Andrew has made an epic 70-video YouTube playlist of his favourite T+T videos. Bye bye four hours.
The idea came from a letter we received at info@timeandtidewatches.com We are lucky to receive a lot of random personal mail at that address. And the truth is we read all of it and try to reply to as much as we can. The influx of mail since cities have starting locking down around the world in response to COVID-19 has been noticeable, and the tone of it is different. You can tell people have time on their hands. Richard Winter from the UK summed it up perfectly in his note: “I am managing to work from home but not being with colleagues makes it a real chore and not the promised land people assume it must be. After finishing work finding something interesting to do or watch is actually quite difficult and spreading out decent box sets to watch over a 12-week period is more difficult than you’d think.” Richard goes on to say that an unlikely saviour for this one day – one day out of we sadly suspect will be over a hundred more, certainly in Australia, where we are only just going into lockdown over the last week – was the Time+Tide YouTube channel. Richard falls…
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Bold colours and textures. That’s how you could quickly sum up the Sixties collection that has been the vintage-inspired darling of the Glashütte Original lineup ever since they hit the scene. This year, the German-based manufacture has turned the volume down, opting for a much cooler and more restrained expression of the collection with glacier blue dials for the first time ever. Available in both time-only and chronograph formats, this could be a compelling collection for those who love the vintage cues of the Sixties collection but prefer to keep what is on their wrist under the radar a little more. As with all of the references within the Sixties collection, we are offered a watch of restrained dimensions and faithfully executed design cues. The 39mm case of the three-handed watch keeps it at an extremely wearable size, with the chronograph only slightly larger at 42mm. Both keep a low profile, at a tastefully svelte 9.4mm and 12.4mm respectively for the time-only and chronograph. The shape of the case is also a point of note, as it is generously domed on both sides of the watch thanks to the curved sapphire crystal that covers the dial and movement. This serves…
In the lead-up to the 2012 presidential election, France’s leader Nicolas Sarkozy, was preparing to deliver a campaign speech in Paris. Striding through the heaving crowd in Place de la Concorde, Sarkozy grinned and shook the hands of his cheering supporters. But halfway along, a realisation flashed through his mind. Without stopping, he whipped off his watch and surreptitiously tucked it into his pocket. The watch in question was a Patek Philippe 5140G-001 Perpetual Calendar in white gold with an opaline white dial. A gift from his wife – the former model and millionaire heiress Carla Bruni – Sarkozy’s watch had a value back then of 55,000 euros. Inevitably, Sarkozy’s sleight-of-hand act was caught on camera – you can watch his switcheroo below (forward to 2.05). Afterwards, he was crucified by the press for a gesture that was viewed both as proof of Sarkozy’s mistrust of his own people and the admission that his extravagant wristwear was inappropriate for a man in his position. Notably the man who ousted Sarkozy in the subsequent election, Francois Hollande, opted to wear a modest Swatch. Political leaders live in a world where every speck of their life is deconstructed and analysed to…
Well, what else can possibly happen in this beleaguered watch industry of ours? Fairs are cancelled. Roadshows are roadblocked. Even events are a sweet, champagne-flavoured memory. What about brands not releasing watches at all? And what if a brand that would have ordinarily been the latest of adopters when it comes to e-commerce was suddenly available through their AD’s websites with ‘Add to Bag’ next to the listing? Tick, and tick. Patek Philippe will not release any watches in 2020. And, of the watches currently on sale, several are now available for purchase online. So there you have it. Another sacred cow meets the scimitar. At the other end of town, we received an email today from a microbrand, Albany Watches, who informed their database that the brand would be ‘on hold’ indefinitely. “I hope you understand how regrettable this decision has been to make,” says Brett, the founder. “It’s been my pleasure to bring Albany Watches to the watch world since its inception. Through the trials of testing prototypes, to finding the right company that’s manufactured to the levels of quality I expect, to receiving stunning reviews from around the world and finding supporters like yourselves has been a dream…
With the possibility that yet more brands will not release watches this year, following suit with Patek Philippe, the field for the best new watches has narrowed dramatically. And in the steel sports watch category, there now stands one towering contender for the best of 2020. And that is a watch released before this year lurched off a cliff and into this unimaginable territory we find ourselves lost in – a world without watch fairs. A world without roadshows. A world without new watches? In what now seems like a brilliant act of forethought, LVMH jumped the field with LVMH Watch Week, held in Dubai in January, and came fully and front-loaded with some brilliant releases. In my opinion, the best Big Bang ever, the Big Bang Integral, the most creative and potentially unisex collection ever released by Zenith (that bloody gorgeous Midnight collection, Lord, what a winner), a single knockout release of the Heuer 160th Carrera Limited Edition, and, of course, three sparkling new executions of the Finissimo – two of them interesting, slash, peculiar, and one a category killer. This one. The 100M Stainless Steel. And if you had any doubts how proud the team are of this…
Editor’s note: ‘Modding’ a watch is not a trend in watchmaking, it is a trope. It has, and always will be, a part of the watchmaking and watch-wearing world as companies and individuals seek to personalise and individualise watches. A uniquely modified watch becomes more of a statement. And it offers an alternative to a ‘Piece Unique’, one-off watch. This story is the first in ‘The Modifier’s Series’, which looks at the main players in the modding game. Coming up, MAD, Bamford and more… For so many of us, Rolex — for all of its flaws — remains the pinnacle of the watch world. While inflated prices may be making the barrier to entry higher, the dream of slaving away for years to finally reward yourself with a hallowed five-pointed crown is still very much a thing, and a universal marker of success. To those who have already achieved this dream, maybe even multiple times, the question becomes: what next? Sure, you could go for some precious metal, haute horology, minute repeater, dual-axis tourbillon which costs as much as an average Monaco apartment. Or you could have the timepiece of your dreams personally crafted by Artisans De Genève. Since 2016, Les Artisans…
Dive watches have come a very long way in 55 years. It was 1965 when Seiko first dipped their toe into the waters of serious dive watches when they released the Seiko automatic 6217 62MAS, water resistant to 150m. Featuring large luminous hands and hour markers, a rotating dive 60-minute bezel and a rubber strap, it already had all the ingredients of the modern-day dive watch. To pay tribute to this special watch, and the legacy of diving watches that it gave birth to, Seiko have released a collection of limited edition watches inspired by important historic references, three of which are faithful to the originals, and one, the Seiko SPB149J, is a modern interpretation of the 62MAS from 1965. As it is a modern interpretation, it is worth some closer scrutiny to see how it stacks up. The link to the original Seiko dive watch is immediately obvious, with the blocky case sides, squared-off lugs and prominent crown at 3 o’clock. While the crown was originally placed there, by 1968 Seiko had shifted the crown to the 4 o’clock position that we are used to seeing to this day. The black 60-minute bezel is also consistent with the original…
The truth is, I’m pretty easygoing. I can get along. Very few things get anywhere near grinding my gears in the watch world – I’m a fan of, and can appreciate, just about anything that’s associated with the little timekeeping marvels that we love. That is, unless you are talking about Bund straps. Because Bund straps are terrible. I don’t use the word hate very often, but when I do, it’s in reference to the Bund strap. Here’s a fun game. How many redeeming qualities do Bund straps have? Answer, none. The only man who could pull one off was the coolest man who ever lived, Paul Newman … and even he only barely got away with it. For starters, the etymology of the word “bund” is troubling, as it’s an abbreviation for Bundesrepublik Deutschland or Federal Republic of Germany. That’s right, the Bund strap was first popularised by nascent Nazi pilots in the 1930s … not a great origin story. And once the National Socialist German Workers’ Party was destroyed, the Bund strap should have gone with it, forever. Except it didn’t. The abhorrent, overtly thick and ungainly wrist-wear just went into hiding. The next time it would rear its ugly…
I expect we’ve all been there. A special occasion rolls around — Valentine’s Day, Christmas — and you buy your partner a gift. He or she does the same for you. And, shock horror. They ain’t equitable. They ain’t even close. This sets the scene for episode two of the second series of Every Watch Tells A Story, where we ask people at our events about the watch they are wearing and the story behind it. The curious thing about this gifting fail, which finds Alex at the shallower end, is that the items were both watches. It’s just that one — his beloved girlfriend’s gift — was Michael Kors. And Alex’s watch was a TAG Heuer. My first question, upon hearing this: Are you still together? As in, did she dump him? The answer: “She’s my wife now.” Which, you suspect, given her tolerance, was the right call. Alex is not the only one to recognise the Calibre 5 Carrera as an ideal daily wearer. We wrote a review recently that sung its praises. The functionality of the day and the date. The sort of handsome looks that make it win on leather and bracelet. As we said at the time, the Carrera can be perceived as…
There are many talented and passionate people in the watch industry. People whose daily work for their brand goes far beyond a job. Too many to mention. Watches, after all, attract and retain a certain type of person. And if you don’t love watches, to your very core, the daily task of singly focusing on them will certainly become dry and your position eventually untenable. Yes, there may be many passionate professionals in our midst, but there is only one Petros Protopapas, Museum Director of Omega. We have caught this rare, and extremely colourful bird in full flight on many videos (pretty much all of them are on my epic Coronavirus Lockdown YouTube Playlist, which I’m unveiling in the next few days). However, the classic performance, the Oscar Winner in this mix, is that time he brought a suitcase full of irreplaceable Omega models down to Australia in 2014 for the ‘Omega Night of Firsts’. Petros proceeded to tell stories about each and every one of the 12 watches. If you haven’t watched this video, we can highly recommend it. It is not only informative, but a perfect demonstration of how powerful a passionate presenter can be. Those who attended…