Results for Westminster Chime

Hands-On: The Omega Chrono Chime, A Strikingly Complicated Pair Of Sonorous Chronographs

The brand's first 5 Hz Co-Axial movement features a unique and massively complex chiming chronograph complication.  

How They Made It: The Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Westminster Sonnerie – Tribute to Johannes Vermeer Pocket Watch

Paul Newman's Paul Newman Daytona, or this?

Watch Spotting: Jay-Z Wearing A Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300G At Diddy's 50th Birthday Party

A big occasion calls for a big watch.

Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers La Musique Du Temps Minute Repeater Tourbillon Four Seasons: Chime, Chime, Chime For Every Season

The Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater Tourbillon Four Seasons is an ode to the journey we all must take, the journey that even our great big planet takes every year as it grows, dies, and is reborn. We can celebrate the mechanics and ingenuity behind the watches, but this limited edition celebrates the fleeting nature of life itself.

Sunday Rewind: Sibling Chime-alry With Two Unique And Strange Minute Repeaters From Patek Philippe

A bad pun (not sorry) and two awesome vintage Pateks.

BREAKING NEWS: CHF 31 Million Steel Grandmaster Chime Becomes Most Expensive Timepiece Sold at Auction

Breaking News: Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime For Only Watch 2019 Sells For CHF 31 Million, Becoming The Most Expensive Watch In The World

The king is dead – long live the king.

Hands-On: The Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A For Only Watch 2019

Can this steel watch dethrone the Paul Newman?

Introducing: The Unique Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A For Only Watch 2019

A bonafide mega watch gets the salmon-and-steel treatment.

In Depth: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpetuel

SIHH 2019: JLC Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel

THE PATEK PHILLIPE GRANDMASTER CHIME 175TH ANNIVERSARY - The Patek Philippe Ref. 5175 Perpetual Date Repeater, Grand Sonnerie, Minute Repeater And Alarm, A Masterpiece Of Chiming Complications

Leading up to Patek Philippe’s 175th anniversary, speculation and anticipation were running wild in watch enthusiast circles around the globe. And the recurring theme rising to the forefront of the collective Patek devotee’s imagination was that of a grande sonnerie. A grande sonnerie is a watch that features a minute repeater but is also able […]

Hands-on – The Spirit of Mr Genta Chimes On in the Gérald Genta Minute Repeater

A legend in his own lifetime and the name behind countless watch icons designed for other brands, Gérald Genta (1931-2011) also produced masterpieces for his eponymous brand founded in 1969, including the Grande Sonnerie, considered the most sophisticated and complex chiming watch in the world. The current custodian of the Gérald Genta brand is Louis […]

The ABCs of Time – Unconventional Ways Watches Can Relay Time Without Traditional Hands

At the dawn of mechanical time, hands weren’t a thing as bells would chime to signal an event or relay the hours. These giant mechanical bell towers were seen in Europe throughout the Middle Ages, with examples like the Salisbury Cathedral clock in the 14th century still functioning today (after restoration, of course). These early […]

Tritium Watches: How They Work, And How They're Still Being Made

The need to read the time in the dark has been a challenge for the makers of timepieces for hundreds of years. The first solution was not a visual but an audible one: watches that could chime the current hour and minute on demand. These types of watches, aka minute repeaters and sonneries, are quite rare and expensive today and regarded as luxuries rather than the utilitarian inventions they initially were. In the 1900s, a more practical option presented itself: treating a watch’s dial with luminous paint that made its time display visible in darkness. And while this approach proved to be much more cost-effective and practical, it also brought a new set of challenges, as the earliest substances used on the dials were discovered to be unsafe, for the people who made the watches and, to a lesser extent, those who wore them. Let There Be Light The first material applied to watch dials for nighttime luminescence was radium paint, which, thanks to radium’s half-life of 1,600 years, offered a long-lasting glow during that period before dimming - the catch being that, as its name implies, radium (specifically Radium-226, which was used as the base of the “Radiomir” substance registered by Guido Panerai ) is radioactive. In the 1920s, the mostly female factory workers who painted the watch dials with radium compounds started falling ill and dying at alarming rates, leading to lawsuits against the companies that produced the material and eventually, safer working conditio...

The Best Watches I Saw At The British Watchmakers’ Day

Early in March, I attended the second British Watchmakers’ Day at Lindley Hall (Royal Horticultural Halls) in Westminster. The sophomore effort had another fantastic turnout and cemented the show as a bona fide addition to the watch-event calendar. With 45 British-based watch brands presenting, there was plenty for everyone to enjoy. All brands have a […] Visit The Best Watches I Saw At The British Watchmakers’ Day to read the full article.

Get Your €100K+ Speedy Now! Omega Offers The Speedmaster Calibre 321 With A New Platinum Flat-Link Bracelet

The first Speedmaster to hit retail with a six-figure price is here! Well, that’s if you don’t count the complicated Speedmaster Chrono Chime. Omega introduces the platinum Speedmaster Calibre 321  with a material-matching flat-link bracelet, and at our local AD in The Hague, the price of that most prestigious Speedy is €107,500. If you’re in […] Visit Get Your €100K+ Speedy Now! Omega Offers The Speedmaster Calibre 321 With A New Platinum Flat-Link Bracelet to read the full article.

Portrait – Watchmaking Apprentice Gaku Okada and his Fascinating Tempo Rubato Metronome ‘Watch’

A light rhythmic beat of a snare drum hits your ears, the deep thumps of the bass drum join in, and the chime of the cymbals rounds it off. A trumpeter starts improvising on the beat, ebbing and flowing back and forth in pace, producing a melody that resonates deep within your soul. Then, all […]

Beaucroft Teams with Bristol Based Artist Penfold on a Limited Edition for British Watchmakers’ Day

On March 9th, 2024, the inaugural British Watchmakers’ Day occurred in Westminster, London, England. Organized by the Alliance of British Watch & Clock Makers, this event was celebrated as the premier watch gathering in the U.K. More than 40 brands participated, including Christopher Ward, Elliot Brown, Isotope, and even Roger W. Smith. The event was by all accounts a success, so it’s no surprise that a second event has been scheduled for Saturday, March 8th. One of the 2024  exhibitors was Beaucroft, based in Cambridge. Our very own Garrett Jones had a hands-on experience with their Forest Green Element watch in December 2024, and he enjoyed it. For this year’s British Watchmakers’ Day event, Beaucroft has collaborated with Bristol-based artist Tim Gresham, known as Penfold, to create the Penfold Special Edition watch. Penfold’s portfolio includes abstract paintings, screen printing, large-scale murals, and immersive installations. He has exhibited in galleries worldwide and collaborated with iconic brands. His influences range from skateboard graphics and Memphis-style furniture to artists like Tom Wesselmann and Eduardo Paolozzi from the Pop Art movement and contemporary figures like MOMO and KAWS. Based on their Element platform, the matte-finished white dial provided a blank canvas for Penfold to showcase his artwork. Apart from the rehaut and hands, the rest of the design is Penfold’s creation. From the supplied images, the airbrushed design elements app...

Insight: Governors of Minute Repeaters, Sonneries, and Other Striking Watches

Repeaters are one of the most complicated mechanisms in watches and over the years the complication has been refined by successive generations of watchmakers. Now, perhaps more than ever, watchmakers dedicate absolute attention to perfecting the quality, speed, accuracy, and durability of the striking works. Various components are required to chime the tunes of time with hammers and gongs. Paradoxically, amongst the most crucial parts of a chiming watch are those that work quietly, or silently, in the background – the governor. One of the most recent new repeater calibres, the A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Minute Repeater What is a governor? The governor regulates the speed of the striking pattern, in other words the pace of the individual chimes. A repeater movement contains a separate gear train for the repeating works, which are powered by their own smaller, auxiliary spring. The last component of this train consists of the governor. The governor’s task is to introduce resistance in the repeater train, allowing it to be regulated. Therefore, less resistance accelerates the striking speed, while more resistance slows down the repeater chimes. The Vacheron Constantin cal. 1731 with the secondary spring visible between the hammers The fine-tuning of the repeater’s speed is prized as an essential factor in ensuring a perfect series of chimes. If the pace is too fast, the vibrations of the gongs produce jarring overtones that cancel each other out. If too slow, not o...

Just Because: Ever Wondered How Much A Patek Philippe Grand Complication Costs? Patek Finally Published All Their Prices

No more "price on request" on the Patek website means you finally know how many years (or decades) you'll need to save for a Grandmaster Chime.

Fratello Favorites: The Best Watches Under €2,500 - Mike’s Picks From Seiko, Ming, Oak & Oscar, And Longines

It’s time to chime in on the best watches under €2,500. It’s a tough subject for a couple of reasons. First, many of my colleagues have already opined and used up some great picks. Second, this price level now feels like a no man’s land because most brands prefer to play above or below it. […] Visit Fratello Favorites: The Best Watches Under €2,500 - Mike’s Picks From Seiko, Ming, Oak & Oscar, And Longines to read the full article.

Sylvester Stallone has 11 watches heading to Sotheby’s June 2024 auction

Sly has enlisted Sotheby's to auction off a significant part of his collection, including the first-ever to market Patek Grandmaster Chime.The post Sylvester Stallone has 11 watches heading to Sotheby’s June 2024 auction appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Roger W. Smith and His Unique Series 1 Made for British Watchmakers’ Day

British Watchmakers’ Day is nearly upon us. Tomorrow, March 9, watch lovers from across the UK (and across the world – our own Zach Weiss and Blake Malin will be in attendance) will descend on Lindley Hall in Westminster to celebrate all that British watchmaking has to offer. The event is run by the Alliance of British Watch and Clockmakers, and was conceived to raise awareness and money for the Alliance, which works to support watchmaking in the UK by fostering ties between its trade members.  Roger W. Smith, the famed independent watchmaker who famously apprenticed for George Daniels, was an early Alliance member and one of the group’s most vocal supporters. He’s taking part in British Watchmakers’ Day this year alongside many of his colleagues in the Alliance, and he’s particularly excited about the diversity and the representation from a new generation of watch brands that will be present. “The vast majority of our trade members are outside of traditional horology,” Smith told me in an interview. “That’s very exciting to me, it means we’re going to have lots of innovation, lots of ideas, and new stories taking place.”  One of those new stories is a watch Smith himself will be presenting at British Watchmakers’ Day, which is loosely organized around participating brands bringing limited edition pieces to sell for one day and one day only at the fair. For Smith, this presents a challenge and an opportunity. His watches are largely made by hand...

Happenings: First Ever British Watchmakers’ Day To Be Held In March

The inaugural event will be held at Lindley Hall in Westminster, London, with over 40 confirmed exhibitors.

Everything You Need To Know About The British Watchmakers’ Day

With the revival of watchmaking in the British Isles, the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers announces its first exhibition. The British Watchmakers’ Day will take place on Saturday, March 9th, 2024, at Lindley Hall (Royal Horticultural Halls) in Westminster. The event is dedicated to showcasing over 30 new and old member brands within […] Visit Everything You Need To Know About The British Watchmakers’ Day to read the full article.