Newport Ceramic 35th Anniversary – 38 mm

NEWPORT CERAMIC 35TH ANNIVERSARY

A move towards minimalism

2023 is Newport’s year. And for good reason! This collection, which has become iconic since its launch in 1988, is celebrating its 35th anniversary. For this occasion, the French watchmaker HERBELIN is unveiling a new limited series: the Newport Céramique 35th anniversary. With its high-tech materials, designer look, and chic colours, this two-hand timepiece has never been as minimalist in its expression of the Newport’s hallmark characteristics. Powered moreover by an automatic movement, this timepiece comes in two diameters (38 mm and 43 mm), with just 500 numbered pieces produced for each size. The Newport saga continues...

A HIGH-TECH MATERIAL HARDER THAN STEEL

Born from the alchemy of fire and matter, ceramic engineering made quite a timid entrance into the watchmaking world in the 1980s before becoming popular starting in 2000. Light yet harder than steel, and featuring a reflective surface that’s soft to the touch, this high-tech ultra-scratch-resistant material combines a number of properties that are remarkably suited to watchmaking.

HERBELIN just couldn’t resist. Now it’s HERBELIN’s turn to use this material to reinterpret its emblematic model in a minimalist style. Initiated by the launch of the Newport Slim in 2021, this exercise in style is now pushed to the extreme with the Newport Céramique 35th anniversary. “It’s not just simply a ceramic watch,” clarifies Mathieu Herbelin, grandson of the founder and Associate Creative Director of the French brand. “Our desire is to introduce new materials over the course of time. After carbon and titanium, ceramic is perfectly tailored to anchor Newport even more firmly within the urban sport-chic world. We played with the material, working in a precise cutting- edge fashion, in order to exploit its properties to the maximum. Nothing was done by accident. We employed an architectural approach to watchmaking in order to create a designer timepiece par excellence.”

HIGHLIGHT ON STREAMLINED CHIC

Subtly inspired by the futuristic structures of stealth ships, this new HERBELIN plunges the Newport DNA -central horns, crown engraved with a ship’s wheel motif, impressively wide bezel- into the world of streamlined chic. Crafted from ceramic, the case is cut with three meticulously chiselled facets. Its polished finish sculpts the light, showcasing the overall styling. Devoid of artifice, the dial, also in ceramic, is protected by a sapphire crystal. Treated with an AR coating on both top and bottom, it disappears to highlight the elegant shapes and purity of the material. Its unique smooth finish provides the model with true depth, shimmering with the slightest movement in a scintillating display of intense reflections.

A few steel touches, such as the hour and minute hands, notched conical crown, and bracelet mounting screws, create a striking contrast that accentuates the beauty of the material. Its black colour never fades, neither under the harshest conditions nor over time. Thanks to ceramic’s intrinsic properties, the piece is ultra-resistant to scratches. Its hardness (1200 Vickers, which is six times harder than steel) guarantees its longevity in the face of everyday impacts and shocks.

Comfortable on the wrist due to its light weight, the Newport Céramique 35th anniversary comes with a matte black bracelet specifically designed to maintain the watch’s contour through the central horns to the clasp. Crafted from high- performance FKM elastomer, it provides as subtle counterbalance to the distinguished character of the piece. This choice may come as a surprise, but when combined with the ceramic, it confers this limited edition with a sport-chic style that’s easy to wear every day.

56-HOUR POWER RESERVE

Heir to a French watchmaking tradition stretching back over 75 years, the Newport Céramique 35th anniversary further captivates with its Swiss- made automatic movement (Sellita). Oscillating at 28,800 vibrations per hour and incorporating 25 jewels, it benefits from a 56-hour power reserve. Its transparent, steel-encircled caseback engraved with Newport 35 YEARS and the watch’s X/500 number reveals the inner workings of the mechanism, whose oscillating weight features the Herbelin logo.

French-made: designed, engineered, assem- bled by hand, adjusted, and inspected at the HERBELIN workshops in the Jura mountains of the Franche-Comté region, 500 pieces of this limited edition series have been crafted for each diameter size.

35 YEARS OF HISTORY

In the early 1980s, when Jean-Claude Herbelin took over the reins of the company his father founded, he set his sights on launching a new collection that would encapsulate the core values and French watchmaking heritage of the Michel Herbelin brand. The Newport collection honours the family’s passion for sailing and the sea, inspired by the yachts competing in the America’s Cup Race in Newport, Rhode Island, and taking its shape from the portholes of transatlantic yachts. Capturing a spirit of adventure, the Newport charts a course for freedom and far-flung destinations. “Created in 1988, this collection propelled our brand to international recognition. Since its launch, we’ve sold 500,000 Newport watches. Thirty-five years later, it is still the brand’s number one in terms of sales,” explains Maxime Herbelin, grandson of the founder and Associate Creative Director of the French brand. “With its decidedly sport-chic style, the Newport Céramique 35th anniversary is a fitting tribute to our iconic collection as it enters into a new era. Setting our sights on the future: that is our objective.”