Keeping up with Baselworld can be daunting, even for those of us who spend all our days reading about, playing with, and writing about wristwatches. While the big names like Rolex, Omega, and TAG Heuer can suck the oxygen out of a room due to how anticipated their new releases are, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other new watches worth taking note of at Baselworld 2017.
For example, I think one of the most interesting pieces that came out this year is the Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms Mil-Spec watch which is such an iconic and historic watch that’s faithfully redone. It’s the kind of sleeper-hit that watch nerds obsess about for a very, very long time. And then you have Nomos, making their Bauhaus minimalist watches even more accessible with the appropriately named Club Campus watch line that shows how nimble and efficient Nomos can be. For example, they made every caseback solid and left it blank in order to encourage custom engravings, which both keeps costs down and makes the watch a natural draw as a graduation gift.
Hublot decided to show us two sides of their personality with the MP-09 Tourbillon Bi-Axis watch which is really, um, creatively designed while their Techframe Ferrari Tourbillon Chronograph is quite restrained and quietly impressive for a Hublot watch designed for Ferrari’s 70th Anniversary.
There have also been interesting industry tidbits like Grand Seiko now being an autonomous wing of Seiko (so no more “Seiko” at 12 o’clock and “Grand Seiko” at 6 o’clock anymore, thankfully) and Tudor and Breitling collaborating on movements to keep quality up and prices down, like in the new Breitling Superocean Heritage II watches.
Listen, I can keep going, but we want to just catch you up on some of the notable new watches for now, and encourage you to explore our complete and continuing Baselworld 2017 coverage here on aBlogtoWatch and on our social media channels with #BaselworldABTW. And we’re of course going to have a much more in-depth Baselworld 2017 roundup and analysis once the show is over.
The hands are absolutely perfectly sized, all are amply long and wide, so kudos to Rolex because of that. Their colour schemes at first sight make sense, however in this extended review it stood out to me the way they sometimes seem to work as a kind of camouflage. They are the same basic colours as the dial along with its elements, and the principal hands’ colours are distributed in a way that when they are over the sub-dials (let us say if the time is 3:10, etc.) they make it challenging to distinguish them in the background.White gold is used for the hands and indices on every Rolex (unless golden of another color is used for your case), and while they’re shiny alright and are well made, occasionally they appear they can use some extra volume. Manufacturing techniques have progressed over the last twenty years and pieces as miniature as sub-dial hands we view crafted more complexly and with good quantity below this price point. Rolex doesn’t produce its own hands and since we have seen Rolex successfully create suppliers push their limitations (think of their super complicated Oysterflex rubber strap from recent past), the provider of the palms should step up their game too — particularly since we’re to the five-figure cost section here and easy stamped metallic palms do not really cut it anymore, however nicely made.A neat detail I could really appreciate was the way the middle of this sub-dials was implemented: right across the base of their hands there’s an angled part which may be viewed with the naked eye when the lighting is suitable. Here you can definitely understand the thickness of the black paint and the amply applied lacquer over it — in terms of sheen and depth this is as near an enamel dial as a lacquered dial can get. The reddish Daytona text adds that additional pop of color that this dial so badly requires — too bad that the text is small and dim red, so much so that the majority of the time it can’t be viewed either for your smudged crystal, the hands blocking it out, or so the lighting not being just perfect.
Here’s a sampling of some of the most significant releases from Baselworld 2017 so far:
1. Rolex Sea-Dweller 126600 Watch Marks 50th Anniversary Of The Sea-Dweller
Baselworld 2017 is underway and everyone is always keen to see what goodies Rolex Watches Egypt Replica will bring. Before the show, rumors were rife that Rolex would drop a new Sea-Dweller to celebrate the Sea-Dweller’s 50th anniversary. Well, the rumors proved to be right, as Rolex announced the new reference 126600 Sea-Dweller 50th anniversary. This new Rolex Sea-Dweller 50th anniversary is a markedly different animal from the last Sea-Dweller. It’s bigger, has a cyclops lens over the date, and has a new movement. Even so, I’m willing to bet it will be a hot-seller for Rolex.
Click here to read more about the watch.
2. Rolex Watches Waterproof Replica Cosmograph Daytona Watches In Gold With Oysterflex Rubber Strap & Ceramic Bezel Hands-On
Rolex is updating its Daytona line with three new models in precious metals. The three new models in 18k yellow, white, and Everose gold will all get Rolex’s Cerachrom bezel, but most surprising of all is that these watches will not come with a traditional Oyster bracelet. Instead, they will come with Rolex’s relatively new Oysterflex strap with an Oysterlock safety clasp. To say that this is a divisive choice would be an understatement, but there certainly must be a market out there for it. It seems to us that Rolex wants to make a go at watch buyers who would normally consider a sporty chronograph from the likes of Audemars Piguet and Hublot. And despite what you may think about the Oysterflex strap, these new Rolex Daytona watches are very fine watches.
Click here to read more about the watches.
3. TAG Heuer Autavia Heuer 02 Watch Hands-On
TAG Heuer Autavia Heuer 02 is a pretty special watch because it is actually the result of an online poll of TAG Heuer fans. TAG Heuer asked its fans what the new TAG Heuer Autavia should look like, which is a really cool thing. I can’t imagine some other brands doing the same. In any case, after a year or so of development, the new Autavia is finally here. It’s a handsome watch with vintage-inspired looks, but also important is its Heuer 02 movement, which is actually the ill-fated CH 80 from about three years ago. With its good looks and accessible price point, this watch is likely going to be one of TAG Heuer’s most popular for 2017.
Click here to read more about the watch.
4. Omega Speedmaster, Seamaster, & Railmaster 1957 ‘Trilogy’ 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Watches
Fans of vintage Omega watches are going to go crazy over this. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Speedmaster, Seamaster 300, and the Railmaster, Omega is doing a reissue of all three watches. Using digital scanning and imaging technology for the first time, along with designs and original drawings of each model, Omega has managed to keep the designs of the reissue watches faithful to the originals. Essentially, what you are getting here is a watch with accurate vintage looks, but with entirely modern construction innards, some of which are even Master Chronometer certified. These watches will surely be a hit.
Click here to read more about the watches.
5. Casio G-Shock MR-G MRGG2000HT-1A Hammer Tone Bluetooth $7,400 Watch Hands-On
Although, come to think about it, I am not quite sure how this clinically questionable saying captured on, the Daytona’s history at this time may very well be coming out of your elbow too — you’ve heard it so many times.If you don’t have any friends and want to make certain it remains that way, try and meet new ones in hotel lobbies, or even on the internet, mocking everything, all of the time. You will find more of those Daytona references, but these will already suffice to stay fun and decent human beings from spending too much time around you, in the event you talk about these often. The emphasis is on not calling everything by its own mention all the time like a entire douche — rather than on being ignorant about observe history.Although Rolex has been generating chronographs since at least the thirties, the Daytona’s history can actually be traced back to the fifties, when Rolex left a few chronographs which they at times quite unimaginatively titled “Chronograph.” The five lines of tapping on watch dials was but a mere dream at the point. Rolex appears not to really want you to know much about these ousted versions — perhaps not one pre-Daytona chronograph is in their differently really quite detailed history page, nor will be one in their yet more thorough history page on their press-only site.In a nutshell, the so-called “pre-Daytona” background which you might want to know is the fact that the Cosmograph name Rolex enrolled as early as 1955, and that the mention 6238, introduced in 1961 (some sources state 1963), was a solid-looking Cosmograph that did not yet possess the Daytona name added to it. What Rolex does want you to know is that the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona mention 6239 out of 1963, the first “appropriate Daytona.” It was filmed “Daytona” after Rolex’s association with the Daytona International Speedway began in 1962.
Remember last year’s $6,000 Casio G-Shock watch? Clearly, there are fans snapping them up because Casio is back with another high-end G-Shock called the G-Shock MR-G MRGG2000HT-1A Hammer Tone Bluetooth watch. It features the same unique Hammer Tone technique, which creates an unusual finishing, on the bezel and center links of the bracelet. But more importantly, it features new technology that reflects Casio’s approach to how Bluetooth and smartphones should interact with their watches. They call it “Casio Connect” and the goal is to create a digital watch that is self-sustaining (able to recharge on its own) and able to display the most accurate time.
Click here to read more about the watch.
6. Tudor Heritage Black Bay Steel Watch
With its vintage-inspired good looks and accessible price, is it any wonder that the Tudor Heritage Black Bay is a hot favorite of ours? For 2017, Tudor is expanding its Heritage Black Bay collection with a new steel model that features, for the first time, a brushed steel bezel. In addition, it will also be the first Tudor Heritage Black Bay model to feature a date display. Like the new Heritage Black Bay models that were released last year, this new Tudor Black Bay Steel watch will feature Tudor’s new in-house chronometer-certified movement and will be offered with a funky riveted bracelet or leather strap.
Click here to read more about the watch.