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A. Lange & Söhne Replica Dress Watch Hands-on Men Watch Swiss Replica

A. LANGE & SÖHNE Debuts Saxonia Boutique Edition GreyDial

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Late last year A. Lange and Söhne added two new models to their entry level piece, the Saxonia, which had been given a small cosmetic revamp at SIHH 2015 into a smaller 35mm piece as well as a slightly amended dial aesthetic in terms of hour and minute markers. These two new models came in the form of a new solid silver dark grey dial Boutiqe Edition, and the size has been increased from 35mm to 37mm (7.8mm thick), a size that is perhaps is more in fitting with current dress replica watch size and will broaden its appeal.www.repliqueparfaite.fr

Inside the replica watch is the manual-wind Calibre L941.1 (the same as for the other Saxonia) with a power reserve of 45 hours. The hand-finished movement displays Lange characteristics such as the hand-engraved balance cock.

The Saxonia collection seems to receive less publicity than other Langes, perhaps in part because they are their ‘entry’ replica watches, but there is no rational reason for their relative lack of fanfare, as they bear the Lange hallmarks and quality of finishing. For those who are looking to get into the brand, these are attractive propositions.

Available in either pink gold or white gold, we had the chance to take a few photos of the former. The white gold version comes with rhodiumed hands.

Both versions are available exclusively from the sixteen A. Lange & Söhne boutiques; prices are USD16,600 for this pink gold version and USD17,800 for the white gold model.

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Dress Watch Hands-on Swiss Replica Zenith Replica

Hands-on With Zenith StarMoonphase

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Today’s replica watch is a slightly unusual creature. The Star Moonphase is a 37mm cushion-cased replica watch in stainless steel containing the Elite Calibre 692, which has a power reserve of fifty hours.

 

With a thickness of 10.50mm to the 37mm size this is a what for me, is a more realistically sized modern cushion case replica watch. There are other cushion cases on the market at the moment but I’ve found that many are a tad on the big size for most people. The Star Moonphase however, sits perfectly, with none of the sides jutting out, and no necessity to push it above my wrist to sit properly. I became quite attached to it during my couple of weeks with it, wearing it most of the time. It is, however, very much a dress replica watch. That’s not to say that it doesn’t look good with. jeans and a t-shirt, but they don’t feel like its natural home.

Part of the Star Collection which is clearly targeted at women, it is perhaps the least stereotypically (and overtly) female-targeted piece in the line. After having spent a few weeks with it, and having shown it to a large number of people, I’d even be so bold as to suggest that Zenith either change the strap (more on that later) and market it as a unisex piece, or somehow not categorise it at all.

So, to the strap. It is black alligator leather with protective rubber lining. The lining is a bonus for those who live in warmer climes and worry about the effect of perspiration on leather, and it comes on a very secure triple-folding clasp.

There is, however, one small issue – it is quite short. This is something that is readily rectified with a strap change, but after my weeks with it and letting quite a few people try it on, it became apparent that there were men who would consider buying it for its looks and size, but the strap being so short hinted at it being targeted at women, and whether I like it or not, this will be a factor in the decision-making process of many.

With its shiny rhodium-plated hands the anthracite dial with guilloché motif has more ‘depth’ to it than appears at first glance. Its dial colour almost seems to change colour depending on lighting; occasionally showing hints of chocolate under certain conditions and greyish under others. Without the guilloché this colour (and thus the replica watch) might have felt a bit lifeless, but with the texture allowing the play of light on it, it looks good.

 

This is not to say that there weren’t plenty of men who can wear it on this strap, because there were, but it is noticeably short. Putting it on another strap might just open up a few more minds to what is quite an attractive replica watch.

The Australian RRP for the Zenith Star Moonphase is $7,800.

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Dress Watch H.Moser &Cie Replica Hands-on

HANDS-ON With H.Moser Cie Swiss AlpWatch

Remember this video? As a piece of low cost guerilla marketing it was inspired, with its coverage far and wide amongst tech press, many (most?) of whom didn’t really seem to get the point, or humour.

If nothing else, the dial makes it unmistakably Moser but when I held it, did I think of the Fruit Replica Watch or the Swiss Alp? Interestingly (to me), the latter. When it came out, when I posted the video, all I could think of was this replica watch as a ‘statement’, but it’s really more than that.

I found that I was not thinking that this is one brand’s playful message to the Fruit Replica Watch when I held it, when I tried it on. I was simply on what was before me. As one would expect of a well made white gold replica watch it feels solid, enduring. This isn’t a wrist piece with a very short shelf life, and as a replica watch (versus as a ‘reaction’) it does stand on its own.

 

Inside is something that doesn’t have an inbuilt obsolescence – the in-house manual wind Calibre HMC 324 (18,000 VPH) with hacking seconds and four days of power reserve (a power reserve indicator is visible on  the back). This is a movement that measures 32.0mm x 36.0mm x 4.80mm, made to fit snugly into the case, and hand finished and decorated.

So yes the video is an err ‘homage’; the shape is the same, the size similar (38.2mm x 44.0mm x 10.3mm), the lugs similar (although wire lugs are hardly new to replica watches) to the Fruit Replica Watch, but it is made of white gold, and otherwise vastly different.

With its signature Moser fumé sunburst dial with leaf-shaped hour and minute hands and coming on a kudu leather strap in ‘Moser green’, the Swiss Alp is limited to 50 pieces and priced at USD 24,900.

 

Would I wear it? Possibly.

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Bremont Replica Dress Watch Hands-on Men Watch

BREMONT’s new RegattaChronographs

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Both the OTUSA and the Bremont Regatta AC use a modded chronograph, adapted to create the five minute countdown function situated at 12 o’clock for the sailing function. When you press the chronograph pusher the white window progressively reveals the word “START” and the red arc counts down from 5, changing to white. At the end of five minutes the two arcs recommence their cycle. As well as the centre chronograph seconds there’s a running seconds at 9 o’clock and a twelve hour counter at 6 o’clock.

If you follow Bremont, Giles or Nick English on Twitter/ Instagram then you will be well aware of the enthusiasm with which Bremont has entered into their relationship with the America’s Cup ORACLE Team USA.

At Baselworld 2016 they announced the addition of four new chronograph Regatta replica watches to add to their America’s Cup Collection in the form of new limited edition pieces – Regatta Oracle Team USA (OTUSA) White, Regatta OTUSA Black, Regatta AC Stainless Steel, and Regatta AC Rose Gold. All the new pieces are 43mm in size, and I am sharing one of each with you today.

The movement is an automatic one made for them by La Joux-Perret with a power reserve of forty-two hours and is COSC-certified. You will also note the America’s Cup decoration on the rotor.

With its polished case Regatta AC is more classically styled of the two new designs, particularly with the use of Arabic numerals and blued hands for the stainless steel version. The Bremont Trip-Tick® case has a scratch resistant DLCd case barrel.

 

Whereas the AC models have a chronograph centre seconds. running seconds at 9 o’clock, date and 12 hour counter at 6 o’clock and a 5 minute countdown at 12 o’clock, the OTUSA has a 15 minute Regatta timer and 5 minute countdown at 12 o’clock.

The Regatta Oracle Team USA replica watches have one detail that you may not know at first glance is that high-grade carbon fibre taken from the yacht foils of the winning 2013 Oracle Team USA AC72 yacht is incorporated into each of the crowns.

There will be a limitation number of two hundred and thirty five for this model, and one hundred and thirty five for the rose gold version.

As mentioned above, the Regatta Oracle Team USA will also be in black or white dial variants with a limitation of two hundred and thirty five pieces for each colour. Both colours have a titanium case with the same DLCd case barrel as the other model, their bi-directional rotating bezels lumed with Super-LumiNova. Indices and hands are also lumed.

The America’s Cup replica watches are not just Bremont’s first regatta replica watches, but they told me that they are also the first English regatta replica watches, which is definitely something to be celebrated for them.

All the new models bar the 18 carat rose gold have a Temple Island rubber strap and titanium pin buckle; the Regatta AC Stainless Steel has a blue strap, the OTUSA a black one. The 18K rose gold model is supplied with a brown alligator strap with matching 18K rose gold pin buckle.

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Dress Watch Hands-on Swiss Replica Zenith Replica

BASELWORLD 2016 : Introducing Zenith Elite 6150 RoseGold

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You may recall that a year ago at Baselworld 2015 Zenith launched Elite Calibre 6150 (‘6’ for ‘Elite’, ‘150’ for their birthday of the same), a movement with 195 components, a 100 hour power reserve, 3.92mm high, and released in a time-only eponymous 42mm stainless steel piece.

 

Now it was only recently (due to them not having been available in Australia) that I had even had the chance to look at the (highly successful) stainless steel model but now I have, and with it this new rose gold model.

My conclusions?

Well I have been asked in the last few days about how the replica watch wears, by those who prefer their dress pieces smaller than 42mm.

As I noted at the time, this appeared to be a better looking release than the Zenith Ultra Thin that in a way preceded it. One thing that did make me ponder was their decision to increase the case size to 42mm, 2mm more than their previously existing Elite collection.

This year at Baselworld 2016 not unsurprisingly, Zenith have added to the Elite 6150 range with a new rose gold model.

Firstly, it looks big at first glance. The dial seems expansive, due to the small curved bezel (there is also a rounded crystal, old acrylic-style). If you are used to or prefer smaller dress replica watches then your first response may be to think that it is too big for you.

 

As I noted before Elite replica watches are characterised by conservatism, but there is an important role for this in the Zenith range. I must confess that I had really liked this replica watch in the press photos but been concerned that I might not like it as much (or at all) ‘in the metal’; a plain time-only design can look elegant on paper (as it were) but in real life perhaps a bit well, ‘flat’ as it were, if that make sense.

However, appearances are deceptive. The rounded nature of the model mean that if for example you put it side to side with another 42mm Zenith (I compared it with the 42mm Chronomaster case) it looks smaller. It also sits, in that comparison, smaller on the wrist as well. Which is all just reinforcement of what I know I bleat on about a bit – don’t get hung up on the mm numbers, try if you can, try a replica watch before forming an opinion about whether you can wear it or are comfortable wearing it. Each replica watch sits differently according to case curvature/ shape, and lug length/ design.

It is with some relief that I have discovered that it’s actually better than in the photos, with the proportions on the dial in terms of the lengths of the hands and markers in relation to the size of the dial etc spot on. If you are looking for a slim elegant time-only dress replica watch on the other side 40mm plus then this is worthy of your consideration.

The RRP for the Elite 6150 Rose Gold in Australia is $17,800.

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Calendar Watch Dress Watch Glashütte Replica Hands-on

The Glashütte Original PanoGraph Hands On

The Panograph is descended from a somewhat more complicated replica watch that appeared during a complicated time: the PanoRetroGraph. The PanoRetroGraph was originally introduced 16 years ago, in 2000, only a year after A. Lange & Söhne debuted its in-house flyback chronograph, the Datograph. Both replica watches were unprecedented in a lot of respects – really new chronograph movements are very rarely developed even today, and for two to come out within a year of each other, from a small town in Germany, from two manufacturers within shouting distance of each other, was something very few of us at the time had seen coming.replique de montre

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Glashütte Original Panograph in rose gold.

While the Datograph was, and is, a hand-wound, column-wheel, lateral-clutch flyback chronograph, the PanoRetroGraph was something even more complex: a hand-wound, column-wheel-controlled, 30-minute countdown counter with a chime, struck on a cathedral gong, to indicate the end of the timing interval, as well as a flyback chronograph.

Given the proximity of Glashütte Original to Lange you could wonder if there hadn’t been some peeking over the fence from one brand to the other to see what was going on, but given the length of time it takes to develop a chronograph movement, and the significant technical differences between the Datograph and the PanoRetroGraph, more or less parallel, but independent, development seems the likeliest scenario. As Sherlock Holmes says, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the case.”

The original PanoRetroGraph and its movement, the GO caliber 60, was made in a limited series of only 150 pieces, in platinum, and even today, there isn’t really another replica watch out there quite like it.  ]The year that the PanoRetroGraph came out also coincided with the acquisition of Glashütte Original by the Swatch Group, where the company remains today.

The PanoRetroGraph did lead to the production of a less complex but still unconventional chronograph: the PanoGraph, with the hand-wound, column-wheel, lateral-clutch flyback chrono movement, caliber 61.

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Glashütte Original Panograph caliber 613 OF 8

It’s not an especially big replica watch – 40 mm x 13.7 mm – but it wears and feels bigger, partly due to the generally very solid build quality, and partly due to certain aspects of the design, like the relatively narrow bezel and the generous amount of white space.

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There are two things to discuss when it comes to the dial: the overall composition and choice of design elements, and the quality of the dial work itself. Qualitatively, the PanoGraph is impeccable; everything from the hands, to the applied markers, to the beveling on the date window, quality of printing, and so on, shows every sign of a lot of very serious attention to detail. From a design perspective, the PanoGraph’s a little harder to figure out.

There’s a tendency, for whatever reason, to expect a German-made (and especially Glashütte-made) wristwatch, to give an overall impression of solidity and focus on build quality and mechanical integrity. There are other approaches to replica watchmaking to be found in Glashütte, of course (the vibe you get from a NOMOS, for instance, is obviously much more contemporary and overtly design focused) but when it comes to fulfilling an admittedly somewhat stereotyped idea of German replica watchmaking in general, and Glashütte replica watchmaking in particular, the PanoGraph fills the bill nicely.

The sub-seconds dial and tail on the seconds hand give the replica watch a slightly archaic feel and at first, this seems slightly at odds with the sector for the chronograph seconds, but over the course of a week of wear, it started to seem much more natural to me than it did at first glance. If I had to pick one element of the design that seems challenging, at least the first few times I wore the replica watch, it would probably be the fact that the composition, plus the big date, seemed irresistibly reminiscent of A. Lange & Söhne. Ultimately, though, by the time the week was over I’d stopped seeing the Lange 1 in the back of my mind, so to speak, when I looked at the PanoGraph, and it had started to assume an identity of its own.

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I’m not sure how much the feeling that this particular design can seem derivative of the Lange 1 is really inherent to the design, and how much of it stems at least somewhat from the fact that you know both brands are from Glashütte – I suspect it has a lot to do with it. In any case, for me, the design of the GO PanoGraph is sufficiently its own thing that by the end of the review period, I saw the PanoGraph as a PanoGraph, and not as something derivative of anything else.

In terms of operation, it’s good news all the way around.  In addition to being a very legible replica watch, thanks to the high polish of the dial furniture and the textured dial finish, the chronograph operation’s very smooth as well, with crisp but not rough pusher feel for start, stop and reset – there’s a clean break at the detent, which is not so stiff as to be unpleasant nor so soft in feel as to make for an uncertain transition.

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The nice thing about wearing a replica watch like the GO PanoGraph for a Week On The Wrist is that you have something pretty exciting to look at when it’s off the wrist. Caliber 61-03 gives you a great viewing experience, and there’s a full suite of finishes, including Glashütte stripes, straight-grained and black polished steel, nicely beveled edges on both plates and bridges, blued steel screws and jewels in screwed-down chatons, and so on.

Between the pragmatically luxurious look of the movement (if something can be called pragmatically luxurious) and the very structured, highly detailed dial, this very much left me with the impression of a replica watch that’s more formal than not. Given its size and complexity, it is certainly not a replica watch suitable for formal wear, and it seems clearly designed to make a very overt impression, but there’s no doubt you feel, if you’re in jeans and a polo shirt, and you’re wearing the PanoGraph, that the replica watch might be a little better dressed than you.

Interestingly, GO uses perlage on some visible elements of the mainplate; this finishing technique is more often confined to areas under other elements of a movement, or to the dial side (bottom plate). Here, they actually give an interesting, somewhat industrial contrast to the other, more overtly luxurious finishes, and once you strap the replica watch on, you get exactly that secret sense of satisfaction you should that there’s more to what’s on your wrist than meets the eye. I’d only wish for a few really sharp inner angles, the better to counteract the slightly industrial feel of the perlage.

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There are replica watches that you forget you’re wearing, more or less, unless you look at them, and it’s not just a matter of price; a Patek Calatrava and a Seiko 5 can both manage the same vanishing act though in other respects, they couldn’t be more different replica watches. Wearing a PanoGraph is a bit like wearing a bow tie or driving a carefully battered vintage Rolls-Royce to the grocery store to pick up a carton of milk – you’re deliberately looking to create an effect, while at the same time deliberately saying you’re the sort of fellow who does things for his own reason and doesn’t care all that much about other people’s opinions.This is a replica watch to wear because you like complexity, prefer making style choices of your own instead of following rules, and don’t mind rising to the occasion.

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The Glashütte Original PanoGraph: movement, GO caliber 61-03, 32.2 mm x 7.2 mm, column wheel, lateral clutch chronograph with seconds and 30 minute counter; large date. 28,800 vph, 42-hour power reserve. Case, 40 mm x 13.7 mm, 18k red gold. $34,600, as shown. See it at Glashütte Original online.

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Dress Watch Hands-on IWC Replica Men Watch Swiss Replica

Introducing The IWC Mark XVIII

The first time I ever read anything about the IWC Mark series, it was thanks to (of course) everyone’s favorite non-watchmaker replica watch writer, the inimitable Walt Odets, who in his series, “Tweaking The Mark XII” called that particular Mark “every non-pilot’s favorite pilot’s replica watch.” (I call Mr. Odets a non-watchmaker but of course, while he might not be a card-carrying full time professional, he obviously is a guy who knows his way around a movement, to put it mildly.)

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Overall, the Mark XVIII is one of those replica watches that you can simply wear every day, without taking any particular notice of it, which I mean as a compliment. Over the time I wore it (which was actually longer than a week by several days) it quickly became a matter of habit to pick it up, put it on my wrist, and pretty much forget that it was there unless I needed to check the time. At 40 mm in diameter, and 11mm thick, it’s a replica watch that has enough substance, and size, to feel and look reassuringly solid when you glance at it, but not to a degree that calls attention to itself in any way when you aren’t using it as it was intended to be used.

The strap, like the replica watch, has a very substantial feel, and it’s a little stiff at first although it starts to break in nicely after a couple of days. I suspect it’ll age very nicely and become comfortably supple without losing any of its toughness after a few weeks of regular wear, and like the replica watch itself, it manages to convey a feeling of being able to tolerate hard use, but also not call too much attention to itself (at least, once it’s worn in). The strap and the replica watch together definitely feel like a piece of trustworthy equipment.

I wasn’t so much interested in the Mark XII as I was interested in what you’d do to tweak a movement so as to wring the best possible precision out of it, at least at first, but like many, I gradually began to find the simplicity, clarity, legibility, and history of the Mark XII irresistible and like many, I’ve followed the evolution of the Mark series ever since then with avid interest.

A big part of the easy wearing experience is the strap, which is a black strip of pretty heavy-duty feeling calfskin, made by Santoni for IWC, with an eye-catching orange lining. You don’t see it at all when you’ve got the replica watch on, of course, but the little flash of color you get when you take the Mark XVIII off adds that much more character to the wearing experience. A little touch, but a nice one.

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The time is, as it should be, instantly legible, pretty much under any lighting conditions you could possibly imagine, from direct sunlight to total darkness, thanks to the high contrast dial and generous application of lume on the dial. It’s not as torch-bright as some of the most brightly illuminated replica watches I’ve worn, but even after the first bright glow of charged Super Luminova wears off, you can see what time it is just fine. This is a very, very versatile replica watch as well, thanks to the simplicity and utilitarian nature of the design.

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Now, about that date window. My impression over the years has been that it is very hard to add a date window to a Mark replica watch without irreversibly ticking some people off, and deploring the use of any date window on a Mark series timepiece goes all the way back to the Mark XII, which was (of course) deplored in some quarters for diluting the austere beauty of the Mark XI with a reminder of the current date – in white, no less. I don’t think anyone would argue that the position of the date window in the Mark XVIII is going to rub some of us the wrong way (of course, we don’t need to speculate as every online review of the Mark XVIII that has a comments section has hosted a very vigorous back and forth on the subject). The two basic objections are to its placement (slightly further from the edge than the other dial elements) and to its being there at all.

Oddly, despite the fact that both it and the Mark XVII are nominally sports replica watches, to me the Mark XVIII feels a bit more like a sports replica watch, probably thanks to the altimeter style date window, which of course was the single most polarizing aspect of the Mark XVII’s design. Without it, the Mark XVIII has a more universal feel to it and depending on how you dress, you can probably get away with wearing it with anything short of black tie. Come to think of it, a gent of sufficiently imposing and masculine carriage, probably could wear it as a sort of go-to-hell gesture even with a tux (although it takes a lot of self-assurance to pull that sort of thing off, and if you hear the slightest whisper of a doubt in your head, I wouldn’t try it).

For me it was a very satisfying replica watch to wear. It’s clean, clear, with terrific legibility and ease of wear on its side, and I’m sort of a sucker for any replica watch that achieves its antimagnetic resistance through an iron inner case and dial instead of through the use of amagnetic alloys and silicon, which for no particularly rational reason I just don’t find as sexy. It’s an outdated solution, sure, but there’s something romantic, something kick-the-tires-and-light-the-fires about it. I’m definitely not a pilot, but I like my pilot’s replica watches to be a little window into a world whose authenticity I have to appreciate from the back seat, so to speak, and I’m very pleased that the Mark XVIII lets me, just a little bit, feel like I’m in the cockpit rather than behind a desk.

I don’t feel especially passionately on the subject either way. Very often the replica watch I happen to have on doesn’t have a date guichet, but (and this is just a personal note) I tend to forget the date and I don’t mind having it there on the Mark XVIII. In principle I definitely sympathize with those who wish it weren’t there at all, but in practice I found it something I could simply ignore, and in real life (or as much of real life as a week and a half represents) it didn’t bother me in the least. I will say though, that if you hate it in pictures, you’re probably not going to stop hating it if you have the Mark XVIII on your wrist.

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The Mark XVIII is a very simple replica watch, but it carries a lot of history along with it, and how much you enjoy wearing it depends a lot – maybe mostly – on how emotionally connected you are to that history in general, and what parts of that history resonate with you the most in particular.

The IWC Mark XVIII is 40 mm x 11 mm with a soft iron dial and inner case for magnetic resistance. As shown, black dial; sapphire crystal with double antireflective coating, “secured against displacement by drop in air pressure,” water resistance, 6 bar/60 meters. Movement, caliber 30110 (ETA base) adjusted to temperature and five positions by IWC, center seconds with date, 42-hour power reserve. Price, $3,950. See the whole collection at IWC.com.

Check out our in-depth comparison of the Mark XVIII with the Mark XVIII “Le Petit Prince”  and how they stack up against the Mark XI here.

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