5 October

The day in brief

Armin Strom has presented the Tribute³ Au750, an edition of eight pieces in which 18k rose gold moves beyond the case to the dial and the three bridges of calibre AMW21, with its 100-hour power reserve.

Hanhart signs its first official partnership with Steve McQueen's family, in a hand-wound 417 ES with flyback function limited to 300 pieces. Eberhard & Co. took the Scafograf 200 MCMLIX Bronze Edition to the Genoa International Boat Show, with bronze bezel and crown on a steel case, and independent Brellum releases 33 pieces of a COSC-certified chronograph with power reserve indicator.

Armin Strom takes gold into the bridges of the Tribute³

Announced on 2 October, the Tribute³ Au750 (reference RG26-TRI.AU) is the first version of the model in which 18k rose gold does not stop at the case. The off-centre dial, the seconds subdial and the three movement bridges are made of the same metal. The case measures 38 mm in diameter and 9.38 mm in height and is water-resistant to 5 atmospheres.

The decoration rests on three guilloché patterns: soleil on the hours dial, grain d'orge on the subdial and clou de Paris on the three-quarter bridge, visible through the back. On the dial side, the barrel sits beneath a mirror-polished gold finger bridge. The Breguet-style hands, in steel with grey PVD coating, are a first for the model, and the mainplate takes the same tone, which sets off the gold of the bridges.

The hand-wound calibre AMW21 measures 33.5 mm by 4.2 mm, has 21 jewels and runs at 25,200 vibrations per hour (3.5 Hz). Its 100-hour power reserve comes from a motor barrel. According to Armin Strom, the architecture is reversed compared with a conventional barrel: the drum is fixed and it is the arbor that winds the mainspring inside it. The brand says the solution saves space and helps keep the movement compact despite its autonomy.

Regulation is handled by a variable-inertia balance with a flat hairspring. Instead of an index that shortens or lengthens the active length of the hairspring, the watchmaker adjusts the rate by moving weights on the balance rim. The hairspring works free along its whole length, which favours rate stability over time. The trade-off is that adjustment takes longer and requires a dedicated tool.

The Biel/Bienne manufacture says it produces 97% of the calibre's components and assembles each watch twice. The price is CHF 69,000.

Find out more on the brand's website.

Hanhart puts Steve McQueen's signature on the 417 ES

Launched on 2 October, the 417 ES Steve McQueen Limited Edition No. 1 is the first Hanhart watch made in official partnership with the actor's family. According to SJX Watches, it is also the first time the German brand has been able to use McQueen's name openly. The signature appears on the black dial with the approval of his grandchildren, Chase and Madison McQueen, who took part in the project.

The connection is an old one. The 417 was introduced in the mid-1950s as a pilot's chronograph for the Bundeswehr, and ES designates the steel version (Edelstahl). McQueen wore one in private life and in motorcycle competition, including the 1964 International Six Days Trial in East Germany, as Monochrome Watches recalls.

The steel case measures 39 mm in diameter, 13.3 mm in height with the domed sapphire crystal and 46 mm lug to lug, with 10 bar water resistance. The fluted bezel rotates in both directions and the reset pusher is in red HyCeram. The strap is a bund-style cuff in Shell Cordovan, running beneath the case, as on the actor's own watch.

The movement is the hand-wound Sellita AMT5100 M, with 23 jewels, 28,800 vibrations per hour and a 58-hour power reserve. It has a column wheel and a flyback function: with the chronograph running, a single press on the reset pusher sends the hand to zero and restarts timing, without the stop, reset and start sequence. The function was born in aviation, where consecutive navigation legs had to be timed without losing seconds.

The edition is limited to 300 pieces and the price in Germany is 2,890 euros, including VAT.

Find out more on the brand's website.

Eberhard & Co. adds bronze to the Scafograf 200 MCMLIX

Eberhard & Co. presented the Scafograf 200 MCMLIX Bronze Edition at the Genoa International Boat Show, where it is official timekeeper. The watch had been previewed at Watches and Wonders and now enters the catalogue as a special edition, under reference 41147.01 CP.

Bronze is used for the unidirectional rotating bezel, with ceramic insert, and for the screw-down crown. The 39 mm case and the screwed back are steel. The dial is black, with round and triangular applied indices and bronze-coloured hand profiles; the hour hand takes up the triangular tip of the 1959 model, the year the name evokes in Roman numerals.

Bronze oxidises and takes on a patina with wear, different from one watch to the next. Limiting it to the bezel and crown keeps the surfaces in contact with the skin in steel.

The movement is a self-winding mechanical one and water resistance is 200 metres. At 9 o'clock there is an automatic helium valve, a device useful in saturation diving: during decompression, it releases the gas that has seeped into the case before internal pressure forces the crystal. The back is engraved with a starfish finished in 5N gold PVD. The strap is black water-repellent leather with bronze-coloured stitching; the Italian press also mentions versions on steel bracelets, in Milanese mesh or Chassis.

Find out more on the brand's website.

Brellum combines power reserve and COSC certificate in a 33-piece chronograph

Swiss independent Brellum put the black-dial Pandial Power Reserve LE Chronometer (reference DB.CH.955) on sale on 2 October, limited to 33 pieces.

The 316L steel case measures 43 mm in diameter and 15.9 mm thick, including the two domed sapphire crystals, and is water-resistant to 100 metres. The black dial, built on several levels and finishes, brings together date, 12-hour chronograph, tachymeter and telemeter scales and a power reserve indicator.

Calibre BR-750RM is an automatic derived from the Valjoux 7750, with 25 jewels, 28,800 vibrations per hour and 46 hours of autonomy. Each movement is certified by COSC, which involves 15 days of testing in five positions and at three temperatures, with an average daily rate between −4 and +6 seconds. The power reserve indicator, unusual on an automatic chronograph, is of real use: it shows how much wind is left when the watch spends days off the wrist.

The price is CHF 3,390 including taxes, or CHF 3,135 for export.

Find out more on the brand's website.

What deserves attention

Gold is no longer just case material. In the Tribute³ Au750 it enters the bridges and serves as the canvas for guilloché, at a time when several independents are looking to métiers d'art for a differentiation that mechanics alone no longer guarantees. This is an observation, not a measured trend: eight pieces do not make a market, but they show where this segment is looking.

Hanhart numbers the McQueen edition "No. 1", which suggests continuity. The brand has not announced other models.

On the calendar, Milano Watch Week closed yesterday at Palazzo Mezzanotte after three days. Next come WatchTime New York, from 16 to 18 October, and the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève ceremony, set for 7 November.