INTRODUCING: The Timex Marlin Automatic California brings a Cali dial to a new price point
Great design for a great price. That’s why the Timex Marlin is an understandable darling of the watch community, with clear historical connection to a collection that the brand produced in the 1960s. The Marlin journey was restarted in 2017 when they launched a manually wound silver dial version, with sword hands, an attractive sunburst brushed dial and charmingly elongated numerals at the cardinal points. In the years since, the same basic design has been re-expressed with a number of different dial and case colour variations, but in the closing moments of 2020 we get something totally new – the Timex Marlin Automatic California. As you’d probably guessed from the name, these new dress watches feature California dials, which mean they feature half Arabic numerals and half Roman numerals. California dials would also sometimes feature a triangle marker at 12 o’clock, pointing in the opposite direction to the triangle marker at 12 o’clock often found in mid-century pilot’s watches. Why are they called California dials? It’s a little bit of a mystery, with a few competing theories. The nickname isn’t because a Californian native came up with the design, but instead the most popular theory is that a dial company…
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The watch industry can sometimes feel a bit impenetrable. Trying to get beyond the marketing hype and brand noise isn’t always easy. That’s why the Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Study 2020 is worth a look for a truly objective insight into what the hell is really happening on Planet Watch. Conducted between August and September 2020, the study is based on a survey and interviews with 55 senior executives in the watch industry. In addition, 5800 consumers were also surveyed across China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the US (FYI, Deloitte – you really hurt our feelings by missing out Oz). You can read the whole thing here. But it’s very long and a bit dreary at times, if we’re totally honest with you. Selflessly, therefore, Time+Tide have done the dirty work and cherry-picked the key details, so you can find out what the watch world is really worrying about. Gloom abounds From the Second World War to the quartz watch revolution to the gatecrashing efforts of the Apple Watch, the Swiss watch industry has proved famously resilient. But COVID has dented this spirit of defiant optimism. Some 85 per cent…
Watches are emotional objects. We don’t need them. We want them. And we use them to mark important occasions. Birthdays, graduations, career milestones … you name it, they act as talismans of success and remind us of the moments that are special to us. Speaking to this theme, one of the questions we receive most at Time+Tide HQ goes something along the lines of this: “I want to buy a watch for my child’s 18th birthday, but I don’t know what to get. Can you guys point me in the right direction?” We wanted to tackle that question head on, and offer a few suggestions on the best 18th birthday gift watches — all ringing the till under $2K AU. Let’s get into it. TAG Heuer Formula 1 For Australians, TAG Heuer is a brand that looms large in our collective consciousness. It’s always been one of the most well-known Swiss watchmakers and therefore an obvious go-to for a milestone gift. One of the most popular TAG Heuer references is the Formula 1, loved for its universally wearable 41mm case diameter and its robust build quality. The blue dial has a sunburst finishing that catches the light beautifully, and with…
When is a wristwatch no longer a wristwatch? This is the question as you hold the H. Moser x MB&F Endeavour Cylindrical Tourbillon because it feels like an otherworldly creation. Have MB&F and H. Moser freed one of the alien pilots from Area 51 – and employed him (it?) in their design department? Is this domed beauty actually from another planet? The mind is thoroughly boggled. One thing is for sure: time is immaterial when you put this on your wrist, and gaze through the impossibly high sapphire dome. The dial, it’s all in the dial Well, there is no point trying to look at the case first, as the incredibly tall dome grabs every tiny fraction of your attention the moment you put on what is, in fact, a very comfortable watch. And then you have to sit yourself down. With the avant-garde vision of MB&F married to H. Moser’s brilliant case design, intricate movement and fumé dial (but fumé not as we know it), this is a marriage made in Haute Horology heaven. The watch is all about the dial, which, with its 19.5mm height, takes on the image (in my furtive imagination at least) of a domed…
One of the reasons that watch collecting is so fascinating is its thematic diversity. A timepiece is a wrist-bound intersection for history, culture and the audacity of the human spirit. The only thing is that – whisper it quietly – it’s not always particularly sexy. Eyed from certain angles, the watch world often looks to be rather nerdy, male and not exactly overflowing with nubile beauty. All of which is fine, of course, not everything has to revolve around sex. But the following heart-throbs demonstrate that sex appeal and watches are by no means mutually exclusive. Margot Robbie Thanks you Martin Scorsese for introducing us to the Australian actress in The Wolf Of Wall Street. She’s first glimpsed in a party scene where her voluptuous presence reduces both Leo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill to salivating wrecks. No wonder, Big Short director Adam McKay promptly stuck Robbie naked in a bubble bath when he needed viewers not to fast-forward through the explanation of some very complicated financial terminology. Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for a watch brand to engage the actor’s services, with Richard Mille swooping to partner with Robbie. “I was astonished by the intricacy of the watches,” Robbie…
Grand Seiko has been celebrating its 60th Anniversary these past few weeks and months, but during today’s Grand Seiko USA webinar some huge news was announced regarding the future of Grand Seiko USA, as well as a new watch – the Grand Seiko SBGE263 US Limited Edition. The 110 watches are a nod to the 10th anniversary of Grand Seiko USA. Before we dig into the watch, it’s worth noting an announcement fans and collectors of the brand stateside have been eagerly awaiting – the expansion of the GS9 Club in the US. For the first time outside of Japan, US buyers who have purchased a watch at a GS boutique, salon or Mastershop (authorised dealers) after March 23, 2017 are able to join the club and benefit from its special events, gifts, and content afforded only to members. Grand Seiko USA will provide a detailed list of which dealers are considered authorised in regards to joining the GS9 Club. The website will be, for the most part, available to the public, including a rich and detailed archive of the brand’s history and its models. Most of the content (such as articles and videos) will also be available, but there…
Editor’s note: Despite the challenges that we have all faced in 2020, the watch manufacturers of the world have still managed to turn out a very decent crop of new releases this year. For Fergus, though, there were three standout pieces that we’ll take a closer look at here. Mido Ocean Star Decompression Timer There aren’t many words to describe this watch that fit better than plain old ‘fun’. It’s a diver, with all the specifications you could ask for from such a weekend warrior, making it beg for adventures to be had and fond memories to be formed. Although they do serve a technical purpose, the colours used for the decompression timer are just the perfect pastel shades, which aren’t overbearing and hint at the many hours spent under the sun, which the original ’60s decompression timer watches would have. Its proportions may have been blown up from those vintage examples, but the short lug-to-lug length makes it eminently wearable. The ETA-based movement also offers that fantastic 80-hour power reserve, whilst still being an affordable option to buy and service, with a great reputation for accuracy and durability. If someone had told me at the start of the year…
Are there any manufacturers that do quartz better than Grand Seiko? The brand, after all, makes their own quartz crystals in-house and upholds them to the most rigorous standards of accuracy – the 9F series of movements, for example, are regulated to run within +/- 10 seconds per year at a minimum. The deviation is so low, its accuracy over the course of 365 days is equivalent to the accuracy per day of a standard movement. While quartz and its high accuracy is not limited to Grand Seiko, the exquisite Zaratsu finishings bestowed on the watch cases by the brand’s artisans are always a gorgeous sight to behold. Today, they return with a sport model that leverages both their renowned finishing skills and top-notch quartz movements – the Grand Seiko SBGX341. The stainless-steel case shares the same geometries found among the other sport quartz watches within their catalogue – think squared-off lugs and Zaratsu-polished facets that harmonise light and shadow. The intricate case finishings work to alternate the way in which the metal reflects the light around it, with the distortion-free mirror polishes turning black when facing light head on, and the satin surfaces lighting up. Yet there is one…
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak is a legend for a reason. It was the first luxury integrated steel sports watch, and would go on to define arguably the most popular category of watches available today. But in the decades since it was first released, there have been countless different expressions of the iconic octagonal design. All of which begs the question – which is your favourite? The Time+Tide team has gathered their thoughts on the matter, and expressed why their favourite reference is top of the tree. Enjoy! Nick Kenyon – Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin with onyx and diamond dial If you’re getting a luxury sports watch, why wouldn’t you emphasise the word luxury? Hewn from platinum, with an inky black onyx dial and a tasteful dusting of panache with diamond indexes, this thing is absolutely stunning, and turns the luxury up to 11. And with dimensions measuring just 39mm in diameter and only 8.1mm thick, it’s about as good as it gets. Andrew McUtchen – Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin RD#2 I was at the AP ‘Beyond Watchmaking’ exhibition in Tokyo and an AP watchmaker was explaining to me the miracle of the RD#2, the…
Editor’s note: With so many different opulent steel sports watches occupying the marketplace, it’s sometimes easy to forget that one member of the holy trinity of Swiss watchmaking, Vacheron Constantin, has been making their interpretation of a luxury sports watch for more than 20 years now — the Vacheron Constantin Overseas. It’s an impressive collection, and it’s one of the few luxury sports watches that came into the game relatively late compared to the stalwarts of the genre like AP, Patek or even Girard-Perregaux. And yet despite this, it was still fresh and inspired; nothing looked overly derivative or pastiche, it was just a great-looking sports watch. Anyway, a little while ago, our fearless leader, Andrew McUtchen, was lucky enough to spend an entire weekend with Vacheron’s sportiest collection of timepieces, and these were his thoughts. The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph, photographed on Blinky Beach, Lord Howe Island I remember the first Vacheron Constantin I ever laid eyes on. It was in a magazine for an Australian retailer. It was an Overseas model and it was a chronograph, but thanks to an interesting take on the bezel, it didn’t strike me as ‘just sporty’ like chronos can be. It had an…