What Sealed The Deal – Travis Mahoney's Omega Speedmaster Mark II 'Rio 2016'
Representing your country at the Olympic Games is the dream of just about every kid who grows up doing a sport, especially Australian kids and swimming. The likes of Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett and Michael Klim did wonders to boost the popularity of the sport in the Land Down Under, producing a fresh crop of talented young swimmers, including Travis Mahoney. Travis represented Australia at the Rio Olympics where he competed in the 400m Individual Medley, and commemorated his achievement with the acquisition of an Omega Speedmaster Mark II ‘Rio 2016’. When did you first see/hear about it? I actually first heard about this watch from fellow Dolphins team member, dead-set legend and avid watch enthusiast Matt Abood. We had been hanging out at our last pre-competition camp in Brisbane before our journey to the Olympics began. Matt showed me a picture of the design and I immediately fell in love with the smooth brushed steel, unique classic design and obvious connection to the Olympics. Matt told me he was going to get his when he returned from Brazil. I was extremely jealous of Matt but I couldn’t wait for him to get it so I could see it with…
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Editor’s note: Some watches you can’t get out of your head, and the fun and friendly TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 16 Chronograph from 2018 is one such watch. We can’t get over those pops of colour! The story in a second: Classic Carrera. More colour. If you spend more than a few minutes in the sometimes crazy world of watches, it’s easy to lose perspective. You can very quickly get caught up in the hullabaloo of new this, in-house that, and proprietary the other. But while all that stuff is cool and sometimes really matters, at the end of the day it’s a watch on your wrist with a job to do. And that job is telling the time and looking good. I think this particular model excels at this job, which is why I chose it as one of my 10 favourite Baselworld 2018 releases. I made that decision in the thick of the fair, but you know what, after a few months reflection, I think it holds up. The dial The dial is where the party is at. The matt mid-blue matches perfectly with the fixed ceramic tachy bezel (love the choice to use ceramic BTW), and is…
If you’ve been paying attention to the wonderful world of watches for more than 15 minutes, you’ll have worked out that high-tech materials, often with fancy proprietary names, are a big deal. Isographs, Aeronith, Sedna gold, unobtanium and all the rest. This sort of fancy nomenclature is stock-in-trade of Swiss marketing departments, but it’s also important stuff. Innovations like improved alloys, accessible ceramic and silicon technology have had a massive impact on the science of watchmaking, and the sort of watches that are made over the last few decades. The real exciting thing is that this isn’t a static field, and material science moves ever forward. To find out the current state of play, check out this informative piece from WorldTempus. 
Editor’s note: Few brands play their heritage cards as strongly as Longines. Certainly it helps that the brand has more heritage than most to work with, so much so that we’re practically spoiled for choice. Here are Cameron’s six top picks from the Longines Heritage lineup … Right now in the world of watchmaking, there’s a distinctly warm and fuzzy feeling of nostalgia in the air. A sentiment that is owed in no small part to Longines, who more than 10 years ago pioneered the popular heritage reissue trend we all know and love today. With a history that stretches back over the better part of the last two centuries, the winged-hourglass brand has a vast, and rather historically important, back catalogue to choose from. And with plenty to inspire the Saint-Imier watchmaker, the Heritage collection is full of our favourites. Longines Heritage 1945 As part of the Watercolour Watch project, back in 2015 renowned artist Sunflowerman actually illustrated the inspiration for the 1945. Two years later and Longines brought his art to life, delivering its salmony gold tones and wonderfully blued hands to wrists around the world. RRP $2340 Longines Legend Diver The legend that started it all. Introduced…
This is not an under-the-radar watch. So if you’re looking for an unassuming dress watch, scroll on. But if you like your timekeeping served with a bit (OK, a lot) of bling, this might be up your alley. But be warned: the price — much like the weight in stones — is hefty. Want to see what it looks like on the wrist? Make sure you check out Andrew’s video with it here. So, what are we talking here? Well, there’s a tourbillon. Normally that little cage — here shaped like the Franck Muller logo — would be the star of the show, but on this piece, it plays second fiddle. First violin is definitely occupied by the stones — there are rubies, 21 on the dial (2.42 carats), surrounding the tourbillon cage. There’s another 70-odd rubies on the bracelet. And then there are diamonds. Lots of diamonds. We’re talking about 474 stones in total, all ranging from D to F, and VVS in clarity. There are 122 stones on the dial, 40 on the bezel, 44 on the case and 268 on the bracelet. The baguette-cut stones on the dial are particularly impressive, invisibly set and arranged radially. Very, very nice indeed.…
Bob Hawke’s estate auction offered a chance to reflect on a man known equally well for his capacity to skol a pint of beer in record time (he broke a beer drinking Guinness World Record in 1954) and being a past Prime Minister of Australia. The auction took place in a venue that could only be described as aptly representative of our country’s cross-sectional majority – an RSL in inner Sydney. It was an appropriate venue to celebrate the collected objects of one of Australia’s most fondly remembered leaders, as it grounded you in a sense of not taking it all too seriously, a reminder offered by the noise and flashing lights of the pokies room. Upon arrival there was an immediate sense of the man we were all here for. A crowd of close to 300 Sydney-siders filled the space, leaving standing room only. But there was no joy or excitement in the air. Instead, it was a state of respectful sobriety (yes, strange for an RSL), with people silently flicking through their catalogue or murmuring to their neighbour. There was a recognition that we were not gathered for an auction, but a memorial which offered insights into a…
Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve begun our descent. Now that we’ve completed our overview of the Top Gun, Spitfire and Classic collections we’d ask you to stow your tray tables and please pay attention to the final instalment in our series – the IWC Pilot’s St Exupéry collection. Now, IWC’s St Exupéry watches are named for the famed author of Le Petit Prince, who was also, it turns out, a pioneering aviator, and he was lost during a reconnaissance flight over the Mediterranean in 1944. IWC’s watches honouring the man and his works take two main forms — the Le Petit Prince and the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Andrew looks at one of each. IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Antoine de Saint-Exupéry” The classic chronograph takes a decadent twist thanks to the glossy brown dial that’s a hallmark of the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry line. Rich, warm and irresistible. IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Edition “Le Petit Prince” IWC’s big boy gets a blue facelift with a beautiful blue starburst treatment, which elevates the utilitarian dial design into far dressier territory. Made in partnership with IWC. However, the opinions expressed in this article are our own in accordance with our Editorial Policy.
Editor’s note: This watch might not be the newest release but, by gosh, it’s as fresh today as the day it passed final quality control. We take another look at the Ulysse Nardin Classico Manufacture Grand Feu … Ulysse Nardin pulled out all the stops for its first SIHH showing. In a fair characterised by conservative product releases, the Le Locle-based manufacturer presented a strong line-up of novelties, with a strong nautical theme. Highlights included the new regatta timer, the technically impressive Marine Grand Deck, as well as this watch – the Classico Manufacture Grand Feu. This very traditional timepiece is jam-packed with smart details and offered at a highly competitive price. At 40mm across, the round steel case is hard to dislike, with its wide polished bezel, slightly clawed lugs set into the case middle, and a crown that’s simple, sturdy and not at all fiddly. Nice though the case is, it doesn’t hold a candle to what’s within. The movement is the UN-320 caliber, made entirely in-house, down to the silicium hairspring and escapement – a feat of which the brand is rightly proud (the oft-repeated message at SIHH was that none of the other exhibiting brands made their own silicon hairsprings).…
Editor’s note: A little while ago we went off-script with our watch coverage, making a short, snappy series of videos that — in a decidedly tongue-in-cheek manner — aimed to assist you in your Tudor purchasing decision. Here’s our take on the archetypal Tudor Pelagos wearer. And if you’ve got a Pelagos on your wrist and you’re not wearing a single item of Patagonia, isn’t it time you questioned your life choices? “Which watch should I get?” It’s the first, and hardest, question to answer for any watch lover (shortly followed by “which watch should I get next?”), and our news and reviews aim to make that question easier for you to answer. Well, today we make it simpler yet, with a series of three short videos that each ask, “How do you know which Tudor is right for you?” We match three key watches from Tudor’s catalogue to three styles of wearer, albeit in a slightly tongue-in-cheek way. First up is Tudor’s mighty technical diver, the Pelagos. So, if the above video resonates with you, you might want to check out our longer review. But you’re not completely off the hook — the next tricky question is: Black, Blue…
If you’ll pardon the pun, Moser pioneered the development of elegant, perpetual calendars with their subtle Endeavour, which saw the month displayed using a short hand, mounted on the central pinion, and using the 12-hour markers as surrogates for the months of the year. Well, this model, the Pioneer Dual Window Perpetual Calendar, sees the brand change gears a little, steering the complication into more legible territory. Gone is the central hand, with the month indicator now occupying a prominent aperture next to the extant date window at three. The increased legibility certainly adds some visual weight to the right-hand side of the dial, which is partially offset by the power reserve at nine (bonus points for using the same typeface as the date/month wheels on the reserve indicator). The vertical axis design features are the printed brand up top, and the hefty sub-seconds down the bottom — with nice circular graining details. And because this is a Pioneer, you get a steel case, and luminous pops on the dial and those semi-open hands. The case is big at 42.8mm across, excluding the grippy conical crown. There are two dials on offer — a very interesting burgundy fumé that has decidedly aubergine…