VIDEO: The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph collection, a sharp new formula for a classic
In a year that sees TAG Heuer peaking with vintage inspiration, the new TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph collection comes sliding into our feeds as a fresh take on a classic. There is strong inspiration from its ’60s heyday, while a contemporary 42mm case, and a sparkling new engine inside in the Heuer-02 movement, inspires a timeless quality worthy of the strong Carrera heritage, with no need for fauxtina. In these four strong references, we have a distillation of the design codes of the Carrera, which is to many the epitome of a 1960s chronograph. There is an elegant, urban touch that contemporarizes the classic design, and underlines how colours, dial details and strap choices transforms it from bold monochrome racer to the formality of a boardroom, without losing its strong identity. The tension in the case, underlined by the polished bezel and slim, angled lugs, creates an emphasis of balance between sports and elegance. The monochromatic black dial version has the purest vintage inspiration here, while the angular brushed steel bracelet sweetens the deal for a bold wrist presence. The sunray finish of the blue dial version is an exquisite bright navy, with an enigmatic hard-to-capture on camera quality. The…
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Look, we get it. Waitlists are frustrating, and watches are commanding higher values and premiums than ever before. But this has to be a new low. A Romanian couple has been caught red-handed, or rose-gold handed, attempting to steal a Royal Oak Offshore in rose gold from Audemars Piguet worth £67,000 GBP from venerated department store Harrods in the United Kingdom. According to the report, Ilie Para and Marta Para-Bloj, both 33, scoped out a particular model to steal from the Knightsbridge retailer, going so far as to take extensive photos of the watch to help them source a faithful enough replica to attempt to swap during a showing from a sales representative. Like Indiana Jones placing stone in place of the temple idol, the duo felt that with an ultra-realistic replica they would be able to fool the sales clerk long enough to escape the store and country to return home with the watch. So, how did they pull it off? According to the Metro.co.uk report, “When the sales assistant turned her back to them, Para swapped the £67,400 timepiece with a ‘convincing’ replica hidden in the child’s hood, Southwark Crown Court heard.” Under the guise of returning to…
As times change, the perception of the perfect fit evolves. When wristwatches were created, they were lauded for finally miniaturising the timepiece and making it a compact wearable object versus a large item that had to rest in a pocket. Now it seems, like American politics, the watch community is split in two: one party wants to upscale watches to larger sizes while another wants to bring back the classic sizes of yesteryear. I’ve heard and read people call for larger Submariners and Daytonas, or even bringing watches into the stratosphere of Panerai and Invicta sizing. I wonder who this really benefits; are the average wrists really much larger than the average wrists a century ago? Why are dress watches suddenly sharing equal lug-to-lug measurements of their sportier peers? Who does this really benefit? Are wrists really larger or has the perception of the perfect fit been warped? So, what do I believe is a perfect fit? In my own personal taste, which I would consider more tailored and classic versus modern and bulky, I find that a watch should situate itself in the middle of one’s wrist in a way that the strap or bracelet does not flare down…
Rolex watches are a universal status symbol, and among the most recognisable luxury items on the planet. The craze over their timepieces has never been greater, further propelling the brand away from its tool watch origins towards the pinnacle of luxury wristwear. With consumers flocking to buy out their catalogue, Rolex watches have become harder and harder to track down at retail – and as a result, conspiracies are rampant among consumers frustrated by enigmatic, Machiavellian waiting lists and seemingly scarce production. While it is not news to anyone that Rolex watches retain their value, we wanted to do a deep dive into a range of models, to determine the difference between MSRP (the manufacturer’s suggested retail price) and what the watches sell for on the seconds market. The objective is to determine the five most price-inflated models. The data The truth is there is no set rule for how much of a premium dealers will charge for the in-demand models they obtain. Whether a result of geography, or just business instinct, secondhand vendors will ultimately charge what they believe they can get away with. To try to find a common thread between current secondhand pricing, we took an average…
Editor’s note: Bulgari leapt to the aid of Australia earlier in the year, when they donated a glorious Serpenti to our Watch & Act! Auction in aid of the Australian bushfires. It turns out it wasn’t out of character. Since then the brand has shown tremendous moral leadership through 2020, and it continues with this special ‘Tricolore’ Edition of the Aluminium, which we’ve covered on video here and in a written review here. When the COVID-19 pandemic initially hit the world, Bulgari from the outset leveraged its resources in order to better service the Italian people. When hand sanitiser was in short supply, Bulgari lent a helping hand by having its fragrance manufacture halt the production of product in favour of producing and bottling hand sanitiser to donate to hospitals within the country. Their latest effort in the fight against COVID-19 is a partnership with the venerated Aeronautica Militare. Together, they join forces on behalf of the Italian nation in a spirit of solidarity to present a limited series of watches: the Bvlgari Aluminium Tricolore. The backstory The primary task of the Aeronautica Militare is to defend Italian airspace. However, like other armed forces around the world, the Aeronautica Militare has recently…
The Louis Vuitton Tambour Curve Flying Tourbillon Poinçon de Genève is an unabashedly large futuristic dark metropolis under sapphire. I see an angular maze-like horological architecture within an organic patterned cutting-edge composite case. Hypnotised by the 9 o’clock rotating magic of the Flying Tourbillon you’ll notice it being delicately cut into the dark and recognisable structure of the LV logo. The dial – or is it the movement? The dial complexity is such that the LV signature – bold and large within an intriguing depth of openworked haute horlogerie — becomes a natural part of the movement architecture. It is almost as if the movement construction itself has dictated the shape of the recognisable overlapping L and V. This is, in my humble opinion, easily the best integration of a logo within a dial for the last 10 years, but this watch is so much more than what merits this irrelevant prize. If we work our way in from the bezel-less design, we have a discreet dark sweeping rehaut, which is a reminder of Louis Vuitton’s luck of the draw – the only manufacture with exactly 12 letters in their name, elegantly substituting the hours, engraved and lacquer filled. The Geneva…
Whether you like it or not, the Apple Watch is here to stay and has proven itself the most popular wristwatch in the world. A watch for all people, whether working class, a professional athlete, or celebrity … everyone has seemed to hop on the Apple bandwagon. But is that really any surprise? The reality is it is an extension of your phone, another screen to engage with. Apple has already gotten users so addicted to their products, they introduced a screen time feature to help owners manage the amount of time they engage with their devices. In regard to our community, it makes for a superb gateway watch that gets younger generations back to wearing timekeepers on their wrist. Back in February, website The Verge made it very clear how successful the product had become, noting that Apple now sells more watches than the entire Swiss watch industry as of 2019. According to the report acquired by The Verge from Strategy Analytics, Apple had shipped nearly 31 million units in 2019, which resulted in a 36 per cent increase on the previous year. Between the watches sold by Swiss brands and conglomerates, only an estimated 21.1 million watches were shipped to…
There aren’t many watch brands that can proudly claim to be Australian, but Bausele is one of the select few. Founded by Christophe Hoppe in 2011, Bausele have just announced their partnership with the RAAF to produce two watches that will celebrate the Royal Australian Air Force Centenary in 2021. It is exciting news that an Australian-based brand has been chosen for such a significant collection of watches, and a testament to Bausele, as they were competing against a number of globally recognised brands. Christophe Hoppe and the design team at Bausele have created the Bausele Royal Australian Air Force Centenary Airfield and Aviator for the project. Both collections were designed in partnership with the RAAF and inspired by the themes of the Air Force Centenary, “Then. Now. Always.” More specifically, the designs have literally incorporated the history of the RAAF, with both watches featuring pieces of aircraft that were flown by RAAF pilots over the last five decades. The first design is the Airfield, which looks back on the history of the RAAF, and sought inspiration from the officially issued RAAF Pilot watches from the middle of last century by IWC and Jaeger. You know, the Dirty Dozen watches. Available…
Brellum has just released a resolutely modern, yet classic take on a pilot’s chronograph, with the sharpest of details – and shows how much colour and texture transforms the aviator personality of the Brellum Pilot Power Gauge Chronometer. This is another strong reference from Brellum that will follow your lead, be it battle-ready flight instrument under a leather jacket sleeve, or as a sharp sports chronograph on a bracelet. From the monochrome bulletproof image of the black dial version, to the delicate silver sunburst dial on a classic steel bracelet bringing a modern formality to the table. If we start on the classic end of the scale, the strong monochrome dial with a vintage-inspired hand-sewn brown strap is familiar and emphasises the proportions and legibility of the Brellum design language. The brushed 41.8mm case has curved lugs, with the broad stroke of a polished bevel that widens towards the lug tips, accentuating the broad-shouldered look. The purposeful image is underlined in a slim polished bezel, and the retro-perfect domed sapphire crystal creates charming hints of distortion on the edges of the dial. The pushers for the chronograph are a solid pump design, balanced nicely by the big crown typical of…