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![]() After all, IWC’s Portugieser has been a hit for over 80 years. Watch designs have evolved into some pretty crazy shapes and sizes to accommodate the innovation within, but there’s something to be said for a simple, round case. READ> Ji Chang-wook, Rebecca Lim, Rui En, Sheila Sim attend Cartier pop-up launch Those who worry that this too will become as mainstream as the popular Santos de Cartier can look to the four limited editions, each dedicated to one of Alberto Santos-Dumont’s aircrafts. There’s only one size – 46.6mm x 33.9mm – but an ultra-thin calibre (based on the Piaget 430P) keeps it comfortably slim with a overall height of just 7.5mm. Compared to the regular Santos de Cartier, here the bezel is noticeably skinnier and the crown is beaded and topped with a pointed blue cabochon. The Santos-Dumont XL is available in steel, two-tone steel and pink gold, and full pink gold. After re-introducing the latter last year with an array of attractive quartz options, the maison now presents hand-wound editions for the mechanically obsessed. The Santos-Dumont line on the other hand, stayed more faithful to the original, more refined watch worn by the Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, and were often limited editions. The main Santos de Cartier collection took the emblematic square case and exposed screws and ran with it in more contemporary and robust case styles. So what more could Cartier do with it? Go back to its roots, by the looks of its recent additions. The Cartier Santos is possibly the first men’s wristwatch ever made, and the fact that new iterations haven’t stopped popping up for the last century cements its status as a watchmaking icon. 10523 uses one from Soprod, and all three feature Geneva stripes on the rotor, and can be seen through an exhibition case back. 10528 use ETA movements while the dual-time Ref. But the new combination of grained opaline dials, replacement of Arabic numerals with riveted indexes, and black ruthenium sword-shaped hands makes these 2020 novelties the sleekest Hampton references yet. Like previous Hampton watches, these have domed sapphire crystals and a gently curved shape. 10523 gets a dual time zone and day/night indicators. 10528 features a small seconds counter and date, while the Ref. 10522, is the smallest with dimensions measuring 43mm x 27.5mm, but the two larger ones (48mm x 31mm) make good use of the extra room. And at S$3,400 for the basic time-only model, it’s a steal compared to its more established peers. A pity, really, when there are models like this year’s refreshed Hampton collection from Baume & Mercier that also do a stand-up job of distilling the essence of the Art Deco movement into a modern wristwatch. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso and Cartier’s Tank seem to dominate the rectangular dress watch category, pushing less marketed options out of customers’ minds.
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