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Quill & Pad
Ken Gargett recently had an extensive immersion into New Zealand wines for a couple of weeks, including those of Hawkes Bay, so it seemed an ideal time to look at the latest Selection, from the 2021 vintage. The other reason for doing so is that the quality of this latest Selection lifts it above anything else he has seen from this project.
Teddy Baldassarre
Swiss watches are regarded by many as the finest timepieces in the world, and finding truly affordable Swiss watches can be, to put it mildly, somewhat challenging. Watches mass-produced in Japan and other Asian countries have cornered much of the market in the affordable realm, which we're defining here as watches with prices roughly topping out at $2,000; even Switzerland's neighbor, Germany, might be able to claim more "serious" brands that aim for this price segment. But due to the sheer size and diversity of its watch industry, Switzerland does offer its own fair share of value-oriented watches, all of which meet the globally respected "Swiss Made" standard. To coin a cliché, you just have to know where to look, and which labels to focus on. Here are 36 affordable Swiss watches, from some of the world's most admired Swiss watch brands, in a handful of popular categories. FASHION Swatch Sistem 51 Price: $155, Reference: SUTN405, Case Size: 42 mm, Case Height: 13.9 mm, Lug To Lug: 50.6 mm, Water Resistance: 30 meters, Crystal: Mineral, Movement: Automatic Swatch, often dismissed as the maker of plastic-cased, quartz-driven, mass-marketed timepieces for limited budgets and trend-driven youth, made the watch world sit up and take notice when it unveiled the Sistem 51 in 2013. Priced at an astounding $150, the watch contained an innovatively designed 51-part mechanical movement with five assembly-line produced modules held together by a single central screw. Swatch...
SJX Watches
Independent watchmaking got hot in 2021, a phenomenon that accelerated into 2022 and continued in 2023. Perhaps because of that, the number of notable, impressive, or truly interesting debuts from independent watchmakers were few. Still, some of the 2023 debuts stood out for us. We rounded up our team’s favourites of the year, which range from Louis Vuitton and Rexhepi Rexhepi to Marco Lang’s open-source construction to an accessibly-priced Habring². Richard Lee Technical Editor The Marco Lang Zweigeischt-1 is an impressively executed three-hand watch with the option of a novel shock-recording complication. However, it was released in 2020. Its inclusion in the 2023 list is because of the open-source technical plans for the entire watch, all of which were made public this year on Mr Lang’s website. Mr Lang’s generosity in sharing his know-how is uncommon and to be applauded. The importance of this initiative can’t be understated. For one, it ensures the longevity of the Zweigeischt-1, since any competent watchmaker will have access to the design and construction, making servicing and repairs easier. Additionally, the accessibility of this information serves as a guidance and inspiration for new watchmakers who are attempting to create their own timepieces. Garnering much attention this year, the Petermann Bedat Reference 2941 was lauded for being an original split-seconds chronograph design with an excellent level of movement finishing. The visible components ar...
Time+Tide
Glashütte Original's annual update to their Sixties Chronograph brings a sportier vibe to the vintage-inspired watch, with an intriguingly-textured grey dégradé dial and a new fabric strap.The post Glashütte Original Sixties Chronograph Annual Edition 2023 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Building on the success of this year’s edition, the world’s largest luxury watch fair returns next year: Watches & Wonders 2024 will take place once again at the Palexpo convention centre in Geneva from April 9-15, 2023, with the last three days being open to the public. The 2023 event saw a record 43,000 visitors attend, almost double the number in 2022. Next year’s Watches & Wonders (W&W;) will probably be even bigger. The list of participating brands for next year’s fair will be announced at a later date, though it is expected that the tally will rise compared to this year’s instalment. At the same time, W&W; next year will include three “public days” at the end where anyone can buy a ticket to enter, an increase over the two days of 2023. The growing list of exhibiting brands and additional public days furthers the event’s goal of making itself more accessible, while still enabling members of the trade, namely press and retailers, to attend the fair during the trade-only period during the first four days of the event. The increase in both exhibitors and public days brings the event closer to the model of Baselworld, which welcomed exhibitors and visitors from everywhere. And as was the case this year, brands with boutiques in downtown Geneva, mainly on the Rue du Rhône, will organise in-store events in addition to the goings-on inside Palexpo. These city events will be primarily for the public and clients.
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Revolution
Chanel has been relentlessly advancing its watchmaking technicality. After acquiring a stake in Kenissi 2021, Chanel debuted a smaller J12 in 2022 that was powered by a movement developed by the movement-building powerhouse that is Kenissi – and this was just the start of an exhilarating partnership. Discover Watches and Wonders 2023 novelties like the […]
Revolution
Discover the French brand Yema together with Jeremiah Chan, Deputy Digital Editor, at Time To Watches. Founded in 1948, Yema creates off-kilter vintage-inspired dress watches and field watches. Jeremiah had the opportunity to get his hands on popular Yema timepieces like the Yema Rallye 5 Turbo that was inspired by Renault’s 5 Turbo hatch icon […]
Revolution
Revolution Founder Wei Koh introduces the new Carrera timepieces by TAG Heuer. These tribute timepieces pay homage to the early Carrera models, their motor racing-inspired vintage details and the rich history of TAG Heuer.
Hodinkee
Read on for secondary market predictions, Grammy's watch spotting and a very funny article about the TAG Heuer Solargraph.
Time+Tide
With the 2022 edition of the GPHG awards approaching, I decided it was time to see how well you remember some of last years winners. Find out in this weeks crossword below.The post Time+Tide Weekend Watch Crossword: #25 “GPHG 2021 Winners” appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Teddy Baldassarre
The Tissot Telemeter 1938, which joined the Swiss brand's vintage-influenced Heritage collection in summer 2022, has garnered enthusiasts' attention with its charmingly retro design, optimized chronograph movement, and enticing price-to-value ratio. We had a chance to go hands-on with both versions of the Tissot Telemeter 1938; read on for the results from our in-depth review. Overview and History By just about any historical standard, 1938 was generally a pretty dark year, marked by the lingering economic woes of the Great Depression, the violence of Kristallnacht, and the slow march to war in Europe, with Germany annexing Austria and partitioning Czechoslovakia in the ill-fated Munich pact. One of the few areas in which forward-thinking creativity and energetic optimism still prevailed in that pre-war era was the world of art and design, which was still showing the influence of the Art Deco movement that had taken root in the 1920s. Wristwatches, which had largely supplanted pocket watches as the go-to portable timekeepers for both civilian and military use, displayed this enduring design ethos while also often incorporating a useful array of functions geared toward the timing of the era’s popular sporting events, many of which involved racing - on horseback, in automobiles, and on skis. Tissot, founded in 1853 in the Swiss Jura, was one of the watchmakers that specialized in making these sport-timing instruments. One of the company’s earliest forays as an offic...
Time+Tide
After a jam-packed calendar of novelty debuts and watch fairs, the holiday break was welcomed by the Time+Tide team. As watch lovers, not just labourers, we were, of course, still plugged into the community – ears to the ground and fingers on the pulse. But it was also a time to be with friends, family, … ContinuedThe post FRIDAY WIND DOWN: Goodbye 2021, hello 2022… appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Given the unprecedented events of the past two-ish years, the worldwide market for wristwatches has done surprisingly well. Chalk it up to lots of free time in lockdown for internet window shopping, and extra discretionary income (for some) that wasn’t spent on things like travel and hotels. In 2021, I think the watch industry learned … ContinuedThe post Rugged tool watches at surprising prices – D.C’s five favourite watches of 2021 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Mike is back, and the guys are talking about some of the most irritating factors that affect watch pricing for both new models and what you'd find on the secondary market. There's also a nice, matchy-matchy wrist check going on, some new Seiko models to chat about, and more.
Quill & Pad
A. Lange & Söhne sponsors the world's most luxurious vintage car event, the Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza, and has done so since 2012. The event has taken place every year (except one) on gorgeous Lake Como in Italy since 1929. Elizabeth Doerr went to the 2021 event and shares her impressions of the elegant event with us here.
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SJX Watches
Having been founded in 2017 as a spinoff from authorised retailer Govberg Jewelers, Watchbox has swiftly grown into one of the biggest sellers of pre-owned watches globally. Having started life with a US$100m capital infusion from a Singapore-based private equity outfit, the company has just announced 2021 sales will cross US$300m, thanks to growth projected to top 40%. For comparison, that is approximately equivalent to the annual watch sales of the major auction houses, namely Christie’s, Phillips, and Sotheby’s. The announcement comes just weeks after Watchbox took a majority stake in De Bethune, a respected independent watchmaker that nonetheless struggling for most of its existence, but is now on a sounder financial footing. At the same time, the financial resources available to Watchbox indicate that its investment in De Bethune might be the first of several such acquisitions. At the same time, the Philadephia-based company announced an expansion of its store network, which currently includes outposts in Dubai (pictured above), Hong Kong, and Singapore. It plans eight new stores in 2022, with five located in the United States, followed by Zurich, Riyadh, and Tokyo.
SJX Watches
While named after a late-18th century Swiss watchmaker, Charles Girardier is a startup, having been established in 2018 by Patrick A. Ulm, a Swiss private banker with a passion for watches. The brand focuses on tourbillon wristwatches, but enhanced with elements inspired by vintage Charles Girardier pocket watches, such as paillonnee enamel dials and its whimsical “mysterious” complication. Its Tourbillon Signature Mystérieuse Fleur de Sel won the Ladies’ Complications Watch Prize at last year’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve, beating out competition from big names like Bulgari and Piaget. For Only Watch 2021, Charles Girardier created the 1809 Tribute to Jackson Pollock, a wristwatch with a figure-of-eight dial layout in grand feu enamel and an unusual automatic movement with a peripheral rotor. Initial thoughts Being relatively young, Charles Girardier only has one model to its name so far, the Tourbillon Signature Mystérieuse. Still, it’s a technically interesting watch, making it a useful starting point for an Only Watch edition. The Tourbillon Signature Mystérieuse is symmetrical – both on the front and the back. The dial is arranged in a figure-of-eight, with a flying tourbillon at six, and the “mysterious” complication at twelve. The “mysterious” complication is the brand emblem that spins freely, thanks to a weight on its back that’s hidden under the dial. It gives the dial dynamism, though the “mysterious” complication feels a b...
SJX Watches
Breguet has an unexpectedly long history in military watches dating back over a century, but its best known military timepieces are undoubtedly the aviator’s chronographs made for the mid-century French Air Force and navy. It was one such watch that inspired the Type 20 Only Watch 2019. For this year’s Only Watch auction, Breguet turned pivoted to the civilian-market equivalent with the Type XX Only Watch 2021. Breguet incorporated details not found on the 2019 watch, namely a “Big Eye” register as well as a 12-hour bezel. Together, this and its predecessor form a perfect pair that encapsulate Breguet’s 20th century pilot’s chronographs. Initial thoughts The result achieved by the Type 20 at Only Watch 2019 – Breguet has supported the charity since its inauguration in 2005 – makes the motivation behind yet another pilot’s watch clear. While the technically-impressive in-line perpetual calendar created for Only Watch 2017 sold for CHF110,000, the Type 20 achieved fetched CHF210,000 – twice as much despite being a steel watch with a simple movement. The Type XX conveniently sticks to the same formula, making it almost interchangeable with the Type 20 at a distance. Most obvious is the milk-chocolate dial, which evokes the aged “tropical” dials of vintage examples. The rich, even colour allows it to stand on its own as a modern-day take on an old look. It’s achieves a nostalgic feel without trying too hard. But it is in exactly the same shade as ...
SJX Watches
While several of the watchmakers taking part in Only Watch 2021 have turned to historical timepieces for inspiration, all have created new watches for the biennial charity auction, except for Urwerk. An intriguing blend of new and vintage, the UR-102 “Gaïa” is actually one of the brand’s earliest watches that’s been given a new case back decor. Launched in 1997, the UR-102 had a low-cost aluminium case contrasted with a platinum case back, along with a wandering hours display. Urwerk retrieved an original example of the UR-102 to create the Gaïa, which is named after the watchmaking industry prize Urwerk’s twin founders received in 2020. The Gaïa preserves the aluminium case and movement, but its platinum back has been finished with a speckled, blue-lacquer motif inspired by the Gaïa Prize trophy. Initial thoughts While the complexity and materials of the UR-102 “Gaïa” pale in comparison to the brand’s modern-day creations, the Gaïa is significant for the brand both intrinsically and philosophically. The watch itself is historically important, being one of the brand’s first watches, while the reference to the Gaïa Prize is a symbol of Urwerk’s success since the difficult early days when the UR-102 was introduced. In fact, the watch encapsulates Urwerk’s progress over the past 25 years in a tangible sense, with the aluminium case of its early days now bearing the Gaïa Prize motif that exemplifies its success. UFO The Gaïa retains much of th...
SJX Watches
Founded to give new life to vintage chronometer movements and resurrect old-school designs, Atelier de Chronométrie (AdC) has completed only a few watches to date, but has quickly become known for wristwatches that are elegantly refined inside and out. In its inaugural outing at Only Watch, the watchmaker put together the AdC21, a time-only watch that is simple but executed with lavish detail, and dressed in a nostalgic, “pink on pink” livery. Like AdC’s other creations, the AdC21 is powered by a movement that started life as a vintage ébauche before being upgraded with parts fabricated by hand in-house. And the movement has been finished to level far beyond what the vintage calibre ever was. Initial thoughts AdC watches are intrinsically appealing to enthusiasts who favour old-school dress watches, which often have discreet, refined details that are uncommon in contemporary watches. One of the brand’s cofounders is a vintage watch dealer whose eye and experience explain the house style. At the same time, AdC elevates the design with the artisanal quality of the case and movement, most of which are made in house. The AdC21 is arguably the best time-only watch the brand has created to date. Entirely classical yet novel, the dial has a two-tone finish matched with an unusual interpretation of the “scientific” dial. And the case is also more elaborately constructed than those found on AdC’s earlier works. Beyond the design and craft, the shades of pink that d...
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Quill & Pad
Unisex watches are the future. As watches continue the trend to smaller sizes, unisex styles are a natural progression allowing brands to market their watches to more people. Martin Green highlights 5 sensibly sized watches from Watches & Wonders 2021 that he thinks will look good on the wrists of all genders.
Time+Tide
I did choose to be very optimistic in my story last week about the astounding Vacheron Constantin Tour de L’Ile reaching a cool record $3 million to kick off a healthy 2021. The estimate was set at Antiquorum’s Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces in Monaco to a spread of $1.8 – $3 million. But the watch … ContinuedThe post AUCTION NEWS: This Vacheron Constantin sold for just 40 per cent of its $3 million prediction. Is 2021 off to a catastrophically slow start? appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Bulgari has enjoyed a real hot streak over the past few years, throwing their hat into the ring of haute ultra-thin watchmaking. The Octo Finissimo has delivered the most refreshing entry into the integrated-bracelet watch category with its distinct, architectural design unlike anything else in the market. To some, Bulgari designs still remain a matter … ContinuedThe post My three favourite Bulgari releases of 2020 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
The Henschke Hill of Grace 2015 Shiraz is a wonderful wine from a very fine vintage. In Ken Gargett's opinion, it's a wine with decades ahead of it. A great Hill of Grace and a brilliant example of just how great Australian wines can be. 99/100.
SJX Watches
Swiss private bank Vontobel has just published its highly-regarded annual report on the luxury watch industry – the news for 2020 is grim. Put together by a team led by managing director Rene Weber, the Vontobel Luxury Goods Shop predicts a 25% fall in Swiss watch exports in 2020 – the biggest drop in 50 years as a result of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. A proxy for the global luxury watch market, Swiss watch exports declined 22% during the 2008 financial crisis, and recovered swiftly the year after. But during the financial crisis there were no store or factory closures, and no halt to international travel. Since mid-March most watch brands, including giants Rolex and Patek Philippe, have shut their factories, or introduced short-time work, with between 60-70% of employees at Swatch Group working reduced hours. File photo of the Rolex factory in Bienne that’s gone quiet for now. Photo – Rolex At the peak of the pandemic in China, when practically the entire country was in lockdown, Vontobel estimated February sales fell 80%, something it expects will be repeated throughout the rest of the world. And even e-commerce is not enough to alleviate the situation substantially, because of logistical challenges. The report notes that as of mid-March,”the Swiss watch industry has come to an almost global standstill.” Unsurprisingly, the bank expects the pandemic to result in a steeper fall and slower recovery for the Swiss watch industry. The bank expects a s...
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