FRIDAY WIND DOWN: An open letter describing how you schooled us on the place of watches in a pandemic. How can they still matter?
This time a couple of weeks ago, the challenge was set, and it was formidable. A fast approaching watch fair – Watches & Wonders – with no watches in sight. None to have. None to hold. None to video. What choice but to fold? We didn’t do that, though. We’re Aussies, we don’t give up that easy. And also, as newly minted media partners of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) – a responsibility that we are honoured to uphold – we had a duty to deliver. Like we talked about in last week’s Wind Down, we considered that many of you, our dear readers and viewers, are currently on the couch, rapidly bingeing through ALL the series like Joe Exotic binges on hair dye. We considered that while we couldn’t hold them in the metal, we could talk to the good images we had of them, and we could bring in some friends, and off-site team members to talk to the detail and the highlights. And then, late in the piece, the boss of IWC joined in, too. We could also make it look more fun than usual. Like a Late Show. Voila. We had a virtual watch fair…
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“Why is he yelling?” someone in the YouTube comments has already asked. And it’s a good question. In my first appearance in Every Watch Tells A Story, I am shouting like a person in a particularly noisy pub. That’s because, for the shoots that comprise this series that’s what the Time+Tide office turns into. A particularly noisy pub. It’s the excitement. It’s the enthusiasm. And yes, it’s the refreshments that are always flowing. These events, usually based around Club get-togethers or, in this case, an Indie Explorer evening, are ones to let the hair down at. The official brand events are special, too, but they’re usually more about discovering collections, meeting the people behind the watches and, very often, education. They’re super fun for the team, too. And I miss them like I never thought I would right now. Anyway, the lady doth protest too much. Yes, I’m shouting; yes, I’m well refreshed; and yes, I’m enthusiastic about these two watches. Very much so. What we have here is the DOXA SUB 1200T, a now discontinued model. And we have the William Wood Valiant, Red Watch. In a first for Every Watch Tells A Story, the modern variation of the…
This year, Cartier are shining the spotlight on the pioneering age of aviation as a source of inspiration. And that brings to the fore the wristwatch that started it all, the Santos-Dumont. The model returned to prominence in 2019 with the quartz Cartier Santos-Dumont. While the Cartier family and Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont are inexorably linked through his role in their development of the first-ever men’s wristwatch, it is exciting to see his work used as a motif in a series of limited editions this year. One of the most striking of these limited editions is the Cartier Santos-Dumont “La Demoiselle”, a platinum wristwatch that references an aircraft developed by Mr Santos-Dumont in 1907. The Santos-Dumont Demoiselle aircraft was built to compete in the Grand Prix d’Aviation. In order to promote aircraft development, a 50,000 franc prize was offered to the first person able to fly an aircraft around a circular 1km circuit. It would also be the last aircraft that Santos-Dumont would build. For Cartier to name a watch after this important aircraft is a fitting tribute to the man who invented it, and an appropriate way to celebrate a pivotal moment in the history of what was then a French jewellery company.…
The best thing about perpetual calendar watches is they are truly set-and-forget timepieces. So if you’re reading this a few decades from now and you’ve picked up a 2020 Vacheron Constantin Overseas Perpetual Calendar as a birth-year watch, don’t worry, it won’t need to be adjusted till well into your retirement in 2100. Vacheron Constantin have released two new perpetual calendars in the Overseas collection this year, and while they have a lot of similarities, the impression they each leave you with couldn’t be more different. Vacheron Constantin Overseas Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin Skeleton First, let’s look at the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Perpetual Calendar in pink gold with skeleton dial. As far as complicated-looking luxury sports watches go, this one is exceptionally clean looking for all that is going on. While some skeletonised dials can fall into the trap of looking overly ornate or garishly exposed, or just plain busy, this watch is none of those things, giving a nod to the Vacheron Constantin history of skeleton dials while remaining contemporary in its execution. The prominent calendar sub-dials return some legibility and some symmetry to a dial that can look messy and confusing, while the floating gold hour markers and hands…
Looking at the new watches Jaeger-LeCoultre released for W&W 2020, my overriding impression was that the brand is calmly focusing on what it does really well: refined, technically rigorous and beautifully executed watchmaking that won’t stop the traffic from 100 paces (no look-at-me gimmicks here) but will invite us to pause, look more closely and appreciate the lasting value. In these strange times, it may be just what we need. So, this year La Grande Maison has brought us new versions of two of its great classics – one a complete redesign and the other a colour variation – and one stunning high-complication piece. Master Control 2020 While many houses have chosen to introduce additions to existing collections and variations of existing models, Jaeger-LeCoultre has been bolder, re-launching an entire collection – with four new models to kick things off. In the 28 years since the Master Control line first saw the light of day, it has stood for technical expertise combined with restrained styling. That hasn’t changed. But with the re-launch we’re seeing a total redesign, a raft of technical upgrades to some of the Maison’s most emblematic complications, a completely new movement and a new complication. Aesthetically, the new…
When it comes to big days, they don’t come much more memorable or special than your wedding day, especially now, when it seems like every wedding has its own hashtag or custom location check-in. So it’s only natural that you’d want to ensure every inch – from top to wrist – is looking its finest. When we think of well-suited weddings, we think Mr Carl Navè, a Melbourne-based tailor who sees plenty of grooms at his Bourke Street showroom. We sat down with Mr Navè to get the lowdown on where men’s matrimonial style is at right now. Time+Tide: Are people even getting married these days? Carl Nave: Yes, they are! Weddings are huge. Traditionally, in Melbourne and Sydney, wedding season used to be a season in the second half of the year, whereas now, it’s non-stop. It’s great. Weddings are exciting. Weddings are fun. Fifty per cent of my business is weddings. And, of course, they’re looking better than ever, and more people than ever are seeing them. You look at the level of beautiful photography that exists now. It’s not a wedding day, it’s a wedding shoot. T+T: And how does this translate to the groom, and what…
It was a Friday afternoon last November when I met Jan Edöcs, the CEO of Doxa S.A. He was here for the launch of the brand in Australia, and not only brought the full collection of watches from 2019, but he was also generous enough to share what they had in store for 2020, including early renders of the DOXA SUB 300 Carbon Aqua Lung US Divers, which as of now is available to pre-order here. ** Rumours are circulating that this watch is already sold out – for now, we can say that an Australian allocation remains for launch at midday AEST, though this will be updated once it is gone. Click on this text for updated sales information. ** While it’s always hard to get a true sense of a watch from renders, this one was different. It was carbon. It bore a striking yellow and black colour scheme. It was aggressively priced. And it had a certain logo on the dial. My instincts were overwhelmingly that it was a winner. From a brand whose core identity is based on the strength of their designs from the 1960s, this watch was a bold statement about DOXA’s 21st century…
The thing about understated magnificence is that, at first glance, it’s often overlooked. And then it happens. The “why-Miss-Jones-without-your-glasses-you’re-beautiful” moment. Suddenly noticed, the full force of its charm slaps you sharply in the face, to leave you genuflecting with slack-jawed wonder and a slightly goofy smile. This is how I feel about the just-released Jaeger‑LeCoultre Master Control Calendar. Not that there’s some drudge-to-goddess transformation going on here. The appeal of this watch is hiding in plain sight (except for one very cool once-a-month party trick, about which, more later). JLC introduced its Master Control collection in 1992, naming them after the fact that they were the first to undergo the brand’s ‘1000 Hours Control’ certification. Essentially, this is like an SAS bootcamp for watches – a merciless system of internal tests that includes chronometric testing, fall resistance, climatic hazard resistance, waterproofing and accelerated aging. Every aspect of the movement, from power reserve to waterproofing, is tested, both before and after casing the watch. In comparison, it makes COSC certification seem almost recklessly negligent. This is a serious watch in other words, a point worth stressing because it wears its technical credibility lightly. At 40mm, the silvery-grey dial lifted with a…
Tragically, Covid-19 spells economic doom for many businesses. But while many industries are flat-lining or being forced into hasty reinventions, there are signs that the vintage watch industry will not just scrape through, but that some corners are in fact going from strength to strength. Cam Wolf in GQ explores how auction houses and watch dealers are currently doing record business when it comes to their vintage watch trade. Earlier this month, for example, two weeks in a row, Sothebys broke its record for most-expensive watch sold online. Wolf explores why vintage watches are booming in the face of the global pandemic. Some investors, he discovers, are building portfolios of classic vintage pieces – vintage Rolex, Royal Oaks etc – and using watches as a relatively safe haven to park their money while the stockmarket undergoes extreme volatility. “Vintage watches, not modern ones, seem to be untouchable for collectors,” writes Wolf. “What old watches have over their newer counterparts is that they’re already out of production—they’re inherently limited and therefore typically scarcer. The biggest watch enthusiasts believe that even in a time of economic turmoil, it will be these watches that save them.” Another factor, Wolf points out, is the…
Editor’s note: This week, we have something a little different for Micro Mondays. Instead of an interview, or review, it’s an open letter from Sydney-based Australian watchmaker, Nicholas Hacko. It was written for the second edition of NOW Magazine. We featured Nicholas Hacko by way of his kind offer to host a photo shoot starring Aldis Hodge at his watch manufacture in Sydney. The large feature was complemented with an open letter and a single page ad. But, reading this letter again now, it’s too good not to share. These are words of fire, that demonstrate the levels of drive – not to mention the levels of self-belief – you need to possess to have any kind of chance of showing “the Swiss that [we’re] capable of creating a wristwatch that is as good, if not better than the very best they have to offer.” And confidence underscores Nicholas Hacko’s offer, in every possible sense. Including, in quite extraordinary style, the offer and repair of watches within half a century of the purchase date. That’s just plain epic. So, yes, it is an ad of sorts – the actual advertisement that accompanied this letter is at the bottom of the post. But it’s one that…