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Gérald Genta's overnight 1971 sketch that invented the luxury steel sports watch.
Every AP Royal Oak: 5402ST A-Series, 14790, 15400, 15500, 15510, Jumbo 15202 / 16202, Chronograph 26240.
Deployant
I typically associate DeLaneau as a jewellery watch company. Mea Culpa, they are not only about jewellery, but also about high horology, as evidenced by their Amazone 1608 collection of unique artwork pieces, with an interesting movement. I show here a trio of interesting ladies timepieces… The movement is based on the Federic Piguet 11.50,Read More
Revolution
From royal inspiration to rock ‘n’ roll hat-doffs, this year’s art-inspired collectibles are an extravagant and eclectic bunch. Here are four of our favorites. Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Panther with Granulation Cartier is fast emerging as a crafts revivalist, having shone the spotlight on long-forgotten art forms such as miniature mosaic and plique-à-jour paillonné enameling […]
Revolution
With November 9th (Skyfall’s release date) around the corner and gentlemen worldwide engaging in ardent debates (we imagine) over Her Royal Majesty’s choice of timepiece for the British Navy and Special Air Services, we have been hard at work to uncover definitive information on the diver’s watch wars. The two traditional camps have always been […]
SJX Watches
The Patek Philippe Star Caliber 2000 stands as one of the most technically ambitious pocket watches of the modern era. Launched to mark the turn of the millennium, it was the fourth most complicated watch in the world at its debut, but its true significance lies not in numbers, but in the ingenuity of its mechanisms, which redefined how grand complications could be conceived, engineered, and executed. An original complete set of four Star Caliber 2000 watches is being offered for sale by Sotheby’s at its first-ever watch auction in Abu Dhabi, which takes place in December. The first complete set to ever appear publicly, the sale will likely draw significant attention from collectors and institutions alike. The technical significance of the Star Caliber 2000 The Star Caliber 2000 was and is a remarkable achievement in watchmaking, but it was never the world’s most complicated watch. When it debuted, the Star Caliber 2000 ranked fourth in the official tally of complications, behind the Patek Philippe’s own Caliber 89 and the famous Henry Graves Super Complication from 1932, as well as the lesser-known Leroy 01 from 1904. Over the past quarter century, the Star Caliber 2000 has fallen down the rankings as more complicated watches, for both the pocket and the wrist, have been developed by Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet. But the Star Caliber 2000 should not be judged solely by this kind of ranking, which is largely superficial. The watch is packed with a number o...
Teddy Baldassarre
The Casio AE1200 World Time watch aka the Casio Royale is one of the most beloved and functionally robust watches on the market, digital or otherwise. The world map display on the dial along with that circular “analog” subdial have captured the imagination and wrist real estate of so many enthusiasts over the years who find themselves caught between the relative hassle of a mechanical world time watch and the malaise onset by an over-reliance on smart phones. You can trace this watch back nearly 40 years to the Casio “Twin-Graph” AE-20 and AE-200 watches, which had an LCD screen that was divided into both analog-style and digital display sections. Also released just shortly after in 1987 was the W-50U, which had a world-map display on the screen. In 2012 we saw the launch of the Casio AE1200 which has gone on to be one of the most beloved and popular digital watches out there. The "Casio Royale" So, why is the watch referred to as the Casio Royale? Well, it’s actually a pretty flimsy explanation but the name has certainly stuck. In the 1983 James Bond movie Octopussy, Roger Moore wears a Seiko G757 Sports 100 watch that gets a lot of closeup screen time. The resemblance between the Casio AE1200 and the Seiko G757 is uncanny so it’s not hard to see why fans connected the two. And, of course, the name Casio Royale is also a playful reference to “Casino Royale,” another Bond movie. And while “Casio” and “Casino” aren’t exactly orthographic neighbors,...
Teddy Baldassarre
Before getting into the CasiOak, let's revisit some brand history. Japan’s Casio, renowned as the producer of the world’s first portable electronic calculator, released its first watch, the quartz-powered Casiotron, in 1974. But it wasn’t until 1983 that the electronics giant really made an impact on the timepiece world with the introduction of the first G-Shock. Conceived by Casio engineer Kikuo Ibe, who had experienced the loss of the beloved pocket watch his father had given him after he accidentally dropped it on a hard floor, the G-Shock was positioned from the beginning to be the world’s toughest watch, and the first to use urethane rubber in its construction. From the original DW5000-C (recent version pictured above), with its rectangular case, all-digital LCD timekeeping display, and quartz movement with 10-year battery life, sprang an extensive family of G-Shocks, which by the time of the model’s 40th anniversary in 2023 would include both digital and analog-digital models as well as a variety of high-tech case materials. In 2019, the G-Shock family tree added a branch that made fans of a certain type of high-end sport-luxury timepiece stand up and take notice - namely the so-called “CasiOak” models (below), whose roots, it could be argued, reach back not only farther than the first G-Shock but even farther than the Casiotron. Why "CasiOak?" It was a Swiss luxury watch, as groundbreaking in its own way as the G-Shock, that ultimately paved the w...
Fratello
You blink once and it’s Sunday again, folks! Get ready for another battle royale between two competitive offerings from different brands. This week, we’ll pit two rather different watches against each other. These aren’t necessarily directly comparable except for one distinguishing feature - twice the number of crowns you usually get. Daan takes the red […] Visit Sunday Morning Showdown: Mido Multifort 8 Two Crowns Vs. Baltic Aquascaphe Dual-Crown to read the full article.
Worn & Wound
A few years ago, I bought my first luxury watch on eBay, an Omega Seamaster Professional Diver 300m ref. 2220.80.00. It was a watch I had first noticed on the wrist of Daniel Craig in Casino Royale over a decade earlier, and one which I had coveted. I spent way too much money on it, and accidentally (eBay defaulted to the wrong payment method) used my parents’ credit card to buy the watch. It was a boneheaded move, compounded by eBay’s then-nascent authentication program taking over two months to actually get the watch to me. But don’t worry, I did pay my parents back in relatively short order and eventually got the watch. And I got a fun story out of it that I am unlikely to soon forget. I would posit that many of us have similar stories about how we wound up making our first big watch purchase. Benoit de Clerck, who introduced himself to me as Ben, certainly does. “My first salary was a camera, a Nikon - you know, these old cameras and all that - but my second salary was an IWC Pilot’s Watch, 3706, and the story is, I did not have enough money to pay for it.” “So I paid it part on my credit card; part on cash; borrowed money from friends, brothers, sister, and friends; and post-dated checks,” he told me, “And the guy had never seen someone who wanted to do that for a watch, and of course, I wanted that watch now, obviously.” You might be amazed to know that Ben walked out of the boutique that day with his watch. “The owner of that store took a r...
Time+Tide
We answer the latest team battle royale question - what are our favourite watch brand logos?The post The Time+Tide team picks their favourite watch brand logos appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Today, Vacheron Constantin has announced a specially commissioned piece by the Les Cabinotiers workshop, the Armillary Tourbillon conceived for the coach-built Rolls-Royce Amethyst Droptail. Designed in collaboration with a client of both the watch brand and carmaker, the double-axis tourbillon pocket watch is mounted on the wood-panelled dash of the one-of-a-kind coupe that reputedly cost about €25 million. The Amethyst Droptail. Image – Rolls-Royce. Initial thoughts While the watch itself is interesting considering the movement (though it existed in wristwatch form already), perhaps the most noteworthy part of this watch is the collaboration between two establishment brands. Obviously, such a coming-together would never have been possible if it wasn’t for the owner who is known to be the biggest client of Rolls-Royce. In fact, it is also believed that the very same client just completed a very similar project with Rolls-Royce and Audemars Piguet, which created a removable Royal Oak Concept Chronograph mounted in the dash the La Rose Noire Droptail (and word has it that there are two more Droptails on the way for the same owner). The Audemars Piguet unique piece that was created for the owner’s other coach-built Droptail. Image- Rolls-Royce. La Rose Noire Droptail. Image – Rolls-Royce It is great to see commissions such as this being carried out by companies like Vacheron Constantin, which given its success and size could easily pass on such requests. The brand...
Time+Tide
Back in the centuries where pocket watches were the pinnacle of horology, experimentation was rife. Among the watches of royalty were incredible complications, calendars, automatons and glorious decorations – and occasionally even double-sided displays. For something encased in solid metal and kept in a soft pocket, it wasn’t too much of a stretch of the … ContinuedThe post The first double-faced watch wasn’t made by the brand you expect appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Teddy Baldassarre
The Smiths Watch Company traces its history all the way back to 1851, the year that its founder, Samuel Smith, Sr., opened his watch and clock shop on Newington Causeway in London. Like other horological concerns in the late 19th Century, the family firm, originally dubbed S. Smith & Sons, specialized in pocket watches. It was quite successful, eventually moving its headquarters to a larger venue on London’s bustling Strand and opening shops in the fashionable Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square marketplaces. By the early 20th Century, S. Smith & Sons had staked out a substantial spot in British watchmaking history, producing in 1900 the groundbreaking “mileometer,” a device that combined a speedometer and an odometer; and becoming a trusted purveyor of timepieces and other instruments to the Royal Family in 1904, when King Edward VII commissioned a speedometer from the firm for his personal Mercedes motorcar. It was the rise of the automobile, in fact, that brought Smiths much of its expansion in the coming decades. Another company, Smiths Motor Accessories, opened up in 1914, run by Samuel Smith Sr.’s grandson Allan Gordon Smith, which produced carburetors, speedometers, and other accessories for the growing automotive industry. With the onset of the First World War, the company also started making onboard instruments for aircraft and fuses for bombs. The Smiths added another offshoot company, devoted to making English clocks, in 1931, and acquired, among other fi...
Teddy Baldassarre
Spotting and identifying watches worn in movies is one of the most popular pastimes among wristwatch aficionados as well as serious cinephiles. Most of the time, such watches serve largely as props, elements of a character’s wardrobe and/or equipment that help to define who that character is: who could forget, for example, Steve McQueen's Heuer Monaco in Le Mans or Daniel Craig's Omega Seamaster in Casino Royale? Every so often, a timepiece plays a more pivotal storytelling role, as was the case of a very recognizable, albeit harshly damaged Jaeger-LeCoultre watch in the 2016 Marvel film Doctor Strange, and more recently in its sequel, 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the title character in the movie, world-renowned neurosurgeon Doctor Stephen Strange, and in classic Marvel origin-story tradition, the first time we meet him he is anything but heroic. While he uses his brilliant mind and skilled hands to save lives, his motivation for doing so tends to be more financial than altruistic. He turns down patients who can’t afford his enormous fees, treats co-workers callously, and generally embraces the high-end trappings that his fame and wealth affords him, including a Lamborghini and a drawer full of high-end timepieces meticulously mounted on winder cuffs- among them, according to sharp-eyed viewers, a Rolex Daytona and TAG Heuer Monaco. The watch that Strange appears to hold in particularly high regard is the one ...
Hodinkee
I picked up the G-Shock GA2100SKE-7A with warm weather in mind. How's it doing so far?
Quill & Pad
“I take a ridiculous pleasure in what I eat and drink,” James Bond says to Vesper Lynd in Ian Fleming’s first 007 novel, 'Casino Royale.' And so starts the adventures, not solely libationary and culinary, of one of the great fictional characters in the world. Rarely has anyone, fictional or not, influenced the eating and drinking habits of humanity to the extent managed by MI6’s finest. Ken Gargett takes a look at a few of Bond's favorite tipples, and there were quite a few.
Time+Tide
OK, I am not going to pretend this show was part of my television diet, but Keeping up with the Kardashians has undoubtedly been a world phenomenon over the past 15 years it has aired. The Kardashian family is practically royalty in the United States with many devoted fans supporting their respective businesses and endeavours. … ContinuedThe post Kardashian family splashes out 300K on Rolex watches as gifts to film crew after final season of KUWTK wraps appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
A “new old stock” Rolex or Patek Philippe from the 1950s is a marvel. So this Jehan Cremsdorff pocket watch – which was made around 1650, making it almost 370 years old – is miraculous. So incredible is the Cremsdorff that for pocket watch collectors, the last time it was sold was a landmark event; the watch was the “Bao Dai” or “Paul Newman” or Grandmaster Chime “Only Watch” of the 1980s. Part of the epic collection of pocket watches owned by a late German billionaire, which also includes the George Daniels Space Traveller I, the Cremsdorff watch is an incredible object that has been mysteriously well preserved over the centuries, with only minimal restoration to the enamel. Though little is known about him, Jehan Cremsdorff was a watchmaker active in Paris during the late 17th century. Its immensely elaborate enamel work indicates Cremsdorff probably made the watch for a royal or noble client; the identity of the original owner is lost to time, but the watch came from Sweden when it was first sold publicly. Made of thin sheets of gold, the case is entirely enamelled, inside and out, an artistic accomplishment that was done by a now unknown Parisian enameller. The outer case is decorated with champleve and relief enamel, forming a remarkably intricate and vivid flower motif. And for good measure the outer case is also set with diamonds on both sides. The inside faces of the case are finished in a brilliant turquoise enamel that’s been...
Revolution
All the clever, novel watches with fresh complications – from the likes of Manufacture Royale, Jaquet Droz and Chanel – will enjoy deep coverage from the rest of our team, so I gave myself a different task: pick the five that I’d purchase with my own cash. It doesn’t get more honest than that.
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