Here lies also the complexity of the dial, as each of the counters for the chronograph is its own disc of aventurine. Cutting this material is very challenging, but for Czapek there was no other option as they pursued the most perfect result. Another challenge were the hour markers, which are applied. To secure them, tiny holes need to be drilled in the dial, and each time the dial is drilled into, there is a risk of it breaking. However, the result is spectacular, as it seems that the hour markers float in space. Combined with the 41.5mm large case made from stainless steel, it results in a surprisingly sporty design.

As beautiful as the front of the Faubourg de Cracovie chronograph is, so is the back. Here we can admire caliber SXH3, a pleasant combination of visual delight and performance. A gold rotor adds a generous dash of luxury and aids in the efficient winding of the movement. When fully wound, it has a power reserve of 65 hours. Remarkable is also that it runs at 5Hz/36,000 VpH. As is to be expected of a chronograph in this category, it relies on a column wheel, vertical clutch, and linear hammer for precise operation.

The Czapek Faubourg de Cracovie Chronograph with aventurine dial is limited to 50 pieces and priced at $36,000.

To learn more, visit Czapek, here

The seventh edition of WatchTime New York kicked off Friday, October 21st with hundreds of collectors attending a sold-out cocktail evening that included the debut of a new mezzanine lounge presented by A. Lange & Söhne. Fifth Avenue retailer Wempe served a signature Wempe Mule cocktail and Bell & Ross CEO Carlos Rosillo debuted the brand new BR X5 watch while guests and industry VIPs mingled. Industry VIPs in attendance included Max Büsser of MB&F, Kari Voutilainen of Voutilainen, William Massena of Massena Lab, Christine Hutter of Moritz Grossmann, Xavier de Roquemaurel of Czapek, Rolf Studer (Co-CEO Oris SA), Rudy Chavez of A. Lange & Söhne, Roland Murphy of RGM, and Giles English of Bremont. Other notable members of the  New York fashion scene Simon Gold, Olga Ferrara, and Katya Tolstova were also in attendance. 

Over 30 brands exhibited including Arnold & Son, Blancpain, Breguet, Bremont, Chopard, Carl F. Bucherer, G-Shock, Massena Lab, MB&F, Montblanc, Oris, Parmigiani Fleurier, Seiko, Voutilainen, among others. As in previous years, panels brought in crowds that filled the room. This year panelists such as Kari Voutilainen, Vianney Halter, Max Büsser of MB&F, Carlos Rossillo of Bell & Ross, and Giles English of Bremont sat on panels addressing topics like “The State of the Watch Industry” moderated by WatchTime Editor-in-Chief Roger Ruegger and an Executives’ Roundtable by veteran moderator Jeff Kingston. 

“Whether you’re a newbie enthusiast or an established collector looking to discover new brands or meet your watchmaking idols,” says Roger Ruegger, Editor-in-Chief of WatchTime Magazine, “WatchTime New York offers that rare opportunity to gather the watch community and geek out on all things watchmaking.” 

New or recently released watches were shown for the first time to American collectors such as Bell & Ross BR- X5, the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, the Norqain “Wild One,” the G-Shock Flair Red 40th Anniversary, the Reservoir Hydrosphere Bronze Cenote, and the Chopard Alpine Eagle Flying Tourbillon in Lucent Steel A223, the Moritz Grossman Atom Moore 37 Silver Plated collaboration by Friction Limited Edition, Bremont Supernova H1 Collection, the Ferdinand Berthoud Chronometre FB 3SPCK, the Glashütte Original SeaQ Chronograph, the MB&F LM Split Escapement EVO, the Greubel Forsey Balancier GMT, as well as Arnold & Son’s GPHG nominated Luna Magna Platinum. 

WatchTime Publisher Sara Orlando said “WatchTime New York was born out of a vision to unite the global watch community, bringing brands, collectors, and enthusiasts together in a single engaging forum… Seven years on, we are proud that our unique formula continues to resonate and that WatchTime New York has grown to become one of the watch community’s most anticipated annual happenings and one of New York City’s signature recurring events.”

Measuring 41mm wide and 12.8mm thick with 100m of water resistance, the steel case of the BR X5 is characterized by its architectural sandwich construction. Best appreciated from the side, the central case band is flanked by sculpted framing that juts out around it. This is quite an elaborate case construction that requires sophisticated machining to pull off with such refined finishing.

Having a sculpted case can run the risk of adding fragility but the decision to have the crown guards constructed from the same block of steel as the center of the case provides real structural stability and case strength. The surfaces alternate between polished, satin-brushed, and micro-blasted finishes that add some further aesthetic dynamism to the design.  

The BR X5 comes with an integrated bracelet or rubber strap as seen here. There is interesting “openworking” done to the strap that really does add an extra level of detail to the fit and finish. In addition to being a comfortable wear, it’s also a secure fit with the adjustable clasp. 

 The watch debuts in either an Ice Blue or Black Steel dial, the latter of which you see here. The deep black varnished sunray dial has red accents throughout and the rhodium-plated applied indices are filled with lume. At 3 o’clock you’ll see the expanded date window that shows three dates hearkens to aeronautical analog flight instruments that the Bell & Ross DNA has always held fast to. 

 At 9 o’clock there is the three-day power reserve indicator which brings us to the new manufacture movement provided by Kenissi. Turning the case over reveals the Calibre BR-CAL.323 which is the result of a years-long design and iteration process between Bell & Ross and Kenissi. According to Bruno Belamich, Bell & Ross’ Creative Director “While aesthetic daring was the guiding principle throughout the creative stages of the BR X05, when it came to timekeeping reliability and precision, the notion of risk was banished from our vocabulary.”

Equipped with a variable-inertia balance wheel, the COSC-certified BR-CAL.323 operates at 28,800 vph and has a 70-hour power reserve. It also allows for a quick-set date function which is always an added plus when it comes to functionality. There is attention paid to finishings as well with a custom skeletonized rotor. Bell & Ross clearly has confidence in this movement as they are providing a 5-year warranty as opposed to the previous 2-year warranty. 

The new Bell & Ross BR X5 is a big step forward for the brand in terms of advancements and refinements in case design as well as watchmaking. Debuting with black or blue dial, it is priced at $6,900 on rubber strap and $7,400 on steel bracelet. 

To learn more, visit Bell & Ross, here.

And to purchase last minute tickets to WatchTime New York 2022 for Saturday and Sunday, click here.

Casio G-Shock is once again joining the line-up this year, with the Japanese maker poised to highlight plenty of fan favorite and fascinating watches. Among them is a handful of important novelties from Casio proper, including the Casio Oceanus “MAKI-E.”

Debuted initially in Japan and soon becoming available globally, the chronograph brings together the blue of Casio’s Oceanus collection with maki-e— a Japanese lacquer decoration technique—in turn working to create an image of a vigorous, splashing waterfall and express the dynamism of water. The model was manufactured in cooperation with Yutaro Shimode, a traditional, master maki-e craftsman in Kyoto, with Shimode handmaking each bezel by hand.

On the wrist, the watch measures 48.8 x 42.3 x 9.3mm in titanium, with the chronograph water resistant to 100m and perfectly capable of transitions between the formal and the informal. Making use of a sharp Zaratsu-finishing and integrated bracelet, the contrast between work and play is on full view in its design, with subtle squared chronograph pushers and matching guards on either side of the crown complementing the style. Most noticeable on the case its unique bezel, which is constructed from sapphire glass and is vapor-deposited with a gradation of blue to black, with platinum lacquering drawn upon it in the “Maki-e” style. Each bezel for these models are handmade by Mr. Shimode, so no two are the same.

On the dial, you find a matching aesthetic to the bezel and case, with it produced by a unique method inspired by the raden technique to express the scene of water falling down while shining brightly with white mother of pearl shells. Raden typically refers to mother of pearl being inserted seamlessly into a carved surface of wood or lacquer, and the dial reflects this aesthetic. In terms of functions, the watch features standard radio wave reception, smartphone connectivity, and a world time capability, among other details like a chronograph and date indicator. Highly luminous hands powered by a tough solar quartz movement sweep over the top of the dial configuration, while an “OCEANUS” logo towards the 3 o’clock positions adds some additional flair with its blue fin.

The Casio Oceanus “MAKI-E” Shi-bu-ki is available now, with total production limited to 1,200 editions and pricing marked at $2,200.

To learn more, visit Casio, here.

And to purchase your tickets for this weekends WatchTime New York event, visit our event’s website, here.

Considered by the brand to be the most complex creation Chronoswiss has ever made, the Space Timer Moonwalk is a timepiece to be admired. In this design, we find some typical elements of the brand, inclusive of an hour indicator at 12 o’clock with a visible gear train and bridge underneath it, a central minutes and seconds counter, as well as an onion crown and a 44mm. Yet, while familiar here, this is where comparisons to previous models ends and the uniquenss of the novelty becomes clear.

The dial alone consists of 63 components— a record that will be repeated throughout the Space Timer collection in the future. At 6 o’clock Chronoswiss has created a moon phase with date— an integrated titanium double complication and a premier for the watchmaker. The date is indicated by odd Arabic numerals and for even dates, by steel microbeads just 0.6mm in diameter. They are individually surrounded by a disk of ITR2, a new-generation carbon nanotube-based material. It is eight times lighter than steel and can be polished, sandblasted, painted and satin finished. It is partially skeletonized for the hour display, polished on the front and sandblasted on the back. The idea is to create the illusion that time and space – inclusive of the day, the moon, the stars— all seem to float in the interstellar void.

For the Space Timer Moonwalk, Chronoswiss has developed a unique guilloche pattern that was made entirely by hand. Dubbed Moonwalk in honor of the dance pop legend and recalling the interstellar, it further references the “legendary” step by the brand in the watch’s debut, that is— like the pop legend— forward, backward, slipped, and walked— yet through it all making an incredible statement. massive SuperLumiNova cylinders help lighten the rhythm of the mysterious dial, and further add it’s the utility in low light conditions.

The game of hands is fascinatingly complex, too, with the hours and minutes pointers being both skeletonized and coated with Super-LumiNova. The second’s hand is hand-bent and has a red tip for easy reading on a midnight blue rim. The last hand, that of the date, is the fusion of the previous ones: skeletonized, red & luminous. A real choreography of the stars, which, like the planets of the solar system, are in constant rotation. But defying the gravitational pull of the universe, this cosmic ballet is set in motion by a force that is clearly visible on the caseback, here via the automatic C.308 caliber. The Chronoswiss caliber is capable of a 42-hour power reserve and features an oscillating weight finished with a Cote de Geneve cut, flies over pearl bridges with the speed of light.

The new Chronoswiss Space Timer Moonwalk is available now, with production limited to 50 total editions and pricing marked at $17,900.

To learn more, visit Chronoswiss, here.

And to purchase tickets to WatchTime New York 2022 to see this timepiece live and in-person, visit our event’s website, here.