Reviews * Magnifying Watches

Top 5 Winter Watches

As the year comes to an end and winter begins to weigh in more and more on the Northern hemisphere, times are in need of sturdy watches. Here is a selection of five great timepieces currently in stock at EiT which can perfectly handle the cool breezes and keep you on track to any set goals.

First up we have one of Santa’s little helpers which never fails to keep him on time. The “Officine Panerai 44mm Luminor Submersible North Pole GMT ‘Mike Horn’ Special Edition” (Ref#: PAM 252) circa 2006. If this watch is good enough to assist the famed South African-born Swiss professional explorer and adventurer Mike Horn, then it will be more than sufficient to endure the daily wear and tear of less risky terrains, as well as any outdoors venture you care to tackle.

Image courtesy of: Remy Cointreau

The stainless-steel case has a brushed-finish and mounted to the case is a unidirectional steel bezel with the compass directions of: North, East, West and South initialed on it. While on the solid case back is an appropriately placed engraving of a map showing the Polar ice caps, as well as the course of the expedition Mike Horn embarked on there. We also covered his most recent “Pole2Pole” challenge in a blog entry you can read more about here. Time is exhibited on a blue dial with hour index markers, a magnified date aperture at the 3 o’clock position and a sub-seconds dial at the 9 o’clock position.

Powered by a self-winding mechanical watch, caliber OP VIII with 21 jewels and 28,800 Vph. Power reserve on this watch can last up to 42 hours, when fully wound. Mounted to the watch is a black rubber Panerai strap, secured to the wrist by a stainless-steel Panerai double-folding butterfly deployment clasp. Click the following link here to get more technical details and order.

Next up the wintery looking dial of the “IWC Ingenieur 45mm Chronograph Silberpfeil Limited Edition” (Ref#: IW3785-05) with a stainless-steel case and a solid case back that features an engraving of the historic “Silberfeil Mercedes-Benz” racing car it was inspired on. While time is exhibited on a silver-plated dial with a unique textured design, we find to be reminiscent of a snowflake thus making our winter list. Either way be it on a race track or in the midst of a cold breeze you can‘t go wrong with this robust Ingenieur. Also includes two sub-dials: a sub-seconds at the 6 o’clock position and a hour plus minute counters combined in a totalizer at the 12 o’clock position.

Powered by a self-winding mechanical movement, caliber 89361 with 38 jewels and 28,800 Vph. Power reserve on this watch can last up to 68 hours, when fully wound. Mounted to the watch is an original IWC black rubber strap with a brown alligator leather inlay, secured to the wrist by an IWC stainless-steel pin buckle. Click the following link here to get more technical details and order.

Next lets set our aims on the “Rolex 42mm Explorer II ‘’Polar’ White Dial” (Ref#: 216570) in a stainless-steel case with a solid case back. Mounted to the case is a fixed brush finished steel bezel with black Arabic numerals. While home-time is exhibited on an iconic white dial for a snowy vibe, with luminous hour index markers for those long winter nights. And a further enhanced legibility by providing this GMT watch with an orange central hand for the second time-zone, matching the “Explorer II” inscription in the center of the dial under the Rolex logo.

Powered by a self-winding mechanical movement, caliber 3187 with 31 jewels and 28,800 Vph. Equipped with a rapid setting date and a stop seconds function which is useful to set the time to the exact second. Power reserve on this watch can last up to 50 hours, when fully wound. Mounted to the watch is a Rolex brush finished stainless-steel bracelet, secured to the wrist by an Oysterlock clasp equipped with a 5mm extension link. Click the following link here to get more technical details and order.

On track for our top five is always room for the athletically inclined “Omega Seamaster 46mm Olympic Collection Sochi 2014 Planet Ocean Limited Edition” (Ref#: 522.30.46.21.01.001) made out of stainless-steel with a solid case back that features an engraving reading “Sochi.Ru 2014” to commemorate the Winter Olympics that took palace there. Keeping with its patriotic theme mounted to the case is also a black ceramic bezel with markers designed to resemble the colors of the Russian flag.

Powered by a self-winding mechanical movement, caliber 8500 with 39 jewels and 25,200 Vph. Equipped with a Nivachoc shock system, a silicon hairspring and a rotor that winds in both directions to reduce winding time. Power reserve on this watch can last up to 60 hours, when fully wound. Click the following link here to get more technical details and order.

Finally we have the “Breitling 43mm Emergency SuperQuartz Titanium” (Ref#: E76321) is a circa 2009 timepiece that could come in quite handy in an avalanche or if one were stranded in a remote location scenario. The case is made of titanium with a brushed finish and a solid case back. Mounted to the casing is a bi-directional rotating titanium bezel. While time is exhibited on a blue dial with Arabic numerals, plus being equipped with luminous central hands and two digital displays. Besides the chronograph functions, this piece has a perpetual calendar and an alarm.

Powered by a battery movement the Breitling 76 SuperQuartz caliber movement, which is slightly based on the ETA Thermoline 988.3523 movement. Power reserve on this watch can last up to 3 to 4 years, which is more than enough time to wait for that rescue time to arrive, as long as you’ve got access to enough food and water to “wait it out”. Mounted to the watch is a Breitling titanium bracelet, secured to the wrist by a Breitling single-folding deployment clasp. Click the following link here to get more technical details and order.