Revisiting 6 key watches from Seiko's 2019 collection, how do they hold up a year on?
Editor’s note: On the brink of bringing you some of Seiko’s new novelties via our second ‘Home Delivery Watch Fair – Basel Edition’ over on YouTube, we cast our mind back to two things. Firstly, the 2019 collection, which is captured here in a video, and in the pics below. What stood out to me was how each of these watches has had major line extensions in 2020. The point was made in this article that Seiko is increasingly codifying its collections year on year. There is ongoing proof of that, as just about every era and style presented here now has 2020 variants in the mix. Secondly, we cast our mind back to Basel, and what we – in the moment of filming this video – thought would continue, unabated, for the term of our natural lives. Watch fairs. We might have had an inkling Basel was evolving. But rapidly imploding was not on the horizon. What a difference 12 months makes. You can get a pretty good sense of the overarching themes of Baselworld by listening to the chatter in the halls, press centre and even the sausage cart outside. And, along with smaller crowd sizes and uncertain futures, one…
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If you weren’t paying close attention you could easily miss the new Rolex Yacht-Master 42 in white gold. And I mean that in the best way. It’s a handsome timepiece, with a quiet presence that (despite its newness) feels reassuringly familiar in some hard-to-define way. Despite being 2mm bigger than its Everose Gold brother (and a 42mm Oyster case wears quite big), it’s the opposite of in your face. In fact, thanks to the monochrome colour scheme of the dial, bezel and case, and the matt black Oysterflex strap, it may be the most discreet model in Rolex’s entire line-up. I’m not suggesting that it can’t be a love-at-first-sight piece – but the more closely you look, the greater the rewards. The absence of colour draws your eye to the details, and emphasises the play of shiny and matt surfaces: the fine band of polished notches around the outer edge of the bezel contrasts with the matt Cerachrom insert, which in turn plays against the shine of the black lacquer dial. The polished surfaces of the raised numerals on the bezel (they are an integral part of the bezel, moulded with the ceramic, rather than applied) cast barely-there shadows on…
Since their inception in 1990, Nomos Glashütte have had a remarkably clear visual and stylistic aesthetic. Clean and refined. Utilitarian, leaning towards the dressy. Unmistakably German. Or, to use the shorthand — Bauhaus. In the earlier years of Nomos, this distinctive styling was paired with some solid watchmaking, and a very strong value proposition. All this combined to earn Nomos a cult following. But Nomos wasn’t content to rest on these laurels, instead embarking on a quiet, and quite deliberate quest to expand their product offering and, in industry parlance, expand their key verticals. So a few years ago we started seeing new lines, like the upper-echelon Lux and Lambda, the sporty Ahoi and the modern Metro. Then came neomatik and swing system, impressive new in-house calibres that represented a significant investment and also independence. But the new offerings didn’t end there; Minimatik and Autobahn added to the family even further. All these new lines are very much Nomos, but they stretch the comfort zone of the brand’s design language. There’s more colour, more playfulness, and greater complexity in construction. Of course, the core is still that round steel watch, like the Tangente and Orion, with a pared-back design. But there’s…
It’s been an excellent crop of new releases for Grand Seiko, and hiding amidst a healthy assortment of models came this gem — the yellow gold SBGY002. Using a new hand-winding 9R31 Spring Drive movement with a power reserve of 72 hours, the new piece mates a variation of the brand’s iconic Snowflake dial with a more traditional and slender dress watch casing. Coming in north of $25K, it’s obviously a different beast to the classic Snowflake model; however, the new piece is yet another example of how Grand Seiko just isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to delivering impeccable design, finishing, and attention to detail when compared to any of their Swiss competition. This piece is one of four new models in the same vein; it is flanked by a pair of platinum-cased models at the upper register, and a more restrained steel model at the other end of the spectrum. All four models were launched as part of Grand Seiko’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of Spring Drive. While our topic at hand (as well as the steel model) are manufactured in the Shinshu Watch Studio, where all other Spring Drive watches are made, the platinum models are…
It’s now 10 days since Baselworld 2019 ended – but it feels like yesterday. Or half a lifetime ago. That’s what a week of viewing hundreds of new watches through a haze of severe jet lag, industrial quantities of caffeine and minimal sleep does to you. But with time comes recovery, and with that comes perspective. So now seems like a good moment to look back on what was always going to be one of the most keenly anticipated Baselworlds in the fair’s century-plus existence. Keenly anticipated but not necessarily in a good way. I hardly need to repeat that the past year has been an annus horribilis for Baselworld, with Swatch Group jumping ship along with hundreds of smaller companies, and the fair’s entire management team being replaced. For some, anticipating Baselworld 2019 was akin to a ghoulish fascination with an impending car crash – waiting and watching to see how bad it would be. Schadenfreude in spades. Others hoped (and some, I suspect, even prayed) that the changes announced by the new management would pull the ship back from the rocks. Boring? Hardly. One of the most entertaining (not-boring) things about Baselworld – and SIHH for that matter…
One of the bigger surprises of Basel was Seiko’s announcement of their high-end Prospex LX collection — big, chunky sports watches that feature a level of fit and finish we’ve seldom seen on a Seiko-labelled watch. And while the initial collection was a drop of six models, the one that we were most interested in, and — I suspect — the most crowd-pleasing number is the SNR029J1, a straight-up-and-down diver — inspired, to no small degree, by the classic Marinemaster 300. If the look is a 2019 update on a tried-and-tested model, the same can be said for the build. It’s a big, sporty watch, with a peerlessly finished titanium case (that zaratsu!), ceramic bezel and the mighty Spring Drive inside. With the high-end finishes and movement comes a higher price point. The Prospex LX family is designed to go toe-to-toe with the biggest Swiss brands’ mainstream sports offerings. Only time will tell if Seiko can succeed in their mission. Seiko Prospex LX SNR029J Australian pricing Seiko Prospex LX SNR029J, $8500
I can remember very clearly what it was like to be on the other side of my first ‘good’ watch. I would trawl daily the second-hand sites for incomings, researching models and brands. I would stare in wonder at the pages I was laying out in a magazine for a watch retailer – mentally filing models by price, availability and location. I would have loved a video like this at that phase of life. One that pulls together three contenders from the latest crop – catering to different tastes but a budget of under $3000. Well, to be fair, there are two divers here, so if you don’t like divers, it’s a full metal jacket for you, soldier. As usual, there are plenty I’d add in retrospect, but primarily the already sold-out Zodiac Aerospace GMT – so fate took care of that one for me in the end. Doxa Sub 200 130 Years Doxa turned heads this year with a solid gold Sub celebrating the brand’s 130th birthday and a clickbait price tag of $70,000 USD. However, the Sub 200 anniversary model snuck under the radar as possibly Basel’s best value proposition, at circa $1600 AUD, limited to 130 pieces.…
Few things excite Seiko fans as much as a solid historical reissue (or re-creation in Seiko’s parlance), and this year’s limited edition, the SLA033, is about as exciting as they come. First of all, it’s based on a diver. Indeed, for many of the Seiko cognoscenti, it’s based on the diver, the 6105, a watch that — thanks to its reliability and corresponding popularity with American servicemen involved in the Vietnam War — contributed to growing the popularity of the Japanese brand in America. But what really ensured this humble diver’s place in the history books was its (period-correct) placement on the wrist of Apocalypse Now’s protagonist Captain Willard, perfectly played by Martin Sheen. And when Seiko say re-creation, they mean it. This watch is, aesthetically, virtually identical to the original, and technically much improved — watch tech has come a long way in nearly 50 years. As a result, the SLA033 offers the best of both worlds. Seiko Diver’s Re-Creation Limited Edition SLA033 Australian pricing and availability Seiko SLA033, limited to 2500 pieces, $7000
If you’ve been reading or watching Time+Tide for more than five minutes, you might have noticed that I’ve got something of a soft spot for watches that are both sublime and ridiculous. And honestly, Baselworld is the best place to see these rare, beautiful birds all in one place. Before they fly the coop into the boutiques, bank vaults and wrists of the international connoisseur cognoscenti. Now, before we get into the timepieces themselves, a quick caveat. When I say “over the top” I mean that in the best possible way. In many ways, this sort of horology represents the very best elements of the craft — artisanal skill and ingenious engineering meeting in the middle to result in something that transcends both. Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36 No one does diamonds quite like Rolex. But you know what, the thing that really charms me about this piece is the batons. Perfectly graduated rainbow indices. Amazing. Chanel Première Midnight in Vendôme Nobody needs a giant gold frog with a clock in its mouth. And that’s why it’s perfect. MB&F Legacy Machine FlyingT The latest addition to MB&F’s Legacy Machine line has been made with women in mind. A highly domed…
I don’t know about you, but when the price point of a timepiece starts to creep beyond the realms of the everyday, things like price points start to get a little abstract. And, let’s be real here — for most people (though perhaps not most people reading this), watches with a sticker price north of $35,000 are definitely not an everyday proposition. But Baselworld is something of a fantasy land, so we thought it only right and proper to indulge in some hypothetical high-end watch speculation. Patek Philippe Nautilus 5726/1A In the land of high-end steel sports watches, the Nautilus is king. Baselworld 2019 saw that reign (and corresponding waitlist) grow longer with the release of the complex and symmetrical reference 5726/1A, which added a gradient blue to that famous striped dial. Also, I think Andrew’s a little bit in love. De Bethune DB28 Yellow Tones Speaking of love … It might be a many splendored thing, but in the straight-up splendour stakes, De Bethune’s latest take on their classic, sculptural DB28 has it beat, thanks to a rich yellow gold treatment of the titanium case. Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Tourbillon And finally, Hublot. One of my metrics for…