The Mechanica B02 Titanium

From DONE - 

Courtesy of DONE

This one might be a just a bit under the radar, but that doesn't mean it should be!

Since their founding in 2016, DONE has been steadily establishing their design philosophy - mechanical movements that take pride of place in the entire watch. 

Courtesy of DONE

This is the Mechanica B02 Titanium. The case measures 43.8 mm in diameter, is of Grade 5 titanium. The movement is based on ETA's 6497-1. This is one of the most iconic hand-wound movements available, with the skeletonization undertaken by DONE in house.

The movement is laid bare, encased by anti reflective, scratch resistant crystals.

The Mechanica B02 is quite fairly priced at CHF 2,516.00, and is available directly from DONE.

Here are the pertinents -

CASE

Diameter
43.8mm

Thickness
10.9mm

Length
51.6mm (lug to lug)

Material
Grade 5 titanium 

Water Resistance
10 ATM (100m)

Sapphire Crystal
Anti-reflective, scratch resistant on both sides

MOVEMENT

Model
ETA 6497-1 Swiss Made

Power Reserve
46 hours (±2h)

Movement Frequency
2.5Hz

Skeletonization
DONE Skeleton Design 

Coating
DLC Black (Diamond Like Carbon)

The Flying Grand Regulator Skeleton

From Chronoswiss -

Courtesy of Chronoswiss

This one's a bit special.  A truly limited edition of only 30 pieces.  

The case is of stainless steel and measures 44 mm in diameter.  The movement is Caliber C.677S, which is manual winding and features a power reserve of 46 hours.

Here are the pertinents, straight from the source -

CASE:

Case back
Screw-down case back with satin finish and sapphire crystal

Band width
22 mm

Finish
Partly polished, partly with vertical satin finish, onion crown

Material
Stainless steel

Bezel
Polished screw-down bezel with full thread and side knurling with curved, non-reflecting sapphire crystal

Number of parts
21

Height
12.48 mm

Diameter
44mm


MOVEMENT:

Frequency
2,5 Hz 18 000 A/H

Number of jewels
17

Power reserve
Approx. 46 h

Movement
Caliber C.677S manual winding

Finish
Pallet, pallet-wheel and screws polished, plate and bridges skeletonized and circular grained; gear-wheels skeletonized screws thermally blued


DIAL:

Displays
Off-centre hours at 12:00, central minutes, small seconds at 6:00

Shape of hands
"Poire Stuart"

Dial material
Sophisticated dial construction on several levels. Skeletonized base, galvanic white, with funnel construction, hour´s scale white varnish. Middle level galvanic white with hand-painted individual number of limitation. Top level galvanic white, screwed on foundation blocks.

Design of hands
Thermaly blued and curved; minute hand bent by hand


STRAP & BUCKLE:

Type of buckle
Folding clasp

Strap material
Louisiana alligator leather "Hornback", hand-sewn

The Lac Chronograph

From Claude Meylan -

Courtesy of Claude Meylan

Here are the pertinents -

CASE:

43 mm stainless steel 

Crystal back
Sapphire front crystal
3 atm- water resistant

MOVEMENT:
Black Valjoux 77543 

Self winding
Skeleton
Chrono
Date at 3 o’clock

STRAP:
Leather 

Bell & Ross // ONLY WATCH 2019

This is the ONLY WATCH entry from 
Bell & Ross -

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

The BR05 SKELETON GOLD BLUE will fly the flag for Bell & Ross this year in Monaco.

Here are the pertinents -

REF. BR05A-OW-PG-SK/SRB

                     
Movement: 

Calibre BR-CAL.322. 

Automatic mechanical

Functions: 
Hours, minutes and seconds

Case:
40 mm diameter
Satin-polished 18K rose gold
Sapphire caseback

Dial:
Blue skeleton
Rose gold applique indices coated in 
Super- LumiNova®

Crystal:
Sapphire with anti-reflective coating

Water-resistance:
100 meters

Strap:
Blue Rubber

The BR-X2 Skeleton Tourbillon Micro-Rotor

From Bell & Ross -

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

Really cool, very good looking, and not priced for the feint of heart or thin of wallet ; )

It comes in at $79,000 US

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

Here are the pertinents, straight from the source -

Movement: 

Calibre BR-CAL.381. Automatic mechanical. Micro-rotor tourbillon. The micro-rotor is machined in a very dense alloy, Reconit 18. This alloy contains 95% tungsten. 18.5 density, compared to steel (8.0), pure gold (19.3), 18-ct gold (15.5-16.5 according to colour), platinum (20.7)

Functions: 

Hours and minutes. Flying tourbillon at 6 o'clock.

Case: 

42.5 mm in diameter. Satin-polished steel.

Dial: 

Skeletonized. Metal applique Superluminova®- filled indices. Metal skeletonized Superluminova®- filled hour and minute hands.

Crystal: 

Sapphire with anti-reflective coating.

Water-resistance: 

50 metres.

Strap: 

Grey alligator.

Buckle: 

Folding. Satin-polished steel

On the Bubble!

In the words of my favorite college basketball prognosticator Dick Vitale -

"It's serendipity, Baby!"

As March is (at least for US college basketball fans) a month for miracles, it seems that Cinderella has arrived at the big dance -

If you can forgive the "lush, bear-like" undergrowth, you will see a singularly wonderful horological bijoux. Yes, it would seem that Severin Wunderman is indeed having the last laugh!

Accompanied by some other pieces that will be revealed in a post to follow in the next few days. But having spent several days listening to the same dronings of "market share", etc. I nearly pooped my dungarees when I saw that the Bubble was making a comeback! But don't call it a comeback, because for me the Bubble had never really popped. And for Corum to show the common sense to bring this "neo-classic" back says to me that hopefully the "Antonio Calce hangover" is finally well and truly "slept off" and they are now ready to punch their weight.

I miss people like Mr. Wunderman.  Good, strong management is important.  But there are bean counters, and then there are visionaries - and Mr. Wunderman was certainly the latter - thank God!

Enjoy your watches!

New Releases from Franck Muller at WPHH Hong Kong

This just in from Franck Muller -

Courtesy of Franck Muller

The Giga Gong Tourbillon collection: Created in 2011, the Giga Tourbillon bears the world’s largest tourbillon. This new in-house designed and manufactured manual watch is enhanced with an exciting complication – the Striking Hour. This poetic complication will brighten up your day with its rhythmic chime.