WHO TO FOLLOW: @_aboen
In the market for a watch strap that doesn’t exist yet? It’s time to dial into the feed of Drew Boen, watch collector and custom strap maker. We hear he’s in such high demand that you may need to exercise a little patience while you wait, but while you do, enjoy some of the best wristshots on Instagram. NAME: Drew Boen OCCUPATION: Full-time private jet manager, part-time maker of custom watch straps. HANDLE: @_Aboen FOLLOWERS: 23.7k LOCATION: San Francisco Bay Area You make watch straps. Tell us about that. I LOVE straps – all my watches are on straps 99.9% of the time, and I think a nice combo makes the watch pop. Although I do appreciate a good bracelet, personally I just don’t like wearing them. I’ve been making my own straps since 2009, when I couldn’t find many all-canvas straps; they all seemed to have leather backing back then. When I first started, I used some techniques I learned in aviation when I worked as a sheet metal mechanic. It kind of worked! The quality of my work definitely improved after I took several weekend leather-working classes. You’ve made straps from old belts, attache cases, rifle slings – where…
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BASEL BUILDUP: We’re counting down, NASA-style, to Baselworld 2017, the world’s biggest watch fair. It’s 10 days until we launch from Australia on Etihad Airways flight 463 and for the first Basel Buildup post we’re revisiting the Time+Tide team’s top 10 picks from last year’s fair. Read on for Breguet, Nomos, Bell & Ross, TAG Heuer and more. Basel is over, let the lists begin! Not really (spare us) but the memories are still fresh, the passions linger and, frankly, we want to get this done before we board the plane back to Melbourne, leaving this afternoon. Who knows what we’ll remember on the other side of that 24-hour time warp? So I sent out an email to get the wider team’s wants and desires. This is what they came back with. While we’re on the topic of the team, this handsome bunch (there’s just too much cheekbone in Time+Tide, seriously) I’d like to thank them all for their creativity and commitment this last week, it’s been incredible. Group hug. Michiel Impulse buy: The decision for the Nomos Metro neomatik is based purely on design. I like clean and simple interiors. It’s a watch I would buy for myself and not to show…
When you really fall for someone, there’s a point where you just can’t get close enough. It’s the same with Patek Philippe. Over the years, we’ve photographed a wide range of their models, and the closer the shot, the tighter the macro, it’s almost always a case of the more magnified the wonder. These are our favourite nine. Choosing was hard, but that’s love, we guess. The first line from the review of the Patek Philippe split-seconds chronograph Ref. 5370P: The new Patek Philippe split-seconds chronograph (Ref.5370P to its friends) is the new must have über-Patek. The second line from the review of the Patek Philippe split-seconds chronograph Ref. 5370P: The talk about Patek Philippe this year centred on their controversial attempt to break into younger market segments – AKA the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time. It’s easy then to forget that Patek released other watches, many of them every inch the classic Patek. The first line from the post about the Patek Philippe 5270G Perpetual Calendar Chronograph: “It’s the Macdaddy”, says our host. Whatever it is, we’re dying here. The first line from the review of the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1R-001: Patek Philippe have released a rose gold and dark chocolate version of the classic Nautilus 5711. Never mind the buzz-piece…
If we’re completely honest, there’s not a lot of winding down going on today at Time+Tide. It’s more of a Friday gear up, really. We’re up to our necks in pre-Basel press releases, schedules and the administrivia that is part and parcel of this sort of venture. So, when we do pop the top off a frosty brew, it’ll be more in the ‘well-earned’ vein than the ‘lazy-Friday-in-the-sun’ vibe. But enough about us, on to the news! What happened Eagle-eyed Andy Green spotted (because that’s what he does) a PuristsPro post showing a Hodinkee X Vacheron Constantin Cornes de Vache up for sale. Already. And the real kicker? It’s listed at $15K USD above what it sold for originally. Ouch. (Note, the watch has since been removed.) Watch designers tend to play second (or third) fiddle to the brands they work for, or even to individual watchmakers. Take for example Eric Giroud Eric is one of the most important designers working today, but we suspect very few of the people reading this know his name. One designer who has, through personality and persistence, risen to pre-eminence is the late Gerald Genta. Sure, you all know the Nautilus and the Royal Oak, but are you aware…
Over the years, I’ve worn many (many) watches for review purposes, and to be honest it’s rare that I’m still thinking about that watch months or years after the fact. The Puck, from Canadian micro-brand Halios, is one of the rare exceptions. I wrote up the DLC version of the original Puck over on Hodinkee, way back in 2013 and it’s been stuck in my head ever since. So when I noticed some early renders of the Puck II on Instagram last year, I immediately contacted Jason Lim, founder of Halios, to get my hands on it ASAP (for purely impartial review purposes, obvs). Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and I was eagerly ripping open a DHL parcel to get my first look at the prototype. Halios made their name with the sort of unashamedly serious dive watch that guys on watch forums go nuts for – a beguiling combination of Spartan style, solid build and great value. The brutal Puck – named for its resemblance to a hockey puck – epitomised this approach. Polarising looks, an over-the-top 1000m depth rating and circa $1000 price tag ensured it was a runaway success, and expectations are high for version two. So, how…
While the watches at SIHH change every year, one thing stays reassuringly the same, and that is the drama surrounding them. Sometimes it’s big, like the deregulation of the Swiss Franc. Sometimes it’s small, like a brand being a little too obsfucatory in a press release over the origins of a movement. This year everyone’s tongues seemed to be wagging about a) Moser’s cheesy take on the industry, and b) the Girard-Perregaux Laureato. Feel free to disagree with us, but we think the majority of noise around the Laureato – specifically around its look and legitimacy – is well and truly blown out of proportion, as is so often the case with ‘controversies’ like these. But that’s just the tip of the GP iceberg in 2017, with lots to discuss around other models, too. Watch on!
Throw the word ‘Hublot’ into conversation, and all too often the topic can find itself steered down a path toward a couple of broad stereotypes. You know what we’re talking about. It’s the kind of statement that says “Hublot makes nothing but large, skeletonised statement pieces in unusual materials, for rappers,” for example. And you know what? Some of that is our fault. After all, we’re the ones who like to seize on an impressive technical breakthrough, or a brand-new case material, because that makes a good story. Well, not today. Put all of that out of your mind, and have a look at this: That is the Hublot Classic Fusion King Gold, 38mm, on the arm of a female who happens to be eight months (and counting) pregnant. It’s clearly a Hublot, right? No one could mistake it for anything else. And doesn’t it look elegant? More to the point, it shows that, when stripped of all diamonds and other accoutrements, the core of Hublot’s identity is more than strong enough to hold its own. The mix of brushed and polished King gold against the matt black dial is both understated and bold. More contrast comes courtesy of the chunky hour and minute hands alongside the super-svelte…
Editor’s Note: I don’t know what you’re watching at the moment, but in between bingeing on Gilmore Girls and Black Mirror I’ve been voraciously consuming Abstract: The Art of Design, a Netflix documentary series showcasing exceptional designers. As you’d expect from the subject matter and the production values, it’s very pretty viewing. I might go so far as to say it’s almost too perfect. Regardless, my first instinct was obviously to compare the values and theory applied to art, architecture and objects in the series to watches. And one I kept coming back to was this beautifully simple Saxonia from A. Lange & Söhne. Story in a second: The Saxonia Thin is A. Lange & Söhne design at its most pure. One of the things that makes everyone like A. Lange & Söhne as a brand (and I mean everyone, I can’t think of a single person I know who doesn’t like or respect what Lange does) is the thought, care and quality that goes into every watch. From the gobsmackingly amazing Zeitwerks and Perpetual Calendars, all the way to the simpler pieces – like this manually wound Saxonia Thin. And what’s even more amazing is that this thought and care continues to grow;…
Last year we were privileged to get two passionate TAG Heuer experts in a room together to talk openly about some of the most controversial topics in the game today. One of those men was TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver, and the other was founder of Calibre 11 and co-founder of Time+Tide, David Chalmers. In this video David simply asks why people should pay a premium to buy an in-house movement over a generic Swiss movement. Mr Biver does not hold back… “The Swiss have created their own problems. Why have they started to make a difference between in-house movement and not in-house movement? Twenty years ago, 30 years ago, 50 years ago no one ever asked is a watch an in-house movement or not. And 50 years ago many brands had movements coming from Lemania, or Valjoux or ETA and it was never a problem… The Rolex Daytona, first with a Valjoux, later with an El Primero. I have Patek Philippe watches that I bought for over one million and they have a Lemania movement, so is that a problem? No, that is not a problem at all! The Swiss have nevertheless created this problem by saying ‘in-house, in-house, in-house’… Sometimes the…
In the spectrum of colour, grey is quite the double agent. There it goes, trudging along amid notions of overcast skies, mind-numbing office cubicles, uncertainty. But just as we’re all stifling a yawn at its inherent dowdiness, what’s this we see? There goes grey playing its other hand in a realm populated by wolves and weimaraners, silver foxes with steely gazes, marble and moodiness. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the grey matter we’re interested in – executed perfectly, as it happens, in the anthracite hue of this Girard-Perregaux Cat’s Eye Power Reserve. We’ve talked before about embracing colour at the wrist, but let’s be honest: though this is a world away from your usual black and brown options, it’s a far less daunting leap than anything genuinely bright. Adding to the style quota is the horizontally elliptical case at 37.84mm by 32.84mm, which, combined with the slender grey alligator strap, makes this watch an excellent choice for daintier arms. Sixty-four diamonds stand guard on the bezel, while eight more act as indices on the dial itself, dotted between Arabic numerals at 6, 9 and 12. Meanwhile, the backdrop of two contrasting textures – a smooth crescent hugging a guilloche section – create…