Here is a nice look at a 2005 white-dial Panerai Luminor Slytech, courtesy of my watch friend Boris over at WatchesandArt.  The PAM225 was produced in a limited series of 300 in 2005.  This is a special watch, though not as special as the pre-Vendome Slytech’s which were produced in 1995 and 1996.  For example the black dial Panerai Ref 5218-205/A “Luminor Sumbersible Slytech” limited to 95 pieces, or the white dial Panerai Ref 5218-207/A “Luminor Daylight Slytech” limited to 105 pieces.  Two Mare Nostrum models were also made in 1995.  The “Slytech Submersible” as it came to be known, was basically a black-faced Luminor Marina with custom wording on the dial, and Stallone’s signature on the back.  The Pre-Vendome Slytech pieces are now highly collectible, selling for upwards of $70,000.  It looks like this PAM225 can be had for between $15,000 and $20,000, by contrast.

These early pieces were commissioned by Sly Stallone for the movie Daylight and in many ways marked the introduction of Panerai to the world outside of Florence.  We all know where the brand went from there!

Click through for lots of great pics of the Panerai Luminor Submersible Slytech PAM225 by WatchesandArt.

In celebration of the New Year we will take a look at one of my favorite watches of recent years, the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal Titanium.  Photos taken over the New Year’s holiday at Königsleiten ski village in Österreich (Austria) mark the occasion.  Enjoy the review!

Click through for our hands-on review of the Seamaster Planet Ocean Titanium Liquidmetal

For your enjoyment, here are several hands on photos of the new Hublot Oceanographic 1000m dive watch.  Also included are some side-by-side shots with the Hublot Oceanographic 4000m dive watch.  These photos were submitted by a lucky owner of both pieces who lives in Canada.  Of course he is also a huge Perpetuelle fan   I really appreciate that he reached out to me to share these great photos; it is always great to be able to share in the pleasure and experience of watches such as these.   If you have new and exciting watches you would like to share, please feel free to email me at kyle [at] perpetuelle.com.

Also below don’t miss the comments on the “quick-change strap system” which some of you have asked about!
Click through for lots of live looks at the Hublot Oceanographic 1000 dive watch

SIHH 2013 Preview…

If you think you’ve seen this watch before, you are right.  Well, 99% right.  Just over two months ago, Panerai released the  Panerai Luminor 1950 Rattrapante 8 Days (PAM 427) Special Edition in concert with its sponsorship of the Transat Classique Regatta.  The watch you see here, reference PAM 530, is the same watch except it is not a special edition and does not have a specially engraved caseback.   Not that I am complaining — this is a great looking Panerai.  More look, specs and pricing below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Behold, the new and redesigned Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk.  The launch of these watches coincides with the new and equally appealing Chrono Hawk watches also profiled today at Perpetuelle.  On the left is the new production model available in black (Ref. 49960-19-631-FK6A) or grey dial (Ref 49960-11-131-FK6A); on the right is a special edition (Ref 49960-19-1218SGD1A).

The famous Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk originated in the 1940′s; the current collection was designed in 2002 and will presumably now be replaced with this new style gong forward.  The centerpiece of the redesign is the new case style — to draw an analogy, the case has gone from the B17 Bomber of WWII to the B2 Stealth Bomber of 2012.  The new case along with many other new details have elevated the Sea Hawk dive watch back into the limelight.
Read the rest of this entry »

Small German watchmaker Limes makes its Perpetuelle debut with the new addition to their Endurance sport watch range.  The Leviathan features a 44.5mm stainless steel case (13.5mm thick, 300m water resistance) with a distinctive notched, PVD-plated bezel. The dial is very straightforward, a basic 3-hander+date window at 6 o’clock.  The watch is powered by a Sellita SW 200 automatic movement, essentially a comparable alternative to Swatch Group’s ETA 2824.  Everything about this watch says “practical” and “ready for work”, and for about $1,500 (on a divers bracelet) it can be yours.  If you are looking for an entry level mechanical dive watch, this is one to put on your short list.  We’ll take a closer look, below.

I am still familiarizing myself with LIMES watches, having only recently become aware of the Pforzheim, Germany-based company when they signed up to advertise here on Perpetuelle.  And, like any brand which dedicates some of its precious advertising budget to increase its awareness amongst the well informed audience of watch owners, collectors and enthusiasts who read Perpetuelle, I keep them on my radar and I do what I can to help them build their brand awareness.

After doing some basic research, my view is that Limes competes in what I would call the entry-level mechanical watch segment, a segment which is highly competitive including everyone from the likes of Oris, TAG Heuer, Alpina, Victornix, Vostok,  Sinn (another German brand) and others.  Limes offers both automatic and manual wind watches; the average price point is around $1,500, give or take $500.  Some more complicated models push into the $3,000+ range.  I am most fond of their sport and diving watches, this Leviathan in particular.

Limes sells this Endurance Leviathan for €995 (~$1290 USD) on a rubberized-leather strap or €1195 (~$1550 USD) on the satin-finished steel bracelet.  For the many of you who are looking in this price range, this a watch to consider.  The craftsmanship on this watch appears to be very solid; I expect to get my hands on one of these in coming months to give it a full and fair hands-on assessment.

Learn more at the LIMES website.

LIMES Background

Limes is part of the Ickler family of brands which is also home to Archimede, Autran & Viala, and Defakto.

Karl Karl Ickler founded the Ickler family business in 1924.  Today the company is managed by the third-generation Thomas Ickler.  Ickler designs and makes watches for customers across the world, employing a direct-to-consumer business model.  Ickler started making private label watches in 1990, and a few years later they began planning the LIMES brand.

The LIMES collection includes the dressier Chyros and Pharo families, the rugged Endurance line and some lady’s watches.  All its cases are made by the brand in Germany.  The cases are crafted in-house, monoblock construction (i.e. milled from solid blocks of stainless steel, pure titanium or 18 carat gold).   Finishing and assembly is done by hand.

UPDATE:  Finally!  Twitter Friends inform me that the watch was officially launched last week at the London Hublot Boutique.  Price is 17,000 GBP, or about $27,000 USD at current f/x.

Hublot has been oddly quiet about their new King Power Oceanographic 1000 Dive Watch (“little” brother of the Oceanographic 4000m divers).   The watch was first spied earlier this year at Baselworld 2012 as Perpetuelle brought you a first look earlier this year as well as some live photos courtesy of Dive (into) Watches (Roger Ruegger) who did a fantastic review of the watch.  But it still has not been officially announced!  But there are signs of activity…Hublot has just posted this short video of the watch on its YouTube channel — perhaps official launch is near?

Hublot King Power Oceanographic 1000 Dive Watch (Video)

Girard-Perregaux will soon release a new version of the iconic Sea Hawk dive watch.  The famous GP Sea Hawk originated in the 1940′s; the current collection was designed in 2002.  And now we see that 2012/2013 will see a new evolution of the collection.  A photo of the watch is now making the rounds on the ‘Net, courtesy of what appears to be a special supplement to the LA Times; another site reports it as the “Sea Hawk III PRO”.  Note:  new case shape/lugs, the hour indices are thick and give the appearance of being “raised” off the dial, and honeycomb dial pattern.  1000 meter water resistance and crown at 4 o’clock are same as prior models.  Here’s a first look:

Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk III Watch

Breitling brings a new color-set to its popular Avenger Seawolf Blacksteel series, now in its 10th year. The “Code Yellow” is a diver’s watch with 3,000-meter/10,000-feet water resistance and a 45mm carbon-treated black steel case, limited to 1,000 pieces. And the usual specs such as screw-down crown, unidirectional rotating bezel, domed glareproof sapphire crystal, and an automatic mechanical Breitling Caliber 17 movement (COSC-certified). The watch is available in your choice of rubber straps — the perforated “Ocean Racer” ($5,420) or a raised-ridge “Diver Pro II” ($4,720), as shown here. Great looking watch, very tactical, and with solid specs.

If interested, click through for a close-up look at the dial and crown.

Read the rest of this entry »

RJ-Romain Jerome just launched its first diver’s watch, the Octopus.  It’s about time, really – the RJ DNA of legends collection started years ago with the Titanic-DNA model, but contrary to the understandable perception that a watch made with steel from the sunken Titanic would be a dive watch, the Titanic watch was in fact not a diver.    The “Octopus” is named after the ocean giant that became a powerful symbol in Jules Verne’s famous novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.  It comes with a decent set of dive spec’s and a neat inner-rotating sapphire bezel system, though not what I would have expected for the price.  The reality seems to be that most of the attention on this watch seems focused around the symbolism of the Octopus theme and the rich detail incorporated into the case.  Available in three different versions and priced from $13,750, you can see them all below.
Read the rest of this entry »