HANDS-ON: Pop a cork and celebrate – the Tudor Black Bay S&G now comes with a champagne dial
Last year’s release of the Black Bay S&G was something of a slow burn. In the heat of the initial announcements, all eyes were on the impressive Black Bay Chrono. As time passed, people seemed to realise what a looker the steel and gold was — no doubt helped by the fact that it was prominently featured on the wrist of none other than David Beckham. Well, this year Tudor released another S&G, with a radiant, golden-hued dial, officially called ‘champagne’ by the brand. We might not have been as surprised by the bi-metal watch as we were last year, but we were still pretty stunned by its beauty. And even though, dial aside, it’s fundamentally the same watch as the previous S&G, we were surprised by just how strongly the champagne S&G was its own watch, going its own way, and doing its own thing. Before we get to the dial, let’s do a quick flyover of the vital statistics. The watch bears the typical 41mm Black Bay case, with a solid golden bezel (with aluminium insert) and a gold cap crown. It’s offered on an olive green fabric strap, distressed leather and this rivet-style bracelet with gold cap centre…
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Every year, the Bell & Ross design team goes nuts with an incredible and (sadly) hypothetical vehicular creation. This year it was the Racing Bird, an awesomely streamlined take on a prop-powered racer, the sort of machine you’d see at the Reno Air Races. Of course, while the plane is conceptual, the watches are very, very real. Built off the base chassis of the vintage chronograph, the BRV2-94 Chronograph is at once modern and gloriously old-school. The case is near perfectly proportioned, 41mm across, though the crown guard and screw-down chrono pushers add a little breadth. It doesn’t sit too high on the wrist either, despite the sweet domed sapphire. This sizing, combined with the classic style and solid bracelet, give the watch a timeless yet purposeful character. While the appeal of the watch’s design might be eternal, the details are very much of an era — the ’70s. This time is recognised as a golden age of sports watches, with watchmaking innovations like the automatic chronograph, as well as the popularity of sports that required them. It’s also a time unafraid of bold colour. It’s the punchy personality that the Racing Bird plays with, taking a lustrous off-white base…
I’m on the record as being a big fan of Grand Seiko, largely because their approach to watchmaking (the focus on accuracy, timeless design and wearer comfort) really resonates with me. However, I’m more than willing to admit that I buck the trend a little in my preference for the brand’s plainer, less jazzy dials. While I can admire and see the beauty in the iridescent green of the peacock, or the intricacy of the SBGR311 or SBGH267, my personal taste is a little more understated; I can’t see myself wearing those fancy fellas all day, everyday. Now, the SBGA375 — that’s a different story. This watch is made for everyday wear. A 40mm steel case, angular and bold (inspired by the 44GS), sets the tone. With its mix of surfaces it’s not too tooly or dressy (though I would stress about how quickly I’d scratch those broad, polished lugs and bezel). It’s a versatile vibe that continues to the three-link bracelet, with its slightly flashy polished centre-link edges. Though the lack of modern micro-adjustment on the bracelet might put some people off (but the drilled lugs are a winner in my book). The crown is screw down, and it…
Perhaps it’s just the football, but we’ve got Hublot on the brain at the moment. And while the Referee watch, with its smart interface and snazzy, over the sweatband look — as rocked by FIFA’s refs — is a winner, it’s not the only one in their arsenal. There’s Big Red, which is what I’ve nicknamed the franky epic red ceramic Big Bang, a watch you need to see to really appreciate. But even if you don’t, take it from us that the shade of red is awesome, and awesomely hard to develop. And then there’s a slightly smaller Bang — the 42mm take on the classic Big Bang. These two watches are pretty classic takes on the famous Hublot shape, but there’s also a Spirit of Big Bang that’s seemingly made entirely of sapphire and precious stones, and then there’s the wrist-sized artworks that are the latest Orlinski collabs. All told, Hublot’s 2018 collection is Hublot doing what Hublot does best: material innovation and unbeatable statements.
One of the things I love most in watches is when a brand challenges my preconceptions. That’s exactly what happened in Jaquet Droz’s Basel booth earlier this year. I was surrounded by writing machines, jewelled butterflies, automata of all shapes and sizes (well, not really, but you get my point), and then BAM! I saw the Skelet-One. I mean, sure, technically it’s part of the Grande Seconde family (just like the Tribute), but to my mind it’s aggressive modernity meets classical proportion and peerless finish. A seductive mix, indeed. In and of itself the skeletonisation is very cool, but the real deal-sealer is the sapphire subdial. Not only does it look like the titular seconds hand is floating on air, it allows maximum light into that golden case, to great effect. Minimal dial. Maximum impact. Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Skelet-One Australian Pricing Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Skelet-One, $44,950.
Gender-fluid. If you were born yesterday or became acquainted with pop culture only last year, you could be forgiven for thinking – based on the excitable talk among style-and-social commentators – that it’s a newly minted concept. Not so. The 1970s: boys wearing their hair longer than girls; 1966: Yves Saint Laurent’s Le Smoking … and so on, back through time. And watches: Cartier’s Tank, Rolex’s Datejust and Day-Date – those designs were always androgynous. And so to a watch that easily makes my Top 10 for the year: Chanel’s Boy.Friend Squelette or Skeleton if you prefer. Intentionally gender-neutral, it’s pitched as a women’s watch but it’s a world away from girly. And it’s equally far from butch: its Y chromosome is expressed as a very Parisian and urbane type of masculine elegance. The lines of the octagonal case – more accurately, a rectangle with its corners clipped off – is derived from Chanel’s first watch, the Premiere, but in Boy.Friend mode (which first appeared in 2015) the lines look tauter and sleeker. That’s largely thanks to its stepped bezel and svelte dimensions – the Squelette comes in at a shade under eight-and-a-half millimetres thick. Held inside that frame is a…
It’s easy with any brand’s new release catalogue to get swept up with the drama and complexity of the halo pieces. In the case of Glashütte Original that glory goes to the flashy green of the Sixties Panorama Date, or the bells and whistles of the Senator Cosmopolite. But sometimes you crave something simple, clean and pure. That’s where this latest take on the Senator Excellence Panorama Date comes in. If you’re not au fait with the watch, it’s one of the less complex models in the Senator family and was first introduced, with its lunar sibling, back in 2016. A well-sized 42mm by 12.2mm watch, cased here in sensible and utilitarian steel, it’s powered by the calibre 36-03, a big date-equipped take on the very impressive Calibre 36. This is one very impressive movement, a 4Hz automatic, with 100 hours of power reserve (all coming from one barrel no less), and tested to standards that meaningfully exceed COSC standards. It also looks great too, what with that double ‘G’ skeletonised rotor. But for me, this watch is all about the dial. The design of the Senator Excellence Panorama Date is quite restrained to start with, with those arrowhead hour…
Look back at Baselworld predictions over the last few years, and you’re likely to see a GMT from Tudor topping the list. Sure, some of us may have expected to see that little extra hour-telling-hand added to the Pelagos. But with the ever growing – and hugely popular – Black Bay collection proving to be the perfect base from which to begin, particularly after the introduction of the chronograph last year, I think it’s safe to say that we were all pleasantly surprised when Tudor unveiled a bicoloured Black Bay GMT this year at Basel. The Baselworld surprises didn’t stop there either, as parent company Rolex also released a Pepsi GMT. But having said that, this Heritage Black Bay is its own watch, with its own look and feel. Vital statistics Essentially, it’s a Black Bay. A stainless-steel 41mm case with polished sides and a satin-brushed top. The water resistance remains at 200 metres, and a black, domed dial features a mix of triangle, circle and rectangular hour markers. The differences begin at its bidirectional bezel. An even split of burgundy and blue, it’s a combination of the original colours of the first two Black Bays, except now the aluminium insert…