LIST: 8 wunderbar German watches…that doesn’t include Nomos or A. Lange & Söhne
While it’s unarguable that Switzerland has a hegemony on the luxury watch industry, their German neighbours have an equally long and proven track record when it comes to fine watchmaking. We’re willing to bet you’re familiar with Glashütte locals Nomos and A.Lange & Söhne, but there’s a lot more to Deutsche Uhren, such as these wunderbar watches… Archimede Pilot 42 Bronze While the German watchmaking town of Glashütte will pop up more than once on this list, we’re going to kick off with the Pforzheim-based firm of Archimede. Known for their high-quality cases and Pilot’s-style watches, all of which is on show in this stylish and affordable bronze Flieger. €756, ex VAT Mühle Glashütte S.A.R. Rescue Timer We told you Glashütte would show up on this list. And while Mühle Glashütte have quite a broad catalogue, we’re suckers for their S.A.R. Rescue Timer. $A2995 Defakto Eins Inkognito Defakto is one of the Ickler family of brands (Archimede being the most well known), and their watches are defined by minimal style. This Eins Inkognito is so minimal they even left one of the hands off. €613, ex VAT Sinn U1 If you’re into serious tool watches, you’re probably familiar with Sinn, who…
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I’m on the record as saying “I’m not a chronograph guy”, and, by and large, that’s true. However, there are exceptions, and this year’s Master Chronograph from Jaeger-LeCoultre is definitely one of them. Like the rest of the collection, it’s a smart, simple design that’s clearly vintage in inspiration but doesn’t suffer from retro overload. In addition to the good looks, JLC has deilvered the perfectly sized package at 40mm, and the movement is, as you would expect from the brand, top notch. In fact, the only negative point for me is that such a great movement is hidden away behind a solid back. But that’s really the only hole I can pick in what is otherwise an exceptionally pretty picture. Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Chronograph Australian Pricing Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Chronograph in steel, $11,700
Another week, another wind down. Today Melbourne’s mercurial weather is set for a downpour, so Alison and I would much rather be up in Sydney with Andrew at the TAG Heuer Globetrotter event, but we’re not. So we’re making the most of it. And in this case, making the most means cranking the tunes, the heater and pouring a healthy measure of whisky. Cheers! What happened? Apple released their Series 3 smartwatch, finally untetherering it from the iPhone, something I’m – just quietly – a little excited about. Mark Wahlberg, everyone’s favourite Bostonian (sorry Ben Affleck), was spotted wearing an incredibly rare Rolex on Ellen. The same model Mirka Federer wore at the Australian Open this year. What really mattered? Last night Zenith released their groundbreaking new oscillator, the Zenith Defy Lab. And while the styling of this limited edition of 10 watches (all sold) is pretty out there, the engineering behind it is genuinely revolutionary, and it will be interesting to see how the technology is rolled out in larger commercial quantities. Innovations like this and Parmigiani’s Senfine suggest we might be at the start of an important new era of chronometric invention. The week in numbers: 4: Uncommon Seikos…
For most brands a round 41mm steel chronograph would be unremarkable, but this Bell & Ross stands out precisely because of these features – it’s not an oversize square watch crafted from ceramic or some other highly technical material, which is what we’ve come to expect from Bell & Ross. Even though the BR V2-94 Garde Cotes is a far more ‘conventional’ design, don’t fall into the trap of assuming that it doesn’t stand out. There’s a lot here to please the eye – a well-balanced twin-register dial, glossy black bezel and a soft-grey and washed-out orange colour scheme to die for. While you could be forgiven for thinking that the orange hand and chapter ring on a matte-grey background are a nod to the funky sports watches of the ’70s, the truth is a little more on-brand for Bell & Ross. The aviation-focused brand has taken inspiration from the helicopters of of the French Coast Guard – or Garde Cotes – for this chronograph, which explains the choice of pulsometer scale. With it’s well-made bracelet, screw-down pushers, crown guard, 100 metres of water resistance and ever-reliable BR-CAL.302 (based on a Sellita SW300-1), the BR V2-94 Garde Cotes is an excellent…
It’s a wonder I remember last night with any clarity, given the strength of the cocktails served in honour of – and matched to – the latest member of Seiko’s burgeoning Presage collection: the Cocktail Time. Thankfully, the ability to accurately recall technical details with a reasonable degree of accuracy after three Manhattans is an essential skill in watch journalism, which means that I can not only remember that the drinks in question included the Skydiving (for the SRPB43), Manhattan (a perfect match with the rich brown dial of the SRPB46) and the aggressively hued Blue Moon (an on-point pairing with the SRPB41) but I can also remember details of MC Andrew Daddo’s introductory speech, where he recalled the story of his father’s Seiko, unexpectedly gifted to Daddo snr after he remarked on its beauty during a business meeting in Japan. As you might expect, this story left an impression on Andrew, and when he purchased a watch on holidays, he ended up with a Seiko diver on his wrist. While the Cocktail Time collection and the fine company were enjoyable, the real star of the show was across the road, at Seiko’s new Melbourne boutique, which was officially opened on…
Last night, as Australia slept, Apple unveiled their latest and (they hope) greatest smartphones, a new Apple TV and the Apple Watch Series 3. At the start of the year I had a prolonged tryst with the Series 2 Edition, and the functionality and utility were pretty compelling. The most surprising takeaway for me was how the Apple Watch, rather than adding another screen to my life, went a long way to freeing me from my at times intense love-hate relationship with screens. In particular, I noticed that my iPhone stayed in my pocket more and was no longer a fixture on the bedside table. And while there’s quite the bevy of technical upgrades on the Series 3, the really crucial one is cellular connectivity. This is huge. You are no longer tethered to your phone. I can easily imagine (like this guy), a world where my phone is optional. I’ve currently got 115 apps installed on my phone – I would use 10 per cent of those with any regularity. My first iPhone was mostly for phone calls(!), messaging and Doodle Jump. These day’s it’s a hugely powerful work tool that is, sometimes, too much work. Work that’s always…
There are a few select words and phrases regarding vintage watches that, when said, are sure to light the fires of enthusiasm inside a collector. One such phrase is “military provenance”; another, which can stoke either the flames of desire or disgust, depending on who you’re speaking to, is “vintage reissue”. We’re going to invoke both phrases here. In the 1960s, Zenith produced a watch with some serious military cred, which they recently celebrated with a faithful modern re-creation, limited to 1000 pieces. The original, code-named the Tipo CP-2 chronograph, was made for pilots of the Italian armed forces. It was also known as the “A. Cairelli”, after its Rome-based distributor, whose name is printed on the dial. Prices of these cockpit-appointed chronographs have gone sky-high in the last couple of years – one selling for CHF62,500 last year at Phillip’s Start-Stop-Reset auction in Geneva. It’s not inaccurate, then, to say that the demand for a handsome military-inspired chronograph is peaking, and the release of the new Zenith Cronometro Tipo CP-2 was perfectly pitched to delight both vintage and modern-day collectors. The appeal of the Tipo CP-2 is largely down to the fact that it’s an absolute dead ringer for the original. At 43mm, the stainless-steel…
In the final days of Baselworld 2017, we put together a (very sleep-deprived) video of our top picks of the fair. But as we all know, feelings change. Are the watches that hit us right in the hearts in thick of the fair still the ones we long for months later? Find out below… Seiko Presage Cocktail Time Andrew says: Yes, yes, yes, yessssssss. The Cocktail Time puts fun, colour and an extraordinary array of finishes and considered touches on your wrist for the kind of money ($A1100) that for many falls into the ‘scratch the itch’ category. The question that’s emerged since is a pressing one: will one Cocktail Time be enough? The SRPB46 (pictured above) was the one that we couldn’t drink up enough in our photographs, but we’re since wondering if it would be wise to complement with it the SPRB43 with its refreshing silvery-blue dial. It’s a lot like real cocktails, because, seriously, when is one ever enough? Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller Andrew says: No change of plea on this one, your honour. All that remains to be decided is the dial colour – team blue and team black have formed, and seem evenly weighted, but at the coalface…
This week on the wrist is borne almost purely out of curiosity. I have tried on Piaget Altiplano watches over the years and found them unusually comfortable to wear. In interviews and conversations with Altiplano owners, there’s always a resounding refrain of “it’s hard to go back to heavier/larger/thicker watches once you get used to it”. So, when given the chance to have an extended period of time with the Ultra-Thin date in rose gold, I jumped at it. My first impression was… That it’s a clean, deeply stylish statement, and that I might need a new wardrobe. A watch this slight and minimal seems to draw a lot more attention to the wrist, and the cuff, and the accessories that are being worn with it. While it’s saying very few words, they’re all well chosen, and they’re all expensive. Good luck dressing down this quiet achiever. Once I put it on, it felt… Hey, wait, is this thing actually on? Any heft you associate with gold does not exactly apply. While this Altiplano model is indeed pink gold, it is extremely light, and the comfort Altiplano wearers swear by is in full effect. Looks-wise… It’s minimal and mercurial. Having said that, it’s very…
For any designer, regardless of product type, the holy grail is to create an object that so perfectly balances form and function and so elegantly expresses an aesthetic that it will not only last for many generations but will forever look as modern as it did when it left the drawing board. Among those rare products are Le Corbusier’s Chaise LC4, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair and Cartier’s Tank wristwatch. Louis Cartier’s practical, no-frills design has not only become one of the most successful and enduring watches of all time, it has accepted tweaks, updates and experiments without ever losing its integrity. And it is loved equally by men and women – for the not-so-simple reason that it’s perfectly suited to both. The beginning It’s hard to think of a less likely time than 1917 – three years into the havoc of World War I – for launching an object that would become a symbol of 20th-century luxe et chic. Before the war, Cartier’s fame had grown, thanks to its boldly modern jewellery designs and the marketing instincts of Louis-Joseph Cartier. In 1904, he designed a wrist-worn watch for his friend, Brazilian aviator, Alberto Santos-Dumont, to enable him to…