HANDS-ON: The Grand Seiko SBC240 140th Anniversary Limited Edition with newly developed polygonal bezel
The 140th Anniversary celebrations for Seiko are continuing, hot on the heels of the news that – and this is remarkable – both brands actually experienced growth in key markets in 2020. This was revealed last night in a global summit, along with several new models, including this one. A key reason for the upward trajectory is the fact their products are genuinely unique and distinct in nature. Another aspect that sets Grand Seiko apart from other manufacturers is their proprietary Spring Drive technology that leverages a predominantly mechanical movement with a regulated quartz escapement. The new stainless steel and yellow gold Grand Seiko SBC240 140th Anniversary Limited Edition chronograph uses this Spring Drive tech in a vertical clutch column wheel chronograph GMT caliber and newly developed 12 sided polygonal bezel. The case The Grand Seiko SBC240 140th Anniversary Limited Edition marks the first time the brand has featured a combination of 18k yellow gold and black ceramics. The majority of the case and watch is fashioned in stainless steel, but the 43.8mm x 16.1mm case introduces hints of gold in the framing of the polygonal bezel and the crown and pushers on the 100 meter water-resistant case. In terms of…
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Jack Harlow is only 22, but he’s already got the world at his feet and a Rolex Sky-Dweller he’s deeply in love with. Last year, the Kentucky rapper broke into popular consciousness when his track Whats Poppin hit number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 (at the time of writing it’s had more than 33o million downloads on Spotify), while his debut album Thats What They All Say hit No.5 on the same charts. So what do you do when you start making a bunch of money? You go and get yourself a Rolex of course. In an appearance on GQ’s “10 Things *insert celebrity name* Can’t Live Without”, Harlow had a few interesting items on his list of indispensables. First off the rank was his grey New Balance 990s, closely followed by one of the most desirable Rolex references in the current catalogue – his stainless-steel Sky-Dweller with a blue dial. “I don’t have a lot of items I feel like I can’t live without, I’m not materialistic, but I got this recently and I’m in love with it,” Harlow explained. He went on to outline his preference for steel because, “I like the colour of it. I don’t…
Many of us, myself included, have the 5711 steel Nautilus cemented onto our watch grail wish-list. Now, the infamous eight year waiting-list you’d have to endure after ordering one is no more. Patek Philippe’s top selling reference is being discontinued, and many a collector on an exclusive AD list will return to square one, with the prices of pre-owned pieces skyrocketing (as covered in our recent story here). At first glance, the decision to abandon the 43-year-old Nautilus 5711 looks seriously counterintuitive, But as Entrepreneur.com explains in this story, the move makes sense if you look at it through the glasses of Patek Philippe CEO Thierry Stern. You’d assume the surging popularity of the 5711 in recent years would be a good thing, right? But as one of the brands in the so-called Holy Trinity of Swiss watchmaking, Patek has a legacy to nurture and that means having more than one sports watch of iconic status. As Jason Feifer writes in the article: “The watch had become so popular that its meaning changed. People were flashing it around Instagram as a sign of wealth. Others were surely buying it just to flip it. And it was distracting attention from the…
Omega is famous for being the official timekeeper of the Olympics and many other sporting events around the world. Their latest release, the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M America’s Cup Chronograph, is a fitting tribute to the 36th America’s Cup. To celebrate this intense sailing event, Omega decided to do more than dress up an existing reference in new colours. Instead, the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M America’s Cup Chronograph introduces a slew of new upgrades we can only hope make their way onto more models in the catalogue – including new rubber chronograph pushers, chronograph-lock system, and, notably, a quick-release strap system. The 44mm stainless-steel case isn’t the most slim or compact – assuming it shares the same thickness and lug-to-lug measurements of previously released models (17.5mm thick and 52.5mm lug-to-lug). But the action-packed nature of sailing demands a large and highly legible watch – especially when every second counts in a race. While clearly a utility-driven sports watch, this chronograph has a majority satin finish with polished bevels that introduce a hint of elegance to the design. The bezel is made of dial-matching blue ceramic with white enamel inlays for its timing scale. The 300 metre water-resistant case has a…
Floyd Mayweather isn’t a man who wonders where his next meal is coming from. In fact, he’s one of the highest paid athletes of all time. With an undefeated boxing record of 50-0 and some of the biggest pay-per-view fight numbers of all time, he isn’t afraid to show off his wealth, especially when it comes to watches. But it turns out that he’s keen to continue the family tradition, too, after buying his five-week-old grandson his first watch. And what was it? A gold Rolex, of course. What do we mean when we say Floyd Mayweather likes to show off his watch collection? Just head to his Instagram and have a look. He recently picked up a Richard Mille RM-11 that had been completely covered in aftermarket baguette diamonds and is also well known for his Jacob & Co. Billionaire watch that comes with a price tag of $18,000,000. So with that sort of track record, it comes as no surprise that Floyd would think a new heir to the Mayweather fortune needs a watch on his wrist – and quickly. Despite being barely a month old, Mayweather’s grandson Kentrell is now the proud new owner of a Rolex…
Editor’s note: Yesterday, Jeff Stein, the ever-polite world authority on Heuer watches reached out to us to ask if he could use some of our photos in a story he just published, about the TAG Heuer Carrera ‘Dato 45’ HODINKEE Limited Edition. In the email chain that followed, we discussed the edition and we both predicted – accurately – that it would be gone in minutes. We believe it was seven to be exact. His story on the release, which we highly recommend, goes into more detail than is usual, on why Hodinkee get so many of their limited editions so very pitch-perfect. We won’t steal his thunder, please read on and hit the link to enjoy his full article. There is nobody better to turn to then Jeff when it comes TAG Heuer. He is not just an enthusiast of the brand, but a bona-fide historian who may as well have a doctorate in the history of the brand. In his post on OnTheDash, Jeff digs into the details of the new release, but also gives great attention to the original watch the TAG Heuer Carrera ‘Dato 45’ that the HODINKEE Limited Edition pays tribute to. The story goes…
As a 10-year-old boy in the 1980s, when I wasn’t attempting to learn how to moonwalk or riding my trusty BMX, my friends and I shared a collective obsession. We were constantly scheming to try and find ways to watch heinously violent films on VHS tapes. This under-age compulsion to show how grown-up and cool we were, invariably backfired and resulted in low-level trauma – Freddie Krueger alone gave me nightmares for weeks. But an off-shoot of this quest for ultra-violence was that one man loomed extra-large in our collective psyche. In the ’80s, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the biggest action hero on the planet and my introduction to his barrage of blockbusters was Commando (1985). To be fair, this film hasn’t aged particularly well with its ludicrous plot-line, extreme bodycount (Arnie single-handedly kills 81 people) and fairly overt homophobia. But as a 10-year-old I failed to appreciated such nuances. For me, Commando was the Most Exciting Thing I’d Ever Seen. There was once scene in particular that fascinated me. Arnie’s character, John Matrix (which I thought was the coolest name imaginable) rows to an island to rescue his daughter from the evil clutches of a deposed South American dictator. As…
We all love Instagram, right? Especially for the watch community, the Facebook-owned social media app is an integral hub that connects horological enthusiasts around the world. But what if Instagram was making you a target for robbery? That was exactly what allegedly happened in Milan with a gang of four nicknamed the “acrobat thieves” who used Instagram stories to scope out celebrity apartments for things to steal, as well as monitoring the movements of their victims so as not to be caught in the act. The thieves targeted the likes of Italian TV presenter Diletta Leotta, Inter Milan footballer Achraf Hakimi and the influencer Eleonora Incardona in a series of bold robberies across Milan. In addition to getting a peek into celebrities houses and tracking their whereabouts, Instagram stories were also used to understand the security of the apartments that were robbed, specifically the type of windows that the apartments had. The criminal quartet were nicknamed the “acrobat thieves” as a result of the skill with which they scaled apartment buildings and street poles to gain access to the celebrity homes. CCTV footage showed one member of the gang keeping watch while another skillfully climbed up the outside of an…
High-fashion, low rent refers to the playful relationship between the rarified objects in life with the more mass-produced and accessible. G-Shock often delivers great examples of this interplay, whether it’s Tom Sachs’ Casio G-Shock, featured in A Man & His Watch, that he customised with a Hermès-esque Cape Cod double-loop strap, or even the full metal gold-tone G-Shock. These are products that you anticipate to be a dime a dozen but that have, in fact, been executed in a way that nudges them into a far more exclusive bracket. Another great example of high-fashion, low-rent is the Casio G-Shock GA2100-1A (AKA the CasiOak). Thanks to its slimline case profile and octagonal bezel, it presented the watch community with a way to engage with the design of an iconic timepiece – Gerald Genta’s Audemars Piguet Royal Oak – a watch that would likely remain forever out of most watch buyers’ reach. So what did we start to see shortly after the CasiOak’s release? Modification kits that anyone could use at home to make their new Casio look a little more refined and Vallée de Joux. Now, modification in the watch world isn’t a new thing. In fact, there is an entire industry…
Sad but true: we’ve all had to adapt to the pandemic lifestyle and one casualty for the watch community is the absence of watch meet-ups. For enthusiasts, nothing is better than sinking a few pints and talking watches. During these get togethers, watch lovers can candidly speak about our passion and geek out over the timepieces we love. Today such engagement is sorely missed, but recently a new app for iOS has stepped in to fill the void: Clubhouse. The platform was not built specifically for the watch community, but its design really caters to casual, enthusiastic and meaningful discussion with every “room” filled with insights and perspectives you may not have normally had the opportunity to engage with. The only catch to Clubhouse, for now, is that you need to be invited to join the app by an existing user. What is Clubhouse? Clubhouse is an audio-only chat platform where users can join moderated “rooms” to discuss new and recurring topics of choice. These rooms can vary in size, at times reaching 100 users all eagerly listening to the subject at hand. On the surface you might think such a space would be chaotic, but the moderator framework really…