Watches - another OCD problem
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A few of the pieces that were released at Baselworld and SIHH this year have started to turn up in shops. Amongst them is the Bulgari Octo Finissimo, which is the slimmest automatic watch on the market. I saw it on Hodinkee a few months back, liked it, and it's even better in the metal. It weighs nothing, even on the bracelet.
I heard that the Montblanc bronze chronograph was in stock, but they dealer only had the gold version. It's a nice piece, but I was a touch underwhelmed, and would go for the Panerai Mare Nostrum which uses a similar movement.
The one downside of the Panerai is that it's got a solid caseback, which hides this.
Iron Heart forum exclusive: Montblanc are bringing out the TimeWalker Pythagore Ultra Light in October. It's currently under press embargo, but it's being produced as a limited edition of 18 (I think) for $100K Australian. They built a concept last year, and it looks like a tweaked version of that.
When I was in town earlier this week, I spotted a Panerai PAM00687, which has a gorgeous sunburst dial. It's the watch on the left. I'm not normally a fan of the brand, except for the Mare Nostrum and Lab ID, but I'll make another exception for this one.
Also, the Zenith Pilot Type 20 Chronograph. It's got a bronze case, with the El Primero movement. I like the combination, though it's a bit over styled. According to aBlogToWatch, it's also cheaper than their bog standard El Primero.
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^That Bulgari [emoji7]
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Barely 5mm thick and titanium? That has to be crazy lightweight. And the more I look at it, the better it gets.
The movement on that Mont Blanc is lovely. Too bad the front of the watch is so much less so.
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Hodinkee have a very cool 1963 IWC Ingenieur in their store. The best thing about this model is its reference number: 666.
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Hodinkee have a very cool 1963 IWC Ingenieur in their store. The best thing about this model is its reference number: 666.
I find it funny that they went from that Watch more and more monstrous and now since "Vintage" is "trendy" the Ing looks almost like 1960 again. Besides that this is an insanely beautiful watch.
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And now for something completely different…
This is the Breitling Colt Skyracer. It's got a
plasticBreitlight composite case, which is believed to be a carbon reinforced plastic, and a thermocompensated ETA quartz movement that's accurate to within ten seconds a year.
The composite case means it's really light. In Hodinkee's writeup it weighed in at 55 g. The strap has a ruler scale moulded into it.
It's meant to be the entry-level piece, and is priced at $3,000 in Australia ($2,000 in the US). I'm not sure if it feels premium enough to justify that, and I'd be tempted by something like a Casio G-Shock MR-G, which are around $3,300 Down Under.
That said, I do like it. The watch has a certain amount of personality, and most WIS seem to hate it. That's enough to endear it to me.
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I have a Reactor Gryphon that's also polymer. It's super light.
Polymer has it's own charm and character when you wear it. It's so light that you can barely feel it's there, unless you gouge it it doesn't scratch, and it has a "warm" feel to it.
It cracks me up when ppl complain about how it's not strong enough though. The firearms community went through the same thing decades ago with the Glock. Luddites were saying "it'll break" and "it has no soul", now polymer firearms are ubiquitous. I wonder what happened to the ppl that said the sky was falling.
I'd consider the polymer Breitlings if they were 42 or 43mm
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It's not as ludicrously busy as most Breitlings are, so that's a plus. However, it does have the mismatched fonts that the company seems to love doing. That's always irritated me about their offerings.
Still hard for me to consider a 2k watch "entry level" when you can buy lots of really nice things (even other Breitlings) for similar prices on the secondary market.
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If it doesn't tick-tack, it's not a watch imho.
Looks good though
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@DougNg I think that most people are conservative. I don't doubt that a polymer can be as tough as steel. And given that Breitling use Breitlight on some of their high-end pieces, it's not necessarily cutting corners.
@Chris I agree that it's a lot for an entry-level piece. Manufacturers have been jacking up prices for years.
On a more traditional note, aBlogToWatch has reviewed the LUC XP. It's a simple, steel, two-hander, and a lovely piece.
The finishing on LUC watches is first rate, some consider it up there with the likes of Patek.
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Oooh, that one is pretty. I'm a sucker for blued hands and numbers, and the brushed silver dial is wonderful.
I've really been drawn to simple watches lately.
