Eterna Kon-Tiki Bronze Manufacture
Although I’m one who doesn’t exactly lie awake at night thinking about bronze watches and who’s idea of diving is what a boxer does in a fixed fight, I am deeply attracted to Eterna’s belated take on the usage of said metal, not least because I adore the KonTiki. Issued during the 70th Anniversary of the eponymous voyage, the watch respects the original design, with triangular indices at 3/6/9/12, while the bezel is graduated in decompression steps. One of the nicest bronze watches I’ve seen, reeking with provenance.
Favre Leuba Raider Harpoon
Favre Leuba returns in style: The recently-rejuvenated brand not only delivered a panoply of great watches, it cooked up a new display method. Some pedant might find a precedent for it, but FL’s execution makes the Raider Harpoon noteworthy. To help divers register an instant reading, the lone hand shows minutes in the correct position, e.g. pointing at 3 for 15 minutes, but the hour is indicated by a rotating outer ring that lines up with the minute hand. Added bonus? It’s GORGEOUS!
Junghans Meister Pilot Chronoscope
This watch blew me away last year because it’s my preferred watch type: a perfect, under-priced reissue of a classic chronograph. This year, they’ve added two new colour schemes to join last year’s black dials, which might be grounds for me earning a slap, as that’s newness of a questionable degree. But hey, this is my list, so I reserve the right to drool over the two new hues of tobacco and bluish “cadet grey”. Hands-down, the best value chronograph on the market.
Longines Lindbergh Hour Angle 90th Anniversary
Far be it for me to fancy a watch named for a notorious pro-Nazi anti-Semite (Google it if you don’t believe me), but the Lindbergh Hour Angle is historically important, and this particular interpretation is striking. Based on the work of Weems, the Hour Angle was – like Breitling’s circular slide rule – an aid to aerial navigation in the era before computers, GPS and other electronic devices. The use of Grade 5 titanium lightens the 47.5mm case, while the silver-and-black colour scheme updates the true-to-the-original look. Imposing stuff.
Tudor Heritage Black Bay Chrono
My two favourite watches of the entire show were this and the Black Bay Stainless Steel, but I didn’t want one brand to take 40 per cent of my choices, so I opted for this because 1) it’s a chronograph, 2) it’s sublimely-styled for a tool watch, 3) it’s a bargain and 4) it heralds the collaboration between Tudor and Breitling with movement swaps. Call it a “baby Daytona” if you want to p***-off Rolex, because I suspect that’s what the world has already dubbed it. I want one. Badly.
