Steady, As She Goes

Steely Conviction

An extensive selection of complicated, stainless steel watches at SIHH and Baselworld emphasized the dominance of the midrange segment.

Blancpain presented a new edition of its Bathyscaphe, a diver’s watch originally designed in the 1950s that was reinterpreted by the brand to suit daily wear. This year’s version features a new self-winding F385 movement with flyback chronograph function, housed in a 43mm brushed black ceramic or brushed steel case. The domed dial comes in either black or meteor grey, and like the original Bathyscape is free of any numerals, with lines and dots serving as hour markers and rectangular hands. A date window appears at 4 o’clock. All models come with NATO fabric or sail canvas straps, which are great for aquatic use. The steel version also comes with a metal bracelet, a first for this line.

The Aquatimer family was IWC’s focus this year, and one of the new models launched at SIHH was the Aquatimer Chronograph Edition '50 Years Science for Galapagos.’ This jubilee edition celebrates Charles Darwin Research Station’s five decades of scientific work on the Galapagos Islands. Limited to 500 pieces, the watch is equipped with the automatic 89365 movement that offers a 68-hour power reserve, SafeDive system and flyback function. The chronograph is water-resistant to 30 bar and comes in a 44mm rubber-coated stainless steel case.

This year, Montblanc showcased an entirely new collection called Montblanc Meiserstück Heritage Collection, a series inspired by its iconic writing instrument of the same name. The entry-level model, Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Date Automatic, is offered at HK$22,000 (Euro 2,090) and comes in a stainless steel case with a narrow, polished bezel, finely arcing lugs and cambered crystal treated on both sides of the surface to prevent reflections. The dial features black indices for the minutes, sharply faceted applied indices, an applied Roman numeral XII and a date window with a polished frame. The watch is fitted with the self-winding MB 24.17 calibre.