This year’s Geneva Watch Days is taking place until September 3rd. Chrono24 Magazine is in attendance and getting the latest scoop on all the new releases. Read on to learn more about the latest additions to the H.Moser & Cie., Bvlgari, DOXA, Urwerk, and Czapek line-ups.
H. Moser & Cie: Streamliner With a Perpetual Calendar
Storied manufacturer H. Moser & Cie. has introduced a new member of their Streamliner collection: the Streamliner Perpetual Calendar. This watch boasts the same cushion-shaped case and integrated stainless steel bracelet that have made the other watches in this line so popular. The screw-down crown is located at 4 o’clock, which only adds to the watch’s striking look. The dark gray fumé dial features a sunburst finish and pairs perfectly with the brushed stainless steel case. The hands and applied indices are all white, offering ample contrast against the darker dial. Red accents on the minute track add a nice splash of color.
The true highlight of this watch, however, rests inside the case. This is where you’ll find the newly designed manual caliber HMC 812. Similar to the HMC 341 from 2005, this movement provides the watch with a perpetual calendar function. The date at 4 o’clock features the so-called “flash calendar” system, which changes the date at lightning speed every night at midnight. The month is indicated using a small central red and white hand. The leap year display can be found on the reverse side of the watch beneath the sapphire crystal case back. In contrast to its predecessor, the HMC 812 has a central seconds. Thanks to the movement’s double barrel, the watch has a power reserve of around 168 hours. A display at 10 o’clock indicates how much energy remains.
Bvlgari: New Additions to the Octo Roma Collection
Bvlgari kicked off Geneva Watch Days with the release of several new watches. Two new additions to the Octo Roma collection have been drawing particular attention. The watches in this series stand out with their multi-faceted octagonal designs, and the new releases are no exception.
The Octo Roma World Timer is aimed at globetrotters who frequently cross time zones. As its name suggests, this watch features a world-time function. You’ll find a conventional display in the center of the dial for hours, minutes, and seconds. Two rings surround this display: one with a 24-hour scale and another with 24 city names representing 24 different time zones. These enable the wearer to tell the time in every full-hour time zone around the world simultaneously. This is all made possible by the new automatic caliber BVL257. It is comprised of 261 individual components and was entirely designed and built in Bvlgari’s workshop in Le Sentier, Switzerland. The Octo Roma World Timer is available in two variants. The first features a stainless steel case, blue dial, and integrated steel bracelet, and the second comes with a black DLC-coated case, black dial, and black rubber strap.
The second addition to this series is the Octo Roma Papillon Central Tourbillon, which comes with a 41-mm rose gold case. Bvlgari opted for an unusual means of displaying the time for this timepiece. A flying tourbillon at the center of the dial serves as the running seconds, and the minutes are displayed using so-called papillon hands. These small opposing hands circle the tourbillon. The minute track stretches from 3 to 9 o’clock along the bottom of the dial, and a designated hand points to the current minute. The other hand is folded as not to obscure the hour display at 12 o’clock. The in-house hand-winding caliber BVL332 powers this timepiece.
DOXA: Return of a 1980s Icon
DOXA unveiled their Sub 600T “Pacific” at Geneva Watch Days 2021. This watch was developed in collaboration with the Australian watch blog Time + Tide and is limited to a run of 200 pieces. The diver is a modern take on a historical model that was part of the brand’s collection in the 1980s. Like the original timepiece, the Sub 600T “Pacific” has a 40-mm, slightly angular case with its crown at 4 o’clock. However, the current watch is made of lightweight titanium and is water-resistant to 600 m (60 bar, 1,969 ft).
The dial, ceramic bezel, and rubber strap all stand out in a bright Pacific blue hue. Orange accents on the indices and hands add a nice touch of color.
The Sellita SW200-1 is responsible for the watch’s precision. DOXA finely finishes this movement, but none of the decoration is visible through the solid screw-down case back.
Czapek & Cie: New Chronographs
Czapek & Cie surprised attendees of Geneva Watch Days with their new Antarctique Rattrapante, a contemporary, elaborately skeletonized split-seconds chronograph. The watch is limited to a run of just 77 pieces.
The eye-catching caliber SHX6 serves as this watch’s beating heart. The manufacturer developed this movement in collaboration with Chronode. At its center is a special three-armed bridge that holds the minute mechanism and the gears for the interval function in place. On the axis running from 6 to 12, you’ll find two column wheels for the chronograph, which perfectly split the dial in half. The 30-minute counter and small seconds are located at 4 and 7 o’clock, respectively, affording the timepiece beautiful visual symmetry.
The 42.5-mm stainless steel case has a modern design and comes with an integrated link bracelet. The polished middle links curve into a stylized “C” shape.
Urwerk: Discovering Electrum
Urwerk presented the new UR-100 Electrum at this year’s Geneva Watch Days. The watch shares many technical aspects with the rest of the UR-100 series and is limited to a run of 25 pieces. The UR-100 Electrum is powered by the caliber UR 12.01, which features a three-armed satellite display and a turbine-regulated automatic winding mechanism. It even displays the rotational speed of the Earth on its axis and around the Sun.
What’s new about this model is its case material: electrum. Humans have known about and been using this naturally occurring gold and silver alloy since ancient Grecian times. However, for this watch, Urwerk replaces the silver component with palladium, making the alloy more robust and less susceptible to corrosion. The case is decorated with fine grooves arranged in concentric circles.
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