11 DAYS OF LONDONERS: Day 9 – Dumi Oburota, the man who launched Tinie Tempah, has a collection to envy
Editor’s note: A few months back, we announced that former Editor of GQ Australia, Mike Christensen, was to be our first European Editor. In this series, ‘11 Days of Londoners’, Mike will be sharing the stories of a few notable local collectors, starting on Day 1 with King Nerd, and with a stellar lineup still to come. Lastly, you might ask, why 11 days? That, friends, will become clearer over time … If you’re going to drop out of university, you’d hope it was for a good reason. What if that reason was launching the career of 16-year-old Tinie Tempah when you were 21? That’s exactly what Dumi Oburota did, which started his days in the music business, where he still remains with a joint venture with Warner Music in London. He’s also one of the best-dressed gents on the planet – if you’re ever wondering what to look for this season, just check out his Instagram account. The story behind the watch you are wearing today I am wearing a Casio G-Shock x Bamford, which was given to me on my birthday by Tinie [Tempah]. We love what the Bamford team do with their watches. George is a good friend and this…
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Truth be told, a lot of watch writing is often a bit dry, technical and, well, dull. Time+Tide’s Contributing Editor Luke Benedictus takes a different approach. In the latest issue of Good Weekend, the Saturday magazine inserted into The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, Luke offers a word of warning to any vintage-watch obsessive who’s about to splash the cash. As usual, Luke considers the subject from an unorthodox angle. “Obituary writers were traditionally hailed as the masters of euphemism,” he writes. “The squeamish reluctance to speak ill of the dead prompted the use of tactful doublespeak where ‘bon viveur’ was code for ‘alcoholic’ and ‘notable vivacity’ implied nymphomania, while ‘tireless raconteur’ meant a crushing bore you’d try to avoid at parties. “Yet such verbal chicanery is now eclipsed by the vintage watch trade, which has elevated the art of understatement to staggering heights. A watch dial faded by sun damage is knowingly described as ‘tropical’. Old diving watches are hailed if they have ‘ghost’ bezels (translation: heavily discoloured). Dial patina makes a watch more ‘collectable’, despite being a sign of decay. “What’s more, in a shameless act of successful marketing spin, such features even raise a watch’s price. These…
How many watches have you seen in the metal this year? My personal tally would surely be an all-time low. The COVID pandemic cancelled watch fairs while product viewings turned into digital affairs where white-gloved reps waved their timepieces at you over live video streams. There’s no real substitute for any of this, of course. To truly appraise a watch you have to hold it in your hands to feel its heft, click its bezel, watch how the sunlight bounces off the dial. But when you’re denied that opportunity due to a merciless pandemic keeping you house-bound for months on end, then you have to find other ways to scratch that horological itch. Luckily, great watch writing brings timepieces to life and makes their intimate details almost tangible. I’m fortunate to work alongside some mighty talented folk who can do that better than most. Here are some of my favourite pieces from Time+Tide’s archives from 2020. HANDS-ON: The virile vitality of the Hublot Big Bang Millennial Pink – Fergus Nash Fergus annoys the hell out of me because he makes it all look so bloody effortless. He’s not even a full-time journo, but he writes with such fluency and ease…
If you’re a regular reader of Time+Tide, you’re no doubt familiar with both Seiko and the delectably finished Grand Seiko, but you might never have heard of King Seiko. Seiko stopped producing King Seiko watches in the mid-1970s, and have never made them again … until now. The new King Seiko KSK SJE083 is set to hit stores in January 2021, and will be a hugely exciting moment for the legions of devoted Seiko enthusiasts itching to see the first watch to bear the King Seiko name in decades. Back in the 1960s, Seiko split their Suwa-based business entities to promote competition within the organisation. This was designed to drive the two new factory locations to become more competitive against European watchmakers. High-end watches were to be produced by Grand Seiko in the Suwa Seikosha factory, while King Seiko pieces were to be made in the Daini Seikosha location. As a result, Grand Seiko was first produced in 1960 (with the brand celebrating its 60th anniversary this year), while the first King Seiko was launched a year later in 1961. In 1965, the latter released the King Seiko KSK (the original reference was 44-9990), the template for the all-new King…
Editor’s note: Here at Time+Tide, we not only want to cover all of the best watch releases in the articles we write but also offer some of those watches at the Time+Tide Marketplace. We work hard to make sure the pieces we are proud to offer in our Marketplace are not only quality watches that we would love to have in our own collections, but also horologically interesting and watches we believe would find happy homes in our readers’ collections. So with that out of the way, let’s take a look at five back-to-work watches that are currently available at the Time+Tide Marketplace and would look great on your wrist as we slowly make our way back to our offices after COVID. DOXA SUB 300T Is the dress watch dead? Look at Oscar night: film stars in tuxedos on the red carpet with large steel sports watches popping out from under their cuff. What does this have to do with the tough DOXA SUB 300? Well, everything. It means that you can beat off those back-to-work blues with an iconic vintage diver from DOXA. You no longer need to relegate your favourite dazzling coloured tool watch to weekend wear.…
It’s not breaking any boundaries to say that Hublot is a relatively young brand, and that they’re not at all cheap. If you’re someone who insists that their watches have 200-plus years of history behind them with classic proportions and traditional construction methods, Hublot isn’t for you. If, however, you want lines crossed, bold moves taken, and innovation, then the Porthole brand has much to offer. There are few better examples of this than the in-house Hublot MECA-10 movement, with each of its 223 components epitomising modern-day luxury watchmaking. From a visual standpoint, Hublot’s MECA-10 is already a departure from the Swiss traditionalists. You won’t find any Geneva Stripes, engine turning, or hand-engraved balance bridges here. Instead, the skeleton movement displays its mechanical prowess with as much clarity as possible, showing off each part with the knowledge that it was built to be stared at, and scrutinised. The aesthetic benefit of the coated components is that the movement can be colour-coordinated with whatever the watch is, which in current Hublot offerings is in black, blue, or king gold. From the display caseback, the organised chaos of the dial is replaced with a clean, clinical display of thin and weight-reduced bridges…
The whole idea of a microbrand is to do things differently from major watchmakers. Whether that be better bang for buck, experimenting with unusual materials, or just creating wacky designs, any taste can be catered for as long as enough interest can be found through Kickstarter. Over the years, the taste of the mainstream has crept into the micro world too, flooding the market with vintage-style dive watches powered by entry-level Japanese movements. While there’s nothing wrong with that model — in fact, some are absolutely great — CODE41 return to the original ethos of being unafraid to experiment. The DAY41 is their latest example, and it begs to be stared at. The DAY41 began life as a concept for a women’s watch, though as it took shape, it revealed itself to prove that any watch can be gender-neutral as long as you enjoy how it looks. The availability to order it in 37mm or 40mm isn’t just designated to the gender binaries, as the personalisation to order whichever case finish and strap style you want allows you to make it as masculine or as feminine as you’re inclined, without worrying if it will fit your wrist properly. The only exceptions to…
I love this time of year. Not only because the weather is nicer and the Christmas break is on the horizon, but because it offers a chance to reflect on the year that has been, and think about the work that Time+Tide has done in 2020. In short, it’s been an extremely challenging year. Of course, hospitality, entertainment and travel have been some of the industries hardest hit by the Coronavirus pandemic, but the watch industry has suffered too. Rolling lockdowns have forced factories to close and storefronts to shut. Events to launch watches have been cancelled (such as Watches & Wonders and Baselworld) and events that showcase the cultural importance of fine watches (such as No Time To Die) have also not happened. But despite all this, the watch industry has rallied together and persevered. Patek Philippe allowed some of its retailers to sell online for the first time ever, Geneva Watch Days was held, as the only Swiss watch show of the year and WatchFest Australia went ahead online to bring the Australian community closer together. There have been a lot of lows throughout 2020, but also a lot to be grateful for and a lot to be…
It isn’t easy for just anyone to become a watch manufacturer. It takes determination, know-how and a passion for watchmaking to claim that dwindling slice of the sales pie not consumed by the larger conglomerates. But fortunately there are those taking big strides, while putting their own spin on modern horology. Eugen Wegner is a brand recently revived by Jonas Bley – the great-great grandson of Eugen himself – who is looking to drive the watchmaker forward. Jonas has brought three new watches to the table: the Hevelius (39mm time-only), Phoenix (time and date), and our primary focus today, the Eugen Wegner One chronograph. The Eugen Wegner One is the most complicated of the trio, a heritage-inspired chronograph that evokes classic design in today’s marketplace. The backstory In 1897, the brand established its first workshop in Gdańsk, Poland. Eugen Wegner, an award-winning young watchmaker from Germany, quickly gained a reputation for creating high-quality timepieces. With the help of his wife, his creations became highly sought-after throughout the region and demand for his work grew. A few decades later, Eugen Wegner’s first-born son entered the business in 1920 after spending some time in South America with fellow competitor Hans-Ulrich of…
Editor’s note: A few months back, we announced that former Editor of GQ Australia, Mike Christensen, was to be our first European Editor. In this series, ‘11 Days of Londoners’, Mike will be sharing the stories of a few notable local collectors, starting on Day 1 with King Nerd, and with a stellar lineup still to come. Lastly, you might ask, why 11 days? That, friends, will become clearer over time … Bill Prince served as the Deputy Editor of the British Edition of GQ for 23 years and aside from his interest in all things horological, Bill is also a former music journo and has interviewed everyone from Mick Jagger to David Bowie and Elton John. He is also a member of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève Academy – further proof of his standing in the watch business. I buy watches … Because they represent the intersection between engineering, aesthetics and design. Rather like a fine wine, a great watch reflects the successful combination of a number of discrete disciplines, in service to the creation of a genuinely beautiful yet functional object. There’s a reason why the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” is currently the most coveted male accessory on…