Monday Morning Watch News Featuring Maurice Lacroix, Bremont, And Vulcain
Monday Morning Watch News kicks off your week with three novelties — the revised Maurice Lacroix Pontos S Diver, the race-inspired Bremont Isle of Man TT Limited Edition, and the Vulcain Cricket “André Didixein” CronotempVs Collectors. The Pontos S Diver came to life with the help of Croatian freediving world champion Lidija Lijić, while the Bremont is the timepiece of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy lap record holder and six-time TT race winner Peter Hickman. Lastly, this Vulcain Cricket is dedicated to the grandson of the founder of the watch brand, who also played football for Madrid FC, the current Real Madrid FC.
How long can you hold your breath underwater? Not as long as the Croatian freediving world champion Lidija Lijić, who can hold her breath for a record time of five minutes and 43 seconds. Thinking about that almost makes me black out, but anyway, the diving champ was involved in the creation of the new Maurice Lacroix Pontos S Diver. In what way, I don’t know, but if she took prototypes for a test dive, she was pretty important in the process. If you remember the first-generation models from 2013, you will find some similarities with the new watch. Gerard and I remember them, and we thought the watches from a decade ago were pretty nice. How about the new ones?
Monday Morning Watch News: Maurice Lacroix Pontos S Diver
The design of the new 42 × 12mm Pontos S Diver is very much in the spirit of the original dive watch. And alongside the two steel versions, there’s also a bronze model available now. That bronze model has a completely different vibe. Now, if you ask me, the straight, clean look of the Pontos S Diver works best in cool, instrumental steel. Having it in a more steampunk kind of alloy creates a stark contrast. The case is like the bronze diving helmets of yesteryear, while the shapes of the case and the dial design are more of this era.
If we stay on the dial, you will find the usual hour indexes with the same Super-LumiNova you will also see on the faceted hour and minute hands. On the steel models, the latter even has a colored border. But the slender minute markers between the applied hour indexes that give the dial its full appearance really do it for me. The new dial is sharper and crisper than the 2013 original.
The “M” logo sits proudly again
The crown at 2 o’clock is a feature that stems directly from the original diver from a decade ago. As you may expect, it controls the internal rotating bezel. This bezel provides a more open look for a dive watch with a count-up scale for measuring elapsed time underwater. Inside the 300m-water-resistant case beats the automatic ML115 caliber, which is, in essence, a Sellita SW200-1 with a 38-hour power reserve.
The bronze version with a grained blue dial comes supplied with two straps, one in vintage dark blue leather that shows the company’s “M” logo (disliked by some, loved by others) and another in dark blue rubber with the name of the brand embossed. The steel models come with a grained black or lacquered white dial and three color-coordinated straps that you can easily change thanks to the Easy Strap Exchange System.
The two steel models have a price of CHF 1,900. The bronze version, a limited edition of 500 pieces, is pricier at CHF 2,530. For more information, visit the official Maurice Lacroix website.
Monday Morning Watch News: Bremont Isle of Man TT Limited Edition
Bremont is the official timing partner of the Isle of Man TT. This famous bike race is as spectacular as it is dangerous. The first TT race took place on the Isle of Man in 1907, after which, it was the official World Championship until 1976. Subsequently, it transformed into a time trial on the hair-raising and breathtaking 37.75-mile TT Mountain Course that has been in use since 1911. The Bremont Isle of Man TT Limited Edition (€5,975) is a racing chronograph that’s limited to 67 pieces. These 67 watches are a nod to the number of sections on the (in)famous Mountain Course.
The watch has a 43 × 15.5mm steel case with a lug-to-lug length of 49mm. Inside this case beats the caliber BE-50AV based on the ETA 7750. This 4Hz automatic movement has a 56-hour power reserve. The Bremont Isle of Man TT Limited Edition comes on a black curved-end rubber strap. It also shows the subtly integrated Isle of Man triskelion on the 3 o’clock sub-dial and the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course circuit on the case back.
You can get an impression of how it wears by looking at the wrist of Bremont brand ambassador Peter Hickman. The watch and rider make for quite the combination. “Hicky” is the fastest man ever to have completed the very tricky course at an average speed of 135mph.
More information can be found on the official Bremont website.
Monday Morning Watch News: Vulcain Cricket “André Didixein” CronotempVs Collectors
Did you know that André Didisheim — the grandson of Vulcain’s founder and the head of the family brand for 50 years — played football for Madrid FC, the current Real Madrid FC? I didn’t, but it’s a pretty original story. André Didisheim was quite the athlete. He also was a gifted tennis player and skier, but football was his main game. In 1907, he went to Madrid to learn Spanish because, at the beginning of the 20th century, South America was a very important market for Swiss watch manufacturers. While Didisheim was in Madrid, he played as an offensive midfielder with Madrid FC. For reasons that must have had something to do with pronunciation, the name Didisheim was changed to “Didixein.” And that’s exactly why the existence of the Swiss player was only discovered recently.
A Cricket for a football player and brand owner
But the link between Vulcain and the football club from Madrid has always been strong and practical. In 1934, for instance, coach Fernando Bru used his Vulcain chronograph during training sessions. The new Vulcain Cricket “André Didixein” CronotempVs Collectors edition is not a chronograph. Nevertheless, it does pay homage to the once-forgotten football player and Vulcain boss. This limited-edition watch has a 39 × 12.80mm steel case, and the crown winds and sets the movement and the alarm. To do the latter, you first engage the pusher at 2 o’clock. This pops the crown out and allows you to set the alarm with the arrow-tipped hand. The hand-wound double-barrel Vulcain V-10, an evolution of the original Cricket caliber from 1947, keeps the watch running and the alarm ringing.
The Vulcain Cricket “André Didixein” CronotempVs Collectors came about in collaboration with CronotempVs, a collectors’ group founded in Spain in 2009. This watch is a limited edition of 47 pieces, a number that relates to the original Cricket from 1947. And this edition has a distinct, very elegant 1950s look. The shade of gray on the dial has a pre-aged look that doesn’t appear too forced and shimmers nicely under the domed sapphire glass. The price of this latest Cricket is €4,300 excluding VAT.
You can learn more about the football-playing Cricket on Vulcain’s official website.
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