EVERY WATCH TELLS A STORY: Joseph's murdered out Seiko 5 Sports SRPD79K1 on integrated rubber Crafter Blue strap is a cold killer
Last year, we aired the first series of ‘Every Watch Tells A Story’ on YouTube. The premise is as simple as it gets. When we invite raucous crowds into the Time+Tide home base for events, occasionally we offer them the chance to tell the story of their watch. Which promptly explains why everyone in these videos IS SHOUTING. Hey, what we lose in audio quality, we gain in good vibes. Because part of the sport of agreeing to do one of these, is then enduring all the heckling you get from other guests while you do it. We sit them in front of the media wall, turn on the bright lights, mic them up, and ask them a couple of questions about their watch for the evening. Some of the stories are dramatic. Others are pragmatic. But all are interesting, simply because they’re relatable, and they’re personal. The first episode for our second series of stories, stars Joseph. He tells the story of his Seiko 5 Sports SRPD79K1, a watch whose appeal is heightened by its after-market integrated black rubber strap. Despite its undeniably sporty styling and intention as a watch, it looks surprisingly appropriate and at-home with Joseph’s work…
The post EVERY WATCH TELLS A STORY: Joseph’s murdered out Seiko 5 Sports SRPD79K1 on integrated rubber Crafter Blue strap is a cold killer appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
Today, we’re facing off two of the music industry’s biggest names – the one and only Hova, AKA Jay-Z, is going to have his watches pitted against none other than Champagne Papi himself, Drake. There’s going to be four rounds in this horological heavyweight showdown, spread across four different categories – dress watch to die for, modded and murdered out mayhem, weekend warrior, and deathblow, the ultimate flex piece. Whose watches will come out on top in this instalment of Celebrity Death Match? There’s only one way to find out. Dress watch to die for: Jay-Z – Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso Ultra-Thin Tribute to 1931 Pink Gold Ref. 2782521 A more classic dress watch we struggle to think of. Jay-Z’s JLC is a straight-up killer choice for the myriad red carpets the hip hop mogul would find himself on. In fact, the Reverso, although not initially designed as a dress watch, today may well be one of the archetypal models of the genre. This Reverso, in particular, the uber-rare Ultra-Thin Tribute to 1931 Pink Gold Ref. 2782521, just oozes class. Big props to J-Hova. Drake – Richard Mille RM 07-01 Pink Gold To use a very vogue exclamation … Oof. Talk…
Seiko is a brand that is well accustomed to competing with itself. Both to raise the bar for the brand’s watches, and for the betterment of the global watch industry. From the revolution of bringing quartz-powered movements to the masses, to embarrassing the Swiss at their own Chronometer Trials, the intrepid Japanese pioneers can seem to be their own sole competition. With each generation, Seiko and all of its divisions, Grand Seiko chief among them, stop at nothing to self-improve, find new innovations, and stun the watch world. The trend continues in the Grand Seiko SLGH002 60th Anniversary Limited Edition, which is a completely reimagined approach to the Hi-Beat automatic movements of the ’60s and ’70s in the revolutionary 9SA5 movement. The elegant and classically styled SLGH002 being the first production run to house this new flagship design. The allure of a 36,000 vph tick has always been slightly quirky. Take any regular 28,800 vph movement, make it tick faster, and the most noticeable changes will be the sudden drop in power reserve and hike in the recommended servicing intervals. But, for those who salivate at a near-perfect sweep of the seconds hand, watchmakers strived to find a way to…
If you didn’t spend much time diving in the Azure Seas in coastal France in the late ’60s, chances are you may not be entirely familiar with the French brand Yema. With its most popular models having a subdued appearance, and not featuring ‘Swiss Made’ plastered all over the dial, it can be easy for the eye to wander past their offerings and settle on something with a much older name. Those who love to feel their heart lurch when seeing the price tag of a flashy piece won’t find that same pleasure with the competitive costs on display here, either. While some may confuse Yema with the Philippine custard lollies of the same name, what they truly represent is some of the best value-for-money watches outside of the Swiss and Japanese bubbles. With real vintage heritage, you can’t argue against their flair, highlighted by some of their unique and standout watches below. Yema Superman Heritage Blue Of course, you can’t consider Yema without eyeing up the Superman. The watch, which led Yema to be the largest French exporter of timepieces in the latter half of the 20th century, was occasionally rebadged under brand names such as Atrexa and LeJour,…
What a difference two years makes. In 2018, I introduced this until now unpublished video by saying that — shock, horror — we were reviewing a collection of watches with quartz movements: the new Longines V.H.P. Collection. I’d go as far as to say it makes me grimace a little to watch in 2020. Because since then, the advancement of quartz back into luxury watchmaking has been steady and it has occurred with less and less resistance. Grand Seiko has been driving the change, as some YouTube commenters have already picked up on. Personally, I now own two modern-era quartz watches. A Longines Conquest V.H.P. and a Grand Seiko GMT SBGN005G, which remains a spectacular experience, every time it gets on the wrist. So, moving on, we’re not quite sure how this “lost video” happened. Because looking at it now, it’s a long and detailed review about the highly feted Longines V.H.P. Collection that absolutely should have seen the light of YouTube. At the time, despite the preamble, we were quickly won over by the V.H.P. for its technical smarts. But a big part of the charm, for me, was the peculiar and bold colourway of the Commonwealth Games Edition.…
A short while ago, Nick Foulkes, writing for How To Spend It, espoused that the last 24 months have seen a significant rise in the popularity and production of solid platinum watches. Foulkes postulates that this may be, to a degree, down to the relatively recent vogue of steel watches, as platinum — at least from a passing glance — does have a similar appearance to its far more humble, utilitarian metal brethren. It also has the distinct advantage of flying under the radar in a way that yellow or pink gold simply cannot. However, platinum’s resurgence in timepieces might also be the result of a more discerning watch collecting community; after all, platinum has long been revered as the pinnacle of precious metals used for wristwatches. Foulkes quotes Marc Hayek, the CEO of Blancpain, Breguet and Jaquet Droz, who said of the precious metal: “Platinum is among the noblest and most precious of metals. It has extraordinary properties that make it extremely resistant but also difficult to process and finish. Creating platinum watch cases requires special savoir-faire. It results in beautiful white/grey-coloured models that do not tarnish. Hence, platinum is the perfect match for exclusive and complicated high-end timepieces.” Hayek isn’t…
The Explorer II often does the rounds at the top of ‘the most underrated Rolex model’ list, and it’s not difficult to see why. In addition to many of the attractive hallmarks of steel sports Rolex models, it also has just a dash more personality – is it the pop of orange that catches your eye? The bezel? Or in this case the almost luminous white dial? Peter counts the ways he loves this model, and explains what sealed the deal for him. When did you first see/hear about it? I’ve always been a fan of the Rolex Explorer II, and for the longest time I was ready to pull the trigger on this watch’s predecessor, the Ref.16570 … that is, until I tried it on. Once I did, I quickly realised that for my larger wrists, the 40mm case was perhaps a tad on the small side. So, I decided against the Explorer and instead went about shoring up my collection with other timepieces that didn’t bear the “Big Crown”. Fast forward to 2011, and the current Ref.216570 was unveiled at Baselworld, and as soon as I read that the dimensions had swelled to 42mm, I knew I had to…
If you haven’t yet read Part I, find the full article right here. This year, to mark its 60th anniversary, Grand Seiko has introduced two new movements, representing each of the brand’s two pillars: Calibre 9RA5 is a Spring Drive movement while Calibre 9SA5 is a traditional mechanical movement. These are entirely new movements, with every element developed and produced in-house and designed to last for decades as the foundation for a whole new generation of watches. To understand their place in the Grand Seiko story, let’s look at the genesis of each in turn. In Part I we traced the genesis of Calibre 9SA5, and here we look at the evolution of Grand Seiko’s Spring Drive movements, culminating in this year’s new calibre. To understand the sequence of movement launches better, it’s worth noting that Calibre numbers don’t follow chronological order: for example, the first 2004 Spring Drive movement, Calibre 9R65, preceded Calibre 9R01 by 12 years. What is Spring Drive? Unique in watchmaking, the Spring Drive system merges the polarised worlds of electronic movements (powered by a quartz battery) and their mechanical counterparts (where the mainspring provides an autonomous power source). In the late 1970s, a Seiko engineer, Yoshikazu…
Kayaking isn’t the sport that immediately comes to mind when you think of DOXA, given that your DOXA is most comfortable hundreds of metres under the water, not necessarily on a narrow boat above the water. But that is exactly where fellow watch writer Sophie Furley from Watchonista took two different DOXA models on quite a cold looking adventure recently, paddling out over Lake Brienz in Switzerland. On the wrists were the DOXA SUB 200 with the turquoise dial, as well as the classic DOXA orange dial SUB 200 T.GRAPH, which represent the diversity of options within the current DOXA lineup. While it wasn’t the sort of activity that Sophie had experience in, the kayaking proved to be enjoyable, with the turquoise dial of the DOXA SUB 200 perfectly complementing the milky blue glacier-fed lake water they sat atop. Likewise, the SUB 200 T.GRAPH fitted into the activity seamlessly, offering an option to track the time since they left the lake’s shore, and delivering a pop of orange that matched one of their kayaks. For a full account of the DOXA-timed journey across the lake, find the Watchonista article right here.