10 of the best digital watches you can buy in 2020, Part 1, including Braun, G-Shock, Hamilton and HD3
Digital watches may not be mechanical masterpieces that harken back to the romanticism of time-telling from a bygone era. But they’re an increasingly exciting corner of the hobby we love, and what they lack in pedigree and soul they make up for in almost boundless functionality. If you look down at your wrist right now and see a digital watch, in place of your usual ‘real’ watch, you’re a pragmatist as well as a poet, inspired by technology and its brilliant ability to democratise information and accuracy. We’ve chosen 10 new digital watches to bring to your attention that might just scratch that retro, or tech-geek, itch, starting with these five. Casio G-Shock GBD-H1000 G-Shock’s latest release is the near-ubiquitous brand’s first serious attempt at a digital timepiece with some real “smartwatch” features. As a result, not only is the GBD-H1000 built like a tank and robust enough to take literally whatever you can throw at it, but it’s also got myriad gadgets. Chief among this go-go-gadgetry is five different sensors, which include an optical sensor for measuring heart rate, an accelerometer that measures daily steps, a magnet that’s used as a digital compass, a pressure (altitude/barometric) sensor, and…
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While much of the Longines Heritage collection released this year has been brand new pieces, we have also been treated to an update to an existing model, the Longines Flagship Heritage black dial. The previous expression was released last year to rave reviews from the watch world and featured a charming cream-coloured dial, the warmth of which subtly complemented the gold-tone hands and hour markers. With the addition of this new black dial reference, Longines offer a slightly more understated watch that bears all of the same attractive vintage cues. The backstory Inspired by the Longines Flagship watches of the 1950s, quintessential watches of the time that could easily be imagined glinting under the cuffs of dimly lit jazz-bar goers, the modern Longines Flagship Heritage is a distillation of the suave seriousness of a mid-century dress watch. The very first Longines Flagship was released in 1957, a time when the Jules Verne classic Around the World in Eighty Days captured the popular imagination and Elvis Presley dominated the airwaves, and is a period of nostalgia that the contemporary interpretation of the Flagship successfully arrests. The case Featuring a 38.5mm steel case and sitting only 10mm off the wrist, the Longines…
Editor’s note: Andrew didn’t know it at the time, but LVMH Watch Week in Dubai was the only major watch event in the first half of 2020. What he also didn’t know, but had a strong feeling about, was what the best luxury steel sports watch of the year would be. He picked it early, put his money on the Bulgari Octo Finissimo 100m Stainless Steel as the best performer, and six months later is only feeling more confident about the bet, especially now that it’s offered in both black and blue dialled variants. And do we have news for you. Word is out that after delays due to the pandemic, stock of the steel stunner is starting to hit Bulgari boutiques. Praise be! While in Dubai in January, Andrew spent some time with Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, the mind behind the watch, and discussed the design process of a case with more than 70 different facets and why it is now a real sports watch. The dynamic duo – who open this video with a Gregorian chant of some kind? – also explore other new Bulgari models to be released this year. As for the ‘Satinato’, contact your local Bulgari boutique…
“To be truly elegant one should not be noticed.” So said Beau Brummell, who despite ultimately dying as a syphilitic loon, is still regarded as the biggest single influence on contemporary men’s style. This recognition stems, in part, from Brummell creating the forerunner to the modern suit. But equally significant was his insistence that dressing well meant flying under the radar. “If people turn to look at you on the street,” he said, “you are not well dressed, but either too stiff, too tight, or too fashionable.” The context for this was that Brummell grew up in the late 18th century when men’s fashion was heavily influenced by the pageantry of the French royalty. The prevailing style was flamboyant and fussy — think lace cravats, powdered white wigs and an excess of silk, satin and velvet. What Brummell proposed was a more considered approach founded on structure and understatement. At the heart of it was a clear-eyed rejection of extravagance. Peek down at what you’re wearing right now — the neutral shades, the conspicuous absence of peacock feathers — and you’ll see how Brummell’s sensibility continues to shape the male wardrobe. Yet this less-is-more approach feels particularly relevant right now. The popularity…
In a move to be expected of a brand like Hublot, the provocative wunderkind of the industry has just released a new limited edition in collaboration with Garage Italia and the grandson of the Rake of the Riviera himself, Lapo Elkann. The Big Bang Millennial Pink is based on the Unico 42mm chronograph and features what the brand is calling a gender-neutral soft pastel pink colourway that can be seen throughout the entire watch. The colour Righto, let’s call it. Pastel pink can only be considered ‘gender neutral’ if you factor in Don Johnson’s pastel-masculinising Miami Vice wardrobe. But somehow – through oddly pleasing fleshy tones, and weird colour alchemy – it hits the spot. It’s been considered attractive by both genders in the Time+Tide office. As for “can’t stop looking at it”, that’s me quoting Andrew in the headline. He’s said exactly that multiple times this week. At this point, I’ll throw to some imagery to thicken the plot. Here are some men in an office wearing it. (As well as one further down the page). Do they look wildly effeminate? We think not. First impressions First impressions aside, this does represent a departure. While Hublot has a reputation…
Despite the temptation to re-tune our tiny violins and cry to the world that our virus numbers have skyrocketed and that we’re all on the brink of yet another endless day indoors, I’m going to flip this one to the positive and talk about the kinds of amazing, heartening and impressive letters and emails we get in here on a daily basis. Not every few days, or every few weeks. Every single day. It’s incredible. Please don’t stop. And if you’d like to start, do it here. (There is, as always, a standard and perpetual apology here to those who have not received a reply, please forgive me.) So let me start this Friday Wind Down by addressing all who have ever taken the time to pen us a letter, or send an email. Be assured of this: we have not only read it. We have shared it. Forwarded it to other team members. Sometimes to family members and friends to say — see, we have real people! See, my job matters! But in all seriousness, it’s usually to say, look at this effing cool letter we just received. As for the complaints, we read them too. And yes, my mates have had…
Patek Philippe’s first wristwatch of 2020 didn’t go down quite as well as the complicated models that have followed this week to practically unanimous praise. By contrast, the Calatrava Ref.6007A-001, limited to just 1000 pieces and made to celebrate the legacy brand’s new manufacture was met with many more brickbats than bouquets. Why? Well, according to many it didn’t quite manage that delicate dance between being inspired by existing models and, uh, borrowing too heavily from them. But are the criticisms well founded? Without deferring a judgment entirely (I’ll certainly get to that), the truth really is in the eye of the beholder in cases like this. Personally, it’s not what I’ve come to expect from the world’s greatest watchmaker. So, to get into it, and to see the comparisons side by side I present to you the three most cited models the Calatrava Ref.6007A-001 apparently owes a debt to. Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Date limited edition Hmm … has the best watchmaker on the planet straight out copied the “watchmaker’s watchmaker”? While we’ll openly admit that there are some stylistic elements that are similar – the inner recessed chapter ring, the wide flange, the centre dial – and the dial of…
Baselworld, as we know it, is dead. But has it been offered a resurrection lifeline by James Murdoch, the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch? The owner of Baselworld, MCH Group, has announced the investment of 104.5mCHF from the Murdoch-owned Lupa Systems for what is anticipated to be around one-third of the shares in MCH Group. This development does beg the question: why would James Murdoch invest in a failing show such as Baselworld? If you’re a regular reader of Time+Tide, you will have closely followed our coverage of the demise of the world’s biggest watch fair over recent months. Participation by brands at the fair had been dropping for half a decade, with 1500 exhibitors in 2016 down to just 520 in 2019, a decrease that was also reflected in the number of visitors to the show. In 2018 the entirety of Swatch Group (including brands such as Omega, Breguet, Blancpain, Longines and more) pulled out of the show, followed by Seiko, Grand Seiko and Breitling in 2019. These devastating withdrawals paved the way for the death blow in late February 2020. COVID-19 was still in its early stages of spreading across the globe, but after the second-largest watch…
Editor’s note: There’s the simple fact that Seiko are turning up the heat on the Swiss watch industry, and then there’s the way they’re doing it. Both are 100% worth taking note of. For example, let’s re-examine the Seiko Prospex LX SNR035J, a high-spec Spring Drive GMT at a shade under $8000AUD, that carries with it a murdered out vibe. In the metal, it borders on menacing. It is sleeker than your average Seiko diver, with muscular shoulders. It is pared back of anything that is not absolutely necessary for it to do its job to an elite level. It is awesome. Seeing this one in the archive took me back to the day we first discovered it. We had to take our collective breath then at the boldness of the aesthetics, and let’s just say it, the brazen nature of the price jump. A year and a few months later, it’s no less noteworthy, and it seems almost quaint that we would question the strategy, as the LX range has been wildly popular. It’s really not hard to see why. The force is strong – and the force is dark – with this collection. Prospex is Seiko-speak for “Professional Specification”, a family…
As a person who writes about and reviews timepieces all day every day, and as an avid enthusiast of horology since my mid-teens, there really isn’t too much that surprises me anymore in the watch world. Very few watches have the ability to stop me in my tracks, or, for lack of a better word, leave me feeling shook. This Longines Heritage Military Marine Nationale did exactly that. First impressions Ask anyone in the office who was there at the time … I completely lost it when I pulled this watch out of a plain cardboard box filled with Longines’ novelties for 2020. Sure, there were other nice watches in this box of horological goodies, but I just didn’t care. My eyes locked onto the Marine Nationale, and everything else faded into the background. A faithful re-creation of a mil-spec timepiece made almost 80 years ago for the French Navy (hence the name), this latest release is yet another exemplar of just how good Longines was in the first half of the 20th century. Now the watch I got Hands-On with was an early pre-production piece made specifically for the press, mainly for the purposes of taking very pretty photos…