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Grand Seiko Introduces the Spring Drive GMT SBGE248 SJX Watches
Grand Seiko Introduces Jul 16, 2019

Grand Seiko Introduces the Spring Drive GMT SBGE248

While Grand Seiko watches are classical and often formal, the Grand Seiko Sport collection is all about larger, more casual watches, The latest addition to the Sport line is the Spring Drive GMT SBGE248, the first Grand Seiko with a yellow gold bezel and crown. Yellow gold has been widely used for Grand Seiko watch cases, including for the commemorative Grand Seiko Heritage SBGW252, but the two-tone look is a first for the brand – an indication of its conservative approach to design. The contrast of yellow gold and blue is a tried and tested – and perhaps slightly overdone – approach for a luxe sports watch, evidenced by the popular Rolex Submariner ref. 116613. On the new SBGE248, yellow gold is applied generously and the colour stands out. The bezel is 18k yellow gold, as is the crown, while the hour markers, hands and markings on the dial are all gilded. Though the bezel itself is gold, the insert is scratch-resistant sapphire, just as it is on the standard Spring Drive GMT.   Size-wise the watch is identical to the standard model, with a case diameter of 44mm. The case is stainless steel, as is the bracelet. It is powered by the self-winding Spring Drive cal. 9R66 that guarantees an accuracy of within 15 seconds a month – or half a second a day – and a power reserve of 72 hours. The incredible accuracy is thanks to the electronically-regulated, mechanical oscillator inside; the regulation in turn is governed by a quartz oscillator with an integra...

It’s complicated – the Glashütte Original Senator Cosmopolite in Steel Time+Tide
Glashütte Original Senator Cosmopolite Jul 16, 2019

It’s complicated – the Glashütte Original Senator Cosmopolite in Steel

Editor’s note: If big, do-anything, go-anywhere tickers are your jam, you’ll definitely want to check out the Glashütte Original Senator Cosmopolite in Steel. This is a serious piece of traveller’s kit, and a good-looking one at that. Read on for Justin’s review …  The story in a second: It’s big, it’s complicated, it’s bloody clever. … ContinuedThe post It’s complicated – the Glashütte Original Senator Cosmopolite in Steel appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Chanel Watch Design Chief on Reimagining the J12 SJX Watches
Cartier before joining heading across Jul 16, 2019

Chanel Watch Design Chief on Reimagining the J12

Perhaps the most successful ladies’ watch design of the 21st century, the all-ceramic J12 made Chanel a significantly player in watchmaking. After a run of nearly 20 years, the first generation J12 finally bowed out at Baselworld 2019, where it was replaced by the new J12. Possessed of not just a new design, but a “manufacture” movement produced by a joint venture of Chanel and Tudor, the new J12 is a major event for Chanel not just because it will sell in vast numbers, but because it’s the first entry-level watch powered by proprietary movement. The man behind the revamp of Chanel’s star wristwatch is Arnaud Chastaingt, a modest man with a keen eye for detail who leads the Chanel Watchmaking Creation Studio. A graduate of two Paris-based design schools, the École des Arts Appliqués and Strate School of Design, Mr Chastaingt spent a decade styling watches at Cartier before joining heading across the city to Chanel. The Calibre 1 inside the Monsieur de Chanel Since starting at Chanel in 2013, Mr Chastaingt has overseen a slew of new designs, most notably the brand’s first in-house, high-end men’s watch, the Monsieur de Chanel (which really impressed me at its launch). Unlike most watch designers, Mr Chastaingt oversees the design of the entire watch, including the movement, explaining why Chanel’s own movements share a distinctive house style centred on repeating circles. I recently spoke with Mr Chastaingt explain the genesis of the J12. He wa...

New Release: Armin Strom Masterpiece 2: Minute Repeater Resonance Deployant
Armin Strom Masterpiece 2 Minute Repeater Jul 16, 2019

New Release: Armin Strom Masterpiece 2: Minute Repeater Resonance

Armin Strom makes a world premier with their new Minute Repeater Resonance: the Armin Strom Masterpiece 2. Press Release The Minute Repeater Resonance by Armin Strom, the world’s first and only resonance chiming wristwatch, offers two-in-one for double the pleasure. Two complications, resonance and minute repeater; two vertically-stacked independent movements; two forms of resonance (oscillatorsRead More

Theo Auffret Introduces the Tourbillon à Paris SJX Watches
F.P. Journe Theo Auffret was one Jul 15, 2019

Theo Auffret Introduces the Tourbillon à Paris

A winner at last year’s Young Talent Competition organised by F.P. Journe, Theo Auffret was one of three watchmakers in their twenties recognised for outstanding horological achievement. Now 24 years old, Mr Auffret’s award-winning entry for the competition was the Tourbillon à Paris, which has now been refined, perfected, and turned into a souscription edition of five watches for Mr Auffret to raise the money needed to establish his own workshop. Like fellow up-and-coming watchmakers Remy Cools and Cyril Brivet-Naudot, Mr Auffret graduated from Lycée Polyvalent Edgar Faure in Morteau, a small town in eastern France. The school has been prolific in turning out talented watchmakers, many of whom exhibit a flavour of 19th century pocket watch movements in their creations. The front of the Tourbillon à Paris Hand-made in Paris Mr Auffret’s final stop in his watchmaking education was a stint at Ateliers 7h38, the complications workshop led by Luca Soprana that’s best known for its work on the Jacob & Co. Astronomia. He spent a year there, working on the recently launched Astronomia Maestro Minute Repeater. But the formative years of his education were spent with Jean-Bapiste Viot. The Tourbillon à Paris is strongly influenced by Mr Auffret’s time as an apprentice at the Paris workshop of Mr Viot, well regarded for his quirky, distinctive wristwatch. Like Mr Viot, the young watchmaker relied only on pen and paper to design and construct the prototype of...

5 Instagram watch cliches that need to be cancelled, right now Time+Tide
Jul 15, 2019

5 Instagram watch cliches that need to be cancelled, right now

Ah, Instagram. That platform that sucks, according to my phone’s digital wellbeing section; well over an hour a day of my life into its colourful void. It’s a social media platform that might as well be made for watches - highly visual, and the wristshot is perfectly framed in that square crop. I’ve made some … ContinuedThe post 5 Instagram watch cliches that need to be cancelled, right now appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Introducing the Montblanc 1858 Split Second Chronograph “Only Watch” SJX Watches
Montblanc 1858 Split Second Chronograph Jul 14, 2019

Introducing the Montblanc 1858 Split Second Chronograph “Only Watch”

Montblanc recently introduced the 1858 Split Second Chronograph with a bronze case, black, multi-scale dial, and a monopusher, split-seconds Minerva movement inside. Priced at just 33,500 Swiss francs, it is a bargain as such things go. Now Montblanc has taken the covers off the one-of-a-kind, titanium version with a blue agate dial created for charity auction Only Watch 2019. Though it costs a bit more – the estimate is 42,000-48,000 Swiss francs – the watch still feels like a steal. The dial is made of blue agate, a hard, semiprecious stone, with a graduated colour that darkens towards the edges. Design-wise it’s the same as that found on the bronze model: inspired by a 1930s aviator’s chronograph made by Minerva, it has a double chronograph scale – a telemeter on the outer rim and a snail-shaped tachymeter in the middle. The contrast of white and red against the blue dial is both refreshing and striking. Notably, the dial forgoes the faux-aged “lume” of the bronze model; the cathedral hands and numerals are instead filled with white Super-LumiNova, letting the retro design speak for itself. The large dimensions of the case remain unchanged from the standard bronze model – 44mm in diameter and 14.55mm high – but it’s significantly lighter thanks to the lightness of titanium. The sapphire caseback reveals the gorgeous, hand-wound and hand-finished MB M16.31. It is essentially the MB M16.29 derived from a pocket watch movement, but w...

A winning watch – The Seiko Astron Novak Djokovic wore as he hoisted the Wimbledon 2019 trophy high Time+Tide
Seiko Astron Novak Djokovic wore Jul 14, 2019

A winning watch – The Seiko Astron Novak Djokovic wore as he hoisted the Wimbledon 2019 trophy high

Editor’s note: Beyond being one of the greatest tennis players of our time, Novak Djokovic is a pretty great watch ambassador. He’s been with Seiko since 2014, and over the years the watch he’s most often seen wearing (and occasionally lending his name to a limited edition) is the Astron. So, after he beat Roger … ContinuedThe post A winning watch – The Seiko Astron Novak Djokovic wore as he hoisted the Wimbledon 2019 trophy high appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Editorial: The Pursuit of Greatness in Vintage Complications SJX Watches
Patek Philippe landmark complicated references ref Jul 14, 2019

Editorial: The Pursuit of Greatness in Vintage Complications

There is no real point in collecting anything unless for the sake of beauty. The moment I see a watch for the first time is always the most crucial. The pieces that ended up entering the collection always touched me viscerally when I first saw them.  Over time, almost unconsciously, as the collection took shape, the watches not only have a uniformity of standard and taste, but also reflect an intuition distinctly my own.  Taste is the developed perception of aesthetics unique to every collector, while standard pertains to quality and rarity. In the big picture, “beauty” – in both tangible and abstract terms – has come to encompass all three: aesthetics, quality, and rarity.  The watches I crave and seek, be it the best examples of the most important references of the most important manufactures, or unique “time-only” examples of incredible quality and design, must be eternal in their beauty. In this article we delve into a few complicated watches close to my heart.  Passing time cannot affect an object that is truly beautiful. Just look at two of the most important Patek Philippe landmark complicated references: ref. 1518, the first perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch in the world, and ref. 3448, the first self-winding, perpetual calendar wristwatch. Their designs are perfectly balanced, timeless, as fresh today as when they were first introduced – in the early 1940s and the early 1960s, respectively.  For years, the daunting challenge had been in ...

44mm of Japanese brawn – the Grand Seiko Spring Drive GMT in titanium (ref. SBGE215G) Time+Tide
Grand Seiko Spring Drive GMT Jul 13, 2019

44mm of Japanese brawn – the Grand Seiko Spring Drive GMT in titanium (ref. SBGE215G)

Editor’s note: Sure, the mighty Grand Seiko Spring Drive GMT in titanium (ref. SBGE215G to its friends) might lack the fancy dials of the Snowflake and the new manual-wind Spring Drives but, good golly, it makes up for it in sheer presence. The case, the bezel, the gold detailing. It bangs.  It’s fair to say … ContinuedThe post 44mm of Japanese brawn – the Grand Seiko Spring Drive GMT in titanium (ref. SBGE215G) appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

3 of Australia’s finest … watch brand ambassadors Time+Tide
Jul 13, 2019

3 of Australia’s finest … watch brand ambassadors

In case you haven’t watched our videos and heard our brutal mangling of Swiss brand names with broad Australian accents, you might not realise that Time+Tide is an Australian-based company. So it makes sense that we’re a little proud of our homegrown heroes, and even those we’ve adopted (hello Rusty). So, in the spirit of mateship, … ContinuedThe post 3 of Australia’s finest … watch brand ambassadors appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Sparkling in all the right places – Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Dazzling Rendez-Vous Time+Tide
Jaeger-LeCoultre s Dazzling Rendez-Vous Jul 12, 2019

Sparkling in all the right places – Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Dazzling Rendez-Vous

A decade ago, overtly feminine watches that combined beauty and proper horology were a rare thing indeed. (There are more of them today – although still far from enough.) And when Jaeger-LeCoultre launched the Rendez-Vous collection in 2012 it really struck a chord. Here was a watchmaker taking women seriously, with good mechanical movements, elegant, … ContinuedThe post Sparkling in all the right places – Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Dazzling Rendez-Vous appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

OPINION: Why wristwatches are more relevant than ever Time+Tide
Jul 12, 2019

OPINION: Why wristwatches are more relevant than ever

In 2019, the President of the United States sends foreign policy updates live to your phone. You can order takeaway from a mountaintop, and toilet seats can perform health checkups. At first, this seems to be a net positive for humanity. However, it has made it incredibly difficult to disconnect from the world around us … ContinuedThe post OPINION: Why wristwatches are more relevant than ever appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

The heavy-hitting Rolex Daytona in white gold with blue dial (ref. 116509) Time+Tide
Rolex Daytona Jul 12, 2019

The heavy-hitting Rolex Daytona in white gold with blue dial (ref. 116509)

Editor’s note: For Daytona fans, everyone’s all about the Cerachrom bezels these days. And while it’s hard to deny the allure of that super-hard, slick material, I prefer my bezels metal, and preferably precious. Which is why I’m still so into this 2016 release, the Rolex Daytona in white gold with blue dial (ref. 116509). … ContinuedThe post The heavy-hitting Rolex Daytona in white gold with blue dial (ref. 116509) appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

RECOMMENDED READING: Trust in the Tool Watch Time+Tide
Jul 10, 2019

RECOMMENDED READING: Trust in the Tool Watch

As you might have noticed (here, here and here), I’m quite interested in bulletproof watches being used in situations with bullets (figuratively). I enjoy, as much as the next guy, reading about the (somewhat theoretical) limits of well-made watches, if it be temperature, altitude or water pressure. But what I love even more is reading … ContinuedThe post RECOMMENDED READING: Trust in the Tool Watch appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Hands-On: Patek Philippe Rare Handcrafts “Japanese Cherry” Pocket Watch SJX Watches
Patek Philippe Rare Handcrafts “Japanese Cherry” Jul 10, 2019

Hands-On: Patek Philippe Rare Handcrafts “Japanese Cherry” Pocket Watch

Contemporary Patek Philippe pocket watches are uncommon, and Rare Handcrafts examples – all of which are unique one-offs – are even more scarce. More objet d’art than portable timekeeper, only a handful are made each year. Sold at Sotheby’s late last year for almost US$290,000, the Rare Handcrafts ref. 982/159G “Japanese Cherry” pocket watch is a particularly delicate example of Patek Philippe’s enamelling. Rare Handcrafts pocket watches are often figurative or detailed in the extreme. This year’s line-up of pocket watches feature decorations that include a leopard, several landscapes, and a miniature of Vermeer’s The Wine Glass. The “Japanese Cherry”, on the other hand, takes a difference approach to its art; the decoration is simple yet vivid in colour and form. Unveiled in 2015, the “Japanese Cherry” watch was arguably the most important piece of the Rare Handcrafts collection that year, because the Japanese cherry motif formed the cover of the year’s catalogue. It’s a Lépine pocket watch, with the crown and sub-seconds arranged in a line (as opposed to a hunter movement that has them at right angles to each other). A plant synonymous with the country, the Japanese cherry produces the cherry blossom, or sakura, a cultural icon of Japan. On the watch branches of the cherry tree are depicted against a pale beige background. The branches are hand engraved in relief, with the individual cherries being bright red fired enamel with a g...

INTRODUCING: The shiny, silver, TAG Heuer Monaco 1989-1999 Limited Edition Time+Tide
TAG Heuer Monaco 1989-1999 Limited Edition Jul 10, 2019

INTRODUCING: The shiny, silver, TAG Heuer Monaco 1989-1999 Limited Edition

TAG Heuer’s Monaco at 50 celebration rolls on - we’ve already seen editions one and two - and the third, formally known as the TAG Heuer Monaco 1989-1999 Limited Edition, has just been announced in New York City.  The basis for this watch is the Calibre 11-powered Monaco (obvs), in its distinctive (and large wearing) … ContinuedThe post INTRODUCING: The shiny, silver, TAG Heuer Monaco 1989-1999 Limited Edition appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Tudor Black Bay GMT 79830RB Review WatchAdvice
Tudor Black Bay GMT 79830RB Jul 10, 2019

Tudor Black Bay GMT 79830RB Review

Introduced in Baselworld 2018, the Black Bay GMT is a new classic and bold timepiece by Tudor. This model is Tudor’s answer to GMT watches for world travellers. The Black Bay GMT owes its heritage to the Black Bay Divers watches of the 1950s. In 1954, Tudor released the first reference 7922. This was the first divers watch in the long line of legible, robust and ergonomic divers watches released by Tudor.  It was the famous American Architect Louis Sullivan that said that “according to whom, the form of an object must follow its function”. The early Tudor diver models perfectly resembled this saying as they laid down the foundations of aesthetic and technical watches that are ideal for divers. Since the first launch of the reference 7922, Tudor’s diver watches have had a constant improvement for sixty years. Each new model that was released by the brand would see unanimous recognition from professionals, such as some of the greatest military navies in the world.   The GMT function in the Tudor Black Bay GMT establishes local time without losing track of time in other time zones. The additional time zone is indicated by the red angular “snowflake” hand as described by Tudor. The characteristic snowflake hand is also used for the hour and constant second hand. This snowflake design first appeared in Tudor’s catalogue in 1969, which shows that although modernising the watch, Tudor still sticks to their heritage.  The bi-directional rotatable bezel on the Tudo...