This week, IWC announced and simultaneously made available for sale, a new Pilot’s Chronograph, for under $5K. While the watch is powered by an IWC-modified ETA 7750 (IWC caliber 79320), as opposed to one of the Schaffhausen-based company’s in-house designed and manufactured calibers, it’s still a bargain, relatively speaking, for a top-tier brand in this category. By comparison, the IWC Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII Edition “Tribute to Mark XI is $4,150 and has a three-hand ETA. The black Pilot dial features 30-minute and 12-hour chronograph counters, and a small seconds subdials, as well as a day/date display and central hours, minutes and chronograph seconds. It’s a classic look that when matched with the white transferred markings, beige lume, and a green textile strap results in the appealing retro military aesthetic that IWC is known for. I personally love the look,

The H0 x Eau Rouge, like the rest of the HYT H0 collection, has a proprietary liquid-filled hours display which uses two liquids, one red and one clear, and is pumped in and out by two bellows, which in turn lines up with the chapter ring to show the hour. Minutes are displayed on the subdial at 12 o’clock, seconds at 9 o’clock, and the remaining power reserve (up to 65-hours) at 2 o’clock. Most interesting to me is the prominent box-domed sapphire that covers the entire front side of the watch and also acts as a bezel. From the side view, you can see a 24-hour military time scale that syncs up with the primary hour dial. These red themed versions (there are currently 6 other versions as well) feature a red fluid for the hours, crown, hands, power

This past Sunday, on Episode 4 of Season 3 of Showtime’s hit show Billions, high-end New York City jewelry store, Wempe, made a pretty significant cameo. The aggressive CIO, Taylor Amber Mason, of fictional hedge fund firm Axe Capital, who is played by Asia Kate Dillon, walks into Wempe on Fifth Avenue and purchases a $164,000 Patek Philippe Reference 5270R Perpetual Calendar Chronograph in rose gold, for full price – without even trying it on! Then in the next scene at a meeting with the primary star of the show, the founder of Axe Capital, Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), sees the 5270R on Taylor’s wrist, to which he says “nice piece!”

For 2018, Omega has debuted a redesigned Seamaster Professional Diver 300M collection. Originally dating to 1993, the quirky 1990s styling has mostly remained intact. However, everything from the dial to the bezel to the movement has been completely revamped. Starting with a slightly larger 42 mm x 13.56 mm case (up from 41 mm), Omega has installed an updated ceramic bezel insert which now has a more durable diving scale in Ceragold or white enamel (the latter which reduces color fading). Like the bezel inserts, the dials are also made from polished ceramic and are available in a black, blue or PVD chrome color. Interestingly, Omega has reintroduced the original wavy pattern (which is now laser-engraved into the ceramic dial). The luminous indexes have been raised. The oversized skeleton hands (rhodium-plated, 18K gold, or blued) have been subtly reshaped. Even

This year, along with redesigns for numerous models, Breitling introduced two new versions of the Chronomat B01 Chronograph 44. Apart from the pushers, crown, and tabs on the bezel, everything is completely satin-brushed, for a more understated look. And there are two new dial color combinations: blackeye blue and blackeye gray. The case measures 44 mm x 16.95 mm, feature a ratcheted unidirectional rotating bezel, a screwed caseback, and screw-down crown. The water-resistance rating is an impressive 500 meters. Inside is the automatic Breitling B01 caliber which beats at 4Hz, measures 30 mm x 7.2 mm, has 346 components, 47 jewels, a 70-hour power reserve, and is a COSC-certified chronometer. There is a not a whole lot new here, but I personally like the black on blue dial, and the satin-brushed matte finish is a nice change, for a company

Unlike previous Dark Side of the Moon models, which have been powered by Omega’s advanced CO-Axial 9300 series movement, this watch houses a specially decorated version of Omega’s manually wound caliber 1861. Despite being an older design, based on Lemania (which Omega purchased), caliber 1861 is still being used in a number of important Speedmaster Moonwatch models. For this implementation in the Dark Side of the Moon, the movement has been visually enhanced to look like the moon’s surface, resulting in the new caliber 1869 designation. Laser ablation has been used to precisely decorate the bridges and main plate of the blackened movement, producing realistic imagery of the lunar surface. The movement also has blackened or matte screws, and a dark nickel coating on the wheels and balance wheel. Additionally, like the movement, the dial, which has been skeletonized,

Zenith’s new Defy Zero-G features a redesigned version of the company’s patented gyroscopic “Gravity Control” mechanism, and beats at high-rate of 5Hz, hence the “El Primero” designation. The Defy Zero-G is a relatively small watch at 44 mm x 14.85 mm, thanks to the miniaturization of the gyroscopic regulator, which has been reduced by 30% in size compared to previous iterations. Similar to how a marine chronometer works, this gyroscopic system ensures the regulating organs (balance wheel, balance spring, escapement) are always in the optimal horizontal position. Ideally, this should increase chronometric performance, much like a tourbillon is designed to do. This is a 5Hz high-beat El Primero movement, which allows for 1/10th of a second accuracy. However, while displaying the time with this level of precision is technically possible, this particular watch has a small seconds display at

Breitling launched the redesigned Superocean Heritage II collection last year on the 60th anniversary of the original dive watch from 1957. For 2018 the line has been extended with three new 44 mm caliber B01 in-house powered chronographs (black/white, white/black, blue/white), two new 44 mm Tudor designed caliber B20 powered three-hand models (black and red gold, blue), and one new 42 mm B20 equipped three-hander in steel with a black dial and red gold bezel with black insert. There were also three new 44 mm ETA powered Superocean chronographs released this year. According to Breitling, “The unusual shape of the hands (triangular for the hours and lozenge-like for the minutes), along with the slightly cone-shaped hour markers, reinforces the ties today’s design has with its 1957 ancestor while ensuring optimal legibility, enhanced by luminescent markers.” The new steel and gold

This year Audemars Piguet introduced a new generation Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT, which is essentially a reworked version of the previous model, now with a “flying” tourbillon, meaning it’s supported only on one side (instead of two like a standard tourbillon). AP did a really good job with this watch. The contemporary aesthetic is clearly a departure from the classical (monotonous) haute horology finishes we’ve seen over and over, and that’s, of course, a good thing. This watch is bold without being ostentatious, thanks largely to the matte finished surfaces, such as the sandblasted titanium case, the vertical satin-brushed black ceramic bezel, and a general design theme that omits almost all shininess. At 9 o’clock you can view the new flying tourbillon, with its gold balance wheel and variable inertia weights, as it oscillates to and fro at

After the success of the Speedmaster CK 2998 Limited Edition with the white and blue dial in 2016, for 2018 Omega has produced another contemporary re-interpretation of the historic 1959 CK 2998. This time the dial is of the true Panda variety, meaning black subdials against a white dial (lightly sand-blasted silvery dial), which I’m sure will excite those who voiced opinions about the 2016 color choices. In place of the blue/white minute track and blue ceramic tachymeter bezel are a black/white minute track and black pulsometer bezel. Interestingly, “The pulsometer scale, which is used to check a person’s heartbeats per minute, has particular relevance to the CK 2998. With the original models, customers were able to choose from four different versions of the timing bezel (including tachymeter, pulsometer, decimal or telemeter). Therefore, this new model remains in-line with that