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The pre-Baselworld announcements are in full swing this time of year and we are getting early peaks at several new offerings that will be made available in 2013. Raymond Weil is among those brands who are offering a peak at their upcoming watches and although they are above the usual price point for Worn and Wound they nevertheless caught our eye, including two that are available right now.
The offerings fall into their Maestro line which tend to be of a more elegant style. For Raymond Weil the Maestro collection, which debuted in 2010, symbolizes the attachment to their watchmaking roots and also to a source of inspiration for the brand, music. Among the new watches in the Maestro collection is a very attractive automatic moon phase watch, the Maestro Phase de Lune Semainier. The watch has a very classical look to it and features a moon phase, month, day of the week and date housed in a 41.5mm stainless steel case. A very nice size for a modern moon phase watch. The silver dial sits behind a sapphire crystal with anti-glare treatment. The Roman numerals very much lend to the elegance of the dial. The watch has an automatic movement with a power reserve of 42 hours and is in stores now.
The next piece is the Maestro Automatic Chronograph which shares some design similarities with the Moon Phase. The dial design between the two is quite similar with Roman numerals and a guilloche pattern on the inside of the dial. The chronograph is laid out in the familiar 6, 9, 12 layout with a date window at 3 o’clock. The case is also 41.5mm and stainless steel only with a rose PVD gold coating. The watch has an automatic movement with a power reserve of 46 hours. The crystal is sapphire over the dial and also sapphire on the display back. Overall the Maestro Automatic Chronograph is a very nice dress chronograph and is available now.
The one that really stands out from the offerings is the Raymond Weil Maestro two register chronograph. It fits into the same elegant, dress category as the previous two pieces with a few differences. The dial uses Arabic numerals over the Roman which gives the watch a slightly more modern look, however the font still portrays a more dressy feel. The case is the same 41.5mm, again a very nice size for a modern dress watch, and available in stainless steel and stainless steel with rose PVD gold coating. The dial features two large dials for the chronograph minute counter at 9 o’clock and the running seconds at 3 o’clock. The dial is clean, clear and very legible and again contains in inner pattern on the dial. All three models share the same style of hands and in this model are blued or in matching rose gold for that case. This piece is one of the few two register dress chronographs under the $5,000 price point. The silver on leather has an MSRP of $2,795 and the rose gold $2,895. The two register chronograph will be available in November 2013.
