Vintage Collector: From Grand Seiko to minute repeaters
Editor’s note: Felix interviewed Anders a few years ago to discuss his journey as a vintage collector and what he looks for when purchasing watches. One thing he mentioned then was his motto to never sell, which got us wondering: If nothing ever leaves the collection, what else has been added since then? Have a browse through his Instagram to see an incredibly uncommon minute repeater, a trio of Gérald Genta designed beauties and one of the best Cartier designs of all time. Here’s the original chat Felix had with Anders: The world of watches is very small and very global. The story behind this interview is a case in point. Just before Christmas I received an Instagram notification saying, “Felix, you like watches – check this guy out”, from a friend who used to work in a café I frequent in Melbourne. She tagged me in the account of a regular customer at the café she now works at in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. After checking out @everydaycollector’s beautifully composed pictures of art, interior design and watches, I knew I had to get in touch with Anders and find out more about his careful and considered collection. Tell…
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Breguet — as we discovered last week — is a pretty classic brand. Heck, they’ve even got a line called the Classique. So when we saw a story on what Wes Lang — controversial American contemporary artist and collaborative creative to the stars — thought of the buttoned-up brand, you can bet we hit the link. And we’re glad we did, because Lang’s take on the ultra pure Breguet Classique 7147 is pretty on point. He nails its timelessness. But the payoff is huge. The 7147’s dial has a depth of colour that is nearly indescribable — it almost looks alive. And there’s the unbelievably perfect transition where the enamel practically melts down into a slightly recessed sub-dial for the second hand. You can’t see it from some angles. Then you turn the watch and the light catches it … There are watches that try to be cool, and then there’s this one, which just really is cool. Read more at GQ. 
Editor’s note: Most of Rolex’s new releases are shown to the press and make it into the catalogue. Sometimes, though, they don’t. The gem-set Rolex Submariner Date ref. 116659 SABR is an example of one that didn’t. And we were pretty lucky to get to see it at last year’s Baselworld … There was a lot of mystery surrounding this piece when it was pulled out of a large green box during our appointment with Rolex at Baselworld. And, to be honest, we were too caught up in the moment, too dazzled by the gemstones, to take it all in at the time. It’s formally known as the Submariner Date ref. 116659 SABR, a variant on the white gold, blue-dialled ‘Smurf’ (ref. 116659 LB), but while at first glance it might look like the stones are the only addition, the dial is completely different. Not only is it darker, and has a sunray effect, but there’s a notable omission. Look closer. Have you spotted it yet? That’s right, there’s no depth rating. On a typical sub, there’s a line underneath the ‘Submariner’ text that says the watch is good to ‘1000ft = 300m’; not so here. And there’s also no specific mention…
Editor’s note: If you missed instalments one and two of our glossary, you might want to quickly check them out, because now we’re in part three, we’re starting to get a little more technical. We’re moving beyond the basic parts and starting to explore how they operate together. Tick tock. Escapement The escapement is a collection of components responsible for the time-keeping accuracy in a watch. These components work together to act as the timekeeping (or regulating) organ of the watch. Every watch needs an escapement to distribute the impulse from the power source (whatever it may be) to the hands (or time display) so that the time can be communicated to the wearer. There are several different types of escapement. Most of which are confined to history or concept watches. The most common type of escapement is called the ‘Swiss lever escapement’. The main components of this escapement are the escape wheel, the pallet, the balance wheel, and the hairspring. Pallet The pallet (or anchor as it is often referred to in Europe) is a T-shaped component that has a U-shaped notch on the tail of the T, and two faceted rubies (the entry and exit jewel/pallet) held in…
Editor’s note: Everyone loves a good celebrity watch-spotting moment – and they don’t come much better than that time Jimmy Fallon gave his father-in-law one of the coolest watches of modern times, the Bremont MBI. You’ve probably seen it before, but it’s definitely worth another look … Contrary to what you might expect, the greatest asset of English brand Bremont isn’t their watches. Their greatest asset is the longstanding and extremely positive relationship with military pilots the world over. And nowhere is this better demonstrated than with the Bremont Martin-Baker MBI, available only to people who have survived a live ejection from an active military aircraft equipped with a Martin-Baker ejection seat. That’s a pretty elite club. Turns out, Jimmy Fallon’s father-in-law, as a former USMC pilot, is an eligible member, so Jimmy gave him an MBI live on TV. It’s 4:32 well worth watching (for the English accent alone). Money can’t buy you marketing this good.
Editor’s note: In an ideal world, buying an expensive watch is a stress-free and seamless affair. But as Cam discovered, that’s not always the case … I think we’ve all found ourselves in a similar situation to this before: you wake up, the morning after a big night out and all is seemingly well. At least until the night’s events start trickling back into your mind’s eye, and an odd sensation begins to stir deep down inside, giving you the feeling that things are not quite as they should be. You then roll over and notice something lying there next to you, something that in the unforgiving morning light is not what you were first expecting to see … Flashing before your eyes is a notification from eBay, exclaiming, “Congratulations! You won this item.” And before you even have time to react, the regret has started to sink in. Frequently associated with the purchase of expensive items like a house or a car, buyer’s remorse is a very real thing in the watch world. After all, we all know that our much-loved pieces of wrist candy can sometimes come attached to hefty price tags. However, it’s not always the money…
In this series of articles, we pick five interesting, less-often reported watches that tick a lot of boxes that seasoned watch collectors frequently look to fill. To make this a worthwhile exercise, we’re defining affordable as anything below $5000 AUD. Do you ever get the feeling the entry-level price point is dominated by bland dress watches and a slew of decent, but identikit divers? Sure, we don’t expect to see perpetual calendars or tourbillons slumming it down here with us commoners (and if you do see a kickstarter campaign threatening to disrupt the watch industry by creating a tourbillon for under 1000 bucks, please run a mile), but it’d be nice if our humble collections had a bit more variety in them, right? And before you say it, I’ve already got a date watch. Heck, I’ve even gone as far as an ETA 2836-driven day/date model. But what about that next level? What is there that could fill that void and not leave our bank accounts equally spacious? Step forth the GMT. With plenty of mid-range options, the GMT offers an elegant upgrade from a time-only ticker. They are actually useful, too. Perhaps even more so than the ubiquitous timing…
Editor’s note: For all that Hublot is a name strongly associated with big, bold colours (and rightly so, might we add), they’re not afraid to show their more subtle side on occasion. Take, for example, this Classic Fusion Titanium Greed – what a dial! This week we’re looking at Hublot watches that aren’t the Big Bang. Yep, you read that right. For all that the brand is virtually synonymous with their iconic (or is that iconoclastic?) sports watch, it turns out Hublot isn’t afraid to show their softer side on occasion. You know what else Hublot has never been afraid of? Colour. Both these characteristics are very much in evidence with this stylish Classic Fusion Chronograph in green. First of all, a quick primer on the Classic Fusion line — the collection, introduced in 2010, is intended as a slightly more subtle (dare we say dressier?) offering than the traditional Big Bang, while still possessing some of those indisputable Hublot hallmarks — the ‘H’ screws on the bezel, the solid end links on the strap, and those contrasting ‘ears’ on the case at three and six. It’s a softer Hublot, sure, but it’s still a Hublot. It’s also an incredibly…
What goes around comes around – especially when we’re talking style. So here we are, three decades after the first steel-and-gold rush, having another two-tone moment. But there could be something a tad anxiety-inducing about those bi-colour watches. If you buy two-tone, does it mean that you’re only half committed to full yellow metal? Or, perhaps worse, is two-tone really just the poor man’s gold watch? The answer is different today from what it was back then. In the 1980s heyday of the two-tone watch, wearing one came with the risk of being sneered at by steel-watch wearers as a wannabe tycoon, and by gold-watch wearers as … well, a wannabe-one-of-us. Not yet Big Enough to afford the full brick. Because the 1980s was the Decade of Big. Big hair (bouffant for men as well as women – with a slicked-back Wall Street power ’do for variety); big shoulder pads; big – no, huge – mobile phones. In short: big, loud, swaggering displays of wealth. It was the decade of Trump 1.0 – and the Decade that Taste Forgot. (I’m not making this up; I’m old enough to remember it.) Suddenly, the gold watch was no longer Uncle Fred’s hard-grafted-for…