This week we had the pleasure of seeing new iterations of classic models like the reduced versions of the Bulova Lunar Pilot, the Vacheron Overseas Chronograph, a reissue of the Accutron Astronaut, and Seiko celebrates 110 years of their first watch with a few King Seikos. Two brand also made their debut with Méraud Antigua releasing a pair of handsome Chronograph and there’s a new independent on the scene with Junge Uhrmacher lead by two young watch makers. Making a first appearance as well is Omega in eBay’s list of top selling brands fueled by the MoonSwatch.
Junge Uhrmacher Prestige
We are seeing the birth of a new independent watchmaking brand! After working in the haute horology space with Lang & Heyne, Josef Bresan and Lukas Pöhlmann established their workshop where they’d do restoration work but are now taking the next step, launching their first watch under Junge Uhrmacher GbR. Prestige has a casual design with a stainless steel 40mm x 12mm case that is polished and satin decorated. The aluminum-based dials receive blue or anthracite coatings and have a step design with the minute track on top. The bottom section is set with highly polished markers and sword hands operated by a knurled crown. The finish is done by hand. This takes us to their in-house altered Calibre JU26.01. The handsome movement has been in the works since 2021 and features hand-done frosting, circular graining, and beveled edges. The LIP 26-based caliber is also altered to have central seconds and a beautiful, raised bridge design. Josef Bresan and Lukas Pöhlmann are launching these as a limited edition of 24 pieces each for EUR 16,750. They are just 32 so I expect to see a lot of great things from these young watchmakers.
Accutron Astronaut
“Utter Accutron amongst watch folk and many of them will get excited. Think Spaceview, The Legacy Models, Luna Pilot, and Astronaut. The model many people have been waiting for has been reissued and that’s the Astronaut! The new model that has been reissued is the popular Accutron Astronaut GMT model from 1968. The model keeps its black dial like the original with just the Accutron and Astronaut wording on the dial. The clean dial possesses no date windows and a clean polished silver handset with lume. The markers all remain the same as the original. The day and night indicating bezel is an interesting one, not just does it have the two split 12 hours but also has, the day and night split at 5:30 on one side and 6:30 on the other. Not a watch bezel for the OCD people among us! The Astronaut is within a 41mm case which reminds me of what an alien spaceship would look like and has very short lugs built into the case of the watch. The bullet-style bracelet suits this watch perfectly and resembles, another watch known for space!
Accutron usually stands for the accuracy of the electronics movements but this one houses a Sellita SW330 GMT movement with a 56-hour power reserve. The movement peaks from the half-display case back. The water resistance for this one is a respectful 100m. If you want this watch you better be quick as it’s limited to 300 and has a price of $3500. It’s great to see the reissue of a horological important watch.” – Phil
Bulova Lunar Pilot 43.5mm
“Bulova can accurately claim that one of their watches was worn on the moon by Dave Scott during the Apollo 15 mission. They launched a Lunar Pilot watch in 2016 and have iterated on that design for seven years. For 2023 Bulova has launched a smaller 43.5mm case. These three sub-register chronographs are a great alternative for those who want a chronograph that’s a sensible size with some plausible, historical authenticity. The Lunar Pilot uses a high-frequency quartz movement (262kHz). The 3 o’clock sub-register is 1/10th counter and the 9 o’clock dial is a 60-minute counter. The 6 o’clock dial features the running seconds. This unusual position for the running seconds works surprisingly well.
There are two versions of the new “smaller” lunar pilot. One is a conventional black dial with some very familiar vibes. The second one is more interesting with a textured white dial and black sub-dials. This pairs very nicely with the blue pushers of this model. The Lunar Pilot is priced at $895 with a bracelet and NATO. It’s a bit of a bargain with its high-frequency movement and the panda dial is quite the looker too.” – Mark Wheeler
Méraud Antigua Chronograph
“While we love Manneken Pis, Belgian Waffles, and of course Pommes Frites (they invented them) besides the world-famous Belgian Beer, it’s not very often that we write about Belgian Watches. Belgium is, like Switzerland, a country with many official languages, hence the French-sounding name with a Flemish-sounding Owner, Stijn Busschaert. Meraud’s owner is a Vintage watch collector and hence knows a few things about how to do a proper vintage style watch. New Old Stock Landeron 248 movements from the 60s – check. Retro-looking Chronograph dial – check. 45-minute counter for timing regattas – check. After all this Meraud watch is called Antigua – to celebrate the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta/ Available in two absolutely gorgeous color schemes, Mho Black and Soft Sand. This is a vintage look done properly. Each watch comes with an extra rubber strap and can also be ordered with a steel bracelet. Limited to 100 pieces in each colorway. Price EUR 1,750.” – Ralf
King Seiko Celebrates 110 Years Since Seiko’s First Watch
Besides releasing a reissue of the 1913 Laurel, Seiko’s 110-year celebration of their first wristwatch is also being marked by honoring another great aspect of the brand’s heritage. The competition between what became Grand Seiko and King Seiko caused the latter to be retired in the 70s till its revival of their delightful 1975 model in 2020, the KSK SJE083. A year later the angular case received a handful of new dials that came with a 7-link bracelet that finalized the classical vintage aesthetic. For this anniversary, the main piece is the 1200 LE SPB365 which gives us an extraordinary Kikkoumon patterned dial. The hexagonal Japanese pattern was used in armor and takes its muse from tortoise shells. The depth of the dial is established with hexagons that fit into each other. A gradient copper color emphasizes its forms and pulls you further in. This is a very satisfying deviation from the simple dials that have been used before. A color-matching seconds hand joins the razor-sharp Zaratzu polished hands and applied markers. Moving on to the simple but beautiful, Seiko is also introducing 3 continuous production variants that increase the case size from 37 to 39 millimeters with a gold lenin, and sunray blue or green dial. With the addition of a date complication, they are now powered by the 6R36 instead of the 6R31. Both movements are far from the chronometry heritage of King Seiko but adequate for the place between Seiko and Grand Seiko.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph Panda DialThe
“Vacheron Overseas came to market in 1996 and introduced its first chronograph overseas in 1999. The long-awaited panda edition of this popular model is here. The only difference to this model is the dial color which is a brushed sunray dial with matte black contrasting sub-dials and an outer black minute track which, is unique to this model. The polishing and textures of the case all remain the same as the other chronograph models. The case remains at 42.5mm and has a thickness of 13.7mm. The watch includes 150m of water resistance with a screw-down case back and pushers. The 22k rota stays at the back with the overseas design and sits in front of the in-house integrated automatic caliber 5200 column wheel-vertical clutch movement. The watch has a 52-hour power reserve. The watch comes with two additional black straps in leather and rubber and the patented interchangeable system for easy strap changes remains. The contrasting colors on the dial make this watch desirable and eye-catching. It oozes character. The popularity of a panda dial and this being the first VC Overseas with a panda dial is timeless and it joins the line of many of the panda dial watches out there on the market today.” – Phil
Omega Debuts In The Top 10 eBay Brands List
To finalize this week’s news, we turn our attention to the financial reporting that has just been released from eBay UK for 2022. The MoonSwatch did its job! Of the £105 million spent on watches on eBay in 2022, Omega’s share amounted to 26.3 million which, for the first time puts them in the top 10 brands that generate the most sales in the United Kingdom. It makes them the second heist-grossing watch brand on the e-commerce site in the region, second to their Swiss rivals Rolex whose watch sales were £65m. Surely Omega’s debut into this list in 9th place this past year wasn’t coincidental to the release of the collaboration between them and Swatch.
The wildfire of attention that this release garnered from people wanting an affordable omega and Speedmaster, those who wanted the cool new thing, and more consequentially for the eBay numbers, those who saw a golden opportunity to make a few hundred and then a few thousand pounds resulted in over a million pieces being sold. I’m sure that many out there are still suffering from PTSD from the launch date and buying £218 for multiple times that number. The greatest amount paid for the Moonswatch that I’ve been able to find is 10686 dollars. Madness! But I also think this is because eBay is becoming a more trusted platform because of the attention they’ve paid to the watch sector. Sure most of these MoonSwatch sales didn’t go through their authentication process, though with prices that went up to 10k, I’m sure people used that service to claim a bit of sanity, but if you are confident buying or selling your treasured Speedmaster, Seamaster, Planet Ocean, etc why not the Moonswatch. And all of that has led to this triumph for Omega. If you are curious about the full list, here it is:
1. Apple – £425m
2. Samsung – £124m
3. Rolex – £65m
4. LEGO – £54m
5. Land Rover – £43m
6. DEWALT – £37m
7. Makita – £31m
8. Nikon – £27m
9. OMEGA – £26.3m
10. Huawei – £26.2m