Hodinkee
Best of Watchville: Remembering The Ikepod Megapode
At 47mm in diameter, it's a watch that lives up to its name.
22,297 articles · 2,110 videos found · page 708 of 814
Hodinkee
At 47mm in diameter, it's a watch that lives up to its name.
Revolution
Jean-Claude Biver helps us answer the one and only pivotal question: What must the watch industry do now, to survive?
SJX Watches
Akrivia, and by extension its founder Rexhep Rexhepi, became a star in independent watchmaking with the launch of the Chronometre Contemporain in 2018, a unique version of which went on to sell for 360,000 Swiss francs at charity auction Only Watch. While its success was recent, the brand was actually founded in 2012, having made its debut with the AK series, characterised by a wholly-different aesthetic, one that Rexhep himself describes as a startup’s attempt to make an impression. The bridge between the twin collections of Akrivia – the contemporary AK series and the classical Chronometre Contemporain – is the AK-06. It’s powered by a variant of the movement found in the Chronometre Contemporain, but enhanced by doing away with the dial to reveal the under-dial mechanics, but installed inside an AK-style case, albeit one that’s been redesigned and streamlined. The AK-06 in titanium (left) and steel Beyond being a blend of both Akrivia styles – the best of both worlds if you like the case design – the AK-06 is perhaps historically significant, being the last of the first-generation Akrivia models, since Rexhep has indicated the AK series will eventually feature a wholly new case design. But whatever you think of the case, the movement of the AK-06 is absolutely marvellous. In fact, it is arguably more compelling than the similar calibre in the Chronometre Contemporain, because with the AK-06 all of its engaging mechanics are revealed on the front. AK case...
SJX Watches
Phillips Perpetual has just unveiled its sartorial collaboration with The Armoury – a special edition of the City Hunter 2 jacket, a bestseller at the menswear retailer founded by Mark Cho (who once had the misfortune of buying a stolen F.P. Journe and then wrote a story about it). More importantly, the entirety of the proceeds from the sale of the jackets go to the COVID-Solidarity Response Fund set up by the World Health Organisation (WHO). As the London-based watch boutique of the eponymous auction house, Phillips Perpetual offers a selection of timepieces available for immediate purchase, a proposition meant to fill the gap between the traditional bi-annual watch auctions according to its founder James Marks, a hedge fund manager turned watch specialist. The Phillips Perpetual x The Armoury City Hunter 2 is its first offering beyond watches – and will support a good cause. A meld of several traditional European hunting jacket styles, the City Hunter 2 jacket is made of knitted jersey, essentially tightly-woven wool that is slightly stretchy and notably robust. The jacket is unlined and has a “seamless construction” where the fabric panels are joined edge to edge, giving it a relaxed fit. It’s usually available in dark blue, grey, or olive green with matching stitching, but the Phillips Perpetual version is in dark grey-houndstooth fabric with a contrasting white stitching. And perhaps more pertinently, Francois-Paul Journe himself wears a City Hunter jacke...
SJX Watches
On April Fools’ Day last year, H. Moser & Cie. published a doctored image of a watch with an all-black dial missing hands, a riff on its watches with blacker-than-black dials. The hoax watch turned into something of a hit, which has led to the latest trio of limited editions, the Vantablack Black Hands – which will also be available online directly from the brand. All three watches – ranging from a stainless-steel base model to a limited-edition tourbillon – feature dials coated in Vantablack, a high-tech coating that absorbs almost all incident light – making it extremely and almost absolutely black – matched with black-coated hands. Because the coating on the hands is more of a dark grey, and also glossy, the hands do actually stand apart from the dial, appearing to be suspended in nothing because the dial is so black. The Endeavour Tourbillon with the reflection being on the crystal, rather than the dial Venturer Vantablack Black Hands XL in steel Invented by a spin-off from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, Vantablack is made up of carbon nanotubes arranged vertically, like a surface covered in really fine fur. The carbon nanotubes absorb 99.965% of incident light, resulting in a surface that resembles a deep, dark hole, which is an quirky and strangely appealing finish for a watch dial. Even though other substances are even blacker than Vantablack – with the record held by an MIT invention from 2019 – Vantablack is the best-known...
Revolution
It’s been 23 years since Montblanc first began to develop timepieces. The 1858 collection of this year shows just how far it’s come.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Based on Delma’s Shell Star collection, the Delma Oceanmaster Antarctica is 44mm in diameter with a 13.8mm case height. It looks… bananas, and something about it just makes me want to finally buy a boat.
Time+Tide
Dive watches have come a very long way in 55 years. It was 1965 when Seiko first dipped their toe into the waters of serious dive watches when they released the Seiko automatic 6217 62MAS, water resistant to 150m. Featuring large luminous hands and hour markers, a rotating dive 60-minute bezel and a rubber strap, … ContinuedThe post HANDS-ON: The Seiko SPB149J appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Hodinkee
$55,000 awarded to watchmaking schools and students across the USA.
Time+Tide
The bund strap needs to stay in the past.The post NOT ON MY WATCH: Please stop with the Bund strap, it is just terrible appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Deployant
Greubel Forsey presents an extension to its QP à Équation with a new model in a 5N red gold millesime with a chocolate coloured gold dial.
Quill & Pad
It seems a bit ironic to Ken Gargett that, as the world goes into an unprecedented lockdown to deal with the novel coronavirus pandemic, he reviews a wine, the Yalumba The Caley Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2014, which celebrates one of the most peripatetic members of the wine industry. Yet here we are.
Time+Tide
I expect we’ve all been there. A special occasion rolls around - Valentine’s Day, Christmas - and you buy your partner a gift. He or she does the same for you. And, shock horror. They ain’t equitable. They ain’t even close. This sets the scene for episode two of the second series of Every Watch Tells A … ContinuedThe post EVERY WATCH TELLS A STORY: A gifting fail gave Alex his TAG Heuer and, a little down the track, a wife appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
There are many talented and passionate people in the watch industry. People whose daily work for their brand goes far beyond a job. Too many to mention. Watches, after all, attract and retain a certain type of person. And if you don’t love watches, to your very core, the daily task of singly focusing on … ContinuedThe post Bored? Enjoy the power and the passion of Omega Museum Director Petros Protopapas in this incredible video from our vault appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
If we’re considering new brands coming onto the scene, this watch is pretty atypical compared to the wave of 1000m divers you’ll find on Kickstarter.
Time+Tide
Last week’s Celebrity Death Match was an absolute juggernaut, as we pitted Jay–Z’s watch collection against Drake’s in a hip-hop heavyweight showdown. And while Hova clearly decimated Champagne Papi’s collection, this week’s fight to the death is set to be one for the ages. We’re really ramping it up a notch, swapping out spitting bars … ContinuedThe post CELEBRITY DEATH MATCH: John Mayer Vs. Ed Sheeran appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
The mini watchfast challenge is over, and Kaz & Mike reflect on their learnings in this week’s episode. Plus, there’s a ton of new stuff on the site - including a Nodus review and a few press releases you won’t want to miss.
SJX Watches
French watchmaker Cyril Brivet-Naudot made his debut two years ago with the Eccentricity, a time-only watch that’s fascinating and impressive on many fronts. Not only is it almost entirely made by hand, the Eccentricity is intriguing in design and mechanics – from the overall architecture to details like the key-winding mechanism and regulator-style time display with a twist, and above all, the proprietary escapement. Just 29 years old, Mr Brivet-Naudot began working on the Eccentricity after graduating from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), one of Switzerland’s best technical universities. Prior to that, he earned a diploma in watchmaking from the Lycée Edgar Faure in Morteau, a small town in eastern France that borders Switzerland. The school has gained a reputation for producing imaginative watchmakers, many pursuing a similar style that’s inspired by 19th century pocket watch movements, including Theo Auffret, a peer of Mr Brivet-Naudot. The result of three years of development, the Eccentricity is very much in the same vein as the watches produced by Mr Brivet-Naudot’s fellow graduates. It artfully combines a 19th century aesthetic sensibility with exotic features, including a novel, free-eccentric escapement, for which the watch was named. And it is built by hand: with the exception of the mainspring, hairspring, jewels and crystals, every component of the watch was made from scratch by Mr Brivet-Naudot, without the aid of CNC machine...
Time+Tide
DOXA’s revival is something easily missed if you’re not paying close attention. Vintage-inspired or re-issued dive watches aren’t exactly selling for double the retail price due to lack of supply, but this DOXA SUB 200 isn’t just another trendy microbrand with an aesthetic and a good marketing team. When determining the legacy of a watchmaker, … ContinuedThe post IN-DEPTH: The DOXA SUB 200 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
I don’t know how many times I’ve introduced a new segment, column or series on Time+Tide over the last six years. But I’d be prepared to bet that at least half the time, I’ve opened the post about it with these words: “Sorry, this took a long while to get to you. Good things take … ContinuedThe post MICRO MONDAYS: Introducing a new weekly series starring the world’s best microbrands, kicking off with William Wood Watches! appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
A crisis can often prove the catalyst for change. Amid the chaos, we’re forced to rethink how we do things - often with positive results. The First World War, for example, had a radical impact in redefining civil liberties, race relations and women’s rights. It’s way too early to untangle the full impact of the coronavirus … ContinuedThe post As of today, you can buy Patek Philippe online. Will COVID-19 force more brands into e-commerce? appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Well, the results are in for the inaugural round of Celebrity Watch Death Match, and everything is coming up not just roses for Jay-Z, but “Rose Gold Concepts”. Which the man himself raps about in ‘Summer’ from the Everything Is Love album, a reference to his Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph in 18KT Rose Gold. Hove smashed Drizzy … ContinuedThe post CELEBRITY WATCH DEATH MATCH: Jay-Z Vs. Drake’s watch collection – and the winner is… appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
When it comes to the dress code for our post-apocalyptic future, the Mad Max films wrote the rulebook. Essentially, what they prescribe is an “anything goes” approach involving heavy use of asymmetrical shoulder pads, harnesses, gratuitous cargo pockets and lots and lots of leather. The presumed rationale behind such get-ups is that, when you’re trying … ContinuedThe post In these crazy times, Hamilton’s quirky sci-fi release makes perfect sense appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Rumours were percolating for some time that Audemars Piguet was going to unveil a vintage-inspired watch to mark the opening of its recently-finished, hairspring-shaped museum. But when the Audemars Piguet [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph 40 mm was revealed, it was still surprising. In the metal, the “remastered” watch is appealing; it looks good and the execution is impressively high quality in all aspects. The dial in particularly is sharply done, with even the tiniest details done right. And the movement inside is modern – and looks modern – but is impeccably constructed. But at the same time, the watch is a bit thick, and also expensive. The [Re]master01 in steel and 18k pink gold The ref. 1533 As with many reissued or “remastered” timepieces, the inspiration for the [Re]master01 is a well-known and well-documented watch: the ref. 1533, a chronograph wristwatch produced in the 1940s. It was 36.5 mm in diameter, extra-large for the period, and a three-counter chronograph, instead of the two registers typical then. Only nine of them were made, three with two-tone, steel-and-gold cases. The archive photograph of the ref. 1533. Photo – Audemars Piguet Two examples of the steel-and-gold ref. 1533 were sold in recent years at Phillips auctioneers, both setting price records for the most expensive vintage AP chronograph sold at auction. The first sold for 305,000 Swiss francs in 2015 – going to the Audemars Piguet Museum – and the second, 384,500 franc...
WatchAdvice
In 2018, the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M celebrated its 25th anniversary since the first release back in 1993. To celebrate this momentous occasion for one of the brands popular range, Omega gave the Seamaster Diver 300M a complete changeover while still retaining some of the design cues from the original model. The original 1993 Omega Seamaster 300M was introduced as a replacement for the Seamaster 200M model. Jean-Claude Biver cleverly marketed the original 1993 Omega Seamaster Diver 300M to raise the popularity of the model quite a bit, by having James Bond wear it in the 1995 film ‘Goldeneye’. Since the first Seamaster Diver 300M, there have been four generations of models including the latest 25th-anniversary release. Almost all generations kept the same design cues with changes coming from different materials and movements. From first glance, the most notable changes throughout the four generations are the case sizing and the bezel design. The bezel seems to get larger numerals in each of the latest generations. Design: The 25th-anniversary edition has a laser-cut wave pattern dial, similar to the 300M model released by Omega in 2006. The latest version, however, has more prominent waves, making them much more easily visible. The wave pattern certainly adds a unique look to the dial while drawing attention to what the watch is really about. Even with the wave pattern, however, the dial is still easily legible. This is thanks to the rhodium-plated hour indexes ...
Quill & Pad
Swedish boutique brand GoS may be inspired by Viking aesthetics and Scandinavian northern lights, but the appeal of its timepieces to the watch collecting community is global. And now the first of only five GoS Skadi models, named for the Norse goddess of winter, is on its way to its happy owner in the USA. What makes this watch so special? Anders Modig reports.
Time+Tide
Good news is about as rare these days as a Hodinkee Limited Edition, especially the cache of their Limited Editions they released at retail this week as a goodwill gesture. But we do have some to make your Friday feel a little less surreal. Two months after the ‘Watch & Act!’ Auction had its glorious … ContinuedThe post FRIDAY WIND DOWN: Feat. Celebrity Death Match, Notorious Robberies and Every Watch Tells A Story returns! appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
This week we were lucky enough to have a number of the latest releases from Seiko and Grand Seiko in the office, and we put the call out to Time+Tide readers to find out the questions they had about these new pieces. If you missed the Q&A; on Instagram stories (you can still find them … ContinuedThe post Your questions about the 2020 Seiko and Grand Seiko collections are answered here appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Last month IWC premiered a limited edition that has all the qualities of a hit: a bestselling classic in an exotic material, made in a very small run – and also incorporating nerdy, collector-oriented details. Instead, the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Black Carbon was debuted quietly, delivered to clients, and pretty much went unnoticed around the world. The first ever Big Pilot with a carbon fibre composite case, the Big Pilot Black Carbon has a black dial with grey hands and markings, replicating the colour of the composite case. It’s livened up by red accents on the power reserve indicator and seconds hand (and also the date disc, for a small number of special watches, more on that below). The famous “fish” More unusually, the Big Pilot Black Carbon has a “fish” crown – the oversized, onion-shaped winding crown has a stylised fish logo on its top. Despite being a seemingly trivial detail, the “fish” crown is dear to IWC enthusiasts, being a memorable element from IWC’s 20th century history – one many collectors regard as a golden age. From the 1950s until the mid-2000s, most water-resistant IWC watches featured a “fish” crown. The very first generation of the Big Pilot, the ref. 5002 introduced in 2002, featured a “fish” crown. Not long after, the “fish” crown was dispensed with in favour of a crown featuring the IWC “Probus Scafusia” emblem. This happened sometime in 2006, first with a “transitional” ref. 5002 that was equi...
SJX Watches
Following the faithful and well-received Navitimer 806 and AVI Ref. 765 1953 re-editions – both very much instruments for pilots back in the day – Breitling has now recreated a distinctly different watch from the archives – the Top Time “Zorro”. And while the new Top Time takes its cues from the past, it will be sold entirely online via Breitling’s website, at least initially. Produced from the 1960s to the 1970s, the Top Time was Breitling’s simpler and more affordable line of chronographs designed to appeal to younger buyers – which is also the rationale behind the new remake. Unlike the Chronomat or Navitimer, which were mostly no-nonsense tools equipped with slide-rule bezels for pilots to do in-flight navigation, the Top Time did away with the slide-rule bezel and relied on a more generic style emblematic of the era. The Top Time limited edition Despite being an entry-level mode, the original Top Time had a starring appearance on the big screen: a Top Time ref. 2002, with a “reverse panda” dial and a fictional Geiger counter, was worn by Sean Connery in Thunderball. The very watch worn in the movie sold for £103,875 at Christie’s in 2013, not long after surfacing at a car boot sale where it was purchased for £25. While the “panda” or “reverse panda” variants are arguably the iconic versions of the Top Time, the new remake is modelled on the more unusual Top Time ref. 2003 equipped with a gold-plated case and “Zorro” dial (or the r...
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