zelin0802 / June 17, 2023

Piaget Polo Field new dial texture

Piaget’s chic sports watch returns with a dark emerald dial adorned with a more dynamic pattern.

The Polo is Piaget’s answer to the luxury sports discount watches. A remake of Yves Piaget’s sporty-chic quartz-powered model from 1979, the Polo re-emerged in 2016 in a mechanical steel model, initially positioned as an entry-level candidate. The versatility of Polo watches is reflected in the wide variety of models, from time and date all the way to ultra-thin perpetual calendars and complicated skeleton models. The most immediate entry-level model is the Polo Date, which returns in June with a slightly different name: the Piaget Polo Field. At first glance, it looks like another steel Polo with a green dial. However, Polo Field has a neat design trick that makes the dial more dynamic.

Although initially often compared to “other” luxury sports watch icons, the Polo is indeed a close descendant of the Earl Emperador, and the two families sit side by side on the brand’s website. Like the Emperador, the Polo Date’s case is a hybrid of shapes; the bezel is outwardly round, but the inner portion of the bezel draws a subtle octagon, giving it a prominent cushion shape. To emphasize the geometry, the 42mm stainless steel case features brushed and polished finishes. For example, the bezel has a horizontal brushed surface and beveled polished edges, just like the lugs. Another feature of the Polo Date is its ultra-thin case height of 9.4 mm, pared down for an automatic sports watch with an open caseback and 100-meter water resistance, but in full keeping with Piaget’s tradition of ultra-thin mechanical movements .

Like previous versions of the Polo time and date green dial and green dial with rose gold accents, the signature guilloché grooves across the dial have become as emblematic as the Royal Oak’s tapisserie motif. The deep emerald green of the new Polo Field pays homage to the polo field in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Piaget hosted the Polo World Cup in 1980, making it the ideal venue to promote Yves Piaget’s stylish Polo watches, the brand says.swiss watch men

The novelty here is the different patterns on the dial. Although the alligator pattern is still there, they are thicker and have shorter cutouts to replicate the texture of the interchangeable rubber straps. Shorter cutouts within the broad guilloché run around the periphery of the dial, further accentuating the cushion-shaped minute track and bezel. We haven’t seen the watch in metal yet, but we have to trust the brand’s press release, which describes the chameleon personality of the dial that plays with light. The hour markers are faceted, applied to the dial, and treated with luminescent material like the hour and minute hands. Central seconds hand with ‘P’ counterweight, date window on white background at 6 o’clock.

The sapphire crystal on the case back showcases the ultra-thin caliber 1110P that Piaget has created especially for this collection. It is an automatic movement only 4 mm high and runs at 4 Hz for 50 hours. The movement features circular Côtes de Genève stripes on the bridges and slate gray oscillating weight, as well as beveled bridges and circular graining on the mainplate.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS – PIAGET POLO FIELD
Case: Diameter 42mm x Thickness 9.4mm – Stainless steel, polished and brushed – Weight 68.23 grams – Front and rear sapphire crystal – 100m water resistance
Dial: Emerald – new gadroon motif – applied hour markers, luminescent hour and minute hands – framed date window at 6 o’clock
Movement: Piaget Manufacture Caliber 1110P – Automatic – 25.58mm Diameter – 4mm Height – 28,800vph/4Hz – 50 Hours Power Reserve – Hours, Minutes, Seconds and Date
Strap: Interchangeable green rubber strap – stainless steel folding clasp
Reference: GOA4022

zelin0802 / August 5, 2022

Rolex OYSTER DEEPSEA

Speaking of this year’s new copy Rolex products, you must first think of the “left-handed” Greenwich II, which is vividly called “Sprite Circle” by watch friends because of its green and black outer ring. Highly recognizable, it is undoubtedly the blockbuster of the year. On the other hand, the new Airmaster with added crown guard bridge is also highly popular. It upgrades the movement and appearance to enhance its sports attributes and further moves closer to Rolex professional watches. In addition, the women’s log-shaped flower plate, the 18K gold yacht, and the platinum ice blue DD have all received a lot of exposure. However, among the new products, the presence of the new ghost king Ref.136660 is very low, not only the forum is rarely discussed by friends, but even the official did not write news materials for it. We also learned about its information from the quietly updated details page. It can be said that it is the most low-key new product of Rolex this year. Unlike Airmaster’s iterative product, which was upgraded from the 31-series movement to the 32-series movement, in fact, the Ghost King Ref.126660 released in 2018 has been equipped with the Cal.3235 movement. The 2022 Ghost King has not changed the movement model, and still uses the Cal.3235 movement. It is more based on the fine-tuning of the appearance. The following is a summary of the upgrade points of this new product based on the information released by foreign media.

From the front, the most significant upgrade of the new ghost king is the calendar window. It has a larger display area, allowing the wearer to read the date clearly. We know that Rolex uses a convex lens calendar display window for both the Submariner and the Sea-Dweller. This design originated from the Datejust type and has now become one of the iconic elements of Rolex. However, among many Rolex diving watches, only the ghost king did not add a convex lens calendar display window. The reason is that the convex lens calendar window is not integrally formed, but is bonded by two pieces of sapphire glass through a special process. The waterproof level of the Ghost King is 3900 meters, and the pressure during deep diving is several times that of an ordinary diving watch. Therefore, in order to ensure stability, the Ghost King upgrades the calendar window only to increase the display area, rather than using a convex lens window.

The second upgrade of Ref.136660 is the bezel. The ceramic outer ring of the new ghost king has become more slender, which can improve the exquisiteness of the watch to a certain extent. At the same time, the brand has also optimized the rotation mechanism of the outer ring, and the new product has a better rotating feel. The mirror is also one of the upgrade points. The sapphire mirror with reflective coating can effectively resist strong light refraction and make reading more clear.

The luminous effect has also been optimized. Early Rolex watches all used Super-LumiNova luminous, which is currently the most mainstream luminous material. However, Rolex, which was produced after 2008, stopped the use of Super-LumiNova and changed it to the brand-exclusive Chromalight luminous. Chromaligh has a longer glow time and a stable level of light. The 2022 Ghost King Ref.136660 adopts the latest generation of Chromaligh luminous solution, and its luminous duration and brightness are improved compared with the previous generation of Chromaligh luminous.

After reading the front, let’s talk about the changes of the bottom cover. In the old Ref.126660, the black “ROLEX OYSTER DEEPSEA ♕ SEA-DWELLER 12800 ft = 3900 m” is surrounded by the edge of the titanium case back to indicate the series to which the watch belongs and its water resistance. In the bottom cover of the new Ref.136660, this material has an exclusive name: “RLX titanium alloy”.

However, with regard to the new Ghost King Ref.136660, no real pictures have been seen at home and abroad, and more details about this product have yet to be confirmed. In fact, Ghost King has not been highly recognized among players for a long time, which is not only reflected in the product market share, but also directly reflected in the secondary market. It is true that the 44mm watch diameter and the case thickness of more than 17mm are not friendly to the general body of Asians, which means that the ghost king has not been as universal as a water ghost since its birth. It is a work prepared by a few watch friends, so it is reasonable for the brand to upgrade its low-key.

zelin0802 / July 22, 2022

Grand Seiko Eleance Collection Brings New Slim Case and New GS Movement

Big news from Japan today: the new Grand Seiko Elegance collection brings a new ultra-thin case, some very special dials, and most importantly, the new Grand Seiko Calibre 9S63 hand-wound mechanical movement. (However, Grand Seiko’s recent pricing anomaly appears to persist.) More on all of this below.

It’s really been a breath of fresh air to see Grand Seiko’s new collection – apparently, they couldn’t keep up their excitement ahead of BaselWorld either. Currently, the Grand Seiko Elegance collection includes four models: two in 18-karat rose gold (ref. SBGK002; red. SBGK004), one in 18-karat gold (ref. SBGK006) and one in stainless steel (ref. SBGK006). SBGK005 — Yay! ).

Eight years after the last hand-wound mechanical movement at Grand Seiko, all four Elegance Collection watches feature the same new 9S63 calibre, running at 4 Hz and offering a 72-hour power reserve. This appears to be the new baseline feature for all previous-generation movements introduced recently, which is a good thing. On the dial side, the movement displays the central hours and minutes, the seconds hand at 9 o’clock and the power reserve indicator at 3 o’clock. Gone are the offset power reserves we see on Spring Drive Grand Seikos, like my beloved SBGC001 Spring Drive Chronograph, review it here.

Grand Seiko says the 9S63’s accuracy is between -3 and +5 seconds per day, and if there’s anything to be commended about all the major Japanese brands, it’s their honest and down-to-earth accuracy claims – unlike the Swiss (or even A more optimistic statement often heard by some German) manufacturers. Although Grand Seiko sometimes tends to distinguish between gold and steel models of movement, in this case (pun intended) all four models will feature the Grand Seiko 9S63 movement with hot blue screws – apparently, this is Grand Seiko’s first. Very cute, if you ask me.

If tempered screws are sweet, the dials are stunning: both 18ct rose gold versions (references SBGK002 and SBGK004) feature Urushi dials. These traditional Japanese lacquered dials are produced in the Shizukuishi Watch Studio, where all mechanical watches are made, using sap from trees that grow around the small town north of the studio. The translucent brown and dark black Urushi dial complements the taka-maki-e tiered markers and “GS” lettering. Maki-e literally means “sprinkled picture”, while taka-maki-e is a “raised” or layered variant.

This technique was developed during the Muromachi period (1336-1573) and meant that the desired pattern was made of countless layers of material built on the base lacquered dial. For the Grand Seiko Elegance Collection Urushi dial, multiple layers of pure gold or platinum powder are sprinkled on the dial one layer at a time (guess what?) this is a “time consuming process”. It reminds me of the PVD-coated platinum numerals in the ceramic bezels of select Rolex watches – while Rolex’s solution is cutting-edge high-tech, Grand Seiko’s approach is heart-warmingly traditional.

The hands – if you’ve never had a chance to hold a Grand Seiko before – eat your warm heart – are beautiful, at least in the official pictures, and look beautiful with every dial variation. As cool as the Urushi dial might be, I’m still curiously drawn to the 18ct yellow gold version and the plain Jane white dial – a nod to the unmistakable and unmistakable Japanese design of the Elegance Collection, which seems to me, at least to me, in this gold The most prominent of the variants.

In this regard, I’m very grateful for how Grand Seiko has incorporated elements of its much-loved case design into this new 39mm wide and 11.6mm thick “Mechanical Skirt Collection” watch – because yes, this is the Grand Seiko is referring to this new timepiece collection. The sturdy, curved lugs feature wide upper surfaces, but are cut short to keep the case away from the upper and lower edges of the wrist—a must for any decent dress fake watch. The lugs seem to be fairly narrow in width, but I think they pull it off somehow, which is just right quirky and doesn’t look weird or petite. I’d take the risk of eyeing it at 18mm; the GS doesn’t currently offer such a spec, but the lug width does look narrow, and we’ll have to see these in action to better determine how the Elegance Collection will actually fit.

Closed – or open, depending on how you want to look at it – this new Elegance collection of four watches is a stainless steel variant (reference SBGK005) with the exact same case shape and size as the gold version, but with a blue textured dial. Texture GS is called “Mt. Iwate” pattern; the watch studio is located in Morioka city in northeastern Iwate prefecture. Exactly how this crease texture ties into Iwate I’m not sure, but it’s a recurring theme in select Grand Seiko models.

The pricing structure of the Grand Seiko Elegance Collection turned things upside down. As one might expect, the two rose gold variants with Urushi dials will command a premium over the gold versions with regular lacquered dials and no taka-maki-e indexes and GS designation. Fans of Seiko and Grand Seiko may remember the Presage Automatic we covered here, where €2,500 buys you a multi-coloured Urushi dial and a whole watch with case, movement, strap, and more.

To me at least, the gold one in rose gold very incomprehensible – another nail in the coffin of the late Grand Seiko’s sensible pricing strategy. Rose gold may have some premium over gold, but four times the cost of an entire copy watch with a similar dial makes no sense. I’ll admit, other than Grand Seiko’s greedy random price generator software working hard again, I’ve yet to understand how this crazy premium is justified.