Panerai replica watches presents five new timepieces in its Radiomir Quaranta Collection. Four of them are steel executions, while the remaining one is clad in yellow gold.
As is typical for this replica watch icon that was first introduced in 1935, the debutantes feature a luminous sandwich dial with two bold Arabic numerals and hour markers. Within a cushion-shaped case, all five newcomers are driven by the three-day power reserve self-winding P.900 automatic caliber. It indicates the subsidiary seconds at 9 o’clock and the date at 3 o’clock.
Combining Replica Panerai’s genuine GoldTech yellow gold with a green sun-brushed dial, the PAM01437 is the most elegant execution of the quintet while the PAM01292 comes with a white dial. This colorway is still quite rare for Panerai whereas blue has been a choice for many of its timepieces.
Blue is also used for the PAM01293, where the rich hue serves as a magnificent backdrop for the gold furnishings. Lovers of dark dials will appreciate the PM01294, which combines an anthracite dial with gold accents.
Last but not least, the PAM01386, an e-commerce-exclusive edition limited to 500 pieces, shines with a sun-brushed green dial.
Breitling and Tudor made the decision to bundle their expertise in the design and production of mechanical watches even before changes came to the Breitling company. This became clear, not only in interviews with CEO Georges Kern, but as it is expressed by the timepieces themselves. A modified Replica Breitling movement B01 powers Tudor chronographs as its MT5813, and Breitling is now using the in-house Tudor movement MT5612.
The Superocean Héritage II is the first replica watch to use the three-hand movement since 2017, and bears the name B20 in its modified version. Breitling first issued the 42- and 46- mm models in 2017, followed by the launch of a third size at Baselworld 2018 that measures 44 mm, as well as our test watch – the unusual two-tone 42-mm version in stainless steel and rose gold. Black elements on the watch, like the bezel, dial and the Aero Classics rubber strap with its Milanese-style mesh pattern, lend both presence and elegance.
The unidirectional rotating dive bezel is one of the most striking changes Breitling made to the Superocean Héritage II, while taking care to preserve the character of the watch that made its debut in 1957. The rotating bezel contains an ultra-hard high-tech ceramic inlay that resists both scratches and impacts. The gold rim has a finer look than that of its predecessor, though it is still easy to grasp and turn with half-minute ratchets. It seems a bit loose for use as a professional dive watch.
Manufacture Caliber B20
The bezel lacks a precise minutes track despite the one printed directly next to it on the dial. This would allow for exact setting of the dive time, to the minute. But this shouldn’t be a problem at all for fans of recreational diving, who just happen to be the main target audience of the Superocean Héritage II. And although the gold seconds hand cannot be seen in the dark for a function check (due to a lack of luminous material), the hour and minutes hands are both clearly visible.
A design featuring unusual shapes – a triangle on the hour hand, a diamond-shaped minutes hand, and slightly conical hour markers – relies heavily on the original Héritage from 1957. The all-important minute hand for diving extends precisely out to touch the dedicated track around the dial circumference. Unfortunately, only eight points are visible under limited lighting conditions – insufficient for professional divers, in any case. The luminous dot on the ceramic bezel stands out alongside the slightly brighter hands, but this alone cannot help determine a precise, to-the-minute calculation of dive time. In daylight conditions the combination of black, white and rose gold creates an easily legible ensemble.
The old Breitling logo – a curvy “B” – in place of the winged letter and stylized anchor, has returned to the dial. (The earlier logo was introduced in 1979 to show equal kinship to flying and diving.) Proof of its status as an officially certified chronometer stands below the brand name.
The lower portion of the dial features the Superocean name in its characteristic font and references its water resistance and “Automatic” watch movement – which, unfortunately, cannot be seen beneath Breitling’s solid threaded caseback.
And it would be a sight to see. In contrast to the original Tudor design, the Replica Breitling B20 is more finely decorated – with Geneva stripes and satin finishes, and two additional jewels. Otherwise, both versions have the same design and features. The balance wheel is stable and supported beneath a bridge, vibrating at a rate of 4 Hz with variable inertia and a silicon hairspring. Fine regulation is adjusted via screws, to a chronometer-certified level, just like the Tudor.
In actual practice, the Superocean Héritage II can do what the COSC certificate promises. It runs smoothly with a gain of about 3 seconds per day with minimal positional differences. At the end of the 70-hour power reserve, the amplitude falls to slightly below 200°, but the rate remains stable at +2 seconds.
The replica watch is not difficult to rewind if it winds down completely. The large, deeply fluted crown is easy to grasp and release from its screw-down position. Hand winding is smooth. Clear stops indicate the positions for quick-date adjustment and setting the time. The hands can be adjusted without play, and the date advances at midnight. Only slight pressure is needed to screw down the crown into its locked position.
Swiss watch maisonReplicaHublot began its partnership with Dominican Republic-based premium cigar icon Arturo Fuente y Cia. in 2012, and the collaboration has yielded three limited-edition models all celebrating, in their own distinctive manner, the synergy between the arts of watchmaking and cigarmaking. The fourth made its celebrated debut this week, at a gala event in the Dominican Republic, and may prove to be the most coveted edition yet: the Big Bang Unico Arturo Fuente Ceramic.
Not only is the watch, which is limited to 100 pieces, the first in the cigar-inspired series to feature a laser-engraved ceramic case; it is also the first model created as a direct tribute to Carlos Fuente, Sr., son of founder and namesake Arturo Fuente and father to current company leader Carlos “Carlito” Fuente, Jr. Fuente, Sr., who passed away in 2016, took the reins of the Tampa-based family cigar business in 1956 and after a series of trials and tribulations in the wake of the Cuban embargo, moved the company to its current home in the Dominican Republic in 1980, where it has thrived under the leadership of Carlito Fuente, who worked with his father before succeeding him as president.
Developed in a close collaboration between cheap Hublot watches design team and Fuente family designer Manny Iriarte, The Big Bang Unico Arturo Fuente Ceramic features a host of details, some more subtle than others, designed to pay tribute to the patriarch of the “first family of cigars.” The intricate laser-engraved pattern on the 44-mm black ceramic case depicts tobacco leaves gently swaying in the wind, a reference to the agricultural heart of the Fuente family business — and somewhat reminiscent of the decorative engravings on the titanium and rose-gold cases of 2017’s Classic Fusion ForbiddenX editions as well as the actual tobacco-leaf dial of the rare and elusive 2015 edition. A majestic crowned lion emblem adorns the 9 o’clock subdial on the watch’s openworked dial, recalling Fuente’s historical role as a supplier of cigars to the Spanish court. Perhaps most significantly to those familiar with Hublot and its Big Bang models, the dial also sports stylized, applied Roman numerals — a rarity for Hublot and a specific call-out to the clock pictured on the Fuente family crest, which itself inspired the family motto, “We will never rush the hands of time.”
The back of the timepiece also features its share of special flourishes, including the historical Fuente logo inscribed in the center of the sapphire window; the initials “CF” for Carlos Fuente, Sr. replacing the traditional “AF” for Arturo Fuente; and the Spanish phrase “Edición de homenaje” (“Edition in homage”). Finally, each caseback features the personal dedication by Carlito Fuente on behalf of the family and cigar company that he built: “Our Father, Our Friend, Our Hero.” Behind that ornate exhibition caseback beats Hublot’s Unico Caliber HUB1242, equipped with an integrated, column-wheel-controlled flyback chronograph function and a date display that shares the 60-minute chronograph totalizer at 3 o’clock. The movement, made in-house at Hublot’s manufacture in Nyon, outside of Geneva, Switzerland, features automatic winding, a frequency of 28,800 vph, and a power reserve of 72 hours. The watch is mounted on a black calf-and-rubber strap with a ceramic-and-titanium deployant clasp and comes in a gorgeous, lacquered wood cabinet that serves as both a presentation box for the watch as well as a humidor for your cigars.
Also announced during the watch’s launch event in the Dominican Republic, hosted by Carlito Fuente and Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe, was the founding of a new Academy of Arts as part of the Fuente family’s charitable initiative, the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation (CFCF), which will be supported by both Hublot and Fuente in its mission to improve the lives of impoverished rural communities in the Dominican Republic’s mountainous Bonao region. Proceeds from the sales of the Hublot Big Bang Unico Arturo Fuente Ceramic will go toward supporting the new Academy, which also continues Hublot’s own “Hublot Loves Art” charitable initiatives in support of the arts.
Cartier, long known for producing timepieces that captured the stylish zeitgeist of their respective eras, grabbed the watch world’s attention in the go-go 1980s with the introduction of the Pasha in 1985, a watch based on a historical model from 1932. The model’s intriguing story continues this year with the introduction at Watches & Wonders 2020 of the all-new ReplicaCartier Pasha de Cartier collection, encompassing models for both gents and ladies.
Pasha de Cartier 41mm in yellow gold
The story of the Pasha in a nutshell: The first one was named after the client who commissioned it, the Sultan (or “Pasha”) of Marrakech, who approached Louis Cartier about creating a luxurious watch that he could wear for his royal duties but also wear in the swimming pool without damaging it; this model, with its groundbreaking screwed-down crown cap attached to a small chain, is regarded as Cartier’s first truly waterproof watch. It joined the regular collection in 1943 and ebbed and flowed in popularity until it was redesigned in 1985 by the legendary Gérald Genta, who expanded on it to develop the feminine Miss Pasha series. The Pasha is notable for its unconventional design in which a round case and dial is offset by a square minute track — essentially, Cartier created a hit by fitting a square peg into a round hole. The new Pasha de Cartier luxury fake watches collection revives the highlights of the 1980s design and adds some contemporary flair, along with modern in-house movements, and even introduces a skeletonized version.
The round dial frames a square minute track.
The chained, screwed crowns of the new Pasha de Cartier models have been updated with the blue sapphires and spinels that are now common on modern Cartier crowns. Underneath the hinged crown cover is a hidden area in which the owner can personalize his or her watch with engraved initials — a subtle personalization visible only when the crown is disengaged. The dial is characterized by its four large numerals at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock in a lilting Deco font and the four-sided filigree minute track, all swept over by Cartier’s blued diamond-shaped hands.
The owner’s engraved initials are hidden under the hinged crown cover.
Inside the replica watches, Cartier’s Caliber 1847 MC (MC for “Manufacture Cartier,” 1847 for the year of the company’s founding) ticks behind a clear sapphire caseback. The self-winding movement, which stores a power reserve of 40 hours, features anti-magnetic nickel phosphorus components in the escapement mechanism, along with a shield made from a paramagnetic alloy. Together, they render the movement effectively resistant to the powerful magnetic fields a watch encounters during daily wear.
Caliber 1847 MC is on display behind a sapphire caseback.
The collection offers a breadth of sizes (35 mm for ladies, several with diamond-settings, 41 mm for men), case materials (steel, and yellow, rose, and white gold), and strap and bracelet options; the Pasha de Cartier Skeleton and Skeleton Tourbillon models are outfitted with openworked movements in which the large Roman numerals and hour markers are formed by the bridges.
The hour numerals are formed by the bridges in the skeletonized models.
The Pasha de Cartier watches are all equipped with Cartier’s recently developed, patent-pending SwitchLink system, introduced on 2018’s redesigned Santos models, which allows the wearer to re-size the watch without using a tool. At the touch of a button located on each link, its attachment bar is unlatched and the link can be added or removed, thus enabling quick and easy adjustment.
