CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LE FT:
STAINLESS STEEL
‘SUPEROCEAN 44
SPECIAL’, $5300,
B Y B R E I T L I N G ;
TITANIUM ‘HI-
BEAT 36000
PROFESSIONAL
6 0 0 M D I V E R ’,
$ 1 4 , 6 0 0 , B Y
G R A N D S E I K O ;
STAINLESS STEEL
‘DIVE’ WATCH,
$1750, BY GUCCI;
SATIN-POLISHED
STEEL ‘BR 03-92
D I V E R ’, $ 5 4 0 0 ,
BY BELL & ROSS.158 GQ.COM.AU SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017In 1992, a diver from the Compagnie Maritime
d’Expertises, the NASA of underwater engineering,
descended to a depth of 701m; a record that stands
today. It’s considered the maximum depth a human
body can descend before imploding.
It would, therefore, take a plucky aquanaut
to take Grand Seiko’s first professional diver’s
watch much beyond the 600m it is certified to
withstand, for, while the timepiece might survive,
the diver’s organs are less likely to handle the
pressure. It may be a brand debut, but the hobnail
dial on the ‘Hi-Beat 36000 Professional 600m
Diver’, along with its highly-legible contrasting
bezel and circular hour markers, hark back to
the golden era of dive-watch design. (Take that
as the ’50s and early ’60s.)
Another sub-aquatic Baselworld first came from
Bell & Ross, which used the show to announce its
first square-cased diving model. The ‘BR 03-92
Diver’ is water resistant to 300 metres, driven
by a self-winding mechanical movement and
is equipped with a 60-minute calibrated uni-
directional rotating bezel. It also has a luminescent
dot at 12 o’clock for setting time references.When it was announced in March that Breitling
was teaming up with unlikely bedfellow Tudor,
the rumour mill went into overdrive. Was the
well-backed Rolex sister brand about to make
an audacious bid for the aviation specialist? As
it turned out, no. The following month, Breitling
was acquired by private equity giant CVC Capital
Partners. Nonetheless, the tie-in gave Breitling
access to Tudor’s three-hand ‘MT5612’ movement,
which it houses inside the ‘Superocean Héritage
II’. As with its forebear, the ‘Superocean Héritage II’
is available in either 42mm or 46mm, or there’s the
all-new ‘Superocean 44 Special’ which can dive to
a depth of 1000m.
Elsewhere, in what must be a first for
watchmaking, Gucci has released a line of diver’s
watches with animals embroidered on their dial.
Art for art’s sake, the pieces will, nonetheless,
descend to 200m and feature a uni-directional
bezel, a prerequisite of all dive watches. Choose
between a 45mm or 40mm case, or a unisex model
at 38mm, each containing a ‘Swiss-made’ quartz
movement. GRAND-SEIKO.COM; BELLROSS.COM;
BREITLING.COM; GUCCI.COMDeep-sea
diving
WATCH
WATCH
NEWS
COULDN’T MAKE IT
TO SWITZERLAND?
WE HAVE YOU COVERED.Smart
obsessedTOP PICKSA huge chance to get
millennials interested in
the industry, or a major
threat to everything that
makes watches great?
Either way, 2017 is the year
smartwatches became
a legitimate force on
everyone’s mind and
many’s wrist. Here, the
latest pieces to invest in.STAINLESS
STEEL‘CONNECTED
DISPLAY’ SMARTWATCH
BY EMPORIO ARMANI
Smart feature To h ave
international singing
sensation Shawn Mendes to
front the campaign. Also, the
various watch faces and
colour combinations to suit
your personal style. $649STAINLESS STELL
‘TAMBOUR HORIZON
BLACK’ BY LOUIS
VUITTON
Smart feature Its LV city
guides, changing faces
and ability to get you to
the airport on time.
$4200STAINLESS STEEL ‘STEEL’
WATCH BY NOKIA AT
HARVEY NORMAN
Smart feature Elegant,
clean and with no buttons,
it simply tracks all your
activity with the Nokia
Health Mate app. $229.95WORDS: RICHARD BROWN.