Harry Winston

foversta
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The Ocean Dual Time: depth and originality !

The Ocean Dual Time belongs to the Harry Winston tradition of travel watches. This tradition has started with  the Premier Excenter Timezone  I presented here a few weeks ago.  This Excenter  has a second timezone display through a retrograde hand and an handwind caliber.

Even if the purpose of the Ocean Dual Time (or Z4 when it gets the Zalium case) is the same (a watch dedicated to the people who travel a lot or who need to get at a glance the time of a second timezone), the way Harry Winston designed it was totally different.

Ocean Dual Time:





Excenter Timezone:



First of all, we are not anymore in the Premier Collection but in the Ocean one: so the case design is different. Moreover, the caliber is here an automatic one. And finally, the dial layout (I would say: the complication) is very far from the Excenter one.

A glance is enough to see that unlike the Excenter, the Ocean Dual Time has two  subdials (a large one for the home time and a smaller one for the second timezone): thanks to its dedicated subdial, the second timezone is displayed with  hour and minutes hands.





With a clear separation between the main dial and the second timezone indicator, the Excenter dial is at the end more intuitive and practical. But the two subdials system of the Ocean Dual Time gave to Harry Winston the ability to create a beautiful multi-layers dial. Nothing is flat on this dial, our eyes browse a 3D environnement. This dial is a sort of gathering of several circles like floating soap bubbles: look at the shape of the two subdials, the day&night indicators, the shuriken, the two disks of the big date display.

The dial layout and the main functions of the Ocean Dual Time:





The only part which is not round on the dial is the element which encloses the two figures of the big date display: it has the classic shape of the arch of the entrace of the NY boutique and as you know it, this shape is a part of the Harry Winston DNA.

This gathering of circles with the addition of the vertical big date display give a very elegant originality to the watch.

The Excenter doesn't have a second hand but right between the two subdials, the Ocean Dual Time features the Shuriken which has the purpose of being the working indicator. The Dual Time lost the power reserve indicator of the Excenter. It is obvious that he caliber context is not the same: even if I still think that a power reserve indicator is more useful with an automatic watch than with an handwind one,  the large power reserve of the Excenter caliber makes it almost essential which is not the case with the Ocean Dual Time.








The main quality of this Dual Time is the dial and case finishings. The case has a 44mm diameter and is available in Pink Gold or White Gold. When the Zalium is used, the watch name is changed in Z4, the 4th watch to use the patented material.





The quality of the case finishings can be underlined by the crown protectors and by the way the second timezone adjustement pushpiece is integrated into the case.

The Ocean Dual Time has an important characteristic: it is the first Harry Winston watch to use an exclusive in-house module. The caliber base is the automatic GP3396 which has a power reserve of around 45 hours and a 4hz frequency.





Finishings of the caliber are flawless but not that impressive: the caliber has a gold rotor with the Harry Winston logo on it. You will notice its off-centered position and it seems to be a bit lost in the case. However, it is a reliable caliber which has enough power to animate the Harry Winston dual-time module. But, to be honest with you, we are far from the sight offered by the Excenter caliber.





When we wear the watch, it is the same story than with the other 44mm Ocean cases. Thanks to the shape of the lugs, the watch can be comfortable if you have a large wrist. If the wrist is large enough, no problem, you will wear the Ocean Dual Time with a lot of pleasure and comfort. If your wrist is small, the way the strap is integrated into the overall design of the watch will give you a strange feeling: the watch will appear to be huge.









This Ocean Dual Time is not perfect: its dial is not as intuitive as the Excenter one and I would have prefered a more decorated caliber. But, thanks to its dial and case finishings, the easy-to-operate pushpiece, its overall design, its originality (a vertical big date display!) it is a watch full of charm. I was totally seduced by this Dual Time and, at the end, I consider it as a very valuable option in the world of two timezones watches. Once you see the dial, you can't forget the feeling of depth and volume it brings.