Aston Martin is planning on expanding their customization services, allowing clients to build individual cars from scratch.

At the launch of the new Cygnet and DB9 UB-2010 at the Geneva Motor Show, Aston Martin design director, Marek Reichman, revealed he would like to offer comprehensive personalisation of their vehicles. “There is much more choice in the world,” Reichman said, “so our cars need to be much more personal.”

They will put together a team of specialist engineers and designers, mainly those who worked on the One-77. He said of the supercar: “It is built around a stationary chassis, not while it moves along a production line. This means that if we need to, we can swap shapes, interiors, engines or wheels without destroying the production process. It offers us infinite possibilities.”

They will be able to do everything from make a tailored interior to create a completely re-bodied cars sitting on Aston Martin mechanicals.

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Alright, there’s no use denying it: I’m a watch traditionalist. Part of the allure of wearing an Omega Speedmaster or a Rolex Submariner is that they’ve been more or less left unchanged for almost half a century. I’m definitely not claiming that stagnation is an all-together good thing, but whenever someone puts a Richard Mille or their ilk in front of me, I’m usually the last one to cheer. It’s usually just not for me. Give me a worn down tool watch with a scratched acrylic crystal and years of love & patina and you’ll see a grown man drool.

Now, every rule has its share of exceptions. One adventurous haute horologist that I definitely wouldn’t mind overshadowing my miniscule left wrist is De Bethune. Just half a decade old, De Bethune have proven that you can do new school without having your watches look like something that will never get past the conceptual stage (their BaselWorld 2007 line-up was a sight to behold, for instance).

Of course, getting your hands on one is quite a task by itself. Luckily, an example of the De Bethune DB22 turned up on JamesList just last week. This 18k rose gold beast measures 48mm and is definitely something else. The case sort of reminds you of Hublot except a lot less tacky, with a wonderful dial that is gray or blue depending on the light. The watch is such a great mix between bold and discreet: the actual design is actually fairly low-key, with clever details like that power reserve indicator (a complication that usually just spoils a design by cluttering the dial) at 12 ‘o clock. Of course, the movement is completely done in-house.

The damage? Oh, just $26,500.

My homeland is not exactly overflowing with new and interesting watch companies. As a matter of fact, makers of high end goods are rarely something that seem to come out of Sweden, probably for a multitude of cultural and financial reasons. Moreover, with the exception of Koenigsegg, what little that actually does show up tend to be very clean cut, safe and, well, dull.

To the best of my knowledge, the only Swedish watchmaker we’ve covered here on James are the knife-wielding lads over at GoS watches, and while I certainly took a liking to the concept of their creations, the designs weren’t for everyone. Now, compare this to Halda which is just about the exact opposite: designs that should please most people but ultimately feel like wasted potential.

So what’s Halda anyway? Well, it used to be a rather nice old-timey company. Take a look at this YouTube video for a quick history lesson. The company was recently reborn with the help of Mikael Sandström, co-founder of Sjöö & Sandström. Their latest effort, the Space Discovery, enjoyed a rather massive PR boost when it was worn to space by the doofus below:

One of the more famous watches from Sjöö & Sandström, the Chronolink, included both an mechanical and a quartz movement, a concept which Halda seems to have carried over to the Space Discovery.

The first manifestation of The Halda Concept is The Halda Space Discovery which consists of three parts: one Time Platform and two Time Modules. Each Time Module is tailored for optimum performance in its respective environment. For the Mechanical Module that means on earth. For the Space Module it means in space. It really is that simple.

But of course, that’s not the whole story. First of all there are not one but many stories. They are the tales of inspiration brought to life by dedication, the result of master craftsmen coming together to create something previously unheard of.

How poetic, right? From what I tell by looking at the pictures, there seems to be two modules: the space module which is quartz-driven (I never understood how the Rolex GMT Master worked in zero gravity anyway) equipped with all sorts of different functions you might need in space (G-meter, world timer and so forth) while the earth module is a good’ ol analog watch with an automatic movement called the H1920-SA which is new-old-stock and beats at 36k. Price seems to be around $11,000 and the watch is limited to 128 pieces. All in all, a brave effort but still a bit stale. Much like what I feel about Sjöö & Sandström – the design is just a bit too safe. Compare it to, let’s say, the Seiko Spacewalk and it just falls flat (although it’s less than half price).

Take a look at the classic handbuilt mahogany-decked runabouts from Cherubini and it seems obvious they’re the pedigreed product of the Italian Riviera. It may surprise you to learn however that the company is actually based in New Jersey. Above the waterline, the new Cherubini Classic 24’ model faithfully honors the style of sporty speedboats from the 1930s to 1950, down to the real mahogany decks and stainless steel hardware. Below the waterline however it has a modern, advanced fiberglass hull that enables a smoother, drier ride with more control.

The elegant craft cruises smoothly in the 35 mph range and sprints powerfully into the 50 mph range, leaving the competition in their wake. With masterful control and powerful performance, piloting a Cherubini is like driving a Porsche with Rolls-Royce suspension. For a real thrill have Cherubini build you a Veloce model equipped with a 300 hp V8 engine and a Silent Choice exhaust system, custom painted with a speed-striped deck in your racing colours. The aft cockpit has a bench seat, two side seats, and a small table that can swing out of the way so passengers can enjoy the ride as well. The damage? Just €125,000.

My opinion on this watch is still up in the air. While it has a lot of good design elements, I wonder if it is not enough to live up to the Hysek name. In a nutshell, you have a jumping hour and jumping minute style watch with an AM/PM indicator. Mechanical digital watches are hot nowadays, with at least a few other models being released within the last year, or slated for upcoming release.. The Lange Zeitwek to name one, as well as the highly anticipated watch from new brand 4N. Hysek being different, the brand wanted to ensure that the watch face was more than a straight forward display of information. The dial has a spiral patter illusion. The shapes and elements on the face visually create the image of a snail like spiral were the pieces on the dial theoretically converge to a point in the center. What you can’t quite see in the image is the the dial is composed of several levels, giving it a three dimensional look. It is certainly unique – as well as different for the brand.

The IO Jumping Hour watch is due to come in a large 47mm wide steel case. It is simple looking but has some nice details such as the gently curved sides on the lugs and the double polished bezel. It looks nice enough, and given the simple information it provides, the watch is relatively simple in style – especially for the Hysek brand and what we are used to seeing from them. The biggest problem in any jumping hour or minute watch is power delivery from the movement. To make sure a movement remains accurate, most jumping hour or minute watches need some type of constant force escapement. The alternative is slowly moving discs that pass through the windows. This is less elegant, but provide for a much less expensive watch. Hysek offers something in the middle here. The Swiss automatic movement with a Hysek HW 55 module offers jumping hours, and slowly moving minutes on a disc that moves across a tapering window. This should offer a good mix of features, complication, and price. The addition of the AM/PM indicator is a nice tough given that the watch only tells the time in a 12 hour format.

The wide case is also relatively thick at 14mm, and is 50 meters water resistant. It has all the usual hallmarks of a luxury watch with the added benefit of the Hysek (name, although Jorg Hysek isn’t exactly part of the brand any longer). Price for this piece isn’t clear yet, but I suggest that if it is over $10,000, they are going to have a tough time selling them against the competition. You decide how you feel about the piece, and I will await when I can get my hands on one for a final determination of its merits.

By Ariel Adams

The ink is barely dry on Dutch supercar marque Spyker’s deal to buy Saab, but speculation as to what sort of alluring automotive offspring might arise from the union has already begun. Eduard Gray, an industrial designer educated at Coventry University in the UK and now based in Trollhättan, Sweden, has come up with a concrete vision. His long, lean two-door Saab Spyker 9+ concept car imagines an evolution of Saab’s Aero-X enhanced by some of Spyker’s pizzazz.

The distinctly Scandinavian design features a Spyker chassis with a mid-mounted engine and low down aerodynamics, including a system to reduce friction in straight line driving whilst increasing traction in cornering and braking. An enormous panoramic glass roof gives it something of a targa feel as well. Envisioned as a 2+2 model in the storied GT tradition, engine-wise it’s speculated to house a V6 bi-turbo capable of producing over 600 hp, perhaps powered purely by ethanol – we’re talking about the future after all.

The other day we told you about the gold Ferrari Enzo – now here’s the green 599. The famed Italian marque just unveiled its first ever hybrid vehicle at the Geneva Motor Show, finished in an emetic shade of green to really hammer home the point. The 599 GTB Hybrid, or HY-KERS officially, was first announced by Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo last month. KERS refers to Ferrari’s Formula One Kinetic Energy Recovery System which basically recycles energy expended in braking and decelerating.

Not too dissimilar to Porsche’s 911 GT3 Hybrid we wrote about earlier, the car is powered by a conventional six-litre V12 engine coupled with two electric motors which run on lithium-ion batteries and do some fancy footwork known as “torque vectoring”. The result of all this eco gadgetry is a boost of 100 hp in addition to considerable fuel and emissions savings if you don’t drive like Michael Schumacher. In the initial phase of the technology the vehicle is likely to be quite costly, i.e. somewhere in the neighborhood of €400,000.

Some collaborations between exotic auto tuners and fashion designers go disastrously wrong – yes, we mean you, Mr. Audigier – when the arty types get it into their heads that a Lamborghini might look good with some godawful tattoo nonsense on its bonnet. Mansory’s new confab with German designer Philipp Plein on a carbon fibre version of Mercedes’ G55 AMG, dubbed the G-Couture, is elegant and understated compared to these automotive abortions however. Limited to just seven examples, the exterior finish was achieved with an “autoclave-prepreg” process borrowed from the aviation industry.

Mansory has replaced many of the stock V8 engine’s components with ones from the SLR, giving power a boost to the tune of 700 hp and 880 Nm of torque, making an already fast ride near neck-snapping. The interior goes a bit AWOL with genuine python skin detailing in silver and crowned G-Couture logos in the headrests, but other innovations such as replacing the back bench with four single seats and a continuous central console reaching from the back seat to the cockpit with an integrated entertainment system are essentially sound.

With events like the Geneva Motor Show and BaselWorld, you’re put in a strange position as a blogger. On the one hand, you’re dealing with the crème de la crème of the luxury car (Geneva) and horology (Basel) world, and not covering atleast aspects of it will make you seem amateurish. On the other hand, it’s kind of like trying to come up with exclusive material during the Olympics. It just can’t be done if you’re not physically present at the event. That’s why we’ve decided not to try to and cover just about every car or watch that turn up at these conventions, instead opting for the more… off-beat ones. We’ll still fawn over the new Submariner, should Rolex play their cards right.

One car that definitely falls in that category is the orange-and-gray racing buggy from luxury Super-SUV maker, Fornasari. The chaps over at Autoblog didn’t seem to take too kindly to it, but hey, screw ‘em (although I’m not sold on the RR66 in the linked article, either). Not only do I appreciate the fact that this “thing” looks like something out you’d be hunted by in The Running Man, or, if you’re a bit younger, an oversized version of one of the house robots from Robot Wars. Moreover, I just have a soft spot for novelties like these (even though it probably won’t be more than just that – I can’t see anyone picking the kids of from school in one. You’d scar them for life).

Like many other luxury watch brands, it looks like Maurice Lacroix is suffering from a bit of an identity crisis. While I see some form of brand DNA, it seems as though each of their new models is quite random in form. Not necessarily bad, but more like the company is simply throwing darts wishing to see which may hit closer to the bulls-eye of consumer love. The new Pontos Chronograph Rectangulaire All Black watch is exactly like this. There is nothing else in their range that resembles this piece, but at the same time the dial has some similarities to what they have done before. As a follower of the brand, you neither have any idea how this watch is supposed to fit into their existing line, nor what the point of the piece is. Maurice Lacroix is further banking on the fading “all black” theme – where watches are done all in various shades of black (even the lume). Why they wanted to apply this theme here? I don’t know. Perhaps so that they can fill in that small market segment of all black rectangular watches with classy looking dials. Must be high demand for that niche.

As I said, there is nothing inherently wrong with the watch. The case design is fitting for the brand, though not overly done. The steel watch case is 38.2mm wide and 42.8mm tall. It is actually covered in a sand-blasted black ceramic, something I haven’t heard about before. Why this odd case formulation? Your guess is as good as mine. The movement is a base Swiss ETA 7750 automatic movement, which provides enough dials and areas on the face for Maurice Lacroix to play with. The resulting dial has some mixed textures and looks attractive, but not particularly innovative. There is supposed to be some interesting hand engraving on the movement – which is exposed through the sapphire caseback window in the rear of the watch.

For some, this will be a highly desirable watch with its mix of dark tones, classy demeanor, and undeniable sport attitude (all black, rubber strap). Still, after pondering the piece for a while, I still have no idea what it means, what emotions the brand wishes to bestow in this product or how it helps the brand in the long term. Feel like just another random work of watch art from the maybe too diverse brand. And while that works for Seiko in Japan, it may not always work with a Swiss watch brand like Maurice Lacroix.

By Ariel Adams