Why is this Longines Master Collection Annual Calendar so awesome?
Editor’s note: Oftentimes, it seems as though the annual calendar complication is all too easily overlooked in the horological hierarchy of complications. GMTs, Chronographs – these are the most popular sorts of watches at the moment. But the annual calendar shouldn’t be discounted … because it’s wonderful. A while ago, we went HANDS-ON with Longines’ Master Collection Annual Calendar, and these were our initial impressions: There are few things I love more than a watch that surprises me. It’s something that doesn’t happen near enough for my liking, but it happened with this Longines. It was in the Longines booth at Baselworld, the first day of the fair. Trays and trays of watches had just been laid out in front of us and we were working out what to photograph and focus on. The new Legend Divers, obviously; cool new V.H.P. variants, a really sexy blue and gold Record. Then, the brand representative thrust something from the Master Collection into my hand. Steel, 40mm case, day-date display. Sure, it was nice, but a novelty? Not so much. I made polite sounds of appreciation and handed it back. No, she said, look again. And I did. I noticed the dial text first — ‘annual calendar’…
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Double-signed dials are the perfect example of how the details of a watch are sometimes the most interesting, revealing not just where a watch might have been sold, but opening up a window into the past to expose key relationships and macroeconomic trends that affected how the business of selling watches was done. Double-signed dials that show both the name of the watch brand and the retailer who sold the watch have increased in recent popularity, with auction house Phillips curating a special sale “Double Signed” which sold both vintage and modern watches that featured double signatures (including important Zurich retailer Beyer). One of the most popular dial signatures, and a signature that is still being produced on dials, is “Tiffany & Co”. Patek Philippe continue to co-brand dials with the American retailer after their partnership was formed in 1847. Rolex also produced Tiffany & Co dials till the early 1990s, making a few of the incredibly popular professional Rolex models even more desirable. But why has their popularity increased so much in recent years? In part, it is the rarity of these pieces, as there are a very limited number of manufacturer-retailer relationships that still produce double-signed dials, and vintage…
Watches are no longer the robust tools we use in everyday life. We tell the time with our phones, and watches instead have taken on a much more important role as communicating something about ourselves. In spite of this, some watch companies continue to invest heavily in a traditional form of watchmaking where innovation is front of mind as the industry develops. Here are some of those manufacturers, offering us a few of the most innovative watches of 2019. VACHERON CONSTANTIN TRADITIONNELLE TWIN BEAT PERPETUAL CALENDAR Vacheron Constantin released the Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar to great acclaim. It is technically remarkable, with its adjustable-frequency movement that can be tailored to individual lifestyles and demands. It is also aesthetically avant-garde, adding contemporary swagger to counterbalance classicism. Ref No: 3200T/000P-B578 . Case size: 42mm. Case material: Platinum. Movement: Calibre 3610 QP. Price: POA BULGARI OCTO ROMA GRANDE SONNERIE PERPETUAL CALENDAR Bulgari reaffirms its status as among the heaviest of hitters in the haute horlogerie arena with the deadset extraordinary Bulgari Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie Perpetual Calendar in Carbon CTP, a material chosen for its acoustic qualities. This 44mm machine contains 1180 components and a host of complications, including a minute repeater,…
Zenith really wowed the global watch community last year with some truly impressive new releases that encompassed beautiful heritage pieces, new case materials and horological innovations that had everyone talking. We’d like to mention all the models that dropped last year, but, to keep it short and sweet, here were the three most important Zenith watches of 2019. ZENITH DEFY INVENTOR Before you ask, Aeronith is not a knock-off cover band honouring Steve Tyler and co. It is a futuristic aluminium foam impregnated with a stabilising polymer. The result is a cratered, ultra-light material that is as visual stunning as it is robust. The Defy Inventor uses this material for the bezel, perfectly framing the movement, which is the main draw: Caliber ZO 9100 runs at 18Hz, or, in layman’s terms, 129,600vph. That kind of frequency was once thought impossible. Ref No: 95.9001.9100/78.R584 / Case size: 44mm / Case material: Steel and Aeronith / Movement: ZO 9100 / Price: $26,200 ZENITH EP A384 REVIVAL The EP A384 Revival was one of Zenith’s most hotly anticipated drops of 2019. In a year ripe with celebrations dedicated to the El Primero’s half-century, it makes perfect sense to launch modern incarnations of the…
Since the Rolex lineup is peppered with all-stars, like the perennially popular Submariner, crowd favourite GMT-Master II and boy-racer Daytona, it would be easy to overlook the basic Oyster Perpetual as simply filler for the (nowadays usually empty) display case. After spending a week with the new-for-2018 white dial variant, I advise you not to write it off because what we have here is a time-only watch that punches well above its weight class. The formula Consumers are generally trained to think that quality increases proportionally with cost and this can be true with a lot of goods and services in our world. At its retail price, the Oyster Perpetual 39 is one of the least expensive mainstream Rolex models, yet there is no discernible difference in the way it has been constructed relative to, say, a Day-Date. Yes, the Day-Date is made of hefty gold, but aside from the materials and weight, the Oyster Perpetual 39 and Day-Date make it very clear they come from the same factory with the same manufacturing principles. As its name suggests, this watch is 39mm in size which many people now consider to be “just right” in terms of a comfortable fit and…
Editor’s note: With all the action of the Australian Open now well and truly underway, and following on from news that Seiko and tennis ace Novak Djokovic have just unveiled their latest limited edition timepiece, we thought we’d take another look at their 2019 collaborative special – the Seiko Astron Novak Djokovic Limited Edition SSE174J. Tennis great Novak Djokovic and Japanese watch manufacturer Seiko began their (doubles) partnership at the beginning of 2014. Just a few months later, Djokovic regained his position as world number one – a ranking he then held for 28 months straight. Coincidence? Perhaps, but whether it’s causation or correlation, the fact remains that the partnership has been an exceptional one for all involved. Especially us, with Seiko releasing a slew of stellar limited editions that celebrate the tennis legend’s achievements over the years since. The latest ace to be rocketed over the net is Seiko’s brand-new Astron SSE174J, and keen-eyed tennis and watch fans may have already spotted it on the champion’s wrist this year, as the comeback kid lifted his trophies and achieved the impossible by clawing his way back from a ranking low of world No. 22 in May to ending the season as world…
You’ll be familiar with the misadventures of Spinal Tap over their 1982 album, Smell The Glove. The original cover artwork is problematic. Featuring the image of “a greased, naked woman on all fours wearing a dog collar”, the cover is knocked back by retailers who flatly refuse to display such a sexist image. Without the band’s knowledge, an alternative is secretly arranged by the record company. When the heavy metal album is eventually released, it comes with a cover that is completely black. In the film, as guitarist Nigel Tufnel evaluates the new record sleeve, he utters the legendary line: “It’s like, ‘How much more black could this be?’ And the answer is ‘None. None more black’.” But it turns out that you can, in fact, push further into the darkside. Moser proved it with the Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept Vantablack. Vantablack is officially the blackest material known to man. Developed in 2014 by a UK company called Surrey NanoSystems, technically it isn’t a colour but a molecular trap for light. Consisting of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes, it was designed to be used in space telescopes, heat absorption, military applications and architecture. But on a watch dial it does something else…
There was not a moment’s hesitation. Jean-Christophe Babin, the CEO of Bulgari, and I were standing on a pool deck at a villa in Dubai. Within sight, an emerald green ocean. Swaying palm trees. Skies of blue. A world away from the scene I had left, when I’d jumped on an Emirates flight 24 hours before. Choking smoke in Melbourne. People wearing gas masks as they boarded the plane. Fires in Victoria you could see from 30,000 feet as we flew towards the Middle East. The air quality in Melbourne on the day I left for LVMH Watch Week was the worst of anywhere in the world, including parts of India that are considered hazardous. “Of course we would like to help. It is done. Speak to Antoine (Antoine Pin, the Managing Director of the Bulgari Watches Division), he will arrange the details.” The watch that was ultimately offered was the absolutely stunning Bulgari Serpenti in yellow gold picture above. At just over $50,000AUD it is the most valuable watch in the ‘Watch & Act!’ auction based on its RRP. With the cameras about to roll on an interview, I asked a second question. Would Mr Babin have a message…
Last year was a solid year on the road to recovery for the industry, with several big names dropping interesting pieces that either expand or embellish existing collections. Over in Germany (Glashütte, specifically), many of the greatest watchmakers beyond the Swiss borders have been particularly busy. A strong year for the Germans was rounded off by the truly stunning news that A. Lange & Söhne was to release a stainless steel sports watch. Of course, the Odysseus model would feature on any rundown of the top German tickers of 2019, but where will it land in our top 5? 5. NOMOS Glashütte Club Sport neomatik The quirky in-house manufacture, which calls the former Glashütte train station building home, made some serious strides in 2019. The debut of the DUW 6101 date movement in 2018 expanded the size and scope of NOMOS Glashütte’s future ranges, and the emergence of a long-awaited bracelet almost gave rise to a new aesthetic dimension. The Club Sport is one of the first real beneficiaries of these developments. A beautifully clean dial with a black, white and gold colourway pops refreshingly with the red crown collet installed as a visual reminder to screw the crown down…
A chronograph is an important part of any watch collection, but the decision regarding which brand or model to buy can be a tough one. Time+Tide reader Jeremy talks us through the decision to pull the trigger on what was not only his first chronograph, but his first-ever Swiss watch, a silver dial example of the Maurice Lacroix Pontos Chronographe. When did you first see/hear about it? I first heard about Maurice Lacroix when quality and advertising was ramped up in the early 2010s. Their watches looked nice in magazines and I found out that they are amongst a handful of independent and large luxury brands putting out reasonably priced value propositions. I got a lot more interested in the brand when FC Barcelona signed a sponsorship deal with them in 2014. Any story behind the purchase? I liked the fact that the independent brand was turning 40 and doing it in style with FC Barcelona. The watch was for my 40th birthday, and it can lay claim to being my first Swiss watch. What was the deciding factor? I love an ‘everyday’ watch, something a bit conservative but with a mark of difference. I investigated a few options and…