The Essence

From Mondaine -

Courtesy of Mondaine

One of the truly neat releases this BaselWorld was the Essence from Mondaine.  This seemed to be a year for interesting surprises, and Mondaine had a few up their sleeves.  One that truly caught my attention was the Essence.  

On the surface, you might be forgiven for seeing yet another SBB themed dial.  But look a little closer.  This is not your standard pvd treated case.  In fact, it is not your standard case at all.  The case is constructed of a polyamide that BASF SE has provided to Mondaine.  This material is not simply just a plastic.  It is composed to a fair degree of renewable materials:

1. Watch Case Materials:

41%	Rizinus (castor plant)
30%	Glass
2%	Black Color pigments
27 %	Fossil based plastics

Per Mondaine, the most notable points of this case construction are:

• • High percentage of renewable resources (in comparison to other watch brands: over 70% less fossil based plastic in the case as 40% of the case content is made out of the Rizinus plant, 30% are glass reinforcement materials.)
• • High strength and rigidity
• • Very good impact strength
• • Outstanding resistance to chemicals
• • Unique surface appearance 

Courtesy of Mondaine

The strap is rubber (38% natural rubber).

Even the packaging is thoughtful -

Courtesy of Mondaine

The pouch that the watch is packaged in is made from recycled PET bottles.  And the pouch can later be "upcycled" for a different use ; )

The Essence is available with either a white or black dial, in either a 32 or 41 mm case diameter.  As I understand it, the suggested retail is $175.

Well done Mondaine!  Hopefully this is the start of even more good things.

A Modest Proposal about Luxury

Let's face facts, it is called the "luxury market" because it is, well, luxurious.  And luxury has, in the past, traditionally meant expensive.  In our rush to have that elusive, shiny, rare object we often park our common sense, and more importantly a small part of our humanity at the door.   Now before you jump to the conclusion that this is a piece designed to shame anyone, or to preach from a lofty height, fear not!  More and more I am becoming less of a fan of crocodile or alligator straps owing to the way that the leather is obtained and harvested by some suppliers.  I realize that customers still request them and they want something exotic.  And I am not asking or expecting ANYONE to subscribe wholesale to my opinions.

BUT - I also think that there are some interesting options out there.  One of them is SALMON!  Now to be 100% transparent, I was a bit less than impressed by the first salmon straps that I saw.  They were rough, not super well-finished and more of a gimmick than an actual product.  Sorry, that is how I see some of the early efforts.  But what if a REAL strap company started working with salmon skin to make a strap, and to make it a real luxury item?

This is a strap from Belgian strap maker LIC.  You will notice that it does NOT look like something stitched together by an ironic hipster, and rather looks like something you might find on a high priced, dare I say it - LUXURY watch.

I was presented this strap in Basel and (full disclosure) was encouraged to wear it and enjoy it - WITHOUT necessarily reporting on it.  But in the course of initially wearing it I have been very impressed.  Now again - I did receive this strap, I want there to be ZERO misunderstanding on this point.  BUT - I also want to make clear that I am writing about it because it has been a great strap so far and more importantly, it underscores that there are alternative, more renewable resources that can be used to create luxury items that you would actually WANT to use.

I will be back to you in a week with an update.  

  

Lac Poya

From Claude Meylan -

Courtesy of Claude Meylan

This is one of the BaselWorld releases from Claude Meylan.  A whimsical take on how a SWISS watch should look.    The case is 42 mm in diameter, and of stainless steel with a sapphire crystal and display back.  The movement is mechanical (hand winding), skeletonized and engraved.

As mentioned, the real treat is the rotating dial which displays a cut out that also acts as the hour hand as it rotates.

The inspiration is the Swiss mountains and the life and culture that surround them.  In their own words -

La Poya
The Swiss tradition, the art and the culture of its emblematic regions have inspired CLAUDE MEYLAN to celebrate the rituals, the customs and the ancestral symbols. “La Poya” pays tribute to the original festival of the climb to the mountain pastures and associates the know-how of our House to this Swiss Art. The alpine pasture attracts cow herds to spend the summer. It is during the climb that we the celebration of the poya takes place. “La Poya” originated in the region of Fribourg and describes the long procession of cows and wagons loaded with the necessary equipment to collect the milk, make cream and cheese on the heights. The cows are decorated with flowers and bells with belts embroidered with edelweiss and the name of each herd owner. The armailli, wearing the traditional clothes, guides the procession. The facades of alpine chalets have friezes painted or carved in wood, representing the joyous rise of processions. 

Personally, I just think it's pretty cool ; )

Here are the pertinents -

Movement
Mechanical with manual winding
Functions
Hours, Minutes
Decorations
Fine finish, fully skeletonised and engraved
Caliber
ETA Unitas 6497
Autonomy
42 hours 

Case
316L stainless steel, transparent back, sapphire crystal
Dimension
Diameter 42 mm
Water resistancy
3 atm
Bracelet
Leather Strap
Buckle
316L Stainless Steel

 

Ode au Printemps

From Schwarz Etienne -

Courtesy of Schwarz Etienne

Sometimes you need a little buzz in the morning ; )  

This is one of the special novelties from Schwarz Etienne this year.  And yes, I sorta' dig it.

With so many brands doing somber, serious things, it is pretty swell to see something that is technically impressive, yet still fun to look at (and wear)!

So for you super serious folks out there, here are the "serious" watch facts:
 
Case

Case Material

Rose gold 5N 18 ct

Case Diameter

44 mm

Case Height

13.70 mm

Glass

Sapphire with double-sided anti-reflective treatment

Sealing

5 ATM (50 m)

Movement

Caliber

TSE 122.00

Type

Manufactured tourbillon automatic "Irreversible" TSE 122.00 with micro rotor

Diameter

30.40 mm (13 ¼’’’)

Height

7.05 mm

Frequency

3 Hz (21'600 Alt/h)

Power reserve

72 hours

Functions

Off-centered hours and minutes indication at 5 o'clock
Small second retrograde at 11 o'clock
Tourbillon at 1 o'clock

But then, there is a fun element -

Courtesy of Schwarz Etienne

The wonderful dial, and the particularly playful hand-painted bee on the micro rotor.

Dial

Gilded brass in the form of honeycomb and sub-dial in tiger's eye Poppy-shaped micro-rotor mass wheel in fine strips of coral Hand-engraved, hand-painted aluminum bee. Hour turning and petit seconde (small second) rétrograde in tiger's eye

Now to be very clear, I am a social worker.  Barring a true Lotto windfall, I will never be able to afford this watch.  Having said that, this is one of those rare pieces that I want regardless of the price point!  It is beautiful, clever and it makes me smile!

As I understand it, the bee is in no small reference to La Chaux-de-Fonds (a bee figures prominently in the coat of arms of the city).

So for the lucky few, this is a truly wonderful piece.  I have seen it and held it at the Schwarz Etienne BaselWorld booth and it is truly impressive!

When Schwarz Etienne went through their "re-branding" a few years back, many of us who write about these things were not certain how it was all going to work out, but it seems to be on track, and humming along ; )

The Tangente neomatik 41 - Updated

From NOMOS -

Courtesy of Nomos

It can be very daunting to try and make updates and / or improvements on things that have already been deemed classics.  And to this end, I do not envy the designers at NOMOS.  In many ways, trying to update a beloved watch is a thankless task.  The purists will argue that you have bastardized their beloved watch, and the poo-pooers/haters/trolls will simply give a thumbs down out of their own spiteful nature.  But I, for one, do appreciate the new Tangente neomatik .

Courtesy of NOMOS

What's new?  Well, plenty but one thing that can be identified right away is the date indication along the outer ring of the watch.  A rotating disc underneath the dial proper has two red indications that indicate the date by appearing on either side of the number.  In the case above?  It is the 27th.

Much more to come on the updated neomatik movement.  But that is a topic in and of itself.

For now, here are the pertinents for the watch -

Ref. 180 
 
Case: 
stainless steel, bipartite
sapphire crystal glass back 

Glass:
sapphire crystal glass with anti-reflective coating 

Winding:
automatic 

Dimensions:
diameter 40.5 mm
height 7.9 mm
weight 58 g
 
Water resistance:
5 atm (suitable for showering)

The Axiom

From Phenomen -

BaselWorld welcomed a new model from a new brand - the Axiom from PHENOMEN.

Courtesy of PHENOMEN

More to come from this Besançon based brand, stay tuned!


For now, here are the pertinents -

Functions:
Retrograde jumping hour, synchronised with a conical amphitheatre, integrated 3D hand
Retrograde minutes on a conical amphitheatre, integrated 3D hand
Independent correction of hours and minutes

Case:
Grade 5 titanium
Length: 47 mm
Width: 42 mm
Height: 17.3 mm
Cockpit upper sapphire crystal with non-reflective coating on both faces
Lower sapphire crystal with non-reflective coating
Two crowns: winding mechanism + hour setting / minutes setting
Guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 30 m
Finishes: polish / satin / sandblasted

Movement: Exclusive PHENOMEN PH-010 Caliber, designed in FRANCE
Manual wind double barrel mechanical movement and independent escapement mounting
Exclusive Phenomen variable inertia balance wheel
28,800 oscillations/hour; 4 Hz; 45 jewels
Twin barrel in series
100-hour power reserve
AgenEse® technology for retrograde mechanisms
Finishes: hand bevelled / polish / satin / sandblasted / lacquered
267 components

Display
Hour display on conical amphitheatre, 3D hand
Minutes display on conical amphitheatre, 3D hand

Strap
Alligator
Exclusive fold-over clasp, Grade 5 titanium, three sections with fine adjustment system