INSIGHT: The Great Escapement – Explaining the Rolex with an Omega heart
It was a long time between drinks. An epic 200 years. And both beverages were served in Britain. We are talking about the invention of the lever escapement, the ‘beating heart’ of the mechanical watch, by British clockmaker Thomas Mudge around 1775. The only successful alternative, the co-axial escapement, was unveiled nearly two centuries later by another Englishman, George Daniels. While others, including Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1787, made minor modifications to the tech, the story of the escapement is almost exclusively a tale of two Brits – or three, if you include Daniels’ apprentice Roger Smith. The co-axial escapement comprises a system of three pallets that separate the locking function from the impulse. This reduces the sliding friction of the lever escapement and, theoretically, the need for lubrication of the pallets, though in practice some is used to reduce impact corrosion. Twenty-five years later, Smith is a celebrated independent watchmaker in his own right. He explains how a movement that is now wholly associated with Omega, is pictured in this Rolex. Also, importantly, how it has come to be in his possession. T+T: What is the story of this watch? How did it come to have a modified escapement? RS:…
The post INSIGHT: The Great Escapement – Explaining the Rolex with an Omega heart appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
Editor’s note: I’ll be honest, there is a part of me that really likes this watch. There is something about a gold-tone full-metal G-Shock that appeals to the same part of my brain that is excited by a solid gold Doxa; it’s a part tickled by totally unnecessary extravagance that is just so fun. Luckily, Cam put together his thoughts on what it’s like to own one of these nuggets, which is well worth a read if you haven’t yet. I have a confession to make: In 2018, I, Cameron Wong, did not purchase a single watch for myself. Not on purpose, it just kind of happened. It’s not like I didn’t have any on my radar either, I just think that I was able to satisfy the itch all year long by having the luxury of being able to review watches for a living. At least that was until Christmas time rolled around, and my trigger finger began to twitch, and the golden tones of the Casio G-Shock Full Metal GMW-B5000GD-9 moved clear into my sights. Now I know I just confessed to not buying a single watch for myself all year, well, that’s still technically true, because this…
Last weekend, Omega treated their faithful VIPs to a night with eyes trained to the stars, and the moon, in their lush boutique at Chadstone, the Fashion Capital. It was to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of humankind touching down on the moon – and the fact that this defining moment in the history of our species had an Omega watch at the centre of the action. And not just to look back on the epic Calibre 321 Speedmaster Professional that has looked down on earth from the moon, but also the watch that is commemorating the anniversary, the equally epic 50th Anniversary Limited Edition. We were honoured to be invited to speak at the event. The story went pretty much as follows. Omega was the first brand to offer Time+Tide a truly special event opportunity in our very early days, way back in 2014. It was ‘A Night of Omega Firsts’ – and it involved the Museum Manager (at the time; he now enjoys the loftier title of Brand Heritage Manager), Mr Petros Protopapas, bringing 12 irreplaceable Omega Watches to Vue de monde in Melbourne to tell their stories. One of those watches was a pre-moon Cal 321 Speedy. While…
It isn’t every day you look out the window and see a meteor shower. In fact, it’s a newsworthy event when anyone is lucky enough to catch one on film. So I don’t think you would be going out on a limb to say that they are fairly uncommon events, causing you to assume that meteorite is a pretty rare mineral to come by, and it must be very expensive. How then are so many watch companies producing timepieces with meteorite dials? One of the most talked about watches from Baselworld 2019 was a white gold Rolex GMT-Master II with a meteorite dial, the distinctive geometric patterns on the thin slice of rock making for an attractive watch. But the question that came to some people is where do Rolex meteorite dials come from? The folk at Gear Patrol were also perplexed by this set of circumstances, so they did a little digging to find out more and published what they found here. As it turns out, there are a few challenges in working with this exotic material.
Here at Time+Tide HQ, the banter is fast, free-flowing and deeply uninteresting for anyone who doesn’t love watches. Sometimes this spitballing makes it beyond our four humble walls, such as when the team built a fantasy $20K watch collection, and this is another one of those occasions. The question posed to the team this time: “If you had to wear a watch marketed at a different gender, what would it be?” This isn’t to say that people can’t wear whatever watches they want (I love wearing a watch which could be argued is a women’s watch), but is just taking the lead from the brands’ positioning of their products. Here we go! Andrew (Jefe) – Piaget Limelight Gala The design of the lugs is just beautiful and creates a sort of flow to the case. The hammered gold bracelet is also spectacular and painfully handcrafted, too. In every way this is a considered watch, rich in nuance. Felix (Editor) – Chanel Boy.Friend Skeleton Chanel is becoming an increasingly impressive player in the “proper watch movement” space. And while the gorgeous from the bottom-up build of this movement is enough to win you over, I actually love the chic style. Plus,…
One of the most random, and awesome watches to emerge from the briny depths of Baselworld was the (very) limited edition Doxa SUB 200 T. On the surface this is a pretty standard vintage reissue, with a big 43mm case in that classic cushion shape, with that classic orange dial, in a dual register layout (powered by a hand-wound Valjoux 7734), and with some awesomely retro dial details — blocky prints, stocky hands, the whole nine yards. But — and this is a big but — the case is made from solid-freaking-yellow-gold. Solid, with a capital S O L I and D. And did we mention the fact that it’s an LE of 13 pieces? If you want wrist presence, this is pretty much the definition. It’s also the definition of odd flex. I’m not sure the world needed a $70K USD gold Doxa (worth noting here that a solid gold Rolex Daytona is around $45K AUD), but it’s kind of a better place for it. Maybe?
It’s long been a staple of watch collecting advice and lore — don’t keep your watches in your sock drawer or consumer-grade safe, keep them in a safe deposit box. Well, that old adage is looking a little stretched on the basis of a recent article in The New York Times, which recounts the harrowing tale of a watch collector who rocked up to his bank one day to discover his collection of watches gone. And it wasn’t the result of a daring heist, instead the much more banal human error. Even worse, he had precious little legal recourse or protection. An excellent look at one of the most romanticised, and least profitable aspects of banking … Well worth a read. 
Next up in our rolling cavalcade of ‘Every Watch Tells a Story’ stories is Vince. Now, this one is a bit of a funny one, and not just because the watch in question is the critically acclaimed Joker from Russian watchmaker Konstantin Chaykin. If you’re not familiar with the Joker, it’s a very clever piece of watchmaking, that looks like, well, a Joker. Look closer and you’ll notice that those crazy eyes show hours and minutes, and the lolling red tongue is actually a moonphase. It’s bright, cheery and pretty out of the box for a generally conservative industry. And these are all reasons why Vince fell for the watch, hard. The only problem? It was limited to 99 pieces and they were all gone. He actually made a secret edition with a casino in Russia called Tigre de Cristal So Vince put some calls in to try to track one down. Within minutes he had a call back … but there was something odd about this Joker … 
Watch lovers across the planet have been collectively holding their breath this year, eagerly waiting for Omega to release a commemorative watch to celebrate humanity launching away from the planet. It was 50 years ago that American astronauts left the safety of their lunar module and stepped onto the surface of the Moon, with Omega Speedmasters strapped to their wrists. The Moon landings were the most viewed event in human history, with an estimated 650 million people around the world watching Neil Armstrong take a giant leap for mankind. Needless to say, Omega hasn’t forgotten its involvement with the mission, and are celebrating the 50th anniversary with the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch 321 Platinum. There’s a lot to love about this watch, so we wanted to count down our three favourite parts of the new 321. 3 – The movement The calibre 321 began development in 1942 by Lémania movement designer Albert Piguet, who also worked on movements for Omega (as they were both owned by the Swatch Group). It was first used in the Omega Speedmaster in 1957, and finally ceased production in 1968 when it was replaced by the calibre 861 chronograph movement. Raynald Aeschlimann, CEO of Omega, hinted…
Editor’s note: Bruce doesn’t write for us too much, but when he does, it’s absolute gold. From his classic Batman review to this extended wear of the Tudor Black Bay GMT. A great, insightful take on one of the hottest pieces in the market right now. When the Tudor Black Bay GMT debuted this year at Basel it would’ve been easy to describe it as being overshadowed by the much-hyped Rolex GMT that was also showcased. But it’s not that simple. The Tudor is a hit in its own right, and I knew I had to have one. I had to wait half a year before I could get my hands on one and I can safely say that Tudor has once again reinforced their reputation as a brand to watch. My first impression was … that it might be too big and therefore uncomfortable. The 41mm case, water resistant to 200m, which houses the amazing new manufacture MT5652 movement, is very thick, at 15mm top to bottom. I found the clever folks at Tudor have worked some subtle angles underneath the case sides and tapered the lugs in such an elegant fashion that the Black Bay GMT actually wears smaller…