A New Aesthetic for the Perpetual Calendar from Montblanc

Montblanc just unveiled its new Heritage Manufacture Perpetual Calendar Limited Edition 100. This watch features vintage aesthetics, being inspired by historical Minerva wristwatches from the 1940s and ’50s, and a beautiful rose gold case.
Invented in the 18th century, the perpetual calendar complication is a highly complex mechanism that automatically takes the number of days in the month, as well as the cycle of leap years, into account. This way, the perpetual calendar automatically corrects itself for short month, including the 29th of February in leap years. This way, as long as a watch with a perpetual calendar is kept running, it won’t require any manual adjustment for decades. To achieve this, the functions draw on a technical memory of 1460 days, representing four years. To this day, the perpetual calendar continues to fascinate and delight watch enthusiasts, making it a very popular complication.

The Heritage Manufacture Perpetual Calendar Limited Edition 100 indicates the hours, minutes, day, date, month, moonphase, and leap year – and is still a very legible watch. This is due to the large subdials at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. And the new aesthetic, featuring a brown colour scheme, suits this watch extremely well. The sapphire crystal class box continues the elegant vintage look of this watch.
In line with the design codes of the Heritage line, the Heritage Manufacture Perpetual Calendar Limited Edition 100 comes in a 40 mm rose gold case with curved horns. It is water-resistant up to 5 atm.

This watch is powered by the in-house calibre MB 29.22. This movement with its perpetual calendar complication took Montblanc three years to develop and was introduced two years ago. The calibre comprises 378 components of which 259 are dedicated to the perpetual calendar function. The mechanism allows the user to adjust the watch via the crown in both directions, which is unusual. Also, Montblanc has built in a safety feature, that prevents any setting between the hours of 6 pm and 12 pm, when any manipulation could potentially (and very likely) damage the movement. The movement works at a frequency of 4 Hz and provides a power-reserve of approximately 48 hours.

The Heritage Manufacture Perpetual Calendar Limited Edition 100 is equipped with a brown alligator leather strap, which completes the overall design nicely.

Rado Is in Touch with Its Feminine Side

Rado is proud to be known for a balanced collection which offers an equal range of watches for women as for men. It’s just one of the things that makes the manufacturer unique in the watch industry. And with the recently introduced, classic and minimalistic DiaMaster collection, Rado is now showing its softer side – without compromising the hardness and durability of their high-tech materials.

Rado has chosen mother-of-pearls for the DiaMaster-dials – and diamonds. The dial ring formed by the diamonds is the centrepiece of the watch and is the perfect foil for the all-new moonphase indicator.

For the case, Rado has opted for the rose coloured material Ceramos. It is a scratch-resistant mix of 90% high-tech ceramic and 10% metal alloy, and its rich beautiful hue contrasts perfectly with the overall minimalist design of the wristwatches. The monobloc case is with only 5.3 mm in height fantastically slim and measures less than 38 mm in diameter. This makes the watches of the DiaMaster collection suitable for all female wrists, even the slimmest. All cases offer a pressure resistance of up to 3 bar.

All new DiaMaster models are powered by Swiss-made quartz movements; more precisely by the ETA 282.002. The DiaMaster moon phase is equipped with the ETA F05.841. Quartz movements ensure that the watches are slim and therefore they are also light and they offer a high accuracy as well.

The pearl effect stamped leather straps form an optical unit in combination with the case and the mother-of-pearl dial. Thanks to the Rado EasyClip system all straps can quickly and easily exchanged to personalise each DiaMaster for a truly unique look.

Vacheron Constantin Has a New Horological Muse

The Égérie is the new horolocial muse of Vacheron Constantin, and it joins the world of Haute Manufacture. In this new collection dedicated to women, Haute Horlogerie meets Haute Couture, seen through the prism of craftsmanship, precision, excellence and beauty.
The sophisticated style of Haute Couture is subtly paired with the asymmetrical aesthetic faithfully perpetuating the Vacheron Constantin heritage. Thus, the new Érégie collection weaves the face of watchmaking femininity; a watch featuring a classic look, draped with a mischievous touch: inspiring, independent and charismatic.
The feminine name of this collection derives from the famous nymph Egeria featured in Roman mythology to the contemporary muses who inspire artists and designers.

A delicate interplay of textures and intertwined shapes, alternating flat and raised areas; a pleated effect reminiscent of fabric; a singular asymmetry borne by a fluid aesthetic: such is the exquisite aesthetic of the Égérie watch.
Égérie is also the modern interpretation of aesthetic codes cherished by Vacheron Constantin, which has been offering off-centre displays since the early 19th century, notably by playing on two intertwined circles. Égérie has made this its signature touch. The date or moon-phase integration is thus part of a subtle diagonal line formed by the logo and the crown daringly placed between 1 and 2 o’clock. Depending on the model, the latter is adorned with a cabochon-cut moonstone or a rose-cut diamond.

A dial featuring a pleaded pattern. A diamond halo resembling slender braiding and accentuating the feminine shape of the case. And above all, sophistication in every detail, expressed through pleasingly harmonious geometry punctuated by gold Arabic numerals, daintily scalloped like lace.

The Érégie self-winding is availbable in rose gold or stainless steel. The 35 mm pebble-shaped case is crowned with a slender bezel overstitched with 58 diamonds. The dial sets the stage for a delicate opaline silver work of art composed of concentric circles, graced with a pleated pattern. The calligraphic numerals evoke fine embroidery, while the leaf-type hours and minutes hands recall fine needles used by nimble fingers.
The Égérie self-winding is powered by the calibre 1088, an in-house automatic movement that provides a power-reserve of 40 hours.

The night star is at the very heart of the Égérie moon phase model, which comes in a 37 mm case in rose gold or steel, which a diamond-set bezel. An offset circle glittering with 36 diamonds displays a dreamlike version of time, with the gold moon appearing in a starry sky revealed behind clouds formed by a delicate mother-of-pearl assembly. The enchanting charm of this model is further enhanced by its opaline silver dial and pleated pattern.
The Égérie moon phase model is available in stainless steel or rose gold; both versions feature a generous diamond setting. Both are also fitted with the calibre 1088L.
But – the Égérie moon phase is also available as diamond-pavé model in white gold. Its white gold case bears 292 diamonds, while the dial deploys its concentric circles amid a shower of 510 diamonds.

Vacheron Constantin supplies all models on either stainless steel or leather straps, depending on the version.

The Moon and Stars at H. Moser & Cie.

The latest creation H. Moser & Cie. introduced embodies technical complexity; it is elegant, poetic and unconditionally understated, more than worthy of the manufacture’s watchmaking tradition.
With the Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept Aventurine, H. Moser & Cie. lets you voyage deep into the Milky Way, bringing not just the moon to your wrist. Paying tribute to the lunar body, the interpretation of the moon phase it provides is minimalist yet highly poetic.

At six o’clock, a silvery moon waxes within a beautifully proportioned window. This satellite takes on a resolutely modern and reduced appearance. In this ode to purity, H. Moser & Cie. has opted for a Concept dial, stripped of indices and logo, to allow the moon complete freedom of expression. And, because the brand never does anything half-heartedly, it gives the wearer not only the moon but also the stars. To enhance the beauty of the moon, the watch is equipped with an aventurine dial, subtly twinkling with brilliant inclusions to spectacularly mirror the constellations of the night sky.

Let’s look at the movement: The Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept Aventurine is one of the most precise moon phases available, with just one day’s deviation every 1027 years. It is powered by the HMC 801 hand-wound Manufacture calibre. It provides a power reserve of at least seven days, with an indicator on the movement side.
The moon phase display system is an extremely precise display that can be set to within a minute. It can be easily adjusted using the push-button located on the case flank, aided by the small central arrow-shaped seconds hand, which is a 24-hour indicator.

The Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept Aventurine is available in red gold or steel. Both materials magnify the beauty of the Aventurine dial. The cases have a diameter of 42 mm.
An alligator leather strap completes the piece; black for the red gold model, midnight blue for the steel version. Each model is released in a limited edition of 50 pieces.

Passionate and Glamorous: The New PanoMatic Luna

Glashütte Original celebrated on the International Day of the Kiss, July 6, 2018, the magic of love and passion. With a special limited edition, that truly comes from the heart, a beautiful women’s watch.
Studded with diamonds and rubies, the PanoMatic Luna proudly wears the colour of love, permitting this mechanical ladies watch to give its classic moon phase display a new, exceptionally enticing appearance.

The dial of the new PanoMatic Luna unites two romantic elements in an elegant composition. On the background of a white mother-of-pearl dial, the softly curved moon in relief and the silver-coloured, starry night sky reveal a poetry all their own. At 2 o’clock, one finds the vaulted opening of the moon phase display. The curve of the moon is the product of great manual skill and attentive diamond milling in the watchmaker’s own dial manufactory in Pforzheim, Germany.
This spectacle of the changing crescent moon is complemented by 18 ruby indexes, which offer luminous red reflections on the opposite of the dial, and serve as a frame for the off-centre hour and minute display. They are positioned together with the small seconds – in classic Pano style – along a vertical axis in the left half of the dial, while the moon phase display and characteristic Glashütte Original Panorama Datum adorn the right side.

What, without the brilliance of the stars, would a romantic night sky be? The bezel on the new PanoMatic Luna is set with 64 brillant-cut diamonds that reflect light with every movement. They form a glamorous frame for the round, 39.4 mm stainless steel case, whose crown is adorned on the right side by a ruby. Sapphire crystal, antireflective on both sides, assures optimal views from the dial side.
Ticking within the PanoMatic Luna is the manufactory’s own calibre 90-12 automatic movement, which can be admired through the sapphire crystal case back. The latter opens up the view to the refined decorations on the heart of the watch, and to the coveted duplex swan-neck fine adjustment from Glashütte Original. A great many other traditional elements of Glashütte watchmaking offer irrefutable proof of the origin of the watch, among the the three-quarter plate and characteristic Glashütte decorative finishes.

The watch is held in place on the wrist by a radiant red Louisiana alligator leather strap, which together with a pin buckle ensures a secure and stylish fit. As mentioned earlier, this PanoMatic Lunar is a limited edition of only 50 pieces.

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.

Elegant AND Cool: The Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase „Lumen“

In 2013, A. Lange & Söhne introduced the Grand Lange 1 „Lumen“, a watch with a semi-transparent sapphire-crystal dial that exposes the ingenious disc configuration of the Lange outsize date. It was followed a year later by the Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase with a prominent in-dial moon-phase display that reproduces the lunations with an accuracy of 99.998 per cent. Now, the Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase „Lumen“ combines these two remarkable accomplishments in one watch.
The watches of A. Lange & Söhne are known for being elegant, sophisticated, elaborate and understated – not exactly „cool“. But with the Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase „Lumen“ the watch manufacturer presented a watch, being all what we expect from A. Lange & Söhne while being – well – cool.

The dial of the new model is made of blackened silver with ample apertures and black-tinted, semi-transparent sapphire-crystal glass. The special clothing applied to the glass blocks most of the visible light but not the UV spectra that „charge“ the luminous pigments on the outsize-date mechanism and cause them to glow in the dark. The tens cross is coated with a white luminous compound and printed with black numerals. Conversely, the units disc, also featuring black numerals, is made of transparent glass and rotates in front of the luminous background of the date aperture.

Different from Lange’s previous moon-phase models with solid-gold lunar discs, the Grand lange 2 Moon Phase „Lumen“ has a disc made of glass. Initially, its surface is treated with a coating process. In a second step, a laser is used to cut out 1164 stars and the moon. Thanks to the luminous compound behind the lunar disc, they shimmer with vibrant radiance.
The large moon-phase display occupies a prominent position on the main dial. Once properly set, it only needs to be corrected by one day every 122.6 years. Between one and four o’clock A. Lange & Söhne placed a big power-reserve indicator, at five o’clock there’s a small second.

The watch is powered by he manually wound calibre L095.1. It is elaborately finished, the three-quarter plate made is decorated with Glashütte ribbing. The large mainspring barrel delivers power for 72 hours.
The calibre is housed in a 41-millimetre platinum case.

The Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase „Lumen“ is a limited edition of only 200 watches.

Time For An Update: The Lange 1 Moon Phase of Lange & Söhne

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The Lange 1 Moon Phase by A. Lange & Söhne is around since 2002. The Lange 1 received an upgrade quite recently and now it’s the turn of the Lange 1 Moon Phase. The watch now comes with a new calibre and the moon phase has also changed: it now contains a day/night indicator as well.

The arrangement of the moon phase display is based on a new, particularly realistic concept. A separate solid-gold moon pursues its orbit in the foreground. Behind it, a celestial dis – also made of solid gold – performs one revolution every 24 hours. On the disc, the different times of day are represented by varying blue hues caused by interference effects. During the day, it shows a bright sky without stars, while at night it depicts a dark sky with prominently contrasting laser-cut stars.
The lunar cycle endures 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3 seconds on average. The Lange 1 Moon Phase displays it so accurately that it takes 122.6 years for the display to deviate from the true synodic period by just one day.

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The asymmetric solid-silver dial sets a harmonious stage for the luminous time and power-reserve indications complemented with an outsize date, the moon-phase display, and the day/night indicator. Hours and minutes are displayed on a big subdial at 9 o’clock, the power-reserve indicator lies below the date at 3 o’clock. And A. Lange & Söhne incorporated the small seconds in the moon-phase display.

The now 20th (!) Lange calibre with a moon-phase display is based on the Lange 1 movement introduced two years ago, and it has the same performance attributes. This includes the maximum power reserve of 72 hours and the precisely jumping outsize date display. It beats with a frequency of 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour.
The 70 parts for the moon-phase display were so integrated in the L121.3 manufacture calibre that it is only marginally larger than the calibre L121.1 inside the Lange 1.

The Lange 1 Moon Phase is available in white gold with a black dial (39.500€), in pink gold with an argenté dial (35.900€) and in platinum with a rhodié dial (52.000€).
Also, A. Lange & Söhne can now be found on Instagram. Apart from news and new models the manufacturer wants to offer exclusive looks behind the scenes.

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More Excellence at Glashütte Original: New Senator Watches

Recently, Glashütte Original launched two new models expanding its new Senator Excellence line: the Senator Excellence Panorama Date and the Senator Excellence Panorama Date Moon Phase. With the introduction of the new manufactory Calibre 36 Glashütte Original laid the cornerstone for a new generation of in-house timepieces. And the two new models are fitting in the collection quite nicely.

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The Senator Excellence Panorama places the watchmaker’s well-known date display at centre stage. The secret of its exceptional legibility lies in the mounting of two concentric display discs on the same level, which makes it possible to present the two numerals comprising the date without the central separation bar. A precise jumping mechanism now enables even greater precision when the date changes at midnight. Refined details transform this useful function into a decorative stylistic element. A rounded window integrates the display into the dial in an elegant manner, and two steps enhance the impression of visual depth. The printed numerals are set off in deep black from the ivory-coloured ground.

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The Senator Excellence Panorama Date Moon Phase combines the date display with a further characteristic element from Glashütte Original – the moon phase complication. In a dial window between 10 and 11 o’clock a curved moon travels its path in front of a starry, galvanic blues sky. The display is executed in Glashütte’s own dial manufactory.

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Now. The calibre 36: precision, running time, stability and aesthetics – these attributes are promised by the new movement. Both functions are distinguished by an extremely stable construction principle and they also set new standards in terms of user friendliness. Not only the date, the moon phase as well can be adjusted using the crown. But 122 years will pass before the moon phase needs to be corrected by one day in order to achieve renewed conformance with the synodic month.
The calibre works at 4 Hz and comes with a power reserve of more than 100 hours.

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Both models are presented in a 40 mm diameter case that is fashioned in red gold or stainless steel. Both cases feature polished and satin-brushed surfaces, the bezels are slim and house a domed sapphire crystal.
The silver-grained dials feature laser-cut, galvanic black hour indexes and matching railroad chapter rings. On the stainless steel model the minute numerals are also laser-cut and galvanized in black, while the red gold version features minute numerals printed in red.

All watches are come with a black alligator leather strap.