MY WEEKEND WITH: The Cartier Hypnose – by The Tia Fox
All this week, we’ve been sharing our collaboration with style influencer Melanie Liu, aka The Tia Fox, to showcase Cartier’s Hypnose collection. Today, she puts on her reviewer hat (which would be painfully chic and limited edition, were it not metaphorical), to let us know exactly what she thought of the three models she tested out. Early this week she told us about the story behind the photoshoot, so make sure to watch it unfold in the full gallery below. My first impression of the three watches was… that they were stunning at first sight, which was a lovely surprise. The whole line is very beautiful and feminine. What stood out most was… the oval shape. It’s an unusual shape for a watch, and it adds character. I also think it’s very flattering. That slender, elongated shape is partly what makes it so elegant. One detail I noticed was… the blue hands – which I know all Cartier watches have. I think that attention to detail is what makes Cartier watches so desirable. So much work and craftsmanship goes into every piece. The most versatile of the collection was… the smallest size, with the diamonds around the dial. This one was much more subtle and you could definitely wear it on…
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It was a complete leap of faith. @thetiafox, Melbourne-based citizen of the world and curator of all things immaculate looks like she was born to work with a watch like the Cartier Hypnose. So, with a little help from Cartier Australia, we arranged for the two to meet. The plan was simple: get them together for a week, then get out of the way. The results were, well, romantic. The Tia Fox, or Melanie Liu to use her real name, not only took the watches to some of Melbourne’s most magnificent and romantic spaces – all with a classic, architectural bent to reference the design of the Hypnose, so thoughtful this one – she also built the photo shoot around a little love story; a narrative about a couple that meet when the female lead (Mel) drops a printed neck scarf in the docklands. To say any more would be to give the story away. To find out more, check in at The Tia Fox on Instagram where a couple of the images have already been posted, with another going up later today. So we’ll hold fire until Friday, when Mel will publish all photos from the shoot, and share her…
Let us start off by saying that if we’d known just how busy Melbourne-based photographer Kristoffer Paulsen was when we arranged to lend him the Black Bay 36, we’d have said, “How about we raincheck this project?” Not only is Kris under the pump with his commercial work (there’s a good chance you’ve drooled over his pictures of food at some point), he’s also exhibiting at Tailfeather Concept Store and dealing with the end of the year like the rest of us. In addition, he’s also just bought a house (well done!) and got married (congratulations!). Let the boy have a lie down, please. Yet somehow, in the midst of all that, he managed to spend a week with the Black Bay 36, delivering a series of beautiful images that speaks to the watch as an object of pure design, as well as giving us a glimpse into Kristoffer’s life. My first impression was… that I really liked the watch – it has an understated look that really resonated. However the fabric strap took some getting used to – on reflection I think I’d have preferred a version on a steel bracelet or leather strap. Once I put it on, I felt… smarter. You know…
If you look at watches on a regular basis (we’re guessing you do), it’s easy to get caught up in the cycle of ever-escalating novelties that defines the industry – because let’s forget, for all the talk of savoir-faire and timelessness, this is an industry. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing what creativity and innovation can be packed in a 45mm case, but it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that a watch doesn’t need to have a brand new in-house movement, multiple tourbillons laid out in the shape of a swan or a dial crafted from the tears of a fallen angel to be a beautiful, lustworthy object. …a watch doesn’t need to have a brand new in-house movement, multiple tourbillons laid out in the shape of a swan or a dial crafted from the tears of a fallen angel to be a beautiful, lustworthy object. Take, for example, Hublot’s Classic Fusion Racing Grey. The only thing that’s new about this collection, offered in titanium and King Gold, is the new grey dial. On the scale of things it’s a subtle and smart tweak – warmer than black and less bold than blue, but the result, as you…
The story in a second Baume & Mercier’s Clifton always had a pretty face. Well, that face just got complicated. It’s hardly a secret. We like the Clifton at Time+Tide. It’s a well-balanced collection that walks a fine line between dressy and casual, retro and modern, all while being very well priced. Typically, though, these Baume & Mercier watches tend towards the simpler complications – calendar or moonphase or date – that sort of thing. Today we’re looking at a Clifton that loads all these complications into one watch. In theory it sounds good – more bang for buck, right? But in reality does all this added functionality detract from the simple allure of the Clifton? There’s only one way for us to find out. The dial As is immediately obvious, there’s a fair bit going on here, but the Clifton does a good job of conveying a large amount of information with as little fuss as possible. First of all, the blued hands indicate chronograph functions – central seconds, with minutes and hours at 12 and six respectively. The subdial at 12 also has windows displaying day and month, while the date is displayed via the red tip central hand.…
The story in a second: The Seiko Turtle offers a winning combination of heritage and quality at a supremely wallet-friendly price. Seiko dive watches have a massive – at times fanatical – following. It’s these guys and gals who are responsible for giving the brand’s cryptically coded watches their colourful nicknames – the Tuna, Monster, Sumo and, in this case, the Turtle. Officially, the Turtles we’re looking at here are known as SRP775 (black gilt dial on bracelet), SRP773 (blue dial on bracelet) and SRP777 (black dial on silicone). From now on, collectively, we’ll just call them Turtles. But wait, there’s more. These SRP77 divers are actually reissues of the original Turtles – historic divers from the 6309 family, produced from 1976 until 1988. Not only is this new version a faithful homage to the original, it also represents nigh-on-unbeatable value for money. The case It was the broad, cushion-shaped case that inspired the watch’s nickname, because if you look at it from a distance and squint a little it resembles the shell of a turtle. Of course, the broad sides have a functional purpose as well, the ample flanks serving to protect the case, as well as the crown. As you might expect…
Baume & Mercier are known for their value-focused take on traditional watchmaking. Their Clifton and Capeland collections epitomise this approach, offering versatile style at a price that won’t break the bank. Of course, this means some concessions must be made: Cases are usually steel, and complications are of the more down-to-earth variety. But just because this sort of everyday mechanical is Baume & Mercier’s bread and butter doesn’t mean that they don’t have the capacity to hit the horological high gear on occasion. In fact, over the past few years Baume & Mercier has released a series of fairly stunning special edition takes on the Clifton, including a tourbillon, this handsome 8-day power reserve model and the unusual five-minute repeater pocket watch. The latest addition to this series is a full blown perpetual calendar, housed in a slender, solid 18K red gold case. It’s an extremely elegant piece, thanks to the traditional dial layout and the faceted, vintage-inspired lugs, slightly recessed crown and glassbox sapphire crystal. At 42mm across it’s well sized for a complicated watch, ensuring that there’s enough room on the dial for everything to be legible, but not so big as to lose the old-world charm. Looking through the sapphire…
Well, Christian and Evelyn have arrived at their destination and no, it’s not some Bond-villain-esque lair or a high-stakes diamond heist. Instead it’s something far more relatable and no-less stressful – a school reunion. Thankfully Christian’s fear of social inadequacy is unfounded, thanks in no small part to the Portugieser Hand-Wound on his wrist. We’ve had fun with this illustrated three-part microstory (here are parts one and two in case you missed), and we hope you’ve enjoyed reading it.