Category: News

Typical, you wait all year for a European exclusive watch from Seiko or Grand Seiko and two come along at once. From Grand Seiko we just had the new Mount Iwate Autumn Dusk and from Seiko we have the new ‘Silfra’ collection consisting of a Prospex Sumo and Tortoise, both of which are European exclusive limited editions. Silfra, for those unfamiliar with your plate tectonics, is the fissure that runs through Iceland where the North American and Eurasian Plates are drifting apart – it makes sense for this prominent European natural feature to be the inspiration for a European exclusive collection.

As there are two watches here and they are quite distinct from each other, let’s tackle them individually. First up we have the ‘Silfra’ Prospex Sumo Diver European Exclusive Limited Edition.

Seiko ‘Silfra’ Prospex Sumo Diver European Exclusive Limited Edition SPB431J1

The Sumo is one of Seiko’s many signature diving watches, sitting alongside models like the Turtle, Samurai and Tuna. What makes the Sumo distinct is its large size, measuring 45mm in diameter, and its big, curved sides that are slightly more facetted than the smoothness of the Turtle. Despite being named after a Japanese fighting tradition, thematically it makes just as much sense for big, burly Icelandic Vikings.

What marks this out as a special edition is the dial, which is a fairly traditional dive watch display with oversize hour markers, plenty of lume and a vibrant seconds hand for excellent low light legibility. The background of the dial is also pretty familiar as it’s a blue gradient piece like you’ve seen on a hundred dive watches before. However, when you look closer at the gradient you’ll see what makes it unique.

Most dive watches with gradients feature a radial pattern with an even tone shift from the centre to the periphery in a uniform manner or sometimes they have a vertical line of gradient that starts light at 12 o’clock and gets darker towards 6 – both of which emulate the darkening water as seen in the depths. The ‘Silfra’ Sumo has a horizontal gradient that starts dark at 9 o’clock, reaches a peak of lightness at the axis of 12 and 6 and then gets dark again at 3. It creates column of light down the middle that mirrors the experience of swimming in the Silfra fissure, where there are stone walls on either side of you and water down the centre. It’s really smart and really subtle dial design and I love it.

Housed inside is the 6R35 automatic movement with 70-hour power reserve. A really solid movement that justifies the £900 price tag. The Seiko ‘Silfra’ Prospex Sumo Diver European Exclusive Limited Edition SPB431J1 is limited to 2,000 pieces and is available exclusively in Europe.

Price & Specs

Ref: SPB431J1|
Case/dial: 45mm x 52.6mm diameter x 12.9mm thickness, stainless steel case, blue dial|
Water resistance: 200m (20 bar)|
Movement: Seiko calibre 6R35, automatic with manual winding, 24 jewels, 4,800 A/m magnetic resistance<|
Frequency: 21,600 vph (3 Hz)|
Power reserve: 70h|
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date|
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet with three-fold clasp with secure lock, push button release and extender with additional fabric strap|
Price/availability: £900, limited edition of 2,00 pieces, exclusively available in Europe

More details at Seiko Boutique

Seiko ‘Silfra’ Prospex Tortoise European Exclusive Limited Edition SRPK77K1

The Tortoise is an interesting watch in the Prospex stable because much as the name implies it’s the land-based version of their Turtle design. Style-wise it’s more or less identical to the Turtle, it even still has 200m water resistance, and the only major change is that it has a compass bezel instead of dive timer. For the ‘Silfra’ Tortoise, Seiko have given that bezel a nice two-tone colouration in brown and black.

Similar to the Sumo above, most of the party here is happening on the dial. The colour is officially described as green although more often in the photos provided it looks dark grey or anthracite. It also has this cool horizontal graining effect that up close almost resembles the Grand Seiko Birch pattern rotated by 90 degrees and miniaturised. The result of which is that the dial looks as if it’s made of igneous rock, which to continue our geography lesson from earlier is the type of rock found in volcanic regions like Iceland.

If you’ve read the article on the Autumn Dusk that I included at the start of this article, it’s this kind of attention to detail that I felt was missing from that watch. The Autumn Dusk is a European exclusive because, well, it just is. The Seiko ‘Silfra’s are European exclusive because they’re intrinsically linked to Europe both thematically and in design.

The Seiko ‘Silfra’ Prospex Tortoise European Exclusive Limited Edition SRPK77K1 houses the 4R35 automatic movement with 41-hour power reserve. It’s a bit lower spec than the Sumo but between that and the smaller 42.4mm diameter it’s also more accessible as well. It’s only £650 and limited to 1,400 pieces.

​Oracle Time 

Read More 

While 2023 might be dedicated to the 60 years of Carrera, Tag Heuer has by no means abandoned their other collections. The extremely popular Monaco has seen a number of releases in 2023 with the most recent being the limited edition Racing Blue. However, when I look back at the Monaco in 2023 at the end of the year, I’m pretty sure the only watch that will be on my mind is this one: the new Tag Heuer Monaco Night Driver. It is without hesitation the coolest Monaco of the year.

The first thing to talk about is the name of the watch, Night Driver. It’s actually a riff on one of their other collections, the Aquaracer, which featured a popular model called the Night Diver that was revived in 2021. What made the Night Diver special was its full lume dial and so with the Monaco Night Driver, lume features prominently as well.

Specifically, the dial area that surrounds the central circle of the display (the corners of the square) are completely lumed in vibrant blue, as are the square subdials, dot hour markers and hands. It makes for a really striking impression in low light conditions, such as the dark cockpit of a car during the night. It looks like the luminous glow of dashboard instruments when you switch a car’s headlights on.

However, lowkey my favourite part of the watch is the display in regular light conditions. The lumed portions have a pale grey tone which pairs wonderfully with the dark grey anthracite of the central dial and black DLC coating of the 39mm titanium case. It makes for a really nice monochromatic colourway despite the fact that the watch’s party trick is becoming vibrant blue and bringing all the Tron energy you could want. I would almost say that I’d like it more if it just stayed those colours all the time.

Housed inside the titanium case is the Calibre Heuer 02, a column wheel chronograph movement featuring hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph seconds, 12-hour timer, 30-minute timer and date. It has automatic winding courtesy of a skeletonised rotor, visible through the exhibition caseback, and has a pretty stellar 80-hour power reserve.

The Tag Heuer Monaco Night Driver is a limited edition of 600 pieces priced at £8,300. That’s definitely on the pricier side of the Monaco spectrum but it feels like the right ballpark for a special lume dial and DLC coated case. Plus, you could tell me that it’s the same price as the skeletonised editions up at £9k and I’d still think it’s the coolest design of the Monaco this year.

​Oracle Time 

Read More 

While we often dwell on the intricacies and minutiae of horology in its smallest, most minimal form in watchmaking, it’s important to remember that horology isn’t a science limited to the wrist. Pendulum clocks take many of the principles of watchmaking but write them large to create centrepiece objects that are as much sculpture as they are timekeeping device. German brand Erwin Sattler certainly know this to be true with the 12m clock housed in their Munich manufacture. Today though we’re focussing on the new Erwin Sattler Aperia III, which is designed to be the centrepiece for your living room rather than an entire building.

Aperia III is presented in the Opus case, a black varnish design with hand-polished finishing that measures 96cm x 25.5cm x 11cm. In the top portion of the case is the clock face itself, which we’ll delve into in greater depth in just a moment, and below that are the pullies and pendulum that serve as the clock’s drive and oscillator. Then in the base of the case is housed the crank for winding. We traditionally think of pendulum clocks in the context of grandfather clocks with baroque or gothic designs and yet here we see that the Aperia III is sleek and modern like many German watchmakers I could name.

Narrowing in on the clockface itself, it’s a multi-layered skeleton display with four subdials. In terms of functions you have date at 3 o’clock, moonphase at 6, days of the week at 9 o’clock and small seconds at 12. On a quasi-philosophical note I wonder if small seconds is the correct term considering that it’s larger than most wristwatches. Then completing the display are the central hour and minute hands corresponding to the peripheral hour and minute scales that frame the piece.

The style is a fusion of classical and modern. The railway minute track and bar indexes feel strongly vintage as do the classical blued hands, but that’s combined with the skeletonised portions that give an industrial, technical appearance. Perhaps the clearest expression of this duality is the moonphase, which features a beautiful and delicate moon over a void of wheels and mechanisms. Just as we set out at the start of this article, it’s reaching out towards horology as artistry and horology as science at the same time.

Talking about the mechanics of the Aperia III, the movement controlling it all is the Sattler Calibre 1575-SK. As you’d gather from the presence of a crank, it’s manual wind, but you don’t have to worry about it constantly running out of power as it has a 30-day power reserve. The movement’s backplate, which is visible through the skeletonised display is made from guilloche rhodium and looks great.

Erwin Sattler’s Aperia III is a limited edition of 65 pieces. In a horological world that’s increasingly obsessed with the latest hype trend, Erwin Sattler are committed to creating horological expressions that will always be stylish thanks to their fusion of modern and vintage elements and mechanical excellence.

​Oracle Time 

Read More 

Finally, after weeks bemoaning the absence of a European exclusive Grand Seiko following the release of the US exclusive Katana collection, we actually have one. Sadly, there’s no katana inspiration in sight, but what we do have is the 44GS SBGW303 Mount Iwate Autumn Dusk limited edition. A watch inspired by the long evenings of early autumn.

The watch features a 36.5mm case made from stainless steel, adhering to the current style trend we’ve been seeing that supports smaller, vintage size watches. It’s in the 44GS style, which is part of Grand Seiko’s heritage collection, featuring sweeping lines that curve around from lug to lug in a satisfying way.

Of course, as with the vast majority of Grand Seikos, the focus is the dial. Here we see the signature Mount Iwate pattern presented in olive green. It’s designed to evoke images of a yellow sunset over a verdant landscape such as the forests that surround Mount Iwate, giving the green landscape a gentle sepia glow – or given that it’s a European exclusive, that early autumn haze found at the end of the British summer or sunset over rolling French fields.

To be honest, I’m half trying to convince myself that it’s cooler and more interesting than I actually think it is because otherwise I’d look at the Americans’ SBGA493 and cry. Ultimately, it’s an olive version of a dial we’ve seen before, and in arguably cooler colours at that, like the Midnight Mount Iwate.

Here’s a tinfoil hat theory, I think the reason European exclusive watches are often on the more conservative side is because Swiss watchmakers have a reputation for being classical and refined and so Grand Seiko tries to emulate that. If only they would look at British watchmakers like Farer and Fears using bright colours and exciting designs for inspiration instead. The most exciting Grand Seikos are the ones that push the boundaries.

Well, whatever the reason, let’s bring the focus back to the Mount Iwate Autumn Dusk. Inside, it’s powered by the Calibre 9S64, a really solid movement. It’s an in-house, manual winding piece with a 72-hour power reserve and accuracy of +5/-3 seconds per day.

The Grand Seiko Mount Iwate Autumn Dusk is limited to 400 pieces at a price of £5,500 and as mentioned is exclusively available to the European market. Ultimately, it’s still a great addition to the line-up and offers solid value as well, even if it’s not the most exciting Grand Seiko of the year. Or month.

​Oracle Time 

Read More 

I’ve never heard of the awesomely named Japanese rock band Super Beaver until now, but apparently they are quite popular in Japan, as they played the G-Shock 40th Anniversary Shock The World Live 2023 Represent Tokyo event on Tuesday, September 12, and their limited edition G-Shock collaboration of 3,000 watches sold out quickly after going […]

​G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog 

Read More 

The A. Lange & Söhne catalogue is deceptively large so when news emerged of a new Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar in platinum, I half thought one had already been launched this year. A quick research revealed that I was mixing up the 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar and Lange 1 Time Zone Platinum in my head. Although, if you were to mix those two watches together you would indeed get the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar Platinum.

Structurally, the new piece has the same design as the original Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar from 2021, which means it has a 41.9mm diameter case with a gorgeously sweeping round shape and relatively subtle, but not insubstantial, lugs and crown. Of course, there is a prominent difference in that the new edition is made from platinum, one of the most prestigious precious metals, renowned for its purity and density, both of which make it easier to maintain than gold equivalents.

The second major update to the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar Platinum is the black dial. The original models were anthracite or salmon and compared with those the black makes for a strong, bold statement. It’s dark and sleek, especially with the contrasting finishes of the grained subdials. The black colour also emphasises the rich colour of the moonphase located towards the bottom left of the display. As for the other functions on display, you have the main hours and minutes off-set to the right, in the top left is a big date window above a retrograde days of the week indicator. At the very bottom is the leap year indicator alongside the indicator for the peripheral months ring.

Powering these myriad complications is the Calibre L021.3, an automatic movement with a 50-hour power reserve. There are 621 parts in this movement, which is easy to believe looking through the exhibition caseback where you can see the immaculate finishing. The golden rotor is intricately engraved and the Glashütte stripes on the plate look fantastic. It really feels like the back of the watch is far more ostentatious than the front, which is in keeping with A. Lange & Söhne’s Saxon sensibilities.

Like the vast majority of A. Lange & Söhne Perpetual Calendars, if not all of them, the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar Platinum is a boutique exclusive and price on request. In my opinion, this is the nicest version of the watch they’ve produced so far, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see some white or silver dial variants in future as we’ve already seen on models like the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar.

​Oracle Time 

Read More 

We previously reported that the G-Shock Products brand of clothing and lifestyle goods was recently launched for the first time outside of Japan in Singapore. Since then, the G-Shock Products brand was also launched in Taiwan with the Icon Summer Collection, and now this collection is available in Singapore. The collection is noteworthy because it […]

​G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog 

Read More 

Outside of the upper echelons of Glashutte-based watchmaking, German watchmaking is synonymous with Bauhaus and that very specific flavour of ‘form follows function’. It’s something the country has been doing since the movement took off in the early 20th century, a movement defined by its minimal simplicity.

It’s why we have, in German watchmaking, so many streamlined, white dialled watches with cool typography and the occasional geometric shape. But while the signature aesthetics of Bauhaus are instantly-recognisable – especially in a watchmaker like Junghans – the sentiment, that need for clarity and clarity of purpose, is equally defined in another German horological archetype: the Flieger.

Pilots’ watches have a lot in common with other aesthetically minimal timepieces, for good reason. They need to be clean, clear and able to be read at a glance. They’re strictly functional timepieces rather than anything meant to look good, but that in itself has led to a handsome, utilitarian archetype that, while designed with an ethos parallel to Bauhaus, looks completely different. Just take Junghans’ pilots’ watches as an example.

Junghans’ heritage in the air is less pervasive than some, but still a historically integral part of the brand. As early as 1917, their cockpit timekeeper was aboard the Zeppelin LZ 55, a WWI airship that reached an altitude of 7,600m. Junghans continued providing airship clocks well into the 1930s, even introducing an early system of electronic synchronisation, where adjusting the main pilots’ clock would do the same to every other clock on board. It’s the closest anyone got to a smart Zeppelin.

Ill-fated airships aside, Junghans also made a name for themselves equipping the legendary Messerschmidt Me 110 with its cockpit clocks in the 1930s and, a couple of decades later, introduced 24-hour onboard clocks in an industry first. So far so static, but when the Bundeswehr, Germany’s modern armed forces needed pilots’ watches just after its 1955 establishment, they turned to Junghans.

The result was a phenomenal pilots’ chronograph, one equipped with the J88 intermediate wheel chronograph. Alongside its solid chronograph and looks defined by its multi-faceted, uber-practical bezel, it was tested to within an inch of its life in every centrifugal force in Junghan’s home of Schramberg and to this day is a seriously collectible mil-spec timepiece. Indeed, the Bundeswehr watch has had a lasting impact on Junghans’ modern pilots’ offerings across their range, most obviously in the new Meister Pilot models.

The three new models are gorgeous, in a vintage military kind of way. The most authentic to the original watch are the two Meister Pilot Chronoscope pieces, which share a lot in common with what was on the wrists of the Bundeswehr. That means the same faceted bezel designed to be operable with flight gloves; the same bi-compax layout, and the same crisp numerals for readability at a glance and in all light conditions.

Where they differ however is in finishing. Both pieces have a brown-black DLC coating, not quite as harsh as the spec ops themes of all black, but still a stealthier look to the usually plain steel watch. It gives it a sort of rugged, gunmetal vibe like aged steel. Similar are the dials, available in blue or sand, which offer the kind of fume gradient synonymous with vintage-styled modern watches, the latter being a particular looker. Paired with contrasting subdials in their usual three and nine positions, there’s a lot more going on aesthetically here than the stripped back look of the original pilots’ watches, but it’s all good.

The final of the three is a greater departure. It shares a lot of its looks with the navy Meister Pilot Chronoscope, but ditches the chronograph in favour of a small seconds subdial and oversized date window. You could argue that it’s a bit too big a departure from the source material, but it definitely has its place.

Either way it’s clear that Junghans understand how less can be more. Whether it’s their Bauhaus-inspired Max Bill collaborations or the Bundeswehr watch that still has a formative impact on their pilots’ pieces, form follows function – and thankfully that form’s turned out very handsome indeed.

More details at Junghans.

​Oracle Time 

Read More 

G-Shock is releasing a full metal series featuring a multi-color gradation on the face and dial. The series includes two GMW-B5000 and two GM-B2100 models with a stainless steel bezel and band, along with a stainless steel screw-back case. These are the fifth and sixth GM-B2100 models to be released after the three debut models […]

​G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog 

Read More 

Casio is currently running a promotional giveaway campaign in partnership with Honda in Japan. The prizes include a Pro Trek PRW-35 (5), a Honda LiB-AID E500 portable power supply, and tickets to Mobility Resort Motegi (30 pairs). The watch is an exclusive model with a black resin band printed with a Honda logo and red […]

​G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog 

Read More