Hodinkee
Review: The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon
A watch for daily wear, now with a tourbillon.
28,282 articles · 262 videos found · page 760 of 952
Hodinkee
A watch for daily wear, now with a tourbillon.
We're back with your weekly dose of vintage watch finds from around the web.
SJX Watches
Following the launch of the one-of-a-kind 1858 Split Second Chronograph with a blue agate dial for the upcoming Only Watch charity auction, Montblanc has unveiled a limited edition in bronze with a nephrite jade dial. The eight-piece edition was created for Salón Internacional Alta Relojería (SIAR), a big watch fair in Mexico City attended by most major brands, explaining the green dial with red accents – a nod to the Mexican flag. Though the bronze-and-green livery has been applied to multiple models in the 1858 range, the new SIAR edition adds a fascinating point of departure, with the dial being a semiprecious stone rather than the usual lacquered brass. The dial is essentially a thin slice of nephrite, a mineral better known as jade. It’s usually dark green, but sometimes also yellow or white; white nephrite is known as “mutton fat” jade in China and highly prized. The other mineral also known as jade is jadeite, but it’s harder, denser and often found in brighter colours. Mechanically and aesthetically, the watch is as retro as it gets. The design of the dial was inspired by a pilot’s chronograph produced by Minerva in the 1930s. It has a double chronograph scales – a telemeter on the outer rim and a snail-shaped tachymeter in the centre. The rose-gold plated cathedral hands and Arabic numerals are coated with faux-aged lume, as on the regular production model. The red seconds numerals and hand adds a rich contrast against the pleasingly busy dial, ...
SJX Watches
An F.P. Journe Octa Calendrier caught my eye at Phillips’ upcoming Geneva auction, not because of the watch itself, but because of the name engraved on the movement: “John R. Asprey”. Now 82, John Rolls Asprey ran his family’s luxury emporium in its heyday, when it was a purveyor of watches, jewels, silverware, fine bookbinding and hunting accessories, with the Sultans of Brunei and Oman as its top clients. Unusually, Asprey was a prominent name in two diverse segments of watchmaking – what are now valuable vintage watches, think “Khanjar” Rolex watches, as well as modern-day independent watchmaking. How it came to be is the remarkable story of the rise and decline of a grand name in British luxury retail. A wondrous emporium Long before luxury brand names had coalesced into conglomerates like LVMH and Richemont, they were independent, family-owned enterprises that were small but globally known – at least by the right clientele. Amongst them were names that are still famous today, including Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany & Co., but also one that is less well known now, Asprey of London. Founded in 1781 and having opened in 1847 at 167 New Bond Street – still its premises today, albeit leased – Asprey was once London’s leading luxury merchant. In some ways, it was the ultimate gift shop, where one could buy all manner of exotic and exquisite goods from all over the world, from books to watches to sceptres to crystal. Many of the elaborate objects ...
Hodinkee
An homage to a game-changing watch, from horology's most pivotal year.
Hodinkee
An ocean explorer sinks his teeth into dive watch design.
Revolution
TAG Heuer unveils the best Monaco yet in marking the watch’s 50th anniversary, a one-off art piece called the Monaco Piece d’Art.
Time+Tide
Birth year watches are a pretty special thing, especially if you manage to find one in a watch model that you actually want. But here’s something you don’t see very often … or ever, really. Darren has gone and bought himself a gorgeous Rolex GMT-Master Ref.1675 “Pepsi” that was not only sold in his birth … ContinuedThe post What Sealed The Deal – Darren’s Rolex GMT-Master Ref.1675 “Pepsi” appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Even amongst avant-garde watchmakers, De Bethune stands out for its substance – aesthetic and material innovation matched by technical ingenuity. At its core, the brand has reimagined the most fundamental aspects of mechanical timekeeping, from the barrel to the hairspring, while pushing the boundaries of traditional complications, be it the moon phase, tourbillon or chronograph. But arguably its most distinctive innovation is an aesthetic one, which has come to define the brand no less – heat-blued titanium. The brand has used the alloy for more than 15 years across various parts of the watch, even making almost a whole watch out of it. But now De Bethune has a twist on the theme, resulting in the DB28 Yellow Tones in brilliant golden titanium. Fiery yellow Though the colour of the new DB28 is striking, it is by no means loud, as the amber shade of yellow isn’t the same as yellow gold and doesn’t pass off as such. In fact, it looks more like fresh brass than gold. The colour was achieved through thermal oxidisation of the surface, essentially the same process as that used for blued titanium (and also the same for blued steel). The yellow surface, just like the blue, is the result of an oxide that forms on the surface of titanium when it is heated to a certain temperature. But amber yellow tone in this case was created by heating it at a lower temperature than used for blued titanium. Titanium undergoes different stages of oxidation when heated, and yellow is o...
Time+Tide
As the 1960s drew to a close, the Swiss watch industry found itself entering one of the most significant periods of turmoil it would ever experience. Its response to the accurate and affordable watches coming out of Asia was not to compete in a race to the bottom - instead, the Swiss took the high … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: Graduating with the Girard-Perregaux Laureato 42mm appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
The upcoming Phillips New York auction includes an unusual watch: the Monaco Piece d’Art, a one-off vintage watch restored and hand-finished by TAG Heuer that’s being sold to benefit a charity in the city. Created to mark the 50th anniversary of the iconic square-case chronograph, the Monaco Piece d’Art started out as a ordinary example of the Monaco ref. 1133B – also known as the “Steve McQueen” after the actor wore one in the 1971 film Le Mans – one of several specimens in TAG Heuer’s own museum. Hand-decorated and upgraded The Monaco ref. 1133B was powered by the Calibre 11 Chronomatic, one of the first automatic chronograph movements ever launched; the Chronomatic made its debut in 1969, the same year as the Zenith Primero and Seiko cal. 6139. Though important in the history of watchmaking, the Chronomatic movement was functional and fuss-free. So TAG Heuer decided to change that. The movement inside the Monaco Piece d’Art was taken apart and then carefully decorated, part by part, by a four-person team of watchmakers over three months. The steel levers and springs of the chronograph mechanism were straight grained and bevelled, screws heads were flat polished, gears were given circular graining, and so on. Even the countersinks for the jewels and screws were polished. The refinished movement inside the Monaco Piece d’Art (left), with an original Calibre 11 Chronomatic But the reworking of the movement was not merely aesthetic. The jewel count was...
Quill & Pad
Joshua Munchow thinks that the Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer Tourbillon may be one of the best tourbillon models in modern watch history since it actually tries to achieve the goals of the tourbillon in the first place: increased precision and consistency in timekeeping. Here he explains just how it does that.
A daring analog pursuit aided by a lovely old-world sports watch.
Quill & Pad
How many years before we even start to recognize what the most popular timekeeping devices over the last 70 years were? Another 20 years? Forty? Who will use timekeepers? And for what purposes? What will they look like? I posed these questions to a few top watch industry professionals; their replies were perhaps surprising.
Time+Tide
Editor’s note: In one of our favourite Sandra stories of all time, she takes aim at all the sacred cows of watch collecting, and skewers them. In style. When I talk with other women about watch collecting, the most common reaction runs along the lines of, “Oh, that’s just a sad guy thing” or “I … ContinuedThe post Are watches just an insecure guy thing? appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Omega’s recently updated line of De Ville Trésor presents as a compelling proposition for anyone looking for a beautifully made, elegant dress watch. And, for the first time in the De Ville Trésor family, there’s now the option of steel-cased models, which can be had in a few different iterations. For a start, there’s this … ContinuedThe post Suit up with Omega De Ville Trésor appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Imagine, if you will, that you’re a watch fan in the 1990s or even early 2000s. Through some incredible new complication (I suspect Urwerk’s invention), you’re jumped forward in time to 2019. While some things remain the same, the changes are pretty incredible. Take, for example, this watch. It’s a one-off piece made by Zenith, designed … ContinuedThe post Hard stone and heavy metal come together for what might be the coolest Zenith El Primero yet appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Hodinkee
Jamaica, Jeeps, and ten more movies to add to your must-watch list.
Time+Tide
Earlier this week, Felix took a closer look at a watch that has to be a frontrunner for nicest dress watch of the year, the blue dial Omega Trésor. While it’s certainly a good-looking watch, there are two other members of the Trésor family that might even beat it to the punch. The Omega Trésor has … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: A closer look at the Omega Trésor appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Deployant
Watchcapes: Featuring the F. Berthoud Chronomètre FB 1.4-4 "Night Star" for Only Watch 2019 - with wallpaper sized images and details on the watch.
Hodinkee
An historic watch with an extremely personal connection.
Revolution
It’s a wide spread that includes pickings from near every genre of watch collecting. We pick a tiny sample of lots to be auctioned this coming weekend.
Hodinkee
A watch with vintage style that makes a positive impact.
Time+Tide
With Melbourne’s world famous Spring Racing Carnival now in full swing, there’s a fair bit of chatter about what sort of watch you should be wearing to accompany your (let’s face it) inevitably blue suit. Now, if you’re planning to rock a three-piece, firstly kudos to you, and secondly, definitely consider a pocket watch – … ContinuedThe post These 4 watches are a sure bet for this year’s Spring Racing Carnival appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Omega has just opened their latest Museum in the heart of the “La Cité du Temps” in Biel, Switzerland. The museum, which has a decidedly modern aesthetic, was designed by the award-winning Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who is famed for his groundbreaking work with paper and recycled cardboard. Housed inside the contemporary institution is a … ContinuedThe post Omega’s contemporary new museum offers a unique glimpse into its past appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
What qualifies a watch to be "made in Glashütte" or "made in Germany"? Sabine Zwettler explains exactly that right here.
Deployant
First introduced in 1961, the Seiko Alpinist was a significant milestone in the brand’s history. It was the first ‘Sports Watch’ for the brand, with the intention of it becoming a reliable timepiece for Japanese mountain climbers. These men required a tough and rugged that could be used in the rough terrain.
Time+Tide
Editor’s note: Razor-sharp details, timeless style and a solid new movement make the Baume & Mercier Baumatic an excellent option for an everyday dress watch that doesn’t break the bank. The story in a second: Classic on the outside, contemporary on the inside. Baume & Mercier are onto a winner here. I’ve always thought Baume … ContinuedThe post Another look at the Baume & Mercier Baumatic – one of the best everyday dress watches at its price point appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Revolution
There are only a handful of brands who specialise in such items, one of which is Rapport, founded in 1898 by an ambitious 20-year-old watchmaker by the name of Maurice A. Rapport.
Hodinkee
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