TX Introduces New Classic 610 Fly-Back Chronograph, 310 Perpetual Calendar and 810 Linear Chronograph
Published: March 22,
2010 | 05:12
IN STYLES FROM WAY OUT! Vintage Inspired, Complicated & AFFORDABLE!
Lovin the new classic models just introduced by TX at Baselworld. They'll be available in Fall 2010 but here are the very first looks! A perfect blend of antiquity and modernity...
Tag Heuer Silverstone Reissue - A Very Faithful Reintroduction of the Stunning 1974 Chronograph
Published: December 04,
2009 | 08:32
The original vintage 1970s Heuer silverstone
Two and a half years ago, I issued a "Reissue Wish" from Tag Heuer (as seen here), having no idea if I had any influence on them, the reintroduction of the Heuer Silverstone Calibre 11 Chronograph has just been announced. And here they are...
Although it appears that I was correct when stating that the original dial color (shown at very top) has not exactly been replicated. It kills me that I sold all my Silverstone collection years ago, the new models are going to cost around $6500 each.
From one of the original seventies Heuer catalogs
Thanks to the super cool watch blog Perpetuelle for taking note of my long lost post! For more detailed information about this release, visit Calibre 11
Diesel Shows Their Bad Ass! Creative Director Wilbert Das Talks With The Watchismo Times
Published: July 23,
2009 | 13:08
BEHOLD THE BEHEMOTH!
Diesel, a brand that pushes envelopes, or rather sleeves with their constantly revolving motley crew of watches. Just introduced is the Super Bad Ass Collection. Above, the DZ7127 with laser blue crystal changing color from blue to yellow depending on the angle and FOUR separate timezones - one main chronograph, a digital display and two other analog clocks.
A watch that lets you keep tabs on the bedtimes of your illegitimate children around the globe. Comes in both Black DZ7125 and Brown DZ7126.
I had a Q&A with Wilbert Das, creative director of Diesel and asked him about the direction of Diesel Timeframes... Watchismo: Why and When did Diesel start producing watches? How did that begin? Das: Diesel launched the timeframe collection with Fossil in 1999 . Renzo Rosso, the founder of Diesel wanted to truly make Diesel a 360° lifestyle brand. Timeframes were the next step in making that a reality.
The other series of Badass watches are part of the Black Label Collection, the Three Time Zone with asymmetric case coming in the black dial steel bracelet (above) DZ9052 or brown Dz9053
Watchismo: Will Diesel continue to push the envelope with adventurous designs? Is it important to stand out in the watch world? Das: Diesel will always push the envelope when it comes to the design. We like to make people stop and think about the product. Of course, we love it when we are featured in the watch world but what’s more important is that Diesel stick to the brand DNA and continue to keep things new for our customers.
Also introduced are really adventurous new designs like the DZ9043 Hinged Triple Time Zone, the hardware allows for the watch to hug to the shape of your wrist and look good considering its massive size.
One of the more controversial models just announced is this (above) No Face watch DZ9044 & DZ9045 which at first glance looks to be a block of steel but is in fact, four separate watches located on the sides of the watch only (shown below). I would love to be a part of these brainstorming sessions at Diesel, they are obviously trying to challenge what a watch is and what it can be.
No Face Sideview Displays
And satiating my mechanical tastes, they are also producing some very beautiful skeletonized timepieces (watches with exposed movements). Up until recently, interesting mechanical watches were only for the rich but Diesel has introduced some really great designs with visible Automatic mechanics, rotors, balance wheels, the works!
Watchismo: With mechanical timepieces being more and more popular, will Diesel keep developing new higher-end automatic watches? Das: We'll definitely keep developing new higher-end automatic watches as we think it's the future!!!
Another remarkable mechanical watch is this Black Label DZ9017 Automatic Retrograde. The case is suspended on bars that penetrate all the way through the watch and the dial features two retrograde date displays (when they get to the bottom, they "jump back" instead of going in a full rotation) and an exposed balance wheel seen from the front and a rotor from the back. Really love how Diesel has been advancing their designs to reflect complexity in both mechanics and design!
And making a huge impact with people recently, the Freak of Nature DZ4160 aka "Frankenwatch". People either love it or hate it, nothing in between. What appears to be a touched-up photo is the actual watch, a Frankenstein timepiece cross-breeding two entirely different watches into one. A hybrid wristwatch fusing a steel oval case with a gold square surrounding a split-faced multi-colored chronograph dial. Best of all, check out the half leather strap, half metal bracelet. There is a tamer version too, the DZ4159.
Watchismo: What are some of the likely directions in the future for Diesel watches? Das: Diesel generally seeks a point of difference and wants to keep an edgy feel to their products. Thanks to the collaboration between Diesel and Fossil we want to keep on offering our consumer a solid know-how and a very creative touch, keeping on developing and introducing outstanding watches.
Ok, this is my favorite of the bunch, the DZ1242 Sonar Seconds Triple Time Zone. I don't believe it comes across in the photo but this is the Godzilla of the bunch. You don't wear this watch, IT WEARS YOU! Shot a little video of the radar style seconds in action below.
Anyone that knows me knows I have a tremendous nostalgia for the sideview LED watches of the seventies, models like the Bulova Computron, Mido Swissonic, Girard Perregaux Casquette, Synchronar and others. So obviously I must feature the DZ7091 with it's steroidal nod to that era of vintage digital LED timepieces.
Watchismo: Diesel watches have always a spirit of both vintage and modern looks, what are the sources of inspiration for all the designs, especially the Black Label collection and the watches with side time-zones, hinges and see-thru dials. Das: Diesel is a unique brand that attracts people that are creative and have the same sensibilities. Diesel takes that idea and incorporates it into all aspects of the brand. We’re a global company and our customers are as well, hence the time zones on our watches. Vintage is also really important to our consumers, especially in the denim world which translates into their lifestyle.
ABOUT WILBERT DAS
Diesel's long-time Creative Director Wilbert Das was born in Holland in 1963. He grew up working on his family’s dairy farm before departing at the age of 19 to study fashion design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Arnhem, a school which has produced many noted international designers. Upon completing his degree in 1988 Wilbert drove to Italy for an interview at Diesel. Company founder Renzo Rosso offered him a job on the spot and literally had Wilbert working that same afternoon. Thus started one of fashion’s longest-running and most successful collaborations. In 1993 Wilbert was recognized with the official title of Diesel Creative Director, with broad responsibilities ranging from directing all clothing & accessory design to following advertising & communications, retail & interior design.
"The 141 year old French watch brand LIP is reintroducing some of the most important wristwatches - a series from the early 1970s that remains as visionary today as when first unveiled almost four decades ago. These timepieces were created from a melting pot of Pan European industrial, architectural, interior and graphic designers, all given carte blanche by LIPto create some of the most original watches ever produced.
Of the seven original designers between 1969 and 1976, Roger Tallon has made the most lasting impact. A true renaissance man of the mid-century. Tallon's contributions to the Modern era include the Teleavia, the earliest portable television, the world's first Helicoid staircase (part of the Museum of Modern Art collection), and the ultra modern French high speed TGV trains. His asymmetric Mach 2000 series has since become an icon for LIP with their unmistakable primary colored spherical pushers and crowns.
The legacy of LIP evolves today in the hands of talented new designers like Prisca Briquet who are writing the next chapter of watch design in horological history".
Chronoswiss Wristmaster - Or the Double-Wide (for you trailer park enthusiasts)
Published: May 13,
2008 | 14:24
Another "monstr-oddity" from the Basel Fair - the Chronoswiss Wristmaster. Proclaimed as the First Automatic Board Watch for the Wrist, the straight jacket of a watch features a double strap and display. A chronograph (ETA 7750) on the right and a standard 2892-A2 on the left.
Measuring a whopping 84mm x 42mm, this baby ain't for the babysitter to calculate her hours spent with with your screaming kids.
The Wristmaster hanging by a thread of wearability
For more information about the Chronoswiss Wristmaster-->Link All 2008 Chronoswiss releases at Basel-->Link Chronoswiss website-->Link
And be sure to read Alex Doak's Watchismo Times feature on the Chronoswiss collaboration with Spyker car company-->Link
He sums it up with; "Should you buy a LIP Mach 2000 Dark Master Chronograph? The answer to that all depends on whether you find a connection with the ideal presented in 1970s futurism. Do you want a piece of modern design history? Can you appreciate the toils of industrial design and post-Bauhaus era industrial French charm? Will the concept of psychological design resonate with you in so far that the bright colors and organic shapes combine with pure function to interface better with humans? The LIP Mach 2000 Chronograph design is one man’s attempt to address these issues and more."
1980's Alienating Seiko Speedmaster by Giorgetto Giugiaro
Published: February 01,
2008 | 01:00
If you're asking yourself, what was that cool-ass watch Lieutenant Ripley wore in the 1986 movie Aliens, I have the answer for you. It was a Giugiaro designed Seiko Speedmaster Chronograph. Entirely unique by its vertical stopwatch pushers placed inside the asymmetrical case extension. Many of Giugiaro's other designs for Seiko between 1983-86 had asymmetric qualities and are shown below.
And for those of you who don't know Giorgio Giugiaro, he was one of the most important car designers of the 20th century. Credited with the "folded paper" car designs of the 1970s and 80s, he was responsible for such classics as the Lotus Esprit, De Lorean DMC 12, Maserati Merak, Bora, Quattroporte, BMW M1, and most interesting to learn, my first car, the Volkswagen Scirocco. See the rest of his resume here-->Link
Personally, I think he may have been influenced by the design of this watch that came out 12 years earlier-->Link
An appropriate future-from-the-eighties choice by James Cameron
It took me a while to dig these up!
Proof!
What bothers me the most is that I had one of these chronos and sold it prior to learning of its claim to fame.
Another fantastic Seiko Speedmaster design by Giugiaro.
I must find one!
Check out those four quadrant crown/pushers
Another from the Speedmaster series With the dial off-kilter rotated towards the wearer
And speaking of Alien, the designer H.R. Giger had his part in a watch design for Swatch in the early nineties, see a sketch of his Crosswatch above. Watch blogger Ariel Adams of Ablogtoread details more from the 1993 exhibition here-->Link
Pita RE2 Chrono by Spanish Watchmaker Aniceta Pita
Published: January 04,
2008 | 11:38
Barcelona watchmaker, Aniceta Pita released his Pita RE2, a new chronograph with unique non-protruding case-flush pushers and crown. A member of the exclusive AHCI (Horological Academy of Independent Creators), Pita has created a limited edition of 59 RE2's featuring modified vintage Lemania 5100 movements and a patented TSM system of ball bearings to reduce friction.
Pita website-->Link (RE2 is not shown yet on his site)
An earlier Pita "Carousel" with a single hand that is attached to the movement itself. Note the visible ball bearings.
Rado Ceramica Chronograph - Designed by Jasper Morrison
Published: December 20,
2007 | 20:27
New from Rado, the 50 year anniversary limited edition Jasper Morrison designed "Ceramica Chronograph". Only ten of each will be made. I like the variation of chrono registers but $6500 for Quartz?
More about the Ceramica at Rado->Link Available at Moss in New York City or through Rado.
I Totally Forgot! The Memoire1 Mechanical Memory Watch Was Unveiled
Published: December 06,
2007 | 11:25
A new achievement in chronograph watchmaking -- The mechanical memory of the Maurice Lacroix"Memoire1". via Timezone & Horomundi (much more information about the complications)
IN STYLES FROM WAY OUT! 
The TX 610 Flyback Chronograph collection with retrograde registers.
The TX 310 Perpetual Calendar collection with retrograde month and day of week.
The TX 810 Linear Chronograph collection with retrograde linear functions.
