The Poseidon GMT

From Aquadive -

Courtesy of Aquadive

This is the latest from Aquadive, a collaboration watch with Sweden's Poseidon.  For those of you desk divers (like me) who are perhaps not familiar (again, like me), Poseidon is a long-standing industry leader making various indispensable items for the sport diver.  So needless to say, this is a natural partnership.

Courtesy of Aquadive

Based on Aquadive's 100 GMT, the Poseidon GMT measures 43 mm in across and 50 mm from one lug to the other.  And for those of you ready to act now?  You can get it at a pre-order price.

The Poseidon GMT will retail for $1,890 but the pre-order price is $1,395.  So for those of you so inclined, your deposit is $395, with the balance of $1,000 due when the watch ships.  More details can be found here:

AQUADIVE POSEIDON

Here are the pertinents -

• 43mm 316L stainless steel case (50mm lug-to-lug, 12.5mm thick) with 1000m water resistance
• Flat, AR-coated sapphire crystal
• 120-click unidirectional rotating bezel, fitted with fully luminous ceramic bezel insert
• Dual Viton gasket system in crown tube and caseback
• Shock-resistant ETA 2893-2 automatic movement with 24-hour indicator (2nd time zone)
• Includes official Poseidon mission patch, and two genuine ISOfrane straps: Black, and Poseidon Yellow
• Shipping begins November 2019

Why the Watch World Needs Stefano Macaluso

Regular readers will know that Girard-Perregaux has long been a personal favorite.  But not unlike the awkward kid with a crush on the head cheer-leader, that love was not always reciprocated ; )

I visited the GP HQ on one occasion some years ago and it left a lasting impression.  And if ghosts do exist, and I mean that in the absolutely most positive way, the ghost of Luigi Macaluso most definitely frequented the halls of the buildings in La-chaux-de-fonds.  If a corporate office could be said to be a romantic place?  Well GP was the watch fan's equivalent of Paris in Spring.

Curious to relate, I only recently met (at least face to face) another key person from Girard-Perregaux, Stefano Macaluso, this past March when he participated in the Henki Time podcast.  What was striking to me in that conversation was that although he was no longer with Girard-Perregaux (at least insofar as the daily operations although I believe that his family still holds a stake in the brand), was what I can only call a romantic notion about Girard-Perregaux.  And thank God for that.

In an age where watch brands are, in effect, losing their collective shit about what to do next, throwing money at influencers, slashing their advertising budgets with traditional media and dumping their over production wholesale into the grey market, here was a quiet, contemplative man speaking thoughtfully about the family business.  Other watch executives leave (or get asked to leave) a position and they take off on booze and drugged fueled jags.  Mr. Macaluso?  He grabs his bicycle and his sketch book and travels the world, documenting his impressions, and sharing them via instagram and facebook.  Many of us locked in our jobs had the opportunity to travel vicariously through him this past summer.  I guess my point here is that he is something outside of the mold of what is typical in the watch business.  

Whether it is a G-Shock you were given as a 10 year old, or your father's watch that you inherited when he passed on, watches do more than measure the time of our days, they mark the times of our lives.  And it is hard not to be romantic about that.

Now I am 51, no longer a young man by any stretch of the imagination, but I still feel those stirrings in that place where my heart (alleged by some not to exist) resides when it comes to some things, and Girard-Perregaux is one of them.  In all honesty?  We don't need more celebrity ambassadors, more watches made from "unobtainium", more limited-edition-partner watches with "watch news" (excuse me while I die laughing) outlets.  We need more artists, more poets, more dreamers.  The watch world needs people like Stefano Macaluso to remind us of the value of beauty, of thinking, of listening and of dreaming.

For now, something simple from GP to inspire.  Not too much, not too little, but to quote that other great commentator on watches, Goldilocks:

"This one is just right."

Courtesy of Girard-Perregaux

The Quai des Bergues Sapphire Blue S

From Czapek -

Courtesy of Czapek

The asking price is CHF 16,000, so for those of you with a Platinum Card and the inclination, here are the pertinents - 

Functions
- Hours, Minutes & Seconds
- Small second at 7h30
- Power reserve indication with weekdays at 4h30

Movement
- Calibre SXH1: Haute Horlogerie proprietary
mechanical hand-wound movement
- Power-reserve > 168 hours (7 days) on 2 barrel-springs
- Frequency: 3 Hz – 21,600 VpH
- Diameter: 32 mm – 14 lines 1⁄4
- Height: 4.75 mm

Finish
- Double open ratchets, sandblasted bridges, blue screws, bevelling, final anglage 'main'

Case
- Exclusive XO stainless steel “Revolution” case
- 38.5 mm diameter
- Curved Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective
treatment on the inside surface
- Sapphire crystal case back with anti-reflective
treatment on the inside surface
- Water-resistance: 50 meters (5 atm)

Strap
- Alligator strap with stainless steel pin buckle

Dial
- Blue handmade “Flinqué” enamel dial
- Czapek exclusive Ricochet® design
- Czapek typical elongated Roman numerals

Hands
- Rhodium plated steel hands