Deployant
Review: The New Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon in Pink Gold
For the first time, the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon is released in precious metal where previously only a stainless steel version was available.
Deployant
For the first time, the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon is released in precious metal where previously only a stainless steel version was available.
SJX Watches
Historically best known for ultra-advanced quartz and solar-powered watches – including the most accurate watch ever – Citizen has been on a tear recently with good, old-fashioned mechanical watches. The Japanese watchmaker started the year the high-end with The Citizen Caliber 0200, and then moved onto something more accessible but still sporting an integrated bracelet. More recently it took the covers off the Promaster Mechanical Diver 200 m ref. NB6004-08E. Oversized and aggressively styled, the new Promaster is eminently affordable – retail is about US$1,000 – but kitted out with impressive features, including a hardened case as well as a magnetism-resistant in-house movement, which makes it excellent value. (And it has a cool, glow-in-the-dark buckle.) Initial thoughts In my early days as a watch enthusiast, I had a soft spot for Seiko dive watches, because they were diverse in style and budget friendly. Citizen, on the other hand, didn’t feature as much, because it only offered one or two notable mechanical dive watches as the company largely focused on solar-powered watches (and still does). But Citizen is expanding its repertoire at a measured pace, but making tremendous progress. The Promaster Mechanical Diver 200 m is a single model, but offered in several variants (though availability of each version varies throughout the world). Citizen lent me the base model – brushed titanium with a black dial – for a few days. On paper, the watch is high s...
Time+Tide
While blue-dialled steel sports watches continue to skyrocket in price amongst collectors, the general public’s eye is quickly turning towards more exciting materials, particularly in more exciting colours. The staunch masculinity behind watch culture is starting to drip away, and Hublot’s Big Bang Integral collection in ceramic are proving that having fun with colour and … ContinuedThe post VIDEO: The Hublot Big Bang Integral Ceramic Collection offers high-tech architecture for the wrist appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Hodinkee
How the The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar Tantalum was made.
Time+Tide
Last week we began our “Don’t Feed the Hype” series and, based on your feedback, many of you are on board with this idea of exposing potential alternatives to largely unobtainable watches. To be clear, this is not a take down of watches like the Nautilus or Royal Oak. We love these pieces we are … ContinuedThe post DON’T FEED THE HYPE: 3 alternatives to the Rolex Daytona appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Time+Tide
I might not be the most objective person in our team to write this story, given my well-known love affair with the slim, and, to me, sexy as hell 38mm Laureato I aim to get this year. For me this Genta-licious watch in its warm 904L steel is simply one of the best and most … ContinuedThe post The Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Ti 230 smashes my preconceptions of a Genta classic appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Deployant
Girard-Perregaux expands its Laureato Absolute collection with a new version of the automatic time only watch in Titanium - the Ti 230.
Revolution
Girard-Perregaux’s celebration of 230 years of watchmaking legacy continues today with the announcement of the Laureato Absolute Ti 230
Time+Tide
Recently on our weekly room The Breakfast Club on Clubhouse (Friday 8pm EST / Saturday 10am AEST), we spoke at length about purchasing principles. The question we explored was what do you do when a watch is not readily available at retail. Do you queue up and wait it out? Do you cough up the hefty … ContinuedThe post DON’T FEED THE HYPE: 3 alternatives to the Patek Philippe Nautilus appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Revolution
Wei Koh sits down with us for a very special video about how Bandit and the Alpine Eagle XL Chrono saved his sanity during what has no doubt been a trying season for us all.
Time+Tide
The watch community hit peak frustration last week, irked by the sale of a still-sealed, green dial steel Nautilus for $490,000 USD. Flipping is rife in this hobby, and many see it as the largest problem in watch collecting today – a practice that makes it harder to secure in-demand timepieces. Sure, it’s nothing new, … ContinuedThe post Three big questions raised by the sale of the green dial steel Nautilus for half a million US dollars. What are your answers? appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
In celebration of its 230th anniversary, Girard-Perregaux has extracted part of its museum collection and sent it across the world to Singapore, where they form an exhibition on the watchmaker’s history. Shaping The Know Since 1791 provides a peek into the company’s past milestones and timepieces, illustrated by a diversity of items on show, ranging from enamelled pocket watches from the late 18th century to an ultra-modern wristwatch with its case and bridges in sapphire crystal. Pocket watches Though the Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges is Girard-Perregaux’s best known complication, the brand is instead focusing on its wider repertoire in the exhibition. Arranged in a chronological manner, the company’s history is explained with a series of displays that include notes as well as representative watches of each era, from the 18th to 21st centuries. Notable contemporary pieces include the original Laureato from 1975, as well as the avant-garde Quasar Light that reinterprets the brand’s iconic triple bridges in sapphire crystal. The original Laureato that was quartz the exhibition unfolds the brand’s unusual origins: while husband-and-wife Constant Girard and Marie Perregaux founded the brand in 1856, the company later acquired Jean-François Bautte, a brand that was established in 1791, explaining the 230th anniversary in 2021. A pioneer in ultra-thin timepieces, Bautte specialised in pocket watches decorated with enamel and gemstones, reflecting the prevail...
Quill & Pad
The Antiquorum auction in Monaco on July 21, 2021 represented the first time that a brand-new stainless steel Patek Philippe Nautilus with olive-green dial came up at auction. Elizabeth Doerr shares the eye-watering result of that lot plus other notable auction highlights.
Deployant
We go hands-on with the new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph line, now redesigned in 43 mm, and 5 variants.
Quill & Pad
Bulgari has set record upon record for thinness, and another was added to the list with the release of the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, a groundbreaking complicated timepiece measuring a scant 5.8 millimeters in height. The seventh world record in as many years, the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar is another pinnacle of engineering and slim thinking.
Time+Tide
This is a new era for our Friday Wind Down. The recurring column has previously served as a recap of the stories published on the site, but you know what? We’ve decided to make it so much more. Now that this ‘Merican is behind the wheel, I want to take this moment to review the … ContinuedThe post FRIDAY WIND DOWN: The Nautilus scandal and Jeff Bezos’ Speedmaster appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Hodinkee
Watches we love, the second time around.
WatchAdvice
First up, let me get something off my chest. I have never been a fan of the movement used in the AP Royal Oak Offshore. As much as I like the style of the watch, I’ve always felt the movement isn’t up to scratch, especially for the price. Of course, not many people will care about this, but one look at how deep-set the date is, and you know clearly that it is a modular construction (module by Dubois-Deprez). And really, at $50k a pop, is it really too much to ask for an integrated chronograph movement? I’m sure there are many out there who will argue that this is part of the charm. It’s what makes the Royal Oak Offshore different. But I have a feeling given how hyped the watches are, people are only too happy to buy one when one is available, and straight away, blinders come on, and the denial begins. Especially when the layout is exactly the same as the ubiquitous ETA 7750 chronographs (12-9-6 sub-dials). Again, nothing wrong with the ETA 7750. In fact, it is one of my favourite entry-level, workhorse movements, but even this one is integrated… Fine. Call me a chronograph snob if you like. As we all know, this hobby is highly personal and highly subjective. I just prefer my chronographs to be integrated. (Although I’m not fussy regarding whether it’s a vertical or horizontal clutch, and whether or not the engagement is controlled by a column-wheel or a cam/lever assembly – I’m sure there are people out there who swears by one form over another…) This...
SJX Watches
For its second round of new launches for 2021 – after the headline-grabbing Black Panther watch – Audemars Piguet (AP) unveiled Royal Oak models in a range of sizes and complications. The novelties are, in short, gorgeous variations of the brand’s octagonal watch. One of the most notable is the smallest amongst the new models. For the first time, AP is applying the full-ceramic treatment to a smaller Royal Oak. The Royal Oak Selfwinding 34 mm Black Ceramic is no doubt good news for enthusiasts who want a more compact but unusual version of the simple Royal Oak (availability notwithstanding). Polished and brushed ceramic Initial thoughts While ceramic has long been synonymous with makers of high-end sports watches like AP, it was used sparingly for the Royal Oak, until four years ago when the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Black Ceramic made its debut. But the all-ceramic Royal Oak models since then have been complicated, including a white-ceramic perpetual calendar or the skeletonised double balance. That makes the 34 mm model in black ceramic a pretty big deal – it’s the first base-model Royal Oak in ceramic. But being a Royal Oak, it still feels familiar, which is a good thing if you like the Royal Oak as I do. Despite being amongst the simplest of Royal Oaks, the new 34 mm model is striking. The pink gold accents on the bezel and dial create the right amount of contrast to break up the monochromatic ceramic, giving the black ceramic a touch of luxe. Consequent...
Quill & Pad
Can a serious watch manufacture get away with producing such a “gimmicky” timepiece as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Black Panther? Serious and gimmicky are not mutually exclusive, but they were posed as two different questions in the same breath by Marc André Deschoux of The Watches TV in a special video taking a look at the first timepiece to emerge from the collaborative energy between Audemars Piguet and Marvel Studios. What's your opinion?
Quill & Pad
Antiquorum will be holding its next auction in Monaco on July 21, 2021, where collectors will have a chance to bid for the very first time on a Patek Philippe Reference 5711/1A-014. Yes, this is the brand-new stainless steel Nautilus with olive-green dial introduced in April 2021 as the model replacing the blue-dialed Reference 5711/1A-010. While that's noteworthy, there are a number of other lots worth looking at too.
SJX Watches
Undoubtedly the most technically interesting movement in a time-only Royal Oak, the skeletonised cal. 3132 with twin balance wheels made its debut in a discreet package in 2016. It got fancier attire more recently with a gem-set “rainbow” bezel and hammered case finish, but only with the smaller, 37 mm case. Now “rainbow” meets mechanics in the 41 mm case for the first time – in all three colours of gold no less. Extravagant but surprisingly not that exorbitant in price, the Royal Oak Frosted Gold Double Balance Wheel Openworked 41 mm combines the largest-sized case with a multicoloured bezel, and most importantly, the twin-oscillator movement. Initial thoughts A unique combination of bling and technical credentials is precisely the appeal of the new Double Balance. Currently fashionable and maybe too common, the multi-coloured gemstone bezel is over the top but it is cool. The movement, on the other hand, is smart. The calibre relies on twin balance wheels, each with its own hairspring, to average out positional errors and improve stability, making for better timekeeping over the long run. This mix of sparkly excess and mechanical achievement is rare, which sets the watch apart from its peers. So if you’re someone who likes “rainbow” watches, this is one of the few that has strong technical merit. And it’s priced at about US$120,000, which is definitely a square deal for such a watch. The only downside is the pronounced lack of availability, which ...
Time+Tide
The relationship between the Swatch Group and Tissot brings a host of benefits to the table. As the powerful parent company, the Swatch Group can deliver enviable command over economies of scale and a direct line to movement manufacturing with ETA. Being able to tap into such mighty resources enables Tissot to react quickly to … ContinuedThe post A month on the wrist with the Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 – an integrated bracelet wristwatch for the people appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Hodinkee
A Unique Royal Oak Jumbo and Tudor Black Bay GMT – and much, much more.
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