Figure that: the Swiss and Italian Alps, in the middle of August, 7 mountain passes (including the mighty Passo Dello Stelvio), over 70 classic Italian cars, and a roadbook detailing some 250km of mountain roads… This was the program of “Passione Engadina”, a highly coveted classic cars rally, which is, since this year, sponsored by Jaeger-LeCoultre. I …
Last week, with Sydney turning on weather that thawed the cold, cold hearts of all Melbourne people present, Montblanc hosted a lunch at Quay Restaurant to launch the new ‘re-tooled’ TimeWalker. The intimate event combined fine dining, fun storytelling, and a wide range of watches – from accessible new TimeWalker models to the extremely limited Rally Timer. The entirely hand-fashioned Minerva movement, visible through the caseback, drew audible gasps from the watch-aware in the audience, and looks of curiosity from those to whom the intricate movement architecture just looked pretty. It all took place in a location that is about as Australian as it gets – with a 180-degree view of the Bridge, the glittering Sydney Harbour and the Opera House. Look, let me not feign surprise, we make regular visits to this most spectacular of the world’s stages, but even still, wow, Sydney, you outdid yourself this time. While the day was divine, to begin, Montblanc GM Randall Foote went back in time. He described the connection between Minerva and Montblanc and why the somewhat mythical manufacturer and chronograph-maker, which has been continually producing watches since 1858, is beginning to radically reshape Montblanc’s watch collections in terms of their movements,…
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If you happen to read these lines, it certainly means that you have a sheer passion for all things related to watches – and so do we. Yet, as passionate as we are by the watchmaking world, some of us here share love for something else, yet mechanical too: cars. Thus, when I received an invite from Montblanc to spend a weekend at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (Montblanc is, since this year, the official timekeeper of the event), you can imagine that I didn’t have to think about it twice. The Goodwood FoS is massive, unique, loud and fun. Here is a photo report of the 2017 edition of the FoS – and no worries, there are watches too…
Never before has a watch brand taken over the entirety of the historic bank building that today houses Cipriani 42nd Street for an entire month, let alone build an entire two-story building inside the cavernous hall. Patek Philippe, however, did exactly that – and so much more. July 13 marked the opening of the 10-day …
Goodwood is one of those events that is a must-visit for every petrol head on the planet, and if the weather plays along, it’s absolutely fabulous! Goodwood has three main events during the year: Members Meeting (which marks the start of the racing season), Revival (after summer) and recently, Festival of Speed; the latter was the setting for Porsche to unveil their newest 911 GT2 RS. Now if you wonder what a watch journalist is doing at the Festival of Speed with Porsche (and Porsche Design), then there’s a good explanation for that and yes, it has everything to do with watches. Rather exclusive watches if I may say so, because you can only buy one if you bought either the recently introduced Porsche 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series or the new 911 GT2RS Exclusive Series.
It’s loud, it’s fun and it’s exciting… Monochrome was fortunate enough to spend the week-end with Blancpain at Le Castellet (circuit Paul Ricard). Bentley took its first Endurance Cup victory in the Blancpain GT Series in three years in the day-night 1000km race. We took the opportunity to “get our hands dirty” taking a closer look …
Just over a week ago, we told you about a cool new automotive event that was taking place in Central London; the City Concours. With a number of gorgeous cars on display, not to mention the opportunity to handle some lovely watches from official timepiece sponsors, Glashütte Original and Breguet, we donned our sunglasses (a rare treat in London in and of itself) and headed down to check out the show.
With a great tagline comes great responsibility, and last night Tudor lived up to theirs by daring to launch their 2017 collection in the midst of Australia’s most controversial art festival, Dark Mofo, in Hobart. Talk about being #borntodare – this was a night with far fewer boundaries than usual for a luxury watch event. The guests tumbled from a fine dining experience at Franklin restaurant down a rabbit hole of scenes and settings that were, in as few words as possible, a David Lynch movie come to life. Whole buildings were converted into experiential art spaces that might include nude yoga, a blasting punk gig by Pussy Riot, a ‘real’ tennis exhibition match in an indoor court built in the mid-19th century, and a rave where people were encouraged to lie on a floor and have pebbles poured over them. 1. There was no real agenda or schedule Can you imagine? A Swiss watch event with no meticulous itinerary? Crazy. Town. This was not a tightly choreographed whistlestop tour of weirdness – guests were encouraged to disappear and do things by themselves. It was not a breath of fresh air as much as a gale force wind that left everyone…
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The concept of GTGs, or G2Gs, or get togethers in plain english, is a staple of the Instagram handled, Facebook-inhabiting individuals known collectively as ‘the watch fam’. For all that the growth of watch collecting and connoisseurship has been driven by digital platforms, there’s nothing quite like meeting like-minded people in person, calling them by their Instagram name and fondling the watch on their wrist. Typically GTGs are semi-regular affairs, based around fora, Facebook groups or, more recently, organisations like RedBar (started by this guy). Well, the GTG that took place in The Hour Glass’ freshly opened Sydney boutique will go down in the annals of watchnerd lore. I’m confident saying that never before has such a significant collection of independent watches been shown in Australia, courtesy of Group Managing Director Michael Tay’s personal collection. George Daniels. Roger Smith. Philippe Dufour. F.P. Journe. Richard Mille. Vianney Halter – and that’s not even half of it. Tay brought the heat in a big way. And while the rest of the attendees were queuing for an up close and personal inspection of some of watchmaking’s holiest of grails, I borrowed five minutes of Michael’s time to find out about his plans for Australia,…
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For as long as I can remember, watch brands, and a few in particular, have been involved in Formula 1 motor sport. This is not surprising of course, in the fast-paced world of Formula 1, timing is everything. In recent times, one relationship has proven particularly fruitful: Red Bull Racing and Tag Heuer. Last month we were invited to visit the Red Bull Racing factory in Milton Keynes, UK to see first-hand how a Formula 1 team operates and learn just how important its timing partner can really be.