INTRODUCING: The Seiko Prospex SNR049J Batman will leave you black and blue
Looks can be deceiving, and the Seiko Prospex SNR049J proves the point in idiosyncratic style, once again firmly setting the bar for how we perceive a tool watch. This is a deliciously blue faced, limited reference in the LX series, Seiko’s pinnacle of sports and diver’s watches. In 2020 this is a brash and unapologetically large watch, but even at 44.8mm, Seiko are the masters of watch ergonomics, and close to unbeatable for chunky tool watch comfort. Don’t be surprised if this feels like a 41-42mm watch on the wrist, as the familiar muscular sides curve downwards at the lugs, sharpened by exceptional bevels. The reason the weight drops away is a T for titanium: light, strong and seldom finished to this degree outside Japan. The bold, softly finished angles on the large case create a strong visual impact, one that is only superseded by what is surely a knock-out punch to this year’s other Batman wannabes. Yes, this is a classic GMT, where the decisive movement of the sword hands is complemented by a pop of light blue in the second time zone arrow. The dial itself — encircled by the familiar sight of the dark night vs blue day…
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This year has been remarkable in many ways. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve said to myself, “Well, I never thought I’d see that happen in my lifetime.” Despite these surprises, the watch industry has demonstrated a remarkable stability. Sure, we lost a few trade shows. But there was also a regular flow of new releases from a wide range of brands, despite some early signs to the contrary. Equally impressive was the resilience of the auction industry. In this article, we investigate why high-value vintage watches have appeared to be pandemic-proof at a time when most segments of the wider industry are in steep decline. Another year of broken records at watch auctions, despite broken economies everywhere I remember watching the Phillips Geneva Watch Auction XI live stream back in May and marvelling at what they were pulling off. There were people gathered together, in person, bidding on some truly impressive lots while the pandemic was still roiling economies worldwide. Equally impressive was the result: more than CHF 30 million in revenue, all lots sold, a world record for a Patek Philippe 1518 at CHF 3.4 million, and a pair of F.P. Journe early references sold for…
The strangest feeling is to be had when you first put on the Bulgari Aluminium time-only — if you actually get it on in the first place. Holding it makes you do a double take and shift it from left to right hand as if to check your own function as a makeshift human set of scales. Yes, this is metal, but we’re not used to light, cool, matt aluminium in a watch case. Then there is a chunky rubber bracelet. Yes, a linked rubber bracelet, in itself a novel concept that surprises in equal amounts. My entire image of Bulgari is changing as I am handling the watch for the first time. An image that in 2020 is one of record-breaking Haute Horlogerie, the unfathomable elegance and thought-provoking feeling of a paper-thin watch with the magic of a tourbillon, somehow at odds with this fresh breath of summer. And I love it. The unbearable lightness – and coolness – of aluminium My first associations are close to the cool technical feel of a Leica camera body when I peruse the details — details that surprise and amuse. First, the surprising nature of its chunky yet light case – an angular…
Against all odds. That was spirit of the conversation I had with Paxton Wong a couple of weeks ago, when we were discussing what he had planned for WatchFest 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t a reason to cancel the event this year, it was the reason it had to go ahead. Not just because Paxton wanted to keep his 2019 promise of “bigger and better” for 2020, but because the Australian watch industry has been terribly affected by local lockdowns, and WatchFest 2020 was the perfect opportunity to rally the community. WatchFest 2020 ran over four days last week and was held predominantly over Zoom to allow as many people to attend as possible, considering the challenges of current travel and the remaining need to socially distance. “Zoom?!” you might scoff. But these were no normal Zoom sessions, with Bell & Ross kicking the event off with a cooking class from Australia’s beloved celebrity chef, of My Kitchen Rules fame, Manu Feildel. Perfect steaks were seared and enjoyed. Other virtual highlights included a session with the Omega Head of Product Management, Gregory Kissling, who offered one of the world’s first presentations of the new Omega Speedmaster ‘Silver Snoopy Award’ 50th…
Watchmaking is a game of microns and millimetres. The movements powering wristwatches are effectively a tiny city of gears and levers, that when blown up to a larger scale, become a chronometric Atlantis waiting to be explored and appreciated. One of the first things people notice when looking at a dial of a watch is whether or not it has a sweeping seconds hands. But as enthusiasts and collectors are aware, not all sweeping hands beat to the same drum. To the naked eye, the differences can be hard to detect, but thanks to the maestro of macro, @horomaribro, today we take a closer look at wristwatch VPH, or vibrations per hour, and what it means for a watch’s aesthetic and performance. Andrew McUtchen: Okay, this is your classic VPH comparison. Tell me about your intention behind this one. @Horomariobro: So here I was just trying to show the various “heartbeat rates” of different watches. Each has its own array of beating, and I’m trying to show how many ticks there are between second hashes. Normally, people would talk about how many beats per hour and stuff like that. With my macro video, I’m trying to convey, “Okay, from the number of…
Editor’s note: Fergus Nash, the writer of this piece, is one of Time+Tide’s newest members of the writing team. Increasingly, I am finding that his point of view – rich with analogy, kaleidoscopic associations and energy – is connecting me with the watches he writes about in new ways. Not just new ways, enriching ways. Consider this piece. One of many OF Tourbillon Chronograph reviews. But I’ll wager it will be the most memorable you will read, if not just for the visual treasure map of imagery that it creates, and leaves glittering in your mind. Every now and again you’ll see an object where the stars have aligned, and everything just looks in its right place. This seems to happen disproportionately often with Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo line, a range of watches that sets out to melt the hearts of design lovers as well as smash the record books of technical achievement. With its perfect proportions, balance of symmetry, colour and weight, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Chronograph Automatic is just the latest triumph in a long, long line. The dial Though there’s no shortage of skeleton dials in the world of ultra-luxury chronographs, there’s something about the Octo Finissimo that…
Like it or loathe it, ‘modding’ watches is here to stay. And it’s increasingly accessible to you at any price point. At the lower end, you have the thriving, escalating world of @seikomods. At the highest end, you can modify your Piaget Ultimate Concept any which way you like. And in celebrity-land, you have the longtime practice of ‘blacking out’ your Rolex – and, in the process, bringing Hollywood flair to standard Rolex references, in particular, it seems, the Milgauss. We have written about several businesses that offer this service – Artisans de Genève, Blaken, Titan, and Project X Designs, among others, are all known modifiers of Rolex watches – born from a desire to make a mass-produced watch a little more custom and unique (or at the very least uncommon). Here are five celebrities who have bet their Big Crown Milgauss on black. Thanks to Nick Gould – @niccoloy – for his help in spotting some of these. Jennifer Aniston Kicking things off, sitcom legend and Friends star Jennifer Aniston has been repeatedly spotted wearing her blacked-out Rolex Milgauss. The stainless steel case has been treated with either a DLC or PVD gloss black coating over its original satin…
This year has been unlike any other in recent memory. Almost unlike any in living memory. And while that has been for a multitude of complex reasons, much of the responsibility can be uncontroversially laid on the shoulders of the COVID-19 pandemic that has spread across borders. While this has been a global catastrophe, the response to the virus has been- at its best – inspiring, as governments and both public and private organisations have pooled resources, shared information and worked together to find ways to manage the Coronavirus. We don’t need to talk about humanity at its worst through 2020, the year has been negative enough. A vaccine is the first priority of these collective efforts, but other important work is being done to minimise its impact on those who have contracted the virus, slow its spread and also to effectively test populations to understand where COVID-19 is present in the community. Apple has recently released their new Apple Watch Series 6, which might offer something of a solution to the problem of testing for COVID-19. Apple has been steadily broadening the health features and functionality of its Apple Watch, with the Series 4 released in 2018 being able…
From the secret lab of William Massena we have come to expect the unexpected. The LAB has a short but exciting history of sharp collaborations with a disruptive edge, exhibiting a wide scope of taste and style. This exciting new model is a case in point, with the last public project being a brilliant vintage bronze version of the T-Rex by MB&F, which was as much art as a static timepiece. This time, Massena has gone into the rich archives of sports chronographs for inspiration to give us the fresh, yet familiar, Massena LAB Uni-Racer. The inspirational basket of vintage chronographs is a large one, and William Massena and his LAB cohorts have spent three years with a focus on Universal, rather than pulling out random elements. This is the elusive Uni-Compax “Big Eye” redefined through a sharp lens, hitting several metaphorical nails on the head in the process. Within a Goldilocks 39mm case sits the lesser-seen vintage perfectionist manual-wind Sellita SW510 M, a no-date caliber with a solid 58 hours of power reserve. With its 50m water resistance, this is no diver; the new Uni-Racer is all about motor racing and urban style with an oh-so perfect vintage air.…
It is fair to argue that the two most popular watch categories that find their way onto the wrists of buyers around the world are dive watches and chronographs. Both have their merits and are classic staples of the watch industry, but what if there was a way to have both? The DOXA SUB 200 C-GRAPH not only presents a diver’s chronograph watch, but also brings forth the beloved spectrum of colour that DOXA has become known for. The case The DOXA SUB 200 C-GRAPH case is made of 316L stainless steel, has a diameter of 45mm and is 17.4mm thick (in part due to its boxed sapphire crystal). The rather short lugs of the watch make it wear much more compact than its 45mm diameter suggests. It features a stainless steel unidirectional rotating bezel with a sapphire insert, providing a tremendous amount of scratch resistance in an attractive smooth and glossy form that really flatters the watch. The chronograph pushers, which traditionally have been a point of vulnerability in dive watches, are protected with gaskets and are quite short – which makes it harder for any accidental activation under the water. The case has a lug width of 20mm, making…