NEWS: Longines opens first Melbourne boutique on Collins Street, and these are our 5 picks that are in-store right now
The Australian watch retail landscape has been booming recently, with plenty of new boutique openings. The latest is Longines, which has just opened a 174-square metre store with a prime position in the heart of Collins Street, Melbourne’s premier luxury shopping strip. And while the look and feel of a new boutique is always cool (and given that it’s Longines, this one will be elegant too), really, when a new boutique opens, we’re primarily interested in one thing: Watches. So here are our five picks … The Heritage 1945 Longines is justifiably famous for their heritage collection, and this cinnamon-strapped little beauty does not disappoint, with its faithful design and rich details making it a compelling proposition. The V.H.P. Chronograph The incredibly precise quartz movement inside the V.H.P. is about as far from heritage as you can get. There are numerous proprietary tweaks inside that make this watch best-in-class when it comes to accuracy. The HydroConquest The modern dive watch is a true staple, and Longines HydroConquest is a great example. The stalwart diver received an upgrade this year, with a redesigned dial and a fresh new ceramic bezel. The Avigation Type A 1935 If you like your watches vintage,…
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At this point it’s not news to state that Ellen DeGeneres is, in addition to being a talk show host par excellence, possessed of exceptional taste in watches. From vintage Daytonas to what appears to be most of Patek Philippe’s complicated catalogue, Ellen has some truly outstanding taste (I mean, seriously, when will she appear on Hodinkee’s Talking Watches?). And so when catching up on the latest clip, my eyes are always firmly on the wrists. And this time around, her chat with Ryan Reynolds certainly didn’t disappoint. Not only was Mr Pool (conspicuously not wearing Piaget) wearing (and wearing well) an Omega Dark Side of the Moon, but he was (as far as I could tell) wearing the barely legible Black Black version. Ellen’s wristwear, though, managed to outshine Reynolds’ choice, both literally and horologically. The Patek Philippe Reference 5271 Perpetual Calendar Chronograph is a serious watch, and the fact that it’s platinum and coated in factory diamonds only makes it that much more impressive. Watches aside, the clip is worth a watch, and while I disagree with Mr Reynolds on the merits of Frozen, I can certainly get behind him riffing off The Princess Bride in the festive Once…
Watches — the best watches at least — do more than tell the time. They transcend their function to evoke an atmosphere or a mood. Tissot’s latest heritage piece, the Petite Seconde, is a quite wonderful example of this. Sure, it’s a 42mm steel piece with a classic manually winding movement, and a pretty classic dial. But it’s actually a lot more than that. It’s like a warm, shining pebble on the wrist, a watch full of gentle curves and pleasing details. Like the daily winding of the movement, or that dial, it’s got a soft, almost satiny brushed finish and some truly lovely printed Arabic numerals. In short, it’s everything you want from a heritage-inspired piece, and a great value proposition. TLDR; it’s a really nice watch. Tissot Heritage Petite Seconde Australian pricing Tissot Heritage Petite Seconde, $1425. The Tissot Heritage Petite Seconde is available to purchase from the Time+Tide shop.
Editor’s note: Ah, two-tone, for when one tone isn’t enough. Steel and gold is a combination that certainly enjoys the vicissitudes of fashion, and it’s clear that it’s having something of a moment right now. But how to wear it, that’s the tricky bit. Read on for our horological, sartorial stylings … Now, if you’ve watched my review of the Tudor S&G you’ll know that I’m #team2tone all the way, but the thing is, I don’t *really* know how to wear it. I mean, I think I’d be OK in more formal settings — just pair it with a suit and away you go, but in every other part of my life — not so sure. I’ve got two-tone anxiety, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Because, much as we’re all aware that the mix of precious and plain metals is, once again, en vogue, our awareness of it, and how to wear it, is still stuck in the 1980s. So I thought it was time to bring in the big guns, in the form of David Meagher. David, aside from being editor of The Australian’s WISH magazine, is a bastion of good taste and a sartorial safe…
Zenith hold a certain affinity for mechanical machines – and not just of the time-telling variety. From pilot watches that celebrate all things planes and motorbikes, to El Primero-powered chronographs that take their open road inspiration from the world of classic cars. For the past three years the Swiss manufacturer has also enjoyed a partnership with British 4WD vehicle manufacturer Land Rover. To celebrate the introduction of the next-generation Range Rover Evoque, Zenith have once again partnered with the iconic UK carmaker and released this limited-edition version of the modern and sporty Defy Classic Skeleton. The very first extension of the Defy Classic line that we’ve seen since it was released back at Baselworld 2018, to the untrained eye, the differences might take a minute to recognise. However, once you know what to look for, the subtle changes, and even the watch’s Evoque inspiration, become immediately apparent. There’s still the same incredibly versatile — and frankly, good-looking — 41mm titanium case that’s water resistant to 100 metres, and inside, displayed in all its glory, is the brand’s 50-hour Elite 670 SK automatic movement with its silicon escape-wheel and lever. What has changed, though, are the colourful highlights found on the front and…
Tennis great Novak Djokovic and Japanese watch manufacturer Seiko began their (doubles) partnership at the beginning of 2014. Just a few months later, Djokovic regained his position as world number one – a ranking he then held for 28 months straight. Coincidence? Perhaps, but whether it’s causation or correlation, the fact remains that the partnership has been an exceptional one for all involved. Especially us, with Seiko releasing a slew of stellar limited editions that celebrate the tennis legend’s achievements over the years since. The latest ace to be rocketed over the net is Seiko’s brand-new Astron SSE174J, and keen-eyed tennis and watch fans may have already spotted it on the champion’s wrist this year, as the comeback kid lifted his trophies and achieved the impossible by clawing his way back from a ranking low of world No. 22 in May to ending the season as world No. 1. Like all other Astrons, whenever the dial of the Novak Djokovic Limited Edition SSE174J is exposed to direct sunlight, it’s simply adjusted to the precise local time at the touch of a button– via GPS signals that it receives through an under-the-dial ring antenna. Not only does this exposure to bright…
With a brand so rich in history, the origins of what can only be called typical Breguet design cues date a fair ways back into the archives. Contrary to the case of countless other brands on the market, the components that make up Breguet’s core design mantra could hardly be accused of being derivative, and each element has its own origin story of sorts rather than the typical “we put that there because we wanted to make a dive watch”. Breguet has been busy perfecting their craft since 1775, and have consistently survived the industry’s ups and downs including the quartz crisis. Of course, the brand changed hands a number of times between its origins and landing in the firm grip of the Swatch Group in 1999, but this length of continuous operation, combined with some fairly impressive innovation through the decades and centuries, is nothing to sneeze at. For the sake of brevity, we’re going to stay on the design side of the fence this time around. Dem hands tho … (and them digits) It’s hard to say which Breguet design cue is the most easily identifiable of them all, though few would argue if the classic blued Breguet…
Yesterday, we announced the global release of this curious – what a lush colour scheme! – and extremely capable Presage Limited Edition with that Urushi dial-to-die-for. Today, we’re once again proud to announce that Seiko Australia has trusted us with half of the Australian allocation of eight watches. We have four in the shop as of right now for $3,400, you can buy it here. In typical Time+Tide fashion we will be including a taupe Tuscan leather Time+Tide travel pouch with the watch to make sure that when it goes places, it’s travelling in style. Taking inspiration from the rich tones of the sky just before dawn, the star of the Seiko Presage Urushi Byakudan-nuri SPB085 is, without question, the dial. Crafted using three traditional techniques, to evoke the atmosphere and feeling of the moon just before dawn, the black base of the dial is the traditional Urushi technique in jet black lacquer, with deep red metallic subdials, achieved using a Byakudan-nuri technique. Finally, the glittering crescent of the moon (in the form of the power reserve indicator) is painstakingly applied using maki-e. This precious dial is housed within the 40.5mm steel case, and kept safe under the dual-curved sapphire crystal.…