The Coolest Things at Basel - The ARCHIMÈDES

In the time honored tradition of all of my colleagues in the Fourth and Fifth Estates, I too will now share with you what I found to be the coolest items at Basel.  I'm going to be spooling them out one at a time.  

I will kick it off with the feel-good, love-song-triumphant return of Milus.

The story of Milus is a long one, and we'll dig in deeper in a future post, but for many of us we are well-acquainted with the Snow Star.  And again, we'll get deeper into that in another future post ; )

But suffice it to say, not so long ago Milus went dark.  And it looked as if it might stay that way until one Luc Tissot rode into Biel/Bienne and saved the day!  The result was the re-launch this year of Milus.  And to their credit, this was one of the sanest, most intelligent launches I have seen in Basel for some time.  No fashion models, no "famous friends" of the brand, and most certainly not a million different SKUs (Models).  They brought three models, limited color ways, and a clear communication of what Milus is now.

And one model, in particular, caught my eye -

This is the Archimedes. It is available in blue, or my favorite, black.

A solid case back is just one of the many thoughtful design details that I really appreciated.  It is in keeping with the theme of the watch, and let's be honest, why would you want a display back on a vintage inspired watch?

And what is that?  Why an HRV valve, of course!  Which you might expect on a watch costing three times the amount.

A wonderfully soft, yet strong leather strap with signed buckle instead of the all too often used deployment buckle.  Again, it maintains the spirit of the watch itself.  The strap is a "quick spring" version allowing you to change the strap without a tool.  It will also ship with a cordura/sport strap to allow you to enjoy your Milus in the briny deep.

And it is all rounded out by the packaging - a wonderfully practical solution - a leather zippered pouch that can be used for travel.  

The case measures 41 mm and is of stainless steel.  The movement is ETA's 2892A2 "Top".  Helium release valve and internal bi-directional bezel.  Water resistant to 300 meters / 1000 feet.

Suggested retail is CHF 1919 and if I understood correctly, it is available for order now.

 

The Kiu Tai Yu Tribute

From Pellikaan Timing -

Courtesy of Pellikaan Timing

A seeming lifetime ago, I met Hubert Pellikaan wandering through the halls of the Palace at BaselWorld.  He had started working on his brand, Pellikaan Timing and I had the opportunity to check out his initial effort.


Needless to say, time has moved forward, and I thought I'd check out where things were now, and discovered the Kiu Tai Yu Tribute (above).  In fairness, this might be one you've seen already, but I think it's pretty cool, so in case you missed it -

Courtesy of Pellikaan Timing

The case is stainless steel, the movement is ETA's 2892A2, but the real star of the show is the dial.  It is DOPE!

This is an "off the menu" item, so should you be so inclined, you will need to contact Mr. Pellikaan to do so.  The price as I understand it is 1,690 Euro.

Here are the pertinents -

Automatic winding
- Readings: hours/minutes/seconds (with hack function), date
- Size: 40mm diameter, height 9,5 mm, strap 22 mm
- Movement: ETA 2892A2 soignee
- Power reserve: 38 hours
- Waterdicht 5atm / 50 meter
- Breguet hands
- Creme and phosphorising red dial with Mandarin numerals
- Sapphire crystals on front and back
- Standard black alligator leather strap and additional black nylon NATO strap

The Tree of Life

From Kneijnsberg & van Eijks 

Courtesy of
Kneijnsberg & van Eijks 

With all the bluster and preening of the big dogs getting ready for BaselWorld, it was actually quite refreshing to receive the news of a new brand with (in my opinion anyway) a very charming first effort.

This is the Tree of Life, and it has perhaps one of the coolest functions I have ever heard of!  You will notice that the main portion of the top of the dial is a tree with leaves.  In the image above you will see that the leaves are mostly gone, and the remainder are autumn colors?

Courtesy of
Kneijnsberg & van Eijks 

Allow me to introduce you to Spring!  You will notice that half of the tree's leaves have now turned to green.  And I could use a visual reminder like this right now, as today is March 13, and as you can see, we are still waiting for Spring here in the Metro Boston area -

This nifty complication is courtesy of an in-house module for displaying the seasons. The module is constructed of 18 unique parts and has a quick setting function for correcting the complication.  This is combined with the ETA 2892 A2.


The case is of 316L stainless steel, satin brushed and available in three versions - stainless, black, and yellow gold.  It measures 38 mm in width, 52 mm in length and 14.8 mm thick.

I have to be honest, this is a watch that I can't wait to see in person! It is original, intriguing and fun all at the same time.   

The Tree of Life will be available for pre-order shortly, with a special introductory price. 
 

Movement - 15 Days with Arcadia Continues

Movement - in this case we are talking about the watch movement.  That thing that creates energy for the watch to run.  And for the Contemporary Series, Arcadia went to some trouble to make sure that they had a really good one.

The engine driving the Contemporary is an ETA 2892-A2 with a Dubois Dépraz module.  This provides for a few additional functions not found in your everyday chronograph:

• Chronograph: center seconds hand, 30-minutes counter at 9 o'clock, 12-hours counter at 6 o'clock
• Date at 6 o'clock
• Time zone: 24-hours index at 12 o'clock
• Winding: automatic, two-way
• Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour
• Power-Reserve: 40-44 hours

  

In other words, a chronograph with a second timezone function at 12 o'clock.  The second timezone can be adjusted with the pusher located on the left-hand side of the case -

The rotor itself really stays consistent with the theme of the watch - sporty and contemporary -

A sapphire crystal display back allows you to see the rotor in its entirety, with the Arcadia logo and and the same yellow accent detail that catches the eye on the strap.  This is achieved with a DLC treatment.

The timekeeping has been very, very good.  We are currently + 5 seconds per day on average.  The best day was Sunday with + 4 seconds.  

Another week to go, stay tuned!