Tick Talk: Vacheron Constantin’s panda Overseas Chrono, Omega’s Speedmaster Super Racing and other new watches

SINGAPORE – This is a regular series featuring the latest news in watches and all things horological.

Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph

Vacheron Constantin watches are now hot commodities and this “panda” version of the popular Overseas Chronograph is likely to be extremely coveted.

Essentially white dial chronographs with black sub dials, which recall the facial features of China’s most famous animal, panda dials started becoming popular in the 1960s.

This steel Vacheron number is a stunner, with a 42.5mm cushion-shaped case, a velvety black inner flange and a silver-toned sunburst dial featuring sleek black counters and 18K white-gold hour markers. The hours, minutes, seconds and chrono counter hands are coated with Super-LumiNova for legibility in the dark.

Powering the watch is the in-house integrated automatic calibre 5200 which boasts, among other features, twin barrels giving 52 hours of power reserve and a 22K gold oscillating weight adorned with a wind rose. The movement’s intricate workings can be admired through the sapphire caseback.

Besides a steel bracelet, this model – which features Vacheron’s interchangeable wristband system – also comes with two additional black straps in leather or rubber.

Price: $46,500

Omega Speedmaster Super Racing

Omega’s most iconic watch has been given a new feature that makes it the brand’s most accurate mechanical movement yet.

The Spirate – a trademarked word which combines two other words: spiral and rate – system boasts a revolutionary new patent-pending spiral that allows for ultra-fine rate adjustments.

This tiny and “eccentric” mechanism – located on the balance bridge – enables the watchmaker to achieve certified precision of between zero and +2 seconds a day. What is even better? You can walk into any Omega boutique and get it fine-tuned in a jiffy.

The new model, meanwhile, celebrates the 10th anniversary of another Omega timepiece: the Aqua Terra 15,000 Gauss. With a lug-to-lug of 50mm, the 44.25mm case has a height of just 14.9mm.

The dial sports the classic Speedmaster Racing design with features including yellow and black accents on the dial and a checked 1/5th-seconds track around the periphery.

It is fitted with the updated Speedy bracelet with micro-adjust, and also comes with a black Nato strap with a yellow racing stripe down the middle.

Price: $16,300

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin

Unveiled last week, this 200-piece limited-edition model is a new – and lustworthy – variation of 2019’s Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin.

Then the world’s thinnest perpetual calendar, with a 2.89mm movement and a 6.30mm case, it was in turn based on the #RD2 Concept which bagged the biggest prize – the Aiguille d’Or – at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve (the GPHG) in 2018. The GPHG is the equivalent of the Oscars in the horological world.

Unlike the 2019 model, which was fashioned from titanium and platinum, this latest iteration is cloaked entirely in titanium. Besides the watchmaker’s trademarks of polished and satin-finished surfaces, the timepiece also boasts a stunning new smoky blue sunburst dial with three snailed black counters.

It is fitted with the Calibre 5133, which boasts only 256 parts and resulted in the development of a couple of patented innovations. For example, the functions of the perpetual calendar have been re-engineered to reside on just one level instead of three.

Price: 137,000 Swiss francs (S$197,415)

Ulysse Nardin Diver X Skeleton White

Ulysse Nardin dropped the first Diver X Skeleton model in 2021, a striking ticker in blue and orange. A black and yellow version followed last year.

This year, the open-worked dive watch surfaces yet again, flaunting an icy white monochromatic profile.

The 44mm watch is 16mm thick, its titanium case boasting surfaces polished or brushed. The unidirectional rotating bezel has a white rubberised inlay and numerals in relief. The open-worked dial, meanwhile, has a distinctive X shape which functions as the mainplate of the movement – the Manufacture calibre UN-372, which runs at a frequency of 21,600vph (3 Hz) and has a 96-hour power reserve.

Water-resistant to 200m, the Diver X Skeleton White is fitted with a white rubber strap. White fabric strap can be ordered separately from July 2023.

Price: $37,200

Zenith Defy Revival A3690

In 2022, Zenith reintroduced the first Defy wristwatch model – the A3642 with a brown gradient dial – from 1960.

At the LVMH Watch Week in Singapore in January, it released the ruby-red A3691 from 1971.

It continues to expand the collection, this time with a boutique exclusive – the teal-blue A3690.

Embodying retro chic, the watch faithfully reproduces the “bank vault” case design of the historical Defy references, sporting a 37mm octagonal case with a 14-sided bezel and a steel “ladder” bracelet.

It has hours, minutes, center seconds, and date displays, and is powered by Zenith’s 4Hz automatic Elite caliber 670 movement, which has a 50-hour power reserve.

Each case is water-resistant to 300m, the same depth as the original.

Price: $10,200

IWC The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41

IWC launched The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 two years ago, a watch distinctive for its 41mm case and its lug-to-lug distance of 51.8 mm. Like all of the brand’s pilot watches, it boasts a dial design which recall cockpit instruments.

The initial models featured blue and green dials, but two new iterations – with a black dial – have now been added to the collection. One is fitted with a black calfskin strap, and the other with a stainless-steel bracelet.

Both have the IWC EasX-Change system which makes light work of strap changing.

Ticking inside the new models is the IWC-manufactured 69385 calibre movement, which comprises 231 components you can admire through the sapphire caseback.

Price: $11,400