Looking back at Bulgari's Gérald Genta 50th Anniversary Watch
Editor’s note: I think it’s fairly safe to say that Gérald Charles Genta is the 20th century’s most notable designer of wristwatches. Many know the list of his accomplishments, but the sheer scope and impact of his unique and inspired design language is still sometimes difficult to grasp. Royal Oak, Nautilus, Constellation, Ingenieur, Golden Ellipse – the list of triumphs goes on and on. However, what many people don’t know is that, in the twilight of his career, Genta established his own watch brand, which was subsequently purchased by Bulgari. And when looking through Bulgari’s current and past collection of timepieces, it’s pretty clear to see the quite profound impact Genta’s designs had on the Italian jewellery and watchmaker. At the beginning of 2019, in order to pay homage to Genta and the five decades it’s been since the establishment of his watchmaking company, Bulgari released the Gérald Genta 50th Anniversary wristwatch, and Time + Tide’s own Mr Felix Scholz was fortunate enough to go hands-on with it. Few names loom larger in the collective consciousness of horological history than Gérald Genta. He’s one of the few individual designers whose name — because of the strength of his work —…
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Artisanal watchmakers Franck Muller have really taken it to the next level with their latest timepiece, the Franck Muller Vanguard Yachting Anchor Skeleton. Available in a range of different precious metals, including 18k yellow gold and 18k rose gold, the case of the prodigious new wristwatch measures an imposing 44mm and is 12.65mm thick. Housed inside the curvex-style case is Franck Muller’s Calibre MVT.1740VSYA, a 21-jewel, hand-wound skeletonised movement that offers customers an impressive seven days of power reserve and beats away at 18,000 vibrations per hour. This beautifully presented movement is sandwiched between two pieces of sapphire crystal, giving wearers the opportunity to appreciate the openwork dial, which bestows the watch with an airy quality. Inspired by the sport of yachting, the Vanguard Yachting Anchor Skeleton features nautical-themed information that adorns the periphery of the dial. Made in partnership with Franck Muller. However, the opinions expressed in this article are our own in accordance with our Editorial Policy. https://timeandtidewatches.com/editorial-policy/
A great watch should always get the recognition it deserves; however, sometimes that just simply isn’t the case. Whether it’s down to hyped timepieces being unveiled at the same time, the watchmaker in question not being particularly revered, or how the timepiece in question derives its source of power … there are myriad reasons why a new watch might not attain the right levels of attention. So, with all this in mind, we thought we’d share with you three timepieces that were released this year that you may not have even heard of, but should definitely be on your radar. Cartier Santos-Dumont One of my personal favourites from Baselworld 2019, the Cartier Santos-Dumont collection, and in particular the 38mm steel-cased example, is a timepiece that offers a genuinely impressive amount of bandwidth, especially when you consider that its retail price is a very reasonable $5200 AUD. Why doesn’t the Santos-Dumont get the love it rightly deserves, then? Well, I think it’s mostly due to the fact that the Santos-Dumont utilises a quartz movement, and there are certain enthusiasts out there that will always look down at a watch that derives its power from a battery and a crystal with…
James May, doyen of automotive journalism, presenter of Amazon’s The Grand Tour and former presenter of BBC’s Top Gear, knows a great many things about the mechanical innards of an automobile. It turns out that Mr May is also rather savvy when it comes to understanding the complexity of the technology that almost single-handedly and irreversibly destroyed the Swiss mechanical watch industry – the Quartz Watch. In this rather wonderful video made by the BBC’s Earth Lab, May goes through the engineering, history and application of Quartz technology. It may also interest you to know that May has quite the watch collection himself, having previously been spotted wearing watches such as a vintage Omega Chrono-Quartz, Rolex Milgauss ref. 116400WO and an IWC Portuguese Chronograph. Anyway, if you’ve got a spare five minutes, this is a great video that simply and easily explains the salient facts of quartz technology.
The very utterance of the words “must have” when talking about the ideal watch collection will almost always lead to, at the very least, enthusiastic speculation and, more often than not, heated debate. The Omega Speedmaster, for example, is forever being bandied about as THE watch to have in any discerning collection, and the Rolex Submariner is never far out of the equation either. But you know what? I don’t think there is any particular make or model of watch that you simply HAVE to possess in an ideal assemblage of timepieces. However, there are definitely certain styles/genres of timepieces that should always be a part of the perfect collection. One such style is the stealth watch – a timepiece that you can slap on your wrist when you don’t want to draw undue attention to yourself. Here are four first-rate examples of watches that go about their business without shouting it from the proverbial rooftop: Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36mm Talk about a timepiece that’s not concerned with being produced by arguably the biggest watchmaker on the planet! The Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36mm is brilliant at doing one thing – telling the time. Every one of the Swiss marque’s Oyster…
Editor’s note: With weather more conducive to anything other than complete hibernation finally starting to creep back into our lives Down Under, it’s got everyone here in the office talking about what watch you should be wearing when the board shorts, bikinis and budgie smugglers come out. Now, we’ve already covered what we think will be in vogue this coming summer, and its vibrant white watches. But what if you’re not so inclined to wear something that’s so fabulously OTT? What happens if you’re after something that still offers the characteristics of a great summer timepiece, but does so without being quite so garish? Well, we reckon the Rado HyperChrome Ultra Light could be just the watch, thanks to its decidedly unobtrusive colour palette of predominantly black and brown and complementing textile strap. The HyperChrome Ultra Light also well and truly lives up to its name when it comes to tipping the scales, weighing in at an insanely light 56 grams. And a lightweight timepiece that doesn’t feel overly cumbersome on the wrist surely has to be another prerequisite for a great summer watch. For me, the HyperChrome Ultra Light is one of the coolest, cleanest watches in Rado’s…
H. Moser & Cie are coming Down Under next week to show off some of their hottest new timepieces. We can’t wait to see Moser’s very rare watches, especially these three stunners: Pioneer Perpetual Calendar MD Moser has decided to up the horological ante once again with its latest Pioneer, the Pioneer Perpetual Calendar MD. The MD employs the use of dual windows, and it sees the month indicator being saddled up closely to the left of the Pioneer’s date window, which arguably makes for even clearer legibility than its previous Pioneer Perpetual Calendar. Available in both Funky Blue Fumé or Burgundy Fumé dials and featuring the HMC 808 hand-wound calibre movement, this wristwatch is a compelling proposition for anyone looking for the epitome of unique practicality. Venturer Concept Vantablack Widely regarded as the darkest substance know to mankind, Vantablack has to be one of the most in-vogue substances of 2019. And when paired with the dial of Moser’s Venturer Concept, the result is something truly stunning. The new Venturer Concept’s case beautifully contrasts the ultra-black dial, thanks to the use of solid 5N red gold. The unique timepiece also features the Swiss watchmaker’s hand-wound HMC 327 movement, which offers…
It seems like every other week there’s a new Casio being unleashed upon the wristwatch-wearing world. And this week is no different, as the Japanese marque has just released this — the Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000TB. That’s right, there’s now another 5000-series vying for the attention of all you digital devotees out there, and this one’s got a real point of difference. You see, although it may look like it’s using the same type of rubber as a regular G-Shock, it’s actually a fully titanium case, bracelet, bezel, caseback and buttons. And if the new titanium wasn’t enough, Casio has then gone to the trouble of treating the whole watch to a Diamond-like Carbon (DLC) coating, complete with a textured finish. As a result, the new GMW-B5000TB weighs in a whole 57 grams less than its antecedent, the steel GMW-B5000D. The new titanium timepiece also features contrasting gold script and accents, a move that Casio says is a styling tip-of-the-hat to its first-ever G-Shock, the DW-5000C-1B. Other features of the new GMW-B5000TB include a non-reflective sapphire crystal, an STN LCD display optimised for maximum legibility, and smartphone connectivity that enables users to adjust the settings of the watch. Utilising…
Horological heavyweight Richard Mille has just unveiled their latest limited edition masterpiece, the Richard Mille RM 50-04 Kimi Räikkönen, and there’s only one thing we can say … Bwoah! In typical fashion only to be expected of Richard Mille, the RM 50-04 is an incredibly complicated and quite frankly wonderful timepiece, designed for the one and only “Iceman” of the Formula 1 paddock, Mr Kimi-Matias Räikkönen. The RM 50-04 also celebrates the watchmaker’s affiliation with Alfa Romeo’s Formula 1 Racing Team, which Räikkönen has been a part of since signing with the Swiss race team in 2018. As a result, the new RM 50-04 not only shares the same colour scheme as Räikkönen’s C38 Formula 1 car, but the same technological design philosophy and attention to detail. For example, the bezel and caseback of the new timepiece is fashioned from a substance known only as Quartz TPT. It’s produced by interlaying no less than 600 layers of silicon, each 45 microns thick, and then impregnating said layers with a white matrix, before placing it all in something called an autoclave and heating it to a sweltering 120 Celsius. According to Richard Mille, the benefits of utilising this material are profound,…
Editor’s note: Blancpain has one of the best dive watch archives around, thanks to the fact that they were one of the primogenitors of the genre, and it’s something they’ve been tapping into with great effect, as Sandra discovered when she checked out the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Day Date 70s … We’ve come to associate Fifty Fathoms with minimalistic dials, so this Day Date model – one of three new pieces released at Baselworld 2018 to mark the 65th anniversary of the original diving watch – is a real shift in style. This doesn’t mean that Blancpain are suddenly getting all decorative, though; rather, they have looked to their 1970s archive for the design cues. Vital Statistics While the aesthetic is retro, everything else is bang-up to the minute, with all of the technical advances that Blancpain have brought to their dive watches in recent years. The movement is based on the acclaimed calibre 1315: the balance is non-magnetic silicium and the three barrels deliver a mighty five-day power reserve. The Day Date 70s comes in the same 43mm brushed steel case and its unidirectional bezel has a ceramic insert and markers filled with Liquidmetal – a scratch-proof alloy…