2020 Green Dial Watches Part 1: Top 15 Time Only Watches

Green is the new blue. 

Previous years there has been a few splatter of green dial watches. Nothing dramatic and most of the time paired to a bronze case. But 2020 seems to be the year where being seen to be green is in fashion. 

Green is a symbol of hope, luck, growth, and nature in many cultures. Today, it also symbolises environmental protection. There is nothing more eco-friendly than a watch that is powered either by the movement of your wrist or a simple wind up of a mainspring which stores energy in a barrel, which will continue to run (with careful maintenance) for decades?

Now, stop being green and think the grass is greener on the other side. Here are a wristful of green watches that will surely make others green with envy. Go ahead. You have the green light. 

The following is a list of the top 15 green mechanical/automatic simple 2/3 hand watches with/without date we could find that were launched in just 2020 alone. In alphabetical order: 

1. Ball AWF Limited Edition

The Ball Engineer III Mavelight AWF watch was designed for the Australian Watch Forum, the largest Facebook group for watch enthusiasts. 904L grade stainless steel, 40mm case size.

2. Bell & Ross BR03-92 HUD limited to 999 pieces

The collection is directly inspired by the navigation tools of aircraft cockpit. The new BR03‑92 H.U.D (Head-Up Display) gets inspiration from the avionics displays of fighter jets equipped with the most cutting-edge technology. The case is matte black ceramic, 42mm, green sapphire crystal and water resistant to 100m. Power reserve of 38 hours.

3. Blancpain Bathyscaphe Mokarran limited to 50 Pieces 

A special watch dedicated to protecting the great Hammerhead shark. This model will be available exclusively in Blancpain boutiques in New York and Las Vegas. A total of $50,000 will be added to the brand's regular contributions to promoting, respecting and protecting the fascinating world of the oceans. Case is in black ceramic, measuring 43.6mm x 13.8mm. Water resistant to 300m, powered by in-house calibre 1318 with 120 hours power reserve.  

4. Bovet Miss Audrey

It features a green guilloché dial inspired by the lotus flower that reflects sumptuous shades. This timepiece is also housed in the Amadéo® convertible 36mm stainless steel case. The bezel and the iconic bow are set with diamonds.The case's convertible feature allows the timepiece to be worn on the wrist, transformed into a table clock or turned into a pendant without tools. Total of 1.04ct diamonds. Water resistant to 30m.

5. Eberhard Traversetolo Hope

The green dial was chosen as it symbolises hope. Stainless steel 43mm case, water resistant to 50m

6. Frederique Constant Vintage Rally Healey

The Vintage Rally "Healey" limited editions were created as a result of a partnership between the Frederique Constant Manufacture and the Austin-Healey car brand. Established in 2004, the bond has never been broken; seventeen years of allegiance and fellowship between watchmaking and mechanics, punctuated by rallies, meetings, races and a shared passion for retro design. 40mm stainless steel case, water resistant to 50m. The caseback has been engraved with an Austin-Healey and powered by Frederique Constant caliber FC-303 with a power reserve of 38 hours. 

7. Kurono Anniversary Green ‘森:Mori' Limited edition of 288 pieces.

To commemorate the first anniversary of Kurono, made by watchmaker Hajime Asaoka. Stainless steel case with a high curvature sapphire crystal, powered by Miyota's calibre 90S5, with a 42-hour power reserve. Proudly made in Japan and hand assembled. 

8. Laurent Ferrier Classic Origin Green

Housed in the Classic, pebble-shaped case, this new version is cased in grade 5 titanium. The hand-wound Calibre LF 116.01  is equipped with a free-sprung balance and a Breguet overcoil. 

9. Longines HydroConquest Green Boutique Edition

41mm stainless steel case, with sapphire crystal and water resistant to 300 meters. Green ceramic bezel insert. Powered by Longines caliber L888.5 (base ETA A31.L11) with a silicon balance spring and a power reserve of 64 hours.

10. Montblanc Heritage Automatic

40mm case in 18kt yellow gold, a steel caseback with Minerva Manufacture engraving, water resistant to 50 meters. Powered b by Montblanc caliber MB 24.27 (base Sellita) with a power reserve of 42 hours. It features a flat hairspring and a flat hoop balance. 

11. Norqain Independence 20 Limited to 200 pieces

We mentioned the brand Norqain before, and this is the first piece to use the Kenissi movement. Stainless steel case, 42mm diametre, Kenissi movement with 70 hours of power reserve. Water resistant to 100m.

12. Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 41

41mm stainless steel case, AR-coated sapphire crystal, a sapphire display back, and it is water resistant to 150 meters. Powered by in-house caliber 8900 with a power reserve of 60 hours. Co-Axial escapement. Certified Master Chronometer by METAS, and resistant to magnetic fields reaching 15,000 gauss. Free sprung-balance with silicon balance spring.

13. Oris x Momotaro Divers Sixty-Five

This special steel and bronze version of the Oris Divers Sixty-Five is made in collaboration with the independent Japanese company Momotaro Jeans. Named after a Japanese folklore hero, Momotaro was launched in 2006 by Hisao Manabe. Its roots lie in his textile company, which he established in 1992 with just three employees in the small coastal town of Kojima in Okayama. Stainless steel 40mm case, rotating bezel with bronze edge. Water resistant to 100m, powered by Oris calibre 733 (base Sellita SW200-1) with a power reserve of 38 hours.

14. Rado Captain Cook Diver Green 42

Stainless steel case measuring 42mm x 48.6mm x 12.3mm, water resistant to 300m. Steel bezel with polished green ceramic insert. Powered by ETA caliber C07.611 with a power reserve of 80 hours. 

15. Urban Jürgensen Big 8 "London Edition" Limited to 10 pieces  

This limited edition watch will donate all profits to the Wellcome Trust COVID-Zero Research Fund.

Stainless steel case 40mm x 10.8mm, water resistant to 30m. Soldered tear-drop shaped lugs. Powered by Urban-Jurgensen caliber FP1160 (base F. Piguet) with a power reserve of 48 hours. It features a 21kt gold rotor with guilloché decoration. 

Baselworld 2015 Wrap Up - Part 2 - Trending Blue Watches

Feelin' blue? Well my friend you're right on trend because out of the blue, this year blue is the new black according to the fashion forward set at this year's Baselworld. Blue watches is one of the dominating trends with many brands releasing a blue watch of some sort.

Here at tarts we have curated a quick selection of blue watches in a wide range of price points and varying degrees of complication, suitable for everyone from blue collar to white collar to no collar. That's right. You don't have to be blue blooded anymore to own a blue watch. Why with all these choices there's no reason to sing the blues no mo'. So why don't you take the blue pill and get yourself a blue watch this year?

In no particular order:

Faberge, the egg makers makes a watch

Edox Hydro-Sub

Chris Ward Trident Pro

Breitling Super Ocean

Oris Thelonium Monk Limited Edition

Omega Speedmaster X-33

Frederique Constant World Timer

Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Gravity

Blancpain Fifty Fathom Chronograph The Ocean Commitment

JeanRichard Terrascope Blue

Hublot Big Bang Unico Italia Independent

Sarpaneva Korona Northern Lights

Tudor Pelagos 

Glashutte Original PanoReserve and PanoMaticLunar

Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 007 Spectre

Konstantin Chaykin Diana

Omega Globemaster

Eterna Royal KonTiki

H Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar

Citizen Eco-Drive Divers

One-on-one With A Melbourne Watch Collector Part 1

Previously we brought you an interview with a Sydney watch collector here, this time we have an interview with a Melbourne watch collector. Due to the obvious geographical complications, this interview was done unfortunately over email rather than the much preferred method of over a coffee and/or a whiskey... Perhaps a raincheck on the drinks? As the Sydney collector, this Melbourne collector also wishes to remain anonymous, so will simply remain as "Melbourne Watch Collector" (MWC)

TheSydneyTarts: Thank you for agreeing to the interview!

MelbourneWatchCollector: Thank you for asking me! I've been a big fan of the blog for some time now. 

TST: Well, let me again start with the obvious. How did you get started in watch collecting?

MWC: First of all, to me "a collection" implies some sort of order or logic to my purchases. I'm not sure that describes me, I think I'm more "one of those guys that owns a lot of watches".

About 25 years ago I had some sort of ana-digital watch – I'm guessing a Casio or Seiko – rectangular face, analog hands for time and a digital display at the bottom for date and maybe it had a chrono as well, but I couldn't say for sure. And in the fullness of time the battery went flat. So I said to my father, "Can I borrow a watch while I get the battery replaced?" and he lent me a nice Omega with a chrono.

What I didn't know at the time was I was wearing an early 60s Speedy. And it stayed on my wrist for probably close to 10 years (would you have bothered replacing the battery in the crappy Seiko ana-digital?) until I finally got sick of paying Omega $300+ every couple of years to service it. So, needing to replace it, and not having a clue about watches, I bought an Omega Seamaster Pro .. Yes, the blue dial & bezel model that I'd seen Pierce Brosnan wearing, so that dates the purchase to somewhere around 1998 / 99.

Omega Seamaster Professional, now known as the "Bond" watch

TST: The Seamaster is as good a place to start as any! It's becoming quite the modern classic, thanks to the James Bond connection and the amount of marketing push Omega did with it. What was the follow up to such a classic?

MWC: It took another couple of years until I made my next purchase, an Oris Worldtimer. This is where the problems really began – I realised I could own more than one watch, and you then discover you can own more than you have wrists for  …. And two quickly became a much bigger number. 

TST: Ahh yes the slippery slope that almost all watch collectors goes through and never really gets back up from. After that downward spiral, I find that a stage a lot of watch collectors seem to go through is one of buying junk. Would you say this is a stage you've gone through as well?

MWC: I've bought a lot of junk over the years - crappy Russian knock offs (not copies) of Navitimers, Chinese GMT II's and the like .. Most of which broke and weren’t worth repairing or were simply disposed of.

TST: Do you have any other regrets apart from buying junk?

MWC: The only collecting rabbit hole that I regret falling down for a little while was 24 hour dials – I had three or four at one stage, including a stunning early 60s' Navitimer Cosmonaute, but if you change watches every day they're impossible to read at a glance. They're the only watches I've ever sold.

TST: Now you could say that your dad's Omega kind of kick started your enthusiasm for watches- did the Omega thing stick?

MWC: I've got a good assortment of Omegas – the above mentioned Seamaster Pro, a 60s' gold 3 hand Seamaster, a Speedy with triple date, a gold (plated) 50s' triple date moon, a yellow Schumacher Speedy, and a 70s' Dynamic. Ignoring the cost of early pre-moon Speedys (I still borrow Dad's now and then) and some of the Flight Masters (currently high on my want list) I find Omegas good value compared to the other name Swiss brands.

TST: I believe you don't just stick to Swiss watches either?

MWC: Yes I have a good number of of 70s' Seiko chronos. My first real watch – at age 13 – was a Seiko 6139-7002, and I've added one to the box in the last year or two. I remember being so happy with my watch until a mate who was about 6 months younger got a Seiko LCD watch when he turned 13 (this would have been late '76) and all of a sudden those hands didn't look so good to me. But I'm guessing he hasn't tracked down a replacement of the watch he wore as a teenager

Seiko 6139-7002

I also have a couple of Seiko bullheads, and two or three other Seiko chronos of similar vintage. The designs appeal to me, and the fact that they're cheap (I typically pay $100 ~ $150 on eBay for them) & solid work horse watches make mean I can't see myself parting with them in a hurry. I've also got a few Seiko divers, including one I had modded – replacing the dial, hands and bezel. Again, I like them because I can't break them, and if I do, they're cheap to fix or replace.

TST: Something else that's also fairly tough and unbreakable, albeit at a price, is Rolex. However, this is a brand that polarizes people's opinions. Where do you stand on the Rolex issue?

MWC: It took me a long time to buy a Rolex, more because I didn't like the image of being a "rolex guy" (ie: a dentist) than for any other reason, but I've since fallen for them, with a Sub, a GMT II and an Explorer II all happily living in my watch box. The GMT II is my default travel watch – easy to change time zones, I can swim in it, and fine to wear either in a meeting or out for a night of drinking.

The current Rolex GMT Master II

TST: Rolex, Omega, Seiko- These are all very classic brands with classic watches. You can't go wrong with these. But did you veer off the 'safe' course and try something less well known or something more under-appreciated by the masses?

MWC:I bought a Maurice Lacroix Reviel Globe 7 or 8 years ago that saw a lot of wear – I used to call it my working watch: three time zones and an alarm, but the cost of replacing the strap ($350 - it's an odd size) has kept it in the box of late.  There are some other odds and ends: a Magrette diver (don't really like it any more), assorted low value 70s' divers, a Tissot Navigator chrono that is very hard to read (dial / hand colours are too close) and it needs a new "lobster" bracelet, a pocket watch, and a James Bond Seiko quartz something or other.

At the upper end of the collection is a Graham Oversize Chronofighter GMT Big Date (the name is almost as big as the watch) that I bought in HK maybe 4 years ago, and the spoilt princess of the watch box is a JLC Reverso GMT. The Reverso probably only spends a night a month on my wrist, but it's always wound and ready to go.

Assortment of watches, including a couple of Seiko Bullheads, Maurice Lacroix, Omega, Oris, and Reverso

Stay tuned for part 2 where the MWC talks about his foray into independent watchmaking....

Formula 1 and Watches

Being a huge F1 fan and a watch nerd, I'm sadly all too aware of the F1/ watch connection, but there haven't been any recent looks at the watch side of F1 racing that I'm aware of, so I thought that it's time that we had one!

I think we all know about the partnership between car companies and watch companies as it seems like watches and cars get on like Homer and beer.

What is perhaps less talked about in the mainstream media is that there are also a lot of watch companies getting in on the act with Formula 1 racing. The two have become so intertwined that as the top 3 drivers at each race get ready to get on the podium, they all made sure (well, at least someone made sure) that the relevent watch is firmly strapped onto their wrists.

(For those without a watch sponsor... I think I might have just figured out something!!! If you have a watch sponsor, you are more likely to be on podium than if you don't. Think about it...) By this logic, will we see a Marussia driver on the podium soon?

Hublot clock at the Abu Dhabi circuit - image taken from the internet

Hublot is of course, the current official timing partner with Formula One, and has even launched special editions for certain races. However, for each individual teams, and even individual drivers, there are different watch partnerships going on. The prices of the watches spans a great range from three figures all the way up to six figures!

[NOW] Now let's take a look at the most affordable to most expensive watches on the grid, in the 2011 finishing order.

Hublot F1 King Power - image taken from the internet

Red Bull Racing: The watch partner is Casio, and both drivers (Vettel and Webber) wear Casio products. There is an official Casio Edifice Red Bull racing watch, and Vettel also has his own Casio Edifice watch.

Casio Edifice Red Bull Racing - image taken from the internet

Mclaren Mercedes: This is a partnership that is deeply rooted in history and has been going on for a long time.  TAG Heuer equips both Hamilton and Button with wrist jewellery as well as branded timing screens and whatnot in the garage. TAG Heuer branding used to be on the actual cars, but now they're happy to have the drivers as ambassadors instead of having stickers on cars.

Lewis Hamilton posing with his Tag Heuer - image taken from the internet

Jenson Button and his Tag Heuer - image taken from the internet

Jenson, being a bit of a watch lover, had his fair share of different brands on his wrist (depending on if there is a contractual obligation or not). Back in his days of driving a Honda, he wore Seiko Sportura watches, but when he was driving for Brawn in his championship winning year, he had on Jaeger-LeCoultre watches for the first half of the season or so, until Graham watches came on board later on in the year, and that relationship has continued to...

Jenson modeling the JLC Extreme Lab while he was with Brawn GP - image taken from the internet

Mercedes AMG Petronas: Best known for their partnership with Graham watches from their BrawnGP days, they have dropped Graham has the official timing partner, and picked up Thomas Sabo instead for the 2012 season as the official jewellery partner. Nico Rosberg is also sponsored by Sabo, and sports a Thomas Sabo watch. However, this partnership look set to end at the end of 2012 as IWC has signed on as the official engineering partner with the team starting 2013, which makes sense since IWC has a partnership with AMG.

I can’t help but notice the creativity involved in naming the category that the brands are aligned in. Graham was the official 'timing' partner, [WHICH IS] straightforward enough. Thomas Sabo is the official 'jewellery'  partner… ok… still quite straight forward but, IWC as the official 'engineering' partner? Hmm….thinking aloud here, but I reckon SIHH 2013 will see IWC announce a new range of engineering watches inspired by F1… Engineering watches you ask? For those who parlez francaise, you’ll of course, realise that French for engineer is oh… gee… IWC has a line of watches named “Ingenieur”…

IWC Ingenieur AMG collection from 2005 - picture taken from the internet

IWC Ingenieur Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team edition… you read it here first.

Oh. And Schumacher, once a long-time Omega ambassador, has 'upgraded' to Audemars Piguet, who also had Barichello, Buemi and Trulli on their roster until the three drivers were unceremoniously denied drives for the 2012 season.

Graham MercedesGP GMT - image taken from the internet

Michael Schumacher with his AP - image taken from the internet

Barichello, Trulli and Buemi all sporting AP Royal Oak Offshores - image taken from the internet

Ferrari: They recently signed up with Hublot, after a short stint with Panerai, and before that with Girard Perregaux. Let's hope this new partnership with Hublot is more successful than either GP or Panerai. However, this does not seem to extend to the drivers, as Alonso sports a Viceroy and Massa has a Rchard Mille named after him. So even though Alonso has the upper hand in racing, Massa definitely takes the top step in terms on wrist wear...

Hublot Ferrari Big Bang Magic Gold - image taken from the internet

Alonso's Vceroy watch - image taken from the internet

Richard Mille Filipe Massa - image taken from the internet

Oh... and there is also the more 'accessible' range of Ferrari watches which you can buy online from the Ferrari shop...

Ferrari watch- image taken from the internet

Renault: TW Steel jumped onboard during their tumultuous 2009 'crashgate' year, presumably because the space was going cheap after losing a few of their major sponsors after the scandal, but they've certainly made it work. They're big on oversized watches, and Kimi Raikkonen is seen wearing TW Steel. Romain Grojean was wearing TW Steel up until just before Monaco 2012, when he switched over to TAG Heuer.

Ironically, Kimi used to be a TAG Heuer ambassador back when he drove a Mclaren, and he continued to be TAG eyewear ambassador after his switch to Ferrari back in 2007. Past driver and current commentator David Coulthard also has his own  'named' watch in the range.

TW Steel Renault F1 Team - image taken from the internet

Force India: Don't seem to have a watch sponsor at the moment. So... here's an opportunity to add stickers to Force India cars and adorn drivers Hulkenberg's and di Resta's wrists!

Sauber: Certina has been with Sauber for 8 years, and the partnership has been quite subtle, with very small stickers on the cars and the drivers' helmets. They supply not just the drivers but the whole Sauber team with watches to wear.

Certina Podium GMT Sauber F1 Team Ltd Ed - image taken from the internet

Torro Rosso: Again, no partnerships here...

Williams: Oris has had a long partnership with Williams - since 2003 (I remember Mark Webber had his own 'Mark Webber' edition Oris) and this continues for the 2012 Championship.

Oris Williams F1 Day-Date - image taken from the internet

Caterham: no watch partnerships

HRT: no watch partnerships

Marussia: is strangely partnered with a small indie watch brand called Armin Strom. Maybe this is a good way for Armin to gain more brand exposure, but I'd think they'd probably get better returns had they partnered with say... Caterham, since they're consistently the best of the three newcomers to the F1 party...

Armin Strom Racing Chronograph - image taken from the internet

In F1, engineering is an ever-moving goal post, and I think the same goes for (watch) sponsorship... Who knows we might need to do an updated F1 wrist watch next season!

[o]