iW Magazine Summer 2019 | Page 73

BASELWORLD 2019 NOTABLES BREITLING Navitimer Ref. 806 1959 Re-Edition Breitling debuts the Navitimer Ref. 806 1959 Re-Edition, which recreates a favorite Navitimer design from 1959. The watch is a 40.9mm steel chronograph that replicates with very fine detail the 60-year-old design, including an all-black dial with tone-on-tone sub dials and a rotating beaded bezel. Even the famed slide rule is placed under domed acrylic glass, just like the original. Wisely, Breitling did increase water resistance to 30 meters, add SuperLuminova (in vintage hues) and fit the watch with a new manual- wind movement, Manufacture Caliber B09 (based on the excellent Manufacture Caliber 01), which is a COSC-certified chronometer. Price: $8,600. CHOPARD L.U.C XP With a strong, broad set of debuts, Chopard in 2019 again shows off its abundance of technical and stylistic savvy. Even with a solid set of new masculine L.U.C Chrono Flybacks and a gorgeous L.U.C XPS Flying T Twin (Chopard’s first flying tourbillon) to distract me, this pure dress L.U.C XP on a fashionable blue Merino wool strap caught my eye. It’s a 40mm steel watch with a satin blue dial that looks far better on the wrist than it does in pictures. The L.U.C XP’s rose gold accents, thin case and handsome caliber décor (visible though the caseback) made me swoon. Inside is Chopard’s estimable and beautifully finished dual-barrel L.U.C Calibre 96.53-L boasting fifty-eight hours of power reserve. The added value here is that each watch arrives with a second cognac alligator leather strap with brown alligator lining. Price: $8,810. SUMMER 2019 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | 73