IN-DEPTH: This Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch is as good as (Sedna) gold
It was way back in 1969 that the first-ever gold Omega Speedmaster rolled off the production line, made for one wrist in particular – that of Richard Nixon. The caseback was engraved to read: RICHARD M. NIXON – PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES – “to mark man’s conquest of space with time, through time, on time”, and was to be a marker of the success that NASA had enjoyed throughout the 1960s. Unsurprisingly, public officials can’t accept gold watches from private companies, and the watch has sat in the Omega Museum ever since, offering a pristine reference for all of the gold Omega Speedmasters that have followed, including the latest Sedna gold Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional Co-Axial Master Chronometer Chronograph 42mm. There have only been a relative handful of gold Speedies produced over the years, including the yellow gold Apollo XI from 1980, the white gold Apollo XI 25th edition released in 1994 and more recently the Moonshine gold Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Limited Edition from 2019. This makes any gold Speedmaster a pretty exciting release, but what makes the 2021 precious metal release particularly enticing is that it is not a limited edition watch (for the first time since…
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Melbourne isn’t known as a hotbed of horological activity. Indeed, Patek Philippe was founded more than a decade earlier than Melbourne was even recognised as a city. But that hasn’t stopped Melbourne watchmaker John Robert Wristwatches announcing their Archetype collection this week that’s inspired by the dress watches of the 1950s and 60s only with a few modern tricks up its sleeve. As the city is twice as close to Antarctica as it is to Geneva, you might think it’d lack the technical chops you’re used to seeing from well-made Swiss or Japanese watches. But the John Robert Wristwatches Archetype collection proves that the tyranny of distance is a challenge that can definitely be overcome. The case The John Robert Wristwatches Archetype collection offers six different references in total, with an automatic movement or a High Accuracy Quartz (HAQ) caliber all featuring the choice of blue, white or charcoal dials. True to their mid-century inspiration, the 316L stainless steel cases measure 38mm in diameter, with a practical 20mm lug width. While not examples of ultra-thin watchmaking, the cases are also kept slender with the automatic references measuring 12.4mm thick, while the HAQ sits just 11.4mm thick. All of the watches…
IWC make some incredible watches and are particularly known for their pilot creations with their crisp and highly legible dials. The IWC Timezoner is one such watch with a large case and dial, 24-hour time display and corresponding world timer rotating bezel. The watch, in its standard production configuration, is actually a chronograph – with a 24-hour hand instead of a window. The previous Timezoner without a chronograph complication was a 2019 limited edition, the IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “The Longest Flight”, which had a black dial with fauxtina coloured SuperLuminova® and a 24-hour time display window uniquely tied to and controlled by the ceramic bi-directional bezel. They have now introduced a second and limited entry into the Timezoner collection: the IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “Le Petit Prince”. This watch shares the same diameter and case profile of the “Longest Flight” edition at 46mm in diameter in stainless steel. It’s as large as their iconic Big Pilot watch, but is half a millimetre thinner at 15mm thick. This is kind of surprising when you think about it, as bezels normally result in a thicker timepiece. It has a depth rating of 60 metres and a screw-down crown –…
The expression “luxury sports watch” is often hideously misused and exaggerated. But here the Louis Vuitton Tambour Damier Graphite Race Chronograph leaves you in no doubt. Serious swagger and hyper-fresh pops of green are the order of the day to bring a bright spark of sharp contemporary design into a world of vintage homage. First Impressions Well, what can I say, this watch is neither small nor demure, and that’s exactly what we need – not everyone wants a quietly spoken 38mm skindiver, and this is nothing of the sort. The first time I lay my hands on it I’m mostly awestruck by the audacity of Louis Vuitton releasing a 46mm sports watch when every other reference out there seems to be shrinking and hiding quietly under the slimmest cuff. This wants to be strapped on maybe even on the outside of your shirt, Gianni Agnelli style (Google it). In short, it begs to be shown off. The Tambour case and rubber strap In this rather large case, LV manages to create a very comfortable wearing sports chronograph, as the recognisable Tambour case is a silky smooth pebble of comfort. PVD-treated steel creates comfort on the wrist and a perfectly…
The Super Bowl is fast approaching, and as a New Yorker it pains me that Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaners will be battling it out with Kansas City for the championship. While the Houston Texans did not make it all the way this year, I can imagine at least 15 people in the organisation who didn’t have a horrible end to the year. After signing a a four-year contract extension worth $156,000,000 USD, quarterback Deshaun Watson bought 15 of his teammates special Christmas gifts for a total of $204,000 USD. The beneficiaries – that included Watson’s offensive linemen, backup QB’s, and offensive coaching staff – all received Hublot Big Bang watches in steel with black ceramic bezel, each reportedly valued at $13,600 USD. It’s a lot of money for sure, but when you do the maths it is a drop in the ocean for him at 0.13% of the value of his contract extension. Based on the description and price of the watch, I believe it is fair to say Watson purchased 15 pieces of the Hublot Big Bang Steel Ceramic ref. 301.SM.1770.RX. The stainless-steel watch is 44mm in diameter, has a black ceramic bezel, and a carbon…
It’s late January, which means it’s LVMH Watch Week, an event where the watch departments of Bulgari, Hublot and Zenith unleash their new novelties for the year. For Hublot in 2021, we enjoyed a number of updates to existing collections, including a totally new colour of sapphire crystal in the Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic, a ceramic expansion of the Big Bang Integral collection and the Big Bang MP-11 now in Magic Gold. But we were also treated to an exciting new reference that should quicken the pulse of fans of Takashi Murakami. The Hublot Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami All Black takes the famous “smiling flower” motif of the cult Japanese artist and lets it bloom into horological form. Using the Classic Fusion as a base template, the watch is constructed from 45mm of black ceramic and is paired with the black rubber strap that Hublot is so famous for. For those who follow Takashi Murakami’s high-impact work, you might be surprised to see the monochromatic tones of this collaboration watch, but the liveliness of the dial does more for the watch than colour ever could. Set with 563 black diamonds, the dial features one of Murakami’s most well-known motifs in…
The Swiss maisons are at it again, bringing their entire arsenal of craftsmanship to celebrate the Chinese New Year. As we all know, the Chinese market is huge and a great reason for watch brands to bring out the big guns. By big guns, however, we really mean the opposite here, as tiny instruments and loupes are dusted off to bring artisanal handmade details to the forefront and start off 2021 with an artful bang. Chopard L.U.C XP Urushi Spirit of Shi Chen Lustrous gold meets inky black framed in the classic L.U.C case from Chopard that offers a perfect balance of pebble-round comfort and swoopy lugs. The 40mm dial is a beautifully crafted surface of the Urushi lacquer we know from the best wristworn examples of Japanese craftsmanship, here delightfully integrated into Chopard’s design. The dial has a large crescent-shaped window in the upper half of the dial displaying the animals from the Chinese cycle of the Zodiac, with a balanced Chinese symbol in the centre. This large and engagingly symmetrical symbol of prosperity lends an almost architectural formality to the background. Arrowhead indices and the contemporary sword hands of the L.U.C series brings a sharp modernity that works,…
Back in November, we were treated to two new releases from Grand Seiko to honour the founding of the Seiko brand. As we covered, 2021 marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of founder Kintaro Hattori and the 140th anniversary of the birth of the Seiko Corporation. Hattori, at the age of 21, would create what would later become Seikosha and eventually the Seiko Corporation we have all become so fond of. Now that 2021 has arrived, Seiko is joining in on the celebration to help kick off the new year – and there is a lot to like about the new Seiko SSH083 and SPB205. The watches each capture picturesque elements of Japan with the SSH083 embodying cherry blossoms lit by the night sky and the SPB205 evoking Tokyo at dawn. Both watches really stand out within the catalogue through their “super-hard black coatings” that result in an appealing stealthy sharpness. Seiko Astron GPS Solar Dual-Time 5X53 SSH083 The Seiko Astron GPS Solar Dual-Time 5X53 SSH083 is 42.7mm in diameter and 13.3mm thick. The 100 metre water-resistant case is inspired by 1969 Quartz Astron cases, and features Grand Seiko-like geometries with contrasting polished and satin-brushed surfaces. The bracelet is…
One of my favourite traits of the Octo catalogue from Bulgari is its matte, smooth and very quiet elegance. While the endlessly creative Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Bulgari’s chief watch designer, continually sets the bar ever higher, it’s mostly done without the flash and bang of complications. But this week we saw the debut of the Bulgari Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon. While Bulgari has created some more demonstrative pieces – like the sinous dynamic of the Serpenti series – the brand’s emphasis is generally on the understated style and fascinating angular design of the unique Octo case. On the back of that, Bulgari is now renowned for its paper-thin wristwear. But this dark testament to Haute Horlogerie is one of a strong deck of ultra complex cards in the Roma range. This watch combines a tourbillon with a repeater striking a three-hammer chime all packaged up in a stealthy dark suit that hints at the wondrous complexity within. For connoisseurs of the Bulgari brand, the DNA of the minimalist Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon is mixed with the dramatic opulence of the Grande Sonnerie Perpetual Calendar, two milestones from the maison’s top tier. The dark case is anything but small, yet it’s…
Joe Rogan has one of the most popular voices in the world. His podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, gets close to 200 million monthly downloads and you can understand why. He’s had everyone who is anyone on the show, including a wide variety of celebrities, sports stars, scientists, politicians and more. Names like Mike Tyson, Elon Musk, Jocko Willink and even Edward Snowden have all shared the airwaves with Joe on his 1603-episode journey and he’s showing no signs of slowing down after signing a $100 million deal with Spotify last year. Recently on episode #1600 he interviewed AI researcher Lex Friedman, who is working in the field of “autonomous vehicles, human-robot interaction, and machine learning”. That’s when Joe did something he doesn’t usually do with his guests. He gave Friedman a watch. And it was a pretty cool watch too. In fact, it was an Omega Speedmaster Moonphase Co-Axial Master Chronometer that was released in 2016 as one of a four watch collection. Featuring the in-house manufactured caliber 9904 movement, it boasts a full 60 hours of power reserve and a rather complex 368 parts, as well as offering a moonphase with a photorealistic moon in the display to…