LIST: The 7 best watches of 2016 – $3000 to $4000
That’s right folks, we’re at it again, clawing our way through our top choices with an ever-ballooning budget, and believe it or not, this was our toughest category yet. The $3000 to $4000 category seems to have run a little thin for 2016, but we’ve still been able to round out a healthy assortment of picks that would make a nice (and in some cases quite peculiar) addition to your growing watch brigade. Again, we’ve snuck in a couple of big guns just under the $4k cap including one of our favourite releases of the year from a brand our own Andy Green just can’t stop talking about. Will they all be to your liking? Doubtful. Will you find a few to add to your shopping list? Hopefully. Tudor Black Bay 36 Not only does the Black Bay 36 top our list of $3-4k watches, it has also hands-down grabbed a spot on the list of the best watches of 2016. A compact 36mm case, glossy black dial and snowflake hands are just the tip of the iceberg — its bracelet, fabric, and leather straps mean you can take it from casual to office attire, and being a Black Bay (with 150m of water resistance…
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For our third instalment we’re entering a slightly different echelon of watches. Some buyers will just dive right into their first watch at this price bracket, whereas others will have whetted their appetites on more entry-level pieces, and are now ready to step up their game. You’ll notice a lot more familiar names on this list, as well as a few surprises. Overall it’s a healthy pack of contenders with a nice mix of divers and dress watches. Oak and Oscar Sandford On the heels of the much-loved Burnham three-hand model, the Oak and Oscar Sandford continued to impress fans by offering a well-executed and stylish Soprod automatic-powered GMT in a compact and comfortable 40mm case. Though quite task-driven in terms of design, this piece is all about the details. A colour-matched date wheel, bright BWG9 Superluminova, a crisp sandwich dial, and American handmade Horween leather straps are just a few key points that help it stand out. The production run of the steel Sandford is limited to 300, though the black PVD model (100 made) sold out in a hurry. RRP $1850 USD Oris Divers Sixty-Five Green Dial The 42mm version of the Oris Divers Sixty-Five has been going down as one…
We’ve already got you covered in the zero to 1K category, but as you inch your way up the watch-buying food chain, the decisions don’t automatically get much easier, and the $1-2K range is just as tricky to navigate. While there’s still plenty to pick from, the quality can be all over the board in the same way it can in lower price brackets. After all, this is the spectrum where fashion houses like Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo try to sell you ETA quartz-powered timepieces for no other reason than the fact their logos adorn the dials and casebacks. Once again, we’ve sifted through the mess and cherry-picked some of our favourite pieces of 2016 that are worthy of your hard-earned. Tissot PRS 516 Automatic Small Second The entire PRS 516 line is quite appealing, however this unique and very motorsport-inspired model is the best choice in this price bracket. A trio of partially exposed subdials displays the running seconds of the watch, which, while a little convoluted at first glance, is a really clever way to add personality to its dial without opting for a chronograph. The subdials have a very gauge-like feel to them, and the horizontal striping of the…
Continuing with our series of Team Picks, it’s Andy Green who has the reins today, wrangling the three gems he enjoyed reading most on T+T in 2016. HANDS-ON: Size does matter, the 2016 IWC Big Pilot Edition “Le Petit Prince” BY: Felix Scholz PUBLISHED: May “The title alone had me. Also, Felix pretending to know cars is always funny. But seriously, I absolutely love this watch. I’m a sucker for a blue dial, which the photographer, Jason Reekie, captured beautifully here. And regardless of all that, this is my favourite of IWC’s Big Pilot offering.” INSIGHT: Inside the new Melbourne Rolex Service Centre BY: Felix Scholz PUBLISHED: February “Knowing a couple of the guys at the RSC, it’s cool to get an inside look because the place is a little bit secretive, and most people know very little about it. But ask any reputable vintage dealer and they’ll tell you that Melbourne has one of the best RSCs in the world, and is often trusted with Milsubs and Paul Newman Daytonas – so it’s cool to learn more about what goes on there.” HANDS ON: First look at the Tudor Pelagos LHD – live video, pics, price BY: Felix Scholz PUBLISHED: November “This was classic Tudor, saving the best till…
The third in our series of Team Picks, today it’s Ceri’s turn to reveal the three stories she most enjoyed on Time+Tide this year. VIDEO: ABOUT TIME with Patty Mills of the San Antonio Spurs BY: Felix Scholz PUBLISHED: July “Basketball is a fast-paced, frenetic game, but this beautifully-shot black-and-white video shows another side to it through Patty Mills, Australian point guard for the San Antonio Spurs. I love the contrast between the dramatic music and his calm demeanour as he talks about the pressure of time, both in terms of his training and during high-stakes NBA games.” VIDEO: The only 2 min Basel explainer you’ll ever need to watch (or show to your non-watch-loving friends) BY: Andrew McUtchen PUBLISHED: March “If you’ve never been to Baselworld, the intensity, scale and pace of things are impossible to imagine. This little video is your best shot at understanding just how huge and overwhelming an event it is, courtesy of a jet-lagged and over-stimulated Andrew McUtchen.” LIST: Back to the future – 5 Westworld-ready pocket watches BY: Felix Scholz PUBLISHED: November “Not too long ago, it seemed conceivable that the mechanical watch might well fade into antiquity – just a quaint relic of a by-gone era.…
Of all the (many) lists of I’ve put together this year, this is without doubt, the hardest. So many great stories had to be left on the cutting room floor; reviews I really enjoyed writing, photos that brought a tear to my eye, some really fun creative stuff and, of course, Andy Green’s on-screen debut. But, sadly, the cuts had to be made. So here they are, my favourite stories of 2016. Just don’t ask me tomorrow as they’ll probably have changed IN-DEPTH: We fight over the new grey-dialled Slim d’Hermès BY: Felix Scholz and Ceri David PUBLISHED: August “There’s a few reasons why this is my favourite story of 2016. First of all the watch itself is incredible. Secondly Ash’s photographs are cracking. But thirdly, and most importantly, this review is the Time+Tide equivalent of Islands in the Stream, where I’m Kenny and Ceri is Dolly. It’s as simple as that.” INSIGHT: Blancpain Ocean Commitment – the stories behind the pictures BY: Dietmar Fuchs PUBLISHED: January “So, this is a little awkward. My second favourite story of the year contains absolutely zero watches, but given that we’re pretty watch-heavy the other 364 days of the year, maybe it’s OK. To make up for the…
I don’t always do what I’m told, which frustrates my team. I was asked to supply three favourite stories of the year. I supplied seven. “Please, only three,” said Ceri. I met her in the middle and supplied five. Which has now, through sheer force of consistency – you can always get me on consistency and the rest of the team did three – become three. The culling process was extremely painful. I had to lose this incredible story about the Australian Great Barrier Reef, which is where we first worked with our videographer Ash, who has gone on to become a core member of the team. Even worse, I had to leave out that time I wrote the Friday Wind Down with some guy called Michael Klim. At the Rio Olympics. I managed to sneak in the Olympics anyway, so not all was lost. WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Harvey Specter spills the beans on the watches you’ve seen in Suits (and the timepiece Scarlett Johansson gifted him) BY: Ceri David PUBLISHED: July “Not everybody knows quite how well connected our Ceri David is, but I do, and I expect miracles of her all the time. In an editorial meeting that coincided with…
In the last few years, storm clouds have formed over the Helvetic Republic, where, for years, there has been nothing but blue sky and crisp alpine air. First they were mere zephyrs, barely rippling the surface of our collective consciousness, hardly worthy of mention in those glorious, post-GFC days. More recently we’ve noticed an increasing number of these squalls, and exchanged worried glances with our fellow travellers, but tacitly agreeing to collectively write them off as temporary aberrations due to external factors like currency fluctuation or political instability. But now there’s no ignoring it. The gale is blowing hard, and all around us the watch industry is battening down the hatches and cutting loose the dead wood. Some of these new drifters will ride the storm out, but many will succumb to the forces and become tomorrow’s flotsam and jetsam in an industry that has known smooth sailing for too long. I’ll do you all a favour and stop with the meteorological/nautical allusions now. The coming year will be a pivotal one for the watch industry. Despite the positivity projected by the Swiss hegemony it’s becoming clear that the watch industry is in crisis. But how big? Is it a temporary dip, or is it a massive, once-in-a-generation…
Don’t get stuck in an Instagram rut. Allow us to point you in the direction of inspirational characters to follow, starting with… NAME: James Thompson OCCUPATION: Canadian industrial designer and founder of Black Badger Advanced Composites, focusing on jewellery design and timepiece collaboration. HANDLE: @blackbadger FOLLOWERS: 30.9K LOCATION: Sweden Tell us about your daily watch. That would be my Bell & Ross BR01. It was the first watch I ever bought, in 2008. I inherited a small amount of money when my grandparents passed away, and as my grandfather was always really interested in the how and why of things, I thought a mechanical timepiece would be a nice thing to spend it on. Oddly enough, that watch is what started the series of events that led me into the watch industry and my current career. I wear it almost every day and I plan to give it to my son someday. I won’t ever sell it. The only thing I’ve found it no good for is wearing while cycling on cobblestones. The back of my hand got all bruised up from that big square hunk of steel! What’s your daily ride (car/motorbike/dragon)? Stepan Sarpaneva’s coat tails! Ha ha. Actually my…
This is going to be the shortest Wind Down in Time+Tide history. See the scenic vista above? That’s us. We’re in our happy place, enjoying some well deserved time off. We hope you’ve had a great 2016, and have a safe and happy New Year. In the meantime, enjoy our finely tuned holiday programming, and we’ll all be back on deck just in time for the SIHH 2017! See you there.