We don't have as many reviews of women's watches as we should, so this one will be a welcome addition. Say hello to a newcomer, Bianci Watches, and their ceramic model H262LWS. Let's start off with specifications:

• Swiss quartz movement using a conventional battery.
• 38.4mm wide by 12.2mm thick; 42.7mm across if you include the crown.
• Cubic zirconias on the bezel in two concentric rings.
• 140g with all bracelet links.
• Non-locking butterfly deployant clasp.
• Ceramic case and bracelet.
• Sapphire crystal.
• Water resistant to 30m (100ft).
• Lumed hands.
• $329 from the Bianci website (get 20% off with the discount code "watchreph262").

Please read on for the full review and pictures.

View the Seiko SBQJ015 Photo Gallery.

When I realized that most of my collection had shifted toward divers and sports watches, I started to keep an eye out for something a little more elegant — something that might be slightly more at home with dress shirt than a 15mm high piece of military equipment or a plastic digital G-Shock. The problem was that I refuse to sacrifice functionality for looks. I love handsome watches, but they have to work as well as they look, or I'm not interested.

The Seiko SBQJ015 is an excellent balance. It's a handsome watch with just the right amount of bling for me (meaning very little), and it has an incredibly impressive list of features:

• Titanium case and bracelet tempered with a process Seiko calls Diashield which essentially makes the titanium much harder than stainless steel. (I've worn mine in all kinds of situations, and it doesn't have a single scratch.)
• Sapphire crystal.
• Perpetual calendar.
• GMT hand.
• Independently adjustable hour hand which allows you adjust the time when traveling between time zones without having to stop the watch or change the minutes.
• Equipped with Sieko's famous 8F56 movement which is accurate to within ±20 seconds per year. That's about as much variance as you can expect to see per month in an average non-atomic quartz watch.
• 10-year battery.
• Water-resistent to 100 meters, or about 330 feet.
• A perfect 40mm in diameter (for my narrow wrist, anyway) excluding the crown, and about 44mm total.

There aren't a lot of American companies making watches these days -- RGM, Kobold, Bathys; a handful of others. So let's welcome new San Francisco brand Xetum -- the brainchild of founder, Jeff Kuo. He's started a new company with two original-design, Swiss-movement watches: the Tyndall (pictured), and Stinson. Jeff kindly agreed to loan us a Tyndall for review, so let's dive into something quite rare: a brand-new, American-designed mechanical watch.

• The movement is the high-end ETA 2895, Elabore grade. Note that ETA has five movement grades (base, standard, elabore, top, and chronometer, where chrometer is top plus COSC testing) so this is a expensive and nicely decorated movement. It's phenomenal to see a 289x on a watch under $2,000.
• Assembled in Switzerland.
• 316L stainless steel case with hidden lugs, screw-down crown, and exhibition caseback.
• Sapphire crystal, anti-reflective coated.
• Nicely sized at 40mm by 11mm.
• Water resistant to 100m (330ft).
• Hours, minutes, subseconds, and date.
• Superluminova on hour and minute hands, and on the 3, 6, 9, and 12.
• Available from their website for $1,395.

Please read on for the full review.

Rolex's second announcement this year at BaselWorld 2010 was a redesigned Explorer. I've always loved the Explorer for its unparalleled simplicity and stark elegance, but at only 36 millimeters, it was a tad bit diminutive by today's standards. Not anymore. The size of the new Explorer is much more in line with modern expectations.

Below is a list of everything that's new in the new Rolex Explorer:

• 39 millimeters rather than 36. That's only one millimeter smaller than their other tool watches (like the new Rolex Submariner Date).
• The movement now uses the new Parachrom Blue hairspring which we discussed previously in the context of the Rolex Milgauss.
• The now-standard signed chapter ring   not my favorite new feature, but believe me, I wouldn't let it stop me from wearing one.
• Slightly redesigned dial: the word "EXPLORER" has been moved from the top where it used to be down to the bottom.

Features that haven't changed:

• COCS certified.
• Solid steel case and bracelet.
• Sapphire crystal.
• Screwdown crown.
• Water-resistant to 100 meters or 330 feet.
• No date (part of what it makes it so simple and beautiful).

Not sure yet on pricing or availability. I'll update when I know more.

By Christian Cantrell

This review is of a watch with a minimalist design, the Stowa Marine Original Limited Edition II. Part of a series of 120 (of which 80 were sold in the US) the Limited Edition looks almost identical to the regular Marine Original Black with Arabic numbers.

Specifications:

• Handwinding Unitas 6498 movement (time only -- not even date).
• 41mm by 12mm stainless steel case, brushed finish, 85g.
• Hand-stictched leather strap with pushbutton signed double deployant clasp.
• Applied metallic 12 instead of painted numerals (as with the normal Marine Original), and a serial number under the subseconds dial.
• Double-domed sapphire crystal, and sapphire movement cover.
• Signed 7mm crown (non-screw-down).

Read on for the full review.

Russians aren't generally known for their electronics or their cars, but you may want to pay attention to their watches. The Poljot Traveller Alarm hails from the motherland and does so with simple style, interesting features, and some old-world charm. I bought this watch second hand and in the spirit of Russian simplicity and functionality, it came with nothing more than a well worn Poljot black leather strap with signed buckle. The Traveller is a sleek mechanical multi-function dress watch with an unusual alarm and svelte style.

• Poljot 2612 hand-wound mechanical movement.
• Separate hand-wound mechanism for alarm.
• 39mm wide.
• 20mm lugs.
• Limited to 999 pieces.
• Internal reflector to measure 3rd timezone.
• Mineral crystal.
• 3ATM water resistance (30 meters, or about 96 feet).

View the Citizen Chrono-Time AT Photo Album.

The choice for an "always right" (solar-powered, atomic time synchronized) dress watch has, up to now, been somewhat limited. Apart from the Japan-only Seiko Brightz, the only watches in this space have been from Casio (and their Oceanus brand). The Casio watches that fit the technical specs (e.g. G-Shock GW-2500BD) can't really be classed as dress watches, and the Oceanus watches (like the OCW-S1000 "Manta") are expensive and have limited availability (indeed, Casio in the UK has abandoned the Oceanus brand). But now Citizen has entered the stage with the Chrono-Time AT -- the first watch using the new Citizen H610 caliber.

There are four models to choose from, one of which is the limited edition Rose Gold model reviewed here (the UK version is reviewed; some details may vary by region). The basic specifications are:

• Solar power with 240-day power reserve.
• Atomic time synchronization across four regions (US, Europe, China, Japan).
• Sapphire glass.
• Rose Gold plated with leather strap and two-part folding clasp.
• Hour, minute, second hands.
• Chronograph minute and second hands.
• Second time zone (24 hour subdial).
• Date and time zone indicator.
• Alarm.
• Perpetual calendar.
• Circular slide rule in the bezel.
• Weight: 97g (including strap).
• Diameter: 36mm (51mm top to bottom including lugs).
• Thickness: 13mm.
• Water resistant to 200m (~650 feet).
• 5 year warranty.

On the wrist, the rose gold is subtle and the whole watch looks sophisticated without too much bling (although it might appear otherwise from the official photographs – another reason why on-the-wrist is not the same as on-the-screen). I should point out that my wrists are quite small, so the watch looks bigger than it really is (it's only slightly larger that my Breitling Aerospace).

Last week, Watch Report received an email from a very kind reader in Iceland who wrote to inform us of the JS Watch Co brand based in Reykjavik, Iceland. JS Watch Co is certainly worth a look on style and attitude alone. The small company only produces 5 models but takes the manufacture and quality of each seriously. This is a line taken from their website, "We say that we produce our watches 50 years ago when workmanship and personal attention of the watchmaker was the standard in the high end wristwatch trade". Given that the company opened its doors in 2005, that is quite the statement. Their watches have been seen on the wrists of celebrities like Quentin Tarantino and Jude Law, and this past June the Dalai Lama was presented a timepiece from the small manufacturer.

I instantly took a liking to the Frisland 42mm, with is simple lines, italian style numerals, and polished case. The Frisland 42mm was named after an island that started showing up on maps in the 1500's off of Iceland's south coast despite not existing in real life. The island proved to be fictional and still poses an interesting mystery as to why it was fabricated in the first place. Luckily for us, the Frisland 42mm is real.

In a first for Watch Report, today's review is of the Orient CDD00001W0 pocket watch. As in the kind that you wear in your pocket, and have to wind every day. Updated with modern materials and movement, this is a new take on an old standard. Let's see how they did. First, the specifications:

• In-house mechanical movement, Orient 48C40, made in Japan, 21 jewels, 21,600 vph.
• Hacking center seconds (very unusual in a pocket watch).
• 40-hour power reserve with power reserve complication at 9 o'clock.
• Stainless steel case and sapphire crystals, front and rear.
• Shock-protected movement. (Balance staff and other key jewels have springs on them, unlike vintage movements.)
• 40mm by 11.5mm case, waterproof to 30m (100ft).
• Stainless steel chain with belt clip included.

Please read on for more.

It is a rare occasion that I am sent a dress watch amid the bevy of divers that swim through my collection. I have had the opportunity to review two previous TX models and both were multifunction chronographs with busy dials and many duties beyond date and time. The 400 Series is a different piece altogether: an attractive and simple dress watch that matches its understated look with a simple and functional perpetual calendar quartz movement. TX supplied a stainless steel version on a black leather strap. Here are the details:

• 46mm case.
• German made quartz movement.
• Perpetual weekly calendar.
• Sapphire crystal.
• Separate day/month hand.
• 20mm lugs.
• Signed butterfly deployment clasp.
• Water Resistant to 10 ATM (330ft).
• Available with leather or stainless steel bracelet.