Carbon Chronology: 10 “ATTENTION GETTING” Carbonized Wrist Watches

Carbon Watches – Whether sailing on the wings of a spy plane or soaring towards a target on the fins of a missile, carbon can’t help but be a sexy material.

Under heat and pressure, it evolves into a diamond. Without such fuss, it’s simple, lightweight and strong. It can be forged or extruded into fibers and molded into any shape. It makes guns better, meats tastier, motorcycles faster and crazy Japanese cooking knives sharper.

Carbon both simple and high-tech. It’s also deep, dark and sexy. And once you take a look at our sexy timepieces, you might bid farewell to mere metals. Hit the jump to see 10 sleek, carbonized watches. Once you go black, you’ll never go back.

Quattro Valvole CCM

The world’s first carbon fiber watch, the Quattro Valvole CCM derives its sporty inspiration from the four valves of Ferrari’s 1984 308 GTS. Each of the four faces has an independent, Swiss mechanical movement and a titanium crown. The ultralight and ultra-strong watch is the $15,000 result of a collaboration by Italian watchmaker Mecchaniche Veloci Italian brake-maker Brembo and comes in red, silver, yellow and of course, black.

Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX2 Racing Chronograph

The AMVOX2 Chronograph DBS is powerful and ingenious, just like its inspiration, the Aston Martin DBS. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s watch has a vertical trigger chronograph which is activated by a simple touch on the watch’s sapphire crystal. The $21,500 chronograph can be started or halted by pressing at 12 o’clock. Pressing 6 o’clock resets the counters to zero. The watch comes with a titanium or pink gold case, carbon fiber counters and a calfskin band.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Forged Carbon

A blackened steel logo, ceramic bezel and an ultralight casing made from carbon fiber compressed at high temperatures, the Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph by Audemars Piguet is substantial, but light on the wrist. The $25,800 self-winding watch has a 60-hour power reserve, yellow enumeration and a similarly colored tachometer, luminescent hour and minute hands, a rubber-coated crown and comes in one color — black.

Franc Vila Evos 8 Cobra Chronograph

Swiss watchmaker Franc Vila designed the Evos 8 Cobra to be as edgy as its potential owners. With a hardened steel or red gold and carbon fiber bezel, this cobra was made to coil around extreme wrists, like those steering rally cars or jumping out of helicopters. This snake was engineered for high altitudes, swims down to 300 meters and wears a sexy crocodile leather belt. ::hissssss::

Bell & Ross Announces BR 01-92 Heritage Watch

The Bell & Ross BE 01-92 Heritage Watch is big. Actually, it’s huge. Like most of the Swiss watchmaker’s designs, the 46mm-diameter timepiece is inspired by aircraft instrumentation, in this case, 1940s-styled plane gauges. The $3,800 military-spec watch has a bead-blasted steel case that’s been powder coated. The hands are photoluminescent and can be easily viewed through the anti-glare glass.

Audemars Piguet’s Carbon Royal Oaks Tourbillon Chronograph Watch

Nicknamed “Darth Vader” Audemars Piguet Carbon Royal Oaks Tourbillon Chronograph is dark and sinisterly stylish. The $251,000 timepiece has a hand-polished bevel, hand-filed sides and a matte finish on the sapphire-blasted carbon plate. A titanium clasp keeps the hand-swen alligator leather strap taught.

Bell & Ross BR 02 Instrument Chronograph

The Bell & Ross BR 02 Chronograph is a little more refined than its earlier carbon cousin. If the BR 01-92 was made for a plane, this model will help you survive an ocean ditching. The deep-sea gauge is water resistant up to 500 meters. An integrated decompression valve lets helium escape the case and large, photoluminescent hands are easily read in dark water. The unidirectional inside bezel is graduated to 60 minutes and has a luminescent index which is easy to see while submerged. [via jurawatches]

Zenith Defy Extreme Open Gold & Titanium

Beneath the brushed rose gold and titanium, layers of carbon fiber reinforce the dial, bracelet and push pieces of the Zenith Defy Extreme. The Swiss watch resists shock with a titanium case, Hesalite glass and inserts made from composite materials like Kevlar. But with its sleek, automatic movements and the refined lines on the rotating bezel, the Defy Extreme doesn’t look too tough.

Hamilton Khaki X-Mach

There are pilot’s watches and jet pilot watches. Hamilton’s Khaki X-Mach is for the supersonic latter. When the wearer inputs the aircraft’s pressure altitude and calibrated air speed, a simple turn of the carbon fiber-gramed crown divulges the relative ISA Mach number on the bezel. The $1,600 air-inspired watch has wing-shaped metal embellishments, retro flight jacket stitching on the bracelet and a compass point arrowhead on the back of the case. The watch comes with a black dial and either a black or silver case.

Hublot Big Bang Evolution

The latest version of Hublot’s Big Bang series is a edgy watch designed with centuries-old craftsmanship and materials that can only be forged in the most modern furnaces. The stamped carbon dial has brushed steel hour markers and sandblasted, rhodium-plated luminescent hands. The knurled, ceramic bezel is affixed by a half dozen titanium screws and the timepiece’s crown has a rubber insert to ensure water resistance down to 100 meters.

Thanks for reading, StyleCravers, Diggers, Stumblers and otherwise.  Which of these sexy carbonized watches is your favorite?  Which would you want to see on your own wrist?  Do you prefer a watch we didn’t include in this list?  Let us know in the comments.  Thanks again for reading!