The Naval Aviation UTC

From MAT Watches - 

Courtesy of MAT Watches

MAT is a bit of an unknown, and certainly under appreciated quantity here in North America.  MAT stands for Mer - Air - Terre, if my extremely limited French can be counted on - Sea - Air - Land.

Based in Paris, MAT's focus is on nimble production allowing the flexibility to move quickly on ideas.

The Naval Aviation UTC comes with 2 additional straps -

Courtesy of MAT

A blue canvas strap (above), and a black rubber strap (below)

Courtesy of MAT

The price is fair, not ridiculously (and falsely) low - $2,496.00 incl. VAT. (2080 tax excl.)

Here are the pertinents -

STRAPS

Delivered with 3 interchangeable straps: 1 fawn vegetal tanning leather strap, 1 navy blue canvas and 1 black rubber band.

MECANISM

Caliber: ETA 2893-2 – Swiss Made
Frequency: 28800/h
Ruby: 21r
Power reserve: 42h
Winding: Automatic, H+M+S+Date+UTC24h

CASE

Waterproofness: 200 metres
Material: Stainless steel 316L
Dial: black with hands and markers in Super Luminova BGW9
Glass: Antireflective sapphire crystal, 3.8mm of thickness
Caseback: Stainless steel 316L
Crown: Screw in
Diameter: 44mm
Thickness: 15.5mm

Bell & Ross - BR 03-92 Diver Orange

 Exclusively available in Bell & Ross boutiques and the Bell & Ross E-Boutique

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

This is limited to 250 pieces.

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

Here are the pertinents -

Movement:
calibre BR-CAL.302. Automatic mechanical.

Functions:
hours, minutes, seconds and date.

Case:
42 mm in width. Satin-finished and polished steel. Unidirectional rotating steel bezel with 60-minute scale and black anodised aluminium insert.

Dial:
orange. Appliqué metal indices with Super-LumiNova® inserts. Metal skeletonised Super-LumiNova®-filled hands.

Crystal:
sapphire with anti-reflective coating.

Water-resistance:
300 metres.

Straps:
woven black rubber and ultra-resilient orange synthetic fabric.

Buckle:
pin. Satin-finished and polished steel.

The Transatlantique GMT

From Laventure -

Courtesy of Laventure

Courtesy of Laventure

Now ordinarily I have a pretty strict "no pre-order/Kickstarter" rule.  But in fairness to Laventure, they have been around for a bit, and to the best of my knowledge, they have not left any potential customers high and dry.  

And... one of the above versions has apparently already sold out, so there you go!

Here are the pertinents, straight from the source -

Case

316L Stainless Steel case, polished and satin finish
Case diameter (10h-4h) 40.5 mm
Thickness (without Crystal) 10.30 mm
Length of lug to lug 48.80 mm

Movement

Mechanical movement with automatic winding
ETA 2893-2 caliber base // 42-hour power reserve

Winding crown

Screwed 316L Stainless Steel Crown

Waterproofness

Waterproof up to 200 m

Bezel

316L stainless steel 24 notches bidirectional rotating bezel
with 24-hour graduated PLEXIGLAS® insert

Dial

Matt Cream Gradient “sandwich” type dial

Crystal

PLEXIGLAS® Superdome type Crystal

Bracelet

Integrated bracelet in 316L stainless steel, polished and satin finish with 3-blade clasp // Clasp width = 17 mm

The Cayman Worldtimer

From Delma -

Courtesy of Delma

Here are the pertinents, straight from the source -

Mechanism:
Automatic

Caliber:
ETA 2896, Delma custom rotor

Power reserve (h):
50h

Number of jewels:
21

Frequency:
28'800 A/h

Case material:
Stainless steel

Case back:
Stainless steel with transparent mineral crystal

Size in mm:
42

Height in mm:
13.6

Weight in grams:
120

Water resistance:
50 ATM / 500 m / 1650 ft

Bezel:
Bidirectional bezel with reference cities

Lug size in mm:
22

Bracelet material:
Stainless steel

Functions:
24 hour hand, Worldtimer, Date

Available direct from Delma -

Delma Cayman Worldtimer

The 100 Blue Edition

From Aquadive -

Courtesy of Aquadive

This one is a bit special.  Now regular readers will know that I spent a little over three years with DOXA Watches in North America.  And I have no problem with saying what I am about to say -
DOXA have lost their way.  I could go on and on, but let's just leave it there for now.  

Aquadive is perhaps one of the few remaining options for those looking for an iconic dive watch, with some history, that is well made, where you might have a hope in hell of dealing with a human being on the other side of the phone line with questions or customer service needs, and you're not paying over $5,000.  And as the move to online shopping for watches has accelerated from a brisk pace to warp speed, most brands are learning some difficult lessons.  Among them?  You actually need to give some localized customer service.  And Aquadive has you covered in that area.

But let's get back to the watch in question -

Courtesy of Aquadive

Like every Aquadive I've personally worn, the lume is strong with this one.  

The case is of stainless steel and measures 43 x 49 x 12.5.  The casebook and crown screw down to ensure water resistance to 1000 meters.  

The movement is ETA's 2824 Elabore grade.  And the 100 Blue is secured to your wrist with an ISOfrane rubber strap.

Here are the pertinents -

Model:
Aquadive 100

Size:
42.9mm diameter, 49mm lug-to-lug

Thickness:
12.5mm, case including case back 14.00mm

Case material: 316L surgical stainless steel
Helium release valve: automatic HRV at 6 o’clock

Bezel: 43mm uni-directional ratcheting 120-click rotating, with blue ceramic timing ring

Dial color: blue

Luminescence: Super LumiNova markers and hands

Water Resistance: 100bar (approx. 1,000 meters/3,333 feet)

Strap: ISOfrane rubber strap with signed pin buckle or optional stainless steel mesh with foldover clasp

Caliber: ETA 2824-2 Elabore grade

Functions: Hours, minutes, sweep seconds, date

Size: 11.5″

Adjustment: Adjusted to 5 positions with certificate provided

Power reserve: 42 hours (fully wound in lab)

Winding: Self-winding

Frequency: 4 Hz (28,800 vibrations per hour)

Jewels: 25

The Poseidon GMT

From Aquadive -

Courtesy of Aquadive

This is the latest from Aquadive, a collaboration watch with Sweden's Poseidon.  For those of you desk divers (like me) who are perhaps not familiar (again, like me), Poseidon is a long-standing industry leader making various indispensable items for the sport diver.  So needless to say, this is a natural partnership.

Courtesy of Aquadive

Based on Aquadive's 100 GMT, the Poseidon GMT measures 43 mm in across and 50 mm from one lug to the other.  And for those of you ready to act now?  You can get it at a pre-order price.

The Poseidon GMT will retail for $1,890 but the pre-order price is $1,395.  So for those of you so inclined, your deposit is $395, with the balance of $1,000 due when the watch ships.  More details can be found here:

AQUADIVE POSEIDON

Here are the pertinents -

• 43mm 316L stainless steel case (50mm lug-to-lug, 12.5mm thick) with 1000m water resistance
• Flat, AR-coated sapphire crystal
• 120-click unidirectional rotating bezel, fitted with fully luminous ceramic bezel insert
• Dual Viton gasket system in crown tube and caseback
• Shock-resistant ETA 2893-2 automatic movement with 24-hour indicator (2nd time zone)
• Includes official Poseidon mission patch, and two genuine ISOfrane straps: Black, and Poseidon Yellow
• Shipping begins November 2019

Henki Time Pod Cast - The DOXA SUB - Change is Inevitable

Henki Time Podcast - The DOXA SUB - Change is Inevitable

The Black Bay Steel and Gold

The Black Bay, it is safe to say, is the basket that Tudor has placed most of their eggs in.  And because we are talking about a fairly large brand that is still struggling somewhat to truly create its identity, that is not necessarily such a bad idea.  I say that in no way to disparage or speak ill of Tudor  but now several years on, Tudor has had some hits and some misses.

As a former brand manager, I have learned the painful lesson that just because I like something, it does not necessarily mean that everyone else will.  I personally love the Advisor (alarm watches are not for everyone), I like the North Flag (but it does not seem to have really found its footing), and I think that the Black Bay GMT is the SHIT THAT KILLED ELVIS, although one design element that I would modify would be to add an "inverted" cyclops date window.  This would make the date window more legible, but also add a certain "what's-it" to the Tudor design.  Tudor, if you're reading this, you can have that idea for free ; )

Having said all of that, I will say that the steel and gold Black Bay is an appealing option -

Courtesy of Tudor

It offers a truly different take on a collection that is starting to suffer from a certain sense of "sameness".  While I realize it might not speak to everyone, I sorta' dig it.  This one debuted in 

Here are the pertinents, straight from Tudor -

• CASE

  41 mm steel case with polished and satin finish
• MOVEMENT

  Manufacture Calibre MT5612 (COSC)
  
  Self-winding mechanical movement with bidirectional rotor system
• POWER RESERVE

  Power reserve of approximately 70 hours
• WINDING CROWN

  Yellow gold screw-down winding crown, with the TUDOR rose engraved and lacquered in black, with black anodised aluminium winding crown tube
• WATERPROOFNESS

  Waterproof to 200 m (660 ft)

• BEZEL

  Unidirectional rotating bezel in yellow gold with 60-minute graduated matt black anodised aluminium disc, gold markings
• DIAL

  Champagne-colour, domed
• CRYSTAL

  Domed sapphire crystal
• BRACELET

  Steel and yellow gold bracelet with folding clasp and safety catch

Dope!

Courtesy of Lip

Some things are just perfect, and in my opinion that goes for the Lip Nautic Ski Automatic.  The folks in Besançon are making some great things, and this is just one of them.

38 mm of stainless steel provide a wrist bound dive suit for the Miyota 821A.   Water resistant to 200 meters, internal rotating bezel, rubber and leather strap... this one is special.  I particularly like the decision to go slightly smaller, it shows some character and belief in their design.

Still no known distribution agent for the US, but maybe that will change some day ; )

For now you can get this time keeping piece of awesomeness directly from Lip's online store for 499,00 €.

MONTRES LIP

The Raider Bathy 120 MemoDepth

From Favre Leuba -

Courtesy of Favre Leuba

This one was (at least for me) one of the highlights of last week's BaselWorld.  This is the Raider Bathy 120 MemoDepth.  I hope to be back with some more specifics on the special features of this diver.  

The case is not petite, at 48 mm.  But this is compensated for by the use of titanium, making it a much more wearable proposition.  The movement is also a bit

Here are the pertinents -

MOVEMENT

Hand-wound FL321 caliber; specially designed mechanisms for depth gauge and power-reserve indicator, power reserve of 65 hours

FUNCTIONS

Hours, minutes, small seconds, central hand for displaying current dive depth up to 120 m, depth gauge sub-dial for displaying maximum depth recorded, power-reserve indicator, date display

CASE

Unidirectional rotating bezel with anodized aluminum insert, screw-in crown, sapphire crystal with anti-reflection coating on both sides, screwed and aligned case back, diameter 48 mm, height 19 mm, water-resistant up to 20 bar/200 m

DIAL

Black dial with blue dive sector marking, red indication for decompression stops, applied indexes, luminous indexes and hour and minute hands, blue hand for displaying depth

BaselWorld Preview - The BR V2-92 Three Hand

As promised, here is the three hand version of the latest Bell & Ross model -

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

A wonderfully legible dial with large numbers and indices of what Bell & Ross refers to as Sand Superluminova®.

The stainless steel case is 41 mm in diameter, water resistant to 100 meters.  The rotating steel bezel is fitted with a black aluminum 60 minute scale.  The water resistance is enhanced with a screw-down crown. 

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

The movement is the BR-CAL.302, offering hours, minutes, seconds and date.  

Available with a rubber strap, or stainless steel bracelet.

Here are the pertinents -

Movement: calibre BR-CAL.302. Automatic mechanical.
Functions: hours, minutes, central seconds. Date.
Case: 41 mm diameter. Satin-polished steel. Rotating steel bezel with anodized black aluminum ring and 60-minute scale. Screw- down crown. Sapphire case-back.
Dial: black. Sand Superluminova® numerals and indices. Metal skeletonized hour and minute hands filled with sand-coloured Superluminova®.
Crystal: ultra-curved sapphire with anti-reflective coating.
Water-resistance: 100 meters.
Strap: satin-polished steel or black rubber.
Buckle: folding for metal bracelet. Steel pin for rubber strap.

 

The Commander Watch

From Omega -

Courtesy of Omega

If I am being completely honest, I have not given the rat's proverbial derrière about blatantly co-branded Omega watches with the 007 iconography blatantly licensed.  I am a bit of a purist and the extra branding is a bit more than I am typically interested in.

Having said that, this new release from Omega is a very pleasant departure.  

Available in stainless steel (above) and a yellow gold model (below).

Courtesy of Omega

And a fairly clever bit of packaging -

Courtesy of Omega

The case measures 41 mm in diameter and is of stainless steel.  Unidirectional rotating bezel, and helium release valve at 10 o'clock.  The steel model is "limited" to a mere 7,007 pieces...

Here are the pertinents for the steel model, straight from Biel/Bienne-


SEAMASTER
DIVER 300 M CO-AXIAL 41 MM

MOVEMENT
Calibre: Omega 2507
The calibre 2507 is a self-winding chronometer
with a Co-Axial escapement and rhodium-plated
finish. In design, the rotor has been given a James
Bond inspired aesthetic.
Power reserve: 48 hours
 
CRYSTAL
Domed scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with
anti-reflective treatment on both sides

WATCH CASE & DIAL
Case: Steel
Case Diameter: 41 mm
Dial colour: White
WATER RESISTANCE
30 bar (300 metres / 1000 feet)
 
FEATURES
Chronometer
Date
Helium escape valve
Limited edition
Liquidmetal®
Screw-in crown
Transparent case back
Unidirectional rotating bezel