GONE IN 60 SECONDS: Smoke and mirrors – the Hublot Big Bang All Black Sapphire
Ten years ago Hublot pioneered the black-on-black-on-black look in watches. Sure, it made it hard to read the time, but when your watch looked that cool who could care? They called it (appropriately enough) ‘All Black’ and this year they’ve released a number of special limited editions to celebrate. The standout is this not-so-stealthy Big Bang. Instead of PVD or black ceramic, Hublot has created a Dark Crystal Big Bang out of black sapphire, creating a blacked-out watch that’s surprisingly lively on the wrist, full of mirror-like reflections and smoky finishes. Just don’t expect it to fly under the radar. Hublot Big Bang Unico All Black Sapphire Australian pricing and availability The Hublot Big Bang Unico All Black Sapphire, limited to 500 pieces, $81,300.
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Today’s wind down is a little bittersweet. Sweet because it’s an absolutely gorgeous day here in Melbourne, bitter because we have more than a light case of FOMO. Right now, despite the weather, we’d much rather be hanging out in rainy London with all the cool kids at Salon QP. But there’s no point getting all gloomy about it, instead we’re going to celebrate with the British edition of the Wind Down. What happened It’s the time of year when we start looking back over the year in watches, picking the winners and the worthy contenders. For most people, this taking stock is purely personal, for sites like ours that means the inevitable onslaught of ‘best-of’ lists, but for the industry it means awards! The hum around watchmaking’s night of nights, the GPHG is getting more intense as the ceremony is only a week or so off, but today we’d like to talk about a different sort of ceremony – Eve’s Watch. It’s the first ever women’s watch awards, and it went down recently in London (causing our first FOMO bout). What stood out to me was the quality of the shortlisted watches, and we heartily congratulate the Chanel Boy.Friend as the winning watch (you…
Cutting through the noise and sheer volume of watches released at Baselworld is no mean feat. Overwhelming attention is focused on a handful of models from a few brands, and often it takes weeks and months from some of the hidden gems to reveal themselves. Nevertheless, every year the chatter in the halls seems to amplify around a few key models. And this year the buzz was strongest around Rolex’s new Daytona (of course), Patek’s World Time, TAG Heuer’s Monza and Seiko’s Presage Chronograph. The first three are pretty safe bets, but the Seiko? No one saw that awesomeness coming. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Seiko’s work, and they’ve got a great reputation. But most of it concerns itself with the Grand Seiko. No one had any notion the well priced, vintage styled Presage Chronograph was coming. But we should have, because it’s the perfect watch for right now; it’s precisely the sort of watch we should be seeing more of. “I think our timing was very good. Many consumers these days are looking at what we call the prestige segment – fine quality that’s more affordable than luxury. And in this the price-to-quality ratio of Presage matches their hopes.” Seiko President and…
When I was in high school we had to buy an atlas/geography textbook from a publisher called Heinemann. Don’t ask me why I remember this – it’s just one of the scores of useless trivia facts that are stuck in my head, while much more important information (such as reference numbers and calibre names) seem to constantly elude me. One of the things I liked most about this atlas were the different types of map on offer: Political, altitude, rainfall, temperature – Heinemann had them all. And this is what the new, brightly coloured dial of the 4810 Orbis Terrarum instantly reminded me of. Turns out I wasn’t too far off. Aside from adding a dash of colour to the Orbis Terrarum, the multi-coloured world disc represents warmer and cooler parts of the globe. But the map isn’t the only thing that’s different about this Orbis Terrarum, it’s now part of the 4810 family, meaning it has a bigger, curvier case than the original. When it comes to looks it’s a hard call as to whether this version or the blue-on-blue Heritage Spirit model is more attractive, and will depend largely on personal preference. For me though, the 4810 Orbis Terrarum is…
At their packed Baselworld press conference Seiko announced that 2016 was to be the year of their middle-tier Presage collection. The lion’s share of attention has been on the truly excellent limited edition Presage Chronograph, but there’s a lot to love in the rest of the collection too. Presage honours the spirit of fine mechanical watchmaking that Seiko is well known for, but at a price point that’s far from prohibitive. Take for example the good looking three-hander that is the Seiko Presage SPB039J1 – not only do you get a quite handsome dress watch (with such a catchy name!), you get all the advantages of Seiko’s ‘Trimatic’ technology. This comprises of the magic lever (for efficient winding), Spron alloy (for stronger and longer lasting springs) and Dia-Shock (Seiko’s shock resistance technology). The watches in the Presage collection are a cut above Seiko’s popularly priced mechanicals in terms of movement quality and finishing, but the pricing, as you can see, is still highly competitive. Seiko Presage SPB039J1 Australian pricing Seiko Presage SPB039J1, in steel on leather, $1250.
Last week Andrew and I took part in a somewhat unusual, and entirely self-imposed, challenge. Andrew, typically a wearer of more modern timepieces tried the 45mm Heritage 1936 on for size and I gave my wrists a break entirely to properly experience the Bridgeport pocket watch. We were both outside our comfort zones, full of thoughts, feelings and even emotions. Luckily Ash was on hand to capture our pre-work ruminations on video. Fair warning though, I get all philosophical, even going so far as to question the nature of time.
Editor’s Note: Last night over drinks a friend had a question. He considers he’s reached some sort of early milestone in his collecting. He has a good watch, a weekend watch, a vintage watch, even a dress watch. But now, with his career on the up and a bit of unexpected cash – that will otherwise go on the ponies at this time of year – what should he splash on for a baller watch? Something that pokes it head above utilitarian roots. A watch that doesn’t whisper “I’m doing alright”, but shouts it Wolf of Wall Street style. I didn’t even continue the conversation. I googled @fakewatchbusta, baller, time and tide. This is what I found…. OK, so you got your first big paycheque as an up-and-coming rapper and you want to buy your first serious watch to stunt on the ‘gram. I know it seems like an iced-out watch is all the rage in the rap game, but if you look at the big stars like Jay Z and Drake you’ll soon learn that keeping it FACTORY-made is the way to go. There’s a reason Jay Z raps the iconic line: “Those ain’t Rolex diamonds, what the f*ck you…
With a penchant for the avant-garde, Ulysse Nardin is a tricky customer to pin down stylistically. They’re most famous for their marine chronometers, but they also produce simple, lean pieces that embody elegance. They also dabble in the upper echelons of haute-horology with their famous Freak as well as models with painstakingly elaborate hand-painted dials. The modern and ultra-lightweight Executive Skeleton Tourbillon (which has been pre-selected for this year’s GPHG awards in the Tourbillon category) shows off another side of Ulysse Nardin. With its bold 45mm titanium case topped with a ceramic bezel, this featherweight piece won’t weigh your wrist down, despite its size. Through the sapphire crystal, the hands and oversized Roman numerals appear to float on the dial barely obscuring the view of the movement In order to achieve minimum weight the movement, which is the the manual winding Calibre UN-171 Manufacture, has been skeletonised to further reduce any unnecessary heft, while still offering an ample power reserve of 170 hours. The black, rectangular bridge is a nice modern touch that frames the movement. At Baselworld this year, Ulysse Nardin made waves with their Grand Deck Marine Tourbillon. That piece employed some nifty tricks that involved using a series of…
There has been terrifying talk in the Time+Tide office of the ever-dwindling amount of time until Christmas (nine Fridays, NINE FRIDAYS) and you can almost hear the luxury watch industry kick into high gear – parties are planned, last minute products launched, all in an attempt to earn a coveted spot under your tree (and then your wrist). But one story that keeps on giving, no matter the season, is the old battle of horology versus technology, and this week has delivered on both fronts. So, fix yourself a pre-December eggnog and settle in for the Friday Wind Down. Smart watches According to Gizmodo, smartwatches aren’t quite living up to the hype, with market intelligence firm IDC reporting a 51.6 per cent drop in smartwatch shipments in the third quarter of 2016. Sure, Apple’s second generation of their titular watch is a big improvement on the original, with GPS capabilities, a 70 per cent faster processor and much improved OS getting us closer to a genuinely useful device. But there it is… The question remains… Will improvements in the category be enough to overcome the fundamental issue – that smartwatches lack that singular, killer functionality to transition them from a gadget into a necessity.…
It’s 2016, so why would anyone wear a pocket watch? That’s the question I found myself asking this week as I took the Tissot Bridgeport Lepine for a test drive. And look, I’m not going to lie to you, it took more thought to integrate this 45mm little number into my life. But if you’re up for this sort of challenge, and I know plenty of you out there will dig the self-consciously anachronistic look of wearing a pocket watch, then the rewards are definitely there. It’s a great talking point and style statement. Plus, I love how it made checking the time such a deliberate activity. Oh, and the quality to price ratio was way up there too. Tissot Bridgeport Lepine Mechanical pocket watch Australian pricing Tissot Bridgeport Lepine Mechanical, $900.