The Modifier's Series – Bamford Watch Department, the big dog in the modding space
When browsing through high-contrast, black-coated, neon-highlighted luxury watches, it shouldn’t be too long before the name Bamford crosses your path. The origin story of the Bamford Watch Department starts with a Daytona. Taking advantage of his father’s corporation, JCB — which specialises in manufacturing equipment for construction, agriculture, waste handling, and demolition — George Bamford wanted nothing more than for his Rolex Daytona to stand out a little more. After consulting with JCB’s engineering department, George had his Daytona murdered-out in the Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coating, which has become one of his signatures, adorning customised Rolex, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe watches around the world. With tensions growing between watch manufacturers and Bamford’s business, given the jumble of legal grey-areas involved in customising brand-name goods, Bamford Watch Department stepped back from tinkering with Rolex and other lofty brands in 2017 – a cautious but clever move considering the Rolex lawsuit with customiser La Californienne in 2019. Instead, Bamford-enthusiast and watch industry legend Jean-Claude Biver teamed up with the workshop to produce modded pieces exclusively from LVMH brands such as TAG Heuer, Bvlgari and Zenith. These are some highlights of the journey so far. TAG Heuer Monaco Heritage By far the most fun…
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It’s been the case for centuries. Pioneers of industry pour plenty into R&D, stretching themselves thin to find that one small breakthrough that will separate them from the rest. It’s hard to imagine a modern TV without YouTube connectivity, a modern car without ABS, or a modern phone without the world at your fingertips, but once upon a time, features such as ceramic bezels were reserved for the upper echelon of luxury goods. Now, you’ve got yourself a nice new Seiko 5 Sports, and you feel like snazzing it up a bit with a ceramic bezel. Hop on eBay, browse the colours, and you can pick one up for less than $10 Aussie. How exactly did it come to this? Well, it’s been a journey. Broadly speaking, ceramic isn’t exactly cutting-edge technology, having been used by humanity at large for the last 26,000 years or so — but in the 21st century its usage has come a long, long way from the earthenware pottery of the stone age. Its immense hardness makes it an ideal material for knives, brake discs on race cars, and extremely durable ball bearings. Jaeger-LeCoultre took advantage of this by putting ceramic bearings in an automatic…
Bulgari has, for more than a century, been regarded as one of the finest luxury jewellery makers on this blue marble we call earth. Their expertise, attention to detail, passion and visionary design has resulted in some of the most stunning pieces of jewellery and objet d’art imaginable. As such, throughout the 20th century, the Italian firm’s creations were sought after and worn by royals, dignitaries, celebrities … basically, if you had wealth, power, notoriety or fame, you wore Bulgari jewellery. Then, at the turn of last century, Bulgari decided to try its hand at another discipline contiguous to that of luxury jewellery making – haute horology. They famously purchased Gérald Genta watches in 2000, and then went about honing their craft. And, within the first decade-and-a-half, we started to bear witness to the outfit’s high-end, in-house timekeeping creations. Watches like the revelatory Octo Finissimo Tourbillon and its manufacture Calibre BVL 268 (which broke the world record for the slimmest tourbillon movement ever created at just 1.95mm thick) were unveiled, and watch enthusiasts around the world started to pay attention. Since then, Bulgari has gone from strength to strength at the very top-end of watchmaking, and it has been truly exciting…
Often, it is incremental and deliberate design progress — slow to the point that the casual observer might not even notice it — that creates the best products. Tiny changes, layered on one another year after year, are the key to creating an unmistakable visual identity that stands the test of time. It’s a blueprint that is as simple as it is challenging to achieve. For the custodians of a brand to maintain a steadfast faithfulness to a design that might have been born a generation or two before, requires belief as much as it does an understanding that good design will often outlive us all. While good designs will likely have long lives, they all have a foundational period in their youth, and that is where the Bulgari Octo Finissimo is today. The heavily faceted octagonal case of the Finissimo was first seen in 2014 with the release of the world’s thinnest tourbillon. At the time it was a curious watch to make for a brand that was best known as a jewellery firm, but it was the first sign of Bulgari’s unrelenting watchmaking intent. Bulgari followed the thinnest tourbillon record with another Octo Finissimo record in 2016 — the…
Ever since its unveiling at Baselworld back in 2016, I’ve wanted a Rolex Air-King Ref. 116900 . And, perhaps rather oddly, I’ve yearned for this polarising watch even longer than that. Allow me to explain. Back in 2014, Rolex announced they had made a bespoke pair of dash clocks for what was formerly known as the Bloodhound SSC, a supersonic missile on wheels that aimed to break the outright land speed record and reach speeds in excess of 1600 km/h. I remember reading about the dash clocks at the time, and thinking to myself, “That is cool.” The fact that Rolex had gotten behind the project was utterly fantastic and, without wanting to sound overly gushing, it was downright inspiring to see that the Big Crown still supported those who dared to push the boundaries of what we previously thought wasn’t possible. I also loved the way the dash clocks looked – the archetypal Rolex green of the text, contrasted by the distinct yellow of the regal crown motif, and the unique looking typography of the Arabic numerals, was all such a radical departure from the watchmaker’s normal design language, yet it somehow worked. A couple of years passed, and…
Normally, when the name Transylvania is uttered, a certain fictional monster comes to mind. But for this week’s Micro Mondays, we’re taking a look at something hailing from the gothic region of Romania that doesn’t want to suck your blood … just your bank account. And not nearly as vociferously as many rival brands. Peren watches, short for the word perennial, is a micro watchmaker that aims to pay homage to the inimitable terroir from which it originates, while also embracing traditional avenues of Swiss horology. They haven’t been around for long, but the outfit has already released some great watches, such as the Nera, SOD and Classic. Their latest timepiece, the Hintz, is a field watch that blends timeless characteristics with a few unique twists, and honours one of Transylvania’s oldest watchmakers – Eugen Hintz. We’ve had this watch on our radar here at T+T for quite some time, and were very happy when Peren sent us a prototype, so we could go hands-on with the handsome timepiece. These are our initial impressions. The case Hewn from 316L grade stainless steel and measuring a larger than expected 42.5mm across, 11.2mm thick and 22mm lug to lug, the Hintz’s case…
Floyd Mayweather looks straight down the barrel of the camera as he waves around a watch that’s not so much dripping in diamonds as drenched to its blinding core. The watch is the Jacob & Co Billionaire watch, a one-of-a-kind piece produced with Italian businessman, fashion label owner and Formula 1 personality Flavio Briatore. The 47.5mm case and integrated bracelet are bedecked with 239 emerald-cut baguette diamond stones while a manually wound tourbillion beats within. Over the top? Yes. And then down the other side before spiralling into a high-speed blur of double loops. “Over $15 million or under $15 million?” asks Mayweather, the man commonly regarded as the best defensive boxer of all time. The question is posed as part of a new video series entitled “The Ice Is Right”. Sitting alongside celebrity jeweller Greg Yüna (AKA “Mr Flawless”, who we interviewed in this story), the video is part of a recent partnership with online sports betting company BetOnline.ag that showcases some of the most decadent pieces in Mayweather’s insane watch collection. Punters can bet on how much they estimate the true value of each piece of bling. (For anyone planning to wager, the price tag of the Billionaire…
You’d be forgiven for not really caring about whether or not there’s been any new watches released this year – there are definitely more serious matters at hand. But, nevertheless, watchmakers have continued doing what they do best and there have been a plethora of great timepieces unveiled. Now, we’re not going to attempt to talk about all of them — there are not enough hours in the day, and many have already graced the site. But we thought we’d share with you our favourite five watches that you might have missed this year. Omega De Ville Central Tourbillon Omega really went to town with this one. It’s the watchmaker’s first-ever manually wound tourbillon to be Master Chronometer certified, and the centrally mounted mechanism looks stunning against its black backdrop and precious metal case hewn from an intoxicating blend of 18k Sedna and Canopus gold. Price circa $168,000USD. Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Off-Centered Chronograph Jaquet Droz may well be one of the oldest brands in the game of horology, but this Grande Seconde Off-Centered Chronograph with gorgeous onyx dial proves the watchmaker has still got what it takes to make us step back and just say wow. If we had…
Editor’s note: The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II USA-only edition is available now in the Time+Tide marketplace, alongside the Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Original, a vintage-styled diver with some similar muscle. The Ball Watch Company is a brand founded on the principles of practical and robust solutions to timekeeping problems. They were established in the United States in the late 1800s after a series of tragic accidents on the country’s quickly expanding railway networks. There was no standard time that trains ran to, meaning that a deviation of a local train station’s clock could result in a train leaving too early or late, causing an accident. After one head-on collision between two trains in Ohio, Webb C. Ball founded the Ball Watch Company to comply with the newly established “Rail Road Standard” time that aimed to solve the problem. Today, Ball Watch Company continue to make watches in this ethos, prioritising legibility, accuracy and durability. The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II is one such watch that embodies this ethos, built as a practical modern tool watch. The 42mm steel case is built to withstand a lot, be it water intrusion, magnetism or shock. The case is specifically designed to be able…
Legends are made quickly in the microbrand world. In the case of the Halios Seaforth Bronze, news of its popularity could barely keep up with the speed at which it sold out, and while rumours of a second production run have been teased since January, second-hand Seaforths in bronze have been selling for more than their prior RRP. Not to be outshone, the French emerging mainstay Baltic have released their own bronze-cased, 200M, time-only watch, dripping in vintage character and with similarly perfect proportions. While these two watches are by no means clones of each other, no doubt they’ll be fighting over territory on your wrist. The case The dimensions of these two watches both sit in that masculine sweet spot for those who want big impact in a non-overbearing package. The Seaforth’s 40mm diameter and 48mm lug-to-lug should ensure a comfortable fit on smaller than average wrists, and the same goes for the Aquascaphe’s 39mm width and 47mm lug-to-lug. Both measure in at a modest 12mm high, including their domed sapphire crystals, so neither will provide too much of an obstacle to sliding under a cuff, if that’s the kind of environment you’ll be wearing it in. Although the…