VIDEO: Diamonds, rubies and Ronaldo, 4 Franck Muller watches worth $7m
Franck Muller excel at three things: highly complicated watches, including the most complicated wristwatch in the world, shown in this video (worth a cool $4.3 million dollars); the sleek Curvex case, and diamonds. Lots and lots of diamonds. If you want to shine bright like one, and you have a million Australian dollars, you’re in luck. We have them on our wrists in this video. FRANCK MULLER VANGUARD INVISIBLE SETTING Fun fact: This extraordinary fully diamond-set watch is a challenge to create, because, according to the designer, the diamonds are effectively set upside down, with the crown and pavilion facing into the watch. The table of each diamond is perfectly aligned, so as to create an uninterrupted line to the eye and to maximise the reflection of the light as it enters through the table. Australian Pricing: $538K – $1m FRANCK MULLER INVISIBLE SETTING IMPERIAL TOURBILLON (Rubies) Fun fact: This is one of two Franck Muller watches recently bought by football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. All 474 diamonds in the watch are officially graded colourless – D to F – in the colour scale, and VVS on the clarity scale. Featuring 474 baguette cut diamonds, with the flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock on…
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A few weeks ago, New Zealand, Australia and indeed the world were shocked by the horrific violence perpetrated against the Muslim community in Christchurch. In the aftermath of this event, what stood out was the overwhelming response, on all fronts, from political leaders, through to local and international communities. It can be seen in the watch community too, as the New Zealand chapter of RedBar has teamed up with Dion, from Kiwi watch company Magrette, to raffle off two watches, with all funds being donated to the Victim Support’s Christchurch Shooting Victims’ Fund. The watches being raffled off are a limited edition Magrette Mania (#4 of 25), featuring a stunning hand-engraved case back, with a RRP of $1875 USD, and a Magrette Moana Pacific Professional Kara LE, worth $775 USD. Winners will randomly be drawn at the next RedBar NZ meetup on April 13, and announced on RedBarNZ’s Instagram and Facebook. Raffle tickets are $10 USD each. To purchase, email redbarraffle@gmail.com with your full name, location and the number of tickets you would like to buy. Payment details will be sent to all entrants (PayPal available), and ticket numbers provided once payment is successfully received. Well done to the guys…
John F. Kennedy was a watch guy. He was rarely, if ever, sighted without one. A personal favourite of his was this Omega Ultra-Thin ref OT3980 gifted to him by his friend and former member of the Florida State House of Representatives Grant Stockdale. When we visited Omega’s headquarters in Bienne last year, we were fortunate enough to be given a tour of the museum, with a rare invitation to handle any watch that caught our eye. This was absolutely one of them. How to describe the feeling of holding in your hand an object with the human detritus of JFK visible on the strap, around the lugs and so on? He wore this watch frequently. You can tell. It was oddly unsettling. Powerful. I go on after this experience to handle Elvis’ watch, too. It wasn’t the same experience. I can’t advance any theories here, just an observation. An interesting backstory of this watch, aside from my esoteric rambling, is that Stockdale engraved and gifted the watch to JFK the summer before the November election, such was his faith in JFK. In December of 2005, Omega purchased the watch at auction for $350,000 USD. There’s much more to the…
Editor’s note: Few brands have the on-the-wrist presence of a Panerai. Pair that with the futuristic look of Carbotech and you’re onto a winner. Read our review from last year to find out why we love it. At first glance, Panerai’s watches share a reassuring familiarity — large cases, large crown guards and a dial design that puts legibility front and centre. A close look at the catalogue will show that the brand born from its Italian diving heritage has quite a lot of diversity on offer, particularly when it comes to case materials. From bronze to ceramic and (most recently) Bulk Metallic Glass, Panerai has strong form when it comes to material innovation. And today we’re having a closer look at one of the most interesting examples from recent times: Carbotech. Before we talk about the case material, let’s step back for a second and look at the bigger picture. PAM00616 is a 47mm Luminor Submersible, one of the brand’s beefiest cases, good for 300m of depth, and a standout thanks to the solid dive bezel and that patented crown guard. The watch is impressive on the inside, too, with a big P.9000 calibre ticking away, a double-barrelled beauty…
It’s now 10 days since Baselworld 2019 ended – but it feels like yesterday. Or half a lifetime ago. That’s what a week of viewing hundreds of new watches through a haze of severe jet lag, industrial quantities of caffeine and minimal sleep does to you. But with time comes recovery, and with that comes perspective. So now seems like a good moment to look back on what was always going to be one of the most keenly anticipated Baselworlds in the fair’s century-plus existence. Keenly anticipated but not necessarily in a good way. I hardly need to repeat that the past year has been an annus horribilis for Baselworld, with Swatch Group jumping ship along with hundreds of smaller companies, and the fair’s entire management team being replaced. For some, anticipating Baselworld 2019 was akin to a ghoulish fascination with an impending car crash – waiting and watching to see how bad it would be. Schadenfreude in spades. Others hoped (and some, I suspect, even prayed) that the changes announced by the new management would pull the ship back from the rocks. Boring? Hardly. One of the most entertaining (not-boring) things about Baselworld – and SIHH for that matter…
One of the bigger surprises of Basel was Seiko’s announcement of their high-end Prospex LX collection — big, chunky sports watches that feature a level of fit and finish we’ve seldom seen on a Seiko-labelled watch. And while the initial collection was a drop of six models, the one that we were most interested in, and — I suspect — the most crowd-pleasing number is the SNR029J1, a straight-up-and-down diver — inspired, to no small degree, by the classic Marinemaster 300. If the look is a 2019 update on a tried-and-tested model, the same can be said for the build. It’s a big, sporty watch, with a peerlessly finished titanium case (that zaratsu!), ceramic bezel and the mighty Spring Drive inside. With the high-end finishes and movement comes a higher price point. The Prospex LX family is designed to go toe-to-toe with the biggest Swiss brands’ mainstream sports offerings. Only time will tell if Seiko can succeed in their mission. Seiko Prospex LX SNR029J Australian pricing Seiko Prospex LX SNR029J, $8500
Traditionally, the blues are associated with sadness or hard times in life. However, that’s definitely not the case over at Vacheron Constantin, as these new blue-dialled additions add a bright new take on some of the brand’s core pieces. But, these three blues are not the same, each is different in shade or finish, and has been created specifically to complement the character of the collection in which it sits. Here are our three picks … The Vacheron Constantin Fiftysix Complete Calendar in petrol blue As far as collections go, the Fiftysix is Vacheron Constantin’s newest – loaded with mid-century charm and lots of sophisticated details, like a complex, multi-textured dial and a pleasingly idiosyncratic case. This year saw the addition of a striking new dial — a rich colour specific for the Fiftysix collection called petrol blue. On this Complete Calendar model, the new colour, along with the traditional layout of day and month apertures at the top, and moon at the bottom, makes for a compelling blend of timelessness and style. The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin Blue Blue and gold is a combination that never gets old. However, it is new for Vacheron Constantin’s Overseas Perpetual…
Hublot has been growing the Spirit of Big Bang line slowly and steadily, and though the SoBB Yellow Sapphire was quite the cool addition, this new tourbillon is (in my humble opinion) easily the best new offering in the collection. The Hublot calibre HUB6020 was designed specifically for the tonneau-shaped case of the Spirit, and its architecturally inspired structure suits the casing quite well. Once again being the brand that loves messing with variations of case materials, not only is it offered in a black carbon version, but also this slick version that that rolls hints of a blue composite material into the mix. Limited to only 100 pieces in each material and carrying a price tag over six figures, the tourbillon lives in the upper register of the brand’s collection, and if you have a closer look at some of their other skeletonised offerings you’ll note some similarity. Specifically, the Classic Fusion Tourbillon Power Reserve 5 Days Orlinski shares much of its movement DNA. The design of most of its bridges, as well as the layout of its mainspring barrel, tourbillon, and power reserve indication are near identical; however, to make the design work effectively in the SoBB, Hublot’s…
At a Baselworld that failed to excite on many levels, Hublot revved up crowds with an entirely new model, a 90th birthday collaboration that is anything but for the elderly, a totally bonkers tattooist tie-in and a Spirit of Big Bang that is a true blue beauty. Hublot Classic Fusion Ferrari GT Let’s cut the suspense and kick off with that new model – the 45mm Classic Fusion Ferrari GT. Now this has wooed some new fans to the brand for its more subtle stylings. Co-designed by Flavio Manzoni, Senior Vice President of Design at Ferrari, it features a raised, rounded bezel that totally changes the personality of this Hublot. Where the Big Bang shouts power, the Classic Fusion Ferrari GT only needs to whisper it. Some key specs: the movement is the Hublot in-house calibre Unico, a self-winding flyback chronograph with three-day power reserve. The Classic Fusion Ferrari GT Limited Edition is available in three different cases: Titanium, King Gold and 3D Carbon. Hublot Big Bang Scuderia Ferrari 90th Anniversary If you’d prefer a Ferrari-related watch that is more recognisably Hublot, there’s always the Big Bang Scuderia Ferrari 90th Anniversary, which is a symphony of sexy details like the prancing horse…
Baselworld 2019 was a fairly subdued affair, but that didn’t stop me from ferreting out three (very very different) pieces that reminded me what my love of watches was all about. Tudor Black Bay P01 Yup, I know. All y’all were very much not into this piece. And you know what, on paper (or Instagram, as the case might be), I was with you. But on the wrist it’s a very different picture, and I’d suggest holding judgement until you see this Tudor IRL. And to be honest, it’s more interesting than another suite of ‘regular’ BB dial variations. Zenith Defy Classic 41 in white ceramic Sure, it *just* sneaks over the price point, but it’s so nice I just had to include it. Now, believe it or not, I’m not typically a full white ceramic kind of guy, but for this Zenith, with its matt case and intricate details, I’d make an exception. Grand Seiko Spring Drive SBGK005G Grand Seiko marks the 20th anniversary of the special Spring Drive in style, with a brand new, manually wound version that features not only a banging dial, but also a slimmer, more streamlined case.