Revolution
Introducing the DB28 Steel Wheels Sapphire Tourbillon
De Bethune introduces the DB28 Steel Wheels Sapphire Tourbillon, a new take on the DB28 Steel Wheels with its delta bridge and two barrel covers made of blue sapphire crystal.
237 articles · 4 videos found · page 8 of 9
Revolution
De Bethune introduces the DB28 Steel Wheels Sapphire Tourbillon, a new take on the DB28 Steel Wheels with its delta bridge and two barrel covers made of blue sapphire crystal.
SJX Watches
In a smart bit of irony, the latest aviation-instrument edition from Bell & Ross – the BR 03-92 HUD – is a mechanical replica of the electronic heads-up display (HUD) in fighter jets, reproducing the green and black screen from the cockpit with sapphire crystal and Super-Luminova. The BR 03-92 HUD follows on other instrument panel-inspired BR 03 watches, including the BR 01-92 Red Radar of 2011, which was probably the cleverest of the editions, until new HUD. Initial thoughts In its initial years, Bell & Ross (B&R;) took the military-instrument aspect of the BR series pretty seriously, and the watches were largely no-nonsense pilot’s watches. But starting a couple of years ago the designs have gotten more lighthearted – from full “lume” to skulls – which conversely makes sense. The HUD continues with the theme, while managing some self-reflective humour in being a mechanical watch, but manages to capture the cockpit display. And as is typical for the BR series, the watch is powered by an ordinary movement, but presented in a high-quality case made by B&R;’s sister company, G&F; Chatelain (and both, in turn, are owned by Chanel), and accompanied by an accessible retail price. In short, it’s a fun, affordable watch that’s well executed. Tinted crystal The HUD-style watch face is achieved with simple but effective construction that creates several layers of glow-in-the-dark green: the sapphire crystal is tinted green with a coating on its underside, with the ...
Quill & Pad
For those unaware of the work of clockmaker Eric Freitas, Joshua Munchow describes his aesthetics as a combination of the styles of Guillermo Del Toro, Tim Burton, Salvador Dalí, and the entire production design of Jim Henson’s 'The Dark Crystal' if they were combined into an intense mechanical wall clock. Who wouldn't want to have a look at this?
Time+Tide
Google Maps has done a good job of ruining the job of the safari-suited explorer, taking crystal clear pictures of the entire surface of the rock we call home. Where there is hope for the Indiana Jones’ of the world is what lies beneath the surface, where under the white-capped waves of the world’s oceans … ContinuedThe post IN CONVERSATION: With ocean explorer Fabien Cousteau appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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The Frederique Constant Classic Moonphase Manufacture Fratello Exclusive is produced in a limited run of 29 pieces, and are all individually numbered on the caseback. The 42mm 3 parts-case holds a convex sapphire crystal and clear caseback revealing the inner workings of the FC-712 caliber. The two counters of the moonphase and date are respectively … ContinuedThe post “Watch & Act!” Auction Item – Lot 15: A moon dance with Frederique Constant Classic Moonphase Manufacture appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
“Forecasting future events is often like searching for a black cat in an unlit room, that may not even be there,” wrote Steve Davidson in The Crystal Ball. The art of predictions, in other words, tends to be an absolute mug’s game. When you’re trying to make forecasts about Rolex – a company that shrouds … ContinuedThe post Stunning video footage of a (fantasy) yellow gold Rolex ‘Hulk’ Submariner emerges, prompting Basel predictions appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Chiming movements – as in a minute repeater or grande sonnerie – have been fairly consistent in construction, being both rare and difficult to master, let alone be improved upon. But over the past two decades, Jaeger-LeCoultre has developed an impressive number of engineering improvements for its repeating movements, from “trebuchet” hammers that are hinged like the medieval catapult for enhanced striking power, to “crystal” gongs that are welded to the sapphire crystal to boost volume. This year, the brand has added to its list of striking innovations with revamped, ultra-long gongs in the Master Grande Tradition Répétition Minutes Perpétuelle, which was designed to raise both the quality and quantity of the chimes. The Grande Tradition Répétition Minutes Perpétuelle with a grained, silver dial An elaborate case Available with the dial in either a blue flinqué enamel or a simpler, silvered and grained finish, the Master Grande Tradition Répétition Minutes Perpétuelle (MGTRMP) combines a minute repeater with one of the most user-friendly perpetual calendar mechanisms on the market, plus automatic winding. The self-winding capability is important and practical, because the movement has a short 38-hour power reserve. The two dial variants. Image – Jaeger-LeCoultre All of that is naturally voluminous, and packed into a large white gold case measuring 43mm wide and 13.72mm high. Though by no means a small watch, it is surprisingly thin for such a grand...
Time+Tide
Creating a timepiece that needs to pay homage while simultaneously capturing the imagination of the horological community is no mean feat … in fact, it’s fraught with failure. Time and time again, we’ve seen new watches based on vintage timepieces be unveiled, only to have them fall flat on their crystal-domed faces. Unveiled at this … ContinuedThe post HANDS-ON: Is the DOXA SUB 200 “One of the Best Value Watches” of recent years? appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
It’s a question we never, ever get tired of asking. What sealed the deal on your watch? What was the straw that broke the camel’s wallet? The way the light melts across the domed box crystal? The price you got from that uncle with a gambling problem? The day you saw it on someone else … ContinuedThe post Want to have your watch story published on Time+Tide? We are open for submissions … appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Every year Chanel debuts a handful of timekeeping objects that are sleekly monochromatic yet lavishly constructed of precious materials like gold and rock crystal. They are beautiful, expensive, and the sort of object that would look at home in a US$100m penthouse. And because there are enough such penthouses to go around, these objets d’art inevitably find owners every year. Last year’s collection of objects included the Monsieur de Chanel Chronosphere, a clock within a glass globe supported by blackened-bronze lions, which was a five-piece limited edition. But the collection also included the one of a kind Monsieur de Chanel Pocket Watch suspended in a jewelled stand, an object that is simultaneously discreet and extravagant. Photo – Chanel Although the pocket watch and its stand retail for almost US$800,000, it is discreet to a fault. All of the materials within are precious, but the entire object is almost monochromatic. The pocket watch can be removed and carried, but is more likely to function as the ultimate desk clock. Standing about 25cm, or 10in, high, the stand is polished 18k white gold and panelled in glossy obsidian, a black, volcanic rock. And while it does not look the part, the sculpted lion is also 18k gold, but coated entirely in smooth, black Hyceram, a composite of ceramic and polymer. The diamonds within the stand are substantial, but subtle – the lion’s paw rests on a 18k gold sphere covered in baguette diamonds. The big ca...
Deployant
We have admired Citizen and their technical prowess since we visited their facilities in Japan last year and have had extensive hands on with a few of their watches. For 2019, the caliber 0100 which was shown as a prototype with a sapphire crystal case in pocket watch format last year makes its commercial appearanceRead More
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Being only 10mm thick, the watch fits perfectly under any shirt or jacket and the curved (and drilled) lugs let the watch hug your wrist like it was made for it. The screw down case back continues the bead-blasted theme and contains segments that give you all the info on the watch: sapphire crystal, 316L, 100m water resistance and so on and so forth.
Time+Tide
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, at least for watch heads. Watch fair season is upon us, and with the year’s releases already coming thick and fast, it’s time to look into my sapphire crystal ball and make a few predictions as to what I’d like - and what I hope - to see … ContinuedThe post LIST: 5 things Cam wants (and hopes) to see at Baselworld 2019 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Following on from Felix’s crystal ball gazing, Sandra looks into the (not-too-distant) future and ponders just what surprises (or not) Baselworld 2019 might hold … Expect to see: A regular production Defy Lab from Zenith I’m expecting to see Zenith’s oscillator technology of Defy Lab in a series-production collection. It’s a great technical breakthrough that … Continued
Two Broke Watch Snobs
The Yema Yachtingraf line features quartz models starting at $279 and tops out with a limited edition automatic that can be pre-ordered for nearly ten-times that amount. I opted for the still-relatively-expensive Yachtingraf Heritage automatic (approx. $2,250 USD) with the sapphire crystal.
Time+Tide
This watch is pure flex. And not just because it’s a beast on the wrist, thanks largely to that hugely tall domed sapphire crystal. No, the reason the Breguet Tradition 7047 is such a power watch is the movement. Not only is there a whopping great tourbillon whirring away - taking up the top half … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: Never break the chain … Breguet’s Tradition 7047 is a masterpiece of fine watchmaking appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Nothing hints at the story of a watch more than its imperfections. A thick scratch across the crystal. Could that have been a motorbike accident? A near miss with a switchblade? A ding in the otherwise smooth shoulder of the lugs. Something mundane like an errant car door, or seatbelt buckle on a plane? A … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: Holding the last watch that walked on the moon in your hand (and quietly freaking out) appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Richard Mille’s crystal cased watch series was initially introduced at SIHH 2012 with the RM 056. An apparition of a watch as it stood in the case on the Richard...
Time+Tide
In the wonderful world of Grand Seiko, if it’s not using a quartz crystal – and, yes, that includes the Spring Drive – then inside is a Caliber 9S movement. Introduced in 1998, the Caliber 9S is the staple of all mechanical Grand Seikos and forms the base for everything from humble three-handers to hi-beats … ContinuedThe post HANDS-ON: The Grand Seiko Blue Ceramic Hi-Beat GMT “Special” Limited Edition appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Deployant
Introducing the first automatic watch in the Freak Collection, the Ulysse Nardin Freak Vision Vision: incorporating a super-light silicium balance wheel with nickel mass elements and stabilizing micro-blades and a new case design made even thinner by a box-domed crystal.
Revolution
Richard Mille speaks with Wei Koh about the RM 53-01 Pablo Mac Donough, with its movement held in place by two .27mm steel braided cables. And not forgetting for the first time ever in the watch industry, its shatter proof crystal. Front and back.
Time+Tide
The hardest thing when recreating a vintage watch design is knowing when to stop. Some changes - swapping the plexiglass crystal for sapphire, and upgrading the movement - are logical, and others, like an increase in size to more modern dimensions, make sense. But the real art is knowing where to stop, and what to keep. … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: The Longines Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
First things first, what is sapphire crystal? Essentially, it’s the same stuff used to make a watch ‘glass’ and display casebacks, formed by crystallising aluminium oxide at very high temperatures to create an extremely hard material. Roughly speaking, it mimics what Earth has taken 400 million or so years to do, to form natural sapphire … ContinuedThe post LIST: Ultimate transparency - Hublot’s sapphire evolution, in 13 watches appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Kaz decides he wants to start making watches (like, seriously, making them himself - case, hands, dials - everything except the movement and the crystal) - but he wants your input, #watchfam! Is this something you guys want to be a part of? Would the seeing and influencing every step of the process be something that you guys would be into? Let us know!
Deployant
Today, Audemars Piguet enriches its line of Royal Oak Perpetual Calendars with a full black version, made of hand-finished black ceramic. Day, date, month, astronomical moon, week of the year displayed on the dial’s outer chapter ring and the essential leap year indication hold pride of place on the “Grande Tapisserie” decorated dial. Housed in an assertively sized 41 mm case, the selfwinding watch’s larger calibre 5134 is fully visible through the glareproofed sapphire crystal caseback.
Deployant
Hublot throws its lot into the ring with its 's Big Bang Unico Sapphire. With this new entrant, Hublot builds a foothold in the new fad of fancy watch case materials, the arms race of the Sapphire crystal. Other high-end or rather highly priced brands like Richard Mille and MB&F; have also joined in the match. Richard Mille's RM 056 in sapphire is in the 7 digit price range while MB&F;'s HM6-SV is almost half a million dollars.
Revolution
The IWC Aquatimer Chronograph is put through its paces in the crystal blue waters off the Caribbean island of Bonaire Bonaire Scouting for stonefish and eels among the fire coral 60-feet down, I get the signal from a member of our dive group that he’s reached 100 bars in his tank. It’s time to […]
Deployant
Ressence is one of the new brands who seem to have sprouted out of nowhere with innovation burtsting from their ears. Their concept of a watch with wandering dials suspended in a fluid that refracts light like the air, so the orbiting indications appear to be on the crystal. As usual, technical information, and theRead More
Deployant
The super grail watch, perhaps of all time. The Dufour Grande Sonnerie, in white gold, with a sapphire crystal dial. Philippe Dufour Grande Sonnerie In this configuration, a piece unique. Beyond words, which become superflous. But allow me to try and express my joy of being sble to photograph and handle this legendary piece. TheRead More
Deployant
The MB&F;’s latest creation the Horological Machine No. 4 is an imposing watch…quite large, though it sits well on the wrist. MB&F; HM4 Thunderbolt Made from titanium and sapphire crystal, the watch is a rather interesting piece of sculpture…reminiscent of a rocket ship or a jet engine. Two engine like scuptures, I guess that isRead More
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