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Frederique Constant is showing a lot of love to the British watch collecting scene this summer. Not only are they attending Hands On Horology, a new watch exhibition and showcase taking place in London on June 14^th, but they’ve also released the latest watches in their continued partnership with heritage British car brand Healey. There are two watches in the new limited-edition series, the Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Date and Chronograph Automatic.

Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Chronograph

First up, and the racier of the two watches, is the Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Chronograph. It has a 42mm case in steel with a classy round design equipped with classic pump pushers to start, stop and reset the chronograph function. The polished lugs lead down to a navy calf leather strap in the same shade of blue as the bicompax chronograph counters on the dial.

Speaking of the dial, it’s presented in a lovely shade of sky blue known fittingly as Healey Blue, the signature shade of the Austin-Healey 3000 MKII BM7. It’s finished with a sunray brushing that radiates out from the centre towards the gently faceted baton hour markers (with lumed strips) and 12 o’clock Arabic numeral. The two chronograph subdials have a snailed finish, with the subdial at 9 o’clock serving as running seconds and the one at 3 o’clock presenting a 30-minute timer. The two chronograph timer hands (the 30-minute and central seconds) are bright red, a key colour motif of the 2025 collection.

Inside the watch, and visible through an exhibition caseback, is the calibre FC-397. It’s the same chronograph movement that Frederique Constant have used in their Healey collaborations since all the way back in 2018. While it’s not a spring chicken, it still has more than respectable specs with a 62-hour power reserve. It’s not one of FC’s manufacture movements, meaning it is likely based on the Sellita SW510. The Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Chronograph is priced at £2,995 in a limited edition of 1,888 pieces, as is tradition for the series.

Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Date

In addition to the large 42mm chronograph, Frederique Constant are offering a far more svelte option with vintage inspired proportions, the Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Date. It measures just 36mm in diameter with a thickness of 9.85mm, ideal for those with slimmer wrists or to make a fun his & hers pairing with the above chrono. The overall shape with its smooth bezel and polished lugs is the same so they make for a great set together.

The dial here is much less complex as it does away with any chronograph subdials in favour of central hours, minutes and seconds (again accented in red) with a date window at 6 o’clock. Above that date window you’ll find the Healey logo, paying tribute to the classic marque. The display has the same Healey blue colour and sunray brushing as the chronograph.

Powering this watch is the calibre FC-303, base Sellita SW200 (a rather different tier of horology than their recent excursion into perpetual calendars). It’s protected by a solid caseback this time, which is engraved with an image of the Austin-Healey that inspired the collaboration. A fun, small British sports car that conjures images of dashing about on country lanes in the fleeting sunshine. The Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Date is noticeably more accessible than its chrono counterpart at £1,295, also in a limited edition of 1,888 pieces.

More details at Frederique Constant.

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Before anOrdain brought porcelain dial production to the UK there’s only really one brand I could name who produce porcelain dials regularly: Seiko. They do so as part of their Craftmanship series dedicated to traditional Japanese crafts and materials. However, in classic Seiko style they’re not happy to achieve a simple design and move on, they want to test the boundaries of style and production to see what is really possible. Enter the new Seiko Presage Classic Unglazed Arita Porcelain Limited Edition.

Without hyperbole, this is one of the nicest Presage watches I’ve been hands on with in a long while. The porcelain dial is stunning with its three-dimensional diamond-cut ridge pattern running around the circumference below the hour scale. The detail and precision required to create textured/patterned porcelain is impressive to see – the production of porcelain involves firing it at high temperatures in a kiln, so fractures and failures are common, especially if you introduce additional complexities beyond creating a simple disc.

The term Arita Porcelain refers to porcelain produced in and around the historic ceramics town of Arita in Japan. Similar to how in the UK our historic ceramics region is around Stoke. Porcelain is made from a clay base so the region it’s produced in and therefore the composition of the clay used can have a large impact on the product. That’s why for this limited edition release, Seiko have opted for an unglazed porcelain – a glaze being what gives the material its colour – showing the traditional cream, off-white colour associated with Arita Porcelain.

Another impact of the dial being unglazed is that it has a matte finish. I’m used to seeing porcelain have that classic gloss shine to it but I’m actually glad that it doesn’t here. A gloss finish, while looking nice, can have the effect of flattening a design as the shimmer of light hides the true three-dimensionality of the piece. When you have a design like the diamond-cut ridges, that would be criminal.

Completing the display are gold coloured feuille hands and bar hour markers, playing into the dress watch design of the piece. On the wrist, it feels genuinely unisex, with a diameter of 40mm it sits right in that goldilocks zone of being a large watch for a woman and mid-size for a man, following traditional sizing conventions. The long lugs with facetted edges help it sit on the wrist well connected to a classy black leather strap produced from sustainable leather with hints of gold stitching.

The Craftmanship Series has always been at the top end of the Presage collection and so they house movements from the 6R family, and the same is true for the Seiko Presage Classic Unglazed Arita Porcelain. Specifically, it houses the 6R51 automatic with 72-hour power reserve and a daily accuracy of +15/-25 seconds. That contributes to the £1,650 price along with the fact that the watch is a limited edition of 1,200 pieces.

More details at Seiko.

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Beaubleu is a Parisian microbrand who take an unapologetically French approach to watch design. Their watches are designed for wearing at street corner cafes on cobblestone roads while a beautiful stranger smokes a cigarette leaning on an antique lamppost a short ways off. While I might be reviewing their latest watch on a dreary British morning as the English rain finally catches up with the early summer, the Beaubleu Ecce Figura transports me to the heart of France.

The biggest difference between the Ecce Figura and Beaubleu’s previous collections such as the Seconde Française is the shape of the case. Instead of a standard circle, the new watch is described as being semi-octagonal. To you or me that means it’s rectangular with rounded corners that are flattened just enough that they count as additional sides to the shape.

The rectangle watch as a concept is in itself very French thanks to its strong ties to one of the most famous French ateliers of all time, Cartier. However, the Ecce Figura manages to avoid the pitfall of being a Tank clone. It’s far more dynamic with a stepped design thanks to a concave bezel leading up to the smooth sapphire crystal, like the tiers of the Eiffel tower. In turn that shape is reminiscent of another designer, Gerald Genta and particularly his eponymous brand Gerald Charles. But also here, Beaubleu manage to toe the creative line and while you might say it’s inspired or influenced, it never copies.

In terms of structure, the Ecce Figura measures 30mm in width with a length of 39mm, placing it in the mid-size range when it comes to rectangle watches. Strapping it on, it has really good wrist presence without being overwhelming. It also sits on the wrist really well thanks to the hidden lugs that are integrated into the underside of the case.

There are six versions of the Ecce Figura being produced, split across two series. I have here two of the Series No.1 models, the Ecce Figura Alba and Ecce Figura Onyx. Both are made from steel but while the Alba wears its steel exposed, the Onyx has a rose gold coating that gives it a far more luxurious aesthetic. That’s also borne out on the dials with the Alba in matte white with Art Deco railway track markings and the Onyx in shiny black with its markings picked out in three dimensions so that you can only see them as light shines across them.

Of course, the elephant in the room is that they’re equipped with circular hands. It’s Beaubleu’s signature design element and while it’s in theory a simple change (they are just hour, minute and seconds hands, same as any other 3-hand watch) the impact on how you read the watch is drastic. The Alba has blue hours and minutes with a silver seconds while the Onyx is gold with silver. It encourages you to watch the dance of the circles as the shapes constantly shift like M.C Escher ‘s ideal Venn diagram. A captivating waltz playing out on the streets of France’s capital.

Powering that dance is the Miyota calibre 9015, an automatic movement with a 42-hour power reserve. It’s the Japanese manufacture’s premium ultra-thin movement, which is what makes it suitable for the slim proportions of the Ecce Figura. It’s protected by a solid caseback engraved with details of the watch’s specs such as the 30m water resistance rating, as noted by the figure “3 ATM”.

Keeping the watch secured on the wrist is a braided steel bracelet with easy change bars and a sliding clasp. They also produce a leather strap with deployant butterfly clasp for the watch, which I think looks great on the Alba, the black leather echoing the black railway track markings nicely. It would feel odd to me to present the Onyx on anything other than its rose gold coloured braided bracelet because they work so well together.

To touch quickly on the other variants that I don’t have to hand: there’s the Lys in gold with a white dial the Smalt with steel case and blue dial to round out the Series No.1. Series No. 2 then consists of the steel Vesperal and gold Sienna, which stand out in comparison to the first series due to their brushed dials and baton hour markers giving a more minimalist interpretation compared to the Art Deco Series No. 1.

The Beaubleu Ecce Figura is available from €890 (approx. £750). At that price, these might be some of the best value for money dress watches I’ve seen in a long time. They feel like they punch well above their weight in terms of class and refinement. Frankly they’re also just a lot more interesting than many of alternative accessible dress watches that all seem to follow the same formula.

More details at Beaubleu.

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You may assume that technology has long been the enemy of the mechanical watch. For centuries, watchmaking has hyper focused on the refinement and progress of small elements to improve accuracy and tolerance. Innovation within tight barriers formed by Côtes de Genève finished bridges with beautiful anglage is the currency of watchmaking.

Technology strips away human ingenuity in favour of consistency, speed, and efficiency, just like the camera did for the meticulous manipulation of a paintbrush guided by an artist’s expression. But in reality, does it? In the same way that the arrival of the camera evolved the visual expression of art, once technology in watchmaking was embraced, its threatening persona eased. In one camp, it has driven evolution; in another, such as the Beta 21, it united a country.

The IWC calibre 2001 “Beta 21”

If you’ve read past issues of Oracle Time and stumbled upon my previous stories, you’ll be well aware of the impact battery-powered watches had on the traditional mechanical industry. This new technology saw a small battery and quartz tuning fork replace the role of the mainspring and gearing to deliver accuracy far greater than mechanical watches could achieve at the time.

This technology rapidly became more accessible, and as such, seemingly overnight, the mechanical wristwatch had lost its purpose. It is believed that during the arrival of quartz watches from 1970 to 1988, Swiss watch employment dropped from 90,000 people to just 28,000 – for the Swiss, it very much was a quartz crisis.

The Centre Electronique Horloger (CEH)

The story of Beta 21 truly begins with the invention of quartz in 1928 by Bell Labs. The first quartz clock used a quartz-crystal oscillator to generate a stable timing signal. This was extremely useful in labs due to their highly accurate timekeeping, but the technology was still decades away from any form of cuff-friendly proportions.

Eventually, during the 1960s, quartz movements evolved to the degree where they could fit inside marine chronometers. However, with the majority of these advancements happening overseas in the US and Japan, the ancestral home of watchmaking feared their country’s USP would eventually slip away behind their backs. As such, a research organisation known as The Centre Electronique Horloger (CEH) was formed in 1962. Interestingly, some of the people behind the institute included those from Ebauches SA (later ETA) and the Swiss Federation de l’Industrie Horlogère (FH), as well as approximately 20 houses.

Bell Labs Synthetic Quartz

Three years after its founding, the CEH landed on a quartz crystal as being the best option for creating their own electric watch after attempting a tuning fork approach previously – think Bulova Accutron. By 1967, their quartz attempt was a success, and the Beta 1 prototype was born. This piece was, in fact, technically the first quartz-powered wristwatch, five years before the Seiko Astron – albeit at a prototype level versus Seiko’s completed watch. Upon completion of the prototype, full production of the quartz movement began, and in 1970, the Beta 21 was conceived.

Patek Philippe ‘Beta 21’ ref. 3587

At the 1970 Basel Fair, many of the couple of dozen brands involved in the project released watches using these movements, including Rolex, Patek, Omega, IWC, Longines, Piaget, and Jaeger-LeCoultre. The Swiss had proven they could be competitive within the realm of quartz watches, but there was a catch: the movements were a commercial flop. Despite the movements being very large, they ran out of power quickly and not long after they were introduced, manufacturers released their own take on quartz movements, such as the Piaget 7P, the world’s flattest quartz movement at the time at just 3.1mm.

The Beta 21 movement was only in production from 1969 to 1972 officially (OMEGA took over production and made iterations well into the 1980s), with a staggering 6,000 movements being made in that short period of time.

The IWC Da Vinci ref. 3501 was the first watch equipped with the “Beta 21” quartz movement.

Beta 21-powered watches, while all uniquely designed by each maison, all carry a distinctive appearance. The combination of being born in the very bohemian design style of the 1970s and the thickness of the movement resulted in very chunky, quite quirky watches. The most well-known Beta 21 powered pieces come from the likes of Piaget with their 14101, Rolex with the 5100, Patek with the 3587, as well as their Da Vinci Beta 21. Within niche collecting circles, these command premium prices, but pieces like the Omega Electroquartz and Longines Quartz Chron can be purchased for a few thousand pounds.

Omega ref. 196.005

Sadly, the Beta 21 doesn’t have a happy ending, but what it does represent is how horizontal the watch industry has always been, especially when it’s facing a challenge. Every brand talks today about vertical integration within their manufacturer, with custom rotors being enough for some to claim the calibre is ‘in-house’, but the industry is built upon a horizontal operation. There are specialists for every component for cases, buckles, movements, dials, and watch straps. The Beta 21 project represents a rare public moment where all brands recognised the importance of strengthening together.

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People like to say that the watch industry moves slowly but I always find myself with whiplash after realising that events such as Zenith re-entering the dive watch game with the launch of the Defy Extreme Diver and Defy Revival Diver was 14 months ago. As it has been more than a year since then, it’s about time for Zenith to release some follow up models, which they have duly done with the release of the new Defy Extreme Diver and Defy Revival Diver “Shadow” Editions. Shadow is more of a nickname that Zenith are using rather than an official designation, representing the dark grey tone of the micro-blasted titanium cases.

Zenith Defy Extreme Diver “Shadow”

While Zenith are traditionally associated with pilot’s watches and chronographs, the Defy Extreme Diver is a professional diver with a 600m water resistance rating. That rating actually pushes it into a tier higher than most professional dive watches, which we categorise as having 300m water resistance. At 600m it qualifies as what’s known as a saturation dive watch, designed for extended use in pressurised environments for days or even weeks at a time. Extreme by name, extreme by nature.

The 42.5mm case is made from lightweight titanium like the 2024 edition but it has a new style of finishing. Where the original was brushed, giving more of a sheen in the light, the Shadow has a micro-blasted finish, giving it more of a matte appearance that shows just how dark titanium actually is in comparison to steel. It looks like it has an anthracite coating or something but no, that’s just the natural tone of the dark metal.

To complement the darker tone of the watch, Zenith have given the Defy Extreme Diver Shadow a black dial with the signature 4-pointed star pattern of the modern Defy collection. But the watch is not without colour, as you’ll have clearly noticed because the most striking part of the whole design is the bright yellow minutes scale around the periphery of the dial. A particular highlight of this new design.

Inside, it houses the same El Primero 3620 automatic movement with 60-hour power reserve. As part of the El Primero family it’s naturally a hi-beat movement with a 36,000 vph frequency, which helps to ensure a high level of accuracy. It’s a major factor in the £11,100 price tag.

Zenith Defy Revival Diver “Shadow”

The Revival Diver is based on the A3648 from 1969 with its signature octagonal design and sharp facets. Like the Extreme Diver above, it’s made from micro-blasted titanium revealing the metal’s natural darker tone. Though the case is much more compact with vintage proportions of 37mm, though it remains quite thick at 15.5mm. It also still has a 600m water resistance rating, which is kind of funny because it’s the same resistance rating as the Defy Extreme Diver but Zenith don’t emphasise it anywhere near so much on the Revival model.

For the yellow accents, Zenith have emphasised them to an even greater extent here, using the colour for both the minute track and rotating diver bezel, creating a layered appearance. Stick a Batman logo in the middle of the dial and you can picture it safely tucked away on Adam West’s utility belt. And I meant that affectionately – Adam West is the best Batman, fight me in the comments below.

Powering the Zenith Defy Revival Diver Shadow is the Elite 670 calibre, not quite as prestigious or powerful as the El Primero with a power reserve of 50-hours and a 28,800 vph frequency. Fortunately, the trade-off is that the watch is almost half the price at £7,400, which seems more than fair to me.

More details at Zenith.

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At the upcoming Hands On Horology exhibition in London on 14^th June, you’ll be able to find an exciting variety of watch brands displaying their latest creations and new releases. In fact, some brands are even showing up with debut launches such as the Boldr Polaris and our own Ball x Oracle Time Engineer II Dazzle. However, some brands are also producing exclusive editions that will strictly be available on the day, such as the Beaucroft Seeker Black Ice.

The new watch is a really cool interpretation of the Seeker that combines the pale blue gradient of the Ice Blue edition with the black PVD case of the limited-edition variant. It makes for a very striking visual with the white colour in the centre of the dial fading to blue around the peripheral edge before transitioning all the way to black as you reach the bezel and case. That case measures a svelte 37mm in diameter x 10mm thickness, positioning the Seeker as Beaucroft’s vintage proportion dress watch offering.

That aesthetic code is heightened by the very slim hour markers that overlap the layered, sector style design of the minute scale. The hands are equally elegant in a feuille design with the characteristic leaf shape, filled with lume for low light legibility. Housed beneath that dial and powering the three-hand display is the Miyota 9039 automatic, one of the most common microbrand movements for good reason.

The Beaucroft Seeker Black Ice is a limited edition of just 10 pieces, available exclusively at Hands On Horology with a price of £425. If you haven’t yet secured your ticket to Hands On Horology, you can do so here. It’s going to be a fantastic event, offering you the opportunity to get hands on with watches from brands like Beaucroft and beyond, taking place in Shoreditch’s Protein Studios on 14^th June.

More details at Beaucroft.

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While it might feel like some independent brands such as Laurent Ferrier and Greubel Forsey are part of the furniture, they’re still extremely young in comparison to some of the ancient names that still permeate the watch industry. Laurent Ferrier, despite being a collectors’ staple, is celebrating only their 15^th anniversary in 2025. Though they are celebrating the occasion in exceptional fashion with the launch of the Laurent Ferrier Sport Auto 79. It’s named after the year 1979, when the founders of Laurent Ferrier competed in Le Mans, coming in third.

The Sport Auto, launched in 2022, is arguably the seminal Laurent Ferrier release of the decade so far. It’s certainly the one that’s had the most impact on LF’s other launches as even collections like the Classic have adopted the ‘Auto’ where appropriate, a naming convention that first appeared with the Sport Auto.

It’s a 41.5mm diameter watch with a cushion shape design and integrated bracelet. For the Laurent Ferrier Sport Auto 79 anniversary edition it’s been produced case, bezel, bracelet and all in 5N red gold, moving away from the sporty titanium of the original to double or even triple down on the luxury aspect of the design. It lives up to the phrase ‘sports-luxe’, a term used to describe 1970/80s integrated bracelet sports watches that are presented in gold and other precious materials, such as golden Royal Oaks.

For the dial, they’ve opted for a complementary cream tone produced with a silver-rose galvanic treatment with opaline finish. It has the signature Sport Auto display with teardrop hour markers, a central cross hair motif and a small seconds subdial and date window that are both recessed into the dial.

Beneath the dial is the LF270.01 and as the name Sport Auto 79 indicates, it’s automatic. The power reserve though isn’t 79-hours, which would have been thematic, it’s 72-hours, which is close enough. It’s priced at CHF 79,000 (approx. £71,450). With the combination of precious metals and refined late 20^th century style, it’s one hell of a way to celebrate your 15^th anniversary.

More detail at Laurent Ferrier.

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May was a bit slow for G-Shock releases in the U.S., but as summer gets into full swing, fans will start to have a lot more options. The following G-Shock watches are expected to be coming soon to the U.S. in June 2025 (or possibly later in some cases). Like Europe and unlike China which […]

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Every year for the past six years Oris has released a new Hölstein Edition watch on June 1^st to coincide with the anniversary of the brand’s founding. Each of the special editions offers an unusual take on a classic model such as the Aquis and last year’s Divers Sixty-Five. There’s actually a bit of similarity between last year’s watch and the Hölstein Edition 2025 because they both have DLC coated cases, although the 2025 version is based on the ProPilot rather than the Diver. Plus, the Hölstein Edition 2025 cannot be described as stealthy with its centrepiece full lume dial with mystery bear motif.

This is actually the first full lume dial in the ProPilot range. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it means the entire face of the watch is made from luminescent material, creating a vivid glow in low light conditions. It’s a cool variation on standard dial design that has seen increasing popularity in recent years since Bell & Ross brought attention to it with a dedicated Full Lum collection.

Paired with a 41mm DLC coated steel case, as the Oris is, the design really pops. So much so that I would caution against keeping it on your bedside table unless you want an inadvertent night light.

One of the cool things about full lume displays is that they make it possible to hide details in the design. Essentially, during the day when the watch is not glowing the dial appears a monotone white but in the dark, a mystery design is revealed.

For the Hölstein Edition 2025 that takes the form of the face of the Oris Hölstein bear between 3 and 4 o’clock. In the official Oris press release they introduce this feature with the tag line “ready or not, here he comes”, which is supposed to be playful but strikes me as unintentionally sinister. He might try to lull you in with that cute heart shaped nose but there’s definitely lurking behind those eyes.

On a more serious note, it is an interesting interpretation of the ProPilot collection. It houses the Oris Calibre 400, which is the brand’s flagship movement with five-day power reserve, as noted by the inscription on the dial. That inscription remains visible even in the dark just like the hour markers and hands as they are pitch black against the glowing background.

Between the full lume display, DLC coated case, Calibre 400 and the fact that it’s a limited edition of 250 pieces, the Oris Hölstein Edition 2025 is priced at £3,700, placing it among the most expensive ProPilots in the range alongside their other, more experimental designs like the Altimeter and Coulson. I always enjoy seeing Oris’ more unusual designs and the Hölstein Edition 2025 does not disappoint.

More details at Oris.

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Casio is introducing the G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1C and GM-B2100SD-1C in June 2025 (starting in Japan), featuring color accents based on the original G-Shock DW-5000C-1A, which was one of two models of the first-ever G-Shock series release from 1983. According to Casio, the red represents the passion to take on challenges, while the blue symbolizes water resistance, […]

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