2024-02-17 11:06:48

The green of the great underwater meadows of the Mediterranean (Jacques Bianchi).

VULCAIN: Neo-vintage yours…

It’s the story of a classic watch that pays homage to a classic watch who herself paid homage, etc. Translation: the new Grand Prix (re)launched by Vulcain is a faithful reissue of the Grand Prix watch launched by Vulcain in the 1960s in homage to the Grand Prix awarded to the Vulcain house in 1929 at the Barcelona International Exhibition. On the move for this squared exhumation [quoique la montre soit ronde], always the same “thanatopractor” Guillaume Laidet, a young French watchmaker who has made a specialty of reviving the Sleeping Beauties of watchmaking legend (here, Vulcain, but elsewhere Nivada Grenchen or Excelsior Park – which does not did not stop us from launching, in a retrofuturistic style, the amazing Spaceone watches). Suffice it to say that the new Grand Prix combines the markers of this neo-vintage wave which seems set to take everything: the size (39 mm), the stylistic sobriety (round case, Swiss Landeron automatic movement that nostalgics will applaud, three hands, minimalist indexes , dial “emptied” of any unnecessary mention offered in three colors (cream, gray, black) without embellishments, sapphire crystal curved as it should be and a price that might not be more sympathetic in these inflationary times (around 1,500 euros) A great retro-nostalgic bath, this Grand Prix watch at a low price…

BALTIC: Brightly yours…

A new collection for the young independent French brand Baltic, which is paving its way in this concern for neo-retro-classico-vintage elegance which never stops recomposing watch catalogs. The new Prismic dare to return to 36mm steel and titanium cases [ceux d’il y a vingt ou vingt-cinq ans] under double-domed sapphire glass, with dials in more current colors, but finishing details (guilloché, small seconds, geometric indexes, alternating brushing, graining and satin finishing even on the hands, bracelet ” mesh » braided mesh, etc.) worked with a very contemporary concern to play as well as possible with the reflections of light. The movement is obviously Swiss (an excellent Peseux 7001 with manual winding, just to keep the case elegantly slim: 9.2 mm). Beautiful work, which allows us to understand the fantastic progress made by independent French watchmaking over the past fifteen years: for just under 1,000 euros, it is a permanent temptation (four dial colors available: gray blue , purple, salmon, green). These Prismics clearly set the framework for this new watchmaking (creative, “meaningful” and accessible) that the Swiss brands did not want to see come because they are so damaged in the splendid arrogance of their statutory pretensions…

BVLGARI: Elegantly yours…

The Lucea collection (Lvcea for purists) is one of the best news that has happened in women’s watchmaking since the dawn of the 21st century. Ideally placed at the crossroads of watchmaking and jewelry, Lucea watches are celebrating their ten years of sparkling creativity this year, in a permanent festival of plays of light and Italian joie de vivre, that this extreme femininity is expressed in gold or steel, in precious stones or in lapidary know-how, in fine mechanics or in ultra-jewellery. The new metal bracelets (slightly rounded and softened V-shaped links) demonstrate the fundamental elegance of this collection, which is distinguished this year by dials executed in mother-of-pearl or malachite marquetry: there is a tribute to the sun in the charm radiant with these new models, perfect in 33 mm, but just as attractive in 28 mm. The year is starting off in style at Bvlgari…

BA111OD: Deltoidally yours…

Although initially disconcerting, this watch is no less fascinating. The name of this young independent Swiss brand – Ba111od – is in itself unpronounceable, unless we relate it to the surname of its founder, Thomas Baillod. The name of the watch itself is equally esoteric: CHPTR_Δ AGIL, but just pronounce it “ Delta Agil Chapter “, with ease [le Agil étant une dédicace secrète « à Gil »]. The rest is almost less complicated to understand/ We immediately spot an almost normal hand: these are the minutes, with their circular graduated scale. You have to look for the half-sphere which indicates the hours on the interior edges of the curved triangle in the center of the dial: the movement of this “hour” is not linear, but hypocycloidal – it follows the edges of the triangle, which has twelve “ index” like any self-respecting circular dial. On the dial below, it is 10:10, or 22:10 if the sun has set! Perfect precision over twelve hours despite this slightly swirling advance of the triangular hour and equally Swiss accuracy of this deltoid watchmaking mechanism [normal : la montre est Swiss Made, avec un mouvement automatique suisse de chez Soprod, qui a été retravaillé par Olivier Mory, la star montante de la nouvelle horlogerie suisse, pour parvenir à cet affichage inaccoutumé du temps qui passe]. The good surprise is the ultra-accessible price of this high-mechanical masterpiece which will be billed at around 3,000 euros, whereas we would demand ten, twenty or thirty times more with the name of a “great brand” on the dial: Thomas Baillod set out to democratize fine watchmaking – we owe him, among other things, a tourbillon Swiss Made for less than 3,500 euros! The bad news is that there will only be 111 of these CHPTR_Δ AGIL watches and half of this contingent was already pre-sold in the hours following the announcement of their launch on the market [ce matin, il en restait moins de trente !]. It’s not every day that we offer you a world first hypocycloid and deltoid, capable of proving to you that something is not going right with the passing of time…

JACQUES BIANCHI: Underwaterly yours…

Posidonia “forests” are, on the shallows of the Mediterranean, natural grasslands which must be preserved at all costs for the balance of the marine environment – ​​which the idiots who tear them up and destroy them by planting the anchor of their yachts do not seem to understand [ce qui constitue maintenant un délit !]. It is to the natural treasure that constitutes these Mediterranean “meadows” that the young independent Marseille brand Jacques Bianchi (named following the last living legend of French diving, still on deck in Marseille) wanted to dedicate its new diver, the JB2000 Posidonia, remarkable in more than one way. We will appreciate the green rotating bezel and the green “smoked” dial, without the slightest allusion to diving (octopus or otherwise) while displaying the traditional codes of contemporary “divers” – notably the Swiss automatic movement and water resistance to 200 m [de profondeur, pas 200 m du parasol de plage !]. We will also appreciate the “Tropic” style bracelet in green rubber. Above all, we will appreciate the price, perfectly in line with market expectations: barely more than 1,000 euros for this “Posidonia” with a big heart, very urban in its 42 mm case and even attractive with its winding crown on the left of the housing. Could this be the “diver” of the year, when this quality-price ratio promises to be almost unbeatable?

GOOD TO KNOW: In brief, in bulk and in complete freedom

•••• WATCH SHOWS : in Munich, the Inhorgenta meeting begins the watchmaking festivities of the year, with a tripled surface area for the watch brands which deserted Baselworld without finding a place in Geneva during Watches & Wonders. Inhorgenta has thus recovered most of the entry-level brands which exhibited in Basel, but also thousands of professional visitors who no longer have reason to go to Geneva, where the exhibiting brands are setting up distributions more and more often. more exclusive and verticalized, which therefore attract fewer and fewer professional visitors to Watches & Wonders. This is what the Swiss might call shooting themselves in the foot… •••• CONSTANTINE IS THAT : it’s a bit cruel to tell you regarding a unique piece, but this Zebra watch by Konstantin Chaykin [le plus génial des jeunes maîtres-horlogers russes] is a strong signal to confirm the maturity of Russian watchmaking. This is the first automatic micro-rotor movement (caliber K. 33.3) entirely designed and produced locally – an indication of the decline of prestigious Swiss watchmaking, whose movements until now powered the productions of Konstantin Chaykin? We know that mastering the micro-rotor is one of the most “advanced” exercises in the fine arts of watchmaking mechanics, but the mission did not put off Konstantin Chaykin, who thumbs his nose at us with his zebra Russian (!): the hours in the eye to the left of the dial, the minutes in the right eye and, in the nostrils, the days of the week (in Russian!). Admire the horns of the watch as you pass: these are the ears of the zebra. The winding and time-setting crown located at six o’clock has a function in itself: when it is pulled out, the zebra’s “smile” changes from white to red. We’ll let you think regarding the bracelet, which brings us to a highly metaphysical question: is the zebra white striped on a black background, or black striped on a white background? Bravo, Mr. Chaykin: continue to amaze us!

• THE DAILY WATCHES

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