AUCTION NEWS: This Vacheron Constantin sold for just 40 per cent of its $3 million prediction. Is 2021 off to a catastrophically slow start?
I did choose to be very optimistic in my story last week about the astounding Vacheron Constantin Tour de L’Ile reaching a cool record $3 million to kick off a healthy 2021. The estimate was set at Antiquorum’s Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces in Monaco to a spread of $1.8 – $3 million. But the watch didn’t make it – far from it, in fact – ending up selling for a paltry $1.2 million plus buyer’s premium. This begs the questions: are we merely looking at early signs of a fickle market in this astronomical price range? Or does this suggest another year of tumbling auction sales? This VC sold for $2.1 million when it was produced, bearing in mind that at that time is was the most complicated men’s wristwatch ever made. Having just sold for less than $1.5 million, in the world of uber complex Haute Horlogerie this surely constitutes a bargain? Relatively speaking, of course. As in selling all the houses of my close family might make me able to afford said bargain. Yet analysing the other top lots in this Antiquorum auction, the market ultimately still seems healthy if slightly unpredictable, and maybe in a transformative phase…
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Let me start by saying the headline is paraphrasing master watchmaker, and OBE, Roger Smith, and a contraction of two statements. The first is that Britain “had a great history [in watchmaking], and we squandered it.” The second is his statement that “for a couple of hundred years, we had world dominance.” Assuming that you forgive me, we can continue with this very interesting development. Which is the formation of the British Alliance of Watch and Clockmakers, which had already amassed 30 trade members at the time of this interview, late last year. What’s the backstory here? What has led to the formation of the Alliance? I’ve noticed over the last 10 to 12 years, there’s just been a steady increase in people who are entering into this sector and I’ve been thinking about this for many, many years and realising that things were going on and that perhaps we all needed to get together and start sharing our ideas and trying to build this fascinating industry. And I bumped into Mike France, about two years ago at a Salon QP Events, which is held in the Saatchi gallery in London. Really, we felt that there was something bubbling away…
Last July, the Melbourne Metropolitian Fire Brigade merged with the Victorian Country Fire Authority and formed the Fire Rescue Victoria. This, however, meant the retirement of the MFB organisation name after a long history for the brigade dating back to 1891. To celebrate that illustrious history, members of the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade decided that a commemorative watch would make the perfect memento and reached out to us here at Time+Tide to help make it happen. When we were initially approached to facilitate a custom watch, it was immediately clear that William Wood watches would be the perfect fit. The brand’s heritage and legacy is rooted in honouring the brave men and women who serve as firefighters, so who better to help the MFB do just that? So it happened that in late 2020, Time+Tide organised in conjunction with William Wood, a customised watch for members of the MFB. William Wood was the name of brand founder Jonny Garrett’s late grandfather. For more than 25 years, William Wood served in the British Fire Service, winning commendations for his acts of bravery. He was stationed at Pilgrim Street for the Newcastle & Gateshead Fire Brigade, serving on the Blue Watch. Sadly,…
Any watch enthusiast whose tastes gravitate towards dive or tool watches will be familiar with the Seiko Prospex collection. It’s the bulletproof, no-nonsense collection that Seiko produce with the professional outdoors person in mind, hence the name Prospex – contracted from Professional Specifications. The Prospex line is now bolstered with the all-new Seiko SPB207, SLA047 and SSC807 – three new references to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the Japanese watchmaker. These are the first of what we anticipate will be another interesting collection of releases this year as Seiko mark 140 years since founder Kintaro Hattori established the company in 1881, at the precocious age of 21. This collection of three dive watches was specifically inspired by the island of Iriomote in Okinawa Prefecture, a popular diving spot surrounded by diverse flora. This lush, green environment is expressed in the green dials of all three watches, the verdant shade making them very easy to read. All three of the new references feature stark black bezels that nicely frame the green dials, and gold seconds hands that attract just the right amount of attention. Seiko SPB207 First up we have the Seiko SPB207, which follows the design of a contemporary re-interpretation…
Grand Seiko gets a lot of attention from collectors that’s well-deserved for the incredible artistry it delivers. If the Swiss were even capable of paralleling this Japanese craft and philosophy, the resulting products would likely be far more expensive. Grand Seiko continually brings high craftsmanship and value to the table, the brand name truly built on the merits of their products. While we typically see more steel and titanium watches from the brand, they are no stranger to precious metals. Zaratsu finishes on steel and titanium are absolutely exquisite in every way, but there is something about Zaratsu on precious metals that is downright phenomenal. The limited-edition Grand Seiko SBGW264 pairs an elegant Zaratsu-finished precious metal case, with a gorgeous green dial that needs to be experienced in the metal. The case The rose-gold case of the Grand Seiko SBGW264 is 39mm in diameter and 11.6mm thick making it the perfect size for a wide spectrum of wrists and slender enough to slide easily beneath a shirt cuff. The case is splash-resistant, so while you cannot swim with this precious watch you don’t have to feel like Indiana Jones swapping out the idol in Temple of Doom when washing your…
Blown away by the first picture in the press release. Where to start? I’ll be honest with you, while we want to share the news from the LVMH Watch Week as soon as it comes out, it does create the luxury of frustration, very apparent in this story on the Hublot Big Bang MP-11 Magic Gold. My frustration is one of knowing I could easily write 2000 words on this indecipherable world of the hand-wound Calibre HUB9011 watch movement and still not fully comprehend its head-scratching complexity. But that is exactly what makes the MP-11 series so special and still immensely beguiling after being with us for a few years. It’s still the pinnacle of a wrist watch engine. Why? Well, had it been an electric car it would end all that anxiety about how far you can travel without charging, as this watch has the unbelievable prowess of a 14-day power reserve. That’s one hot engine under the hood, baby, and Hublot ain’t afraid of showing it. Gone are the laurels for 70 hours of power reserve. How much did you say, I must have misheard you? I repeat: 14 days. Read it and weep. And how? Seven barrels…
FINALLY! We cried in 2020 as Hublot unleashed their Integral series. With one fell swoop, the Masters of Bold brushed competition aside in the wristwatch MMA series of the Integrated Bracelet Battle For Supremacy. Ingeniously retaining the sharp design language of the Big Bang collection, now close to a contemporary classic, we got the chunkiest, edgiest bracelet on the market that’s (crucially) still very comfortable. With our integrated bracelet appetites supposedly sated with titanium, King Gold and black ceramic, today launched no less than three new colours, making the Hublot Big Bang Integral Ceramic a high-tech materiality showcase for Hublot. A classic white, formal grey tone and, maybe my favourite, that difficult to classify shade of navy that is just so. The well-defined details of the bold-bezelled Big Bang are just as sharp as we know them, like the colour-matched rubber on the muscular pushers. Then there’s the angular, strong case design made even more pronounced through the bracelet, its bold outer links echoing the broad, sharp stroke of bevelling that defines the case sides and dramatic sweep of lug. So what do these three watches do to us? They make us wonder why the Integral with its bracelet wasn’t…
Hublot is no stranger to coloured sapphire cases, but never have we seen this delicious colour in any wrist-worn wonder, from Hublot or anyone else. ..Well, who else would be up for this flavour of Vitamin See that will have everybody eyeballing your wrist? As the boldest, brightest spark of colour in the LVMH Watch Week press conference this morning, it literally caused me to jump a measurable few inches from my chair. Like a blood orange blood infusion of Haute Horologie, the (deep breath) Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Orange Sapphire has a name as long as its impact is strong (rhyme intented). The HBBTAOS is lit. Even if we are used to the Big Bang series being bold with capital letters, after all these years they still manage to knock our socks off with pure audacity. Again and again. How? The orange sapphire is a peachy sapphire tinted with titanium and chromium, incredibly hard to machine, and to give us another jolt of surprise, with a brand new semi-transparent automatic movement which comes tourbillon equipped. More full size Jaffa orange than demure mandarin, the 45mm x 15.3 is neither svelte nor slim, but what the hell, this dramatic…
Since its inception in 2014, the Octo Finissimo was an absolute game changer for how the watch enthusiast community perceived the Bulgari brand. Sure the brand always enjoyed a successful niche, but the lineup of Octo Finissimo watches with their unbelievably slimline cases grabbed the attention of men and women who love watches all around the world. These were a testament to the horological prowess the brand commands and made brands previously known as the kings of ultra-thin watchmaking hastily scramble back to the drawing board. Now the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Titanium Black Opaline Dial refreshes the thinnest automatic chronograph watch in the world with its new dial tone and all new rubber strap. The black opaline dial introduced in this model is effectively the inverse of what we have seen from the Chronograph GMT previously. Whereas the original was a matte silver/gray with black printed numerals, indices and hands, we now have a matte black opaline dial with grey/silver printed numerals, indices, and hands. It’s complications are crisp, clean, and easy to read with the GMT at the 3 o’clock position, elapsed minutes at 6 o’clock, and running seconds at nine As the watch is not part…
The Octo Finissimo has become a real fan-favorite in the watch community and redefined expectations for the ultra-thin watch category. Many have expressed concern about the saturation of integrated stainless-steel sports watches, but the Bulgari Octo Finissimo, originally introduced in 2014 gave buyers the best of both worlds: an integrated bracelet sports watch, but with an incredibly distinct and original design. You see a whole new side to watch design all thanks to the 110 facets of the case that work to create an architecture only the “Roman Jeweler of Time” can provide. The second generation removed the uniform tone of the first, trading a muted sandblasted texture for the more common harmony of satin brushes and mirror polishes. The new Bulgari Octo Finissimo S Silvered Dial finds middle ground between the two, pairing the monochromatic aesthetic of the first with the contrasting finishes introduced in the second. The biggest revelation here is the new vertically brushed silvered dial. The dial texture plays really well with the contrasting finishes, it almost makes the dial feel like it is frozen in time – like Han Solo in carbonite. To ensure the monochromatic look does not come off too flat, Bulgari utilises…