The Harrier 367

From Techné

Courtesy of Techné

I have not yet had the opportunity to test a Techné but I have to say that for the money, they appear to be a pretty great value.  The watch pictured above is the Harrier 367.  In superficial terms?  It's an extremely good looking watch!  

But beauty is often more than skin deep, and in the case of the Harrier 57 that is indeed true.  

The case measures 41 mm in diameter, and is finished in what appears to be a black PVD.  The movement is quartz offering what appears to be a bit less than four years of battery life.  This is not a little bijoux for the wrist. This is a watch to keep the time during your adventures.  Be they to the North Pole, or the North Shore ; )

One key characteristic pointed out by the manufacturer, is that
it will continue to perform in temperature range -5 C° < +50 C°!  This is a lot of watch, for not a lot of money -  

$300 US!

Techné Limited Edition for French Anti-Gang Police

This is pretty cool - I'm going to leave it up to

Techné to tell it in their own words -

Courtesy of Techne

In 2014, Techné was contacted by the social club of the French Brigades of Research and Intervention (BRI) to produce a limited edition of 29 watches. In Summer 2015, the civilian version of this timepiece will be released to the public.

Often called called «Anti-Gang», the Brigades of Recherche and Intervention is the only elite force in France to deal with dangerous criminals with both preemptive investigation and intervention. Units are trained to monitor, identify, shadow and collect intelligence in order to thwart assassinations, serious crimes, or terrorist attacks. They are also called upon to intervene in situations of unusual danger, to subdue heavily armed suspects or rescue hostages.

A social club was created to strengthen the bond between members of the BRI through cultural and sports event.

Courtesy of Techne

Made in sand-blasted surgical 316L stainless steel with black PVD plating, the limited edition features a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with inner anti-glare coating. Borrowing cues from timing instruments, the dial features the insignia and name of the BRI and displays information in a non-conflicting and intuitive way suitable for the most critical situations.

Courtesy of Techne 

Inspired by 1960's designs, the Techné strap is moulded in nitrile rubber with a criss-cross texture that includes air vents for breathability and quick drying. Nitrile rubber is the same material used for medical gloves. It is impervious to petroleum and it offers superior tear and abrasion resistance than silicone when kept at body temperature.

The limited edition of 29 timepieces was delivered to the BRI social club with numbered case backs and each model was fitted with Techné's Tropic strap in nitrile rubber.

Courtesy of Techne

The civilian version of this watch will be release without BRI identification during Summer 2015. The case will be in ultralight aluminium alloy with a hardened mineral crystal. The collection will be available on tactical straps such as the Tropic nitrile rubber, or on Techné's GB strap in black, military green and orange woven premium nylon 6. The latter is a model based on the British Ministry of Defence Standard 66-15.

Watch Auction for World Cancer Day

This just in from Techne -

Courtesy of Techne

In anticipation of World Cancer Day, Techné is auctioning a brand new Tärnan Oceanographer with serial number 001.

Techné Adds a Quartz Option to the Harrier Collection

This is the Harrier 375.  Time, small seconds at 6 o'clock, and an oversize date window.
Prices for this model start at $230.00 US.

Courtesy of Techné

The Harrier from Techné Instruments

This just in from Techné -

Courtesy of Techne

Techné Instruments is proud to unveil the Harrier, a modern interpretation of the classical fliegeruhr (military pilot watch).

Two years in the making, the display of the Harrier borrows cues from iconic navigation and timing instruments of the 20th century. The oversize minute tracks and Arabic numerals are inspired by altimeters and vintage German pilot timekeepers. The hollow luminous hands are borrowed from navigation compasses and the two dots by the 12 o'clock mark are borrowed from the British Wrist Watch Waterproof standard.

Courtesy of Techne

The flagship model of this new collection is the reference 363, powered by a novel self-winding mechanical calibre supplied by Citizen Holdings, the world's number 2 watch company.

Courtesy of Techne

Founded in 1918, the Citizen watch company released their first truly efficient shock-protection in 1956. Nineteen years later, they released a 11½ calibre that proved so reliable it is still in demand today. After 1975, this calibre 8200 allowed Miyota to develop 12 variations, of which the 8217 is used in a custom version by Techné since 2010.

During the first decade of the 21st century, Miyota began developing of a new 11½ calibre that would exceed the 8200 in terms of performance, refinement and slimness. Miyota relied on their near-centurial experience in industrial watchmaking and proprietary technology to design and industrialize the new calibre 9000.

Courtesy of Techne

Positively reviewed by watchmakers, this cost-efficient calibre offers a thinness of 3.90 mm, a high-torque, a generous power reserve of 42 hours and the accuracy of a high-beat inline anchor lever paced at 28,800 alternance per hour.

All 9015 movements used by Techné are manually fine-tuned in three positions to run within COSC rates (-4 to +6 seconds per day), which entitles the watches to bear the “Opus Manufactum” label (Latin for “hand-worked”).

Measuring 41.0 mm in diameter with a total thickness of 11.1 mm, the Harrier comes with a scratch-proof front sapphire crystal with inner anti-reflection coating. The reference 363.0 comes in brushed surgical 316L stainless steel and the reference 363.1 comes with a sand-blasted finishing and an aeronautical surface-hardening PVD coating. Both versions use a screw-down crown, are water resistant to 5 bar, and are available on a choice of 15 different straps.

www.technewatches.com

Techné's re-edition of the 2010 Goshawk

This just in from Techné -

MECHANICAL LANDINGS

Techné is proud to announce the re-edition of their 2010 Goshawk, a collection assembled with a self-winding mechanism designed and built by the Miyota factories of the Citizen Holdings Company. 

Courtesy of Techne

Over the last 35 years, Miyota engineers have kept improving their self-winding mechanisms, and the variation 8217 chosen by Techné comes with a 24 hours register that helps differentiate between Ante Meridiem and Post Meridiem hours. This calibre is decorated with the Japanese version of Geneva Stripes and received a custom yellow-plated self-winding weight signed “Techné”. 

Courtesy of Techne

Ref. 411 SPECIFICATIONS 

 Water-resistance 5 bar (50 m / 199 ft, static) 

 Wrist sizes 15 to 22 cm 

 Crystal Scratch-proof sapphire 

 Accuracy (minutes per year) from -1h15 to +2h30 per year 

 Autonomy (hours) 38 hours 

 Calibre Miyota 8217 

 Jewel count 21 

 Measurements Ø 41.4 x 48.7 x 12.5 mm 

 Smallest unit displayed 3 Hz 

www.technewatches.com

A new meca-quartz chronograph from Techné

Courtesy of Techne

Having collected watches for 15 years, Switzerland-based Franck J. decided to take a leap of faith in 2009 and have his own ideas manufactured.

Trained in industrial design, watchmaking and goldsmithing, he is familiar with well built objects that cleverly mix materials and textures.  The brand “Techné” sprang from the ancient Greek word “texni” which describes the Arts and Crafts.


Like his earlier collections, the new SparrowHawk II is a tool watch inspired by Aviation instruments. Easy to use and water-resistant to 100 meter, the 41 millimetre-wide timepiece comes with night-visible markings and a matte black dial without glare.  Two styles are currently available:
brushed steel on steel bracelet, or cockpit black on canvas strap.  Versions on rubber and leather straps are planned for March 2012.

Courtesy of Techné

The Sparrowhawk II uses a novelty energy-efficient quartz mechanism developed by Seiko Instruments. Running with half of the energy requirement, it can reset at the touch of a finger.  As a consequence, this “stopwatch on a diet” can sweep 1/5th of a second and maintain a normal battery life.


Although being a micro-brand, Techné pays close attention to sustainability: all carbon emissions are compensated for and recycled paper is used for stationery and packaging. Furthermore, frequent donations to NGO’s help moving labour rights forward in Asia, where the timepieces are assembled.

The watches can be purchased on the official TechneWatches.BIZ store, or through selected partners listed at TechneWatches.COM