Three watches to be on time

As we move into daylight saving time, at least in Quebec, we offer three watches to be on time this spring and summer.

Three watches to be on time in 2023

The TAG Heuer Monza Flyback Chronometer

You won’t be late with this racing watch! You may have seen it on the sidelines of the Bahrain Grand Prix on the arm of Christian Horner, team manager of the Red Bull team. For me, its design immediately jumped out at me (you can see it on the TAG Heuer Instagram account right here).

Monza returns in a contemporary tribute to the indelible link between TAG Heuer and competition motorsport: this striking carbon rendition with an extreme sports look embodies the very essence of the Maison. The 42-mm case, made of ultra-lightweight and resistant carbon, is powered by the Manufacture Calibre Heuer 02 Flyback, a chronograph movement with COSC certification. A watchmaking statement.

Beneath the domed sapphire crystal, the skeletonized, cushion-shaped black dial comes alive with contrasting red and blue highlights and with translucent blue sapphire crystal counters at three and the permanent second at 6 o’clock. A contemporary work of art that seems to be directly inspired by the colours of the Austrian team, even if the yellow is missing. But Monza is a racing tradition, with Red Bull for some years, but especially with Ferrari before that. In fact, Richard Mile is now Ferrari’s watch sponsor.

You may not know it, but the Heuer Monza collection was born in 1976, over 45 years ago, to celebrate Ferrari’s historic achievement of winning the Formula One constructors’ and drivers’ championships for the first time since 1964. The Monza marked Heuer’s first use (it was only in 1985 that the company changed its name to TAG Heuer and has been owned by LVMH since 1999) of a black-coated case. As well as proving to be a popular model offered in a variety of configurations, it paved the way for Heuer to introduce other black-coated models in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including the Carrera, Montréal (yes, there is a TAG Heuer Montréal) and Monaco (which you can learn more about here). With its black-clad case and the use of black, red and luminous paint on the dial, the Monza captured the racing spirit of the legendary circuit that gave the model its name and where Heuer celebrated its triumphant partnership with the Ferrari racing team.

Want to read more about the history of the Monza model, it’s on TAG Heuer website. 

To get the Monza, one of our three watches to be on time, it’s here.

The OMEGA Aqua Terra Shades Collection: Colours to fit with your outfits

Swiss watchmaker OMEGA recently launched the new Aqua Terra Shades collection. Brand ambassador Eddie Redmayne is one of the stars, along with Zoë Kravitz and Zhou Dongyu, who appear in the campaign, which, as you may have guessed, highlights the new colourful designs.

Celebrating the unique personality of each wearer, the theme is to express your personal look by choosing your own colour. Whether it’s the brightness of red or the casual cool of sandstone, this collection is here to suit your mood.

The campaign features a series of bold visuals and cinematic videos revealing all facets of each ambassador’s character. They are all dressed in black and surrounded by a multitude of colours, highlighting the Aqua Terra’s selection of vibrant dials.

With his sophisticated style, British actor Eddie Redmayne is a long-time ambassador for OMEGA, which he joined in 2015.

The celebrated star has an impressive list of films to her credit, including her Oscar-winning performance in “The Theory of Everything”, as well as acclaimed films such as the Fantastic Beasts series, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Les Misérables and The Danish Girl.

Raynald Aeschlimann, President and CEO of OMEGA, which we had in interview here, says, “Eddie, Zoë and Zhou are the perfect stars for this campaign. Their creative spirits, adaptable talents and varied lifestyles are a great match for this versatile collection. We hope it will inspire customers to really think about the colours they would love to wear themselves.”

The Aqua Terra Shades collection offers a variety of dial tones – with a spectrum ranging from ocean to earth. Offered in 34 mm or 38 mm sizes, the timepieces give customers plenty of choices to suit their style, with sun-brushed pastel shades such as Atlantic Blue, Bay Green or Terracotta.

Discover the collection here

The OMEGA Speedmaster Super Racing

The latest of our three watches to keep time is the stainless steel Speedmaster Super Racing, launched earlier this year. It is the first watch to feature OMEGA’s all-new Spirate™ fine-tuning system, a unique mechanism capable of achieving a certified accuracy of just 0/+2 seconds per day. It pays tribute to OMEGA’s 2013 magnetic resistance masterpiece and reveals its mechanism through the sapphire crystal case back.

You will discover the dial is the distinctive racing style minute-track and a black ceramic bezel ring with the famous tachymeter scale in new yellow “grand feu” enamel. This bold yellow shade, featured on the Seamaster Aqua Terra >15’000 GAUSS of 2013, is also used on the gradient chronograph hand and striped small seconds hand at 9 o’clock. The watch’s 60 minute/12 hour recorder, directly opposite at 3 o’clock, also serves as a second time zone. The honeycomb pattern of the dial references a concept timepiece on display at OMEGA Museum which survived extreme magnetic fields of 160,000 GAUSS, which you can see on this website.

The watch is powered by OMEGA’s state-of-the-art Co-Axial Master Chronometer 9920, a perfect amalgamation of the many milestones on the road to Spirate™ and certified at the industry’s highest level by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS). 

As always, proof of this certification is provided by a distinctive red METAS card, which in this case includes confirmation of the 0/+2 seconds a day precision made possible at large scale by the industrialisation of the Spirate™ System. 

The diamond-polished and bevelled black arrowhead indexes are filled with a new and exclusive Super-LumiNova which emits a surprising yellow glow. This colour code extends to the Speedmaster and Super Racing wording on the dial. 

At 6 o’clock there’s a stylish and regular reminder of the >15’000 GAUSS 10 year-anniversary: a “10” in Speedmaster logo font, which appears once a month in the watch’s date window. 

The new Speedmaster Super Racing includes a sporty alternative to the steel bracelet. A NATO strap in recycled nylon with black and yellow stripes, referencing the distinctive colour code of the Seamaster Aqua Terra >15’000 GAUSS launched exactly 10 years ago. 

Off-the-wrist home for OMEGA’s collectable is a honeycomb pattern Speedmaster watch box in black with yellow stitching. The special presentation box includes the recycled nylon NATO strap and a strap changing tool. 

Buy the OMEGA Speedmaster Super Racing here

Sources: TAG Heuer, OMEGA