HANDS-ON: All aboard with the Longines Railroad
We’re not alone in our love of Longines heritage offerings – the classic designs and smart prices make them consistently instant hits among watch enthusiasts, and every year we get some new treasure from the brand’s seemingly endless archive. We’ve had dive watches, pilot’s watches, even trench watches – but we’ve never seen a train watch, until now… The American railroads ‘General Railroad Timepiece Standards’ specified that timekeeping equipment from then on must “be open faced…use plain Arabic numbers printed bold and black on a white dial, and have bold black hands…” The Longines Railroad takes its name and design from highly precise ‘railroad grade’ mid-twentieth century Longines watches intended for use by railway workers. Before the invention of electronic safety mechanisms, accuracy on the railways wasn’t just a matter of good customer service, it was a matter of life and death. In fact, it was a head-on collision in 1891 caused by a slow pocketwatch that caused the American railroads to put together the General Railroad Timepiece Standards. These guidelines specified that timekeeping equipment from then on must “be open faced… have a minimum of 17 jewels, adjusted to at least 5 positions, keep time accurately to within a gain or loss of only…
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The story in a second Yet again, Tudor has delivered one of the most talked about watches of 2016. If you’d asked me in the early months of 2016 if the bronze trend had a future, I’d have said no. To all intents and purposes the craze, spearheaded by Panerai, was on the wane. Sure, the ancient-yet-innovative alloy had its charms, but it takes a certain type of person to mess around with sulphur and lemon juice, making their watch look like something salvaged from a shipwreck. I thought bronze would always be a niche case material, not a mainstream proposition. Then I saw the Tudor Black Bay Bronze. Catapulting off the incredibly strong Black Bay family, this watch has what it takes to bring bronze to a much bigger audience. The case We have to start this by talking about the case. The two key take away points here are size and material. At 43mm across this is the biggest watch Tudor has ever made, and boy does this incremental increase make for a big impact when it comes to on-the-wrist presence. For me, the size and bulk of the BB Bronze make it much more of a ‘fun’ watch,…
Editor’s note: From where we stand, the Wind-Up Watch Fair 2016, run by the boys from worn&wound seemed to kick a lot of ass. Over 15,000 people attended, the socials were buzzing with wristshots of rarely seen watch brands and there were new conversations being had around value, quality and the thrilling proximity to provenance a Fair with smaller indie brands can offer. Frankly, we wished we were there. Amid an avalanche of stories, almost daily, of the plummeting sales of luxury timepieces , and with SIHH opening its doors to the public for the first time, while also inviting indie brands to display, it’s interesting to observe the lower price segment of the market in such a strong growth phase, thanks to excellent new events like the Wind-Up. Cheers to the co-founder of worn&wound Zach Weiss for filing this eyewitness report. worn&wound’s Wind-Up Watch Fair 2016 was a tremendous success. The 3-day long event pulled in over 15,000 attendees ranging from seasoned watch collectors to people just passing by, many of who left with a new watch or strap on their wrist, or one in the mail. This makes it the largest fair in the US and one of the largest globally, something…
The story in a second When it comes to value, it’s hard to beat Seiko, and this Presage is no exception. If you ask any watch lover worth their salt to describe Seiko in five words or less, we’re willing to bet you’ll hear a phrase that’s a variant of ‘great value!’ This is true from the brand’s more accessible offerings – such as their famously indestructible divers – all the way up to the Grand Seiko and Credor lines. The Presage collection is no different, but until now, the well priced, 100 per cent mechanical line was only available only in the Japanese market. 2016 is the year Presage goes global, offering a great alternative to the usual suspects in the competitive $1-2K price point. And while the 60th anniversary chronograph has hogged the limelight, the entire collection is strong, with the slightly complicated SPB041J1 hitting the sweet spot in terms value and quality. The dial The first thing you’ll notice about the Presage SPB041J1, or indeed any of the models in the Presage Prestige (try saying that fast 10 times) collection is that they look quite vintage, and far more Swiss than we’re used to seeing from Seiko. I mean,…
Tattoo artist Benjamin Laukis cuts a dashing figure. Impeccably dressed, impressively inked – people tend to notice when Laukis walks into a room. He’s also a gentleman in the truest sense of the word, and a watch collector of great integrity and taste. We caught up with Ben at his Northcote studio, The Black Mark, to find out about his passion for his art, and the powerful attraction he feels to the handmade over the mass-produced. Given all this, Laukis’ choice of watch is apt, the vintage lines of the TAG Heuer Calibre 18 Telemeter looks perfect on his unmistakeable wrist.
The story in a second One of Tissot’s best 2016 releases is basically a pocket watch for your wrist, and it’s awesome. These days, most people associate Tissot with their sporty PRS line and the clever T-Touch, but the brand was actually founded in 1853 and as such have an enviable back catalogue covering off practically all the classics. This year they’ve delved into the interwar period for inspiration, and cooked up the Heritage 1936, a wallet-friendly winner with tons of wrist presence. The case The case of the Heritage 1936 sees Tissot pulling off a very clever double act – they’ve managed to create a watch with a legitimate vintage-style case in an oh-so-modern case size of 45mm (and 12.98mm high). They’ve done this by essentially adding lugs and a strap to a pocket watch case, with spectacular results. It also touches on a really interesting moment in the history of personal timekeeping, when watches – after a few hundred years of being safely ensconced in people’s pockets, moved onto the wrist. This all changed with the First World War, when the extra seconds it took to take the watch out of your pocket could mean the difference between life and death and when checking the…
The story in a second Cartier’s key collection of 2015 just became a whole lot more accessible. Much fuss has been made over Cartier’s manly new Drive collection, and rightly so. But the Parisian powerhouse also released another excellent, and highly anticipated, men’s watch this year – the Clé de Cartier in steel. It’s no secret that we fell pretty hard for the Clé when we first met at SIHH 2015. The only potential spanner in the works? It was only available in pricey precious metals. Well, if you’re less about the shiny stuff and more about the stainless, you’re in luck. The dial Cartier doesn’t often mess with their trademark attributes, and that’s a good thing when it comes to dial and handset. So, expect the expected: Roman numerals, blued sword hands and guilloché centre detail. Familiar and reassuring. It’s a simple design, but not boring. There’s enough detail here, from the multiple dial finishes, through to the well-designed date and the secret signature to reward close examination. And of course it all looks gorgeous under that softly domed sapphire crystal. The case If the dial is traditional Cartier, the case is where the brand has flexed their design prowess. The circle…
After their square instrument pieces, Bell & Ross has made quite an impression with their vintage collection – a range of more classically styled round pieces that often riff on the icons of aviation. The BR 126 Aeronavale is a little different. The handsome, gold-accented blue chronograph is directly inspired by the uniforms, rather than the planes, of the air arm of the French Navy – the Aeronavale. It’s also a watch that you need to see shimmering and flashing in real life to truly appreciate.