Deployant
Review: Back to Basics – The Blancpain Villeret Ultraplate 6605
Blancpain distills its Ultraplate watch to an even more essential form. Here, we bring you the details and our thoughts on the new Villeret Ultraplate 6605.
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Deployant
Blancpain distills its Ultraplate watch to an even more essential form. Here, we bring you the details and our thoughts on the new Villeret Ultraplate 6605.
SJX Watches
Shortly before A. Lange & Söhne launched the Odysseus Datomatic, its chief executive Wilhelm Schmid was in Singapore to officially reopen its revamped boutique. But perhaps more importantly, he was available to discuss the Odysseus, which I did. In the articulate and frank manner that is his style, Mr Schmid outlined the rationale behind the Odysseus, how it came to be, and drops a few hints as to where it’s going. Read what he had to say below. The interview was edited for clarity and length. You have established Lange’s reputation for watches of high quality; quality that no one disputes. Now you’re taking the next step into a different segment. What’s the rationale behind this? We have not changed our fine watchmaking, [but we had to decide:] do we answer the question that has been raised by many customers over many years? If you do something like that, you have to be unique, you have to be different, and it has to be of some interest for the customer. We rather not provide an answer than provide the wrong answer. So it took us a long time to find the face and find the design. And then after we created the idea, [we had to create] something which will be recognisable within this sort of design, [with] the push buttons, the day-date complications. Then, how can we use that to create a family? It’s always easy to come up with one watch. It’s often more difficult if you want to have a recognisable face that can have different iterations and complications lat...
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Editor’s note: A couple of years ago, Andrew and the team were lucky enough to travel to Lord Howe Island to explore the Vacheron Constantin Overseas collection and, in the process, enjoy the unbelievable scenery of volcanic spires and fish-filled shallows. While the setting was one of the most remarkable on earth, the focus was … ContinuedThe post Paradise overseas with the Vacheron Constantin Overseas appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Earlier this year, Time+Tide celebrated the arrival of the 2019 Breguet collection in Australia. For those who attended, it was a night nobody would forget in a hurry, in part due to the impeccable setting, but mainly thanks to the sensational watches that were on display. Of these sensational watches, the real hero of the evening … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: The Breguet Marine Collection appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Having been established by Kyowa Co., Ltd, a precision toolmaker that also produces watch cases and bracelets, Minase is a brand that excels in, well, cases and bracelets. Its specialty is the high degree of surface finishing of the case and bracelet using the Zaratsu, or Sallaz, polishing technique that creates a remarkably flat, mirrored surface. Minase just gave its flagship Divido a new dégradé dial, which has a dark grey finish that darkens to black around the edges. Though similar looking dials are offered by Swiss watchmakers, and sometimes known as fumè or smoked dials, the new Divido dial is distinctly Japanese. Inspired by Japanese sumi-e paintings – that rely on different concentrations of black ink for shading and depth – the dégradé dial starts as a copper disc that is the hand-painted with several layers of black Japanese lacquer, each layer with a different concentration of black, creating the graduated finish and leaving each dial unique. The dégradé lacquer dial costs about 10% more than the standard model, which is reasonable. The rest of the watch is identical to the standard Divido, which is to say extremely sharply finished. All components of the case and bracelet are produced and finished in house. Every surface of the case is finished, with contrasting brushed and polished surfaces employed throughout. Even the folding clasp sports with a mix of surfaces finishes. The polished surfaces are finished with the Zaratsu technique – that...
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Omega’s eponymous collection of Seamaster timepieces are as varied as they are capable, and no matter the occasion, chances are Omega makes a water-ready timepiece that’s right for you. Genuinely, the Swiss marque’s famed dive watches are available in so many different iterations that one could conceivably own several different variants from the same family … ContinuedThe post Mastering the elements with 3 Omega Seamasters appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
The GPHG Challenge category should probably more accurately be called the “Bang For Your Buck” category because this really is where you can see just how much watch you can get for your hard-earned dollar. But our panel is quite split on which watch delivers the most for the least.
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Boutique British watchmaker Farer have just released what many in the horological community are calling their best watch to date – the Farer Roché World Timer. Hewn from 316L stainless steel, the svelte 39mm case of the Roché World Timer is a mere 11mm thick, ensuring that the timepiece offers a great amount of bandwidth … ContinuedThe post INTRODUCING: The Farer Roché World Timer appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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The story in a second: The Bremont H-4 Hercules offers a tool watch, which could pair with a dinner jacket, and doesn’t lose any Bremont DNA. In any piece of design, there is a source of inspiration that is at least, in part, responsible for the final product that you are looking at. In the … ContinuedThe post IN-DEPTH: The Bremont H-4 Hercules appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Earlier this year, we were invited by CNN to help out with a miniseries concept called ‘Timeless’ that would explore the most iconic watches of all time. Oh, and each episode had to wrap in under 60 seconds. The challenge was set, Jack Forster and I – in our respective HQs – raced against the … ContinuedThe post Time+Tide and Hodinkee host a (very mini) miniseries on CNN starring the most iconic watches ever appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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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 ...
Time+Tide
Today is a big moment in the short history of Time+Tide. It’s the day we bid farewell to Felix, who is stepping down from his role as Editor. We know that this will be sad news for many readers and viewers who have enjoyed all of the stories, videos and sass, delivered just about all … ContinuedThe post Changes at Time+Tide, Felix stepping down as editor, new faces in the team appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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It’s fair to say that Seiko has dropped quite a few limited edition anniversary timepieces in 2019, and you definitely could’ve been mistaken for thinking that surely the Japanese watchmaker had nothing left in their product arsenal … and then they released this – the Seiko 1969 Quartz Astron 50th Anniversary Limited Edition. As the … ContinuedThe post INTRODUCING: The Seiko 1969 Quartz Astron 50th Anniversary Limited Edition appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Revolution
Sinn marks The Hour Glass’ 40th anniversary with the 356 Pilot The Hour Glass Commemorative Edition, limited to 100 pieces.
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SJX Watches
Continuing with its series of limited editions to mark its 40th anniversary, retailer The Hour Glass has just announced a special variant of the Sinn 356 Pilot Chronograph. A no-frills aviator’s watch, the 100-piece edition is the retailer’s most affordable commemorative model to date, priced at 3,850 Singapore dollars, or about US$2,800. In keeping with the series’ recurring theme of dial colours inspired by vintage watches – ranging from salmon on a Nomos to champagne on a Ulysse Nardin, the dial of the Sinn has a variegated, aged finish. Ideal dimensions The Sinn 356 is a simpler version of the Sinn 256 made for the Japanese market – itself the smaller version of the Sinn 156 conceived as a military chronograph for the German military. It’s a no-nonsense fliegerchronograph, or aviator’s chronograph, with just the essentials – a fixed bezel, large hour numerals, and syringe hands. It does also have the somewhat pointless date and day, but a consequence of the fact that the original 356 used the Valjoux 7750. It has the calendar as a standard feature, and was the de facto movement for most chronographs at the time. The stock 356 Dial aside, the commemorative edition is identical to the standard model. The stainless-steel case measures 38.5mm, making it one of the smallest pilot’s chronographs on the market. However, it is still considerably thick, a little bit too thick at 15.5mm, due to the height of the movement inside. As a result it sits high on th...
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The Twelve Labours of Hercules were impressive, sure, but not quite as impressive as the aircraft that provided inspiration for the new Bremont H-4 Hercules. Killing lions and hydras requires strength and focus, but building a plane in 1947 that makes a modern-day Airbus A380 look small, requires the unbridled ambition and enthusiasm of a … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: The mythical Bremont H-4 Hercules appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Editor’s note: There’s a lot of hype around steel sports watches these days, with seemingly every watchmaker and their proverbial dog jumping on the bandwagon. And we get it: steel sports watches are not only great looking, they tend to be a fair bit more practical and versatile than most other types of timepieces. But … ContinuedThe post Taking another look at the Breguet Classique 7147 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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TAG Heuer has unveiled the fifth and final iteration of its limited edition series of timepieces celebrating 50 years of the heroic Monaco wristwatch. Like the rest of the limited-run watches, which each celebrate a separate decade in the history of the Monaco since its inception in 1969, the 2009-2019 example will be limited to … ContinuedThe post INTRODUCING: The TAG Heuer Monaco 2009-2019 Limited Edition appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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.
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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.
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Editor’s note: OK, I’m guessing that 99 per cent of people reading this are already well aware of Rolex’s eponymous Daytona … and, admittedly, it’s hard not to be. Here is a watch that is deeply desirable, seemingly unobtainable, and a cashed-up speculator’s veritable dream timepiece. And, of course, it’s not just the modern iterations … ContinuedThe post RECOMMENDED READING: A history of the Rolex Daytona appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Editor’s note: An attractive neo-vintage diver is a de rigueur part of any self-respecting watch brand’s lineup in 2019, and Bremont is no different. In fact, these days the brand has a few offerings in their stable. And one of the first options out of the gate was the handsome Supermarine S301 … Bremont is … ContinuedThe post Well-sized and very stylish, the Bremont Supermarine S301 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
Six pre-selected watches, five panelist judges, and four predicted winners. You want variety, our predictions for the 2019 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève Petite Aiguille category has more variety than you can strap on two wrists. Check out the reasons for the disparate views here.
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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.
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