1,394 articles · 809 videos found · page 47 of 74
Deployant
The new Longines HydroConquest XXII Commonwealth Games is a limited edition of 2022 pieces and retails at S$2860. It is a colorful variant to an otherwise common dive watch design, and benefits from a rather robust 3-day automatic movement. Fit on a bracelet and water resistant to 300m, the watch is versatile and sporty, and rather ideal as a daily beater.
SJX Watches
Originally launched with a quartz movement in early 2021, the Tissot PRX really caught on when it got an automatic movement a few months later. Equipped with a cost-efficient yet high tech ETA calibre, the PRX Powermatic 80 costs just US$650 – making it an easily affordable iteration of the integrated-bracelet sports watch. Initial thoughts Modelled on the Seastar ref. 40205 launched in 1978 – it’s practically a remake in fact – the PRX Powermatic 80 doesn’t try to do too much. Instead it focuses on doing just a few things right, just enough to look good while maintaining its affordability. Its modest price tag is evident up close, but the PRX still looks good enough on the wrist. The PRX Powermatic 80 successfully reproduces the feel of the 1978 original. It’s a little bit bigger, but still compact by modern standards. More importantly, the PRX retains the right proportions in terms of case, bracelet, and dial. One of its best features is its size. At 40 mm wide and 10.9 mm high, the PRX is just right. The case middle is fairly thin and matched with an equally thin bracelet – that has a solid double-fold clasp – giving it a refined feel on the wrist. As for the design, it’s a good look – and certainly a popular one today – but derivative. That’s because the 1978 original itself was fairly generic. The 1978 Seastar was just one of many watches that shared a style that was popular in the late 1970s and well into the 1980s. One of the most obvio...
WatchAdvice
What we love: Split Second Complication with 100m WR- Yes please!Open caseback displaying manual winding movement Beautifully laid out dial What we don’t love: Thickness, some may find this hard to wear under the cuff Could do without cutout numbers on the dial (2,4,8 and 10)Due to the design of the top sapphire crystal glass, cannot see the tachymeter scale properly when looking directly at the dial Overall rating: 8.125/10 Value for money: 8/10 Wearability: 7.5/10 Design: 8.5/10 Build quality: 8.5/10 It’s not often you get a watch for a review and fall in love with it straight away! Well, for me this was the case with the new Breitling Premier B15 Duograph. Released a day earlier than the Watches of Wonders in 2021, Duograph is a part of the Premier heritage line. Originally released in 1943, Duograph is a spilt second complication that pays tribute to three generations of inventors – Léon, Gaston & Willy Breitling. Breitling used the term ‘Duograph’ in 1940 which refer to the complication “Chronograph Rattrappante”. Design: Breitling Duograph is offered in stainless steel or an 18K Red Gold case. The case size is 42mm with a thickness of 15.3mm and lug to lug measurement of 50mm. The variant we are reviewing today is the stainless steel model with the sunray blue dial. Duograph had a fixed bezel and the Cambered sapphire (glareproofed both sides) acts as a bezel on its own. This Sapphire crystal top glass has a thickness of 3mm which adds to the o...
Revolution
Ulysse Nardin has been manufacturing pocket and marine chronometers since the 1800s. The company supplied more than 50 navies, institutes and astronomical observatories through the decades. In 2021, Ulysse Nardin celebrates 175 years of watchmaking with Marine Torpilleur timepieces featuring COSC-certified automatic movements, complications and enameled dials.
SJX Watches
For the third year running Grand Seiko’s distributor in Southeast Asia gets a limited edition exclusively available in the markets it represents, namely Brunei, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, and Singapore. Following the large and sporty “Champagne Diamond” of 2020, this year’s edition is just right in terms of size, style and function. The Heritage Collection SBGH287 “Snow on Blue Lake” is classic Grand Seiko – it’s an automatic with time and date – in a compact, 40 mm package that’s quintessential Grand Seiko in style. But its best feature – as is often the case with Grand Seiko limited editions – is the textured dial that’s finely grained and rendered in pale blue, a colour meant to evoke fresh snow as it reflects the colour of the blue sky. Initial thoughts Going by its previous editions, it is clear that Grand Seiko’s representative in the Southeast Asia, Thong Sia Group, has a good eye. With the brand already offering a seemingly endless stream of iterations in familiar colours and textures, it is surely challenging to conceive of something that combines existing elements while still being unusual and tasteful, but Thong Sia and Grand Seiko aced it. With its light blue palette, the dial of the SBGH287 calls to mind past models like the SBGA407 “Blue Snowflake” and SBGY007 “Omiwatari”, but its texture is different from either of the two. The finish is granular and slightly sparkly, living up to its snowy nickname. Dial aside, the ...
Video
SJX Watches
A French brand that specialises in affordable, vintage-inspired watches, Baltic is back with another affordable, vintage-inspired watch. Evidently modelled on gentlemen’s watches of the 1930s, notably the Patek Philippe ref. 96 Calatrava, the MR01 is the brand’s first dress watch. Compact at just 36 mm in diameter, the MR01 is also thin at under 10 mm thanks to the micro-rotor automatic movement within, which is also the reason behind the unusually positioned seconds at seven o’clock. Initial thoughts Baltic has consistently released vintage-inspired watches that are the right combination of design, details, and affordability, which is exactly what the MR01 is all about. It has an aesthetic that instantly brings to mind the Patek Philippe ref. 96, accented with overtly vintage details like the applied numerals and stepped bezel. But its most novel aspect is arguably the movement, which has a micro-rotor, an uncommon feature in watches at this price point, for now. The fit and finish of Baltic’s offerings is good considering the price, which is an affordable US$600 or so for the MR01. That’s possible due to the fact that most of the watch is assembled using components made by Chinese suppliers. Chinese watchmakers themselves produce watches of comparable quality for less money, but most have yet to offer the design and eye for details that Baltic possesses. And that is why Baltic’s watches are value propositions that enjoy with commercial success. Effectively vi...
Revolution
Maurice Lacroix introduces titanium for the first time to their iconic AIKON automatic collection with the AIKON Automatic Titanium Chronograph for a robust and light-weight model with a lot of personality.
Hodinkee
After launching steel automatic chronographs at Watches & Wonders Geneva, Panerai breaks out the gold.
SJX Watches
Seiko’s current offerings are wide-ranging in both style and price, but its mechanical chronographs aren’t particularly outstanding – a surprise given the Japanese watchmaker’s historical prominence with the complication. Seiko, after all, was one of the first brands to debut an automatic chronograph in 1969, the same year Zenith unveiled the El Primero. Closing the gap is the latest launch from Seiko, the Prospex Speedtimer Mechanical Chronograph (refs. SRQ035 and SRQ037), a blend of two historically-significant Seiko chronographs. The grey-dial automatic chronograph is based on Seiko’s 1964 chronograph wristwatch, while the white-dial version is modelled on the 1964 stopwatch Design-wise, it is modelled on the timepieces Seiko conceived for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics where the brand was the official timekeeper, namely a hand-wind chronograph wristwatch and a stopwatch. But the new Prospex chronograph is a self-winding chronograph with a full-spec movement. So technically, it takes its cues from the the Speedtimer ref. 6139 of 1969. Like the ref. 6139, the new chronograph is equipped with an automatic movement incorporated both a column wheel and vertical clutch for the chronograph. Initial thoughts Seiko has launched countless vintage-inspired models in recent years, with diver’s watches forming the bulk of the remakes, which makes the new chronographs unusual, simple because they are chronographs. At the same time, they are aesthetically unusual since the di...
Time+Tide
The next chapter in the Seiko Prospex “Black Series” has arrived. Inspired by the world of night diving, the brand has taken the plunge with three new blacked out watches the SRPH11K (Samurai), the SNE577P (Tuna) and the SRPH13K (Monster). The “Black Series” concept first dropped in 2018 with two Solar models and an automatic Turtle, the SRPC49. The … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: Seiko unleashes a Black-Ops style Tuna, Monster & Samurai, all sub $650USD. Which do you pick? appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Video
Time+Tide
When your back catalogue runs as deep and storied as Timex, dipping your horological toe into the re-issues pool should be a no brainer. Having already exhibited some serious nous by reimaging the mid-century Marlin in both hand-wound and automatic varities – plus one for the ladies – the American manufacturer has again dipped into … ContinuedThe post CHEAP BASTARD: The Timex Q 1975 Reissue is a retro bargain for $305 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Long an annual tradition for IWC – now in its 15th consecutive year in fact – the “Laureus Sport for Good” edition is back once again in its usual blue livery that echoes the emblem of the eponymous charity with the IWC Pilot’s Watch Automatic Edition ‘Laureus Sport for Good’. Each annual Laureus edition sees IWC facelift one of its watches, from the classical Portofino to the sporty Pilot’s Watch, typically in a simple fashion with the addition of a blue dial – good enough but not quite great. This year the brand is doing something a bit more special with its entry-level aviator’s watch, which gets a blue ceramic case in a first for the brand. Initial thoughts As is typical of the IWC Pilot’s Watch, the new Laureus edition is simple, coherent and appealing. But it offers a bit more with the tone-on-tone case and dial, making it slightly more special than the standard Pilot’s Watches, or even past Laureus editions. Though IWC used a similar formula for the Laureus edition of two years ago – that had a polished, black ceramic case instead – the latest edition is tangibly better. For one, a blue ceramic case is rare, having been utilised by only a handful of watchmakers, and it also looks pretty cool. At the same time, the watch has been upgraded in technical terms. It houses the new, five-day cal. 32111, which is derived from the cal. 32115 first seen in the ultra-shock resistance Big Pilot XPL. Both are in turn modified versions of the cal. 32...
SJX Watches
Having introduced a new design language along with the all-new, automatic 9SA5 last year, Grand Seiko is now doing the same for the Spring Drive. The watchmaker has debuted a pair of Heritage Collection Seiko 140th Anniversary Limited Editions, the “Minamo” SLGA007 in steel and the “Tree Rings” SLGA008 in rose gold. Both are powered by the 9RA2 that’s part of the family of latest-generation Spring Drive movements first seen last year in the Grand Seiko Diver 600 m SLGA001. Just 5 mm high, the slimness of the 9RA5 means the pair of new models are the thinnest Grand Seiko Spring Drive watches to date. Initial thoughts The new models are essentially Spring Drive versions of the self-winding Heritage models launched last year (including an ultra-luxe platinum version and the more recent “White Birch”). That’s a good thing for two reasons. One is the intrinsic appeal of the design, which is vintage inspired and appealing, packaged in a case that’s a good size and easily wearable. And the other is the increased consistency in styling between Grand Seiko’s Spring Drive and automatic models, doing away with the confusing distinction between movements and designs. The “Minamo” SLGA007 in steel But that’s also the downside for the buyers of the limited-edition models (either these or the automatics), since the design has been replicated as a standard-production watch with the automatic movement, and the same will surely be done for the new 9RA2 Spring Dr...
Quill & Pad
A client once asked John Keil if there are any benefits to using automatic watch winders. The short answer is that he has two viewpoints on them. Click to learn the pros and cons as he sees them.
Deployant
Girard-Perregaux expands its Laureato Absolute collection with a new version of the automatic time only watch in Titanium - the Ti 230.
Video
Time+Tide
Zenith have a track record for having their fingers on the pulse of the watch world. In the ‘60s, they spent nearly the entire decade developing the El Primero to be the world’s first integrated automatic chronograph movement. Back then, the world was crying out for innovation: new techniques, new designs and new possibilities. Now, … ContinuedThe post HANDS-ON: The Zenith Chronomaster Original Collection offers vintage perfection on a 38mm dial appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
In the 1960s, Zenith developed the El Primero to be the world’s first integrated automatic chronograph movement. Back then the world was crying out for innovation: new techniques, new designs, and new possibilities. Now watch buyers increasingly seem to appreciate tradition, vintage reissues and smaller sizes. The Zenith Chronomaster Original offers both progress and nostalgia … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: The Zenith Chronomaster Original Collection hits the sweet spot in three different forms appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Earlier this year, Longines added two new Art Deco sector dialled automatic watches to their DolceVita Collection. The collection is the brand’s answer to a classically styled Tank-shaped watch. These new iterations translated the design of their Heritage Classic Sector Dial into the more dressy confines of a DolceVita. As the watches have started to … ContinuedThe post There’s a new Tank in town: The Longines DolceVita adds sector dials to its range appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Longines have made a strong move to increase customer loyalty, while also underlining the inherent value of their Swiss craftsmanship. From next month, the brand has announced that it’s extending their warranty on all models equipped with a silicon balance-spring. The new five-year warranty will be valid for all automatic models purchased (not produced) after … ContinuedThe post Longines steps up their customer care with an increased five year warranty appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Hodinkee
Bring on summer! The Chronomat Automatic 36 South Sea Capsule Collection should come with a complementary piña colada.
Video
Hodinkee
Grand Seiko Automatic GMT SBGM239 | Limited Edition For HODINKEE
Hodinkee
The limited edition Zenith El Primero Revival G381, limited to just 50 pieces to honor the 50th anniversary of the game-changing El Primero movement, is priced at $19,200 and beautifully recaptures the shining early years of the automatic high-speed chronograph.
Revolution
There’s a fresh breeze blowing through the world of watch design and floating on that breeze like a clump of gossamer goodness is Oris’ latest confection: the Divers Sixty-Five “Cotton Candy”. The case is the familiar and popular Divers Sixty-Five bronze, clocking in at a versatile 38mm across, domed sapphire crystal, rated to 100 metres and with a stainless steel caseback concealing the automatic calibre Oris 733 inside. The dial comes in three super sweet flavours, complemented by the use of bronze for the case and bracelet. What remains to be seen is how bronze - famous for how it tends to patina - will interplay with the dial. Will a hint of verdigris make the dials seem that much more delicious? Only time will tell.
SJX Watches
Usually associated with solar-powered, high-spec professional diver’s watches, Citizen has just launched something unusual. The Promaster Mechanical Diver 200 m is a higher-end dive watch powered by the automatic cal. 9051 and a case made of its proprietary, hardened titanium. Initial thoughts The new Promaster is a huge – it’s 46 mm wide – with an aggressively, slightly over-the-top-design. And for that reason it’s cool; the style and size will surely appeal to anyone who likes large dive watches. Importantly, the Promaster Mechanical Diver is automatic, which gives it a greater technical appeal for the watch enthusiast. Citizen’s dive watch offerings in recent years have either been solar or entry-level automatics (priced at between US$300-400), while the new Promaster costs about US$1,000. The price brings with its an impressively constructed case in hardened titanium, a massive bezel, and prominently domed sapphire crystal. With Citizen having a history of dive watches with even greater depth ratings, the followups to the new Promaster will be worth keeping an eye on, especially a 1,000 m diver in the same style. The case is 15.3 mm high, with almost half of that the bezel Large and light Despite the case size, the Promaster Mechanical Diver is lightweight. Both the case and bezel are Super Titanium, titanium that boasts an extra-hard surface thanks to Duratect treatment. The process takes place with the component in chamber that’s heated to several...
Time+Tide
Recently we saw the return of the Baume & Mercier Riviera in the form of three configurations: the 42mm Baumatic, 42mm Automatic, and 36mm quartz. Amongst the Time+Tide team we unanimously welcomed the Riviera and lauded the line for creating a more affordable opportunity to get a quality integrated, stainless-steel sports watch. But the Riviera … ContinuedThe post The Baume & Mercier Riviera joins the green party appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Video
Question, suggestion, or just want to say hi? Drop a note.