HANDS-ON: Sun and sea combined – the Seiko Prospex ‘Save The Ocean’ SSC675P
What do whales, chronographs and solar charging have in common? And no, I’m not talking about a hypothetical scheme involving Elon Musk, and the launching of an around the world race, with solar-powered propellers attached to specially trained whales. Cool as that may be – although probably not humane – all three things become one in the Seiko Prospex ‘Save The Ocean’ SSC675P. If you’re not already familiar with this year’s ‘Save The Ocean’ series by Seiko, a portion of all sales from each of the series’ three models goes towards saving the ocean. With Seiko working in conjunction with noted marine conservationist Fabien Cousteau. Each special edition watch in the series features a wave-like dial resembling the skin of the mighty blue whale. However, while the other two watches in the series are strictly automatic three-handed affairs, and their dials graduate from an iridescent blue at the top to an almost black at the bottom, the dial of this version differs ever so slightly and maintains its own intense shade of blue throughout – although in certain light, you’d be forgiven for seeing purple. And contrast is introduced by the equally as blue bi-coloured bezel and the radiant outer ring…
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As we embark on the 50th anniversary edition of the US Open, all eyes are on the new official timepiece of the tennis tournament, Rolex. Rolex is replacing Citizen, which had been a sponsor of the US Open for more than two decades. Rolex is already the official timekeeper of the Australian Open and has an impressive roster of tennis players among its ambassadors: Roger Federer, Juan Martín del Potro, Angelique Kerber and Sloane Stephens, to name a few. Rolex chose the Datejust 41 on a jubilee bracelet for the feature timepiece on its US Open webpage. The white gold watch has a dark rhodium dial and fluted bezel. Should a Rolex ambassador raise the Tiffany & Co. hardware in Arthur Ashe Stadium, he or she might be sporting that Datejust. (We all remember Roger Federer’s striking blue-dial Sky-Dweller when he accepted the trophy at this year’s Australian Open.) In the next two weeks, we will see close to AU$3 million in watches at the tournament, and Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic are all scheduled to play. I expect Rafael Nadal — who won the US Open last year — to wear his limited edition Richard Mille Tourbillon watch,…
In case you’ve missed the news, a new rom-com, Crazy Rich Asians, is coming to a screen near you. The film adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s bestselling book series has received huge praise since its premiere, notably for the way it’s challenging stereotypes of how Asians are represented in major Hollywood films. The film concentrates on a young Asian-American couple making the journey back to Singapore to meet the family. Of course, the plot twists when the woman travelling to meet her boyfriend’s family finds out they are one of the wealthiest in Singapore. Without spoiling anything, the film naturally explores how Singapore’s 0.01% spend their wealth, featuring a dazzling assemblage of luxury homes, cars — and watches. Filmmaking aside, Crazy Rich Asians caught our attention for another reason: its props, or more specifically, a very specific prop. Before we dive into the detail, it’s important to note that Kwan had a very deliberate hand in choosing the props for the film. We recently got word that Kwan insisted on using a specific Rolex ‘Paul Newman Daytona’ (reference 6263) for a particular scene in the film. Multiple sources have since established just how important the use of this specific watch was to Kwan,…
Editor’s note: From a sports watch to a dress watch. The evolution of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso has seen it transform like night and day. And the icon that is now more associated with suits and ties, rather than mallets and sticks, is made even grander here in a pink gold case and duelling dials of wondrous textures. Believe it or not, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso is one of the original sports watches. The oft-quoted origin story about this iconic rectangle is that it was the dusty polo fields of colonial India that gave birth to the reversible watch, which could be easily flipped to protect the delicate dial during the rough and tumble of the chukka. That was way back in 1931, and in the subsequent decades the perceptions of the Reverso have, much like its ingenious case, done a complete about-face. In 2017 the Reverso stands out as one of the default black-tie watches. Nowhere is that more apparent than with this Tribute Duoface, which looks absolutely stunning in pink gold. The case size is reasonable – but by no means overwhelming – at 25.5mm wide by 42.9mm high. The one thing that shines brighter than the gold on this watch…
Editor’s note: As far as birthdays go, 150 years is a whopper. And amongst all the shimmer and shine of IWC’s celebratory jubilee collection sits this lusciously lacquered new dial variant of the perennially popular IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph. Silky smooth white dial, crisp blue hands, and an in-house made movement. Does it get any better? By now you’ve likely been beaten over the head with the endless coverage of IWC’s cool Tribute to Pallweber, with its jumping hours and minutes, and seen the additions to the growing Portofino collection. Hiding in the corner of IWC’s presentation, alongside a pair of Big Pilot models, rested a lone chronograph – the IWC Pilot’s Chronograph Edition “150 Years”. Limited to only 1000 pieces worldwide, this new version of IWC’s classic 3777 isn’t particularly groundbreaking, though it is one of the cooler interpretations we’ve seen in a while. Though at first glance this may seem like a simple white dial, a closer examination reveals something much more charming. All of the 27 watches in IWC’s new “capsule collection” unveiled for the brand’s 150th anniversary are fitted with either white or blue lacquer dials with printed indices, and either blued or rhodium-plated hands. A total of 12 layers…
The idea of a ‘birth year’ watch is nothing new, though after a recent discussion I came to realise that it poses an interesting question. For the older ‘Gen X’ crowd in the room there’s no shortage of vintage hotness to pull from, through the ’60s and ’70s, but once you start creeping into the millennial years, finding a birth year watch that (for lack of a better term) doesn’t suck is an interesting proposition. The ’80s and ’90s weren’t exactly the best years for high design in watchmaking, and there’s a lot of stuff out there that already looks pretty dated and gaudy. This predicament begged for a deeper dive. Could we find suitable birth year watches for all of our fellow millennials and the new ‘Gen Z’? Only one way to find out. Obviously, these two generations take up a lot of years, so we’ve narrowed the field to six, focusing on milestone birthdays between the far cusp of millennial status — 1983 (35 years old), to 2005 (13 years old). The year: 1983 The milestone: 35th birthday The watch: Blancpain Complete Calendar In the early ’80s, Blancpain was in a tough place, leading to the brand’s acquisition…
Every now and then, among the hundreds of new watches I get to see and handle each year, one will stop me in my tracks. That happened with Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo Automatic when I first encountered it in early 2017 – and it’s what happens again and again every time I see it, handle it, put it on my wrist. To know it better is to love it more. This goes beyond its record-breaking thinness (truly impressive intellectually, but not emotionally) and beyond the design – although I can feast my eyes for hours on those pure, strong lines. I’d go as far as saying that it’s one of those rare items that fundamentally changes the “order of things” – that flips preconceptions on their head. How? Well, there’s the idea of what defines “luxury” in a watch: a beautiful, big chunk of precious metal, perfectly polished, heavy enough that you feel the luxury – right? The Finissimo is none of those things: matt-finished titanium, no shiny surfaces, so light that it’s almost surreal. Wrapped around the wrist, it feels more like a piece of grosgrain ribbon than a watch. It’s so absurdly (weirdly) second-skin comfortable that you could forget…
The release of Girard-Perregaux’s Laureato collection has been anything but a slow burn. Beginning in 2016 with a limited-edition tribute to the 1975 original, the La Chaux-de-Fonds based manufacturer wasted no time in expanding their offerings. And in 2017 they released a fully-fledged collection of three-handed sports watches. This year, we not only see sporty chronographs and a selection of wonderfully open-worked dials added to the mix but also a tourbillon in an all-titanium body. For students of watch history, the tourbillon forms an integral part of Girard-Perregaux’s identity. Ever since the centuries-old watchmaker won gold for the legendary La Esmeralda pocket watch – a tourbillon with three gold bridges – at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1889. Playing a starring role in GP’s latest Laureato is a tourbillon comprised of 81 parts and weighing just 0.44 grams, held in place at 6 o’clock by a titanium arrow-shaped bridge – a motif that has straddled GP’s dials for more than 150 years, while its recognisable octagonal bezel and integrated 43mm case and bracelet are also crafted in lightweight titanium. And the proprietary GP 09510-0003 automatic movement inside brings the hands of the blue “Clous de Paris” dial to life, with…
Editor’s note: If we’re guilty of one thing here at T+T it’s of being magpies. We’re constantly drawn to the latest shiny thing. But, as Andrew found out, that can occasionally be to our detriment. Take, for example, the Longines Master Collection … When it comes to Longines’ yearly new releases we are like heat-seeking missiles for the vintage fire the brand has at its disposal – few archives are as deep or as versatile as Longines, and it means they can pick and choose between adventurers watches, avant-garde designs, classic dress … the options are almost endless and they impress with regularity. But we rarely look at the everyday collections that, to put this bluntly, are the watches that the brand sell in staggering quantities. The Master Collection, for example. That is, until I noticed it for the first time at a launch in Sydney last year. That discovery led to more discoveries. All of which are captured in this video, in which we look at the watch that won me over, and then explore the two bestselling models in Longines’ stunning Sydney boutique, in the Queen Victoria Building.