From Dr No to Spectre – the Complete List of Bond Watches
We all know James Bond, AKA 007, the suave British secret service agent who has been on missions all over the world. Throughout many of the films, he has always had a wristwatch to keep track of the time and, in some cases, help him get out of a jam. Today we take a look at the watches that have featured in the films. Dr. No – Rolex Submariner Reference 6538 Ian Fleming wrote in the original Bond novels that a Rolex was the wristwatch of 007. For the first film, Dr. No, actor Sean Connery, playing Bond, wore a Reference 6538 Submariner. It was worn not on the stainless steel bracelet but a leather strap. From Russia With Love – Rolex Submariner Reference 6538 The watch was on the wrist of 007 again in the next film, From Russia With Love, on the leather strap. Goldfinger – Rolex Submariner Reference 6538 In the opening scene of third film, Goldfinger, we get the money shot that cemented the Submariner in cinematic history. Connery lifts his tuxedo jacket to check the time, with the aid of a cigarette lighter, and the details of the watch are clearly shown. The leather strap has been…
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For many, Grand Seiko is synonymous with Snowflake, and for years there was only one Grand Seiko Snowflake to choose. Now, as the prestigious Japanese brand becomes better known in the world, that landscape is changing, with more of those delicate, gorgeous dials making their way across the world. And, in the manner of Vivaldi’s most famous work, we’re breaking it down, four seasons-style. Grand Seiko Snowflake SBGA259 Spring is brought to us courtesy of the SBGA259, which doesn’t deviate too much from the original, but adds a few blossoming buds of colour in the form of gold-tone hands and dial markers. In a contrast that only seems to make the white of the dial even crisper in comparison. $8400 Grand Seiko Snowflake SBGY002 One of the latest additions to the Snowflake family is the one offering a glimpse of golden sunshine — SBGY002. While the allusion to summery warmth is clear in the precious metal case, this slim, manually wound Spring Drive offers a novel new take on the much-loved look. $35,200 Grand Seiko Snowflake SBGA211 In this seasonal breakdown, the original, titanium-cased Snowflake takes the position of autumn. That’s not to say that this watch isn’t a great year-round option, but its…
I’d like to say I remember the first post we ever published on Time+Tide. But I have no idea. Was it a ‘hello world’ that spelled out our sparkling vision? A watch review of something released early in 2014? Your guess really is as good as mine. That seems pretty average on my part — and easily remedied with a quick search — but today is our 2000th post, so we’re looking to the future with amnesia fully intact. There are, I should point out, lots of stories I will never forget among the 360-odd of mine that have been published over the years. If that sounds like a lot, spare a thought for our warrior editor Felix. He’s 1200-deep and still rolling with fierce momentum. On the occasion of our own personal Y2K I wanted to ask our core team of writers a question: what story stands out the most? Which one are you proudest of? Let’s go… Felix and his Basel flashbacks… When Andrew posed this question, I groaned a little inside. If he had asked me to pick my favourite T+T story in general it would have been easy. I could have picked one of our early ‘big’ reviews, such as…
As the dust settles, we look back at the Baselworld 2018 fair with a more holistic lens. And, as the Time+Tide team saw more than 50 brands between them, we think we’re in a pretty excellent position to pull out a few common themes… Trend 1 – Two-tone First up, two-tone watches. Let me start this by saying — yes, I know two-tone watches have always been a ‘thing’, but lately we feel they’ve picked up momentum (something I put down to the fact that a lot of steel watches are hard to come by!). Tudor Black Bay S&G with champagne dial Tudor spiced up their existing Black Bay S&G model with a ‘champagne’ dial. In person, it’s much closer to gold, especially under natural light. This move from Tudor, a year after the original release of the S&G, shows that they’re backing the two-tone love. Omega Seamaster Diver 300M As part of Omega’s new 300M Diver collection, we saw several bi-metal releases. Omega backed the love for two-tone this year, releasing not one but three variations of the Diver — a Tantalum (Titanium) and Sedna (Gold), Steel and Sedna Gold, and Steel and Yellow Gold. Rolex GMT-Master II in Everose and…
Baselworld is over for another year and while we take a deep breath to compose ourselves and remind our respective families we still exist, it’s time to mentally unpack our time in Basel and compose the chaos into a list. Not just any list, but a Baselworld Top 10 List. Here we go. Hublot Classic Fusion Aerofusion Chronograph Orlinski All Black This updated Aerofusion ‘Orlinski’ — named for the French sculptor Richard Orlinski, who collaborated on the design — is all about the angles; the muted tones of the micro-blasted black ceramic catches all the light. With a self-winding skeleton chronograph movement and limited to 200 pieces, this model will quickly become a collectable. Rolex GMT-Master II ‘Root Beer” The early hype at the fair was the release of the first stainless steel GMT-Master II since the ‘Batman’ in 2014. While everyone was in a frenzy to get a glimpse of the ‘Pepsi’ on jubilee bracelet, Rolex had another GMT flying a little lower under the radar. The soft tones of the Everose gold is soft enough in colour to play off the stainless steel, and with the ceramic ‘root beer’ bezel, this one is a winner. Longines Legend Diver Black Just when…
The power of ‘celebrity’ is not a new concept. As far back as the ancient pharaohs, celebrities have been put on a pedestal (sometimes literally) and we’ve obsessed into the lives of the powerful, the wealthy and the beautiful. These days, technology puts the beautiful people at our fingertips, and this all-access, always-on, microscope into famous lives continues to fuel the celebrity fire. And that desire for fame through association is at its strongest when it comes to celebrity-owned objects. Tonight, Russell Crowe will auction off a collection of movie memorabilia, jewellery and watches at Sotheby’s in Sydney as part of his ‘Art of Divorce’ garage sale (2001 Mercedes Benz, anyone?). Watches on offer range from an Armani quartz watch (estimate $500-$1000) to a late ’90s yellow gold Rolex Daytona – at well over $40,000. It will be interesting to see how Rusty’s celebrity impacts the sale of his 29 timepieces. In light of this auction, we thought it would be fitting to look at other famous watches that have gone under the hammer, just to see how much of a difference a famous provenance makes. Note, prices are all estimates based on available RRPs at the time of manufacture.…
Well, here we are. The ‘sky’s-the-limit’/‘mortgage-the-house’ level of watch. And if you’re going to drop that sort of coin on something that (you’d hope) tells the time, SIHH is the place to do it. There were some truly exceptional offerings at the top end of the table and – just quietly – we definitely picked the best six (Justin and Sandra were greedy and went with two each). Again, you’ll have to watch to see just what we went with, but I suspect it’s absolutely zero surprise that the A. Lange & Söhne Triple Split made the cut. Andrew chose it, summing it up nicely: “It’s just triple the amazing.” He’s not wrong. Thanks for watching our SIHH 2018 panel series, and tell us what you think in the YouTube comments.
With parts one and two of our SIHH video series receding into our proverbial rear-view mirror, it’s time to look to the future, and the future is looking, well, expensive. Today, we’re well and truly in the realm of serious horology. And, as with yesterday, we’re keen to avoid spoilers, so to find out what Andrew, Sandra and Justin would choose if they had a spare $20-30K in their pockets, hit play. I do think it’s only fair to warn you that we’re a tad disorganised at the start of this one. However, I’ll spill the beans on my pick — the IWC Portugieser Hand-Wound Eight Days Edition ‘150 years’. Now, to be honest, I didn’t pick it for the less-than-pithy name but rather the fact that it’s a watch that looks back at IWC’s heritage and honours it. For me, the red gold, white and blue Portugieser Nailed. It.
In the midst of the hectic schedules and bustling halls of SIHH, Andrew and myself, along with freelancers Sandra Lane and Justin Mastine-Frost, found a spare hour to sit down in front of the steady lens of Marcus’ camera to discuss our favourite watch of SIHH — while they were fresh. But rather than just cherry-pick the (many) exceptional watches on offer, we opted to make things a bit trickier by breaking the watches down by price. So, in part one of our four-part mini-series we talk about the (roughly) sub-$10,000 price point. So, here are (what we think) are the best watches of SIHH 2018 – under $10,000. Stay tuned for the other instalments. Sandra’s pick – the Hermès Carré H “It’s lovely, the shape of it as it goes onto the wrist is almost like a bathtub.” Felix’s pick – the Montblanc 1858 Chronograph (in bronze) “It’s a really good, strong, general-appeal chronograph.” Andrew’s pick – the Cartier Santos de Cartier “Cartier are acknowledging a lot of broader trends in the way they’ve packaged this up.” Justin’s pick – the Zenith CP-2 Flyback Bronze “It looks stunning. Bronze is everywhere now – I’ve got a soft spot for it…