The dial on on this Rado is absolutely crazy …
Rado are well known for their collaborations with important designers from around the world. Famous names who have designed watches for Rado include English product designer Jasper Morrison, Taiwanese graphic designer Leslie Chan, and more recently the renowned Welsh furniture designer Bethan Gray. The Rado True Thinline Studs Limited Edition is a meeting of Rado’s expertise in high-tech ceramic as a case material, and Bethan’s interest in traditional craft, and how she can tell that story through design. I was fortunate enough to sit down with Bethan to discuss the drivers of her design process and what it was like designing a watch with Rado. If you haven’t come across Bethan’s work before, it is informed by her interests as a passionate traveller and storyteller and her fascination with traditional craft techniques from around the world. She was born in Wales to a Welsh mother and a Scottish father, but her ancestors hail from much further afield, descending from a nomadic Rajasthani clan that migrated across the Middle East. This desire to explore the world has taken Bethan everywhere from China to Oman, two locations that heavily influenced the final design of her project with Rado. One of her favourite techniques…
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Timex have kicked off their 2020 novelty releases with an exciting – for those with no signs of Batman fatigue – but fairly unadventurous move. A Batman to wash down their wildly popular Pepsi model. But this time automatic for the people. And this time potentially attainable at the drop, rather than months later. Put your name down here to register your interest. The thought that Timex was ever a pejorative term, or shorthand for a poor watch – and it certainly was in days of yore in Australia – is now amusing. In 2020 the brand is red hot. Todd Snyder’s Marlin. The aforementioned Pepsi. And now this. Called the Timex M79 Automatic, the three-hander timepiece is a continuation of the American watchmaker’s cult release of 2019, the Q Timex 1979 Reissue Pepsi. And while the new M79 retains the same case design, there are a fair few changes to this watch compared to last year’s iteration, some obvious, others not so much. For a start, and perhaps most notably, the iconic red and blue Pepsi bezel is gone, and in its a familiar black and blue bezel has found its way onto the stainless steel case. Timex is…
This week’s office dissension is a contentious one. In fact, it’s an argument so fierce that it threatens to tear the very fabric of Time+Tide’s own dynamic duo, Nicholas Kenyon and James Robinson. The topic of debate — Double Wristing with a mechanical and an Apple Watch: crime or sublime? Let the sparks fly! Nick Kenyon – The For Argument To sum up the sentiments of the majority of Swiss watch executives who have weighed in on the Apple Watch and its impact on the luxury watch business, they typically argue it is not a watch, it is a wrist-worn notification device. As a result, they do not consider it being in direct competition with them, and as Jean-Claude Biver often expresses, it might actually help the watch industry as it trains the youth of today to wear something on their wrist. If Swiss watch executives don’t consider it threatening, nor should you. Anyone can very easily express horological nous on one wrist, while receiving information on their other, all thanks to the human body being blessed with two of them. Wearing an Apple Watch on one wrist doesn’t prevent anyone from wearing a Moser Swiss Alp Concept Black and enjoying…
Editor’s note: At a quick glance, the world of high-end dress watches appears relatively same-same, with the important qualities of each piece only coming to light under much closer inspection. Most dress watches will be time-only, offer a simple dial, and arrive on a leather strap, but as you look closer, you will notice the shape of the hands, the application of hour markers and dial text and the dial material before you even inspect the movement. The Breguet Classique 5177 offers exactly this visual feast of minutiae, with its glossy Grand Feu enamel dial, Breguet-style hands and an intricacy in the hour markers rarely seen. Let’s take a closer look. If there was the platonic ideal of a dress watch, I’m willing to bet that it would look a lot like Breguet’s Classique: simple, elegant, restrained. But for all that, it’s a watch full of subtle nuance and fine details — details that separate it from the rest of the pack. The white gold case, fluted around the middle, is perfectly circular, something accentuated by that rounded, polished bezel, and the abrupt angularity of the welded, rounded lugs. Inside this 38mm case lies the Cal. 777Q, an automatic equipped…
“How waterproof is my watch?” is a very common question that we get asked here at Time+Tide. And the short answer is … it’s not. There isn’t a watch on earth that can withstand the absolute pressure of mother nature and her deepest of ocean trenches. No, watches are, regardless of marketing bollocks, water resistant, to varying degrees. And, rather importantly, the water resistant rating that’s printed or engraved in metres or feet on the dial or case back of a watch, isn’t literal — not by a long shot. So, with that in mind, we thought we’d share with you this simple rule book of sorts, to ensure that your watch doesn’t turn into a receptacle for storing H2O: 30 Metres (3ATM) A very common rating among dress watches, if your timepiece says 30 metres or 3ATM (ATM meaning atmospheres) then IT DOES NOT mean it’s water resistant to 30 metres below sea level. In reality, it means that your watch can withstand splashes of water from washing your hands or getting caught in the rain … and that’s about it. It is also imperative that you don’t take a watch with this little water resistance into the shower with you,…
Editor’s note: Regular Time+Tide contributor Bruce Duguay has recently shared his thoughts with us on the challenges of buying an Omega Speedmaster, and why the Rolex Oyster Perpetual 39 might be the perfect daily watch, but he also made the treacherous journey through the icy landscape of Alberta, Canada to his first ever RedBar meeting. What is it like attending one of the coldest watch get-togethers on earth? Does the warmth of the watch enthusiasm offset the frigidly chilled air? Bruce shares his experience of meeting the collectors, and the watches he saw, in this two-part piece. It’s been cold. Like really cold. Like you can’t even imagine if you’re an Australian Time+Tide reader this kind of cold. To give you some perspective, when the invitation to attend Calgary’s RedBar event in early January hit my inbox, the average daytime temperatures were -25 degrees Celsius. Three days before the event, the mercury dipped to -36 degrees. At these temperatures even Canadians start to complain and it’s very tempting just to remain at home and stream every single television program ever made instead of going out to socialise. Luckily, the cold snap broke before I embarked on the two-and-a-half hour drive…
Grand Seiko may have been around for 60 years, but the opulent Japanese watchmaker isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. 2019 perfectly exemplified their hard-charging ethos of churning out horological hit after hit, with myriad wristwatches being unveiled that got the enthusiast community in quite the tizzy. We’d like to mention all of them, but, to keep it simple, we’ve whittled down all their releases from last year and focused on three of the best blue dials that the marque unveiled in 2019: GRAND SEIKO SBGK005 The Grand Seiko Elegance Collection got a real boost when reference SBGK005 debuted as part of a range promoting artisanal dial finishes. This blue dial is finished with the Mt Iwate pattern and coated with Urushi lacquer. The dial markings are applied via the ancient technique of Maki-e (gold and silver powder layered atop the lacquer). The Zaratsu method – developed to accentuate the aesthetic appearance of curved surfaces – is used to polish the case. Ref No: SBGK005 / Case size: 39mm / Case material: Steel / Movement: 9S63 / Price: $9600 GRAND SEIKO SBGN009 Released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first quartz watch, the SBGN009’s luscious blue dial has…
Editor’s note: If it can be the daily wear of James Bond, it can be yours, too. But how does the Omega Seamaster Professional 300M actually wear on the wrist? If you haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing one in the metal, it’s a must, because while the brief of making a daily watch might seem simple, it is much harder to execute than you’d expect, and the watch colloquially known as the SMP gets it just right. Let’s take a closer look at why it is so successful. We all love a birthday. And watch brands love them as much as anyone – an excuse to celebrate, a hook for a new collection. At Baselworld 2018, Omega marked the 25th anniversary of the Seamaster Professional Diver 300M (aka the James Bond watch) with a revamp. It was the SMP that kicked off Omega’s relationship with the Bond franchise, becoming something of a late-1990s icon as Pierce Brosnan wore a series of tricked-out, weaponised versions of the watch over the course of four movies. Vital statistics With 14 new variations – six in stainless steel and eight in steel-gold combos, three dial colours and a choice of rubber strap or…
Rolex vs. Omega is an age-old debate that has seemingly raged since time immemorial in the horological community. However, the watches in question have always been the Rolex Submariner vying against the Omega Seamaster, or the Rolex Daytona vs. the Omega Speedmaster. And while the arguments for and against these aforementioned watches could go on forever, the chaps over at Watchfinder & Co. have posited a new and exciting point of contention among the two legacy watchmakers: Yacht-Master vs. Seamaster. More specifically the Rolex Yacht-Master 42 Ref. 226659 has been pitted against one of Omega’s most recent additions to its famed dive watch — the Omega Seamaster Professional Diver 300M 43.5 MM ref. 210.92.44.20.01.001. It’s a pretty tough comparison. On the one hand, the Rolex Yacht-Master 42 was the belle of the ball upon its unveiling at Baselworld 2019 … and it’s easy to understand why — replete with its unique 42mm, solid 18k white gold case with matt Cerachrom bezel and Oysterflex bracelet, the “yachty” is seriously hot property. However, the new Seamaster Professional Diver 300M 43.5mm is nothing short of mesmerising, thanks to its unique blend of ceramic case, grade 5 titanium bezel with black ceramic insert and white enamel…
Breguet had a stellar year in 2019 as they offered a host of new watches, some of which delivered sportiness, and others that brought a sense of refined classicism. While Abraham-Louis Breguet, the Neuchâtel-born founder of the maison, might have been more comfortable with some of the more traditional pieces in the collection, here are three standout watches that he would have been happy to bear his name. BREGUET MARINE 5517 The Breguet 5517 Marine in titanium has the presence of a watch much larger than its relatively reserved 40mm. It benefits greatly from this reduced size, which allows its masculine form and high level of craftsmanship to do the talking when other watches try to take your eyes over with brute force. The gunmetal tone of the titanium in comparison to steel works brilliantly with the brown dial, which is the perfect base for the central pattern, recalling the waves of the sea. Ref No: 5517TI/G2/TZ0. Case size: 40mm. Case material: Titanium. Movement: 777A. Price: AUD $26,800 BREGUET CLASSIQUE 5177 BLUE ENAMEL At first glance, the Breguet Classique 5177 Blue Enamel’s subtle details remain hidden. But this changes in a heartbeat, as you take it in with a longer…