Two Broke Watch Snobs
Ep. #187: Iconic Watch Designs With Noor
In this week’s episode, Noor joins in on the TBWS fun again. This time, we’re covering her reactions to what many collectors consider to be the most “iconic” watches in history.
29,704 articles · 195 videos found · page 800 of 997
Diameter is the number every product page leads with. lug-to-lug is the number that decides whether the watch stays on your wrist. a tour through the WristBuzz watch dimensions database.
The single most important wristwatch fit dimension, more practical than case diameter. Comfort thresholds and reference numbers.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
In this week’s episode, Noor joins in on the TBWS fun again. This time, we’re covering her reactions to what many collectors consider to be the most “iconic” watches in history.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
The gang is back together, and they’ve had a tough week. The watch world is slowly turning into a parody of itself, and the guys are here to call out the BS.
SJX Watches
I love the Tank Cintrée, and that was the starting point for the Tank Cintrée “Eminence Grise” NSO. Cartier’s simple, unchanging designs are unique in watchmaking, despite being made up of classical elements like Breguet hands and Roman numerals. In fact, the Cartier can be distilled into a few key elements iterated across different case forms, which together make up a family of distinctive designs. My favourite Cartier design has long been the Tank Asymetrique – which Cartier just reissued this year – but it is not an especially ergonomic watch due to the case shape and the fact that the crown sits fairly low such that it touches the wrist. Though known as a Tank today, the Asymetrique is not strictly a Tank, since the vintage originals were a distinct model sometimes known as the Parallélogramme. A 1927 Tank Cintrée that sold for US$350,000 at Phillips in 2017 The Tank Cintrée, on the other hand, is an eminently wearable watch that is wonderfully elegant on the wrist. It just wears well. And the Cintrée is also an important design. Though it was not the first Tank design, the Cintrée – the word is French for “curved” – is perhaps the quintessential case shape. And partly for those reasons, it is arguable the most desirable, going by the six-figure results at auction for vintage specimens. Familiar yet different The Eminence Grise was my third special-dial Cartier, sometimes known as NSO, short for “new special order”. The first was also a Ta...
Hodinkee
Our weekly look at vintage watches from around the web.
Revolution
MB&F; Founder, Max Büsser talks to us about their partnership with clockmaker L’Épée 1839 and their new jointly announced, Trinity clock.
Revolution
MB&F; & L’Epée 1839 team up once again to introduce the Trinity clock at Geneva Watch Days 2020
Hodinkee
The most obsessive exercise in constant force ever to come down the pike.
Hodinkee
To infinity ... and beyond!
Time+Tide
Since the days of the ’90s Chicago Bulls, led by the great Michael Jordan, basketball has become more and more of an international sport around the globe. Players from all over the world are recruited to play with the best of the best in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Australia is no exception; in fact … ContinuedThe post Wrist Game: Australians in the NBA and their watches, including Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons & Patty Mills appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Revolution
Breguet adds a new complication to their Tradition family of watches, with a retrograde date display in the Tradition Quantième Retrograde 7597
Hodinkee
A nod to the past, with an eye toward the future.
SJX Watches
With its iconic complication being the Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges – albeit one that is somewhat forgotten today – Girard-Perregaux has created a variety of simpler watches centred on the same concept of prominent movement bridges. The newly-launched Free Bridge is the latest to join the line up, and while it is superficially similar, it boasts an exotic silicon balance wheel (that was probably created with help from its sister company). Initial thoughts The Free Bridge has a modern, technical-looking aesthetic that is currently popular, but it is more than a faddish watch. That’s because it’s equipped with an intricate, extra-large balance wheel made of silicon, one that is far more advanced than everything else at this price point – with the exception of the Ulysse Nardin Freak X. Though not identical, the balance wheel is similar enough to the one in the Freak X that it becomes obvious the Free Bridge balance is derived from that in the Freak X, which is unsurprising since both watch brands are owned by luxury group Kering. The balance wheel makes the movement special from a technical perspective, and also makes the US$17,000 price tag easier to swallow. That said, the Free Bridge seems to sit in no man’s land – it is neither entirely classical nor modern, in contrast to the Freak X which is an out and out contemporary watch. As a result, the Free Bridge isn’t particularly outstanding visually, unlike the Freak X. Upgraded with a new balance The F...
Deployant
Breguet releases a new member to the Tradition family with an open worked movement and a retrograde date - the Breguet Tradition Quantieme Retrograde 7597.
SJX Watches
Endowed with an unmistakable aesthetic, the Breguet Tradition is based on the souscription calibre made by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1796. Arguably the pioneer with the open-dial design that exposes the movement, the Tradition’s construction allows for creativity even with basic complications, like a retrograde seconds for instance. The new Tradition Quantième Retrograde 7597 continues with the overarching theme of the line. Based on the Automatique Seconde Rétrograde 7097, the 7597 does away with the seconds display and instead installed an oversized retrograde date complication. Initial thoughts I find the Tradition aesthetic unique and charming, thanks to the characteristic, exposed movement construction that can seem haphazardly arranged at times. Despite the angular and geometric shapes of the bridges, most of them are trapezoidal in shape with few parallel edges, bestowing a more organic appearance to the highly mechanical appearance. While a conventional date window is mundane, the retrograde date elevates the complication both visually and mechanically. Retrograde displays are often encountered in Breguet watches – something that started with A.-L. Breguet himself – and are typically done well, both stylistically and technically. The Tradition 7597 is, in short, an attractively designed watch that sticks to Breguet’s tradition strengths in design and mechanics, while offering a useful complication executed in an elegant manner. Tradition restyled The 759...
Quill & Pad
'The Millennium Watch Book' is a coffee-table publication looking back over the watch industry’s triumphs between 2000 and 2020. It’s likely to be interesting for both watch enthusiasts and newbies; everyone is certain to enjoy looking back on these ticking memories of the last 20 years of watchmaking.
Hodinkee
A Wempe exclusive to celebrate a new partnership.
Revolution
H. Moser & Cie. CEO, Edouard Meylan talks to us about their Streamliner line of watches, launched earlier in 2020 as a chronograph, powered by the incredible Agengraph. And now the newest addition to the line, the time-only Streamliner Centre Seconds with a Matrix Green dial.
Hodinkee
A trio of lightweight additions to Bulgari's collection of contemporary sport watches.
Quill & Pad
It was a love of Montecristo No. 2 cigars that seems to have led Ken Gargett to one of Cuba's dirty secrets, "At the end of the road, two men stepped out. They were friends of our crew. One called Ivan (I swear I am not making this up) took our birds. We were directed off the road into a makeshift parking area, half of which is filled with Ladas and the rest the wonderful old 1950s cars so prevalent in Havana. More than a few have government number plates."
Time+Tide
During the pandemic, many have used the time at home to catch up on a recommended TV series or film they may have missed in busier times, or re-watch some comforting favourites. In my seventh or eighth run-through of The West Wing television series, I almost spilled my beer in excitement when I spotted an … ContinuedThe post WATCH SPOTTING: Brad Pitt’s TAG Heuer in Moneyball and the interesting story behind it appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
WatchAdvice
Simplicity is complexity On August 25th, 2020, Ulysse Nardin unveiled their latest timepiece. A timepiece that is bound to send shockwaves throughout the watchmaking world. The Ulysse Nardin Blast comes as part of the brand’s executive collection, which features audacious timepieces that cement Ulysse Nardin’s legacy as a permanent innovator. You can check out the brand’s website here and find where you can see these amazing timepieces in person here. According to Ulysse Nardin, the Blast was created by drawing inspiration from a variety of sources. From fire and ice, magma and glaciers, violent lava eruptions and cascading ice shelves to mechanical, aeronautical marvels of fighter jets and stealth aircraft. Just as incredible and powerful as earth and mother nature is with its wild extremities, the Ulysse Nardin Blast is comparatively a potent force in the watchmaking world. This technological wonder has a masculine design, from different shapes and sharp lines to an open-worked dial that is finished off with a tourbillon. To encompass this latest creation, Ulysse Nardin is partnering up with Carsten Peter, a World Press Photo award winner who photographs some of the most extreme conditions on the surface of the Earth. His thirst for daunting and dangerous adventure to capture some of the most incredible photos has taken him to places many would dare not go; into tornadoes, over glaciers, and as close as possible to the intense heat of volcanoes. Carsten Peter h...
Quill & Pad
A collector got in touch with Martin Green about an engraving project on a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classique that he was planning. What caught Martin's attention was that the collector was collaborating with an engraver very close to his home, so he seized the opportunity to follow the project as it unfolded. He shares his experiences and photos here.
Time+Tide
The trailer for The Batman just dropped, and anyone worried that it’s going to go all Twilight via Robert Pattinson should have their fears properly allayed. It’s as grim and gritty as ever, and the beatdown he puts on a henchmen in this short clip is nothing short of vicious. But while the trailer for The … ContinuedThe post The new Batman trailer just dropped and we wonder, will The Batman wear a Chanel J12? appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
We are living in the modern race to the thinnest, and as records are set we have a bumper crop of incredibly thin watches that prove this competition may not be over yet. To celebrate the awesomazingness of these watches, Joshua Munchow has compiled a list of the top 10 thinnest mechanical watches, including a pair of historical pieces.
Quill & Pad
Ian Skellern and his wife serendipitously chanced upon "seeing" the aurora borealis while visiting Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the excitement of that led to months of research. And that research led to spending a few days in the Arctic Circle in the north of Sweden. Here is what Ian has learned about the northern lights so far, some of it firsthand.
Time+Tide
The notion that “knowledge is power” has arguably become the guiding principle of our professional lives. Organisations are more reliant than ever on numerical evidence to gauge how they’re shaping up. Businesses study balance sheets, governments scrutinise trade figures, media networks analyse traffic growth and revenue streams. Sport, too, has become ever more data-obsessed after … ContinuedThe post New study: your smartwatch is making you more insecure appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Editor’s note: Thor’s story earlier today about the battle of the Girard-Perregaux Laureatos sent me back in time to my own Laureato experience. And it’s not an entirely happy one. Because it involves me doing perhaps my biggest ever U-turn. But the story gets even more awkward. Because shortly after writing this review, and then reading the … ContinuedThe post Why I bought the 42mm Girard-Perregaux Laureato Chronograph with blue dial (and drank my own Kool-Aid) appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
If you were to pick Girard-Perregaux’s Jekyll & Hyde, this would be the pair of watches that fit the bill; the Laureato 38mm and the Laureato Absolute Chronograph. Girard-Perregaux is a distinguished but quiet presence on the horological scene, and have a history whose shadow and depth extends well beyond the brand’s current day reputation. … ContinuedThe post IN-DEPTH: Girard-Perregaux Laureato Vs. the Laureato Absolute Chronograph – the Beauty and The Beast appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
Ashton likes vintage watches so much that his prized possession is a 1978 Rolex Submariner Reference 1680. Why does he love this watch so much? Not because it looks like it’s from 1978, but because it is from 1978. So, he asks, is the current vintage trend something we should be wholeheartedly embracing?
Revolution
RedBar Founder Adam Craniotes and CEO Kathleen McGivney sit down with Wei Koh of Revolution & The Rake to discuss limited editions, great new releases, what’s going on with the watch community in the age of COVID, charitable efforts from both brands, and a sneak preview of a kickass new release.
Question, suggestion, or just want to say hi? Drop a note.