HANDS-ON: The Seiko Prospex SPB051 – an on point reinterpretation of the 62MAS
Nothing gets a watch fan’s blood pumping quite like a new dive watch release from Seiko. And this year, our collective hearts were racing. With Seiko dropping not just a re-creation of the iconic 62MAS – the SLA017 – but also two modern reinterpretations, the black SPB051 and the blue SPB053. And that’s the key phrase here – modern reinterpretation. You see, unlike the SLA017, which was an almost exact duplicate of the 62MAS, these modern reimaginations are larger, sportier, and exactly that, reimagined for the wrist of today. I had the chance to get my hands on the SPB051, and I can say that it’s everything a Seiko dive watch should be. From above, the stainless-steel case looks the spitting image of the 62MAS, straight cut integrated lugs with a circular brushed finish and no crown guards. Only now it’s bigger, measuring 42.6mm across and 13.8mm thick. It’s less square too, with its utilitarian silhouette given some curves by sides that are sleek and rounded to smoothly flow and curve with your wrist. For the eyes, the brushed finish shifts to a solid line of Zaratsu polishing, which captivates and catches any and all reflections. Water resistance is a…
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The hardest thing when recreating a vintage watch design is knowing when to stop. Some changes — swapping the plexiglass crystal for sapphire, and upgrading the movement — are logical, and others, like an increase in size to more modern dimensions, make sense. But the real art is knowing where to stop, and what to keep. By that measure, the Longines Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary is a masterpiece in miniature — 38.5mm to be exact. This size is a perfect case in point: it’s an incremental increase that stays true to the spirit of the original in a way that a 40mm watch would not. Then there’s the dial, which would be hard to distinguish from a 1957 model, not least because there’s no unsightly date window to spoil the luminescent combination silver dial and gold tone markers. And while most people will be interested in the steel version, there are also rose and yellow gold versions — full gold, not plate. Longines Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary Australian pricing and availability Longines Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary in steel, $2650, limited to 1957 pieces, in yellow or rose gold, $10,350, limited to 60 pieces per version.
Let’s face it, women are not buying women’s watches necessarily; they want a watch that does not discriminate, with a bit of bravado, whether by means baller or boxer. That said, the full diamond effect in every direction, of the kind that was Hublot’s 2 million Euro 44mm 145-ct Big Bang behemoth, with its baguette-laden strap, case and dial, is too chunky a statement for most women. Well, with the exception of the wife of a Vegas casino owner, who naturally felt right at home in it and swiftly claimed hers. I prefer to make like a Mayweather cornerman, not exactly all-retiring, more the fall-back of outlandish. And this ladies 38mm Big Bang Steel Diamonds has just the right proportion of diamonds to monochrome styling and height on the wrist to make that spot attainable, while It feels more unisex in fact. The black rubber Hublot hallmark strap — in this case finely lined, though the tactile sensation approaches suede rather than any noticeable ridging — sets the sports luxe tone. Followed nimbly by the enduring industrial, tool watch details of the Big Bang’s multi-material, polished and matt case that sits in eminent view on the wrist, with its six exposed titanium screws…
Usually, an event recap refers to one single event. This one, however, details a week-long bash during Melbourne’s Motorclassica that saw the town literally painted red when the Royal Exhibition Building was lit up in a bold Italian red, with Hublot and Ferrari logos stamping the iconic site. It also included the largest ever convoy of Ferraris ever assembled in Australia, and a hell of a party to reveal the new LaFerrari Aperta in the Melbourne Docklands. Last, but certainly not least, was a new watch co-designed by Ferrari and Hublot, the extremely limited Techframe Ferrari 70 Years Tourbillon Chronograph. Remember, this was a 70th. If this is what the two brands mustered for a birthday party, just imagine what they would have done for a buck’s night. Hublot has a long-standing global alignment with Ferrari and it’s as perfect a match as any between watch and vehicle, with both marques striving to change their respective niches with technology and flair. The Drive What is the collective noun for a group of Ferraris? May we suggest a ‘growl’? That’s exactly what the idyllic lake and seaside suburb of Albert Park heard when more than 100 Ferraris took to the M1 on…
Andy Zhang is among Australia’s most high-profile collectors — and highly active on social media. His pieces tend to inhabit the top end of town, and statements such as “I thought I’d wear Richard Mille for life” should not surprise. There are some horological heavyweights appearing on his Instagram account, daily. Which was where we noticed the 2017 Sea-Dweller. Andy explains how and why he’s fallen under the spell of a watch he initially thought was “average”. When did you first see the 2017 Sea-Dweller in the metal? I first saw it in Sydney on the wrist of a friend. It looked average. I though it was just a bigger Submariner. But when we went out of the restaurant and the sun hit it, I noticed the dial. What about the dial surprised you? Not just the red line of text, which is most obvious, but it was the matt, almost tropical dial. It’s apparently technically a gloss dial, but if you look at it in contrast to my Patek Pilot’s dial, it’s the same finish. It’s not glossy at all. When the sun hits it, it looks grey, not 100% black. Eventually it will look tropical, it’s amazing. The ceramic bezel, it…
This might come as a surprise to you, but the luxury watch industry is a well-oiled, smoothly running hype machine. Every year at the two big fairs of SIHH and Baselworld, watch brands release numerous new watches. Some completely new, some only new variations. But, invariably, a small fraction of these watches dominate the conversation. And that’s no accident, as many brands invest much of their considerable marketing clout into a few heavy-hitting models that (they hope) will be total knockouts. That doesn’t mean there aren’t diamonds in the rest of the catalogue. Here are seven truly excellent watches that snuck under the radar … until now. The Omega Aqua Terra Master Chronometer Overshadowed by the epic trilogy boxed set, the trusty Aqua Terra received some slight but significant upgrades this year, resulting in a seriously strong contender for best all-rounder of 2017. The Rolex Datejust 41 The other contender for Miss Versatility 2017 is that perennial favourite the Rolex Datejust, released this year in a steel 41mm model. Upgraded size and upgraded specs give a new lease of life to this timeless classic. The Tudor Black Bay Steel The Black Bay is pretty established by now, but this year Tudor…
In case you missed it, here are the five major changes we saw on the Rolex Sea-Dweller reference 122600, when compared to its predecessor — the reference 116600. 1. The ‘Sea-Dweller’ font As Rolex released the new Sea-Dweller to mark the model’s 50th anniversary, they also made a small change to the dial text. A nod to the model’s heritage, we now see the ‘Sea-Dweller’ on the dial in red, whereas it was previously white – just like the other four lines of text. 2. The cyclops The most obvious change to the watch — aesthetically speaking — is the inclusion of a cyclops magnification lens over the date window on the new Sea-Dweller. This is the first time in the history of the Rolex Sea-Dweller that the model has featured a cyclops. It’s a pretty major design change, influencing the overall balance of the watch. The good news is that reading the date just got a whole lot easier. 3. The dial That one line of red text isn’t the only change made to the dial of the new Sea-Dweller, and Rolex actually changed the finishing of the dial paint. Previously a satin finish, the new Sea-Dweller features a shiny gloss finish. It doesn’t…
With the long-awaited reissue of the Autavia topping the news out of TAG Heuer this year, there was yet another update to one of their reliable mainstays – the Aquaracer. While it’s not unusual for a brand to make changes to a model every year or so, the past few years we’ve seen the Aquaracer steadily evolve, with a series of small tweaks and refinements made to the collection. This year, and almost as a culmination of all the changes, TAG Heuer released the brand new Aquaracer Calibre 7 GMT. Although it’s not the first Aquaracer with a GMT complication, it is the first to use the combination of blue and red on the bezel. And despite the obvious connections that the ‘Pepsi bezel’ draws, the bicoloured combo sees a happy return to the colour scheme of the Autavia GMTs from the 1960s. However, it’s not just the colour that makes a comeback. TAG Heuer have done away with the ceramic bezel of recent Aquaracers, and returned to an aluminium construction that intensifies the colours instead of the price tag. Even with the added complication, the Calibre 7 GMT comes in at only $100 more than a regular Calibre 5…
Editor’s note: This Longines Railroad reissue manages to straddle a fine line — of being an authentic reproduction of a period piece that looks entirely contemporary and relevant in 2017. The fact that it’s also got a neat tie-in to the golden age of train travel is something to look back on nostalgically as you’re crammed like a sardine into a packed carriage on your morning commute. Ah, the romance of rail! We’re not alone in our love of Longines heritage offerings – the classic designs and smart prices make them consistently instant hits among watch enthusiasts, and every year we get some new treasure from the brand’s seemingly endless archive. We’ve had dive watches, pilot’s watches, even trench watches – but we’ve never seen a train watch, until now… The American railroads ‘General Railroad Timepiece Standards’ specified that timekeeping equipment from then on must “be open faced…use plain Arabic numbers printed bold and black on a white dial, and have bold black hands…” The Longines Railroad takes its name and design from highly precise ‘railroad grade’ mid-twentieth century Longines watches intended for use by railway workers. Before the invention of electronic safety mechanisms, accuracy on the railways wasn’t just a matter…
Fundamentally, there’s not a whole lot of variation in watch movements. Sure, the peripheral details might vary, but basically you’re either looking at a purely mechancial movement, with a mainspring and escapement setup that’s remained pretty much unchanged for the last few hundred years, or you’re looking at a battery-powered quartz watch that’s come to dominate mass market timekeeping over the last 50 years. And then there’s a few genuinely novel outliers, technologies such as Zenith’s recently announced Defy Lab and, the one we’re looking at today — Seiko’s Spring Drive technology. Spring Drive had a long gestation. It was first conceived in the late ’70s, but didn’t see a commercial release till 1999. Fundamentally, Spring Drive is a hybrid technology that takes the autonomous, perpetual power capacity of an automatic movement, and melds it with the impressive accuracy of quartz. Like any uncommon technology, it can take a while to get your head around, which is why we’ve put together this handy (and hopefully informative) explainer. Everything you need to know about Spring Drive, in just under two minutes.