HANDS-ON: When your hands are tied, consensually – Bulgari Serpenti Skin collection
Ancient Greek and Roman mythology furnish Bulgari with emblems from across the epochs, but their love affair with bold women in history also holds sway on their aesthetic. Like serpents, these dangerous beauties are sinful and sinuous — and nothing less than paradoxical. Fittingly, their latest Serpenti watch is a timepiece that can literally shed its skin. I regret not unravelling my tape measure to record the length of the thin double tour strap of the Bulgari Serpenti Skin, but it just felt so at ease on me I was happy to let it linger a while, almost unobtrusive except for its expansive curvature. This watch is a subtle charmer, and that was the point. Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Director of Bulgari Watches Design Centre in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, was evidently looking to diverge from the statement dressing of the potent Tubogas and explore personalisation and transformability with this first release on a leather or skin strap. Beyond choosing watch elements and one of the two straps the watch is accompanied by, the way your Serpenti Skin is wrapped to your wrist is uniquely your own. Whether anticipating a combatant or work ally, your snake head dial may be tilted towards a…
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Last week, with Sydney turning on weather that thawed the cold, cold hearts of all Melbourne people present, Montblanc hosted a lunch at Quay Restaurant to launch the new ‘re-tooled’ TimeWalker. The intimate event combined fine dining, fun storytelling, and a wide range of watches – from accessible new TimeWalker models to the extremely limited Rally Timer. The entirely hand-fashioned Minerva movement, visible through the caseback, drew audible gasps from the watch-aware in the audience, and looks of curiosity from those to whom the intricate movement architecture just looked pretty. It all took place in a location that is about as Australian as it gets – with a 180-degree view of the Bridge, the glittering Sydney Harbour and the Opera House. Look, let me not feign surprise, we make regular visits to this most spectacular of the world’s stages, but even still, wow, Sydney, you outdid yourself this time. While the day was divine, to begin, Montblanc GM Randall Foote went back in time. He described the connection between Minerva and Montblanc and why the somewhat mythical manufacturer and chronograph-maker, which has been continually producing watches since 1858, is beginning to radically reshape Montblanc’s watch collections in terms of their movements,…
Every generation or so has its own particular flavour of apocalyptic angst. From mutually assured destruction to pandemic plagues or even rogue asteroids. Living in 2017 we seem to be blessed with a profusion of options for end times, some of which are looking increasingly (and worryingly) plausible. Even if climate change doesn’t give us some entirely new coastal real estate options, Kim and Donald seem pretty intent on their game of nuclear brinksmanship. And that can only end well. So rather than focus on the bleak reality, we thought we’d engage in some lighthearted list-making while we stock up on canned goods. Oh, and for those playing at home, Viggo wore a Hamilton Jazzmaster Viewmatic in The Road. Rolex Submariner Over its long life, the Submariner has earned a stellar reputation for toughness and reliability in less than ideal situations. This dependability makes it an ideal choice of wristwear for when the s hits the f. Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar A smart watch, with its short battery life, would be a foolish choice for any apocalyptic scenario. But a feature packed, solar powered option is a much smarter choice. Jam packed full of survivalist functionality like altimeters and compasses,…
Editor’s Note: If you’re looking for your ‘one good watch’ something that goes with everything and can go with you everywhere, the fresh Rolex OP 39 is an incredibly good option. Colourful and classic, and without anything superfluous – like a date. The Story in a second: This could well be the only watch you’ll ever need. There’s a concept in the world of watch enthusiasts that’s referred to as ‘only one watch’. For the majority of the population, this concept is better known as ‘normality’. But if you’re the sort of person who has a watch for work, one for the weekend as well as a dedicated timepiece for special occasions, there’s a good chance the thought of committing to just one will fill you with dread. How could you choose? Can you live without a chronograph? And do you go for fine finishing or bulletproof reliability? Well, allow us to humbly suggest that all you really need a watch to do, is tell the time. Everything else is superfluous. We’d also argue that you need a watch that can handle the daily rigours of regular wear and still scrub up OK. It also needs a timeless style that won’t look…
Story in a second The Marine Chronometer Torpilleur shows a new, focused and driven face of Ulysse Nardin. I’m going to start this review talking not about mechanical watches, but naval warfare. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, naval dominance was all about massive floating fortresses, with thick plate armour and a massed battery of cannons. These ships, which culminated in the dreadnought class of battleships, were the undisputed masters of the seas. To counter these ungainly behemoths, the Torpilleur, or torpedo boat, was developed. Streamlined, fast and modern, the Torpilleurs were armed with the latest technology — the self-propelled torpedo. These low-cost boats were intended as battleship-killers and presented a real threat to the dominance of the big ships. Now, do you really think it’s a coincidence that Ulysse Nardin chose to name their new, streamlined Marine Chronometer the “Torpilleur”? The dial Of all the elements of the Torpilleur, the dial is the most traditional. It follows the established conventions of a marine chronometer or deck watch — early navigational timepieces that put Ulysse Nardin on the map. The poire hands are blued, set against a crisp white lacquer dial, printed with bold Roman numerals, with dial…
As one of the oldest continuing watch manufacturers in the world, Girard-Perregaux have a long, illustrious history of sharp and innovative designs. In 1889 at the Paris Universal Exhibition, the brand’s legendary pocket watch “Esmeralda”, a tourbillon with three gold bridges, was awarded first prize, establishing the motif as an emblematic design for the brand. Since then, the iconic Tourbillon with Three Bridges has formed the cornerstone of GP’s top tier collection. This year saw the addition of the Neo-Bridges, a “retro-futuristic” take on the design, which embodies the long-standing traditions of the brand while adopting its rediscovered forward-looking approach to watchmaking. Distinctively modern, the dial of the Neo-bridges is fully open-worked and essentially consists of an outer ring with suspended indices and minute markers – laying bare the front side of the newly developed automatic calibre GP08400-0001. However, the movement is anything but bare, with its inner workings showcased in a mixture of matt sandblasted finishes, an NAC-coated mainplate, and a PVD treatment on the hallmark bridges. These bridges span across the dial, with the lower bridge supporting the large, 10.15mm diameter, variable-inertia balance wheel (instead of the familiar tourbillon as seen on other models) – its generous size…
When it was originally conceived, the tourbillon was a technical solution to a specific problem — the impact of gravity on the accuracy of a pocket watch’s movement. These days the whirling cage of finely finished metal represents something else. For brands, it’s a bravura statement of prowess. For watch lovers, it’s typically the crowning piece in a collection, the finest point in fine watchmaking. If we’re honest, the appeal of the tourbillon is only partially due to an appreciation of the watchmaker’s art. There’s also an element of conspicuous consumption to wearing a tourbillon. Dress it up however you like — wearing a watch with a dial-facing tourbillon is a pretty powerful statement. Dig a little deeper into the complication and you’ll discover that not all tourbillons are created equal. TAG Heuer’s vaunted $20k Heuer-02T is CNC printed, and many other brands rely on outsourced, third-party movements. Ulysse Nardin’s Marine Tourbillon avoids these pitfalls and manages to offer one of the most compelling value propositions of 2017. Before we get to the movement, let’s talk about the watch as a whole. The 43mm steel case has modern touches, like the angular, integrated lugs, squared-off crown guard and rubber inset…
Sitting between the now nostalgia-laden ‘80s and the innovation explosion of the 2000s, the 1990s is seen as something of a watchmaking wasteland; a bold (and brash) period that’s currently out of fashion, but not far enough away to be viewed through the rose tinted glasses of history. But were the ‘90s really a write-off? Here are nine groundbreaking ‘90s watches that redeem watchmaking’s forgotten decade. 1991 – Audemars Piguet Star Wheel What is it? Watchmakers are, by and large, bound by tradition and stick to tried and true methods, like telling the time with hands. In 1991 Audemars Piguet proposed something new, using a series of spinning sapphire discs, all mounted on rotating star shaped wheels. An oddity, but a technically impressive one. Why is it important? Audemars Piguet were well and truly ahead of the trend on this one. Now we’re used to brands like Urwerk messing with how time is told, but 26 years ago, the Star Wheel was something out of this world. 1992 – IWC Doppelchrono What is it? The split seconds chronograph, used for timing two events simultaneously, is widely regarded as being one of the most prestigious complications available. It was a space dominated by…
Editor’s note: For a watch that sits in Tudor’s Heritage collection, the BB Dark is awfully modern thanks to its unrelieved black-on-black colour scheme. It offers a “tacticool” take on the perennial favourite and makes the question, “how many Black Bays is too many?” that much harder to answer. The story in a second: It’s time you met the dark horse of the Black Bay family After four years of tantalising, tactical releases culminating in the near perfect surprise announcement of the Black Bay Black last year, we weren’t expecting a new Black Bay in 2016. Well, we were wrong. Tudor gave us not one, but three completely new takes on its modern classic (and updated all the existing models to boot). So now, in addition to the colourful trio of red, blue and black we’ve got the mighty bronze, the petite 36 and today’s subject, the midnight hued Black Bay Dark. The case The first thing you notice about the Dark is how apt the name is. It’s a starkly monochromatic watch, the black and white colour scheme only relieved with the occasional flash of red. Of course the dial and bezel are big parts of this picture, but it’s the…