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Chronograph Watches · Page 208

The Audemars Piguet Museum is Complete (and Open) SJX Watches
Apr 22, 2020

The Audemars Piguet Museum is Complete (and Open)

Announced in 2014 as part of a massive expansion of headquarters in Le Brassus, the Audemars Piguet museum is now complete, although the public will have to wait end-June 2020 to visit. The vintage-inspired Remaster01 Chronograph limited edition was launched last month to commemorate this very occasion. [Update June 25, 2020: The museum is now open to the public, with tickets required for admission.] Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the Danish architects responsible for Google’s new North Bayshore headquarters, the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet is a low-slung spiral that gently rises out of the fields right behind the building Audemars Piguet has occupied since 1875. Inspired by a balance spring, the museum is almost entirely curved glass. A hundred and eight panels of structural glass support the steel roof that’s covered with a garden, blending into the pastoral landscape of the Vallee de Joux, the homely heart of Swiss watchmaking. The glass exterior is covered by a brass mesh to regulate temperature and light A spiral into the past and future Visitors to the museum will follow the spiral through the building – first clockwise towards the centre and then in the other direction to the conclusion – accompanied by some 300 timepieces dating from the 19th century to the present. At the centre of the spiral sit a selection of the brand’s grand complication watches, including the massive Universelle pocket watch from 1899. And appropriately, at the end of the...

Breitling (Re)Introduces the Chronomat with Rouleaux Bracelet SJX Watches
Apr 16, 2020

Breitling (Re)Introduces the Chronomat with Rouleaux Bracelet

One of the most fashionable watches of the late 1980s and 1990s was the Breitling Chronomat with the distinctive Rouleaux bracelet, specifically the two-tone, steel-and-yellow-gold model with a dark blue dial. The watch of choice for assorted air force squadrons, the Chronomat was also spotted on major Hollywood stars of the era, most prominently Jerry Seinfeld and Bruce Willis. Breitling’s supercharged success after the Quartz Crisis – having been rescued by Swiss entrepreneur Ernest Schneider – was largely down to the Chronomat. Now the Chronomat on the Rouleaux bracelet is making its comeback, after having been discontinued several years ago. Abandoning the styling of recent, unsuccessful facelifts, the new Chronomat B01 42 returns with a tightly-executed design that incorporates several elements of the 1990s classic. A historic hit Launched to mark the 100th anniversary of Breitling in 1984, the Chronomat marked the brand’s return to mechanical watches. In 1979, the late Ernest Schneider took over an ailing Breitling, which until was then making mostly quartz watches with a military flavour. Having delivered the inaugural version of the Chronomat to members of Frecce Tricolori, the aerobatic team of the Italian air force, Schneider had a hit on his hands once the Chronomat was sold to the public. A page from the 1987 Breitling catalogue showing several versions of the Chronomat Though it had the same name as a vintage Breitling chronograph, the Chronomat l...

Montblanc Introduces the 1858 Split Second Chronograph Enamel Dial SJX Watches
Apr 16, 2020

Montblanc Introduces the 1858 Split Second Chronograph Enamel Dial

Just last year Montblanc unveiled the 1858 Split Second Chronograph, a Minerva-powered watch that was warmly received for being well-finished and complex, yet reasonably-priced. A retro-inspired, rattrapante mono-pusher chronograph, the watch cost US$30,000 – a solid deal as such things go. A few months after, Montblanc debuted the one-off Only Watch edition with titanium case and blue-agate dial that sold for a whopping 100,000 Swiss francs, with proceeds going to charity. The brand has now stepped things up a notch with the 1858 Split Second Chronograph Limited Edition 100 that channels the spirit of the Only Watch edition, featuring the same titanium case and paired with a fired enamel dial in graduated blue. Despite the similar styling, the new watch costs a lot less than the record-setting Only Watch Edition – but isn’t quite as good value as last year’s model. Smoky blue And that’s because while the bronze model had an ordinary dial of brass, this has been upgraded with a grand feu enamel dial, leading to a jump in the retail price of about US$7,000, which is about the typical premium for such a dial. The enamel dial starts off as a solid-gold disc, which is painted with a mixture of enamel powder, water and oil. It is then fired in an oven at over 800℃, melting the enamel powder and fusing it to the gold base. The process of adding enamel powder and firing is repeated multiple times so as to achieve the desired depth of colour. But unusually, the di...

Tasneem’s Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch connects him to more people on earth than he knew before Time+Tide
Apr 15, 2020

Tasneem’s Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch connects him to more people on earth than he knew before

This week’s gone full Speedmaster. On Saturday, it was the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, deemed to be a “successful failure”, because there was indeed a major malfunction, but all astronauts on the mission lived to talk about it. I was very fortunate to have heard this story told by one of the … ContinuedThe post Tasneem’s Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch connects him to more people on earth than he knew before appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Bid now on a Russian cosmonaut’s Omega Speedmaster, worn in space for 14 hours Time+Tide
Apr 15, 2020

Bid now on a Russian cosmonaut’s Omega Speedmaster, worn in space for 14 hours

Ever wanted to own an Omega Speedmaster that was actually worn in space? Is that the most rhetorical question you’ve ever heard? If so, a) get in line, and b) you’re in luck, because online auction house RR Auction are offering just that – an Omega Speedmaster that has slipped the bonds of terra firma … ContinuedThe post Bid now on a Russian cosmonaut’s Omega Speedmaster, worn in space for 14 hours appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Emile Chouriet Introduces the Héritier à Guichet SJX Watches
Apr 15, 2020

Emile Chouriet Introduces the Héritier à Guichet

A brand specialising in affordable watches priced under US$2,000, Emile Chouriet has a fairly generic line-up, but with one obvious exception, the Héritier à Guichets. Showing the time and calendar in windows, the watch is inspired by timepieces of the 1920s, while having a titanium case with fancy lugs. Named after a 17th century French watchmaker, the brand was founded in 1998 by a Swiss businessman but acquired a decade later by Fiyta, a Shenzhen-based watchmaker best known for producing the chronograph issued to Chinese astronauts. Consequently, Emile Chouriet now focuses its efforts on the Chinese market, but the Héritier à Guichet combines an Art Deco style and novel time display that doubtlessly has wider appeal. Digital time displays became fashionable during the Art Deco period, with pocket watches sporting jumping or wandering hours, or even full calendar displays in an elongated window. The Héritier à Guichet takes inspiration from that early 20th century style, reproducing it in an affordable manner. A pale metallic grey with a radial-brushed finish, the dial consists of four windows, with the two closest to the centre showing the hours and minutes, while the outer apertures with wider bevels displaying the day and date. The hours and minutes, however, are not instantaneously jumping displays, instead they are “dragging” indicators that continually move just as conventional hands would. Also unusual is the case: though it has a moderate 40 mm di...

The bar for car and watchmaker collabs is now very high, and Zenith’s Defy El Primero 21 Land Rover smashes it Time+Tide
Apr 9, 2020

The bar for car and watchmaker collabs is now very high, and Zenith’s Defy El Primero 21 Land Rover smashes it

Let’s not mince words. Watch and carmakers have been jointly responsible for some very, very lazy collaborative timepieces. I won’t pick on too many examples … but to say that some of Ferrari’s early efforts with Panerai and Girard-Perregaux lacked imagination would be a gross understatement. The Prancing Horse turned it around though – Maranello’s latest … ContinuedThe post The bar for car and watchmaker collabs is now very high, and Zenith’s Defy El Primero 21 Land Rover smashes it appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Hands-On: Zenith El Primero A384 Revival with “Ladder” Bracelet SJX Watches
Apr 8, 2020

Hands-On: Zenith El Primero A384 Revival with “Ladder” Bracelet

There are few brands that can make modern-day reissues of historical watches powered by the same movement as the vintage original. Zenith, as it happens, is easily able to, thanks to its long-lived El Primero. The chronograph movement celebrated its 50th anniversary last year with several commemorative A386 limited editions, including a one-off in platinum for charity, but most were in gold and thus pricey. On the other hand, the El Primero A384 Revival is a faithful remake – including a “ladder” bracelet – that’s part of the regular collection, and also affordable. Since 1969 While the A386 is the iconic El Primero chronograph – and today the most valuable – the A384 was introduced at the same time (along with the A385), making it part of the debut range of El Primero watches. One reason the A384 doesn’t quite have the stature of the round and relatively-ageless A386 is also one of its most distinctive qualities: a tonneau- or cushion-shaped case that instantly identifies it as a watch of the late 1960s and 1970s. The easily recognisable design has made the tonneau-shaped A384 a popular base for a variety of limited editions, including one based on a fictitious watch featured in the Japanese manga Lupin III. Romain Marietta, the brand’s chief of products, also indicated during a recent conversation that the A384 will continue to be the base for limited editions, while the A386 will not be reproduced again except in exceptional instances since it is syno...

Glashütte Original Introduces the Sixties and Sixties Chronograph “Glacier Blue” SJX Watches
Apr 7, 2020

Glashütte Original Introduces the Sixties and Sixties Chronograph “Glacier Blue”

A yearly tradition starting two years ago, the Sixties annual edition is a limited-production run of Glashütte Original’s well-liked, retro Sixties. In contrast to the sedate, Teutonic colours of the regular models, the Sixties annual editions are characterised by dials in bold colours and elaborate patterns, all produced the traditional way at its sister company located just several hours away. The annual edition began in 2015 as an experimental collection of watches with dials in over-the-top colours, before becoming an annual edition, first with a green dial patterned after water droplets, followed by an orange version of the same motif last year. Now Glashütte Original has gone in the opposite direction with the Sixties and Sixties Chronograph featuring pale-blue, dégradé dials finished with a simple, radial brushing. Decidedly more restrained than the earlier editions, the new “glacier blue” dials are still nuanced and striking. Subtle blue As with all of the dials found on the Sixties annual editions, the new “glacier blue” dials are produced by the what was once the Th. Muller dial factory in Pforzheim, historically the heart of the German jewellery and clockmaking industry, and now owned by Glashütte Original’s parent company, Swatch Group. The blue dials are finished in a dégradé, or graduated, colour that darkens towards the edges – an effect that requires multiple steps to achieve. It starts with a dial blank made of German silver that is...

The Audemars Piguet [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph is like a remastered classic on vinyl, played on crystal clear modern speakers and turned up to 11 Time+Tide
Apr 6, 2020

The Audemars Piguet [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph is like a remastered classic on vinyl, played on crystal clear modern speakers and turned up to 11

In what we hope will be the first of many watches to be unveiled in these dark times, Audemars Piguet has recently released their latest model. Called the Audemars Piguet [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph, this new piece is actually a reinterpretation of one of the Le Brassus firm’s early 20th-century watches. In no way is this … ContinuedThe post The Audemars Piguet [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph is like a remastered classic on vinyl, played on crystal clear modern speakers and turned up to 11 appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Comments 4

  1. C. Almeida
    The framing here is frankly a bit off. A chronograph is hardly the most-engineered complication in Swiss watchmaking; that crown belongs to perpetual calendars and minute repeaters. That said, the automatic chronograph remains the most *accessible* complicated movement for volume producers, and that's a worthier claim. The 1969 reference is apt, though the real innovation happened years before.
    1. Ben W. replying to C. Almeida
      Fair correction on the engineering hierarchy. But I'd add: the "accessibility" angle gets muddied fast once you're actually trying to buy one. A Daytona or even a Tudor Chrono sits behind waitlists and AD games that make "accessible" feel like marketing speak. The movement's elegant, sure, but the secondary market lottery around these watches tells a different story about what buyers actually face.
  2. Reece
    thinking about getting my first chrono and this helped a lot. is a vintage automatic worth learning on or should i just grab something new first. also how much should i realistically spend.
    1. WristBuzz Team replying to Reece
      This all depends on your own feelings and what you like to spend. Pretty hard to answer imho.

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