WatchObsession

WatchObsession's favourite watches from 2014 !! ( Part TWO )

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Schofield Beater (£2,820 - £2,910)




For the next watch we travel across the channel from England to France, the home of Bell & Ross. The aviation inspired French watch manufacturer has produced one awesome looking watch. The Bell & Ross BR-X1 is their BR-01 model on steroids. During its transformation, the BR-X1 has switched out a solid dial for a skeletonized chronograph dial which looks fantastic. The BR-X1 also gets some armour around the outside of its case protecting the chronographs pushers and the steel case. Bell & Ross went to town on this timepiece, they even ditched the spring bar buckle in place of a screw and tube buckle. Limited to 250 pieces, B&R fans will go crazy for this one.

BELL & ROSS BR-X1 (€15,000)





2014 saw a redesign of the IWC Aquatimer with some brilliant added features. The internal rotating bezel is a great innovation that makes diving very safe as the bezel cannot be moved accidentally. We were lucky enough to try this watch on at the new Watches of Switzerland store on Regent St, seeing the watch up close is a must. The gentleman working in the IWC boutique explained some of the new features in depth. If you're out and about in London it is definitely worth popping in.

IWC Aquatimer Automatic (£4,000)



We couldn't leave Rolex uninvited from this party, in August they surprised the whole watch world with an updated version of its Deepsea tool watch. Dubbed the Deepsea D-Blue, the watch is a celebration of the partnership between Rolex and James Cameron and the solo voyage that took Cameron down to 10,908m to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. With an experimental version of the Deeps attached to the submersibles robotic arm, the watch endured around 12 tonnes of pressure on its decent and the watch survived. This is testament to Rolex and why they are the most recognised and reputable watch brand the world over.


Rolex Deepsea D-Blue (£8,995)



The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is a watch that has been around since the early 1950's and for 2013 (60th anniversary of the first Fifty Fathoms watch) Blancpain introduced the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscape collection which is a tribute to the original and maintains some design aspects from the original but is also a completely modern watch. Quite a different approach to what Omega took with the Seamster 300. In 2014 Blancpain introduced a Chronograph Flyback version of the Bathyscape and it looks incredible. For me, almost futuristic minimalist design firmly cemented this watch in to our list of favourites from 2014. Just look at it...


Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscape Flyback Chronograph (£11,900)



I know if I had fulfilled one of many childhood dreams and become a fighter jet pilot then this watch would look so immensely cool on my wrist and I hopped in to my jet. Breitling have given their Chronspace the DLC treatment and it looks so awesome. Packed full of features such as 12/24-hour time displays, countdown timer, chronograph, two timezone capability, day/date and month indicator, two timezone alarms, UTC and end of battery life indicator. What more could a fight jet pilot need?


Breitling Chronospace Military (£4,310)





Although this next 'watch' is not actually available at the moment, we had to mention it. I use the term watch quite loosely because I am undecided on how I feel about this watch or smart watch shall we say. Being a bit of a tech nut, there is no doubt in my mind that I will most probably buy it but will I wear it as much as my mechanical watches? I am not sure. It is of course the Apple iWatch, packed full of features and able to sync with your iPhone for alerts and much much more. Although the Apple iWatch is not the first of its kind, like with all things Apple the Apple fans will come in small armies to purchase this. I can see the novelty of this wearing off for most people that normally do not wear a watch though. This will certainly not revolutionise the mechanical watch industry nor will it damage it in any way but it will revolutionise the 'Smart Watch' industry.


Apple iWatch (£TBA)



Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed
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