A new timepiece has been unveiled at Baselworld 2010, the Chanel J12 Marine Diver – a waterproof watch up to 300 meters.

The Watch Case – available in two color variants (black or white) – is made from a high-tech ceramic and the crystal is an AR-coated sapphire.

The watch movement is using a Swiss automatic caliber and its bracelet also using a high-tech ceramic and it has an extra caoutchouc rubber strap.

This is nice!!

Rolex is refining its classics for 2010. The new Explorer I for 2010 has been given a slightly wider new dial (39mm) and comes complete with polished numeral indexes, and a whole heap of luxurious refinement.

In the watchmaking world, the Oyster is iconic and mythical. Introduced in 1926, it is the first waterproof wristwatch.

To celebrate its first 150 years at the leading-edge of Swiss design, TAG Heuer has launched an ultra-exclusive gift box.

The chest contains a limited-edition Tag Heuer watch, the Grand Carrera Calibre 17 RS2 Chronograph and the company’s first branded phone, the Meridiist.

Designed by French master craftsman Fred Pinel, this celebratory gift box will be unveiled at the Baselworld 2010 in Switzerland.

Priced at $20,000, the coffer will be limited to just 150 units, each for the number of years the 1860-founded company has existed.

The best part about Corum’s Miss Golden Bridge watch is that it isn’t just about the cool movement inside. The ladies’ mechanical watch has an extremely elegant shape that looks as smooth as it feels. Coming in 18k red or white gold, the case is 21mm wide by 41mm tall. You can see that the case is fitted with four sapphire crystal windows on each side of the case. This is to provide a proper view into the famous Golden Bridge movement done exclusively by Corum. The thin and tall movement is really hard to make, and thankfully easy to love. The movement bridge itself is nicely hand engraved, which contrasts well with the simple polished case. While the watch is hard to read, that is something that you can say about most haute horology women’s watches. Two dark-toned skeletonized hands are placed in the middle of the movement.

if the gold case and beauty of the movement at all angles isn’t enough for you, drop some extra cash for the diamond studded version with 90 diamonds all over the case. Some say that diamonds sell more women’s watches than interesting mechanics – but what happens when you have both as is the case here? Price for the Corum Miss Golden Bridge watch starts in the $25,000 range.

No more fumbling around looking for car keys or lugging chunky and unattractive key fobs around for owners of the new Aston Martin Rapide as Jaeger-LeCoultre has partnered with the car-maker to come out with this stylish AMVOX2 Transponder Rapide, a timepiece that does double-duty as a car key. Simply touch between the 8 and 9 to unlock, between the 3 and 4 to lock, or touch them both simultaneously to trigger the ‘find me’ feature where the headlamps light up for easy spotting.

The AMVOX2 Transponder Rapide is the result of over 18 months of research and engineering to miniaturize the car’s transponder key in order to fit it into and around the workings of a timepiece without sacrificing style, and it can be yours for just £21,850 (or about $33,800).

People who know me well, know that i am massive fan of Cartier watches especially the Santos. There is not a watch that has been made which is just so simple and elegant.

Cartier bring ther new Captive collection.

 New from Cartier, here are some of their Captive collection watches. The timepieces come in at least two sizes. One is 35mm wide and the largest is about 52mm wide! Wow.  The collection comes in either white or rose gold and with various amount of diamonds (full pave anyone?).

To me the chain link style of the watch was a bit kinky. Cartier didn’t see this, but couldn’t disagree that this might be an additional attraction point to the watch. They see it as “captivating her,” I see it as “a really good way to keep her captive.” Your own interpretation is welcome. The smaller version makes with just one blued steel hand (for the hours – you can tell the time to withing about 10 minute precision), while the larger version as two hands. The watch faces themselves are small of course in comparison to the rest of the watches. All in all the collection is pretty nice and unique for Cartier.

Prices are about $22,100-$96,500.

Just recently a teaser shot of the upcoming Sapphire Vision version of the MB&F HM2 watch was introduced, known as the HM2-SV. THe unique aspect of the watch is the large 3.6mm thick sapphire crystal that serves as the front plate of the watch in lieu of metal. The result is an ability to see the MB&F automatic movement that powers the double faced timepiece. Here now are full images of the watch showing the incredibly complex large sapphire crystal plate over the watch in its full glory. Just as expected you have a very clear view into much of the movement. I believe that the blue “vein” through the watch is the water-resisting sealant ring.

The left dial of the watch displays the date and a moon phase indicator, while the right dial has jumping hours and a retrograde minute scale. There will only be 25 of this watch made. While this limited edition volume isn’t unheard of, it is relatively low given how popular MB&F watches are in high-end watch lover circles. The issue is really the sapphire crystal. There are just so hard to make. Three out of four crystals break during the process of making them that takes 55 hours for the crystal alone (to cut). The hardest part is drilling the hopes for the screws. The back plate of the watch is in titanium, while the automatic rotor is 22k gold in its iconic battle ax shape. Pretty awesome watch from the world of avant garde high horology.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Piaget continues to offer classically minimalist thin watches in its Altiplano range of timepieces. New for this year is a record setting homage to a prior Piaget watch from half a century ago. The new Altiplano Automatic Ultra-Thin watch comes equipped with the brand new Piaget Caliber 1208P automatic. The in-house made movement is an automatic with a mico-rotor (in 22k gold) and is the world’s thinnest automatic mechanical movement at just 2.35mm thick.

The watch that contains the movement is very svelte as well. The Altiplano Automatic Ultra-Thin comes in a 43mm wide 18k white or pink gold case that is just 5.25mm thick. Incredibly thin for a full-features automatic movement. The dial is simple and easy to read in the spirit of Piaget’s history – but now with an eccentric subsidiary seconds dial. Still, even though it is modeled after a classic from 1960, the watch hands feel too short. The larger sized Piaget logo feels quite modern though. The watch will be released soon at SIHH 2010.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

The much anticipated Rolex Explorer designed by fragment design via the Bamford Watch Department has gone on sale today.

The watch is available in black/blue and black/green at colette and goes for 15,000 €.

Via Highsnobiety