The 10 best skeleton dials from 2018
Skeleton dials are interesting, not because they offer a garish look at something exposed but because they showcase the sheer level of complexity involved in modern watchmaking. Without searching for photos of the movement of your watch online, or doing a John Goldberger (and opening your million dollar Rolex 4113 with a cheese knife), the regular watch enthusiast can’t just look at the mechanism of their watch. A skeleton dial offers a view of the mechanism that is less invasive, and more intimate, by offering a window into a part of the watch usually saved for the eyes of watchmakers. To celebrate this style of dial design, we wanted to have a look at the 10 best skeleton dials from 2018. TAG HEUER CARRERA GMT HEUER 02 The Heuer 02, the next generation of TAG Heuer’s mechanical chronograph movement, has been augmented with a GMT complication for the first time inside this avant-garde take on the sporty Carrera. A stripped-back dial features an additional bright red hand that indicates a second time zone by pointing to the 24-hour scale of its bicoloured ceramic bezel. This watch is large and very much in charge on the wrist. Ref No. CBG2A1Z, Case…
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As long as the internet and watch enthusiasts exist, there will be arguments about what the first watch on Mount Everest was. But rather than discussing semantic possibilities of the interpretation of 60-year-old advertisements, we wanted to look at a selection of Mount Everest watches (not just which was first). Smiths de Luxe The source of much argument and marketing budget, the Smiths de Luxe was taken to the summit of Mount Everest. The dispute lies in whether the watch was worn on the wrist or kept in a pocket, but, regardless, it was carried in some fashion to the highest point on earth. The watch in question now lies in the London museum of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. Rolex Oyster Perpetual Chronometer Rolex were a sponsor of the 1953 expedition to the top of Mount Everest, with each member of the group loaned one of a batch of prototypes to wear. These watches were offered with the expectation of their return upon completion of the attempt, to allow Rolex to test how the watches were affected by the altitude. The watch now resides in the Beyer Clock and Watch Museum in Zürich, Switzerland, after being provided…
While orange might be the new black, another obvious trend in the contemporary watch market is the lean towards heritage styling. This has been a consistent motif across the industry for a number of years now, but 2018 was a year when the number of heritage watches almost eclipsed those with more contemporary design. In the spirit of people loving old stuff better than new stuff, I wanted to shine the spotlight on a few pieces that are some of the best heritage watches of 2018. HAMILTON KHAKI FIELD MECHANICAL Sometimes we come across watches that present such a good value proposition, it’s almost a no-brainer. The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical is one of those watches. And it’s not just the price that makes it a real winner either, but rather what it gets you. A 38mm, manual-wound watch with an ultra-spartan dial, the right proportions, all wrapped up in a historically relevant design that pays tribute to Hamilton’s rich military heritage. You can have our money, Hamilton. Ref No. H69429931, Case size 38mm, Case material Steel, Movement ETA 2801-2, Price $475 USD TISSOT HERITAGE PETITE SECONDE Every year Tissot nail it with their heritage-inspired releases. The plaudits…
Half a decade ago, Time+Tide published a story, citing that by 2020 there would be more female millionaires in Britain than male, leaving it to the brands to respond to this shift. As we also mentioned here, women’s watches are so often an afterthought from brands, typically taking a men’s model and either shrinking it down or sinking a few stones into the bezel/lugs. While this still occurs, there are a number of brands that are working hard to have an independent women’s collection under their roof, which is refreshing to see. Last year, Baselworld had a number of women’s watches on display, so we thought we’d look back at 6 of the best women’s watches of 2018. CARTIER RÉVÉLATION D’UNE PANTHÈRE As with some of life’s great wonders, only when you see can you believe. And this latest marvel from the French Maison is the perfect example. With a simple turn of the wrist, what was once a blank dial begins to fill with tiny gold beads, flowing from top to bottom and revealing a stylised panther’s face. And then almost as quickly, it disappears, the beads resting at the bottom of the dial. Ref No. HPI01259, Case size 37mm,…
As we naturally personify the objects we come into contact with, the hour and minute indicators on a watch become articulating hands, and the dial becomes a face. Just as we will closely study the faces of the people around us, we search for meaning in the faces of our watches as we read the time, giving watchmakers huge incentive to design the most interesting dials for our viewing pleasure. With this in mind, it wasn’t hard to find a good-looking dial, making it a challenge to narrow down the 10 most interesting watch dials of 2018. Keep reading for some stellar horological handiwork. LONGINES MILITARY WATCH With a history that stretches back over 185 years, it should come as no surprise that Longines has some solid historical designs to draw from. Their latest takes its vintage inspiration to a whole new level. Tracing its roots to a watch that was supplied to the British RAF during WWII, each cream-coloured dial is randomly speckled with spots of faux patina, with no two dials looking alike. Ref No. L2.819.4.93.2, Case size 38.5mm, Case material Steel, Movement L888.2, Price $2775 MING 17.03 The brainchild of international photographer and watch collector Ming…
Quartz often gets a bad rap as the ugly duckling of the watch world. With pejoratives such as “soulless”, and “the quartz watch is entirely dependent on its battery and it has the dedicated ambition to commit suicide as soon as possible”, it takes a beating. And while the latter quote was by a not-insignificant contributor to the horological canon, it also implies literally no technological innovation in quartz watchmaking, which obviously isn’t the reality. Quartz watches can be cheap and cheerful, but some quartz watches contain genuine watchmaking expertise, and a taste of something slightly different than laborious crown-winding every morning. In this spirit, we thought we’d have a look at some of the best quartz watches of 2018. UNDONE URBAN VINTAGE ‘KILLY’ CHRONOGRAPH Undone have been bringing fully customisable watches to the people for a good couple of years now. Their latest offering is the retro-inspired Urban Chronograph. While you can still customise every little detail, Undone also created a series of pre-made designs inspired by iconic chronographs of days gone by. Our favourite is the Killy and its Dato Compax-esque warm creamy dial. Case size 40mm, Case material Steel, Movement VK61A, Price $265 USD SWATCH SKIN IRONY…
As the internet hits scale, connecting humanity in ways previously unthinkable, it is more important than ever to track more than one time zone. This used to be the specific domain of intercontinental pilots, diplomats and finance professionals, but no longer. Thankfully, watch brands are recognising this demand for watches that track multiple time zones, meaning there are more on the market than ever before. Here are the best GMT watches of 2018. G-SHOCK GMW-B5000TFG-9 35TH ANNIVERSARY GOLD ALL METAL MASTERPIECE The one that started it all 35 years ago has been reborn, with everything, from its case and caseback to its bracelet, made of stainless steel for the first time. G-Shock are celebrating with this limited edition version that’s coated in an all gold-coloured ion plating. Bluetooth connectivity allows the user to automatically set the local time or adjust world times and alarms from their phone. Ref No. GMW-B5000TFG-9, Case size 49.3mm, Case material Steel, Movement Tough solar, Price $1049 MING 17.03 The brainchild of international photographer and watch collector Ming Thein, the Ming 17.03 retains all the distinctive characteristics of the 2017-released 17.01. From its flared lugs and floating numerals to its 38mm nitrogen-filled titanium case…
With the news that Omega has pushed the bar (pun obviously intended) to a record-breaking point with their new Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep Professional, we thought we would look at the best-performing deep diving watches on the market. Rolex Deepsea Sea-Dweller With a water resistance to 3900m, the Rolex DSSD is a strong contender for champion of the deep. Featuring the unarguably comfortable oyster bracelet, a case manufactured in the brands own Oystersteel, and a genuinely wearable 44mm on the wrist, it’s a fantastic watch for any dive enthusiast. Sinn Model UX The German manufacturer pulled out all the stops with Model UX, even manufacturing the case in corrosion-resistant submarine steel. It is also made unique as the case is filled with synthetic oil that is uncompressible (which acts to resist external water pressure), and allows the dial to be read without reflection at any angle underwater. The Model UX is water resistant to 12,000m, making it functional to the deepest known points of the world’s oceans. Blancpain X Fathoms The Blancpain X Fathoms is by no means a small watch, measuring over 55mm in diameter and 24mm thick; however, it packs a host of…
A lot of the discussion about what makes a watch good value is centred on the mechanics responsible for keeping the time. When those glorious mechanics are removed in favour of a soulless electronic module, many enthusiasts switch off. But this needn’t be the end of the discussion. Quartz watches, for all their sins and the brazen mutiny of the ’70s, have a lot of good things going for them. Firstly, they are more accurate. That’s a pretty short discussion, but it’s true. Even if a traditional mechanical watch were able to be so finely tuned that it could keep time as well as a quartz equivalent in a controlled environment, the minute these competing watches hit a wrist in the real world (along with its frequent shocks, temperature fluctuations, and evermore present magnetic fields that come with it), the mechanical watch would almost certainly experience the odd fluctuation. For fans of hyper-accuracy, the arguments are obvious. But what quartz also enables established luxury watchmakers to do is offer the same build quality (in terms of cases, dials, hands, straps, packaging, and so forth) at a fraction of the cost. Not only are quartz modules incredibly cheap (with many that…
It’s quite possible that when Steve Jobs said, ‘Here’s to the crazy ones’, that master watchmaker Franck Muller was listening. And that he was inspired. Because when Franck Muller does watches well, the brand does them in a certain crazy, poetic and preposterous way. Take my absolute favourite (perhaps until a new contender, the 2019 ‘Remember’ watch, to be discussed shortly) – which is unquestionably Crazy Hours. What is Franck Muller’s Crazy Hours? It’s a random scattering of numbers on the dial. It is a complication that has the hour hand snap with the speed of a switchblade from one number to the next, wherever it is on the dial. It is awesome. To everyone else, your watch looks like it’s possessed. It looks to the bystander like your watch is telling the wrong time. Meanwhile, to you, it’s doing exactly what you want it to do, and it all makes perfect sense to you. The unpredictability. The refusal to conform to a linear notion of time striking some deep chord. I digress. 2019 brings a range of notable new Franck Muller watches. And they’re ‘notable’ because they’re a mix of crazy in the Steve Jobs dreamer sense, and they’re…