INTRODUCING: The Oak & Oscar Jackson Flyback Chronograph
At Time+Tide we’ve been following the successes of Oak & Oscar’s founder Chase Fancher with interest. We’ve met him in Basel and New York, but most of the time we’ve been watching the evolution of his brand from afar. Overnight we saw the release of their third watch, the Jackson FlyBack Chronograph, which – if the pictures are anything to go by – is another winner. The Jackson is offered in three variations, two of which are stainless steel, with either a grey or navy-blue dial. The third has a charcoal PVD case, with a grey dial. All three watches have identical case specifications – 40mm in diameter – which is a smart choice and a size that will work for most. In terms of case height, the Jackson is 14.5mm, which sounds a little on the thick side, but with these things its best to reserve judgement until the watch is actually on the wrist. Mechanically they are also identical, and the flyback chronograph is powered by an uncommon and interesting choice of a hand-wound Eterna movement (Cal.3916M) with a 60-hour power reserve. Aesthetically, it’s great to see Oak & Oscar further develop their identity. The grey-dial stainless-steel Jackson has the…
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The Longines Time Machine, which has been our vehicle of choice for exploring the brand’s long and incredibly varied history in its 185th year, lands here on a story-rich piece of ground. This episode is all about Longines’ efforts to assist some of the great moments in history, including Charles Lindbergh’s first solo transatlantic flight and the first non-stop flight between North America and mainland Europe in 1927, where we lay our scene. The voyage has been commemorated by Longines with an (insanely) limited-edition piece, the Lindbergh Hour Angle Watch 90th Anniversary, which we reviewed here. Buckle up, this is a good ’un. 
One of my main gripes with the watch industry in general is that it’s an overwhelmingly Serious Business. Tradition. Precision. Luxury. Attributes that are easily capable of erasing the merest hint of fun. Thankfully, there are a few brands out there capable of injecting some playfulness into their watches. Franck Muller, with their left-of-centre designs and obsession with colour, are definitely one of those brands, as you can see from this Aussie-as limited edition Using the sporty tonneau-cased 44mm Vanguard as a base, Franck Muller’s very limited edition, offered in titanium (18 pieces) or rose gold (eight pieces), doesn’t just display a dash of green-and-gold pride, it adds a ridgy-didge boxing kangaroo to the mix. The only way this watch could be any more ’Strayan would be if the roo was eating Vegemite while listening to Jimmy Barnes. In case you’re not familiar with this particular boxing kangaroo, it’s a motif strongly associated with our sporting prowess, from the Olympics to rugby league. The symbol came to international fame with our epic (and still celebrated) 1983 America’s Cup win. As far as symbols of Australia go, it’s a good choice: bold graphic, politically neutral and, thanks to the kangaroo, instantly recognisable as…
Sports luxury is one of those ephemeral subgenres in watchland that hides a multitude of sins. It’s easy for a watch maker to label any oversized solid-gold diver as sports luxe, but the reality is that most of these watches will never see any actual sports time. Frankly, that’s not good enough. So we found a select handful of timepieces that you could wear with ease on the court or in the boardroom. Rolex Yacht-Master 40 Oysterflex It’s an obvious choice, but this Everose beauty’s inclusion isn’t solely due to the action-ready and oh-so-comfy Oysterflex. The slim case profile and Cerachrom bezel are also key attributes in the Yacht-Master’s success as a sports-ready status symbol. RRP $31,650 Patek Philippe Aquanaut I was never really on team Aquanaut, but then I caught up with David and his ‘one watch’ Patek Philippe, and I just got it. Like the Rolex, the Aquanaut has the winning combo of rubber strap and slender case. But beyond that there’s a dazzling mix of finishings, an interesting dial and top-notch movement. Beautiful but not delicate. Montblanc TimeWalker Date Montblanc’s recently gave their hallmark TimeWalker line an automotive makeover, one which leans heavily on chronographs. But…
The angry man of jazz, Charles Mingus, famously said, “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” A saying which, I think, is rather befitting to watches with a GMT or dual time zone complication. Because, let’s face it, having to calculate the time in another time zone can be a complex task, especially as you stumble through an airport in a jetlag-induced haze. With Hublot’s latest Big Bang, the Unico GMT, what was already a simple solution to a complex problem has been made veritable child’s play with the push of a button. The added simplicity is thanks to the integrated proprietary module within the three-day Hublot Unico Cal. HUB1251 movement, which enables a second time zone – tracked by the conventional hour hand – to be instantly and independently adjusted in one-hour increments. This is done by operating the pushers at two and four o’clock, which adjust the hand forward or backward respectively. These push-buttons are also fitted with a safety mechanism to prevent simultaneous operation, and their rectangular shape – reminiscent to that of the early Big Bang models – help distinguish the Unico GMT from the chronographs. Of course, being…
Last night the Kingsman returned in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, with a new head tailor to the fore and a new watch on his wrist, the TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 Kingsman special edition. The success of the first movie, Kingsman: The Secret Service, was unprecedented, and not just because it was a British spy movie that challenged Bond – many critics commented that, in fact, it out-Bonded Bond on just about every level. It was groundbreaking in the clever way that it integrated products, fashion and watches into entertainment in a manner that involved the audience in a knowing way, neatly avoiding any sour advertorial aftertaste (it also helped boost suit sales in South Korea). That is a best-case tightrope never walked before by a big-budget motion picture. By the way, if your finger is hovering over the ‘book now’ button and you want to skip to the movie review, scroll past the watches, it’s at the bottom. However, putting the movie itself aside, there is an interesting play here in the way that TAG Heuer has executed its partnership with the movie franchise. Even non-watch fans might find this telling. Bremont passes the baton to TAG Heuer – which is a better fit? Kingsman: The…
When IWC made the revamped Da Vinci collection their main focus at SIHH 2017, it’s fair to say that there was a little bit of confusion – if not downright consternation – among the watch-loving faithful. Coming off two straight years of strong, masculine product – the Portugieser and the Pilot’s – the dressy Da Vinci was a definite change of pace with it’s feminine demeanour and fancy articulated lugs. If you’re on the fence about the Da Vinci collection as a whole, have a look at this limited-edition Chronograph Edition “Laureus Sport For Good Foundation”. Even though the words ‘chronograph’ and ‘sport’ are in the (rather wordy) model name, this is far from your typical sports chrono. In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite. Refined, elegant and devastatingly handsome, the 42mm-wide by 14.5mm-thick steel case is all polished curves, notably on the lugs and the flyback chronograph’s rounded pushers. The dial is a real beauty: a rich starburst blue that’s a trademark of IWC’s Laureus editions, with applied silver Arabic numerals, matching hands and the odd red detail. The chronograph features stacked hours and minutes totalisers at 12, and running seconds at six, a pleasingly symmetrical design somewhat marred…
Australia is a sports-mad country, so it makes sense that the current Heuer Globetrotter exhibition has seen an allocation of sports-related Heuer models take the place of new stock on the floor of the world’s most profitable TAG Heuer boutique per square metre, in Sydney’s CBD. The exhibition is at the TAG Heuer boutique, 188 Pitt Street, Sydney, until September 30. The concept of Heuer Globetrotter, which has spread 400 of the rarest Heuer watches across 10 cities and 10 boutiques, all open to the public at no charge, is a master stroke from TAG Heuer for several reasons: It has brought the whole globe into the action. The TAG Heuer team have taken the concept of a vintage watch roadshow, unbundled and localised it – splitting the 400 watches, all extremely rare and collectible, into themed groups. Each exhibition is presented in a different city by a different Heuer collector. Each city’s theme was chosen by its key collector. It involves a key member of our team! It is with not a small dose of pride that we learnt that the local Heuer expert was to be David Chalmers, a co-founder of Time+Tide and raving Heuer fanatic. He launched the exhibition with the…
Enamel is enjoying something of a renaissance in watch manufacturing. Many companies – from Seiko to Patek – are increasingly turning to the nearly forgotten art to decorate their dials. While it’s a slow and sometimes unforgiving process, the reward for mastering the technique is a uniquely alluring dial with a hue that will never fade. One company that has mastered the craft is Breguet – the gurus of guilloche also produce watches with some of the finest enamel dials in the industry. In fact, just this year they updated two of their classically styled pieces – the elegant Classique 7147, which we looked at earlier this year, and this more complex Classique 7787. Breguet has exchanged these models’ traditionally engine-turned dials for a pair of pearly whites. Both watches share the same style of grand feu enamelled dial, with Breguet numerals, whimsical star minute track, and stylised fleur-de-lis hour markers. However, there are a few extra details on the 7787, starting with a power reserve indicator that sweeps across the dial between three and six o’clock. Next is the smiling cutout at 12 o’clock, which displays the age and phases of the moon – with its stars and man on the moon set in…