Revolution
Blancpain’s Mastery of the Dial
While the true beauty of mechanical timepieces is almost always on the inside, Blancpain’s métiers d’art collection makes a compelling case otherwise.
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Revolution
While the true beauty of mechanical timepieces is almost always on the inside, Blancpain’s métiers d’art collection makes a compelling case otherwise.
WatchAdvice
The Rolex Submariner is considered a benchmark for diving watches. It was introduced in 1953 as the first divers’ watch that was waterproof to 100 metres. The Submariner is so popular that some brands have created watches of their own that look very similar. If you’re not wedded to the Submariner then give some thought to the following three alternative watches that are just as good as the Submariner. What’s more is that they don’t have the hefty price tag or lengthy waitlists making them more appealing. Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight The Tudor Black Bay 58 was released in 2018 at Baselworld and celebrates Tudor’s very first divers watch that was introduced in 1958. Tudor has always been seen as the more affordable alternative to Rolex after all it is a sub-brand of Rolex. The Tudor Black Bay 58 is priced at $5000 AUD and is the least expensive of the three alternative models. What I Instantly loved about the Tudor Black bay 58 are it’s gold hour markers, tudors snow flake hands and minute track of the black and steel bezel. These gold finishing touches are classy and stand out well against the black dial making it easier to tell the time. The black bay 58 has lume on all 12 hour makers, the snowflake hands and the 12 hour pip on the bezel. I’d say the lume on this watch is a strong point as it really pops. It has a 39mm steel case with a polished and satin finish which is similar to the size of the Submariner’s 40mm case. It’s got a unidirectional rotatab...
SJX Watches
Just 23 years old – he was born in 1997 – Norifumi Seki graduated from watchmaking school last year, and recently completed his first timepiece, the Sphere Moon Phase Pocket Watch. Though inspired by the works of past watchmakers, Mr Seki’s creation is surprisingly novel in both aesthetics and construction, especially since it is essentially a school project. Based in Tokyo, Mr Seki has trod a short path to create this impressive watch. After graduating from junior high school, which is for children aged 12 to 15 in Japan, his interest in mechanics and craftsmanship led him to fabricate simple objects, including a beautifully-made folding knife. Inspiration In 2016, Mr Seki met Masahiro Kikuno – arguably Japan’s most interesting contemporary watchmaker – who inspired him to manufacture a watch by hand. And so at age 18, Mr Seki entered Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry, a school in Tokyo’s Shibuya district that also teaches watchmaking and shoemaking. During his final year in school, Mr Seki started on his own watch. It’s a large pocket watch with a regulator-style time display, oversized date and month indicators, along with an extra-large spherical moon phase. Spherical moon and drum calendar Made entirely of titanium, the moon phase is 20 mm in diameter and set via a recessed pusher in the case band. A third of the sphere is heat-blued titanium, while the other is coated in gold. Show in two large windows, each containing two drums for the digits, the cale...
Quill & Pad
Ian Skellern's feelings regarding the rapid series of announcements of watch events like the cancellation of Watches & Wonders and Baselworld as well as the full-steam-ahead project Geneva Watch Days have been equally quickly undulating: from initially being enthusiastically for, Ian ended feeling against Geneva Watch Days. Why put anyone’s health at risk, especially with perhaps little in return but a few photos and a persistent cough? But it is a tough call.
Revolution
Revolution’s founding editor, Wei Koh sits down with Instagram’s most followed collector of Audemars Piguet watches, Austen Chu. Better known to you and I, by his handle: @Horoloupe.
SJX Watches
Following the cancellation of both the year’s biggest watch fairs – Baselworld and Watches & Wonders Geneva (WWG) – due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, a consortium of watch brands have come together to show their wares come April. The event, dubbed Geneva Watch Days, was the brainchild of Bulgari and its chief executive Jean-Christophe Babin – one of the first brands to pull out of Baselworld – and conceived with European press and retailers in mind. [Update March 24, 2020: GWD will now take place August 26-29, 2020 instead.] WWG to GWD Taking place when WWG was due to happen, April 26 to 29, Geneva Watch Days now has a line-up of brands big and small: Girard-Perregaux, Gerald Genta, Ulysse Nardin, Breitling, MB&F;, De Bethune and Urwerk. A handful more might sign on, including H. Moser & Cie. and Chopard. However, at present, none of the brands belonging to the major watchmaking conglomerates, Richemont or Swatch Group, or either of the Geneva giants, namely Rolex and Patek Philippe, has announced their participation – and are unlikely to due to the complexities of the industry. Crucially, Geneva Watch Days is not a fair per se, rather it is a series of events organised by brands in separate venues, including boutiques and hotels, but happening during the same period. Because the individual events during Geneva Watch Days are small-scale and discrete, none of them will run counter to the Swiss government’s temporary ban on events with over 1,000 people. ...
Time+Tide
If you missed Part I of the Aldis Hodge interview yesterday, you can find it right here. In Part 2, we get to the core of it. What is Aldis Hodge doing in watchmaking? How did he start? And where is the journey going? Lastly, perhaps most importantly, WHEN will see watches with ‘Aldis Hodge’ or some such … ContinuedThe post Long read: A week in Sydney with Aldis Hodge – Hollywood’s only watchmaker Pt 2 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Last week, Nick Kenyon and Luke Benedictus got into a horological war of words over the rights and wrongs of the humble NATO strap. Luke took a defensive why-the-hell-not approach while Nick stuck to the purist’s line that some things must remain sacrosanct otherwise the whole of civilisation will go to pot. We then threw … ContinuedThe post Crime or Sublime: Putting a NATO strap on a dress watch – the results appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Founded two years ago, the Qatar Watch Club (QWC) is a community of internet-savvy watch enthusiasts in the wealthy Arab nation. The club recently got together with Tudor and local watch retailer Fifty One East to create the Pelagos “Qatar Watch Club”, a limited edition of the brand’s top-spec dive watch. The second QWC edition after last year’s Chopard L.U.C GMT, the Pelagos has “Qatar” in Arabic, or “قطر”, on the dial at six, replacing the five lines of text on the standard model, giving it a much cleaner look. The other point of distinction is the club logo engraved on the case back. The rest of the watch is identical to the standard model, which means a titanium case rated to 500 m and a scratch-resistant, blue-ceramic bezel insert. And the watch is equipped with the MT5612 movement. A proprietary calibre produced by Kenissi, a joint venture Tudor shares with Chanel, the calibre has a 70-hour power reserve, silicon hairspring, and is an all-round strong performer, particularly at this price point. The watch is delivered in a box bearing the QWC logo, as well as an additional blue rubber strap. Only 50 were produced – the club has 50 members – and at press time all have been spoken for. QWC members at last year’s launch event for the Chopard L.U.C GMT QWC edition. Photo – QWC Key facts Tudor Pelagos Qatar Watch Club Special Edition Ref. M25600TB-0001 Diameter: 42 mm Thickness: 14.3 mm Material: Titanium Water resistance: 500 m Movement:...
Time+Tide
This weekend we were lucky enough to be visited by the fantastic team from the Horological Society of New York, who were in Australia offering watchmaking classes to a few very passionate Melburnians. It was an evening that also celebrated the incredible generosity of the watch community at large, which was shown through the recent … ContinuedThe post Weekend Watch Spotting – Very rare Rolex spotted in the HSNY Edition appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Join the TBWS writing team for our very first episode of the TBWS Writers' Room! The crew sit down and have an honest conversation about the very real impact that COVID-19 is having on the watch industry. From large brands to smaller brands, everyone is feeling the impact.
Time+Tide
Editor’s note: As we’re sure most of you reading this are already aware, Baselworld 2020 is officially dead. Yes, despite the perplexing decision from officials to say that the world’s biggest watch fair had been “postponed” to the end of January 2021, it has, like so many other trade shows this year, fallen victim to … ContinuedThe post Coronavirus may have killed Baselworld 2020 … but was it on the way out already? appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Clive Cussler, famed novelist and maritime explorer, died on February 24, aged 88. The writer was a larger-than-life character, and his series of novels featuring the renegade adventurer, underwater explorer and treasure hunter Dirk Pitt, such as Raise the Titanic! and Sahara, captivated a generation of avid readers. Cussler’s novels also brought many people’s attention to DOXA … ContinuedThe post RECOMMENDED WATCHING: An interview with Clive Cussler appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Revolution
To mark February 29, Revolution is taking a look at some of the perpetual calendars that mattered in the history of watchmaking.
Time+Tide
It was only a day ago that the watch world was reacting to the cancellation of Watches & Wonders Geneva (formerly SIHH), as a result of the increasing spread of the Coronavirus, and wondering if Baselworld would suffer the same fate in 2020. Overnight, the answer was given, as Baselworld announced that it would be … ContinuedThe post No Baselworld this year, for the first time since World War 1 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
RJ Watches - formerly known as Romain Jérôme - has declared bankruptcy with immediate effect. Elizabeth Doerr takes a brief look at the 16-year run of this quirky boutique brand, its design-focused existence having formed an interesting tribute to the power (and limits) of marketing.
Time+Tide
The perpetual calendar watch is among the most useful complicated watches, as well as one of the most mechanically sophisticated – and it truly comes into its own today, a leap year day. Its complexity is what sets it apart from other calendar watches. The simplest calendar watch has just a date function, driven by gears … ContinuedThe post Why you need a Perpetual Calendar watch on your wrist, today of all days appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
According to many, many news stories over the last 12 months, India is expected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country within the next decade, with the current population of roughly 1.37 billion set to skyrocket. It’s a country on the up and up, and its people are developing quite the taste for … ContinuedThe post These are the five best watches in India, by popularity appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
On a fast-moving Friday that started with the first case of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the city of Basel being diagnosed according to Swiss newspaper Le Temps, the day culminated in the organisers of Baselworld 2020 announcing its postponement to January 2021, essentially cancelling this year’s trade fair. This comes a day after the organisers of Geneva watch fair Watches & Wonders announced it was cancelled, which wipes out the entire year’s calendar for the major watch industry events. Though the Baselworld organisers had initially planned to meet on Monday, March 2, according to an announcement by Hubert J. du Plessix, the president of the event’s exhibitors committee (and also the director of investments and logistics at Rolex), events got ahead of them. The primary catalyst Baselworld’s cancellation was the Swiss government declaring a ban on all gatherings of over 1,000 people, until at least March 15 – which instantly made the Geneva Motor Show, one of the automotive industry’s most important events, a non-starter. Now Baselworld 2021 will take place from January 28 to February 2, with press day happening on January 27. Baselworld managing director Michel Loris-Melikoff, commenting in the announcement of the event’s cancellation, stated “We have found a solution that enables the industry and all our customers to avoid losing a full year and at the same time reset their calendars for the beginning of the year, a period that is conductive to the...
Deployant
Followup to the cancellation of Watches & Wonders 2020, we wrote to and reveived communication from Baselworld. Here is what they say.
Hodinkee
You need answers. The boys are here to help.
SJX Watches
Last year was the 25th anniversary of A. Lange & Söhne’s modern-day revival in 1994, also the debut year of the iconic Lange 1. For the occasion, ten limited edition Lange 1 models were unveiled over the course of the year. The line-up ranged from the basic to the ultra complicated, but one of the standouts was a model in the middle of the spectrum – the Grand Lange 1 Moonphase “25th Anniversary”. Introduced in 2003, the Grand Lange 1 was essentially an upsized Lange 1, with a larger but slightly thinner case – and the same L901.0 movement found in the standard Lange 1. The result was an awkward, cramped dial with overlapping displays that abandoned the orderly asymmetry of the classic Lange 1 dial. Nine years later, the Grand Lange 1 movement was redesigned to create the cal. L095.1, which accommodated all of the indications on a dial with the correct proportions. A moon phase was added to the movement the following year, which increased its thickness slightly. The 25th anniversary edition is a second generation Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase with a subtle, beautiful twist – and one of the most appealing models from the anniversary line-up. Anniversary livery Though large, the watch is notably flat, giving it an elegant profile on the wrist. With a height of 9.4 mm, the white gold case is still thinner than that of the basic Lange 1, despite having the additional moon phase complication. The tripartite case construction has a brushed middle between the polish...
SJX Watches
Watches & Wonders Geneva (WWG), the trade show formerly known as SIHH, has just announced its cancellation. Scheduled to take place in Geneva from April 25 to 29, the event was canned due to “the latest developments concerning the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus”. Organising body Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FIHH) said in a statement that the decision was made “to protect the health and wellbeing of all our guests, press, partners and teams.” Its announcement comes not long after Switzerland confirmed its first patient with the coronavirus on Tuesday, alongside a sudden spike in cases in Italy. A scene from SIHH 2019 WWG is the second major Swiss event to be cancelled, following the Swatch Group’s decision to call off Time to Move in Zurich, a launch exhibition of its new watches, which was scheduled to take place from February 28 to March 2. Industry insiders now expect Baselworld 2020, slated to take place right after WWG, to follow suit. Several exhibitors at Baselworld, including Bulgari and Citizen, have already pulled out of the fair. But as of February 20, the world’s biggest watch and jewellery trade show is still going ahead.
Time+Tide
Editor’s note: When it comes to stunning dials and complicated movements made simple, no one does it better than Moser. The Moser Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept in red gold is one such example, with an enchanting fumé dial and a perpetual moon phase that is so simply laid out, those not in the know might … ContinuedThe post Complication made simple with the Moser Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
To celebrate its 65th anniversary, Corum invited a few people to its manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds to look at some lovely vintage pieces and talk about what the brand has meant to the history of watchmaking. Elizabeth Doerr shares her visit, and visuals, here.
Time+Tide
One of the biggest perks about this job is discovering things that I previously wouldn’t have known about myself. Now, I know that sounds both simultaneously profound and clichéd, and I am talking about watches after all, not the meaning of life … but it’s true, this job has taught me a great deal about … ContinuedThe post HANDS-ON: The revelatory Franck Muller Color Dreams appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Revolution
In the pantheon of emblematic sports chronographs, it’s the Zenith El Primero Ref. A3818 “Cover Girl” that inflames desire to the extreme.
Quill & Pad
Zacapa was one of the first rums ever to convince Ken Gargett that there was serious life in the category outside the ubiquitous "Bundy." He doesn't think that it will be long before people think of the best rums alongside other premium spirits, and Zacapa is one of the foremost proponents of this movement.
Time+Tide
We were the stars of the show at the first ever Time+Tide event in Brisbane a few weeks back. That is, until Andrio turned up with his Patek Philippe Aquanaut. This watch has a way of winning the day, whenever it gets revealed from under a cuff. I started my watch collections with Panerai. … ContinuedThe post What Sealed The Deal – Andrio’s Patek Philippe Aquanaut ref. 5167A-001 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Deployant
We pit two superb ultra-thin watches, the Chopard L.U.C XPS 1860 and Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda 1950, against each other to see which one comes out on top.
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