Breitling's newest watch to come out of Basel this year is the Avenger Seawolf Chronograph. Combining the versatility and reliability of the Avenger line with the water resistance of the Seawolf, Breitling seems to be getting as serious about diving as they are about aviation.

Breitling is touting the new Avenger Seawolf as the worlds only chronograph to be water tight and operational at depths up to 1,000 meters (3300 feet). This is impressive, but not entirely true. The Sinn U1000 also has the ability to remain operational at the same depths as the Breitling, but that just means they are in good company.

Breitling has developed new proprietary technology that makes their calibre 73 SuperQuartz operational at extreme depths. By using magnetically activated pushers, the pushpieces can be activated through the case with no direct contact with the module inside, keeping the watch perfectly sealed. The SuperQuartz movement is also thermo compensated which means it can account for the changes in temperature that make most quartz modules lose or gain time. The result is that the Avenger Seawolf is some ten times more accurate then a standard quartz movement.

In addition to the standard chronograph feature, the Breitling Avenger Seawolf has a "regatta timer" that will measure in ten minute scales for the beginning of a yacht race. The case is brushed stainless steel, and incorporates a helium release valve for extreme saturation diving, and a sapphire crystal.

Being a diehard Breitling fan, I really think they have a winner on their hands as this piece is gorgeous, functional, understated, and impenetrable.

By James Stacey

View the Seiko Velatura SRH005 photo gallery.

I've always been a big fan Seiko Kinetic watches. There's something about generating power through physical movement that I somehow find more intriguing than a static and stationary solar cell. I like how you can hear the rotor turn, and even feel the friction that generates the power. And I like how the power reserve indicator let you know if you've been giving your Seiko Kinetic enough wrist time. It may sound strange, but there's something a little more alive about a Kinetic watch than its solar or battery powered counterparts.

With the introduction of the new Kinetic Direct Drive movement which appears in four of Seiko's new Velatura watches (two available in the US — the SRH001 and the SRH005), the Kinetic experience gets even more interesting. Kinetic Direct Drive movements allow the watch to be "hand wound". Before the Direct Drive, there were three ways to charge your Seiko Kinetic:

1. Wave it back and forth for a minute or two to spin the rotor. Anyone who has ever owned a Kinetic is probably familiar with this motion.
2. Wear it. Daily use is more than enough to keep a Kinetic watch sufficiently charged. It's only when you have a Kinetic that is part of an extensive watch rotation that you have to concern yourself with keeping it charged.
3. Place it on a Kinetic charging unit. You can buy charging stands which conduct power directly into the capacitor through the case and dial of the watch to essentially "quick charge" it.

But now with the Kinetic Direct Drive, you can charge the capacitor directly simply by turning the driving wheel. The procedure is certainly much more natural and subtle than the martini shaking motion of the past.

The Seiko Kinetic Direct Drive takes what I love about Kinetic movements to the next level by making the charging process not just active, but actually interactive. Shortly after you start turning the drive wheel to charge the watch, the power reserve indicator jumps to life and turns into a real-time power generation indicator. It's a bit like a Kinetic tachometer, you might say. Here's how it works:

We've written pretty extensively about Seiko here at Watch Report. We just plain love 'em. Their self-powered Kinetic watches, which use a mechanical winder to store energy in a battery driving a quartz movement, are very cool. As with a mechanical watch, an offset weight rotates around an axle in response to the movement of your arm. In an automatic, this action winds a main spring, however in a Kinetic, it actually generates enough power to charge a battery.

At Basel World this year, Seiko announced the Velatura collection of marine watches: eleven watches with four different movements, two of which are brand-new. All are Kinetic quartz, and some of the new models use a new yacht timer movement. As Christian explained in his article about the new Rolex Yacht-Master II, this is a specialized countdown/stopwatch combination used by yacht racers. If you need it, I'm sure it's quite helpful. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to buying a yacht just yet, so I'll have to get back to you on that one.

Seiko has now added the ability to handwind Kinetic watches which is a faster way to charge them. They're calling it the Kinetic Direct Drive, and we like it. Unlike the simple "gas gauge" power reserve meters that other watches have, this one is multi-purpose: as you handwind the watch, the gauge "revs" indicating how fast you're winding. Once you stop, the needle moves to indicate how much power has been stored. It's a nice and unique addition, and quite probably a lot of fun to use.

All of the models have dramatic diamond-shaped hands that I find readable and attractive, and sapphire crystals with anti-reflective coatings (a personal must-have). List prices range from €600 to €900, or $845 to about $1,200. Oh, and one more thing: we just found out they're coming to the US very soon! Naturally, we will have a review.

Update: read the Seiko Velatura SRH005 review.

By Paul Hubbard

At BaselWorld 2007, Rolex announced a new sports watch for yachtsmen: the Rolex Yacht-Master II. When Rolex releases a sequel to an existing model, you can always expect to see impressive new functionality. Rolex made significant changes to the GMT Master movement between the original GMT Master, and the GMT Master II, the latter allowing the hour hand and the 24-hour hand to be set independently. Likewise, the Explorer II changed dramatically from the original Explorer, adopting the same movement as the GMT Master II which added a 24-hour hand and date. And now the Yacht-Master II represents another extremely important step in Rolex evolution.

I'm not a boater myself, but in my opinion, the original Yacht-Master doesn't really do much more for yachtsmen than a standard dive watch can do. The bi-directional rotating bezel can be used to track the start sequence of a regatta (fancy word for boat race), and the Triplock crown keeps the case impervious to sea spray, but that's about it. Nothing else except the name, and possibly the watch's exorbitant price, really has much to do with yacht racing.

Not so, with the Yacht-Master II. The new version has an extremely complex and innovative new movement with a countdown timer which can be programmed to start between one and ten minutes in order to accommodate regattas with varying start sequences. I use the term "program" rather than simply "set" because the value is actually remembered, and when the countdown timer is reset, the countdown hand will return to the last programmed value. For a mechanical watch, this is an extremely impressive feat. There is a tradeoff, however: the date which was present in the initial Yacht-Master had to go to make room on the dial, and no doubt to allow for the additional complication of the movement.

The other tradeoff is that the Yacht-Master II is a tad complicated to operate. For watch aficionados, a single demonstration will probably be a sufficient lesson, but I'm sure the Yacht-Master II will be worn by plenty of yachting types who appreciate the aesthetics much more than the functionality, and for whom it will be enough of a challenge to keep the time set correctly. For a very good demonstration of how the Yacht-Master II works, check out the Yacht-Master II home page on Rolex's site, and specifically, the operational tutorial.

I found the reaction from the hardcore Rolex fans out there to be mixed. I think most of them were so accustomed to looking at more or less the same Rolex styles for so many years that the new Yacht-Master II really caught them off-guard. The two biggest complaints I heard focused on the surprisingly prominent "YACHT-MASTER II" branding on the bezel (for better or for worse, the new generation of Rolex watches are much more heavily branded), and the fact that you have to unscrew the crown in order to set the countdown timer, leaving the watch more vulnerable to moisture, of which there tends to be plenty around yachts.

Whether you like the new Yacht-Master II or not, there is no denying that it represents a major new innovation in the world of watchmaking. In many ways, Rolex is the Apple (as in computers) of the Swiss watch world. They are arrogant and secretive, they end up setting most of the trends, and they command an extremely loyal following who sometimes complains, but in the end, always comes around.

The new Rolex Yacht-Master II is rumored to start appearing this summer. It will be available in yellow or white gold, and is expected to retail somewhere around $30,000 (no, that's not a typo -- the theory is that if you can afford a yacht, you can afford a Yacht-Master II).

When Tutima calls the DI 300 "the sports watch for active yachtsmen," they are apparently willing to put their money where their mouth is. Last year, during the Nord/LB Baltic Spirit Cup, the Tutima racing yacht (appropriately named "TUTIMA") pulled an orange-dial Tutima DI 300 behind it for 2,000 nautical miles (or about 2,300 regular miles for us landlubbers). I think they made their point that the Tutima DI 300 is water-tight, corrosion-resistant, and has an extremely robust bracelet and clasp.

The specs on the Tutima DI 300 go something like this:

• Titanium case.
• Solid titanium bracelet.
• Screw-down titanium crown.
• Unidirectional rotating bezel.
• Sapphire crystal.
• Automatic movement with day and date.
• Water resistant to 30 bar, 300 meters, or almost 1,000 feet.
• Available with an orange or black dial.

I don't know much about Tutima watches, however I am suddenly compelled to learn more. Hopefully I'll be posting a hands-on review in the not-too-distant future.