LIST: Square pegs in a round world – 6 of the best square watches
Sometimes the endless parade of circular watches gets a little monotonous. We’ve been conditioned by decades of design to default to the round in watches. By and large that’s fine, but sometimes we want something just outside the norm – still versatile, still stylish, but a little less same same. And there’s where the squares come in. Now, a word of warning. What constitutes a ‘square’ in watchmaking is a subjective business. Is it the dial? Is it the case? It’s tricky, because fine watch design is not as black and white as geometry would have you believe. Well, we’ve found six squares to suit all tastes – from architects to action men. Nomos Tetra neomatik With their clean lines and sparse dials it’s easy to see why Nomos is a brand beloved by architects, creative directors and anyone with a professional interest in good design. Of all their watches, the Tetra is perhaps the most stylistically uncompromising, thanks to its aggressively simple case and classic stepped lugs. And even though the case measures 33mm across, it wears well on men’s wrists thanks to its shape and formal style. Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Horolum You can’t have a list…
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As Marvelites and Comic-Con attendees undoubtedly already know, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the much-anticipated follow-up to the 2014 original, is in Australian cinemas today. As a closet Marvel fangirl (Pssst, Antman. You never return my calls.), this is a big deal for me. So to celebrate I’ve put together five (very different) watches, for the five (very different) Guardians, and added an auditory accompaniment taken from “Awesome Mix Tape #2”, just for fun. Enjoy. Star-Lord (Peter Quill) According to his Marvel bio, infant Peter stared up at the stars in the night sky for nearly an hour before his mother found him, after surviving an attempted murder by his step-father. It is this legend that helped give Peter his character name of Star-Lord, and in turn led me to the Seiko Astron GPS Solar made in partnership with Giugiaro Design. Not only is the word “Astron” derived from the Greek word meaning “star”, but the titanium case, ceramic bezel, and high magnetic resistance make the piece both extremely lightweight and tremendously durable; traits that are ideal for, say, flying through galaxies at high speeds. Associated track: “My Sweet Lord” – George Harrison Gamora This ass-kicking Zen-Whoberi gives new meaning to the…
Last week we published a video of our top picks from Baselworld 2017. We filmed it in a pretty sleep-deprived state towards the end of the fair, with the thought of dropping a list while the watches were still hot. If you haven’t seen it, we’ve embedded it at the end of this story. (We hope you’ll enjoy a watch-related chuckle at our expense.) But we understand that not everyone has the time or headphones for video. So if you prefer your images still instead of moving, here are our 11 favourites in all their glorious, technicolour detail. Enjoy. Seiko Presage Cocktail Time Andrew says: This is the most unexpected thing in the list. Because I like the Cocktail Time! One of our team members told us in a post titled, unambiguously, No Submariners With Black Tie, that we have to have a different watch for black tie. For me, this is it. The dial is insane – it’s for a confident man (or woman), because it’s a dressy watch. Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller Andrew says: I fell hard, not only for its beauty, but also its brains. We have one of the most complicated Rolexes for what’s simply a very good price. Omega Railmaster…
When you really fall for someone, there’s a point where you just can’t get close enough. It’s the same with Patek Philippe. Over the years, we’ve photographed a wide range of their models, and the closer the shot, the tighter the macro, it’s almost always a case of the more magnified the wonder. These are our favourite nine. Choosing was hard, but that’s love, we guess. The first line from the review of the Patek Philippe split-seconds chronograph Ref. 5370P: The new Patek Philippe split-seconds chronograph (Ref.5370P to its friends) is the new must have über-Patek. The second line from the review of the Patek Philippe split-seconds chronograph Ref. 5370P: The talk about Patek Philippe this year centred on their controversial attempt to break into younger market segments – AKA the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time. It’s easy then to forget that Patek released other watches, many of them every inch the classic Patek. The first line from the post about the Patek Philippe 5270G Perpetual Calendar Chronograph: “It’s the Macdaddy”, says our host. Whatever it is, we’re dying here. The first line from the review of the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1R-001: Patek Philippe have released a rose gold and dark chocolate version of the classic Nautilus 5711. Never mind the buzz-piece…
Back in days of yore (AKA 2015), we rounded up nine of the biggest, baddest, most unbreakable timepieces we could find, and created the most fierce gang of watches the world had ever seen. Much like Dolph and JCVD, those guys are still the OG toughies, but in the subsequent years an entirely new generation of invincibles has risen through the ranks. So, without further ado, meet the new breed. Just don’t look them in the eye. Bremont MBII – White Most pilots watches haven’t been built to handle the stresses that come from being shot out of a moving fighter jet in 0.8 of a second. This one has. Bremont developed the MBII in partnership with ejector seat maker Martin-Baker, and last year added a white dialled version (perfect for Iceman). Cool as it is, it’s not quite a match for the MBI, which Bremont will only sell to people who have *actually* ejected from a plane using a Martin-Baker seat. Now that’s an exclusive club. Tudor Pelagos LHD The blue version of the mighty Pelagos made the last edition of this list, but we couldn’t resist including the latest addition to the family, as the LHD has a killer left hook. While…
Time for the final leg of our tour of the best ‘affordable’ watches of 2016. We’re now at the upper end, at that fun little sweet spot where things start to get really interesting, with some serious in-house movements on offer, and amazing solid designs. It’s the upper limit for many people, so a lot of these options are less disposable and more ‘one good watch’. We’ve snuck a few pieces in that are priced just north of 5k, because we’re devious like that. And of course, if you wanted to spend a few (hundred/thousand) dollars more, the sky’s the limit, but we had to end this somewhere. Longines Avigation Type A-7 The words ‘value’ or ‘bargain’ don’t frequently come up when talking about a watch that’s getting close to $5k, but they’re totally applicable in the case of the Longines Avigation. It takes the heritage charm we loved in their 1918 model from Basel last year, and adds a monopusher chronograph in an offset case similar to the Vacheron Historiques American pieces – but for about a fifth the price. That’s a big win in our books. The darkness of the faux-patina indices might be a little heavy-handed, but overall it’s a…
That’s right folks, we’re at it again, clawing our way through our top choices with an ever-ballooning budget, and believe it or not, this was our toughest category yet. The $3000 to $4000 category seems to have run a little thin for 2016, but we’ve still been able to round out a healthy assortment of picks that would make a nice (and in some cases quite peculiar) addition to your growing watch brigade. Again, we’ve snuck in a couple of big guns just under the $4k cap including one of our favourite releases of the year from a brand our own Andy Green just can’t stop talking about. Will they all be to your liking? Doubtful. Will you find a few to add to your shopping list? Hopefully. Tudor Black Bay 36 Not only does the Black Bay 36 top our list of $3-4k watches, it has also hands-down grabbed a spot on the list of the best watches of 2016. A compact 36mm case, glossy black dial and snowflake hands are just the tip of the iceberg — its bracelet, fabric, and leather straps mean you can take it from casual to office attire, and being a Black Bay (with 150m of water resistance…
For our third instalment we’re entering a slightly different echelon of watches. Some buyers will just dive right into their first watch at this price bracket, whereas others will have whetted their appetites on more entry-level pieces, and are now ready to step up their game. You’ll notice a lot more familiar names on this list, as well as a few surprises. Overall it’s a healthy pack of contenders with a nice mix of divers and dress watches. Oak and Oscar Sandford On the heels of the much-loved Burnham three-hand model, the Oak and Oscar Sandford continued to impress fans by offering a well-executed and stylish Soprod automatic-powered GMT in a compact and comfortable 40mm case. Though quite task-driven in terms of design, this piece is all about the details. A colour-matched date wheel, bright BWG9 Superluminova, a crisp sandwich dial, and American handmade Horween leather straps are just a few key points that help it stand out. The production run of the steel Sandford is limited to 300, though the black PVD model (100 made) sold out in a hurry. RRP $1850 USD Oris Divers Sixty-Five Green Dial The 42mm version of the Oris Divers Sixty-Five has been going down as one…
We’ve already got you covered in the zero to 1K category, but as you inch your way up the watch-buying food chain, the decisions don’t automatically get much easier, and the $1-2K range is just as tricky to navigate. While there’s still plenty to pick from, the quality can be all over the board in the same way it can in lower price brackets. After all, this is the spectrum where fashion houses like Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo try to sell you ETA quartz-powered timepieces for no other reason than the fact their logos adorn the dials and casebacks. Once again, we’ve sifted through the mess and cherry-picked some of our favourite pieces of 2016 that are worthy of your hard-earned. Tissot PRS 516 Automatic Small Second The entire PRS 516 line is quite appealing, however this unique and very motorsport-inspired model is the best choice in this price bracket. A trio of partially exposed subdials displays the running seconds of the watch, which, while a little convoluted at first glance, is a really clever way to add personality to its dial without opting for a chronograph. The subdials have a very gauge-like feel to them, and the horizontal striping of the…
“What watch should I buy for ___ dollars?” is the almighty question we hear day in and day out. And while there’s no simple answer, we thought we’d point you in the right direction with a ‘best of’ hit list in every thousand dollar interval from one to five over the next few days. We can’t possibly hit every single watch in each segment, but our goal is simple — to give our fellow enthusiasts a healthy set of options that fit a wide range of tastes and budgets. With that in mind, let’s kick things off with eight of the best for under a grand. Seiko Turtle Reissue SRPA21K OK, so this guy’s a total no-brainer – a reissue of Seiko’s classic (and now quite collectable) 6309 series day-date divers. The originals were in production from roughly 1976 to ’88, and this past year saw countless fans shouting “Shut up and take my money” as the numerous variants of the Turtle reissue sold out, time and time again. The line includes something for everyone, including a gilt-dial variant, all black, all blue, a very cool grey made-for-the-Thailand-market Zimbe Turtle, and of course this one, the limited-release SRPA21K PADI-partnership blue-dialled model with pepsi bezel.…