BUSINESS NEWS: Swiss watch exports unaffected by Coronavirus outbreak yet, according to FHH
While the Coronavirus outbreak certainly offers a number of reasons for the watch industry at large to be concerned, its effects haven’t been severely felt yet. According to recent data from the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH), the first month of 2020 has seen strong watch sales, with a 9.4 per cent increase in Swiss watch exports compared to January 2019. This is specifically seen in watches priced over 500 CHF, with a reportedly negative trend for watches priced under 200 CHF, further confirming the aggressive drop in appetite for Swiss-made quartz watches (which have seen a 35 per cent drop in export volume since 2013). Most markets have maintained growth compared to the same month last year, with the United States leaping 15.2 per cent in 12 months. Areas for concern are obviously in mainland China (+6.9 per cent) and Hong Kong (-25.0 per cent), where the threat of Coronavirus is most pressing, and which make up around a quarter of total Swiss watch exports each year. Despite mainland China posting growth on 2019, the effects of the Coronavirus are sure to be seriously felt in February when the outbreak reached a global scale. The decline in Hong…
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Editor’s note: The Tudor Black Bay symbolised a new chapter in the journey of the Rolex-owned watchmaker, with the decision to look back into their archives to build their future collections proving a very popular one. Inspired by the Tudor Submariners of the mid-1950s, the Tudor Black Bay ref. 79220N is a thoroughly modern interpretation of an iconic tool watch that walks the tightrope of historical design cues and contemporary wearability. Let’s take a closer look at one of the watches that put Tudor back on the map. The story in a second: We’ve been waiting three long years for this watch. Now it’s here. The question is: does it live up to the anticipation? The Tudor Black Bay Black – sorry everyone, BBB is going to be the name, as unadventurous as it is – was the watch we had to have. When the Black Bay first came out back in 2012, a large part of its appeal lay in the warm combo of rich red and deep gold. Clearly this was not just another sterile diver. It had personality, and its vintage aesthetic both contributed to and created the zeitgeist. Just days after its release, speculation had already…
I have to admit that up until this month I all but ignored bronze watches. It seemed like a lingering trend that just didn’t make a lot of sense to me, in photos anyway. Because I’m in my late 30s and not my early 20s, I decided that this kind of pre-judgement was beneath me, and that I should probably try wearing bronze before lambasting the third-place metal in print. Luckily, an Oris Big Crown Bronze Pointer Date had just arrived at my doorstep and, lo and behold, it was rendered in bronze! Instantly I was taken with the warmth of the watch. If you have been following some of my writing you will probably know that I assign this subjective feel to watches that have softer edges, natural colourways, and textile straps. Oris is on a roll these days. They are a great corporate citizen with many initiatives related to ocean conservation (coral reefs, in particular) and employ some highly credible ambassadors (including German freediver Anna von Boetticher) who support the brand in a non-pretentious way. Their watches grab headlines in all the major media outlets, with a diverse and high-quality collection that usually hits a great pricing sweet…
Billionaires … they’re a rare breed. In fact, according to a report from CNBC in 2019, out of the earth’s total population of roughly 7.7 billion people, there are just 2604 that can claim to have 10 figures in their bank account. More interesting still is that this same report posited that America has more billionaires than China, Russia and Germany combined. That last statistic sounds vaguely absurd … until you start to think about the enterprises that occupy the tech industry – Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon – the list goes on. In fact, Silicon Valley alone, which is just a small pocket in San Francisco’s Bay Area, has 76 billionaires. Think about that – one area, in one state, of one country, has more billionaires than Saudi Arabia, France or the UAE. The technological industry is a juggernaut, and that got us thinking, “Surely these loaded tech geniuses must rock some insane watches?” So, we did some digging, and the results are fascinating, and not what you may expect. Bill Gates – Casio Quartz Diver 200m WR Ref.MDV-106-1A Bill Gates, the richest person on earth, the biggest of big dogs, a man whose fortune is estimated to be…
Editor’s note: While he’s no longer the frontrunner to be the next James Bond, turns out Tom Hardy may not miss the opportunity to wear an inevitably limited edition Omega too much … as the Hollywood A-lister has already sported some serious timepieces on the silver screen. We’ve spotted these five beauties from his back catalogue … the man has fine taste. We have a bit of a man crush in the Time+Tide office on English actor Tom Hardy. After a film debut in Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down there has rarely been a misstep in his career — from Batman’s arch rival, Bane, in The Dark Knight Rises to taking over the mantle of Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road. More than just his choices in playing legendary characters, this fascination with Tom Hardy is arguably more about his swagger, cool demeanour and seeming disdain for the traditional celebrity culture — opting to keep his personal life … well, private. He has shown little tolerance for interviews and press junkets (you can see one his finer moments tearing through an interviewer here), and even keeps his charity efforts with The Prince’s Trust on the down-low (which should answer everyone’s questions as to why he was a guest at the…
This review of the DOXA SUB 200 Professional by our friends at Hodinkee nails the good, the great and the not quite perfect details of what is proving to be a significant release. Not only for DOXA because — as James says, using a perfect music metaphor — the 200 “turns the funk down to a more standard volume”. No love for cushion cases? No problem! It is also significant because it is “punching very hard” in the hot sub-$1000USD price point. You’d pretty much have to have never read Time+Tide before to have missed the news that we have been pretty besides ourselves about this collection since we saw it at Basel 2019, which is why we’ve taken the unprecedented step to distribute the brand in Australia. Don’t just take our word for it, though. Please read and enjoy this thorough and thoughtful review by one of the best watch journalists in the game about a collection set to take DOXAto a whole new generation of wrists. Find the full review on Hodinkee right here.
Editor’s note: The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is, in the context of a fit-for-purpose dive watch, the original. Nothing like it had come before, and because of it, watches like Rolex’s ubiquitous Submariner exist – the Fifty Fathoms was the catalyst for what is arguably the most popular sub-genre of timepieces ever created. But, while recognising past achievements and acknowledging history is important, an inability to adapt can ultimately be a monikers downfall. That’s why Blancpain continues to push its fabled namesake forwards into the 21-century with watches like this – Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Black Ceramic. It stays true to the formula of it’s forebears, but is a resolutely modern timepiece, thanks to its large 43mm proportions, monobloc ceramic case construction and a manufacture calibre movement which offers no less that 120-hours of power reserve. Towards the end of 2018, we filmed our impressions of this imperious dive watch, and if you’ve got the time, it’s definitely worth a watch. Blancpain’s Bathyscaphe is one of those rare, chameleonic watch designs. A watch that, broadly speaking, owes great fidelity to its primogenitor, but a watch that doesn’t look dated. It’s a neutral watch — something that gives the Bathyscaphe broad appeal…
Friday, February 28 will be our first ‘Indie Explorer’ night at Time+Tide HQ, with a number of small, lesser-known brands on hand for exploration. They are Laventure, Lundis Bleus, Eza and, of course, DOXA, for whom we are the proud distributor in Australia. We will have a (increasingly) limited range to discover, as well as a quiet drink or two. One watch you’ll want to see in the metal is the Laventure Sous-Marine Steel Green, which is, as of just this week, completely sold out. This is the last model for sale anywhere in the world. The other brands will be presented by the man behind ‘Geneva Blue’, Rob Kitto. Rob is a storied watch guy, whose journey is probably worth coming along to hear about on its own. To be there, please RSVP at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/indie-explorer-part-1-laventure-lundis-bleu-eza-doxa-tickets-95324031745 As a quick refresher, here is some information about the brands we will be exploring: Laventure Founded in 2017 by Clément Gaud, a native Swiss with a background in horological and automotive design, Laventure is, as the company’s motto states, a maker of “Timepieces for Explorers”. The watches aesthetically draw inspiration from some of the archetypal professional model steel sports watches of the…
Editor’s note: Franck Muller are known for their incredibly complex movements, wonderfully curved case designs, and brightly coloured dials. But did you know that each Franck Muller dial is hand-painted? That’s right, there is a dedicated dial painter with a very steady hand, who is responsible for adding that characteristic splash of colour to the wrists of collectors around the world. Time+Tide went head-to-head with Franck Muller to see who could paint the better dial — you be the judge of who won … I’m not above admitting it. I’m more than just a bit painful when it comes to painted versus printed dials. “Is this painted or printed?” is a question I’ve asked countless times. Receiving countless eye-rolls, I might add. And, full disclosure, I’ve always assumed that the colour, paint volume and line-perfect proportions of Franck Muller dials are the latter. Printed. But when I attended the Franck Muller ‘chalet’ (such a more appropriate descriptor than ‘manufacture’) for a second time, early in 2017, I asked the question and was met with a very different answer, which also happened to be a question. “They’re painted,” said my soon-to-be nemesis from Franck Muller, Laura Bondi. “Would you like to try painting…
In just 10 days, on Saturday the 29th February, we will be throwing a bash at our headquarters to celebrate the recent Watch & Act! World Watch Auction – with proceeds once again donated to bushfire relief. Our special guests on the night – and we’re rightfully excited about this part – are the Horological Society of New York. Deep breaths. Three ticket types are available here at our Eventbrite page (where you may also notice we have an Indie Explorer Evening coming up). $20 for general admission and a ticket to go in the raffle to win one of two seats at the HSNY Traveling Education series ‘Watchmaking 101-103 course’ the next day in Melbourne, valued at over $800. $80 ($40 for Time+Tide Club Members) for premium admission, which includes a Limited Edition Watch & Act! t-shirt. This was never intended to be available as we created it to send out to our generous auction donors AND including a raffle ticket to win one of two seats at the HSNY Traveling Education series ‘Watchmaking 101-103 course’ the next day in Melbourne, valued at over $800. The two HSNY tickets were kindly donated by The Hour Glass and by HSNY.…