Hands-On – Schwarz Etienne La Chaux-de-fonds Tourbillon Petite Seconde Retrograde (Baselworld 2017)
Schwarz Etienne started with a vertical integration strategy a few years ago, going as far as producing hairsprings in-house, with their sister company E2O innovations (read our recent introduction article about the brand here). This involved deep products’ evolution and a strategy based on a modular approach to movement development; a family of mechanical movements was created and evolved into different versions. Today, we take a look at the interesting La Chaux-de-Fonds Tourbillon Petite Seconde Retrograde, which was presented during Baselworld 2017.
Forgive us readers for we have sinned. It’s been two weeks since our last Wind Down. But we’re hoping you’ll forgive us as we’ve been a little preoccupied with the cavalcade of new releases that is Baselworld. Well, now we’ve overcome the jetlag and it’s back to business as usual. Which today means making the most of the fading summer sun, with a beer in hand and some very fresh memories to pick through. What happened Honestly we’re still coming down off the Basel high, and getting up to speed with the wider watch world so we’re probably not as well placed as usual to tell you. But we do know there’s record breaking auctions in the offing, yet another Hodinkee limited edition and it looks like we’re getting a Patek Philippe boutique in Sydney. Stay tuned for our top picks of Basel video that’s dropping tomorrow, but until then, how about a Best Of list with a difference? Written by a guy named Eric. What really mattered Remember that bag of swag we’ve been stuffing with the best watch swag we can find, in preparation for giving it away to one of our subscribers? Well, just a few minutes ago we…
There’s a lot of love in the Time+Tide office for the Slim d’Hermès collection – it’s classic, classy and somewhat free from the Swiss traditionalism that constrains the rest of the fine watch industry. So we’re very happy to see Hermès continuing to expand this relatively young collection, this time with a new platinum-cased perpetual calendar. A perpetual calendar has been part of the family from the beginning. When the Slim was announced in 2015, the rose gold case with silver dial was the complicated heart of the range – a mature take on a traditional function. Structurally this new platinum version is exactly the same: 39.5mm case, in-house H1950 base movement with Agenhor calendar module, and impeccable Hermès strap. The only real changes are the case material and the new, deep blue dial. Cosmetic tweaks, but enough to make this feel like a completely different watch (and not just because the platinum adds some serious heft). The blue sunburst dial is oh-so on trend, with just the right touch of mystery. I particularly like how the mother-of-pearl moon and its aventurine night sky blend into the dial, as well as the little pop of red on the second time…
