NEWS: A Steve McQueen Rolex Submariner ref. 5513 to be auctioned by Phillips
That’s right, a Rolex Submariner owned and gifted by the King of Cool will go under the hammer at Phillips auction house in New York on October 25. A year after the blockbuster sale of Paul Newman’s Paul Newman Daytona. It’s not just the timing of the sale that these two celebrity watches share either, with McQueen’s 1964 Rolex Submariner ref. 5513 sharing a similar story of provenance, complete with a few extra burning details. Phillips tell us the watch was purchased by McQueen in the 1960s. It was then gifted by him to his long-time stunt double Loren Janes, sometime in the mid-to-late ’70s, according to members of Janes’ surviving family. Having worked together on 19 of McQueen’s films over two decades, including Bullitt, The Great Escape and The Thomas Crown Affair, Janes was McQueen’s go-to stuntman, and before giving him the watch, McQueen had the case back inscribed: “LOREN, THE BEST DAMN STUNTMAN IN THE WORLD. STEVE.” Making this not only the earliest McQueen-owned Submariner ever put up for auction, but also the only known watch to bear the actor’s name. The story gets even more interesting. In 2016, a wildfire outside of Los Angeles, now known as the Sand Fire…
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Tom Inslay is your typical Aussie, with the obvious exception of being wholly consumed by the beautiful world of horology. He’s also got a few interesting talents … Hey Tom, we’ve been wondering — what do you actually do? I have been in the manufacturing industry my whole life, the past six years as a CNC Machinist for a multinational mining company which designs and manufactures niche equipment for hard rock mine sites. On the side, I also run my own business, primarily as a bespoke hand engraver, and now watch art. What’s your daily watch and why? My daily watch is a Blue Tudor Pelagos. For me it’s the perfect work watch: the titanium makes it light, the clasp makes it easily adjustable and comfortable, the ceramic bezel is durable, the lume is second to none. It’s also not a $20,000 watch that I am too afraid to mark and wear, yet it’s a nice enough watch that an enthusiast would enjoy to wear. What else is in your collection? Have you got a favourite? I also have a Rolex GMT-Master II 116710BLNR ‘Batman’, an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15400 Blue, and a Rolex Submariner 5513 (birth year 1988). Which one…
Self-described ‘WIS Globetrotter’, @Horonation likes to keep his identity secret — preferring the moniker ‘Mr X’. To say he’s serious about his watches would just about be the understatement of the year. Hey mate, what is your ‘daily watch’ and why? I rotate and wear all my watches. But I find it very comfortable wearing vintage Rolexes and white metal on a daily basis rather than wearing those dressy rose gold pieces. But no particular ‘daily beater’ for me. I wear my double tourbillon, Greubel Forsey, as much as I wear my other watches. Perhaps I usually select what I wear on my wrist to match my outfit of the day. How did your love of watches start? When did it escalate to the point you realised it was a serious addiction? I was first attracted to horology when my father-in-law bought me a piece. The visit to the watch retailer was an eye-opener as I didn’t know that the horology world was so vast. At that time I was only aware of two brands – Rolex and TAG Heuer as the most popular brands among Indonesians. Fuelled by my curiosity and eagerness to learn, I started reading about horology and joining local…
There’s no point sugar-coating it. Gem-set watches aren’t for everyone. For one, all that ice racks up the price tag (so much so that all the watches below are POA), and for another, it takes a certain type of person to appreciate the — occasionally over-the-top — artistry it takes to make a watch shine like the proverbial crazy diamond, sapphire or peridot. But even if it’s not your thing, you can’t deny the power of the bling. Rolex Rainbow Daytona in Everose One of the major standouts of Basel 2018, the latest model to get Rolex’s famous (and divisive) rainbow bezel treatment is the Everose Daytona, and it is a knockout (and one of my favourite watches of the fair). On top of the usual Daytona awesomeness, you get 36 baguette sapphires on the bezel, and another 56 diamonds on the case. The final touch is the pink gold crystal registers. You need to see this watch IRL to appreciate just how awesome it is. Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Sapphire Rainbow The second, and indeed final, rainbow set watch on this list could not be any more stylistically different to the Daytona. Hublot’s big tonneau, the Spirit of Big…
Editor’s note: It’s getting close to end of financial year here in Australia, a time when, traditionally, watch lovers start counting their fiscal chickens before they’re hatched, and allocating that spend to the less essential things in life … like watches. Now, in a shock twist that I’m sure you’re all pretty familiar with, it turns out significant others don’t *always* see the fiscal sense in dropping serious coin on yet another watch that is, let’s face it, pretty much exactly the same as all the others you own. Andy Green has taken on the dangerous task of evaluating eight common strategies for spousal approval. Be warned though, results may vary. The reality is that watches are luxury goods, so the ‘need’ to buy them rarely occurs. That means, for most, they naturally fall very low (some say too low) on life’s list of priorities, and most definitely do not outrank things like kids, mortgages and school fees. And unless your partner shares your passion, I’d gamble and say they don’t think that your wrist darlings are as important as you think they are. So, the perennially thorny question is: “How do I buy this watch with my partner’s blessing?”…
Of all of Montblanc’s fine timepieces, I’ve had a soft spot for the distinctive Rieussec line, an uncommon take on the common chronograph that draws its inspiration from the daddy of them all, the original chronograph device invented by the eponymous Frenchman, Nicolas Rieussec. The Rieussec has been in the Montblanc family for a while, but to me it’s always occupied a somewhat liminal space, sitting above the more accessible TimeWalkers and their ilk, yet not quite in the same league as the famed Minerva-based chronographs. But that’s not to say that the Montblanc Rieussec isn’t a serious piece of kit, the MB R2000 is a solid movement, modern, with an interesting layout. It boasts a column wheel, vertical clutch and 72-odd hours of power. On top of that it looks darn good, too. That same statement definitely applies to the exterior of the watch as well. Fundamentally, the design of the big 44.8mm (and a good 15mm tall) watch’s dial has been tweaked; the date now has a more balanced, six o’clock position, instantly giving the watch a less cluttered look than previous iterations. But the changes don’t stop there. The heavily textured dial is dominated by the classical…
I don’t know about you, but I’ve enjoyed H. Moser & Cie being around lately. They’ve put a smile on my dial, while creating some of the best examples of watch dials ever created. It’s like about five years of guffaws and loud sniggers, accrued through full-time work in the watch game, and previously hidden behind a hand, were allowed to escape. I could finally, finally, laugh out loud at an industry that never — literally never — laughs at itself. Moser’s new mission in satire is in aid of finding the perfect launch concept for their Pioneer Collection, called ‘The Pioneer Chronicles’. The first of the ‘Pioneer Chronicles’ videos was aimed at what is admittedly a brilliant and effective campaign. You know the one. “You never actually own…” As a dad, I like that after years of dreading my daughters coming of age for a whole raft of reasons, I now feel less pressure to give them my watches — which is one major stress alleviated. There, I said it. The second video addressed brand ambassadors, and the risks therein. It’s a ‘funny because it’s true’ video. Moser jokes don’t always stick, but they’re always aimed in the right direction, and if it’s not a belly-laugh, it’s a snigger.…
Last week, Panerai lifted the bar for local watch events with a boutique launch that started at its Collins Street CBD location, transferred to the palatial family home of Australia’s most famous chef, Shannon Bennett and concluded with a personal chauffeur home for each guest. The evening’s entertainment, in addition to the display of Panerai’s 2018 novelties, as well as modern classics like the Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Oro Rosso (PAM 684) above, was provided by pianist David Helfgott, the subject of Oscar-winning movie Shine. He played a classical set with such abandon that he struggled to stay seated, and after each piece Helfgott would jump up and rush over to guests’ tables to shake their hands. It was the most spectacular, personal and passionate watch brand activation in memory. Even the speeches were exceptional, with local brand manager Ruggero Pirrotta opting – at the insistence of Panerai Asia Pacific Managing Director, Julio Sato, pictured with Shannon Bennett above – to leave his notes in his pocket and speak from the heart. He talked about his excitement and pride in the new boutique at 360 Collins Street, the first ever Panerai boutique in Australia. He singled out Panerai collector and…
Full disclosure. Earlier this year I bought an H. Moser & Cie Pioneer in steel with a blue dial. So the brand’s recent anti-campaign called ‘The Pioneer Chronicles’, which is, in actuality, as much about calling B.S on Swiss watch marketing departments as it is about the watch itself, was well and truly after the fact. What were my reasons then, if not inspired by a campaign that has basically sent the message that #realtalk is to be the ongoing lingua franca from the Schaffhausen-based brand? I will save that confessional for another story. Today, I want to share with you some options of other things you could buy for around 20 grand Aussie (or about 13k USD) that weren’t to hand when I was in the decision-making zone. Wonderfully, they were sourced by Moser. The list was published as part of the ‘Pioneer Chronicles’ and it exemplifies the way the brand are going about it – a patented, potent mix of unvarnished straight talk, cheekiness and in this case, practicality. I mean, a Pioneer in steel, or three weeks at the Bellagio in Vegas? The answers don’t always write themselves. Before we begin, I’ll pass the mic to Moser: “At H.…