5 presentation dials that ruined perfectly good watches. Or did they?
Editor’s note: The other day, Nick popped into the office with his latest pick-up, a fairly awesome Seiko with a custom ‘Gator Bowl’ dial, which got me to thinking about custom dials, particularly those with corporate logos. They seemed to have had quite a moment in the past, but that time has definitely passed. And while a lot of people aren’t too keen on these dials, I’m quite a sucker for them. Here’s a story from a while back, where I go into bat for custom dials … There’s a piece of pop culture folklore that says that when you retire, your employers give you a party and a gold watch. Now, if you were born after 1980, this concept seems like a quaint anachronism from some halcyon economic boom time, where job security was real and employers rewarded long service. But, trust us, we’ve watched Mad Men, back in the day this was actually a thing. And often the watches were personalised with the company logo. In the business, these watches are known as ‘presentation dials’, because, you know, they were presented to someone. And this is where things get weird/awesome. Supermarkets and fast food chains are about as far away from…
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I can only imagine the joy that must have been felt in Omega’s design department when it was announced that Tokyo would be hosting the 2020 Olympic Games. Not only has Japan had an incredible influence on design, but their flag — a simple red sun in a white field — lends itself to some interesting watchmaking interpretations. Case in point is one of the first limited editions offered up by the Official Timekeeper, a Planet Ocean clad in white — dial, bezel and strap (there’s a chic grey NATO in the mix too), with a varnished red dot at the end of the seconds hand (a Rising Lollipop, perhaps?), and a red ’20’ on the bezel, for the 2020 Games, obviously. Olympic association aside, it’s a clean and good-looking take on a modern dive classic. All else is as you’d expect: 39.5mm case, steel case and Master Chronometer Calibre 8800 movement. And as for the limited edition quantity? Do you even have to ask – 2020. 
Today’s entrant into the ‘Every Watch Tells a Story’ hall of fame is Dale. It turns out that Dale has a bit of a thing for pilot’s watches, and for good reason — Dale is a commercial airline pilot. And the pride of his collection is none other than the mighty Breitling Navitimer. In case you’re not across it, the Navitimer (a portmanteau of navigation and timer) is one of those seminal watches that dates back to 1952, and featured a distinctive slide rule bezel, which was used by pre-avionics pilots as a tool, allowing on-the-fly calculations of things like fuel levels and average speed. It’s a pilot’s watch that pilots used to use Of course this isn’t functionality that Dale needs on his wrist for his day job, but it’s an important part of the history of aviation, and undeniably cool. And of all the models on offer, Dale’s 2003 model, with a starburst blue dial, is a real stunner. 
The story in a second: Ultra thin and out of this world, we have to be talking about the Piaget Altiplano Automatic 40mm with meteorite dial. Piaget’s Altiplano is a staple in the world of ultra-thin watches, with an elegance that matches its slenderness. This limited edition version dials (if you’ll pardon the pun) the elegance up to 11, with a unique meteorite dial that adds a level of flash and panache that’s hard for a ‘normal’ dial to match. We had the chance to have a closer look at our recent Piaget event, and these are our thoughts … The case This should come as no surprise — this watch is thin. How thin, I hear you all ask, simultaneously? Well, how does 6.5mm sound? I don’t know about you, but it certainly sounds slender to me. This degree of thinness is largely down to the fact that the dial and movement don’t take up much space — more on that later — but the design of the 40mm rose gold case is simple, with straight lines and a broad polished bezel that only goes to accentuate the lack of height. The dial The simple case also serves to accentuate the dial,…
If you want to know how hard you need to slap a chicken to cook it, the internet is almost too ready to give you an answer. On the other hand, if you google any combination and permutation of the words ‘Sorna’, ‘World Timer’ and ‘watches’, you’ll find four to five relevant searches that are older than most high schoolers. Even Wikipedia, the all-knowing and all-seeing, doesn’t seem to acknowledge the existence of this watch and brand. If that isn’t the bleakest affirmation of obscurity, then I don’t know what is. What follows is a distillation of all the research I have compiled and experience I have gained in the month and a half of owning the Sorna World Timer. The original Sorna Watch Company (apparently no association to the Kickstarter brand sharing its name) suffered a fate similar to many other Swiss brands during the quartz crisis. The company went into liquidation, but the name was purchased by an unknown company that continued to produce watches faithfully replicating the original ’70s chronograph designs, but using an ebauche movement that removed the chronograph function and replaced it with a day-month one. Sorna did apparently have some connection to racing, collaborating…
Editor’s note: The other week, the Bond-centric rumour mill (which is an oddly specific, but proliferate sub-genre of the internet) went wild over (entirely unsubstantiated) reports of 007 being replaced by Lashana Lynch (note, she’s cited as being the next 007, not the next Bond). It seems like the sort of story tailor-made to drive the internet into a frenzy — flipping the gender switch on traditional masculine icons seems to be quite en vogue right now. And while a black, female 007 is something we can very much get behind, the real question is what would her watch be? Omega, obviously, but from what family? Well, history suggests it’ll be a Seamaster … James Bond is always running out of time. Every second that slips away sees the missile nearer to launching, the girl’s life slipping further away, global catastrophe looming ever closer. Time matters for Bond in a way few of us can understand, and this, along with his unfailingly suave style, go a long way to explaining why what this man wears on his wrist is such a big deal. Die Another Day Pierce Brosnan’s 2002 Bond swansong was the last time he slipped on the iconic Seamaster Professional…
The Swatch Group have published their 2019 Half-Year Report, revealing some interesting information. The group has reported an increase in their inventory levels, which include components, movements and watches, to a total of 7.1 billion Swiss francs (up 2.6 per cent from 2018). More broadly, the group, which owns brands such as Tissot, Longines and Omega, has reported a 3.7 per cent dip in sales compared to the previous year, attributing a portion of this negative result to efforts against the grey market, which undercut their retail channels by selling watches at heavily reduced prices. Swatch Group have taken “uncompromising action against grey-market dealers, especially in Europe, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South America, at the expense of a short-term negative impact on sales in the first half year in the triple-digit millions. In the long term, this will lead to positive effects, especially in the major markets.” One part of this effort was explained as a “suspension of deliveries to grey-market dealers”, clearly attempting to dry up their access to stock by limiting the number of watches that leave Swatch Group production facilities. However, these numbers have reached concerning heights, with the 7.1 billion Swiss francs…
The new Call of Duty trailer was dropped last week, and it featured an interesting horological detail that was noticed by one eagle-eyed Reddit user. As discussed in an article by Kotaku, the time displayed on the wrists of the game characters will read the local time of the person playing, adding a very cool in-game detail. While here at Time+Tide we are less concerned with the “grave ludonarrative consequences” (yes, I had to look up what ludonarrative meant) and more interested in how this could add another way for players to customise their characters. So while we don’t anticipate that this will be infinitely customisable to allow players to be able to rock a Ref. A/6538 Rolex MilSub, we thought we would still add our suggestions for Call of Duty watches that would rise to the occasion. Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000V In a war zone, robustness is required. If something isn’t literally bulletproof, it had better be as good as, and that is what this full metal G-Shock offers. It’ll survive falling off a roof, as well as any underwater diving you need to do, and will do it all for about a decade without complaint. In addition, thanks to…
Editor’s note: Flipping is one of the hot-button watch issues of 2019, and TBH we’re a little over it. So here’s the other side of the equation — what makes a watch a keeper? In this story from a few years back we asked our readers what made their watches keepers, and then we chimed in on the personal keepers … Without getting too first-year political science on you – the basis of modern life is disposability. We live in a consumer society. And that’s what we do – we consume. Everything is designed to be discarded and replaced with something newer and more expensive — from our clothes to coffee cups to computers. It’s a vicious cycle that can be hard to escape, but if you’re reading this, chances are you have an appreciation of things built the old-fashioned way. Much of the appeal of fine watches is that they’re machines designed to endure, to serve us faithfully for the course of our lives, and often beyond. Of course, just because something’s designed to be forever doesn’t mean it will be (just look at the divorce rate or the lifespan of a political promise). And so it is with watches.…
In the past, owning a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date meant something different to what it does now. It was the President’s watch, worn by those who controlled the destinies of millions around the world, making daily decisions that mattered. Now the perception of the Day-Date is influenced by rappers and Instagram hustlers, offering an ostentatious feeling that hints at missing parental attention during formative childhood years. Sean makes a strong argument to change this with his Love Letter to the Rolex Day-Date. While he acknowledges this unfortunate shift in perception through some contemporary wearers, he focuses our attention on the positive ambassadors for the Day-Date, including one of the most suave athletes on the planet, Roger Federer (as well as the broader Federer clan). I couldn’t agree more with Sean, and would also love to see the SoundCloud beat-makers of the world stick to their after-market ice, and leave this symbol of classical control out of their music videos. Sure, some may say that it is over the top and a disgusting act of opulence. Though they have a point and I do agree that it is loud, all I am calling for is some balance in one’s perspective. Why…