BaselWorld 2009 Update: Snapshots Omega, Graham, Oris, Hamilton, TAG Heuer, etc

It was another amazing day, filled with watches. We visited Halls 1, 3 and 4 today. The day started at Ebel revising the watches dedicated to soccer:

Ebel Limited Edition AFC AJAX (150 pcs)

Ebel Real Madrid Tekton (Bezel is made of sapphire glass, instead or rubber).

Going from soccer into another sport, Graham dedicated its passion for racing:

Graham GMT Flyback Chrono Racing

What do you think of the infamous ChronoFighter models by Graham?

Graham ChronoFighter

Graham ChronoFighter

Graham ChronoFighter

Not only Graham loves racing, the brand that has the most racing DNA of all, is Heuer! I already wrote that I feel it is a year of ‘going back to the basics’. They also went back to their roots and honoured the 40th anniversary of the Heuer Monoca:

A replica of the first Monaco, they kept it as close as possible to the original ‘Heuer Monaco 1969’. What I really liked is that they used the old Heuer logo and not the most recent TAG Heuer logo on the dial, case back and folding clasp.

Back-side of Heuer Monaco 1969 re-edition (original calibre 11).

Modern interpetation of the TAG Heuer Monaco, available from summer 2009!

TAG Heuer Grande Carrera Calibre 36

Yesterday we did not have time to finish our meeting at Hamilton and went back today. This color really cought my eye:

New Hamilton ETO in unique colour: GunGrey!

New Hamilton strap: Leather or rubber? Yes… It is a rubber strap with a alligator print! Cool, no?!

Modern (?!) interpetation of classic Pilots watches…

Talking about re-editions and vintage models, one of the most legendary diving watches in the Omega collection is the Seamaster PloProf:

Omega Ploprof 2009

Sideview of the Omega PloProf

Omega Seamaster PloProf on my wrist (sorry for the blurry image).

With a matching folding clasp!

Going from legendary diving watch, to a very interesting diving watch made by Oris. The talking piece of Oris in 51mm (who says big is over?!):

New Oris Diver Chrono 1000m with VERY special bezel…

Oris Diver 2009: You have to lift the outer bezel vertically and only then can you spin the CERAMIC diving bezel. The chrono is 100 bar waterproof.

Tomorrow is my last day in Basel… Already bugged out that I will not have time to see everything that I planned on seeing… One week of Watch Magic is simply NOT enough :s

BaselWorld 2009 Update: Snapshots Rolex, Patek Philippe, Breitling, Hamilton, Longines, etc

Most of the visitor of BaselWorld start in the impressive Hall 1.0 and you can not pass this hall without stoping at Rolex and Patek Philippe! Hereby some snapshot (my apologies for the poor quality).

I was not impressed with all the novelties this year. It seems a year of ‘going back to your roots’. Although everyone expected that it would be a quite fair, it was rather busy (visitors) and many brands still sounded positive…

Last year Rolex ‘rocked’ the fair with the introduction of The Dipsy, but this year I was not impressed AT ALL! It seems a year of flowers… Yes! Flowers. Check the dial:

Midsize Rolex Oyster with floral pattern on dial…

I did not take the effort to make a picture of the new bi-color submariners… We all know how the look like 😉

At Patek it also seemed like a ladies year… Focus was on the PP Seal and relaunch of midsize Nautilus models in precious metals with diamonds.

Patek Philippe Nautilus mid size

The platinum version is one of my favourite PPs, but I have to admit this gold version looks amazing!

PP walked away from the legendary Geneva Seal and introduced the Patek Philippe Seal.

We met an unique watchmaker that designed many amazing movements for the grand brands, still does, but also started his own brand:

Marc Alfieri Tourbillon GMT Watch

Ulysse Nardin knows what ‘freaky’ watches are, but they also started making cellular phones. Robert-Jan presented the back of the phone with a mechanical movement here couple of weeks ago, here is the front of the ‘Chairman’:

It is still unknown what the exact retail price will be…

Breitling proudly presented the new Chronomat models with the manufacture B01 movement:

Breitling Chronomat 2009

And, for their 125th anniversary this year, the created a limited edition Navitimer:

Breitling Navitimer 125th Anniversaire – Limited to 2009 pieces.

Seiko is 120+ old manufacture that also went back to their roots. The new Seiko “Ananta” collection does not only present new hybrid Spring Drive movements, but also manufacture automatic movements inspired by the original Samuari swords:

All new Seiko Ananta Automatic Chronograph

All new Seiko Ananta Automatic Power Reserve Hamilton slightly went back to their roots too, by launching the Automatic version of the Ventura (see our post about this watch)… But they are looking WAY ahead in the future, check these amazing new designs:

Hamilton ODC X–02 (front view)

Hamilton ODC X–02 (side view)

But this is not all, this is also a revolutionairy watch:

Hamilton Khaki BASE jump watches

Yes, you simply activate and reset the chrono by turning the bezel!

Also Longines went back to their roots and brought back some legandary watches, we are rather keen of this one:

Longines RAF WWW replica (see original here)

RAF Military www watch. 38,50mm with reference L2.731.4.53.1!

Last year Longines re-introduced the Legend Divers, this year they added a version with a date.

Longines Silver Shadow replica

We were very curious to see the newest family of Rado’s by Jasper Morrison:

Rado by Jasper Morrison

Tomorrow more news from BaselWorld! Stay tuned.

BaselWorld 2009 Update: Itay Noy Watches

Today I arrived in Basel and started the infamous trade fair visit with a dinner with a true artisan: Itay Noy. The watch maker of exclusive and hand made watches bearing his own name “Itay Noy”.

WFB first wrote about Itay Noy about a year ago: “Switzerland: The Holy Land?” and then I wrote that I tried that we would interview Itay Noy. Tonight was an informal dinner, but Itay promised to do a Q&A exclusively for WatchFreaks Blog. To be continued.

Same background info:

Internationally-acclaimed Israeli artist Itay Noy transforms telling time into a true art form. Each of his hand crafted, limited edition timepieces is made exclusively in Israel and appeals to those seeking unusual, high-quality watches. The recipient of eight prizes, including the prestigious Andrea M. Bronfman Prize in 2007, Noy lectures on timepiece design at Bezalel in Jerusalem. His work has been exhibited in museums all over the world and acquired by the Charles Bronfman Collection in New York, The Droog Design in Amsterdam, The Israel Museum in Jerusalem and The Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Each timepiece tells a story in time — from broken dimensions in the Fractal collection to simultaneous dichotomy in Duality and elusive cityscapes in City Squares. Noy’s timepieces satisfy the desire for a sublime mixture of unique design and functional perfection. Ace Jewelers is proud to be the sole and exclusive retailer of Itay Noy Timepieces in Europe!

Hereby some snap shots of the items we examined and adored over dinner (sorry for the poor lighting):

Itay Noy Fractal & City Squares

Itay Noy Duality Limited Edition Watch

Itay Noy: The name says all – Duality (the timepiece has two watches)

Itay Noy hommage to the greatest squares in major cities… Guess which one this is 🙂 HINT

Itay Noy: Discrete Bling Bling – Black Diamonds (unisex model)

For an overview of the complete collection of Itay Noy, please visit the official website of the watchmaker: www.Itay-Noy.com or the reseller of his timepieces in Europe: www.AceJewelers.com (yes, as the CEO of Ace Jewelers, I am proud to announce that because of WFB, we became an AD of these unique watches 🙂 ).

Ulysse Nardin’s Chairman hybrid smart phone

Since a few days, Ulysse Nardin is spreading a few sneak preview pictures on their latest invention.. the cell phone for the guy (or Chairman) who has everything already! Their ‘Chairman’ cell phone  is a green machine, getting its energy from a mechanical (kinetic) source.

There is nothing more I can say about it actually, except that I am very anxious to see the final version of this ultimate luxury phone. Ulysee Nardin will introduce their Chairman on the BaselWorld fair at the Hall of dreams, hall 1.0 stand A05. The official UN-Cells website doesn’t reveal a thing about their smart phone with (mechanical) watch DNA.

As you can see on the picture below, there will be only 1846 pieces of this cell phone, referring to the year in which Ulysse Nardin was founded.

Will it be as good as RIM’s BlackBerry? Or Apple’s iPhone? Or as well crafted as Vertu’s phones? Let’s see and wait, [about] two weeks to go…