Tag Archives: Watches

Strictly limited Hublot MP-10 Tourbillon Weight Energy System Titanium is futuristic time teller with vertical display

Posted on by

There are a few in the haute horlogerie that do futuristic, fiercely unconventional timepieces like the MB&F. The LVMH Watch Week is a place of reckoning for the best watchmakers, and it’s here that we see them going beyond the usual. Hublot for 2024 has gone seriously unconventional with the novel MP-10 Tourbillon Weight Energy System Titanium watch that sways afar with its display and functioning.

Over the years timekeeping machines in the higher echelons have evolved from analog and digital to the other variants of time telling. An example of such futuristic watches is the new Hublot which has a wraparound sapphire crystal over what you would consider the dial, revealing all the innards of the skeletonized movement components. This interesting layout ensures even the otherwise unorthodox time-telling is super legible.

Designer: Hublot

MP-10 Tourbillon Weight Energy System Titanium’s interesting layout is designed in a way that the watch with its fluid, natural movement has to be read from top to bottom. The vertical time display is the first of its type for the Swiss luxury watchmaker complemented by an oversized micro-blasted titanium case emitting innovation from the first look.

The casing measures 41.5mm wide and 54.1mm from lug to lug. The watch has an integrated lug design with an otherwise large crown at 12 o’clock. The casing of the MP-10 Tourbillon Weight Energy System Titanium is little a talking point. The standout here is the most technically complex crystal wrapped around the watch sides. On the one side, you can see the 6 o’clock tourbillon, while the visible vertical movement can be seen running through from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock.

On the top of the watch face is the rotating hours scale with the rotating minutes display just alongside. Fascinating however is the power reserve indicator just below, which has red and green indication for movement winding and seconds. The MP-10 Tourbillon Weight Energy System Titanium is equally compelling within where the brand’s in-house HUB9013 automatic tourbillon movement runs the show. Comprising 592 pieces, the inventive movement offers 48-hour power reserve and beats at the rate of 21,600 bph.

For me personally, the caseback of the Hublot Tourbillon is more enticing than the front. The simple transparent caseback has a side cutout to accommodate the crown and tourbillon, and gives a nice view of the brushed and matte blasted skeleton bridges. MP-10 Tourbillon Weight Energy System Titanium watch paired with an integrated black rubber strap is only 30-meter water resistant; if that is not much of a concern, you can get one of the exclusive 50 watches for 250,000 CHF or $290,000 each.

The post Strictly limited Hublot MP-10 Tourbillon Weight Energy System Titanium is futuristic time teller with vertical display first appeared on Yanko Design.

Limited edition Bell & Ross BR 03 Cyber watch in matt black ceramic has an interesting lug-less design

Posted on by

Bell & Ross is a watchmaker that draws attention time and again by exploring beyond traditional watchmaking. Through the years it has been the skulls and open-worked dials that have paved the way and now adding another innovative watch to the sprawling cyber epoch, the French watchmaker, with roots in Switzerland, has launched the all-new BR 03 Cyber Ceramic.

For the BR 03 Cyber watch in matt black ceramic, Bell & Ross has challenged itself and transformed the OG BR 03 in a high-tech, lightweight material. No wonder then the intricate timepiece is made in a strictly limited edition of only 500 examples with the interesting in-house movement within a reworked skeletonized dial.

Designer: Bell & Ross

According to the watchmaker, the BR 03 Cyber Ceramic features a dial inspired by the stealth aircraft design, taking the invisible in the skeletonized dial to the next level. The black 43mm case reveals all but still hides the calibre BR-CAL.383 behind the skeletonized dial with faceted bridges in the same theme and balance at 6 o’clock.

Within the dial, under the sapphire crystal, you have the microblasted minute and hour hands filled with grey Super-LumiNova for better visibility in the dark. The black ceramic watch with a crown has a see-through sapphire caseback providing a gaping view of the black oscillating weight.

As informed, the BR 03 Cyber is powered by the BR-CAL.383 self-winding automatic movement which offers a power reserve of two full days. The design aesthetic of the watch is maintained by the interesting lug-less concept which aligns with the BR 03 Cyber’s stealth theme. The rubber strap is meant to disappear in the case ensuring that there are no spaces in the snug outlook.

The limited-edition Bell & Ross BR 03 Cyber watch made in striking matt black ceramic is priced at $ 13,400 each. It is water resistant to 50M and is now available for the taking. If you have a liking for sharp-edged cased watches that shout opulence all the way to the matte black PVD steel buckle, this is the one to go for.

 

The post Limited edition Bell & Ross BR 03 Cyber watch in matt black ceramic has an interesting lug-less design first appeared on Yanko Design.

Casio Baby-G celebrates 30th anniversary by getting a Hello Kitty 50th birthday design

Posted on by

I still have a pretty clear memory of me begging my parents to buy me a Baby-G watch when I was still a teenager and I didn’t have any money yet to get my own. I also remember buying anything that has a Hello Kitty design that I could afford back then, which wasn’t a lot since, as I mentioned, i didn’t have my own money just yet. Now that I am a full grown adult earning my own keep, my dreams for both may be about to come true as Casio is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Baby-G and Hello Kitty is turning 50.

Designer: Casio

Casio and Sanrio have announced a collaboration for the two brands with the brand new Baby-G model, the BGD565KT which features all the Hello Kitty things that you can fit in a watch. The watch design itself is based on the BGD-565 which sports the very first design of the Baby-G model which was launched back in 1994. It still has the usual watch features including shock resistance, 100M water resistance, LED backlight, multi-function alarms, stopwatch, countdown timer, and a 3-year battery life.

But of course, the star of this model is Hello Kitty herself. The entire watch has a total of 50 Hello Kitty details so you’ll get a kitty overload. This includes the band which has printed faces of the 1970s version of the cute feline as she’s laughing, winking, and looking surprised. You’ll also see her on the LCD when the backlight is on, with her distinguishable eyes, nose, and whiskers. The dial itself has a ribbon design so you get a Hello Kitty face on your wrist.

Since we’re celebrating milestones for both brands, the watch itself has a retro design which users like me wouldn’t really mind since this is all about cute nostalgia. Even the packaging is Hello Kitty-fied as it has a cloth pouch based on the design.

The post Casio Baby-G celebrates 30th anniversary by getting a Hello Kitty 50th birthday design first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Rabbit R1 AI Smartwatch would have been a smash success at CES 2024…

Posted on by

Smartphone technology has come a long way and most of us would consider there is no going back from the endless convenience of next-gen phones that keep dropping every other week. This notion may be on the verge of change, with a pocket-friendly Rabbit that paced through the hearts of CES attendees this year. Dubbed the R1, a walkie-talkie-like device created by a startup called Rabbit in collaboration with Teenage Engineering and it is an AI-assisted smartphone alternative.

This retro-styled personal assistant with a screen, camera, and a scroll wheel is half the size of an iPhone 15 and presents a simpler and less distractive way to interact with technology. How the R1 really functions is a story untold, but its nostalgic simplicity has had over 10,000 customers and a designer floored. The designer has added wearable convenience to the Rabbit making it a compact AI watch.

Designer: Alisher Ashimov

The first visible motive for turning the palm-sized personal voice assistant into a wearable is to eliminate the need for an extra device to carry in the pocket, whatever the size might be. Aptly named Rabbit R1 AI Watch, it will enhance portability without compromising the uniqueness of the original design.

To that accord, the designer has retained the vibrant orange color theme to keep with the retro vibe. The wrist-worn voice assistant has the same square dial with features like a camera, a control wheel, speakers, microphones and the pioneering push-to-speak button included.

The redesigned wearable preserves a sim card slot to allow the watch to function independent of a smartphone, which is essentially the stand-out feature of the Rabbit R1 itself. The app-less handheld AI assistant takes us back to a time when using a phone was simple, and the idea of the watch keeps with that ideology.

It runs the Rabbit OS which allows it to conduct regular tasks like ordering Uber or checking out your grocery directly using the Rabbit’s proprietary Large Action Model (LAM) AI model. LAM is adaptable, which means it can learn and interact with new applications and actions you want it to learn. There is no word on the specifications of the AI Watch, but we presume when it is ready, it will be close to the 4 gigs of memory, 128GB storage, and 2.3GHz MediaTek processor that its inspiration Rabbit R1 features.

The post This Rabbit R1 AI Smartwatch would have been a smash success at CES 2024… first appeared on Yanko Design.

realme 12 Pro wraps a premium telephoto camera in a luxurious watch design

Posted on by

Almost all smartphone makers try to advertise their design-centric processes and products, but few actually live up to the expectations they set. Of those few, realme has had a track record of teaming up with big names in the industry to come out with a variety of designs that target different audiences, from youngsters to travelers to connoisseurs. This year, it seems that realme is aiming to tickle the fancy of watch lovers with a flagship that takes deep inspiration from these masterpieces of design and craftsmanship. Of, the realme 12 Pro isn’t just a pretty face and promises to also elevate your mobile photography with a new premium telephoto camera.

Designer: realme x Ollivier Savéo

In the past, smartphone telephoto cameras could only use digital tricks to get closer to a subject, but the development of periscope-style lenses finally enabled true optical zoom without bulking up the phone too much. With the realme 12 Pro, the brand is taking that to the next level with a combination of innovative elements and engineering to deliver a premium telephoto experience. In addition to a state-of-the-art periscope telephoto lens, the flagship phone utilizes the latest OmniVision OV64B, a 64MP 1/2-inch sensor that’s twice as large as your typical telephoto camera, including the one on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. These two pieces work together to provide not just 3x optical zoom but also 6x in-sensor (hybrid) zoom, getting you close and personal without the usual degradation associated with simple image cropping.

Of course, the realme 12 Pro’s main camera isn’t going to be left behind. With a 50MP Sony IMX890 1/1.56-inch sensor, the primary wide shooter promises rich details even at night. This is further enhanced by the MasterShot algorithm developed in collaboration with Qualcomm, enabling the phone to process RAW images directly, among other process-intensive capabilities. Along with the ultra-wide shooter, this camera system supports a wide range of lossless zoom levels, from 0.6x to 6x, similar to that of more expensive handsets.

Although the cameras are a focal point of the realme 12 Pro (pun intended, the phone’s design takes its cue from a different kind of luxury product. Teaming up with luxury watch designer Ollivier Savéo, the phone bears the aesthetic and tactile hallmarks of an elegant and premium timepiece. A fluted bezel wraps the circular camera island, giving the semblance of a classic watch face, while the vegan leather material that covers the phone’s back is akin to the leather straps of these luxurious accessories.

The realme 12 Pro takes this a step further with a 3D jubilee bracelet, similar to a metallic strap, that runs down the middle of the phone. With its three-dimensional rhomboid precision splicing, this minute detail adds a new texture and a touch of class to an already stylish phone. The realme 12 Pro is set to launch this month, with availability details and exact specs still to be disclosed.

The post realme 12 Pro wraps a premium telephoto camera in a luxurious watch design first appeared on Yanko Design.

Wear your attitude with Cybertruck-inspired Future Warrior OLED watch from Benly Design

Posted on by

Elon Musk’s darling, the Tesla Cybertruck, cannot be left out of the news, or can it? Turns out not! After inspiring campers, pick-ups, and tents, the ultra-futuristic Cybertruck, way ahead of its time in terms of design and appearance, has now stirred the horology world.

Carrying the same distinctive geometric shape and a powerful metallic touch to it, the Future Warrior OLED digital watch from Benly Design embodies the sense of coolness and futurism. At first glance itself, the shape of the watch reflects the Cybertruck image, impersonating the distinctiveness. The cool look and the automotive styling of the watch make it a desirable timepiece.

Designer:  Benly Design

The Benly Design’s watch is priced at $110, pretty affordable for its absolute uniqueness, which sees the watch display divided into two sections within its zinc alloy casing. The bottom half features an OLED panel angled toward the wearer, and the top section has a visible circuit board with an LED backlight.

The angled digital OLED display is a nifty design tweak, it permits the wearer to see the time without twisting the wrist. The display comes alive when the arm is raised so viewing time is easy, without clicking a button or tapping the display, through the mineral glass overlay.

This at-a-glance electronic watch with a nice, visible OLED backlight display, can be your everyday partner unlike those smartwatches that run on batteries or the manual-wound counterparts. The Future Warrior doesn’t require power for charging every day, it comes with a solar panel to keep it going for years without fail.

Complementing the angular zinc alloy case of the watch is the accompanying sandblasted stainless steel strap with buckle clasp. The watch case measures 19mm thick and has a 39.9mm width. By that measurement, the watch is ideally sized for smaller wrists as well, and along with time function, it also has 12/24H, stopwatch, alarm, temperature, humidity, date and day features.

The Benly Design Cybertruck-inspired timepiece is waterproof up to 30m. To that accord, it is suitable for swimming in shallow water or taking it for a cold shower. Making a bold statement with its design and material usage, the eye-catching watch can make for a cool gift to someone who loves wristwatches especially, if you are not a big motorhead with a wristwatch fanaticism yourself.

The post Wear your attitude with Cybertruck-inspired Future Warrior OLED watch from Benly Design first appeared on Yanko Design.

Retro Gaming Watch puts a tiny handheld on your wrist, also tells the time

Posted on by

There’s a retro design craze that’s gripping multiple industries, from fashion to music to gaming. The latter is probably one of the most prolific sectors, spewing out new designs based on old models every year or sometimes more than once a year. Regardless of the origin, almost all these retro gaming devices have the same goal of allowing people today to experience the games of the past the way they were meant to be played, at least to some extent. Some, however, do try to just mimic the looks while offering a bit more freedom in what you can do with the device, like this rather unusual Game Boy SP look-alike that’s meant to ride on your wrist and act as a smartwatch when you’re not playing games on it.

Designer: Jason Rogers

There’s no shortage of small gaming handhelds, some of which can even be attached to a key ring. They’re not great at comfort or ergonomics, but these novelty items capture a lot of attention and even let you play a few retro games on the fly. You do have to take them out or pull them off your key ring before you can use them, though, which translates to seconds or minutes of lost opportunities.

The Retro Gaming Watch loses no time, no pun intended, by having that gaming handheld always at hand, or in this case, on your wrist. In its inactive, unused form, it masquerades as a regular though thick smartwatch, with a standard squarish display and typical features such as a digital watch face and notifications. It doesn’t have activity tracking, though, because that would require cramming more hardware in an already cramped space, space that would rather be used for running games instead.

1

The watch changes its tune the moment you detach it from its strap, unfolding to reveal a clamshell-style gaming device not unlike the Nintendo Game Boy SP. Given the existence of gaming devices smaller than this, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Retro Gaming Watch can handle a few emulated games, at least the 8 to 16-bit titles that can fit in the device’s small memory. Where you get your emulated content, of course, is up to the reader’s ingenuity.

The Retro Gaming Watch is supposed to be a sort of counter-movement to the “Great Conformity” that is happening in a world filled with Apple Watches and its clones. It recalls a time when watches looked fun and could even be used as toys, at least for a younger crowd who wouldn’t be embarrassed wearing bulky and sometimes gaudy designs for everyone to see. Again, it’s not going to offer the best gaming experience, presuming it even becomes an actual product, but it has that novel character and rebellious spirit that’s going to tickle the fancy of many gamers, even if they’re just gonna wear it for show.

The post Retro Gaming Watch puts a tiny handheld on your wrist, also tells the time first appeared on Yanko Design.

These 100% American-made sporty timepieces pay a grand tribute to racing legends like McQueen

Posted on by

“In an era where conformity and generic designs dominate, something has been lost,” say the folks at Hilts Watches. “Charisma and sophistication have become rare, leaving a longing for those iconic styles of the past.” There’s definitely some truth to looking at the past through rose-tinted glasses, but then again, we’ll probably never get to relive an era with another Steve McQueen, another “Dickie” Atwood, or Dan Gurney. I remember reading about a 19-year-old who recently broke Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding record and my instant gut reaction was to say, “There’s never going to be another Arnold”. Celebrating this glorious (some may say Golden) past, Hilts’ latest watches take inspiration from the modern-day kings who ruled our lives by ruling the tarmac and even the silver screen. With a gorgeously sporty design featuring two sub-dials and a retro aesthetic that stands out in today’s smartwatch-dominated world, Hilts’ chronographs are made in the good ol’ US of A using premium materials you’d find in haute Swiss timepieces.

Designer: Stephen Scott

Click Here to Buy Now: $599 $799 ($200 off) Hurry! Limited units for sale.

The Hilts Monaco ’29 Watch

The Hilts Atwood Watch

The Hilts Precision Chronograph has all the hallmarks of a good racing watch. With a speedometer-esque design featuring two sub-dials, a date-window, and even a tachymeter, the watch is an instant modern classic. The dial, complete with highly visible markings (coated in Swiss Superluminova no less) and a sporty arrow-shaped seconds hand, sits within a 316L stainless steel body, covered with scratch-resistant anti-reflective domed sapphire crystal. Two pushers sit on either side of the crown on the watch’s right side, while the left showcases a beautiful diamond engraving pattern. The inside features a Miyota Quartz movement encased within a screw-down case-back that gives the watch 100 meters (330 feet) of water resistance.

The diamond-textured side is accompanied by two pusher buttons and a Hilts logo-branded custom crown.

The watches come in four styles, named after iconic drivers and some of their most memorable races. The first watch, the Atwood, pays tribute to racer Richard Atwood who started out as an apprentice at Jaguar but carved his way into popular culture by winning the 1970 24-hour Le Mans and even acting in McQueen’s film by the same name. It sports a panda-themed colorway, with the judicious use of orange and blue, inspired by the the 917 seen in the Le Mans movie. The Speedway variant offers a reverse-panda aesthetic, named after, and inspired by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the former home of the USA Grand Prix and the current venue for the Indy 500.

The Gurney celebrates racing legend Dan Gurney, the first driver to win races in Sports Cars, Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar, with a rich midnight blue dial that borrows from his F1 Mk1 racecar’s paint-job. Fun fact, Gurney is credited with beginning the tradition of spraying champagne on the winner’s podium back in 1967, something that still happens to this day! The last Hilts variant takes us to Europe with the Monaco ’29 in British racing green. The racing green color dates back to the early 20th century when the speed limit was a staggering 12 mph! It traces its roots back to the Emerald Isle in Ireland, where the races were held by the Brits, and was first featured on the international stage at the Monaco GP of 1929.

The watches come with three strap options, ranging from a stainless steel bracelet to dotted bio-leather or even rubber (if you’re a sports and diving enthusiast). Limited to just 1000 pieces per model, each Hilts Precision Chronograph comes uniquely serial-marked, assembled in USA, and ships in a gorgeous hardwood box that gives it instant collector-status.

Click Here to Buy Now: $599 $799 ($200 off) Hurry! Limited units for sale.

The post These 100% American-made sporty timepieces pay a grand tribute to racing legends like McQueen first appeared on Yanko Design.

Get a complicated but beautiful time-telling experience with minimalist analog watch

Posted on by

When looking at my wrist to check the time, I’m used to the digital interface of my smartwatch. I just see numbers (unless I’m using an analog display) so there’s no need for a split second delay in my head as I try to figure out the time. But there are certain watch designs that may be a bit more complicated but have such a well designed interface that you will forgive your brain for taking a longer time to figure out how it works.

Designer: Ressence

The Type 1° Round Multicolor is a minimalist watch with “bespoke complications” that is pretty attractive to analog device collectors. It’s actually an updated and more colored version of the Type 1 ZZ that they launched back in 2019. Its case is Grade 5 Titanium with a double-domed sapphire crystal top and an anti-reflective coating inside. It uses a patented Ressence Orbital Convex System module and has 40 jewels and 27 gears with a self-winding mechanism.

What makes it stand out though is how it tells you the hours, minutes, seconds and even day of the week. The main dial points to the minutes while the yellow satellite tells you the seconds. The green section tells you the hour while the pointer within the red section indicates the day of the week. You get the 3 biaxial satellites inclined at 3° for the hours and 4.75° for the seconds and days of the week. It’s pretty cool how everything works together although it might take you some time how to figure things out but once you get the hang of it, your watch will become a conversation piece as well.

In terms of colorways, it seems to have just a white one since the satellites are already colorful enough. You get an ardillon buckle and a 20mm rubber strap to put them on your wrist and it is 42.7 mm in diameter and 11mm in thickness. It has a 36 hours power reserve and you get 28,800 vibrations per hour. It’s a pretty nifty watch to have, that is if you have around $19,000.

The post Get a complicated but beautiful time-telling experience with minimalist analog watch first appeared on Yanko Design.

OnePlus 12 design is inspired by high-end watch-making craftsmanship

Posted on by

The OnePlus 12 has officially been announced, at least in China, and it matches almost everything that has been leaked previously. No, there is no wood grain model or case, but there is indeed a marble-like green variant on the table. Truth be told, there isn’t anything surprising or new with the OnePlus 12, at least in terms of overall design. It looks exactly like the OnePlus 11 before it, which ties in with the company’s less aggressive branding strategy. That’s not to say they’re exactly the same, of course, and OnePlus is trying to focus on the design story of the phone this time around. In particular, it’s homing in on how the OnePlus 12’s camera was inspired by the same creative and manufacturing processes used to make luxury timepieces as if these two product categories shared a common ancestor.

Designer: OnePlus

To be fair, manufacturers have thankfully started to pay as much attention to materials, colors, and aesthetics as watch-makers do for upscale timepieces. Of course, most of the conventions and practices don’t cleanly transfer between these two worlds, but there are definitely lessons that can be learned from both sides of the fence. Coincidentally, the OnePlus 12 does have one part that lends itself perfectly to that same watch-making expertise thanks to its circular camera bump that does look like a watch to some extent.

OnePlus spares no effort to illustrate how the OnePlus 12’s camera design takes a few pages from luxury watches, like using the same high-end machined aluminum casing for the camera island as well as the plate on top of the cameras. It also uses special laser engraving for the markings on the outer area of the plate, while utilizing a polishing process with micron-level precision for the semi-circular island to achieve an elegant appearance. This is then topped by a circular Gorilla Glass cover, completing the picture of a watch-like camera.

Of course, that story will probably be lost on most buyers who haven’t heard of it, but the OnePlus 12 is undoubtedly quite stunning even without that backstory. Unfortunately, the phone’s color options are rather unremarkable, except for the “emerald green” colorway that looks more like a slab of marble than a gem. The phone does have a classic appeal to it, with its curved back and equally curved screen, though that might also be just a kind way of saying “old”.

The OnePlus 12 is one of the first to carry the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, positioning it as a premium 2024 flagship. Despite appearances, it only has three cameras, a stacked 50MP main shooter, a 64MP telephoto camera with 3x lossless zoom, and a 48MP ultrawide with a 14mm equivalent lens. The other unnamed circle is pretty much a 3D ToF (Time-of-Flight) depth camera. Although now officially available in China, international markets will have to wait until next month to get their hands on the OnePlus 12 and its watch-inspired camera design.

The post OnePlus 12 design is inspired by high-end watch-making craftsmanship first appeared on Yanko Design.