Kawasaki is teaming up with G-Shock for the release of a DW-5600 collaboration, which is part of the Kawasaki Plaza lineup of clothing and accessories. The watch has a straightforward black and white design with a bold Kawasaki text logo alongside the River Mark logo, with the logos also engraved on the stainless steel case […]
G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog
It’s surprising just how versatile as off-kilter a case as that of Gerald Charles can be. The initial dress watch offering honestly didn’t catch my imagination all that much – though I have at least one friend that fell in love and bought one. The GC Maestro Sport Clay however changed things up nicely, offering a sportier (shocking) take on the stepped, Genta-designed formula. Now they’re going for a serious haute horology take instead with the new Maestro 8.0 Squelette in rose gold and Maestro 8.0 GC Sport Squelette in titanium.
Squelette, for those uninitiated in Swiss watchmaking terms, is French for Skeleton. So, you kind of know what to expect here. The dial of the new watch has been removed and the movement underneath skeletonised to offer a view directly through the movement. This isn’t openworking (a few bits of dial removed), this is proper skeletonisation.
Of course, removing parts of bridges to show off the movement only really works if it’s a movement worth showing off. In the Maestro 8.0 Squelette, that movement is the proprietary Vaucher-developed calibre GCA 5482, the focal point being that it’s a microrotor movement. This means you have the benefits of an automatic watch – its autonomy – without the rotor getting in the way of the aesthetics.
The bridges themselves are also impeccably finished, showing off a shooting star motif, similar in concept to the Roger Dubuis Excalibur, just a lot more subtle. Which isn’t hard. It’s gorgeous, and works superbly well as a mechanical counterpoint to the portrait frame-ornate stepped case. It also offers a solid 50 hours power reserve, despite being just 2.6mm thick.
The case is 40mm of rose gold, in a lovely, classical contrast with the anthracite bridges. Finished on Gerald Charle’s signature chunky rubber strap in a steel blue, it’s one of the few watches I find improved by skeletonisation. Though the price tag makes it a little out of my reach at £66,800.
The sportier counterpoint to the rose gold version, the Maestro 8.0 Sport Squelette shares the same 40mm silhouette, just in lightweight titanium instead of precious metal. Its already a svelte watch (even more so with bridges and dial stripped away) and the titanium makes it incredibly light.
But don’t let that deter you – despite its haute horology nature, the movement has 5Gs of shock resistance. Hopefully that’s enough for everyday life, otherwise you probably shouldn’t be wearing a watch. Or have a driving licence. At the very least, it’s tennis proof, as tested by the likes of Dutch player Tim Van Rijthoven wearing the Maestro GC Sport Grass.
That DLC black case has been contrasted with silver bridges, a lot more modern and suited to the Genta vibe. It’s fitted on a deep blue take on that same textured rubber strap. But that’s of course not all; if you feel like you’re looking at a mirror image, you kind of are, given the entire movement has been flipped by 180 degrees.
This means the entire architecture has been turned upside down and, more obviously, the crown has been moved to the left-hand side of the case. That doesn’t necessarily make it a lefty though, as the crown being on the left gives your wrist a bit more freedom to move. It’s why dive watches sometimes opt for it and why, in what is ostensibly a sports watch, makes a lot of sense.
That said, I’m not sure I could ever wear a skeletonised, microrotor watch in a stepped case like this for a game of tennis or a round of golf, even with the shock resistance assurances. Though I would definitely wear it elsewhere, especially as it’s a touch cheaper than the gold version at £53,500.
Model: Gerald Charles Maestro 8.0 Squelette and Maestro 8.0 GC Sport Squelette
Ref: GC8.0-RG-06 (Squelette Rose Gold)
GC8.0 TX TN 01 (Sport Squelette)
Case/dial: 39mm x 41mm diameter x 8.35mm thickness, polished 18K rose gold 4N with a right screw-down crown in rose gold with Clous de Paris finish or grade 5 titanium case with a left screw-down crown, skeletonised dial with sandblasted bridges with polished anglage and baton shaped hands filled with white Super LumiNova
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Vaucher calibre GCA 5482 manufactured exclusively for Gerald Charles, automatic, 160 parts, 29 rubies, Incabloc® anti shock system, stop second system, unidirectional rotor
Frequency: 21,600 vph (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 50h
Functions: Hours, minutes
Strap: Grey vulcanised rubber with polished 18K Rose Gold 4N pin buckle (Squelette Rose Gold) or royal blue vulcanised rubber with sandblasted Grade 5 Titanium buckle (Sport Squelette), Clous de Paris finish on top side and Gerald Charles logo tapisserie on rear
Price/availability: £53,500 (Sport Squelette) and £66,800 (Squelette Rose Gold)
More details at Gerald Charles.
Oracle Time
Generally, the words ‘sporty’ and ‘guilloche’ aren’t all that comfortable together. One is generally shorthand for rugged, often utilitarian, the other’s ornate dial finishing, and never the two shall meet. But the latest from accessible Dutch brand Batavi aims to show that opposites attract – and attractive the new Batavi Atelier is.
This isn’t Batavi’s first foray into this kind of bilingual watch design; the Architect has a sporty case with a fittingly architectural dial, but that particular piece, with its integrated bracelet, is firmly rooted in the 70s. The Atelier is far more timeless.
The 39mm stainless steel case has a classic, field watch look, not precisely utilitarian but definitely based off a tool watch. But while the case is all business, the dial is where the fun’s at, with a mandala-esque fish scale pattern. Technically its ‘guilloche-inspired’ rather than the classical Swiss method of engraving but the difference is semantic when the finish is this cool.
The Arabic numerals are otherwise plain and bold against the pattern. They’re easy to read and oddly satisfying to look at. In many ways in fact, the Batavi Atelier reminds me of anOrdain’s Model 1, a precious dial (enamel for anOrdain, engraved for Batavi) in a relatively sporty case. Batavi’s effort just leans into that dichotomy a little harder.
Colourwise you have three different versions: a sleek dune beige (that appears a little more grey), a light aquamarine blue and a colour-shifting purple. If you were expecting something as prosaic as black or silver, look elsewhere.
No matter which you opt for, you’re looking at well-made five-link bracelet (which can be swapped for leather) an accessible Miyota movement with 42-hour power reserve and equally accessible price tag of €578. It’s a great watch for the money… and even more so if you order now, as Batavi currently have early bird prices of €459.
Model: Batavi Atelier
Case/dial: 39mm diameter x 11mm thickness, stainless steel case, 3D fish scale pattern dial with skeleton hands
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Miyota calibre 9039, automatic
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 44h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet or leather strap with quick-release pins
Price/availability: €459 (early bird price), €578 (standard price)
More details at Batavi.
Oracle Time
This year’s the 30th anniversary of the Royal Oak Offshore, Audemars Piguet’s sport-centric twist on the seminal 70s Genta design. So, expect to see a lot of the big, chunky, overly performance-centric collection about this year. Case in point, the latest Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph Blue Ceramic.
Cool as it is, this watch isn’t entirely new. The combination of a black ceramic case with a blue ceramic bezel and pushers was last shown off back in 2020. It even included the same blue fume tapisserie dial – just with a very different layout, which hints at the main thing that’s different about the new version.
The 2020 watch used the calibre 3126/3840 automatic movement, a completely fine-to-good chronograph, complete with a 50-hour power reserve. But that won’t do for a 30th anniversary, so now Audemars Piguet has update the watch with the newer 4401 calibre, which ups that acceptable 50 hours to a much more impressive 70 and backs it with a 4hz frequency for superb accuracy.
As I’ve mentioned, that movement changes more than the power reserve. Rather than having subdials at 12, 6 and 9 o’clock, it opts for the more symmetrical 3, 6 and 9. It’s a much more satisfying layout, especially since they’ve dropped the magnified date, which I never felt really fit. The previous Arabic numerals have also been swapped with hour markers, which combined with the other changes makes the entire dial feel more pared-back – or as much as a Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph can get. It’s much more like the halfway house between a classic Royal Oak and the sportier, more extreme Offshores and I’m here for it.
There are a couple of case changes for the better, too. It’s dropped a millimetre in size, down from 44 to 43, which is a minute downsize but makes a difference on the wrist. Part of that is also because of the new chronograph pushers, which have been more integrated into the crown protector. Indeed, the whole conglomeration of the crown looks and feels better than before, with the crown itself nestled in the middle.
On the wrist, well, it’s an Offshore. Smaller doesn’t mean small, and it’s chunky on the wrist with the gorgeous tactility of ceramic across the entire thing. Paired with the more ergonomic shape and it’s surprisingly comfortable. The bright flashes of blue nail why the Offshore’s such a successful riff on the Royal Oak design and especially in the glorious sunshine we’ve been having, offer some serious impact. That’s doubly true with the matching woven blue strap, a contrast-stitched textile-effect leather number. The case edges are a little sharp, but that just plays into the industrial vibe the collection’s built on.
On the back you can get a good view of the new 4140 calibre, which is well finished, of course, and well worth a look. You can’t see a huge amount, and said finishing again ties into the overall industrial vibe of the Royal Oak Offshore, but it’s still incredibly handsome.
Honestly, on paper this doesn’t seem like a new watch. It’s easy to get hung up on that distinctive combination of black and blue ceramic. But between the new movement, the case refinements and the stripped-back dial, it has more than enough to set it apart. If you don’t want to commit to the full-on Offshore but still want something sportier than the 70s-flavoured Royal Oak, you could do a lot, lot worse than this.
Model: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph
Ref: 26420CE.OO.A043VE.01
Case/dial: 43mm diameter x 14.4mm thickness, black ceramic case and blue ceramic bezel, glareproofed sapphire crystal and caseback, blue ceramic pushpieces and screw-locked crown, titanium pushpiece guards and links, smoked blue dial with “Méga Tapisserie” pattern, black counters and external zone, white gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating, black inner bezel
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Audemars Piguet calibre 4401, automatic, 381 parts, 40 jewels
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 70h
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, date, flyback chronograph
Strap: Blue calfskin with titanium pin buckle and interchangeable strap system, additional black rubber strap included
Price/availability: Price on request
More details at Audemars Piguet.
Oracle Time
Dutch streetwear brand and creative community La Fam is releasing its first G-Shock collaboration. The white GMA-S2100 watch is a smaller version of the popular octagonal GA-2100 and features an exclusive band with colorful 1990s-inspired drawings and graffiti-like lettering with the phrase “We Start And End With The Fam.” La Fam was started as a […]
G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog
Casio will be holding a special pop-up tour throughout Southeast Asia in partnership with music collective 88rising to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of G-Shock. The pop-up will feature an exclusive display of artist portraits, and a limited edition G-Shock x 88rising t-shirt will be available for S$39 each. It is also possible for Casio ID […]
G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog
Baume et Mercier aren’t exactly strangers to the Perpetual Calendar, having a couple in their collections already, but still, they’re not the first brand that comes to mind when you think of haute horology either. Now they’ve expanded their calendar collection with a new limited edition, the Riviera Baumatic 10742 Perpetual Calendar.
As part of the Riviera collection, this is part of Baume et Mercier’s integrated bracelet sports watch line. That means it has a 40mm diameter in steel with a combination of polished and satin brushed finishing and a broad dodecagonal bezel. It has incredibly strong seventies influences with that industrial Genta-esque aesthetic seen on watches like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, what makes this watch stand out from other Rivieras is the dial, which is where we find the perpetual calendar display. It consists of four subdials nested around the central hours, minutes and seconds hands. Those subdials are month and leap year indicators at 12 o’clock, date at 3, moonphase at 6 and days of the week at 9.
The Riviera Baumatic 10742 Perpetual Calendar has a gilded dial in a yellow gold tone with vertically brushed finishing. I kind of feel like it would look a little better if it was a salmon rose gold rather than the pale yellow they’ve gone for. But then again, maybe salmon would make it look a little too classic instead of the current vibrant sporty edge it has. So on balance I’m a fan.
Beneath the surface is the Baumatic calibre, an automatic movement with a 5-day power reserve and equipped in this instance with a Dubois-Dépraz perpetual calendar module. The exhibition caseback reveals its golden rotor and perlage finishing, which is a type of circular graining that to be honest I haven’t seen used on many watches this year. It feels like it’s fallen out of favour, replaced by Côtes de Genève – it’s quite nice to see it used here.
The Baume et Mercier Riviera Baumatic 10742 Perpetual Calendar Limited Edition is priced at £16,990 and is limited to just 50 pieces. That’s obviously vastly more expensive than your average Riviera but it’s important to keep it in context, for a perpetual calendar it’s an absolute bargain. It’s also not as pricy as their other perpetual calendars despite being much cooler, although that probably has more to do with the steel case.
Model: Baume et Mercier Riviera Baumatic 10742 Perpetual Calendar Limited Edition
Ref: 10742
Case/dial: 40mm diameter x 11.84mm thickness, polished/satin-finished stainless steel case, gold toned dial
Water resistance: 500m (50 bar)
Movement: Baume et Mercier Baumatic, automatic, 21 jewels
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 120h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, perpetual calendar
Strap: Polished/satin-finished three-link stainless steel bracelet
Price/availability: £16,990, limited to 50 pieces
More details at Baume et Mercier.
Oracle Time
editorial images © Peter Sutherland New Jersey-based sneaker and streetwear boutique Packer (a.k.a. Packer Shoes) is releasing a DW5600 collaboration to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of G-Shock. The design features of this limited edition made-in-Japan watch are meant to complement the resilient nature of the DW5600 with the theme of unearthing it as a relic. […]
G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog
I think the best way to describe the new Bell & Ross BR 03 41mm collection is “small changes, big impact”. On paper not a lot has changed compared to the existing 42mm model that was originally launched in 2006 and updated again in 2014. However, the newest additions are dramatically superior.
There are three main areas in which the BR 03 41mm has been updated. The size, the colours and the movement. Each one has an impact on the collection but in my opinion the latter is the most significant. However, as the first two are easier to notice since they’re structural and visual updates, let’s start there.
The change from 42mm to 41mm might sound small, it’s only a 1mm difference after all, yet that shouldn’t be overlooked. The square case of the BR 03 at any size makes it seem far bigger than it really is and since 42mm is already large, that feeling gets multiplied. Don’t get me wrong, at 41mm it’s still big but words like ‘mammoth’ and ‘huge’ drop out of the vocabulary. Plus, the lug size has changed from 4.5mm to just 4mm.
There are eight versions of the Bell & Ross BR 03 41mm available, four with steel cases and four in microblasted black ceramic. In steel you have the standard black and white edition, a blue version, a copper one and lastly a rich brown one called Golden Heritage. On the ceramic side is another black and white reference, a heritage black and beige one, a military edition in olive green and then the full black Phantom. All of them feature the same display with oversize Arabic numerals, large hands and a tiny date window tucked away between 4 and 5 o’clock.
Now we get to the movement, which is the new generation of BR-CAL.302. Instead of the 38-hour power reserve of the previous 302 the new one has a 54-hour power reserve. This is a change that I have been hoping to see from Bell & Ross for a long time as it really helps to justify the not insignificant price. Plus, the quality-of-life improvement that the increased power reserve represents cannot be understated. It can now hit all the buzz phrases people like to use like weekend-proof.
Of course, part of the credit for the improved power reserve has to go to Sellita. They’ve been very quietly upgrading a number of their movements and as such we’re seeing lots of brands like Bell & Ross reap the benefits. The Sellita SW200-1, arguably one of the most widely used Swiss calibres on the market, now has a 41-hour power reserve up from 38-hours, as seen in the Oris Divers Sixty-Five. The BR-CAL.302 is based on the SW300-1 a. Is this the long-awaited death of the sub-40-hour power reserve?
As for pricing, it varies reference to reference so there’s no easy way to talk about them except to list them. So here we go: Black Steel £3,200, Blue Steel £3,200, Golden Heritage £3,500, Copper £3,500, Black Matte £3,700, Heritage £3,800, Phantom £3,900 and Military Ceramic £3,900. A few of these colourways have equivalents in the existing 42mm collection and we can see that models like the Phantom have actually increased in price by £300, although others like the Blue Steel haven’t changed at all. Ultimately, I think the BR 03 41mm’s improvements outweigh any increase in price and as such this is one of the best value watches B&R have produced.
Model: Bell & Ross BR 03
Ref: BR03A-BL-CE/SRB (Black Matte)
BR03A-PH-CE/SRB (Phantom)
BR03A-HER-CE/SCA (Heritage)
BR03A-MIL-CE/SRB (Military Ceramic)
BR03A-BL-ST/SRB (Black Steel)
BR03A-BLU-ST/SCA (Blue Steel)
BR03A-GH-ST/SCA (Golden Heritage)
BR03A-GB-ST/SCA (Copper)
Case/dial: 41mm wide x 10.60mm thickness, black ceramic or stainless steel case, black matte/khaki matte dial (ceramic) or black/brown sunray/gilt copper/blue sunray dial (steel)
Water resistance: 100m (10 bar)
Movement: Bell & Ross calibre BR-CAL.302, automatic
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 54h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Strap: Black rubber (black matte, phantom, black steel), khaki rubber (military), brown calfskin (heritage, golden heritage, copper), blue calfskin (blue steel,
Price/availability: £3,200 (black steel, blue steel), £3,500 (golden heritage, copper), £3,700 (black matte), £3,800 (heritage), £3,900 (military ceramic)
More details at Bell & Ross.
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Coming to Japan on October 20 is the fourth G-Shock signature watch (GM-2100RI23-1JR) in collaboration with professional golfer Ryo Ishikawa. The partnership returns to the GM-2100 base featured in the second collaboration, but this time with a black and gold color scheme and a green dial in the image of a golf ball. The motivational […]
G-Central G-Shock Watch Fan Blog