Hodinkee
Introducing: Split Watches Comes To The U.S. With Its New GMT (Live Pics)
What We Know If you haven't heard of the brand Split before, you're likely not alone. The brand has not previously been distributed in the U.S., but it came to my attention when their chronograph, called "In The Skies," launched with a fully luminous case made from a proprietary ceramic-and-polymer fusion called Ceramod+. At $2,053, it was an interesting and fun novelty, and cheaper than the IWC Ceralume Perpetual Calendar (though a vastly different proposition, to be fair). Now that material, sans lumen, is coming to the United States with a new, relatively affordable GMT. But the watches are only a small part of the story for Split. The brand was co-founded by Edward Margulies, the third generation of a prominent family of UK-based Swiss watch distributors. His father, Marcus Margulies, might be known to some as the collector behind one of the most impressive collections of Audemars Piguet watches in history, which formed the basis for much of the AP museum. Edward moved to Switzerland at the age of 19 to train to follow in his footsteps. While the press release talks about how he spent his life putting on a smile to hide a frown caused by burying trauma for years, his interview in the New York Times reveals something deeper. The reality is that, after decades of struggling with his mental health and taking traditional paths of therapy and antidepressants, his physical health had deteriorated, and he was prescribed fentanyl. "Next thing I know," he said to the New York...
