INTRODUCING: The Franck Muller Vanguard Grande Date
A few days ago, we introduced you to the opulent curves of Franck Muller’s Cintrée Curvex Grande Date, a curvaceously cased complicated chronograph with a big date and semi-skeletonised dial. Well, today we’ve got something just as Grande in the date department: the Franck Muller Vanguard Grande Date, with a dial that’s a little more openworked, and a case that’s still plenty curvy. Vanguard by both name and nature, Franck Muller’s Vanguard collection extends on those oh-so-well-rounded proportions of the brand’s famed Cintrée Curvex case design, with bolder styling, larger dimensions and equally as strong curves. The tonneau-shaped case of this particular Vanguard Grande Date measures 44mm across by 53.7mm from top to bottom, with a thickness of 12.8mm, and is available in a variety of materials, from stainless-steel or titanium, to carbon or 18k rose gold (as pictured here). A larger case also means more room for the things that delight our eyes, with the inner architecture of the automatic in-house manufactured movement put on full display through the openworked dial on the front and a sapphire crystal on the back. It is only obscured by large lume-filled hour markers and semi-skeletonised hands, and the outer rings of small…
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At its heart, Panerai is about diving. The brand was born under the waves and continues to call the underwater world home. Which is why we found ourselves, several weeks ago, watching — slightly nervously — as a brace of Panerai Submersibles dipped into a giant tank full of rays, sharks and other (less threatening) fish at the Melbourne Aquarium. Thankfully, the watches were attached to the wrists of professional divers, who put them through their paces, leaving us in the position to debate the various merits of three stars in the Submersible line-up: the Submersible Carbotech, the Submersible in 42mm stainless steel, and the Submersible BMG-Tech. And while these three watches are all rock-solid, purpose-built dive watches, they also show off Panerai’s expertise when it comes to materials science. The Carbotech, named for the carbon composite it’s made from, is aggressive-looking, light-weight and downright cool. The 42mm steel model is classic in its construction and design. Finally, the BMG-Tech offers a bit of both: traditional Panerai styling with decidedly non-traditional material science in the form of the amorphous alloy case. For all that the superficial look is the same, these three watches are decidedly different.
There are a lot of things I love about Hublot, and I’ve got to say, this watch manages to cram pretty much all of them (barring ceramic) into one awesome, 45mm package. It’s the Big Bang Tourbillon Power Reserve 5 Days Sapphire Rainbow, and it does pretty much what it says on the tin. Let’s start with the case. Hublot has been playing with (and seriously democratising) ultra-hard, ultra-slick and ultra-cool synthetic sapphire cases since 2016, and it’s become something of a staple in their higher-end limited editions. For all its transparency, this 45mm wide and 14.25mm thick case has stacks of presence, providing an almost unbearably crisp, sharp silhouette. The incredible wrist presence provides an amazing juxtaposition with the transparent nature of the material. But in a twist that’s exclusive to the Australian and Japanese markets, Hublot has brought the rainbow heat to the equation, with a bezel stunningly set with 48 baguette-cut stones, arranged in a vivid, cascading rainbow. Ordinarily, the sapphire and rainbow combination would have had me swooning, but the movement takes it to the next level. It’s not a chronograph, but it is a tourbillon — a manually wound one with a hefty five days of…
