Ready for Take-Off with the Primus Carrier Pilot

German watchmanufacturer Hanhart, located in the beautiful Black Forest, extends ist Primus Pilot collection with a new, modern pilot’s chronograph in a rich royal blue: the Primus Carrier Pilot.
Hanhart is known for the production of pilot chronographs. Throughout history, the manufacture has also built watches for the navy. The new Primus Carrier Pilot combines those two elements – air and water. The name of the watch is reminiscent of the aircraft carriers stationed all over the world, on which military aircraft take off and land. Landing on one of these warships is one of the most demanding and dangerous aviation operations; even more so in bad weather or at night. The Primus Carrier Pilot is the ideal companion for these manoeuvres: perfect readability day and night, matt housing without reflections and flexible strap lugs for maximum wearing comfort.

The blue colour of the dial and bracelet is modelled on the depths of the ocean, while the hands and indexes reflect the design of a pilot’s chronograph. The blue colour in combination with the grey matt steel case gives the Carrier Pilot a truly unique look. And despite the modern, simple design, the watch still features the typical and highly popular Hanhart features.
As with the historic models from the 1930s, Hanhart relies on the proven and popular bicompaxe design: the subdials at 3 and 9 o’clock not only provide a balanced appearance, but are also very useful, since they are displaying the small second at 9 o’clock and the 30-minute stop at 3 o’clock.
Essential distinguishing features of Hanhart chronographs are the corrugated bezel with its red index point and the striking red pusher in the 4 o’clock position. The case comes in a diameter of 44 mm at a height of 15 mm and is water resistant up to 10 bar.

Inside the Primus Carrier Pilot the HAN3809 is working, an automatic chronograph movement. It operates at a frequency of 4 Hz and provides a power reserve of at least 42 hours.
The watch is worn on a blue textile strap matching the beautiful colour of the dial.

Astronomical Single-Hand Watch: MeisterSinger Lunascope

German watch manufacturer MeisterSingers crafts mechanical watches for people who aren’t interested in counting seconds, but see the bigger picture and want so stay on track. MeisterSinger builds single-hand watches – and follows a longstanding tradition in doing so. Although the movement of the long, single hour hand is hardly noticeable to the human eye, it is as relentless as the passing of time on ancient sundials.
Our division and representation of time always followed the movement of the stars. Even back in the Middle Ages, tower clocks emulated astronomical models, preferring to recreate the mechanics of the heavens on Earth rather than wanting to show single minutes or even seconds. Now, the renowned watch designer is presenting its first astronomical watch – the Lunascope.

The slender 40-millimeter-stainless steel case of the Pangaea family forms the ideal backdrop for the dial with its unusually large moon-phase display. The upper half of the dial features a dynamic cut in which the moon moves across a dark blue, starry background. The generous diameter of this timepiece allows a realistic depiction of even fine details of the moon’s surface – just like when you’re looking up at the full moon on a clear night.

The natural impression of the Earth’s satellite corresponds to the astronomical precision with which the Lunascope presents the moon’s various phases. The moon takes 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.9 seconds to circumnavigate the Earth. A lot of watches round this figure down to 29.5 days, which means their movements deviate by eight hours per year and need to be corrected by one complete day every three years. The movement specially designed for the MeisterSinger Lunascope is far more exact. Its moon-phase indicator only needs a slight adjustment after 128 years – a short period of time in astronomical terms, but a very long time in the world of watchmaking.
Since the Lunascope comes with a glass back, the Swiss automatic movement ETA 2836 can be viewed. And it provides a power reserve of 38 hours.

MeisterSinger offers the Lunascope in two versions: with a sunburst dial in the dark blue of the moon’s background or with a silvery opaline dial, on which the circular date window at 6 o’clock forms an optical contrast to the astronomical display. Both watches are completed by a calfskin strap.

25th Anniversary: Seiko Grand Seiko 9F quartz caliber

In 1988, the Grand Seiko team made a new quartz caliber that was worthy of the high standards the brand was – and still is – known for. At that time, rapid advances in quartz technology were being made but most were focused on the addition of new functions. The Grand Seiko team though, decided that they could, and should, go further by focusing on the simple essentials of precision and durability. They decided that to be the „ideal“ quartz watch, a new caliber was needed that would be even more precise, more durable and more in keeping with the aesthetics of Grand Seiko. Five years later, in 1993, the first 9F caliber, the 9F83, was completed.

The new caliber delivered advances in every aspects. Its hands were as long as those on every other Grand Seiko watch, the calendar change was instantaneous and the durability and reliability was enhanced. Caliber 9F incorporated key innovations such as a backlash auto-adjust mechanism to eliminate any shuddering of the second hand, a twin pulse control system to deliver increased torque and a unique protective shield to minimize the risk of dust coming into contact with the gear train or stepping motor. Still today, the caliber 9F can lay a strong claim to being the highest performance quartz watch in the world.

The new limited edition pays proud homage to the 1993 design. Its case and bracelet retain the soft contours of the original. There are, however, stylistic enhancements. In line with contemporary taste, the case is slightly larger, the Grand Seiko name is now at the 12 o’clock position and the dial carries a special pattern based on the traditional quartz symbol with, above the six o’clock marker, the 5-pointed star which, symbolises the extraordinary precision rate of +5 to -5 seconds a year.
This commemorative watch is offered in a limited series of 1,500 and will be available from April.

A second limited edition also commemorates the 25th anniversary of the caliber 9F. The case design is a contemporary re-interpretation of the celebrated 44GS from 1967 and showcases the beauty of the finishing on the 9F movement through an exhibition case back. The robust construction is clear to see and the striped pattern of the engraving bears witness to the care taken on the finishing on ever 9F movement, which, albeit hidden behind the case back in every other model, is assembled and finished by hand to the same high standard.
The dial, with its special markings and star symbol, is the same as on the first commemorative edition. The bezel is in gold. It is a limited edition of 600 pieces and will be available in May.

The case of both watches is made from stainless steel with a diameter of 39.1 mm and a water resistance of 10 bar.
Both watches are completed by a stainless steel bracelet.