HANDS-ON: The Longines Heritage 1945
One of the highlights on our Baselworld calendar is seeing what heritage re-release Longines has cooked up, and whoo boy, have they pulled out all the stops in 2017 or what. You’re looking at the Heritage 1945, an absolutely on point interpretation of a mid-century dress watch. Based on a 1945 design called the Calatrava by collectors, this watch does everything right. Funnily enough it’s the exact watch that Sunflowerman illustrated as part of the Watercolour Watch project back in 2015. The 40mm steel case is simple, and not overly fussy, with a flat bezel just the right width and a slender-yet-functional crown. The mid-tan nubuck strap with single line of reinforcing stitching in contrasting thread walks a perfectly straight line between dress and casual. The real star is the dial. For such a minimal layout, Longines has packed it full of sexy detail. First of all there’s the vintage velvet effect of the brushed copper-tone convex dial, then there’s the alternating steel-tone applied hours markers and printed mid-century Arabic numerals, all of which contrasts with the long, elegant leaf hands in blued steel. The small seconds subdial has a concentric circular finish, just to keep things interesting. Oh, and…
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Seiko’s reputation in the world of professional dive watches is unimpeachable, and a trusty Seiko diver is a staple in any well-rounded collection. But, until now these watches have primarily been made under the Seiko Prospex label. Well, that all changes today with the introduction of the first ever professional-grade diver made under their top tier label, the Grand Seiko Hi-Beat 36000 Professional 600m Diver. Released in two versions, the regular production black-dialled SBGH255 and the limited edition (of 500) blue-dialled SBGH257 is every inch a professional grade diver: with a large 46.9mm wide and 16.9mm high titanium case, powered by Grand Seiko’s excellent 9S85 movement, accurate to -3/+5 seconds a day. Moreover the ingenious design of the case (specifically the L-shaped crystal gasket) means that it’s suitable for gas saturation diving, without the need for a helium escape valve that would blemish the otherwise clean lines of the case. The watch is has magnetic resistance of 16,000 gauss, thanks largely to the solid iron dial. The unidirectional bezel, with elapsed time scale is heavily notched to ensure ease of operation, even at depth. What isn’t captured in this roll call of specifications is just how seriously manly this watch is.…
Last year Grand Seiko released a new-look, sporty, modular, ceramic and titanium Spring Drive Chronograph. It was a bold change of pace for the usually buttoned-up brand, and I’ve got to say it both surprised and delighted me. Baselworld 2017 sees the return of this modular approach, in the form of the Black Ceramic Collection – a trifecta of three Spring Drive GMTs. There’s a black dial (SBGC221) and a white dial (SBGC223), but the version that caught our hearts and inspired out minds was the blue and gold SBGC219. Of course this is the limited edition (500 pieces). But there’s something about the rich colour scheme, complex dial layout and big 46.4mm case that just works. Add the enhanced accuracy (how does an accuracy of + 0.5 – 0.5 a day sound?) of the 9R96 into the mix, and this is a watch that has all the bells and whistles you could ask for. In addition to the titanium and ceramic case, Grand Seiko has added a high-intensity titanium bracelet with ceramic centre links into the equation. It’s a welcome addition that suits the look better than the alligator straps last years versions came with. There’s no denying that…