Four Extremely Cool New Watches Collectors Are Thankful For This Month
Close BannerClose00Days:00Hours:00Minutes:00SecondsSEE THE BEST DEALSShop the Best Sales Before Black Friday's OverStyleAnd one of them, if you can believe it, is battery-powered.By Oren HartovNovember 26, 2024©Laurent Xavier Moulin / www.laurentxaviermoulin.chSave this storySaveSave this storySaveWelcome to Watch Guy Watches, GQ’s monthly curation of high-end timepieces for the true watch nerds among us. This November, Hublot honors Novak Djokovic with a timepiece made from his shirts and racquets, Blancpain offers a black ceramic chronograph with a cool blue dial, Ulysse Nardin teams up with Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons on a Freak of a watch, and Girard-Perregaux embraces—gasp!—quartz!While the term "1970s watch" invariably conjures images of Gérald Genta-designed luxury sport models such as the Royal Oak and Nautilus, other notable creations took advantage of a then-new technology to begin a revolution in timekeeping. You guessed it: We're talking about the quartz crystal and the humble battery. Strangely enough, one of the companies that embraced the new tech early wasn’t a newcomer taking advantage of the novel tech. Girard-Perregaux was founded all the way back to 1791, but it proved it wasn’t allergic to new thinking.Though Girard-Perregaux did place quartz movements in more conventional, round-cased watches, its Casquette, a unique creation that mounts an LED screen in a funky trapezoidal case oriented toward the inner wrist, is among the wilder designs to utilize the technology. The Casquette was inspired by space travel and science fiction and the final result looked like a prop from the Star Trek set upon its debut back in 1976.In 2022, GP reissued the Casquette in black ceramic with titanium pushers, updating a retro classic for the 21st century. Now, it's getting a new lease on life as an 820-piece limited edition in Grade 5 titanium with an 18-karat 2N yellow gold GP logo and pushers. Paired to its signature, matching titanium bracelet—which is lined with rubber for increased comfort—the new Casquette’s distinct silhouette looks futuristic even today, nearly 50 years following the original model's debut. However, in a serious upgrade to an undisputed classic, the "2.0" displays not only the time, day, and date, but also the month, year, chronograph, second time zone and a secret date.Best of all is the price: At $4,960, it might be pricy for a quartz watch, but compared to standard Girard-Perregaux fare, it's a distinct bargain. Get ready to head back to the future, watch people!Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Flyback ChronographLaunched in 1953, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms joins the Rolex Submariner and the Zodiac Sea-Wolf as one of the earliest serially-produced watches for SCUBA divers. The Bathyscaphe, which debuted three years later, injected a bit of contemporary style into the collection, which is captured beautifully in the latest execution of the brand's flyback chronograph. Housed in a black ceramic case—which is five times lighter than stainless steel—it features a gorgeous, deep blue gradient dial with sunburst finishing that evokes the sun's rays beneath the waves. Being a Blancpain, the devil is in the details: A triple-register chronograph display is joined by applied indices with cream-colored luminous material, a syringe handset, and a black ceramic bezel insert with Liquidmetal indices. Of course, it's not merely a looker, either: With 300m of water resistance, it's a proper seafaring companion.Ulysse Nardin Freak X Enamel SeddiqiMost PopularStyleThe 68 Best Red-Carpet Looks of All Time (and What You Can Learn From Them)By Yang-Yi GohGQ RecommendsThe Best Jewelry Under $150 Is an Ice-Cold StealBy Michael NolledoStyleThe Gladiator II Premiere Was a Menswear MeleeBy Eileen CartterBorn in 2001, the Ulysse Nardin Freak constitutes a small revolution in watchmaking: Devoid of a traditional dial or hands, it instead mounts the movement directly beneath the sapphire crystal and indicates the minutes via a rotating orbital carousel housing the escapement. The newest Freak X—a collaboration with the U.A.E.'s preeminent jeweler Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons—adds a tourbillon to the equation as well as a stunning guillochéd enamel dial in a gorgeous shade of blue inspired by the Arabian sunset. Necessitating the use of multiple layers of enamel fired up to five times at a temperature of 800-degrees Celsius, this rotating dial doubles as the watch's hour hand and differentiates the Freak X Enamel Seddiqi from other, more traditional enameled fare. Within, the Ulysse Nardin Caliber UN-230 features a 72-hour power reserve and, crucially, a silicon escapement. (More common today, the use of silicon was downright revolutionary when the Freak launched back in 2001.)Hublot Big Bang Unico Novak DjokovicMARTIN BRENTFor die-hard followers of Djokovic's remarkable career—24 Grand Slam titles and only the 5th player to complete a Golden Slam, which includes all four majors and an Olympic gold in singles—the new
Welcome to Watch Guy Watches, GQ’s monthly curation of high-end timepieces for the true watch nerds among us. This November, Hublot honors Novak Djokovic with a timepiece made from his shirts and racquets, Blancpain offers a black ceramic chronograph with a cool blue dial, Ulysse Nardin teams up with Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons on a Freak of a watch, and Girard-Perregaux embraces—gasp!—quartz!
While the term "1970s watch" invariably conjures images of Gérald Genta-designed luxury sport models such as the Royal Oak and Nautilus, other notable creations took advantage of a then-new technology to begin a revolution in timekeeping. You guessed it: We're talking about the quartz crystal and the humble battery. Strangely enough, one of the companies that embraced the new tech early wasn’t a newcomer taking advantage of the novel tech. Girard-Perregaux was founded all the way back to 1791, but it proved it wasn’t allergic to new thinking.
Though Girard-Perregaux did place quartz movements in more conventional, round-cased watches, its Casquette, a unique creation that mounts an LED screen in a funky trapezoidal case oriented toward the inner wrist, is among the wilder designs to utilize the technology. The Casquette was inspired by space travel and science fiction and the final result looked like a prop from the Star Trek set upon its debut back in 1976.
In 2022, GP reissued the Casquette in black ceramic with titanium pushers, updating a retro classic for the 21st century. Now, it's getting a new lease on life as an 820-piece limited edition in Grade 5 titanium with an 18-karat 2N yellow gold GP logo and pushers. Paired to its signature, matching titanium bracelet—which is lined with rubber for increased comfort—the new Casquette’s distinct silhouette looks futuristic even today, nearly 50 years following the original model's debut. However, in a serious upgrade to an undisputed classic, the "2.0" displays not only the time, day, and date, but also the month, year, chronograph, second time zone and a secret date.
Best of all is the price: At $4,960, it might be pricy for a quartz watch, but compared to standard Girard-Perregaux fare, it's a distinct bargain. Get ready to head back to the future, watch people!
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Flyback Chronograph
Launched in 1953, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms joins the Rolex Submariner and the Zodiac Sea-Wolf as one of the earliest serially-produced watches for SCUBA divers. The Bathyscaphe, which debuted three years later, injected a bit of contemporary style into the collection, which is captured beautifully in the latest execution of the brand's flyback chronograph. Housed in a black ceramic case—which is five times lighter than stainless steel—it features a gorgeous, deep blue gradient dial with sunburst finishing that evokes the sun's rays beneath the waves. Being a Blancpain, the devil is in the details: A triple-register chronograph display is joined by applied indices with cream-colored luminous material, a syringe handset, and a black ceramic bezel insert with Liquidmetal indices. Of course, it's not merely a looker, either: With 300m of water resistance, it's a proper seafaring companion.
Ulysse Nardin Freak X Enamel Seddiqi
Born in 2001, the Ulysse Nardin Freak constitutes a small revolution in watchmaking: Devoid of a traditional dial or hands, it instead mounts the movement directly beneath the sapphire crystal and indicates the minutes via a rotating orbital carousel housing the escapement. The newest Freak X—a collaboration with the U.A.E.'s preeminent jeweler Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons—adds a tourbillon to the equation as well as a stunning guillochéd enamel dial in a gorgeous shade of blue inspired by the Arabian sunset. Necessitating the use of multiple layers of enamel fired up to five times at a temperature of 800-degrees Celsius, this rotating dial doubles as the watch's hour hand and differentiates the Freak X Enamel Seddiqi from other, more traditional enameled fare. Within, the Ulysse Nardin Caliber UN-230 features a 72-hour power reserve and, crucially, a silicon escapement. (More common today, the use of silicon was downright revolutionary when the Freak launched back in 2001.)
Hublot Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic
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For die-hard followers of Djokovic's remarkable career—24 Grand Slam titles and only the 5th player to complete a Golden Slam, which includes all four majors and an Olympic gold in singles—the new Hublot Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic is one of the year's most exciting horological developments. Made from a unique material composed of epoxy resin reinforced with quartz powder, the case is infused with recycled HEAD rackets and Lacoste polos used by Djokovic during the 2023 season. Powered by an automatic Hublot Unico movement, its cool blue color is complemented by applied indices and lime green and white accents. To maintain the lightest possible weight, it uses tempered Gorilla glass rather than traditional sapphire, and it ships with four different straps: "Lacoste" tennis wristband, blue elastic, light-blue Velcro, and white rubber with a titanium deployant buckle.
