INTRODUCING: The Seiko Prospex SLA051J1 and SLA049J1 Limited Edition
Prospex is the largest growing Seiko line-up with buyers flocking to add pieces from the collection to their wrist. Highly robust and value-driven, these watches can be more affordable than their competitors with little to no sacrifice in the quality of fabrication. While many will refer to this watch as a new entry into the “Willard” line of Seiko divers – named after the watch worn by Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) in Apocalypse Now – that’s actually not the back story here. This watch is really a tribute to the Japanese adventurer Naomi Uemura, who wore a similar piece in the 1970s while completing a 12,500km solo dog-sled run from Greenland to Alaska. Now outfitted with a textured charcoal gray dial, the Seiko Prospex SLA051J1 is a modern re-interpretation of the diving watch that Uemura wore on that expedition. The SLA049 meanwhile is available in a limited-edition run of 1200 pieces and celebrates the 80th anniversary of Uemura’s birth with a blue dial reminiscent of the mountainous terrain that he explored. The stainless-steel cases are 44mm in diameter, but more compact than their diameter lets on with a lug to lug measurement under 48mm. The flying saucer-like profiles wear well…
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It’s no secret we are rather enamoured with the Bulgari Octo Finissimo and calling it a micro-technological marvel of the new century would not be overselling it. Following our article on Bulgari’s latest chapter of one-upmanship – where they managed to somehow engineer a tourbillon to fit the already infinitessimally optimised space inside the angular case – we are still none the wiser as to how they did it. Surely you too have wondered just what hides within the paper thin layers of cogs, bridges and small colourful pops of jewels in their caliber BV318. Rarely have we spent so much time looking at a movement through the clear sapphire caseback in the sandblasted titanium case, every so often turning the watch expecting it to be an optical illusion. Surely it is not humanly possible to fit a traditional mechanical movement with a chronograph complication and a GMT function within a case of 6.9mm? We are deadly curious and who better to educate us than Peter Speake-Marin of The Naked Watchmaker. In his Deconstruction series, an already fascinating journey into the inner workings of the mechanical wonders we obsess over, he has dedicated his workbench to the Octo Finissimo Chronograph…
While Panerai was founded way back in 1860, its rise to prominence came on the back of a very specific type of celebrity: the action hero. It was thanks to the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger that brand awareness soared following wrist-bound cameos in films like Daylight, Eraser, Rambo IV and The Expendables franchise. In 2021, Panerai continue to be the brand worn by action heroes with Jason Statham confirmed as wearing two of their pieces while shooting the new spy film Five Eyes, which began filming in January this year. Directed by Guy Ritchie, famous for helming Lock, Stock Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and more recently The Gentleman, it’s the fourth time that Statham and Ritchie have worked together on different films. Five Eyes also features another alumnus from Richie’s past work in the form of another Panerai fanatic, Hugh Grant. Grant has admitted that his love for Panerai stems from the fact that he’s a bit short-sighted and he appreciates their easy legibility. In the film, it has been revealed that Statham will be wearing two different Panerai pieces in the Submersible Goldtech 42mm (PAM1164) and the Submersible Carbotech 47mm (PAM1616), both of which were provided…
Studio Underd0g have a refreshingly playful approach to watchmaking. As the British microbrand explain on their website. “When the biggest news in the watch-world for 2020 is that a certain brand (that shall not be named) had increased their case size by an unfathomable 1mm it got us thinking… Why… so… serious…? Don’t worry, we don’t plan on taking them head on just yet, but we are here to inject a bit of silliness into what can be a very un-silly industry.” This is a very welcome perspective and plays out in Studio Underd0g’s cheerfully irreverent debut collection that consists of three watches: Desert Sky, Watermel0n and Go0fy Panda. Normally, after all, watches with bicompax and “big eye” features come loaded with vintage preconceptions. We might expect a manual movement, intricately detailed feuille hands, monochrome tones and rather high price points for the serious collectors out there. But Studio Underd0g (yes, that is a zero in their name) aim to do things differently. By adding fresh colours and humour suddenly we’re into unknown territory. Richard Benc, the founder of Studio Underd0g, seems to have a particular sense of style and an instinctive feel for both dial size and the delicate…
We really should have seen the Hamilton Intra-Matic Chronograph H coming. Having played with the idea before, this hand-wound, bi-register chrono – in beautifully proportioned panda and reverse panda dial variants – sees Hamilton effectively resurrect and update its first chronograph. The modern Intra-Matic Chronograph H is compelling in either dial, taking direct inspiration from 1968’s ‘Chronograph A’ and ‘Chronograph B’. Those original pieces have often aged beautifully, so it’s no surprise to see fauxtina deployed here. A box sapphire crystal further adds to that ’60s vibe. In all, though, it appears to be a watch that leans heavily on the vintage cues without ever losing its balance. At 40mm, the case contains the new H-51 movement (utilising a base ETA-7753) with 60 hours power reserve. It also comes with a welcome 100m of water resistance. But while the Chronograph H is a modern take on Hamilton’s original chronograph, it’s also a natural step in the brand’s recent exploration of those ’60s designs – and suggests that while they’ve been looking backwards, they’ve also been responding to the tastes of modern watch-buyers. This is not the first model to find inspiration from the reverse panda looks of the ‘Chronograph B’.…
You don’t always have to look to the usual suspects or pay a hefty price to get a quality watch. There is a wide spectrum of manufacturers in this industry and, with so many releases each year, it can be a bit of a challenge to follow every reference introduced. While the below list of watches are fabricated by well known brands, we wanted to shine a spotlight on some references that may not have received the recognition they deserve. A sleeper hit is effectively something that is not massively hyped, but has a level of quality that demands further exploration. Here are six sleeper hits we included in our Now Buying Guide… Timex x Todd Snyder “Pride” Watch At 34mm, this watch can pretty much be worn by anyone, of any identity. The theme of the watch is literally pride and inclusivity. As I have said before, Todd Snyder and Timex have teamed up to create arguably the best value proposition in rainbow watches. The Pride Watch is a nod to the pride colours derived from artist Gilbert Baker’s Rainbow Flag. The dial aesthetic is is the result of three rotating coloured discs. As the time changes and the discs…
The tide seems to be shifting in the auction world towards scarcity and craftsmanship, rather than scratched-up provenance and movie-star affiliations. We could see results of this theory already in our story on the latest Antiquorum auction here. In Monaco, the auction darlings of the last five years, steel sports Rolex, did OK, whereas the rarity value of a few references from F.P Journe smashed through the proverbial glass roof of the reserves. Are Philippe Dufour and F.P Journe the new auction stars and have steel sports watches peaked? In this article on industry insider Watchpro, Simon de Burton argues that is an indication that the previous auction scene duopoly of Patek and Rolex is in fact slowly crumbling. Is that a fact, or is it a mere shift in the market towards rare luxury that sets buyers apart from the usual Rolex collector out there? The bigger question should perhaps be whether the bidders are following their personal taste or market trends. A handcrafted case in point was the 2004 F.P Journe Octa Calendrier – that we covered in this story on Antiquorum’s Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces in Monaco – which more than doubled its already high estimate, going under…
Rolex is the biggest watch brand in the world (so long as you don’t count Apple). But while that information might not come as a surprise, Rolex has actually grown its market share in 2020 despite selling an estimated 140,000 fewer watches than the year before (due to factory closures as a result of the pandemic). This is according to a report by Morgan Stanley that stated Rolex has consolidated its lead at the top during the pandemic, increasing its market share to 24.9% in 2020, up from 22% in 2019. What is also remarkable is that Rolex SA, who also owns Tudor, has become the largest watch manufacturing group on the planet by claiming 26.8% of the market, beating Swatch Group who captured 25.2%. This growth in market share was in the face of a drop in turnover of 14% from CHF5.05 billion down to CHF4.42 billion, a fall that was softened by a 5% price increase across their range. In contrast, the latest data from the Federation Horlogère Suisse (FHS) industry body painted a grim picture across the rest of the industry, with a drop in export value of Swiss watches by 21.8% and the number of watches…
I met Paul Newman once. Back in 2001, I spent an hour in his company. Just him and me chatting in a drawing room in Barretstown Castle, Ireland, where he had set up a residential camp for seriously ill children. Sure, he was a little slow on a staircase at that stage but trust me, the man was the most ridiculously cool 76-year-old you could ever hope to meet. We didn’t talk about watches, because I had yet to fall down that rabbit hole. I was wearing a basic Timex Ironman because it told the time and was cheap. Every box ticked. I didn’t even know watches were “a thing”. And I certainly didn’t know Paul Newman’s name was attached to a watch that was a big deal then – and which one day would become the biggest deal of all. Every now and again – especially after auctions such as the recent sale of his ‘Big Red’ ref. 6263 for US$5.5 million – I wonder what he wore on his wrist that day. Was it one of the “ones”? Did I miss a moment with horological history? And I wonder what I would have asked him if I knew…
I have made it no secret that I felt the DOXA SUB 300 Carbon Aqua Lung US Divers watch was snubbed in the Divers prize at the 2020 GPHG awards. I have nothing against Breitling, let me be 100% clear on that fact, but I personally felt that if the vote were left to the watch community then DOXA would have taken home the award. Doxa is known for its dive watches with a winning formula left largely unchanged over the years. The fact that their creations are effectively modern fabrications of designs of yesteryear is a testament to this fact, something only brands like Rolex have been able to do. When you have a good thing going, there is little incentive to switch things up. But when you find a way to bring innovative materials into an already great design, I believe such an achievement should be rewarded – and I believe DOXA did just that with their SUB 300 Carbon diver. The case The flying saucer-like profile of the case is iconic within the watch community and makes for a very wearable watch across wrists of varying sizes. It has a professional diameter of 42mm and thickness of 13.4mm.…