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50 brands of Basel: Michel Herbelin

Independent French watch brand Michel Herbelin has produced three watches to celebrate Newport Yacht Club – part of its flagship Newport collection.

Inspired by the race to Newport, Rhode Island, during the America’s Cup, the Newport has been a key part of the brand’s collection since 1988.

Distributed in the UK by Michel Herbelin UK Ltd, Michel Herbelin will only be making a limited edition of 100 and each piece will be individually numbered.

The fully open dial and transparent case of the Newport Yacht Club Skeleton enables an unadulterated view, front and back, of the ruby studied 11 ½ SW200 Sellita Swiss Skeleton movement, generating 28,800 oscillations per hour and with a power reserve of 38 hours. The dial detailing echoes the portholes of transatlantic sailing ships.

The second watch – the Open Heart – has a window showing the 11 ½ SW200 Swiss automatic movement in the mother of pearl dial. The case back again is transparent keeping the view of the movement open to the wearer.

Its third new offering is an interpretation of its automatic chronograph from the Newport Yacht Club collection – the Régate Automatic Chronograph.

With a generous diameter of 43.5 mm, the steel case of the chronograph is coated with grey anthracite PVD. The black dial is vertically hand-brushed. Protected by an anti-reflective sapphire glass, the dial has luminescent bevelled markers.  The hour and minute hands are also coated in a white luminescent material providing optimum visibility even in low lighting conditions. Water resistant to 100 metres, it contains an automatic self-winding mechanical movement of Swiss manufacture (Sellita SW500). Oscillating at 28,800 vibrations an hour, and with 25 rubies, it can be seen through a transparent case back revealing a “Geneva waves” decorated oscillation weight.

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1 Comment

  1. I am rather inclined to think ‘Distributed in the UK by Gretchen Time’ should read –

    Distributed in the UK by Michel Herbelin UK Limited!

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