy sounding. 

But let's get down to brass tacks, wearing comfort. You could have the most accurate watch in the world, but if it is not comfortable to wear, it will sit in your dresser drawer. 

A lot of wearing comfort is down to design and execution of the case itself.

The Manifesta's case has a wonderful curvature, ensuring it sits comfortably on the wrist. The dimensions are what I often refer to as "Goldilocks" - just right ; )

It measures 40 mm in diameter, with gently curved lugs. It is of stainless steel with a gold pvd finish. The curve and shape are gentle. The crystal is sapphire, making the black onyx dial truly pop.

The strap is teju lizard and crafted in India.

It is paired with a matching deployant clasp -

So if you were hoping to get your hands on one, this is a good news / not-so-good news review. The Manifesta has come and gone (limited edition), but the good news is that Rotoris is playing the long game. Small releases, teased out one at a time, with wait lists that far exceed the production numbers. So if you missed this one, stay tuned - Rotoris has plenty more magic up their sleeves!

People We Meet On Vacation - Watch Town

It's now been a little over two weeks since I got back from my week in Geneva. For those of you reading, you might be thinking like I once did - "it would be soooooo cool to work for a watch brand!" 

Well, yes and no. It's important to understand that you will be working (literally) 12 hour days for a week straight. And in my case? You are using the vacation time from your day job to do so. So yes, I do enjoy it, but it is not lost on me that this is work.

This is all by way of telling you that one of the things that keeps drawing me back is the possibility of meeting what Billy Kwan (played by Linda Hunt) referred to as the "unmet friend" the film adaptation of Christopher Koch's novel, The Year of Living Dangerously. Now in Billy Kwan's case it was the hope of meeting an idealized version of some confidant you can share everything with. In my case? I like to think of it more like Ted Lasso:

"Congrats, you both just met a cool person".

This year was not different. Several old friends reengaged with, some of the usual suspects coming through, and some wonderful encounters, completely unexpected.

I will be sharing two of those with you, along with the time machines that set them in motion. Stay tuned!