The world's watch media unites to support our Australian bushfire crisis watch auction
To say that we’ve been humbled by the support we’ve received from our peers in the watch industry would be understating it. Discovering, through this crisis, the depth of feeling others have for our country, our people and our wildlife has been truly unforgettable. A searing, life-affirming experience. If I could choose one quote to sum it up — and I’m spoiled for choice here, as so many carefully considered, perfectly phrased words were written about the auction — it would be this one by Brice Goulard from Monochrome: “For once, all together, we can let our love for watches go a long way further than our wrists. We can make our passion be a solution to raise funds to help a cause.” Well, we’re just a couple of days into the auction, and the passion of our little cohort has already resulted in more than $100,000 Australian dollars worth of donations. What can I say, but a heartfelt thank you. If we were all in a bar, the drinks would be on me, including spirits — and that would be expensive, knowing some of the drinkers in this wolf pack. In addition to the generosity, the craft and the skill on show as this talented cohort has…
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Maverick survivalist, TV host and ex-British special forces soldier Bear Grylls has teamed up with Californian-based watchmaker Luminox to create the ultimate range of tough and ready timepieces. Judiciously called the Bear Grylls Survival Collection, there will be six watches in total to … bear Bear’s name. In fact, each and every one of the timepiece’s case backs will feature Grylls’ name, logo, signature and his famed motto: “Never Give Up”. The rugged watches have been designed and purpose-built from the outset, with Grylls’ advice and expertise, to go anywhere and withstand the rigours of a life filled with adventure. The collection will be spread into three different categories — master, land and sea — and depending on the model, the benefits and features will be tailored to excel in their given disciplines. All of the watches will come equipped with a Swiss-made Ronda 515 HF 6 quartz movement, a workhorse of the industry that offers up approximately 45 months of battery life and an accuracy of -10/+20 seconds per month. Likewise, all of the cases will be hewn from Luminox’s CARBONOX material. This will ensure a level of lightness and robustness that is deeply impressive, especially considering the sizes of the…
In their second office fracas, colleagues Nick Kenyon and James Robinson do battle via the humble keyboard to settle yet another quarrelsome topic: In-house movements — are they brilliant and necessary in horology or, more often than not, disappointing and overkill? James Robinson – The For Argument Allow me, if you will, to begin this discourse with an analogy: let’s say that you’ve worked really, really hard for several years, and to reward yourself, you want to buy a special car. For argument’s sake, I’ll use the ubiquitous sports car as the example — a Porsche 911. Imagine walking into the dealership, finding your dream machine, walking up to it and just poring over every minute detail of its curvaceous flanks. Then one of the sartorial (if a bit sleazy) salesmen comes up to you and starts giving you the pitch. It’s a well-thought-out and considered spiel; he’s churning out facts and figures that make you giddy with excitement, eager to get off the showroom and out on to the open road. But then, the penny drops when he says, “Oh, and the flat-six engine is made by Toyota.” How gutted would you feel? Here’s this gorgeous, bespoke sports car and…
Sometimes you’ve got to face the bitter truth. Between small children, a house needing urgent renovation and a woeful inability to pick the winning lottery numbers, I can’t spend big on a new watch for the foreseeable future. Luckily, right now the “premium economy” end of the market is stronger than ever. Here are five watches that collectively add up to $18,740 from my $20K fantasy budget. The remaining $1260? That’s getting lumped on Powerball tickets to hopefully swell next year’s coffers. DOXA SUB 200 $1590 I’ve got a hankering for a no-nonsense diving watch that I can wear to the beach and this is top of my hit-list. A finalist at the GPHG awards in the “Challenge” category for watches under 4000 Swiss Francs, this sturdy diver boasts DOXA’s iconic beads-of-rice bracelet and highly contrasting lume-filled hands and hour markers. But the real deal-clincher for me is the cheerful yellow dial that’s guaranteed to nudge serotonin levels into a happy-clappy wonderland. Longines Heritage Classic $2775 You know those guys who end up dating a succession of alarmingly similar looking women? Well, personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that – they just know exactly what they like. So,…
Editor’s note: In 2019 we saw the popularity of existing steel sports watches with blue dials hit fever pitch on the secondary market, as well as a number of brands release their own examples of the watch that everyone wants on their wrist. But what about when a brand produces a watch that doesn’t just tell the time in the same way the other sports watches do? Enter the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon, a sports watch that is in line with the vogue, but with a difference that will get the heart racing of even the most seasoned horological connoisseur. Let’s take another look at one of the most refined sports watches on the market. A tourbillon inside a steel sports watch? On a rubber strap? It’s enough to bring a watch-purist out in a cold sweat. And when such a watch is launched by one of the most venerable companies in the business? Ohhh … But that’s exactly what makes the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon so cool. Yes, cool. Here’s Vacheron Constantin, showing off its haute horlogerie chops in casual, sports-luxe mode. The tourbillon follows a chronograph, a perpetual calendar and a world timer into the Overseas line but…
Louis Cartier has an important place in the history of the Cartier company, not only because he ran the first-ever Paris boutique but because he was responsible for one of the most enigmatic creations the brand released, the Cartier Mystery Clock. The origins of the Mystery Clock are found in 1912, when Louis Cartier began developing the playfully puzzling clocks with his watchmaker Maurice Coüet who, in turn, had studied the designs of the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (who inspired Ehrich Weiss to adopt the stage name Houdini). The result was one of Cartier’s most enduring designs, inspiring a sense of awe and curiosity in all those who laid eyes on the curious clocks, and demonstrating the blend of expertise in both watchmaking and decorative arts that Cartier is so well known for today. The tradition of the Cartier Mystery Clock is alive and well a century later, with modern examples still produced, though in very low numbers. Not long ago, the retailer The Hour Glass published a well-researched and written piece on the topic which you can read here.
Unquestionably one of Grand Seiko’s most surprising releases of 2019, the SBGK additions to the Elegance Collection had all the makings of a perfect dress watch. There was just one problem, however — if I’m being really finickity, the dial options that were made available upon release were perhaps slightly out of keeping with that of a quintessential dress watch. Someone in the Japanese watchmaker’s design team clearly had the same feeling, because less than six months after its initial unveiling, we have this — the Grand Seiko Elegance SBGK007. I was borderline ecstatic when this watch was unveiled, and waited with bated breath for the press watch to find its way into the office, eager to find out whether the crisp white dial I’d seen in countless press images was as arresting in person as it was on my Mac screen. And now that I’ve been able to spend some time with this svelte dress watch attached to my wrist, I have to admit it’s a great dress watch … but it’s not exactly what I was expecting. Allow me to explain. The press release for SBGK007, as well as the product description found on Grand Seiko’s own website, characterise…
Continuing their creative collaborative partnership, luxury Japanese streetwear label Bape and Japanese watchmaker Seiko have just unveiled their latest limited edition creation … and we like it. Water resistant to 200 metres, this matt black marvel is, much like their first joint effort, sporting Bape’s quintessential “ABC” camouflage, which has been masterfully applied to the dial, as only to be expected of Seiko. Unlike the previous watch, however, this new timepiece has ditched the vibrant camo green in favour of a much more brooding and low-key black and grey colour palette. The dial also features Lumibrite hour indices and handset, prominent chapter ring and a day-and-date window, which can be found at the three o’clock position. The unique dial is capped with a Hardlex crystal, and the case back shows off an engraving that reads “A BATHING APE LIMITED EDITION”. Powering the limited edition timepiece is Seiko’s tried-and-true Calibre 4R36, a true workhorse of a movement that the Japanese watchmaker utilises in a number of its collections including the new Seiko 5 Sports series and the Prospex range. The self-winding movement features approximately 41 hours of power reserve, 24 jewels, seconds hacking and the aforementioned day-and-date complication. Shrouding the movement,…
Editor’s note: The last couple of years have seen a very distinct trend with the majority of Swiss watchmakers — the rise of the re-edition. You know what I’m talking about: re-edition, re-creation, reinterpretation … whatever you want to call it, vintage-inspired watches are the vogue right now. And I get it, a watchmaker looking to its past to help forge a bright future is great, and consumers get to purchase watches with real antiquated charm and flair, without trawling eBay, op-shops or thrift stores. But — and it’s a big but — all this hype around vintage timepieces has meant that we’re getting less and less fresh takes on what a timepiece should be. That’s why I’m so fond of the Oris Aquis collection. Here is a timepiece that is unashamedly from the 21st century, and it’s all the better for it. It’s not trying to hark back to the golden era of diving, or paying homage to a certain watch first seen 50 years ago. No, it’s just an honest-to-goodness, fit-for-purpose dive watch, and a capable one at that. A little while ago we had a look at this Oris Aquis Depth Gauge, and these were our initial…
Chopard have been an important firm in the Swiss luxury landscape since they were founded in 1860, but they weren’t always the house of haute horology that they are today. It wasn’t until just over a quarter of a century ago, in 1993, when Karl-Friedrich Scheufele made the decision to refocus the brand’s energies into the art of watchmaking, and only thee years later marked an important year in the history of Chopard L.U.C as they launched their first in-house movement. Since then, the in-house component of Chopard’s watchmaking has gone from strength to strength, developing new movements at a steady rate till today, where the brand includes a stable of high complications, including full-strike complication watches and perpetual chronographs. The Chopard has also maintained an impressive cachet of exclusivity with the L.U.C collection, producing only 4500 pieces per year, which allows a total focus on quality finishing and mechanical accuracy. Made in partnership with Chopard. However, the opinions expressed in this article are our own in accordance with our Editorial Policy.