Categories
Montblanc Replica

REPLICA MONTBLANC : Homage to Nicolas Rieussec LimitedEdition

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Montblanc’s distinctive Nicolas Rieussec chronograph has had a design revamp this year, with a notable new ‘Homage’ edition. Although launched earlier this year, I did not have the opportunity to handle it until Replica Watches & Wonders 2014 in Hong Kong, when I met the Montblanc Australia team.

This new cheap replica Montblanc Homage to Nicolas Rieussec is a monopusher (column wheel) chronograph with a second time zone and ‘hidden’ hour indices that show their lume only in the dark. For those unfamiliar with the Nicolas Rieussec pieces, you will notice the rather distinctive twin counters that are a feature of the collection. Inspired by Rieussec’s 1821 chronograph, these twin (counter) discs, white lacquered in this instance, provide minutes and seconds indications. For some more detail (and background), go to my post about the Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours here.

The dial on this new tribute piece is simple, and to my mind at least, the better for it; white with blue on the hands and with a lovely contrasting grained time ‘dial’ that is a hybrid ceramic with SuperLumiNova perhaps the sole indulgence on an otherwise simple dial. The date display is at 3 o’clock and the day/ night indicator for the second time zone, at 9 o’clock. The second time zone’s hand is skeletonised, to make it easily identifiable.

The chronograph is operated by the monopusher at 8 o’clock. Elapsed time is via two rotating discs, with a horizontal blued-steel hand in the middle acting as a counter for both. On previous models, the measurement of elapsed time happened with a 60-seconds and 30-minutes counter hands. On this model, the hands are fixed, and it is the discs that rotate.

The lumed aspect that cannot be seen during daylight hours, the Breguet numerals showing the time, appear where the railway minute tracks are during the light hours of the day. This is a wonderfully whimsical aspect of this piece, and it is to my regret that there was no way of creating a small dark space in which to see this during my viewing.

Inside is the Montblanc automatic R200 movement with three day power reserve, made in-house by Montblanc. Self-winding with twin barrels, it has a three day power reserve.

The new Homage to Nicolas Rieussec is 43mm and comes in stainless steel and in rose gold, limited to 565 pieces and 193 pieces respectively. The ‘193’ refers to the year of Nicolas Rieussec’s first patented chronograph.

[Horologium attended Replica Watches & Wonders 2014 at the invitation of Richemont Australia]

Categories
Panerai Replica

PANERAI : Radiomir 1940 Marina Militare 3 DaysAcciaio Replica Watch

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Having already written about my favourite new piece from Officine Panerai’s Replica Watches & Wonders 2014 launches, today’s post is about another piece that grabbed my attention, the PM587 limited edition (1000 pieces) Marina Militare Acciaio, in a 47mm Radiomir 1940 case. For those who don’t know, the Radiomir 1940 cases with their solid lugs represent a significant part of Panerai’s history, the period between the Radiomir and the Luminor cases.

The PAM587 is an homage to the original Marina Militare Ref. 6152/1. At 47mm with a sandwich dial, in a further commendable historical nod, it uses Plexiglas and not sapphire crystal. There is also a spare Plexiglas in the box. Visible through the open caseback is the Panerai manual-wind Calibre P.3000 that is in other 1940 models, with a three day power reserve. Of particular note is that the hour hand can be indepedently set, which makes time changes a lot quicker.

The design bears marked similarities to that of the incredibly popular PAM372 but with longer sharper hands, and most importantly, the ‘MARINA MILITARE’ designation on the dial, the first time this has been permitted to be used since the original model. Straps being of vital importance when it comes to Panerai, the PAM587 comes on a vintage-looking brown leather strap with ecru stitching that matches the colours of the dial indices, and hot-stamped with the “OP” logo.

With every model that is either an homage or a nod to a historical model inevitably bearing the brunt of Paneristi scrutiny, to my admittedly rather personal mind at least, this is a very good looking modern interpretation of the original Marina Militare that may possibly appeal to those who liked the PAM 372 but not Luminors, but also to those who like the 1940 case and are looking for something with a strong historical identity. If you  have been thinking about adding a Radiomir to your Panerai collection, this one is worth seriously considering. Pricing is HKD77,500, EUR 7,900.

[Horologium attended Replica Watches & Wonders 2014 at the invitation of Richemont Australia]

Categories
Swiss Replica

Replica Bremont WrightFlyer Limited Editions Hands On

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A few months ago elelgant replica Bremont launched the latest in their series of limited editions which pay tribute to important historical places and events that relate to Bremont’s focus on matters aviation-related. The Bremont Wright Flyer pays tribute to, as the name indicates, the groundbreaking”1903 flight of the Wright Flyer.  As with the previous limited editions such as the Codebreaker, Bletchley Park and Victory, which also contained mementos significant to each, the Bremont Wright Flyer incorporates a small piece of the muslin fabric from the wings of the Wright Flyer itself, in the rotor. The fabric was given to Bremont by the Wright family, and part of the proceeds of the sale of the replica watches will go towards the restoration of the Wright family home in Ohio.

With thanks to Nick Hooper of MAD Australia and Denis Martinet in Hong Kong I recently had the opportunity to view one of these special new Flyers, the white gold model, at the Bremont Boutique in Hong Kong.

In the brand’s classic 43 mm Trip-Tick case, design-wise it is unmistakably Bremont, with railway scales on both the dial and sub-dial, the latter with a discreet ‘1903’ reference to the Wright Flyer. Colourwise the cream-coloured numerals/ hands and white of this limited-to-fifty-pieces white gold model gives it a more ‘vintage’ aesthetic than the black dialled stainless steel model, but the latter is more affordable, and there will be more (300) of them made. The rose gold one, with a similar dial to that of the white gold model, will have a limitation of 100 pieces.

As you can see on the reverse, there are quite charming and almost whimsical ‘propeller’ and initialled references to both Orville and Wilbur Wright.

When the Wright Flyer was announced there was what can only be called a bit of a hullabaloo about its movement, the BWC/01 automatic with a fifty hour power reserve. I have already written about it here, so I will not revisit it except to say that for those who don’t know about what happened it is worthwhile reading about, both because of how significant it was at its launch, and because of the broader issues that it raises. Plus, there was a lively discussion in the ‘comments’ section of that post.

Alas, having a bit of significant aviation history does not come cheap. The WG model is priced at £30,950, the RG £27,950.00 and the stainless steel, £17,950.

Categories
Panerai Replica

WATCHES WONDERS 2014 : Panerai Radiomir 1940 withmicro-rotor Replica

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Having read on QP about a new Panerai Radiomir 1940 to be launched at Replica Watches & Wonders 2014, I made a beeline for the booth on day one, and found the new 45mm PAM572 and PAM573 with the P.4000 micro-rotor Calibre. Big chunky tool replica watches going slim? What is happening to the replica watch world? Is it turning on its axis? Innovation and development, that’s what’s happening.

In recent years Officine Panerai has recognised that there is a demand for smaller Radiomirs, and introduced smaller models such as the 42mm PAM512 also in a 1940 case, and with which this new PAM572 has been superficially (and by that I mean dial aesthetics) compared, or for those who like the non-1940 case, the PAM380 for example, which is 45mm.

What is so special about the new PAM572 and PAM573 (the latter a RG ‘Oro Rosso’version)? Well inside this new 3.95mm thick 45mm case is Officine Panerai’s first automatic movement with a micro-rotor. Swiss Replica Watch people get excited about micro-rotors for a myriad of reasons to do with slimness, technical achievement, and aesthetics; there is no right/ wrong reason, but there is little doubt that they are attention-grabbers and attractive to many people. The new movement is also part of the first automatic Radiomir 1940.

The P.4000 is the latest in OP’s in-house developed movements and will allow modules to be added to the basic form, so let your imagination run a bit wild about what might appear in the next few years.

With a thickness of 3.95mm and a diameter of 31mm, the P.4000 consists of 203 components, including 31 jewels. Ticking along at 28,800 vph, the calibre has two independent but connected barrels and a power reserve of 72 hours. For those who like this sort of thing, and I know that many of you do, it is a hacking seconds. If you are unfamiliar with what a ‘hacking’ seconds is, when the crown is pulled out the seconds hand stops, allowing for greater accuracy when setting the time.

As mentioned, this new piece will come in two versions – a stainless steel one with the micro-rotor in tungsten, and a red gold model with a gold rotor, circular brushed finishing, gilded engraving. The PAM572’s dial is black with luminous Arabic numerals and hour indieces, the PAM573 has a brown dial and the same luminous numerals and indices. The water resistance for the PAM572 is 10 bar (100m) and 5 bar (50m) for the PAM573.

There have been discussions regarding the ‘automatic’ text on the dial in terms of whether it should be there or not – given the nature of this particular replica watch, this particular model, within the broader context of OP, I understand why it is there, but as with most of the ‘minutiae’ when it comes to Panerai replica watches, people will no doubt be debating about it for years to come.

This was a replica watch I had been eager to see at Replica Watches & Wonders. Now having seen it, and some of the other OP releases during the fair, this remains my favourite, followed by the Marina Militare special edition. There will be two thousand PAM572 coming out this year, and five hundred of the PAM573.

The pricing is A$12,200 (8,900 EUR) for the PAM572 and for the Oro Rosso PAM573, A$28,500 (19,900 EUR).

[Horologium attended Replica Watches & Wonders 2014 at the invitation of Richemont Australia]