First Updates From Basel 2011 ...

One of the best times of the year. ;-)

See what's coming from Hamilton. The New 2011 Seiko Grand Seiko 130th anniversary LE, and 2011 Seiko Ananta, Sportura. The first new GO pics.

I LOVE the orange hand Rolex Explorer. More on it here. (pic via Perpetuelle)

Rolex Explorer 2 Watch (aBlogToRead): "For 2011 Rolex offers a new Explorer 2 to follow up last year's new Explorer. While the Explorer was bumped up to 39mm last year, the Explorer 2 is the Rolex sport watch with a modern size of 42mm in width. That is 2mm larger than the Submariner, and it likely wears better than the 43mm wide Submariner Deep Sea." (more from Jake's Rolex Blog)

Casio G-Shock Bluetooth Watch Revealed: "How else will the watch interact with your phone? First of all Casio says that you'll get an alert on your watch of incoming calls and text messages. I am not sure if this means that called IDs and address book information will sync as well. By pressing a button on the watch you can silence the phone from ringing or vibrating."

Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Titanium Liquidmetal - Perpetuelle: "The new Omega Planet Ocean Titanium & Liquidmetal – 45.5mm titanium case with Liquidmetal bezel. Movement is Omega’s Co-Axial Calibre 8500. Blue rubber strap. An absolute beauty. Look’s like Omega is not going to let Rolex entirely steal the show this year!"

Patek Philippe Introduces The Reference 5270 Perpetual Calendar Chronograph - HODINKEE: "The manually wound movement features a central chronograph hand and instantaneous 30-minute counter. Day, month, leap year , and day/night indication are also present. The dial is silver opaline and the hour markers are black oxidized (a very cool look, btw). The case is in white gold and sized at 41mm. Price will be around $155,700." (more one this Patek)

McGonigle Tuscar is ready to be admired: "Last year McGonigle released it’s new Tuscar in a remarkable way, by posting a sketch on Facebook. The Tuscar 1 of 10 launch series sold out in a bliss, even before one piece was made. Now the Tuscar is ready for delivery and a new Tuscar in rose gold is ready to be shown in all it’s glory."

Cartier Ballon Bleu Extra-Flat Watch: "Thin profile watches are hot in 2011. There are a lot of reasons for that, but cost is one of them. Brands can charge the same amount for a watch with less precious metal - and they can claim you are paying for the complexity of miniaturization. That argument might make sense, but thin watches have been around for generations."

Basel News: Introducing The Tudor Heritage Advisor, As Close As We'll Ever Come To An Alarm From Rolex - HODINKEE: "The original Tudor Advisor was launched in 1957, and we have, of course, covered it before. The newly launched Advisor also features a clearly ringing mechanical alarm just like the original, but also includes a power reserve and 'on/off' switch."

Additional links:
What Does Your Watch Say About You? - WSJ.com
First Look: TAG Heuer Mikrotimer Flying 1000 - Calibre 11
Pre-Basel 2011 - Gronefeld One Hertz
Quick-Look Review: Vacheron Constantin's Patrimony Traditionnelle, Ref 82172
Hublot: “Key of Time” The first watch to indicate “your” time the way you want it
Grönefeld's One Hertz Live Photos
Baselworld 2011 (Press Day): The Divers