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Quill & Pad
At the recent premiere of ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ in Los Angeles, Benedict Cumberbatch, aka Doctor Strange, had a Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual on his wrist. Elizabeth Doerr explains the WIS-worthy significance of him wearing this particular model, which calls back to an earlier film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Quill & Pad
To celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of its founder, Jaquet Droz commissioned a big, beautiful book written by Swiss historian Dr. Sandrine Girardier. Elizabeth Doerr reviews 'The Worlds of Jaquet Droz' here.
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...
Revolution
2021 brought us a few impressive timepieces under $5,000 that are compelling enough to make our holiday shopping list. We decided to have fun by pairing them with different personalities.
Time+Tide
There are certain mechanisms that bring a sense of child-like wonder to the eyes of a watch collector. There is the twisting and turning of a tourbillon. The snap back of a retrograde. And today I present you with a brand making use of a third, with a bit of fun thrown in for good … ContinuedThe post MICRO MONDAYS: Well blows me down, it’s the Vario ИAVI x POPEYE Nautical Watches appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Greubel Forsey’s house style is perhaps best described as contemporary, complicated, and often oversized, which meant some of its watches have a sporty vibe, even if they are not sports watches. The brand only unveiled its first true sports watch – with a 100 m water-resistance rating – two years ago and it was a world time plus tourbillon. The Swiss watchmaker quickly followed up with the Balancier S, a sports watch sans complications. And that has evolved into the Balancier S2, perhaps the brand’s ultimate time-only sports watch. It’s been further streamlined and pared back – and finally gets a matching bracelet in titanium for the integrated-bracelet look that’s now de rigueur for high-end sports watches. Initial thoughts I have always found Greubel Forsey’s watches appealing, despite the astronomical prices (which are justified, to a degree, by the quality), simply because they are original, modern, and extremely well made. But some looked more sporty than they actually were, so all the better that the brand now offers a bona fide sports watch, so that the functionality matches the aesthetic. By that measure the Balancier S2 ticks many boxes. It is functionally simple so the watch is (relatively) thin, and it’s made more wearable with a lightweight titanium case that has a curved back, and the equally lightweight bracelet. One feature that sets the Balancier S2 apart from the original Balancier S is the cleaner look, which works better with it being ...
Time+Tide
If you’re going to draw inspiration from anything, the French Riviera is as good as it gets. Baume & Mercier’s Riviera line stems from the trauma of the 1970s, when Swiss watchmaking was under fire from the quartz uprising and adaptation was pivotal. Among the early brands to emerge with their heads held high were … ContinuedThe post HANDS ON: The Baume & Mercier Riviera delivers 70s style on an integrated bracelet appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
Ineichen Zurich announces special auctions of rare timepieces to be hosted simultaneously in Zurich and online November 20-21, 2021. On offer are a some very desirable watches from A. Lange & Söhne, Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, and Breguet as well as independents including F.P. Journe, De Bethune, Vianney Halter, Urwerk, Konstantin Chaykin, and Svend Andersen. Have a look at our picks here.
SJX Watches
One of the most anticipated sales during Geneva’s watch auction week just concluded with a big number – the Philippe Dufour Grande Sonnerie wristwatch sold for CHF4.749 million, or about US$5.2 million, including fees. While bidding was steady, it was restrained. Three bidders were the key movers behind the result – a phone bidders represented by Yong Ho and Alex Ghotbi of Phillips in Hong Kong and Geneva respectively, as well as an online bidder in Singapore. At the end it was down to the Singaporean buyer and Mr Ghotbi’s phone bidder, who clinched the watch with a hammer of CHF3.9 million. I wrote just earlier this week that I expected the Grande Sonnerie to sell for between US$4.0-5.0 million, so the result was well within my expectation. While there was talk of a far higher number prior to the sale, a variety of factors led me to that range, including the number of known potential buyers as well as the values of comparable watches. And that was how it turned out.
Hodinkee
The story of one man's journey through the evolution of modern fine watchmaking, told in timepieces.
Quill & Pad
Petite Aiguille is a fun Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève category with a diverse set of contestants offered at a retail price equal to or under 3,500 Swiss francs. These include rising stars anOrdain, Furlan Marri, and independent specialist Massena Lab. Oris is also present here with the chic Divers Sixty-Five Cotton Candy, and Doxa represents the affordable diver corner with a SUB 200 model. Last but not least, there is Ciga Design’s interesting Blue Planet.
Revolution
Max Büsser founder of MB&F; and the M.A.D Gallery along with Wei Koh founder of Revolution and The Rake try to make sense of how and why the M.A.D.1 Pink Dial Project unique piece, created for #ThePinkDialProject shattered all expectations.
Time+Tide
After debating the best watches under $1,000 USD and the best watches from $1,000 – $3,000 USD, the next tier we are going to tackle in our Don’t Miss This series are the best watches from $3K-5K USD. Traditionally speaking, the luxury watch segment really kicks off in the $3000 USD and above price point – … ContinuedThe post Don’t Miss This: Our team debates the best watches from $3K-5K USD appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Revolution
IWC’s Pilot’s Watch family has a long, rich tradition of precision military timekeepers dating back to 1936. From the iconic Mark XI to the revival in the 90s, aviation watches are defined by their legibility and reliability. That’s something that holds true today, whether you’re talking about a modern Top Gun chronograph or a hit limited edition like the Mark XVIII ‘Tribute to Mark XI’.
SJX Watches
Founded by Romanian native Andy Bica-Popi but based in Switzerland, Peren styles itself as a Transylvanian watch brand. The micro-brand’s offerings are characterised by a clean, functional aesthetic, a style encapsulated by the Nera Rogue. Peren’s first dive watch is loosely inspired by the Tornek-Rayville TR-900, a rare and obscure dive watch that’s actually a rebadged Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, which the Swiss watchmaker made for its American agent who in turn supplied them to the US Navy in the 1960s. Utilitarian and cleanly styled, the Nera Rogue takes after the TR-900, which is reflected in the hour markers and bezel, but is evidently not a vintage remake. And in a nod to today’s fashionable colour, the Nera Rogue has dark-green dial. Initial thoughts Granted, the population of micro-brands is ever increasing, especially those making dive watches, but a handful are both interesting and affordable enough to be worth a second look. Since micro-brands typically rely on the same few outsourced movements (often Sellita or Miyota), it falls to design to distinguish one from another. And Peren manages to set itself apart – albeit only on the second try. The Nera Rogue is actually Peren’s second go at the design. What’s really new on the Nera Rogue is actually its bezel – which is the primary element inspired by the TR-900 – while the rest of the watch is actually identical to a past model known as the Nera that was equipped with a smooth, unmarked bezel, m...
Quill & Pad
Ahead of the ninth edition of the biennial Only Watch auction taking place on November 6, 2021 in Geneva, Elizabeth Doerr highlights all 53 of the unique watches going under the hammer.
Quill & Pad
To this day, when most people think about luxury watches they picture a wizened, white-haired man in a white lab coat bent over a workbench against the backdrop of snowy Alps busily filing away at watch parts. It’s a lovely picture, but not very representative of the modern – or even necessarily traditional – watch industry as Elizabeth Doerr explains here.
Hodinkee
One thing's for sure, it's the most fun.
Time+Tide
After debating the best watches under $1,000 USD, the next tier we are going to tackle in our Don’t Miss This series is the $1,000 – $3,000 USD segment. To recap, the team was challenged to nominate a watch, within or under a given price point, that they believe serves as a gateway benchmark for … ContinuedThe post Don’t Miss This: Our team debates the best watches from $1K-3K USD appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
The obvious place to begin this article would be to wax lyrical about Daniel Craig’s performance in this, his last, unintentionally drawn-out yet still seminal outing as the world’s most philandering spy (sorry Austin). But then that would be unfair on the true hero of No Time To Die – 007’s timepiece. Wary a large … ContinuedThe post 5 things to know about No Time To Die and James Bond’s future according to the Omega CEO appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Recently, Ricardo penned the story “The Collector’s Crossroads: Can I call myself a collector if I’ve never owned a Rolex?”. In it, he tackled the question of whether or not a Rolex watch is a required piece for any self-respecting watch collector. After promoting the story on our Instagram profile, we, expectedly, received some interesting … ContinuedThe post Don’t Miss This: Our team debates the best watches under $1,000 USD appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Quill & Pad
Colin Alexander Smith's journey into what some call “watch fettling” began with a case of cat-killing curiosity: one of the subdial hands on a cheap watch had come loose, bringing it to a halt. That led him down a horological rabbit hole. Here he explains why you might want to consider a similar path.
Revolution
The private watch group Collective Horology has teamed up with IWC to create the Pilot’s Chronograph C.03, a watch that the founders of Collective refer to as a love letter to IWC. The pared-back pilot certainly evokes the golden era of Blümlien’s IWC through fine details, but the calibre is much more modern and, surprisingly, on-show through a sapphire back.
Hodinkee
From new takes on the Royal Oak Offshore Diver and Chronograph to a thorough refresh of the Seamaster 300, two watchmaking titans are updating the tried and true.
Quill & Pad
When the Royal Oak Offshore launched in 1993 its timing was perfect: the bolder, larger, louder sibling of the Royal Oak was one of the trailblazers of the oversized watch trend. Nearly three decades later, the line's large sizing has mellowed down a bit. While it never comes close to becoming a dress watch, the Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Chronograph does a mighty fine job of outlining how the complicated future of this collection might evolve.
Time+Tide
If you were to ask me what my favorite complication in watchmaking is, my answer would undoubtedly be the minute repeater. For me, fine watchmaking is about looking into the past and, while a completely unnecessary functionality in the modern world, there is an everlasting charm about a watch that can chime the time. Born … ContinuedThe post INTRODUCING: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater Limited Edition appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Eight years in the making, the Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Westminster Sonnerie – Tribute to Johannes Vermeer is a masterpiece in the truest sense of the word. Reflecting the owner’s taste that is inclined towards the subtle, elegant, and artisanal, the watch is seemingly simple on the front, yet intricately decorated on its circumference and immensely complicated within. But the true art of the watch sits on the hinged case back, which bears a magnificent miniature enamel painting by Anita Porchet that reproduces Vermeer’s ethereal Girl with a Pearl Earring. The idea for this uber pocket watch was first mooted by the owner in 2012, before being formally commissioned in 2013 during the Watches & Wonders fair in Hong Kong. Asked about his motivation in commissioning the watch – and waiting nearly a decade – the owner says, “I wanted to have a watch made, cost-and-time-no-object, that incorporated the ultimate in art – miniature enamel by the greatest practicing enameller – with the most difficult and sublime complication, the true Westminster sonnerie – and that alone – not counting the tourbillon escapement, which to me isn’t a complication.” “No such watch existed prior in the history of watchmaking,” he adds, “The watch came out more magnificent and monumental than I had imagined.” And that pretty much sums up the Vermeer pocket watch, which is unquestionably one of the greatest creations ever to emerge from Les Cabinotiers, a wo...
SJX Watches
The latest from Omega is a surprise: a Speedmaster powered by a new, manual-wind calibre but fitted with a retro-inspired, multi-scale dial. Equipped with the full-spec cal. 9908, the Speedmaster Chronoscope is a 43 mm chronograph with a dial bearing three sets of measurement scales: tachymeter, telemeter, and pulsometer. While the multi-scale dial is modelled on vintage Omega chronographs of the 1940s, the case is classic Speedmaster with its characteristic “twisted” or “lyre” lugs. Initial thoughts The Chronoscope is essentially combines well-known chronographs from two disparate periods in Omega’s history: the multi-scale dial typically associated with the vintage CK 2393 powered by the cal. 33.3 from the 1940s, plus the Speeedmaster case that is a 1960s design. But it is distinctly 21st century in mechanics with the new cal. 9908 inside. While any one of those might be appeal on their own, together they don’t work well. The Speedmaster case design is about three decades older than the multi-scale so it feels incongruent. To be fair, the dial looks to be well executed with good detail and design. The portions of the dial look good and the applied numerals are a nice touch. And pricing is fair as well. But despite the appeal of the individual elements, the whole is less than the sum of the parts. Still, the design makes sense from a broader, commercial perspective since it adds a new look to the stable of designs for the Speedmaster, which is one of Omega...
SJX Watches
Since recruiting Manuel Emch, best known as the former chief executive of Jaquet Droz, to advise on strategy and design, Louis Erard has rolled out interesting collaboration watches at a steady pace. To date, the brand has worked with Alain Silberstein and also Vianney Halter, both of whom added their idiosyncratic flair to the brand’s trademark regulator wristwatch. Now Louis Erard has just unveiled its fourth collaborative edition, the Le Régulateur x atelier oï. This time, however, the brand looked outside the watch industry for aesthetic direction. Founded in 1991, Atelier Oï is a design studio with a diverse repertoire ranging from furniture for Louis Vuitton to perfume bottles for Bulgari. The new regulator is the first wristwatch penned by Atelier Oï. The three founders of Atelier Oï: Aurel Aebi, Armand Louis and Patrick Reymond Initial thoughts Like the earlier collaborative editions, the Le Régulateur x atelier oï is all about design – essentially a new dial to go with the standard case and movement. Strikingly distinctive, the latest regulator is radically minimalist, with the dial doing away with all scales, indices, and branding. The dial markings consist only of straight lines arranged in a radiating spiral that create a hypnotic pattern. At the same time, the radial nature of the lines give the dial an expansive feel. Add to that the industrial, monochromatic finish and the effect is magnificent, evoking the fan-like structures found on cable-s...
SJX Watches
A vintage watch dealer based in Singapore, 2ToneVintage is staging an exhibition that goes down a road less travelled in modern watch collecting – vintage pocket watches instead of the usual fare of wristwatches. The exhibition is open to the public from now till September 30, 2021, but registration is required due to venue capacity limits. Titled The Beginning, the show is made up of several dozen impressive specimens that represent the diversity of pocket watches, ranging from an Ilbery enamel for the Chinese market to a one-off Audemars Piguet grand complication to a Patek Philippe world time with a cloisonné dial. A timeline on the walls of the exhibition charts the development of watchmaking Most of the watches on show belong to Ali Nael, an oil trader who switched careers to found 2ToneVintage. Consequently, a good portion of the exhibition reflects his taste in timepieces – many of the timepieces are mid 20th century watches with elegant two-tone dials in champagne or pink gold. Examples from the early- to mid-20th century dominate the exhibition, with Patek Philippe being the most numerous. The watches largely fall into two categories: simple, time-only watches with delicate details or enamelling, and the highly complicated. Time-only The time-only examples include the Patek Philippe ref. 650 “Flying Saucer” – named after its wide, flat bezel – from 1937 that has a handsome. two-tone contrasting dial. And standing out against the classical style of ...
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