It's entirely old-world but Seiko says the direct inspiration comes from a charity they support that is conducting underwater archeology near the Greek island of Fournoi. Seiko does not specifically name the charity/research outfit, but the project is working to better understand navigation and sailing in the Mediterranean as far back as the fourth century. But, while it's a strength in some ways, this is also the Polo S's greatest weakness in the eyes of the purists. It feel like a "safe" watch, adding nothing new and taking no real risks. As such, it falls below what we would have expected from the Piaget of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, which did not shy away from offering radically different pieces from the competition, from the slim watches with hard stone dials to the original Polo. I hardly think this was a watch on the tip of anyone's tongue ahead of the show, but I genuinely tried to think of something off the beaten path for my choice this year. In fact I was conflicted and came up with two ideas. The first was something far less novel – and less revive-y – by way of an all-gold Black Bay Chrono (see it in the lead image of this story). Glycine did this so the bezel couldn't move under different conditions and it would remain accurate for the second time zone. Imagine if one was using that second time zone for something important and it got rotated - it could be life-or-death in some situations, eek. The mesmerizing color gradients on the bezel draw inspiration from the array of hues found in the natural wonder of the Aurora Borealis. This effect is achieved through a unique, multi-step processing, including recrystallization to achieve a rich texture and then a hardening process utilizing carbon on the steel's surface before finally receiving a coating of rainbow IP. When Rolex first released meteorite dials on Oysterflex bracelets in 2021, they were paired with models on precious metal bracelets and precious metal bezels. I’ve said before that I thought that combination was a bit anachronistic, and while I am sure there are a few folks sad that these variants didn’t return, I’ve only got eyes for the Oysterflex.

First up is this 18k pink gold perpetual calendar with both minute repeater and tourbillon. You'll also notice the calendar functions have Chinese indicators. The 55-hour power reserve is indicated on the reverse, on the right hand flank of the 2755 QP caliber. Very different questions were being asked of Patek in the '80s and in the 2010s, and I tend to like its answers to those challenges from the '80s more. In 2018, Cara wondered why results of the 3970 always felt a little softer than they should – and in the last couple of years, they've crept upward. At Sotheby's, these two perpetual calendar chronographs have the same high estimate ($120,000); I'm choosing the 3970EP every day. And while this new version feels like the most conservative and predictable version that is currently available, I won't deny that it is a beauty. The silvery opaline dial of the 5270J has yellow-gold leaf hands for the hours and the minutes and applied yellow-gold markers. The apertures for the day, month, leap year, and day/night indicator have subtle inner frames. The drop-off in the lugs allows the watch to sit on its lugs, not the caseback, when laid flat. It also gives a very comfortable shape on the wrist despite the 47.5mm lug-to-lug. The crown is also important, not necessarily for the design but because the movement was designed for the tactile feel of manual winding. I almost never win any sort of online giveaway contests. I don't even bother entering them anymore. But the one time in my life I did win a giveaway contest, a decade ago in 2012, the prize was a watch. The Florida-based microbrand Ocean7 was giving away one of their LM-7 models, and as luck would have it, I was picked.

I'm a firm believer, and so are our owners who invested in this business, that it's becoming more and more of a hybrid thing. You could see watch fairs and auction houses and galleries almost coming together in a common space down the road. I think our customers are shopping in all channels or in more multi-channel shopping. replica breitling navitimer Visitors got to see new watches presented at SIHH or about to be presented at Baselworld months before they will be available in stores. They could purchase or order watches, of course. "But this is not the purpose of the show," Lupo says. "The purpose is to be a communication platform, where visitors can learn about watches and understand them better.