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Today we have a brand new Jaeger-LeCoultre diving watch.  It’s called the Deep Sea Chronograph, and it is the modern extension of the Deep Sea line, of which, up until today, we’ve only seen vintage variations - the Deep Sea Alarm tribute of 2011 and the Deep Sea Vintage Chronograph.

It is with this new, three register, 42mm automatic chronograph that we see the Deep Sea line will not be for tributes only, but will encompass the entire JLC sport watch family.  Yes, this watch resembles the Deep Sea Vintage chronograph, but ultimately, this watch is very modern (we show you the two side by side, below).  It features sapphire glass, a rotating bezel, no faux-aged lume, and water resistance to 10 bar.  It’s larger than the vintage guys by about 1.5mm, and complies with all the criteria imposed on diver’s watches by the ISO 6425 standard. 

Inside this new chrono is the JLC caliber 758 featuring with a 65-hour power reserve.  But, perhaps the most noticeable trait of this new JLC Deep Sea Chronograph is the activation aperture  that sites below 12 o’clock.  This display allows the wearer to know, without a doubt, if the chronograph is running, stopped, or ready to be used.  This is how it works:

From:HODINKEE

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What a beautiful sight! There were seventy boats in all in a fleet dominated by the forty sailing yachts and the imposing steam-boat SS Delphine, but where the meticulously maintained motor-yachts aroused just as much admiration. The small racers, playthings from another era, took again to the waters off Monaco where had attained such notoriety all those years ago. Numerous personalities had also responded to the Yacht Club de Monaco’s invitation, among them the American sailor Dennis Conner, the marine writer and painter Titouan Lamazou, the British swimmer Lewis Gordon Pugh, the French explorer Jean-Louis Etienne, the French sailor Sébastien Josse, the Spanish aristocrat Alvaro de Marichalar and the Japanese artist Tsuji Hitonari, winner of the 1999 Femina foreigner’s prize for his Le Bouddha blanc. Organised in collaboration with Hublot, official timekeeper of the Yacht Club de Monaco, and the Italian manufacturer Lancia, this eighth edition of Monaco Classic Week was notable for its adhesion to the values developed at the heart of the club “La Belle Classe”: honouring and passing on our heritage, respect for etiquette and a certain art of living, and preservation of the environment.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

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When you think of Zenith, odds are, you think “El Primero.”  One of the first automatic chronographs to come to market (and certainly the first high-beat, integrated chronograph to come to market) the El Primero is something of a cult movement and certainly the backbone of Zenith, who has enjoyed strong success in the past few years based on the launch of some very complicated pieces like the Striking Tenth Chronograph and Captain Winsor at very reasonable prices. 

While every movement Zenith makes is indeed their own – they are a true manufacture from top to bottom – not every movement they make is an El Primero.  Their Captain line, for example, uses a Zenith “Elite” movement with a VPH (vibrations per hour) of 28,800.  One of the defining traits of the El Primero is that it has a VPH of 36,000.

So, while Zenith did put much of its attention pilots watches and continued with chronographs this year at Basel World 2012, one of the most interesting relases came in the form of a brand new time-only watch called the Espada featuring a time-date movement that they are calling an El Primero, despite the fact it is not a chronograph movement.

The El Primero 4650 B was in fact built to spec of the traditional El Primero chronograph, and beats at 36,000 BPH as one might expect – it just happens to be missing the chronograph function.  What the new Espada offers is the chance to own part of the El Primero history in a three-handed watch.

Sized at 40mm and available in steel, rose gold, and two-tone steel/rose gold in a few different dials, the new Espada will sit above the Elite collection and below the El Primero Chronograph collection in terms of pricing and prestige.  Pricing is expected to start at just above $ 6000 in steel and $ 15,000 in gold.  Does Zenith need two three-handed movements?  We will find out soon enough, though we do expect Zenith fans to be clamoring for this one.

Click through for live pics.

From:HODINKEE

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Join Hublot TV in Basel for the 2008 Basel World event.

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Maîtres du Temps is one of those mega brands that does what we all wish we could do – bring together the best watchmaking talents in the world in a collaborative tone.  With Chapter one, we saw Roger DuBuis, Peter Speake-Marin, and Christophe Claret join forces.  With Chapter two, we saw Peter back again, this time with Daniel Roth.  Now, just last week at Basel World, we were presented with Chapter Three, a collaboration between none other than Andreas Strehler (of Harry Winston Opus XII, among other things) and Kari Voutilainen (of Kari Voutilainen). 

This watch is different from the first two chapters in a few ways…

From:HODINKEE

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Round watches are certainly in again this year. Well round watches are pretty much ALWAYS in – though for high-end brand Maitres du Temps a 42mm wide round-cased watch is a bit unexpected. Nevertheless, that is exactly what the new Chapter Three Reveal watch looks like. For their third creation Maitres du Temps goes super classic in design, and offers a neat set of complications worth of the Maitres du Temps name.

The Maitres du Temps Chapter One was a massively sized watch with an incredible amount of complications. The Chapter Two was a sort of baby Chapter One with a more simple movement and more wearable size. Each of those watches has tonneau style cases (well, mostly). What endures over to the Chapter Three from the other two models is the use of rollers in the movement to indicate information. Rollers will apparently be a signature element of Maitres du Temps timepieces.

Like all Maitres du Temps watches, the Chapter Three is a collaborative effort with the brand and two very special watch makers. For the Chapter Three Maitres du Temps worked with Kari Voutilainen and Andreas Strehler. Enthusiasts of high-end independent watches will know these names well. Everyone else should simply trust the fact that people familiar with these watches both know and trust these guys pretty well. Also, with the Help of Voutilainen and Strehler, the movement inside of the Chapter Three watch is the first totally in-house movement for Maitres du Temps.

Producing an in-house movement was not just for show but also practical given how the caliber SHC03 movement in the Chapter Three operates. The use of the rollers as well as the opening and closing dial required a special mechanism to power the entire system. The Chapter Three is meant to be a sort of travel watch. The overall idea is to offer a dual time zone watch that is both easy to use and be discreet if you want to see the time elsewhere or simply have the watch look like a single time zone indicating timepiece.

On the beautifully decorated main dial are solid 18k gold hands showing the time, as well as a subsidiary seconds dial, date dial, and moon phase indicators. Press the lever-style pusher on the left side of the case and the dials opens in two locations to reveal another time indicator and a day/night indicator (used for AM/PM indication). I am really curious to see it all work in person.

Pictured, the Chapter Three Reveal watch is in an 18k rose gold case with a blue/black dial and black alligator strap. While this might be the only version for 2012, other color variations and material choices are sure to come. Fans of independent watch makers and those who enjoy high-end classically styled high-complication watches will certainly be into the Chapter Three this year.

Chapter Three Reveal – Technical Specifications from Maitres du Temps:

Central hours and minutes, small seconds, date, moon phase, hidden time zone on roller, hidden day/night on roller, manual winding mechanical movement

Displays

Central hour and minute hands

Small-seconds at 8 o’clock

Date on sub-dial at 2 o’clock

Moon phase at 4 o’clock

Hidden day/night on roller at 12 o’clock

Hidden time zone on roller at 6 o’clock

Functions

Time: hours, minutes, seconds, date, moon phase, hidden time zone and hidden day/night indication

Caliber SHC03

Manual winding mechanical movement

Dimensions: 35.6 mm x 8.2 mm (inclusive of dial mechanism)

Number of components: 319

Number of jewels: 39

Power reserve: 36 hours

Dual mainspring barrels in series

Balance frequency: 21,600 vph (3 Hz)

Straumann balance spring with Breguet overcoil and low-mass escape lever

Finishing: Côtes de Genève, perlage, beveling, and polished screw heads

Case

18K gold

Number of components: 49

Dimension: 42mm

Sapphire crystals on top and display back with anti-reflective coating

Shaped pusher: quickset hidden time zone

Crown:  3 positions plus pusher

Position 0: Winding

Position 1: Setting date and moon phase

Position 2: Setting time

Pusher: Open/close dial panels

Water resistance: 30 meters/ 100 feet/ 3 ATM

Dial and Hands

Number of components: 3

Roman numerals

Sun-ray guilloche, Clous de Paris guilloche

Hands: 18K gold

Rollers

Hidden time zone: dual sliding embossed rollers

Hidden day/night: engraved and hand painted

Strap and buckle

Hand-sewn alligator strap with 18K gold tang buckle

Related posts:

1. Maitres du Temps Chapter Two Watch Video From TheTimeTV …
2. Maitres du Temps Chapter One Round Watch …
3. Maitres du Temps Chapter Two Watch: The Triple Date …
4. Maitres du Temps Chapter One Watch Hands-On …
5. Classic Complication & Beauty In The Maitres du Temps Chapter One Watch …

From:aBlogtoRead.com

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Daily Report from Basel World
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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Most people know the tale of Panerai’s rise in the early 1990s, thanks to the enthusiasm for the brand from a certain action film star. In the early Eighties, Officine Panerai, then based in Florence, was still only a small producer of instruments for scientists and the Italian navy. At that time, the head of Panerai’s mechanical design department, Alessandro Bettarini, found some old records and drawings in the archives from Panerai’s days making the now-famous dive watches for the Italian and Egyptian navies. He was interested in reproducing these watches, updated to modern specifications and usable as wrist instruments for Italy’s naval divers and a few prototypes were built, like the one pictured above from 1984, which was tweeted by our good buddy Kristian Haagen of TimeGeeks.dk.

While there was some interest in serial production of watches, Panerai was still small, and to undertake this task was too much for it to handle. The idea sat dormant for some years until the publication of a book about Italy’s World War II attack divers and some strong interest from Japanese collectors convinced the company to start building watches again. A first batch of watches – the Luminor and Mare Nostrum models – was built in Switzerland. The second production run of watches was built entirely in Italy but the company fell into financial difficulty and was soon sold to the Vendome Luxury Group. Bettarini worked with Panerai for a few more years designing the new timepieces, by then getting famous thanks to the interest of Sylvester Stallone.

But the company’s sale to a large conglomerate left Bettarini dissatisfied and he left Panerai to start a new watch company with Florentine roots, with his friend, Luciano Nincheri. They called their new company, Ennebi, a sly combination of their surnames’ initials (NB). Ennebi’s watches to this day bear a striking resemblance to the Panerai prototype pictured here, with the minimalist design and naked bezel, devoid of markings other than the raised descent marker.

So if you like the looks of the 1984 Panerai prototype shown here, you’ll either need to be wealthy and well-connected enough to acquire one of the few that exist, or you could just order an Ennebi.

(image via @KristianHaagen)

From:HODINKEE

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The Sunday before SIHH kicked off, we paid a visit to the just opened M.A.D. Gallery, a new concept store owned and curated by MB&F.  The shop is unlike any other in the world, and if you make to Geneva, it would be a mistake not to visit.

Inside the gallery you will find a host of things that, while not produced by MB&F, are very much in the same vein as their machines, both horological and legacy.  Here are three of our favorite pieces from our visit, three pieces that don’t tell time.

From:HODINKEE

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A bit windy this year …. made for poor sound quality

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