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Quill & Pad
The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic is the recent winner of the Chronograph category at the 2019 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève and current world record holder for the thinnest mechanical chronograph. Joshua Munchow thinks that as such the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT deserves closer inspection to discover just how it achieved this feat while looking cool in the process.
Quill & Pad
Silicon, long in use as a material in the electronics industry, has many advantages for mechanical watchmaking: it is 60 percent harder and 70 percent lighter than steel; non-magnetic; resistant to corrosion and shock; and generally needs no lubrication. These qualities motivated Patek Philippe to declare in 2005 that, “Silicon is the fabric of the future” and to found its Advanced Research department. Meet all five limited edition Advanced Research pieces released thus far right here.
SJX Watches
After the 2017 launch of the Orion 38 “De Stijl” – one of the most unusual and intriguing Nomos watches to date – Dutch retailer Ace Jewelers has unveiled the fruit of its third collaboration, the Zürich Weltzeit Amsterdam. Limited to just 25 pieces, the watch is a variation of the Nomos travel watch, distinguished by a handful of distinct but restrained tweaks. Previously available only with a blue or white dial, the Amsterdam edition features white indices and text, along with red accents on a stark, matte black dial. Appreciably, its stark, no-nonsense colour palette comes at a time when Nomos is increasingly relying on pastel-coloured dials. The watch features several nods to the Dutch city, with “Amsterdam” replacing Berlin on the city ring and highlighted in red, while home time is indicated at three o’clock by the flag of Ace Jeweler’s hometown of Amsterdam, made up of three Saint Andrew’s crosses. The rest of the watch is otherwise identical to the standard version. Its steel case measures 39.9mm wide and 10.85mm high, featuring angled, elongated lugs that are similar to the Orion’s and rather distinct from all the other collections. All surfaces of the case are polished, offering a great contrast to the matte dial. A pusher at two o’clock advances the local time display in one-hour steps while a recessed pusher at eight o’clock sets the home time. Visible through the sapphire case back, the watch is powered by the in-house automatic DUW 5...
Quill & Pad
Taking place from 20 through 24 November 2019 at Dubai’s DIFC, participants of the 2019 edition of Dubai Watch Week can expect to discover new watches, hear interesting opinions, learn about the culture of Dubai – the United Arab Emirates’ fastest growing city – and enjoy the immense hospitality of Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons. What more could any watch lover want?
SJX Watches
From the ultra-graphic BR-X to the newly launched, all-steel BR-05 collection, Bell & Ross’ capacity for reinterpreting its signature square-cased, aviation-inspired watches has proven rather remarkable. But its latest watch is a return to its roots, and perhaps the most extreme iteration of its foundational BR-03 model. The BR03-92 Full Lum is the visual negative of the BR 03-92 Nightlum launched a year ago. While the Nightlum had a black dial with luminous numerals and markers, the Full Lum has an entirely luminous dial with its indices printed in black – and a luminous strap to boot. Stealth dial and strap The watch features what appears to be the standard, unapologetically industrial BR 03 dial with oversized Arabic numerals at the quarters and large baton markers. However, the entire dial as well as the bottom sections of the hands are painted with Super-Luminova. Notably, even the date disc, visible through an aperture between four and five o’clock, is coated with “lume”. And not only is the dial fully luminous, it also uses the brightest Super-Luminova, specifically C3. It is the purest form of Super-Luminova with a pale-yellow appearance during the day, while emitting an intense and long-lived green glow in the dark. As a concession to daytime aesthetics, a majority of watches utilise white lume, which is fully white in daylight and emits a blue glow in the dark. This is simply because white offers a more attractive contrast against black or blue dials. ...
Revolution
Long-time friends Richard Mille and Pharrell Williams get together to create their first collaborative timepiece: the RM 52-05 Tourbillon Pharrell Williams
Deployant
The second installment of our monthly series: Luxury Industry Performance Index by Dr. Frank Muller, CEO of TBTL, and special correspondent to Deployant.
Revolution
@GregWatchman takes us through a watch collection, birthed in the wake of tragedy and nurtured in the midst of new found love.
WatchAdvice
The future of watchmaking for Zenith can be narrowed down to one word: Defy. The Defy collection started with the release of the Defy El Primero 21 back in 2017, which was the quite amazing hundredth-of-a-second chronograph. This was followed by the first-generation Defy Lab (known now as Defy Inventor), which Zenith states is the world’s most accurate watch with its new ground-breaking monocrystalline silicon oscillator. Luckily enough, we had a chance to review the Zenith Defy Inventor as well, which you can check out here. Zenith has added a mini collection of three ceramic models to the Defy Classic range. The models in the Defy Classic Collection has a three-hand plus date feature and comes in three colour variations: White ceramic, Black ceramic and Blue ceramic. The piece we have on our hands today is the elegant Defy Classic Blue Ceramic. Having a colour outside of the typical white and black in a ceramic, which is the norm, definitely brings something different to the table. Although the colour blue may have its limitations with what it can be worn with, compared to all black and white ceramic watches. Despite this limitation, the blue ceramic certainly is an eye-catcher when on the wrist. Like the other two models in the Zenith Defy Classic Ceramic range, the blue ceramic comes with its own matching blue rubber strap. Sometimes having too much of the same colour throughout the watch can be too “in your face” as well. The blue used by Zenith for this cera...
Quill & Pad
To mark the start of a ten-year-long artistic program counting down to the brand's tricentennial, Ruinart Champagne commissioned up-and-coming French artists Maya Mouawad and Cyril Laurier to create 'Retour aux Sources,' an immersive visual and sound installation that interacts with the vineyards and wine cellar.
SJX Watches
Independent watchmaker Raul Pages debuted his first wristwatch in 2016, after several years spent restoring watches and clocks at Parmigiani and then the Patek Philippe Museum. Limited to just 10 watches, the Soberly Onyx wristwatch contained a reworked and highly decorated Cyma movement from the 1950s. The very last of the series, however, is strikingly different from the rest. The Arabic Calligraphy pièce unique is a custom commission from a European client, an important collector of both vintage and modern watches who already has two other Soberly Onyx watches. The client wanted a cloisonné enamel dial bearing the phrase ٱلْـحَـمْـدُ للهِ, or alhamdulillah. Most commonly used by Muslims but also by Arabic speakers of other denominations, it translates as “thank God” or “praise be to God”. Raul recruited Jean-Luc Peter, an enamel artisan who has also done work for Hermes, to create this dial. Elegant and striking in form, the phrase is executed in a mustard enamel and outlined in fine gold wire, as is traditional for cloisonné enamel. It sits agains a vivid green background that complements the rose gold hands and case beautifully. The rest of the watch is identical to the standard Soberly Onyx, which has a polished onyx stone dial. That means the case is 40mm in diameter and a slim 9.3mm high. Inside is a movement that started out as a Cyma 586K from the 1950s, but one that has been heavily modified by Raul. The bridges were reshaped and ...
Revolution
Montblanc’s Heritage collection gets a big, small limited edition of 38 pieces powered by the manual-winding Minerva MB 62.00 calibre.
SJX Watches
Having just signed on as a sponsor of the Vendée Globe 2020-2021, Ulysse Nardin has unveiled a pair of dive watches for the solo, nonstop, round-the-world yacht race. Each named after points along the race route, the Diver X Cape Horn and Diver X Nemo Point are based on Ulysse Nardin’s well-priced dive watch – both are below US$10,000 – powered by the in-house UN-118 movement. Diver X Cape Horn Vendée Globe Often described as the toughest sailing competition in the world, Vendée Globe is a nonstop, single-handed race – meaning a solo sailor in the boat – requiring competitors to circumnavigate the globe. Sailing monohull yachts, the contestants start and end at Les Sables d’Olonne, a beach town in the Vendée department on France’s Atlantic coast that is usually a quiet place, until the race begins. According to The New York Times, some 1.5 million spectators descended on the town in 2016 for the last race. The start of the Vendée Globe 2016-2016. Photo – Vincent Curutchet/DPPI and Vendée Globe Yachts in the harbour. Photo – Vincent Curutchet/DPPI and Vendée Globe The sailors – there were 29 in the Vendée Globe 2016-2017 – have to travel 40,075km in a north-south direction, without any assistance along the way. In the eight contests since the Vendée Globe began in 1989, three sailors have died. The next race starts on November 8, 2020, and will take several months to complete. In the last Vendée Globe, the winner completed the course in j...
Revolution
At the Watch Art Grand Exhibition in Singapore, Revolution got a closer look at some of the most precious wristwatches in Patek Philippe’s vault.
SJX Watches
Produced for the key markets in an important region, the Defy El Primero 21 South East Asia Edition is based on Zenith’s well-priced, 1/100th of a second chronograph, with one edition each for Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. All three watches share the same red and white livery – reflecting the colours found in each country’s national flag – but with a respective national landmark printed on the case back. The Defy El Primero 21 is one of two true 1/100th of a second chronographs on the market that are serially produced – the other being the Mikrograph produced by Zenith’s sister company TAG Heuer. Both share a similar movement architecture, but the Mikrograph came first and inspired the construction of the Zenith calibre. Landmarks The colour scheme of the trio is a nod to the flag of each country, all of which happen to include red and white. The power reserve, minute counter, chronograph hands and crown are accented in red. The watch is otherwise mechanically identical to the standard version. It is powered by the self-winding El Primero 9004 movement, which utilises two independent sets of mainsprings, gear trains and balance wheels. The timekeeping escapement runs at a frequency of 5Hz, while the chronograph escapement runs at 50Hz, allowing the watch to resolve to 1/100th of a second. And more so important in a high frequency movement, the escape wheels – the fastest rotating wheel in the transmission system – and pallet forks are made of silicon...
Time+Tide
TAG Heuer has just unveiled the all-new Monaco 02, and it’s a big deal because it’s the first Monaco in the storied watch’s 50-year history to utilise a completely in-house movement. As a result, the Swiss watchmaker is kissing goodbye to the old Sellita SW300-based Calibre 12 movement, which has been a stalwart of the … ContinuedThe post TAG Heuer bids adieu to the Monaco Calibre 12 with a Final Edition appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
The buzz around Geneva over the entire week was nothing if not intense: Only Watch 2019 was about to set some records, and people wanted to witness it. Elizabeth Doerr shares the palpable excitement plus a video of the moment Patek Philippe set its $31 million record and more here.
Hodinkee
A radically simple version of one of watchmaking's most romantic complications.
Time+Tide
If history is anything to go by, we shouldn’t have been surprised at news coming out of Only Watch 2019 that Tudor’s entry into the charitable auction, the Black Bay Ceramic One, had sold for a staggering 350,000 CHF ($515,000 AUD). In fact, for Tudor’s third pièce unique entered into Only Watch to do anything … ContinuedThe post Tudor’s Black Bay Ceramic One sold for a ridiculous amount at Only Watch 2019 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Only Watch 2019 is the biggest watch auction ever – and it was the most exciting sale in a notably quiet Geneva auction season – with 50 lots selling for 38.59m Swiss francs. The last Only Watch auction in 2017 raised a mere 9.29m francs in comparison. And of course 31m francs of that came from just one watch, the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime in steel, which went to a determined buyer from Asia bidding via telephone with Wei-Ting Jud of Christie’s London. Presided over by Christie’s jewellery department head Rahul Kadakia, the best watch auctioneer who is not a watch specialist, the saleroom in Geneva’s Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues was jam-packed, so full even Audemars Piguet chief executive Francois-Henri Bennahmias had to stand. And there was even a famous face in attendance, or at least in the same building – former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is a a known watch collector, was spotted in the lobby of the hotel. Luc Pettavino, who founded only watch after his late son was stricken by Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the very disease that Only Watch raises funds to research a cure. Photo – Alex Teuscher Photography Though the Patek Philippe accounted for most of the sale proceeds – which all go to a medical charity – the other 49 lots in the auction still sold for an average of 155,000 Swiss francs, which is well above the average for a watch auction. The Antiquorum watch auction that took place a day later, for instance, averaged only...
Revolution
Does combining de rigueur highlights with aesthetics anchored in the natural beauty of Japan make the Grand Seiko SBGK005 the ultimate dress watch?
SJX Watches
Having made its debut in Paris earlier in the year, the Clash de Cartier pop-up studio is making its first stop in Southeast Asia. Soon to open at the STPI Creative Workshop & Gallery in Singapore, the studio uses displays focused on music, art and literature to showcase the Clash de Cartier jewellery collection. The exhibition is structured around the concept of the Clash de Cartier, a newly launched range of jewellery characterised by contradictions and duality – bold yet delicate, structured yet – for a slightly punk-style look. The journey begins with a questionnaire that will direct visitors to their first room – either the Record Room or Bookstore. In the Record Room, visitors will be invited to listen to a playlist, curated by French sound designer Michel Gaubert, through sound shower speakers installed in the room. The playlist will consist of clashing genres of music from classical to rock. In the same vein, the Bookstore was curated to showcase opposing genres. Visitors will be able to take a short personality test to determine their “alter ego”m which will be then be translated into a haiku by actual poets at the venue. Lastly, guests can convene at the café and enjoy a complimentary pastry and drink inspired by the mix of eastern and western cultures in Singapore. Half of the café will be furnished with local décor, while the other half will be fitted out with contemporary European furniture. Exhibition details Dates: November 15-17, 2019 Time: 11...
SJX Watches
During a chat with Montblanc watch division chief Davide Cerrato this weekend in Geneva – where the split-seconds chronograph he created for Only Watch sold for a 100,000 Swiss francs – he revealed the company had recently discovered a small number of finished Minerva MB M62.00 movements from the early 2000s. Already decorated and assembled, the hand-wound movements were then paired with a specially designed dial to create a discreet limited edition. The calibres were produced in 2003, during the brief period from 2000-2006 when Minerva was owned by Italian former billionaire Emilio Gnutti who was later convicted of insider trading. Mr Gnutti radically remade Minerva after he took over, elevating it from a producer of competent and honest watches into one focused on ultra high-end timepieces with exceptional movement finishing. But his endeavour was not financially viable and he sold Minerva to Richemont, which integrated the brand into Montblanc. The Minerva-Minerva movement The MB M62.00 in the new Heritage Small Second come from this period, so they have impeccable finishing. But unlike Minerva movements produced after the Montblanc takeover, these movements were wholly finished prior to the Richemont takeover so they are only marked “Minerva” and “Villeret”. Though the MB M62.00 are identical, both in style and finishing, to later movements marked “Montblanc”, aficionados will appreciate the nostalgic Minerva logo. The MB M62.00 movement is derived fr...
SJX Watches
With the Double Signed theme auction out of the way, here are a few highlights from Phillips’ Geneva watch auction, including a Lange Zeitwerk that might be a value buy, and a steel Rolex Day-Date prototype. Lot 145 – Lange Zeitwerk in rose gold The Zeitwerk is unquestionably a modern classic – notably, it is probably the most reliable digital display watch on the market – and is relatively good value on the secondary market, selling for a chunk off retail. This example is in rose gold, and is complete with all boxes and paperwork. It was first sold in 2011, and obviously wasn’t worn much sine then. The estimate is just 20,000-40,000 Swiss francs. Lot 179 – Patek Philippe ref. 1463 in steel One of the top lots in the sale, this is a ref. 1463 “Tasti Tondi”, an early water-resistant chronograph by Patek Philippe. But this is in steel, of which only 67 are known, with a two-tone dial, furthering reducing the number known to just 17. The watch is in excellent condition, with a sharply preserved case and original dial, although the dial might have been cleaned in the distant past. The estimate is 300,000-600,000 francs. Lot 209 – Patek Philippe ref. 1518 in yellow gold The ref. 1518 is a landmark, being the first serially produced chronograph with perpetual calendar. This is a good example of the ref. 1518, almost the quintessential version of the model with a yellow gold case. It is clean and in good condition, albeit showing a little bit of age on the dial,...
SJX Watches
Shortly after Seiko announced it was pulling out of Baselworld 2020, fellow Japanese watchmaker Citizen announced it was staying put, along with all of its subsidiary brands, save for Arnold & Son. According to a report in Chronos Japan, the decision was made in the summer, after some internal debate as to whether or not to remain in Baselworld, where Citizen has long boasted one of the most avant-garde booths, year after year. The Citizen booth at Baselworld 2019 Citizen – which launched a record-setting quartz watch at Baselworld 2019 – might have moved to the recently announced Watches & Wonders in Geneva, but that did not happen. So the brand, along with its subsidiaries Bulova, Frederique Constant, Alpina, and Miyota, will continue to exhibit at Baselworld. Only Arnold & Son, a relatively high-end Swiss brand also owned by Citizen, will exhibit at Watches & Wonders. According to an industry source, the remaining major Japanese watchmaker, G-Shock maker Casio, will also continue to show at Baselworld. Source: Chronos Japan
Time+Tide
Patek Philippe’s entry into Only Watch 2019, the one-of-a-kind stainless steel Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime ref. 6300A, has just smashed, in fact obliterated, the record for the most expensive watch ever sold at auction. But it wasn’t just the Patek that stretched into the seven-figure stratosphere at the charitable auction last night, as two other … ContinuedThe post Top 3 most expensive watches sold at Only Watch 2019, also featuring Audemars Piguet and F.P. Journe appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
The Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime ref. 6300A made for Only Watch 2019 has just made history by selling for 31m Swiss francs – selling to a new face at watch auctions – topping the 23m francs achieved by the Henry Graves Supercomplication and the 17m francs of Paul Newman’s “Paul Newman” Daytona. Before the Grandmaster Chime sold for the record-setting sum, I wrote: A major, outsized finish of 12m or 15m francs, or even more, is possible but only likely if an unexpected, deep-pocketed bidder buys the watch, or manages to push the winner further than expected. I was way off the mark value-wise, but at least half right. The bidding opened with room bids, first a 5m franc bid from gem dealer and auction veteran Claude Sfeir, followed by 10m francs from a prominent SE Asian collector. But the action swiftly moved to phone bidders, all bidding via Christie’s representatives, including Stéphane Von Bueren of the watch department in Geneva. It was a prolonged tussle – with bidding rising in 500,000 franc increments – between Mr Von Bueren’s client and another represented by Wei-Ting Jud of Christie’s London. Once bidding hit 17m francs, there was brief applause as the watch topped the record of Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona. At 22.5m francs, a new bidder jumped in, represented by Max Fawcett of Christie’s Geneva. From there it was Mr Fawcett against Ms Jud – and another round of applause when the watch surpassed the record set by the Graves Supercompli...
Deployant
20 years on, the brand updates the Sinn ARKTIS with the ARKTIS II. It is mostly the same watch with a larger case. It bears the same library of high performance specs and with an updated D3-system on the pushers.
SJX Watches
In a first for watchmaking, an establishment watchmaker has collaborated with an auctioneer in creating a pair of limited edition wristwatches, resulting in the El Primero A386 designed by Phillips. The tie-up has resulted in a pair of watches, one in steel with a “tropical” dial, and the other in striking black and gold – with the total number made being just 69, a nod to the year of the El Primero’s launch. The two watches are actually part of the same creative process that spawned the platinum El Primero A386 One-Off that will soon be sold for charity. Aurel Bacs and Alex Ghotbi of Phillips were responsible for conceiving the look of both watches. According to Phillips, the duo imagined being designers of the brand-new El Primero in 1969, rather than looking back from today and creating a modern remake. The yellow gold El Primero is consequently a combination that was common back in the day – think Rolex Daytona “John Player Special” though never produced by Zenith. And the steel version is not actually a “tropical” dial, rather it is a reference to the brown colours fashionable in design and apparel during the 1960s. Hence it has its sub-dials in three shades of brown, a riff on the “tricolour” registers of the original A386. And the steel watch comes with a bonus: a steel “ladder” bracelet with straight end links that’s a replica of the same found on the original A386. Key facts and price El Primero A386 Phillips Limited Edition Ref. 30.P38...
Hodinkee
A new non-selling exhibition of Biver's personal collection.
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