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A deep dive on why the new 2020 Jaeger-LeCoultre collection has excited us so much Time+Tide
Jaeger-LeCoultre collection has excited us May 31, 2020

A deep dive on why the new 2020 Jaeger-LeCoultre collection has excited us so much

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 2020 Collection is their best in years Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Control collection has long been a benchmark for subtlety in the execution of style, with each movement, from simple three handers to chronograph calendars, being the definition of art meets mechanics. In 2020’s online edition of the Watches & Wonders fair, the Swiss maestros unveiled … ContinuedThe post A deep dive on why the new 2020 Jaeger-LeCoultre collection has excited us so much appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Zelos Introduces the Mirage Tourbillon in Pattern-Welded Alloys SJX Watches
Zelos May 29, 2020

Zelos Introduces the Mirage Tourbillon in Pattern-Welded Alloys

A Singapore-based “micro brand”, Zelos Watches has found success with affordable sports watches, mostly priced at about US$1,000 or less, but often incorporating unusual materials such as carbon fibre or meteorite. But in a significant departure from its usual fare, Zelos has just unveiled the Mirage, a flying tourbillon powered by a calibre made by a noted Swiss movement maker La Joux-Perret. With the case options including Timascus and mokume-gane, which are pattern-welded titanium and bronze respectively, the Mirage certainly sticks to the brand’s design ethos of exotic materials. Initial thoughts While it’s not surprising that the Mirage is substantially more expensive than Zelos’ past models, it is still good value for a watch featuring both a respectable tourbillon movement and an exotic-metal case. The case is sleek and modern, machined to create sharp, wide facets that give it an aggressive stance and complement the contemporary look of the movement. Of the three case materials on offer, the Timascus versions are the most intriguing. Typically found in high-end custom knives, Timascus is being used in a watch for the first time according to Zelos. Flying tourbillon In terms of complications, the Mirage is a radical departure from the brand’s previous offerings. Powered by a skeletonised flying tourbillon movement from La Joux-Perret, the Mirage enters the realm of technical horology. The movement is hand-wound, with its bridges and base plate coate...

Breitling Introduces the Superocean Heritage ’57 “Rainbow” - Again SJX Watches
Breitling Introduces May 20, 2020

Breitling Introduces the Superocean Heritage ’57 “Rainbow” - Again

Just in April this year, Breitling unveiled the Breitling Superocean Heritage ’57 Rainbow, a limited edition of just 250 pieces that it sold out within a few hours according to Breitling chief executive Georges Kern. With the presses for the 250 barely cool, Breitling has announced another rainbow-theme diver, the Superocean Heritage ’57 Limited Edition II. This time, the limited edition is 1,000 pieces – but with a charitable twist: 500,000 Swiss francs from the sale of the new edition will go to charities that support healthcare workers. The bulk of the sum has already been donated, split evenly amongst six charities in six countries that are amongst the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Initial thoughts Issuing an almost-identical edition after the initial home run is not cool. It feels a bit too blatant. That said, it is substantially redeemed by the generous donation, which is equivalent to about 10% of gross revenue from the new “Rainbow II”. It is encouraging to see watchmakers leverage on their brand equity to aid relief efforts. As for the watch itself, the Rainbow II is actually a better looking watch. While the first edition had had a black dial and bezel, the new edition employs a blue dial and bezel that I find to be even more striking. The primary attraction is of course the rainbow-graduated hour markers that inject a playful element into what’s otherwise a serious-looking retro dive watch. While the rainbow markers may be divisive – I lo...

Business News: Richemont Fortifies Balance Sheet with €2 Billion Bond Sale SJX Watches
Panerai which make up about May 19, 2020

Business News: Richemont Fortifies Balance Sheet with €2 Billion Bond Sale

Having just announced its full-year results while predicting a gloomy outlook for the business, Richemont has successful placed €2 billion of bonds, with coupon ranging from 0.75% for the 8-year note to 1.625% for the 20-year note. The bond placement boosts the Swiss luxury group’s robust balance sheet, which had a gross cash position of €6.34 billion and a net cash position of €2.40 billion at the end of March 31, 2020. The notes received an A+ rating from credit ratings agency S&P;, which also lowered its outlook for Richemont from stable to negative, “citing the possibility of a downgrade if the coronavirus pandemic causes the company’s credit metrics to worsen”. Widely regarded as a savvy investor who transformed his family’s tobaccco-and-banking empire into an even larger one focused the “hard” luxury of watches and jewellery, Mr Rupert’s belief in the severity of the pandemic-induced recession is obvious. That, in turn, does not bode well for the luxury watch business. Richemont’s biggest earner is Cartier – the jewellery division is half the group’s turnover – it also owns a host of luxury watch brands, including A. Lange & Söhne, IWC, and Panerai, which make up about 20% of its sales. During Richemont’s earning conference call on May 15, Mr Rupert explained the bond issue: “We have always believed in protecting our balance sheet… For years, a lot of investment banks questioned us about that it’s a lazy balance sheet. But h...

A Tribute to Peter Baumberger of Urban Jürgensen & Sønner SJX Watches
Casio n May 19, 2020

A Tribute to Peter Baumberger of Urban Jürgensen & Sønner

Peter Baumberger (Koppingen, 1939 – Biel, 2010) Ten years ago, Peter Baumberger died in Biel. On the occasion of this anniversary, I would like to pay a brief tribute to the one who was a dear friend and an extraordinary character – pictured above with his favourite oval tourbillon pocket watch and wearing a Ref. 3 wristwatch – whose ideas and personality marked the Swiss watch industry after the Quartz Crisis. I first met Peter in November 1975, during a sale organised by Peter Ineichen auctioneers in Zürich. He was with the famous Derek Pratt. At that time, Peter was one of the world’s leading dealers in antique watches. His charming and authentic nature immediately fascinated me – this is how our friendship started, a friendship that lasted until the end of his life. The name of Peter Baumberger will remain forever in Swiss watchmaking history thanks to his rescue and his revival of the historic brand Urban Jürgensen at Le Locle, which he acquired in the late 1970s. Undeniably, Peter played a pioneering role in the renaissance of the high-quality Swiss mechanical watch, long before others. As a trained watchmaker, he combined cutting-edge technical skills with a very distinct aesthetic sensitivity, as well as with an intimate knowledge of the works of the old masters; the remarkable confluence of these aspects is therefore the basis of his creative work. Peter put all his strength and his spirit at the disposal of Urban Jürgensen to give a new spark to the...

VIDEO: The TAG Heuer Connected Watch Generation 3, the first smart watch that feels - and looks - like a real watch Time+Tide
TAG Heuer Connected Watch Generation 3 May 4, 2020

VIDEO: The TAG Heuer Connected Watch Generation 3, the first smart watch that feels - and looks - like a real watch

Editor’s note: Watchmaking is founded on incremental progress. The slow accumulation of applied knowledge that produces a better and better product with each passing year. That is exactly what TAG Heuer have achieved with their latest generation Connected Watch, offering the most optimised blend of Swiss luxury and Silicon Valley tech that we have seen … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: The TAG Heuer Connected Watch Generation 3, the first smart watch that feels – and looks – like a real watch appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

The new guard of action heroes and their watches, from Hobbs & Shaw to John Wick to Triple Frontier Time+Tide
Apr 21, 2020

The new guard of action heroes and their watches, from Hobbs & Shaw to John Wick to Triple Frontier

It’s a hard life being the watch of an action hero. For starters, you’re forced to put up with all the endless gunfights, speedboat chases and henchmen annihilation. Worse still, you’re always getting overlooked. The viewer’s eye rarely gets to appreciate the majesty of your Swiss-made dial, because it’s invariably yanked towards whatever kung-fu carnage … ContinuedThe post The new guard of action heroes and their watches, from Hobbs & Shaw to John Wick to Triple Frontier appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Breitling (Re)Introduces the Chronomat with Rouleaux Bracelet SJX Watches
Breitling Re)Introduces Apr 16, 2020

Breitling (Re)Introduces the Chronomat with Rouleaux Bracelet

One of the most fashionable watches of the late 1980s and 1990s was the Breitling Chronomat with the distinctive Rouleaux bracelet, specifically the two-tone, steel-and-yellow-gold model with a dark blue dial. The watch of choice for assorted air force squadrons, the Chronomat was also spotted on major Hollywood stars of the era, most prominently Jerry Seinfeld and Bruce Willis. Breitling’s supercharged success after the Quartz Crisis – having been rescued by Swiss entrepreneur Ernest Schneider – was largely down to the Chronomat. Now the Chronomat on the Rouleaux bracelet is making its comeback, after having been discontinued several years ago. Abandoning the styling of recent, unsuccessful facelifts, the new Chronomat B01 42 returns with a tightly-executed design that incorporates several elements of the 1990s classic. A historic hit Launched to mark the 100th anniversary of Breitling in 1984, the Chronomat marked the brand’s return to mechanical watches. In 1979, the late Ernest Schneider took over an ailing Breitling, which until was then making mostly quartz watches with a military flavour. Having delivered the inaugural version of the Chronomat to members of Frecce Tricolori, the aerobatic team of the Italian air force, Schneider had a hit on his hands once the Chronomat was sold to the public. A page from the 1987 Breitling catalogue showing several versions of the Chronomat Though it had the same name as a vintage Breitling chronograph, the Chronomat l...

Montblanc Introduces the 1858 Split Second Chronograph Enamel Dial SJX Watches
Montblanc Introduces Apr 16, 2020

Montblanc Introduces the 1858 Split Second Chronograph Enamel Dial

Just last year Montblanc unveiled the 1858 Split Second Chronograph, a Minerva-powered watch that was warmly received for being well-finished and complex, yet reasonably-priced. A retro-inspired, rattrapante mono-pusher chronograph, the watch cost US$30,000 – a solid deal as such things go. A few months after, Montblanc debuted the one-off Only Watch edition with titanium case and blue-agate dial that sold for a whopping 100,000 Swiss francs, with proceeds going to charity. The brand has now stepped things up a notch with the 1858 Split Second Chronograph Limited Edition 100 that channels the spirit of the Only Watch edition, featuring the same titanium case and paired with a fired enamel dial in graduated blue. Despite the similar styling, the new watch costs a lot less than the record-setting Only Watch Edition – but isn’t quite as good value as last year’s model. Smoky blue And that’s because while the bronze model had an ordinary dial of brass, this has been upgraded with a grand feu enamel dial, leading to a jump in the retail price of about US$7,000, which is about the typical premium for such a dial. The enamel dial starts off as a solid-gold disc, which is painted with a mixture of enamel powder, water and oil. It is then fired in an oven at over 800℃, melting the enamel powder and fusing it to the gold base. The process of adding enamel powder and firing is repeated multiple times so as to achieve the desired depth of colour. But unusually, the di...

Emile Chouriet Introduces the Héritier à Guichet SJX Watches
Apr 15, 2020

Emile Chouriet Introduces the Héritier à Guichet

A brand specialising in affordable watches priced under US$2,000, Emile Chouriet has a fairly generic line-up, but with one obvious exception, the Héritier à Guichets. Showing the time and calendar in windows, the watch is inspired by timepieces of the 1920s, while having a titanium case with fancy lugs. Named after a 17th century French watchmaker, the brand was founded in 1998 by a Swiss businessman but acquired a decade later by Fiyta, a Shenzhen-based watchmaker best known for producing the chronograph issued to Chinese astronauts. Consequently, Emile Chouriet now focuses its efforts on the Chinese market, but the Héritier à Guichet combines an Art Deco style and novel time display that doubtlessly has wider appeal. Digital time displays became fashionable during the Art Deco period, with pocket watches sporting jumping or wandering hours, or even full calendar displays in an elongated window. The Héritier à Guichet takes inspiration from that early 20th century style, reproducing it in an affordable manner. A pale metallic grey with a radial-brushed finish, the dial consists of four windows, with the two closest to the centre showing the hours and minutes, while the outer apertures with wider bevels displaying the day and date. The hours and minutes, however, are not instantaneously jumping displays, instead they are “dragging” indicators that continually move just as conventional hands would. Also unusual is the case: though it has a moderate 40 mm di...

INTRODUCING: The Swatch Sistem51 receives an elegance upgrade with the Petite Seconde Time+Tide
Swatch Apr 11, 2020

INTRODUCING: The Swatch Sistem51 receives an elegance upgrade with the Petite Seconde

The Swatch Sistem51 collection centres its value proposition around two things the rest of the Swiss watch industry finds very much at odds - technical innovation and affordability. With the new Swatch Sistem51 Petite Seconde, we get both of those things in a classically dressed-up package, with the centre seconds of previous models moved to a … ContinuedThe post INTRODUCING: The Swatch Sistem51 receives an elegance upgrade with the Petite Seconde appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

H. Moser & Cie started a joke that started the whole world wanting, now it’s ready for your wrist, for real Time+Tide
H. Moser & Cie started Apr 5, 2020

H. Moser & Cie started a joke that started the whole world wanting, now it’s ready for your wrist, for real

Anyone remember H. Moser & Cie.’s “April Fools” prank from last year? We just revisited it on our Instagram stories. If you missed it, allow me to explain. The @moserwatches Insta post from April 1, 2019, displayed what looked like a brand new model of the Swiss watchmaker’s popular Venturer range. But it was immediately … ContinuedThe post H. Moser & Cie started a joke that started the whole world wanting, now it’s ready for your wrist, for real appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Up Close: Akrivia AK-06 SJX Watches
Rexhep Rexhepi became Apr 3, 2020

Up Close: Akrivia AK-06

Akrivia, and by extension its founder Rexhep Rexhepi, became a star in independent watchmaking with the launch of the Chronometre Contemporain in 2018, a unique version of which went on to sell for 360,000 Swiss francs at charity auction Only Watch. While its success was recent, the brand was actually founded in 2012, having made its debut with the AK series, characterised by a wholly-different aesthetic, one that Rexhep himself describes as a startup’s attempt to make an impression. The bridge between the twin collections of Akrivia – the contemporary AK series and the classical Chronometre Contemporain – is the AK-06. It’s powered by a variant of the movement found in the Chronometre Contemporain, but enhanced by doing away with the dial to reveal the under-dial mechanics, but installed inside an AK-style case, albeit one that’s been redesigned and streamlined. The AK-06 in titanium (left) and steel Beyond being a blend of both Akrivia styles – the best of both worlds if you like the case design – the AK-06 is perhaps historically significant, being the last of the first-generation Akrivia models, since Rexhep has indicated the AK series will eventually feature a wholly new case design. But whatever you think of the case, the movement of the AK-06 is absolutely marvellous. In fact, it is arguably more compelling than the similar calibre in the Chronometre Contemporain, because with the AK-06 all of its engaging mechanics are revealed on the front. AK case...

Hands-On: Brivet-Naudot Eccentricity SJX Watches
Mar 30, 2020

Hands-On: Brivet-Naudot Eccentricity

French watchmaker Cyril Brivet-Naudot made his debut two years ago with the Eccentricity, a time-only watch that’s fascinating and impressive on many fronts. Not only is it almost entirely made by hand, the Eccentricity is intriguing in design and mechanics – from the overall architecture to details like the key-winding mechanism and regulator-style time display with a twist, and above all, the proprietary escapement. Just 29 years old, Mr Brivet-Naudot began working on the Eccentricity after graduating from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), one of Switzerland’s best technical universities. Prior to that, he earned a diploma in watchmaking from the Lycée Edgar Faure in Morteau, a small town in eastern France that borders Switzerland. The school has gained a reputation for producing imaginative watchmakers, many pursuing a similar style that’s inspired by 19th century pocket watch movements, including Theo Auffret, a peer of Mr Brivet-Naudot. The result of three years of development, the Eccentricity is very much in the same vein as the watches produced by Mr Brivet-Naudot’s fellow graduates. It artfully combines a 19th century aesthetic sensibility with exotic features, including a novel, free-eccentric escapement, for which the watch was named. And it is built by hand: with the exception of the mainspring, hairspring, jewels and crystals, every component of the watch was made from scratch by Mr Brivet-Naudot, without the aid of CNC machine...

Audemars Piguet Introduces the [Re]master01 Chronograph SJX Watches
Audemars Piguet Introduces Mar 25, 2020

Audemars Piguet Introduces the [Re]master01 Chronograph

In 2015, an Audemars Piguet ref. 1533 sold for 305,000 Swiss francs, setting the record for a vintage AP chronograph at auction – which was then topped two years ago by another example of the same reference that sold for 384,500 Swiss francs. An extra-large wristwatch with an unusual three-counter chronograph, instead of the two registers common at the time, the ref. 1533 was produced in the 1940s. Only nine were made, and three of the nine had two-tone, steel-and-gold cases, making them the rarest of variants. Unsurprisingly, both of the record-setting ref. 1533s were two-tone. And now the two-tone ref. 1533 has now been “remastered” as the modern-sounding but appealingly vintage [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph 40 mm, a limited edition of 500 watches to coincide with the new, spiral-shaped Audemars Piguet museum that’s scheduled to open around middle of the year. Vintage details Looking very much like the ref. 1533, the [Re]master01 recreates all of the key elements of the original. Characterised by large, teardrop lugs, the case is steel with its bezel, crown, and pushers in 18k pink gold. It’s 40 mm to accommodate the large, automatic cal. 4409 inside, but because the original was already 36.5 mm – enormous in the 1940s – the increased diameter still maintains the retro style. To match the gold accents, the dial has a gilt finish, which was unique amongst the vintage original – just one of the three two-tone ref. 1533s had a yellow gold-tone dia...

Grand Seiko ups the ante - on itself - with the SLGH002, where classic meets cutting edge Time+Tide
Grand Seiko ups Mar 23, 2020

Grand Seiko ups the ante - on itself - with the SLGH002, where classic meets cutting edge

Seiko is a brand that is well accustomed to competing with itself. Both to raise the bar for the brand’s watches, and for the betterment of the global watch industry. From the revolution of bringing quartz-powered movements to the masses, to embarrassing the Swiss at their own Chronometer Trials, the intrepid Japanese pioneers can seem … ContinuedThe post Grand Seiko ups the ante – on itself – with the SLGH002, where classic meets cutting edge appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Everything you need to know about French brand Yema watches, and their four key models Time+Tide
Yema watches Mar 22, 2020

Everything you need to know about French brand Yema watches, and their four key models

If you didn’t spend much time diving in the Azure Seas in coastal France in the late ’60s, chances are you may not be entirely familiar with the French brand Yema. With its most popular models having a subdued appearance, and not featuring ‘Swiss Made’ plastered all over the dial, it can be easy for … ContinuedThe post Everything you need to know about French brand Yema watches, and their four key models appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Breguet Introduces the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante 5887 SJX Watches
Breguet Introduces Mar 21, 2020

Breguet Introduces the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante 5887

One of the most exotic Breguet watches in production today, the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante 5887 combines a tourbillon regulator, perpetual calendar, and running equation of time. Complexity aside, the watch is mechanically fascinating: the traditional complications within are executed in a modern and practical way. The equation of time, for instance, relies on an open-worked cam produced via the high-tech LIGA photolithography technique. And the tourbillon cage is lightweight titanium with a silicon escapement, while the automatic winding is equipped with a peripheral rotor. Breguet has now introduced a new version of the grand complication, in pink gold with a slate-grey dial. While it is mechanically identical to the two earlier versions – in platinum with a blue dial or pink gold with a silver dial – the new watch is striking and harmonious, shedding a bit of the sports-watch aesthetic of the Marine by way of the richer colours. Being a facelift, the dimensions of the watch remain unchanged. It is still a massive 43.9 mm in width, though a svelte 11.75 mm high, thanks to the ultra-thin movement inside. Like the movement, aesthetics across the case and dial are very much a blend of new and old. The case has the traditional fluted band, but is paired with modern integrated lugs. Similarly, the dial is solid gold and decorated with traditionally-executed guilloche engraved with a rose engine, but in a modern, stylised wave motif. In a nod to the age-o...

Ikepod Introduces the Megapod Automatic SJX Watches
Mar 20, 2020

Ikepod Introduces the Megapod Automatic

After the successful launch of its debut line of quartz watches in 2018, the resurrected Ikepod has now unveiled the Megapod, a remake of the quintessential Ikepod design, but now with an automatic movement. As with its earlier quartz offerings, the Megapod is an affordable, crowdfunded project. Originally founded by Swiss businessman Oliver Ike and legendary industrial designer Marc Newson in 1994, Ikepod gained a cult following for its incredibly distinctive, organic-UFO design. But hindered by high prices and artsy marketing, the brand’s watches never really sold widely, leading it to struggle financially. Ikepod folded in 2006, before being revived shortly after and then going under again in 2012, when Mr Newson finally parted ways with the brand. The Megapod M001 with a blue, sunray-brushed dial In contrast, today’s Ikepod is all about the same signature aesthetic, but matched with affordability. Led by a three-man investor group that includes Christian-Louis Col, an old hand in the luxury goods business who was most recently sales director at glassmaker Lalique. Recognising that the main draw of Ikepod’s watches lay in the inimitable design, and not finishing or movements, the brand now relies on low-cost production: it assembles the watches in Hong Kong, using dials and hands from Taiwan and cases made in China. As with the initial quartz-powered models, the Megapod has a stainless-steel case in the original Ikepod shape. It is a tad larger than the quartz mo...

Our 3 favourite watches from H. Moser & Cie.’s new Certified Pre-Owned Collection Time+Tide
H. Moser & Cie.’s new Certified Mar 17, 2020

Our 3 favourite watches from H. Moser & Cie.’s new Certified Pre-Owned Collection

In an increasingly common trend among Swiss watchmakers, H. Moser & Cie. has unveiled a dedicated, in-house managed range of certified pre-owned watches. Available for purchase directly through the H. Moser & Cie. website, the curated collection of timepieces are, according to Moser, meticulously inspected, serviced and polished back to factory original condition by the … ContinuedThe post Our 3 favourite watches from H. Moser & Cie.’s new Certified Pre-Owned Collection appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.