You know what’s better than a collaborative luxury timepiece? Two collaborative luxury timepieces!
The watchmaking world is currently on fire with amazing chronographs landing on the market, and we’ve smoked out what are perhaps the best above the rest!
The BEAMS x Seiko Special-Edition “Monster” Prospex
BEAMS and Seiko have once again joined forces to create an exclusive watch collaboration: the iconic Prospex SKX781, affectionately nicknamed “Monster.”
This reimagined version features a refined gold and silver palette, enhancing the watch’s bold aesthetic and distinctive design.
The timepiece showcases a golden hue that accents the stainless steel case and bracelet, highlighting key elements such as the bezel, links and Lumibrite-filled hands.
Its dark grey dial, adorned with a subtle sunray finish, lends a sophisticated contrast to the warm tones, achieving a sportier balance.
Further underscoring its exclusivity, the caseback is engraved with BEAMS’ logo, as well as the wordmarks signifying its limited-edition status.
Equipped with an automatic winding mechanism, the watch is built to meet the functional demands of divers with its 200-metre water resistance.
The BEAMS x Seiko Special-Edition “Monster” Prospex Collaboration will be available on 18th April for JP¥82,500 (~RM2,556). However, pre-orders are available now through BEAMS, while only a select BEAMS retailer has the piece on sale.
The DB Kind Of Two GMT x Swizz Beatz
For the third time, De Bethune collaborates with Swizz Beatz, a.k.a. American rapper and record producer Kasseem Daoud Dean. The DB Kind of Two GMT, a remarkable convertible watch with two dials for the dual time display and jumping seconds, was chosen as the model for the creative partnership.
The two faces reveal drastically different personalities, making it one of the most natural ways to consult two different time zones. The Kind of Two GMT x Swizz Beat, which comes in a limited edition of ten, has a dark titanium and zirconium case and mostly black dials with blue accents.
The Kind of Two GMT, which was released in 2022, is the third joint creation after the DW5, the first collaboration with Swizz Beatz in 2020, and the DBD Art Deco-inspired model with a digital display.
The patented 28-part pivoting floating lugs allow the two-faced watch, which is powered by the 30th calibre created by master watchmaker Denis Flageollet, to swivel elegantly on its axis.
The floating lugs are composed of matte black zirconium, and the GMT is housed in a 43.3mm case that is 11.4 mm thick and composed of a combination of zirconium and satin-finished grade 5 titanium. The crown in position three is used to set home time on the modern face in this user-friendly design. With the crown in position 2 on the traditional GMT face, the second time zone is set, and presto – two distinct time zones on two distinct faces.
The complex movement and home time are intended to be showcased by the modern dial with the black openworked delta-shaped bridge protecting the balance wheel. The hours are displayed on a black sub-dial at six of the clock with golden Arabic numerals and a polished blued steel pointer hand with a satin-brushed steel insert, using a black and gold colour scheme reminiscent of the DB27 Titan Hawk. A blued steel hand that revolves around the dial on a black circumferential gear ring indicates the golden minutes that are shown on the periphery.
The black-coated parts, which are embellished with satin and microlight finishes, provide views of the twin barrels’ silver accents and the two 14k gold wheels of the jumping seconds mechanism, which are visible on the classical face.
The second, more traditional dial with local time is visible when the case is rotated. In addition to touching De Bethune’s trademark electric blue, the GMT dial plays with black and silver. The interesting motion of the mirror-polished steel hand is captured by the precision track on the border of the convex minutes/seconds flange, which is printed with 60 silver Arabic numerals to indicate the jumping seconds.
The blued titanium central hour hands, with their Breguet-style open tips, reinforce the GMT dial’s more conventional feel. The large silver Arabic hour numerals are sloping and set on a recessed and wider matte black chapter ring. Additionally recessed is the central section of the dial, which showcases De Bethune’s haphazard hand-guilloché design in a two-tone black and blue colour scheme.
The intricate and sophisticated hand-wound DB2517 calibre, which runs at 5Hz and has a 4-day power reserve, powers two separate and independent dials as well as a deadbeat seconds complication. The finishing is excellent, as De Bethune has always been known for.
The DB Kind of Two GMT only has 10 units available, each retailing for US$235,000 (~RM1,043,164). For enquiries, visit De Bethune’s official website.
