3 of the best beads-of-rice bracelets on the market and the differences between them
The beads-of-rice bracelet, a bracelet design only a few years ago lost to the winds of time — a memory of stretched-out and rattly bracelets on a well-worn 35mm vintage gents watch. Or the mythical Gay Frères kind, one of the most sought-after. I’m embarrassed to admit that I once threw one in the trash, short of knowledge. As with many details of horological nature, the BOR bracelet has again come full circle, but tighter of tolerance, with a solid feel and on the cusp of becoming ubiquitous. If your memory is of the charmingly loose and jangly feeling of your granddad’s 1965 watch, you will not be ready for the solidity of BOR, version 2020. But what are the best beads-of-rice bracelets? We rate three of the best, from popular to quirky, with the most hi-tech version not on the watch you’d expect, proving that there are beads-of-rice for every taste. The bold beads – DOXA SUB 200 DOXA, for many is The Dive Watch, forever associated with the books of Clive Cussler, the iconic Jacques-Yves Cousteau and the huge popularity of scuba diving in the ’60s and ’70s. DOXA have a strong following in the watch community with their…
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As a distillation of what a Japanese firm does best, the Grand Seiko SBGP005 offers a compelling line of thought – if you’re looking for a great watch on the more affordable side of things, do you pursue the usual mechanical suspects or high-end quartz? With a case based on the iconic 44GS design, an enchantingly deep blue dial and one of the finer quartz movements on the planet, the Grand Seiko SBGP005 is a watch that makes a strong case for the luxury quartz timepiece. The highly polished steel case measures 40mm in diameter and only 11.1mm thick, which adds up to an almost universally wearable set of proportions, no matter your wrist size. Securing the watch is a steel three-link bracelet with a folding clasp, which has been finished with vertical fine brushing. Powering the Grand Seiko SBGP005 is the in-house 9F85 movement, which offers accuracy of +/-10 seconds per year, and also has the clever feature of an independently movable hour hand while the movement is running. This makes it easy to adjust between time zones without losing any accuracy while the time is being set. So, if you’re in the market for a watch with a…
Me, I’m a dial man. Don’t get me wrong, I love a sharp bevelled case and intricate movements, but what gets me first is the face of the watch. Here we’ll look at 10 examples – over two stories, the second of which to follow in the coming days – of dial faces that could launch a thousand watch enthusiasts. Into bliss. From minimalist craftsmanship in precious metals to microbrand vitreous enamel, these are the best of the best. There’s no need to underline the fact that 2020 has been a dramatic year, with a sharp downturn for the Swiss watch industry as a whole, not to mention the dreaded C-word. In spite of this, we have had a plethora of brilliant, and wholly unexpected, releases from brands both large and small. The best thing of all? Not all of the brands that make the list are the usual suspects. It has taken a crisis for several of the lesser knows to truly shine and show their stripes. And fumé and sunray, and vertical brushwork, and… Chopard Alpine Eagle two-tone I was lucky enough last year to have the Chopard Alpine Eagle as a weekend guest, and I’ll happily admit…
During the pandemic, many have used the time at home to catch up on a recommended TV series or film they may have missed in busier times, or re-watch some comforting favourites. In my seventh or eighth run-through of The West Wing television series, I almost spilled my beer in excitement when I spotted an Omega dress watch on my favourite fictional president (Bartlet 2020?). This hobby has made watch lovers increasingly aware of what actors are wearing on their wrists. Just the other week I got a message from a buddy asking me what was on Sam Neill’s wrist in Jurassic Park III (an Oris if you were curious). The mark of a true watch enthusiast is when you find yourself rewinding and pausing, even at the risk of annoying your friends and family, to get the perfect screengrab of a watch worn by a character in film/television to post in your watch group — initiating a race among your #watchfam to name the reference spotted on your favourite character. The latest watch spot in pandemic movie night … Brad Pitt’s TAG Heuer in Moneyball. The movie Moneyball, based on the book ‘Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game’…
Since time immemorial, Ulysse Nardin has been renowned in the maritime world for their marine chronometers and nautically themed, complicated wristwatches. In fact, for the latter part of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the Le Locle watchmaker created bespoke timekeeping devices for the navies of over 50 different countries. Now though, UN has set its sights slightly higher than sea level, trading aquatic inspiration for the aeronautical, and in doing so, creating an all-new timepiece with an explosive new design language. Introducing the Ulysse Nardin Blast. Taking visual cues from what is surely the most awe-inspiring aircraft ever created – the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk – the Blast is an angular symphony of wrist-worn menace. Its extroverted 45mm case, which measures a mere 11mm thick, features a multifaceted case construction that utilises both an upper middle and middle case layer hewn from grade-5 titanium. The Blast is available in four different iterations –one in 18k rose gold, two in ceramic (black or white) and one made wholly of grade 5 Ti. The modish cases offer and arresting blend of laser etched satin finishing that’s strikingly juxtaposed with mirrored polishing, which can be seen on the…
The trailer for The Batman just dropped, and anyone worried that it’s going to go all Twilight via Robert Pattinson should have their fears properly allayed. It’s as grim and gritty as ever, and the beatdown he puts on a henchmen in this short clip is nothing short of vicious. But while the trailer for The Batman is brimming with the dystopian squalor we have come to know and love from the franchise, we’re beginning to wonder what watch he’ll be sporting on his wrists as he gets his hands dirty cleaning up the city. In Christian Bale’s time as Batman, he was spotted wearing the cool and classy Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso (a watch we think was perfect for his character), but will Pattinson bring the same sartorial elegance, or something less black tie and more matte black Batmobile? Something that has been spotted on screen on the wrist of Pattinson is the sporty and sleek Chanel J12, seen in his lead role in Cosmopolis. The specific J12 reference he was wearing in that film was the grey Chanel J12 Chromatic Classic made in ceramic titanium. But for The Batman, he clearly needs something even less eye-catching, something like Chanel J12 GMT…
Yes, it’s a very bold opening line. In fact, this is no boldr (sorry!) than a simple statement of the facts, should you sum up the parts, starting with a titanium watch with 200m water resistance for under $300 USD including shipping. Boldr Supply Co. is an established microbrand with five watch lines, and a solid community following of their watches and accessories for the self-categorised Urban Explorer. The two questions you’re likely to ask yourself: How is it possible to have a stock model in titanium with a low might-never-happen-Kickstarter project price? Is the compact field watch that is the Venture, worth more than the sum of its parts, or is there a caveat? The case If I stack up the specs first, you are going to check the date for April 1st, I can assure you. So, let’s start with the case being titanium. In this price bracket you’ll find a host of decent microbrands in steel, some with Chinese catalogue cases, and rather large for 2020, quartz powered, or having a vintage diver vibe. None of this applies to the Venture, a small, modern, minimalist field watch, with the bonus of a confidence-inspiring and dive-ready 200m WR.…
The notion that “knowledge is power” has arguably become the guiding principle of our professional lives. Organisations are more reliant than ever on numerical evidence to gauge how they’re shaping up. Businesses study balance sheets, governments scrutinise trade figures, media networks analyse traffic growth and revenue streams. Sport, too, has become ever more data-obsessed after the so-called “Moneyball effect” saw the Oakland A’s baseball team thrive after they started basing their decisions on statistical analysis, rather than the hunches of ageing scouts. As a result, the corporate maxim, “If it’s not measurable, it’s not manageable” has become universally accepted. The reason is simple: numbers deliver an objective yardstick to determine your rate of progress or decline. That philosophy is now also becoming increasingly applied to our personal lives. Built on the promise of “self-knowledge through numbers”, the “quantified self” movement is based on collecting data on a specific area of your life with a long-term view to improving it. Your focus could be anything you’re looking to work on: weight loss, mood swings, cholesterol levels, productivity, too much booze … To the self-tracker they’re all made to measure. Once you’ve accumulated a reasonable wodge of data, you can then analyse…
Editor’s note: Thor’s story earlier today about the battle of the Girard-Perregaux Laureatos sent me back in time to my own Laureato experience. And it’s not an entirely happy one. Because it involves me doing perhaps my biggest ever U-turn. But the story gets even more awkward. Because shortly after writing this review, and then reading the story on Time+Tide (luxuriating once again in Jason Reekie’s startling pics) I called a local dealer (Hi, Bernard), arranged an inspection, and the rest was history. How do I feel about it a year later? The force remains strong. I love it now more than I did then. Many nuances have revealed themselves over time, but perhaps best of them is the brushed steel of both the case and bracelet. It emanates a duller grey lustre than many super shiny steel sports watches, which belies a toughness that gives you confidence. You put it on – noting as always the silky wrist feel of the bracelet and 904L steel – and you’re up for just about anything. Ok, so there’s the twist in the tale, at the top of the story. Read on! When it came up that a review of the Girard-Perregaux Laureato was on the…
Cam Wolf of GQ has made yet another great watchspot in his latest “Watches of the Week” column. Cam spots Joe Biden wearing an Omega Seamaster 300M with a black dial on his wrist during the Democratic National Convention. As Cam explains, this is not the only Omega Mr Biden owns – as he has also been spotted wearing an Omega Speedmaster and earlier generations of Seamaster divers as well. Cam takes it a step further then just naming the watch on Mr Biden’s wrist. He also compares and contrasts the wrist choices of the two men going head to head for the Presidency in November. The rivalry does not end at the polling booth. While Mr Biden has been spotted wearing luxurious yet subtle stainless steel sports watches from Omega, President Trump prefers gold; his Rolex Day-Date on a Presidential bracelet (among other yellow gold watches such as a Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse) being the favourite. Cam notes that the type and shade of metal can speak to how a politician wants to be perceived by their constituents. “Since Lyndon B. Johnson wore a Rolex Day-Date in the Oval, that watch has been known as the President. But times have changed…