Hodinkee
In-Depth: The F. P. Journe Astronomic Souveraine
From prototype to production.
23,212 articles · 2,576 videos found · page 777 of 860
Hodinkee
From prototype to production.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Well, the guys made it - 150 episodes. To commemorate this milestone, Kaz and Mike sit down to answer your questions. So here it is. A full hour and a half of Q&A; goodness covering everything from watch collecting to grails, guitar gear, career paths, spooning, and more.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
The Laco Aachen Blaue Stunde 42 looks and feels great on the wrist while also having a good feature set for affordable everyday wear (plus it doesn’t take itself as seriously as one might assume).
SJX Watches
While the first instalment of highlights in Phillips’ upcoming Hong Kong auction covered mostly complicated watches, this is a look at the simpler and sportier stuff. A good number of the sports watches are in First, the opening session of the sale that is made up of watches consigned by the original owners. Some of these watches are distinguished by thorough historical documentation, as with the Rolex Submariner ref. 5512 below that includes several photographs of the original owner wearing the watch. And the rest of the sale also includes a few gems that are not exceptionally valuable, but attractive in both style and price. One example is the Vacheron Constantin ref. 6378Q automatic in white gold, with a diamond-marker dial to boot. This is part two of the highlights; you can find part one here. And the full catalogue is available on Phillips.com. The 6378Q First lot 813 – Cartier Crash Radieuse Launched last year, the Radieuse is one of just a handful of limited edition versions of Cartier’s iconic asymmetric watch. It takes the “crash” theme literally – the case and dial feature a radiating shockwave motif that starts on the dial and continues on the case, which has a relief, concentrically lined surface. The case is 18k yellow gold, while the crown is set with a brilliant-cut diamond. And inside is a small hand-wound movement made by Jaeger-LeCoultre. And in a big plus for potential Asian buyers, the watch is numbered “08/50”. Purchased from one of Ca...
SJX Watches
Launched last year in steel with a blue or silver dial (and also in 18k rose gold), the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time is now available in the most obvious dial colour – black. Though not readily discernible in photos, the new black dial is made up of glossy, translucent black lacquer over a sunburst-brushed surface, giving it a slightly nuanced colour that’s similar to that found on the Overseas Perpetual Calendar with a blue lacquer dial. And because the minute track is printed on a matte, granular chapter ring, the result is a subtle, two-tone dial. Dial aside the watch is identical to the earlier Overseas Dual Time. Home time is indicated by a red-tipped hour hand in the centre, which is in turn linked to the day and night display at nine o’clock. The second time zone is set via the crown, but the quickset corrector for the date function is operated via a screw-down pusher at four o’clock. It’s powered by the 5110 DT, a variation of the brand’s workhorse automatic movement that is widely used throughout the Overseas line. As with all Overseas watches, the 5110 DT has a solid gold rotor cast in the form of a compass rose. The under-dial view of the movement, showing the levers and springs that control the day and night display (at 10 o’clock), and the date (at four o’clock) And the case includes the quick-release strap mechanism that’s standard across the Overseas range. A small tab easily releases the bracelet or strap, allowing for a rapid s...
SJX Watches
Panerai’s new launches this year have so far been inclined towards civilian sports – including the Luna Rossa trio and Mike Horn edition – which is a key part of chief executive Jean-Marc Pontroué’s strategy that also emphasises “experiences”. But with its two new launches – the Radiomir California 47mm (PAM 931) and Radiomir 8 Days 45mm (PAM 992) – the brand returns to the old school Marina Militare style – both have a familiar look that’s heavily inspired by wristwatches Panerai made for frogmen of the Italian navy in the 1930s and 1940s. Radiomir California 47mm PAM00931 Notably, both watches have steel cases with an “aged patina effect”, essentially a surface coating that reproduces the look of the vintage originals. The Radiomir California 47mm (PAM00931) revisits a design that Panerai has reproduced several times in the past – modelled on the ref. 3646 of the 1930s – but now with a “tropical” dial in graduated brown that mimics the look of aged dials on vintage Radiomir watches. It has Roman numerals on the upper half and Arabic numbers on the bottom, a design originally meant to aid legibility by clearly distinguishing the upper and lower halves of the dial. The crystal is domed PlexiGlas, while the movement is the extra-large, hand-wound P.3000 with a three-day power reserve. The second model is slightly more interesting, since the design is more novel (in other words having not been done before, at least in the exact same con...
Time+Tide
There’s a pretty strong case to be made that Mr Jean-Claude Biver is one of, if not the most influential individual in the horological industry of the last half-a-century. Here is a man who cut his teeth at Audemars Piguet and witnessed first-hand the development of the now legendary Royal Oak. A man who would … ContinuedThe post RECOMMENDED WATCHING: Jean-Claude Biver’s unbelievable watch collection appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
Summer is now thankfully just around the corner, which means we can ditch the black on black garb and finally bring some colour back into our lives and, more importantly, onto our wrists. And luckily, we’re now stocking DOXA’s entire collection of colourful timepieces, including the SUB 200, SUB 300T and SUB 1500T. These watches … ContinuedThe post 5 fresh summer flavours for a DOXA summer appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Cartier has just announced Cartier Care, an online platform to enhance its client service, most notably with the debut of an extended, eight-year warranty for all watches. Cartier Care was rolled out quietly last year on a small scale when it was offered only to buyers of the new Santos de Cartier wristwatch, but is now offered to all clients. The programme includes a complimentary battery swap that replaces existing batteries with a new generation of extended-life batteries, as well as services like bracelet sizing, all of which can be arranged online. Additionally, Cartier is working on growing the range of services to include personalisation of various items, ranging from engraving on watch case backs to the embossing of initials on jewel boxes. But most significant is the extended warranty, which started on November 12, 2019. In order to received an extended warranty, watch owners have to register on the Cartier Care website. All watches that are still under the original warranty of two years are eligible for a warranty of up to eight years in total. Specifically, it means the warranty extension is an additional six years, on top of the original two. To register and find out more, visit Cartier Care.
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.
Time+Tide
Editor’s note: The Rolex Milgauss is a distinctly underrated timepiece. In fact, it may be one of the most forgotten-about models in Rolex’s current Professional line-up. And many of us thought leading up to Baselworld this year that it may well be discontinued, due to Rolex parading the Milgauss all over their social platforms and … ContinuedThe post Rediscovering the Rolex Milgauss Z-Blue appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
As much as it pains me to say it, for most people out there, spending anything more than a few hundred dollars for a wristwatch is a faintly absurd idea. However – as I’m sure most people reading this will agree – once you get bitten by the particularly costly watch bug, all of a … ContinuedThe post 3 great steel sports watches for under $3K appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Returning for the fifth time, Dubai Watch Week (DWW) will take place from November 20-24, once again at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a sprawling complex of offices, shops, restaurants, and three hotels, which is entirely self contained, making a visit to DWW easy to plan. As is tradition, the event includes exhibitions, watchmaking classes, and talks. Amongst the speakers will be Masayuki Hirota, an eminent Japanese watch journalist and the editor of Chronos Japan, who will be speaking about Grand Seiko. And DWW once again includes the Horology Forum, a series of panel discussions that take place daily. Panellists this year include journalists like Ariel Adams of aBlogtoWatch, watchmakers like Philippe Dufour and Stephen Forsey; brand chiefs including Karl-Friedrich Scheufele of Chopard, Jean-Claude Biver of LVMH, and Benoit Minitiens of Ressence; as well as watch collectors like San Francisco-based Jeffrey Kingston, and Aldis Hodge, an American actor who is also a jury member of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve. And naturally the speakers’ roster also includes prominent local personalities, including collector Hamdan Al Hudaidi and Mohammed Abdulmagied Seddiqi, chief commercial officer of Seddiqi Holding, the parent company of DWW’s organiser. A panel session at DWW 2018 And some newcomers Rolex is taking part for the first time in DWW, and bringing along with it the Oyster Perpetual Submariner exhibition, a series of displays within a sh...
Time+Tide
I have always found it strange that the majority of watch brands, who rely so heavily on their long history to market their watches, also make it very difficult for collectors to access any information on vintage pieces from that same brand. Admittedly, there are several brands that are able to provide interested owners with … ContinuedThe post 8 incredible vintage watches from Vacheron Constantin Les Collectionneurs appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Deployant
NOMOS picks up the pace with adding sports models to its successful bauhaus classics with the new Tangente Sport Neomatik 42 Date Marine. Possibly a response to the strong market demand for beater timepieces, NOMOS's new sports watch comes with a new bracelet and can now dive to 1000 ft.
Time+Tide
Editor’s note: Whether we like to admit it or not, professional watch modifiers are here to stay. And we can almost understand why - if you want to be an individualist in a sea of ostensible regularity, imparting your own touch on an otherwise middle of the road item can be enjoyable. But what about … ContinuedThe post Taking another look at the TAG Heuer Monaco Bamford appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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. ...
SJX Watches
Just days after the F.P. Journe Astronomic Blue made for Only Watch 2019 sold for a record 1.8m Swiss francs, the watchmaker has unveiled the regular production version of the same – the Astronomic Souveraine. While the last unique F.P. Journe produced for Only Watch eventually made into production in a significantly different form, the Astronomic Souveraine is largely the same. Save for the steel case, dial colours, and movement decoration, the Astronomic Souveraine is identical to the unique Only Watch creation. Inspired by a pocket watch Francois-Paul Journe produced in 1987 – itself inspired by the earlier works of Breguet and George Daniels – the Astronomic Souveraine has 18 complications, shown on two faces on each side of the case. These include showing both mean solar time and sidereal time, as well as an annual calendar, equation of time, tourbillon with remontoir d’egalite constant force mechanism, and a minute repeater. Despite its complexity, the indications are remarkably well-presented, and furthermore, can all be adjusted via a single crown. Though the case is 44mm wide – the largest wristwatch ever by F.P. Journe – it remains notably compact at just 13.8mm high, helped in part by his ultra-thin minute repeater mechanism with flat hammers and gongs. As with most F.P. Journe watches, the dial on the front is solid gold, as are the bridges and plate of the movement. The 758-part cal. 1619 is equipped with double barrels, which are partly visible ...
SJX Watches
Just a month after the Watch Art Grand Exhibition in Singapore closed its doors – after receiving some 68,000 visitors – Patek Philippe has revealed the next event will happen in three years’ time, in 2022. Slated to take place in Tokyo, Japan, the event will no doubt pay tribute to one of Patek Philippe’s biggest, oldest and most sophisticated markets. And as it was with past events, the exhibition in Tokyo will be accompanied by a slate of event-exclusive limited editions, just as it was recently in Singapore. The Aquanaut Singapore 2019 ref. 5167A-012 The announcement of the next exhibition comes just days after the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime in steel made for Only Watch 2019 sold for 31m Swiss francs, smashing the last world record. And it’ll probably still be the world’s most expensive watch in 2022. The sixth Watch Art Grand Exhibition will take place in Tokyo in 2022, most likely in fall. Dates and venue have yet to be announced, but we’ll publish it as soon as information is available.
Deployant
The second installment of our monthly series: Luxury Industry Performance Index by Dr. Frank Muller, CEO of TBTL, and special correspondent to Deployant.
SJX Watches
Following the recent Heritage Classic with a “sector” dial, Longines continues to churn out compellingly-priced, well-conceived remakes with the Heritage Military 1938. Limited to 1938 pieces, the watch is modelled on the ref. 4092, an oversized military watch produced by Longines just before the Second World War. Such watches were often made for the firm’s agents in Eastern Europe, most prominently Zipper in Poland. The original watch from 1938 (left) and the modern reissue (right) Like the original, the Heritage Military 1938 has a 43mm stainless-steel case topped by a domed sapphire crystal, which is pretty much the only obviously modern element of the watch. The rest is pretty much faithful to the original, right down to the typeface of the logo and numerals, even on the sub-dial. Crucially – traditionalists will surely approve – the remake is hand-wound like the original, in contrast to most other Longines remakes that are self-winding. The case has a polished top surface on the lugs and bezel, with a contrasting brushed case band. And the matte black dial features a railway minutes track, along with sans-serif Arabic numerals and baton-shaped hands filled with cream-coloured Super-Luminova to mimic the aged appearance of the radium “lume” on the original. And because the watch is powered by the suitably large ETA Unitas 6498-1 that fills the case, the small seconds is correctly positioned, sitting a distance from the central axis and close to the bot...
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...
Time+Tide
$16,450 – that’s the Australian recommended retail price of the Oystersteel Rolex Daytona ref. 116500LN. But, as I’m sure 99 per cent of people reading this are already patently aware, if you actually want to own one of these fabled watches, you can’t merely walk into an AD and pick one up. No, if you … ContinuedThe post Hype dodger: 3 steel Professional Rolex watches you can actually buy appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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 ...
Time+Tide
Longines is on an absolute roll in 2019, and it seems like only yesterday that we were treated to one of their hottest watches of the year – the sector dial Longines Heritage Classic. Not wanting to rest on its blue-handed laurels, Longines has just dropped this bombshell of a vintage reissue, and they’re calling … ContinuedThe post INTRODUCING: The Longines Heritage Military 1938 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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...
Time+Tide
To work at one of the largest international auction houses in the world, you need to know your stuff, which makes you very good at evaluating the world’s rarest watches and also passing that knowledge onto collectors and enthusiasts. One such watch auction expert is Dr Andrew Hildreth, who is responsible for presenting and writing … ContinuedThe post RECOMMENDED READING: 14 lessons from Christies’ watch auction expert appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Revolution
Prepare yourself for a watch story like no other about a watch community like no other, as told by metalhead, DEA agent and lifelong Paneristi @GregWatchman
SJX Watches
One of the most interesting lots in the second instalment of Masterworks of Time at Sotheby’s that just concluded was a seemingly unassuming pocket watch with an estimate of just 7,000-10,000 Swiss francs. But the pocket watch contains a movement with a single gear train driving double balance wheels linked by a differential, constructed to keep time according to the principles of resonance. This is one of the very movements that inspired Philippe Dufour to create the Duality. And its appearance at auction comes at an opportune time, with F.P. Journe going to launch an entirely new Resonance movement in 2020. The Philippe Dufour Duality Mr Piguet of Lemania The movement was made by Albert G. Piguet (1914-2000), a noted watchmaker who finished the movement in 1933, just before graduating from the École d’Horlogerie in Le Sentier, then the premiere watchmaking school in the Vallee de Joux. He joined movement maker Lemania after graduation, and eventually rose to technical director. Piguet stayed in that role from 1948 to 1980, during which he helped develop numerous calibres, including the important CH27 chronograph movement that later became the cal. 321 found in the early Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch, and also the cal. 2310 used by the likes of Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. Piguet’s 1933 pocket watch movement is just one of six produced between 1932 and 1934 by students at the watchmaking school, working under the tutelage of headmaster Marcel Builleumi...
Time+Tide
This year, the brand known for their focus on avant-garde techniques has updated one of their most iconic sporting chronographs, to produce the best-looking TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 16 in recent years. With an aesthetic of clean refinement, the less-is-more approach has come up trumps in a watch that prioritises robust functionality over notions of … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: Automotive attitude with the TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 16 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Question, suggestion, or just want to say hi? Drop a note.