Regular readers wondered what happened to the Friday New Watch Alert. The feature was an enormous time suck with minimal SEO payoff. I decided that my time (and mental health) was better spent on more focused, search-friendly editorial. But I missed the new watch trawl, too. So I’m experimenting with a new format: three watches on an irregular basis. Starting with Vianney Halter’s new more-than-somewhat pricey timepiece . . .
Vianney Halter DEEP SPACE RESONANCE LE – $972k plus tax
Play the video. Otherwise, you might conclude that spending a million bucks on a watch is a tad extravagant. Dance monkey, dance! After 25 years of development, Mr. Halter has released unto the world a triple-axis tourbillon with an acoustic coupling mechanism linking two balance wheels. quillandpad.com explains the underling resonance principle in an article that marks this as the fourth watchmaker to make it work. Most famously . . .
“François-Paul Journe created his Chronomètre à Résonance timepiece 20 years ago,” Q&P informs, “it was the first wristwatch to achieve the phenomenon of natural chronometric resonance through dual movements that synchronize themselves for greater accuracy.” Wait. Greater accuracy? Greater than a Grand Seiko quartz? Nah. But not even GS’s disembodied constant force tourbillon can match Halter’s piece for sheer drama. The DSR isn’t shirt cuff compatible, but then you can’t wear a Bugatti Chiron on your wrist.
BALL Engineer Master II Skindiver Heritage – $2949
New watch alert! Finally! Our four-star review of the DeepQUEST II praised the aesthetically challenged diver for its astounding strength and durability. Our five-star review of the Engineer III Pioneer sang its praises for putting those characteristics in a more palatable package. The Engineer Master II Skindiver Heritage maintains the technology that makes tool watch junkies want to play BALL and nails the look. THIS is the 42mm ceramic bezeled non-Rolex Rolex you’re looking for.
If you can’t be bothered to read the previous reviews’ recitation of features, we’re talking about a sports watch that’s shock resistant to 5000 G’s, water resistant to 300m and anti-magnetic to 80,000A/m; powered by a COSC-certified modified ETA 2836-2 that’s accurate to -4 to +6 seconds/day. BALL’s bracelets are the bomb and their tritium tube lume practically sings hello darkness my old friend. Pricey but peerless (unless you’re a Sinner).
Lüm-Tec Combat B48 GMT – $420.75 (15% pre-order discount)
Whoa. I didn’t see that one coming: a Lüm-Tec watch with an orange dial (gray and yellow are this year’s colors, supposedly). Not UT burnt orange, thank God. It’s the red/orange generally recognized as the best hue for not messing with your night vision, often used for instrument clusters (e.g., BMW’s dashboard). The question is: how well does orange X1 grade Super-LuminNova work in the dark? Does it keep you new watch alert? With a name like Lüm-Tec it better be good.
I dig the Combat B48 GMT’s second time zone solution; the half-orange, half-black inner ring preserves overall legibility. An anti-shock mounting system (of some sort) protects a quartz Ronda 515.24H movement that’s water resistant to 200M. Bonus! The watch comes with lifetime free battery changes, seal cleaning and pressure testing. I’m not a huge fan of NATO straps generally, but Lüm-Tec is as gung-ho as they come, military vibe-wise. And the Combat B48 GMT priced to go, for a while.
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ROFLOL at the first watch. Producer Michael buys it in 3,2,1….It’s so stupid and not even sure it tells the time?
What appears to be circumference-mounted hands appear in other shots. You know, putting all that other stuff together was so much work they forget to put the hands on and nobody noticed.
I would like to meet the person who has a million dollars to spend on a watch and isn’t immediately turned off by the use of the Game of Thrones theme in the video.
Actually, as I think about it, I really don’t.
It’s no worse than anything by Jacob and Co. Come to think of it, it’s probably the same customer.
I think you’re onto something in limiting the attention to noteworthy pieces, and these all qualify. I presume the machined bezel on the Lum-Tex is purely for style, an odd choice for a tactical watch. Who wears these little hockey fooseball table domed watches?
That Vianney Halter is too ostentatious; the movement should really be on the back of the watch. You know, to make it classier.