Not known to many, Piaget was a pioneer in the designing and building of ultra-thin movements, a trademark of the company. They made their mark in the watchmaking world with the introduction of the ultra-thin hand-wound Caliber 9P in 1957 and subsequently, releasing the Caliber 12P in 1960 when it was known to be the world’s thinnest automatic…
It might be stating the obvious, but this Aquaracer doesn’t have a tourbillon or a modular case construction. Nor is it a smart watch, or a reissue of a ’70s watchmaking icon. This is a plain old ‘new watch’ from a well known family. No bells, no whistles, just an absolute winner of a watch. On paper it’s a 43mm titanium-cased diver with a matt black finish thanks to the titanium carbide treatment and a matching black ceramic bezel, powered by a Sellita movement, and rated to 300m. The dial has distinctive horizontal stripes, reminiscent of the ‘garage door’ look popularised by Patek’s Nautilus. All the highlights, from applied numerals and hands to chunky nylon strap are ‘sand’ in colour, and the luminous material is generous. The bright orange second hand and triangle on the bezel are the only breaks from this utilitarian colour scheme. So that’s the by-the-numbers rundown. What this fails to capture is just how awesome this watch is on the wrist. It’s a well-designed, purposeful piece that looks killer. The black and tan colour scheme gives the Aquaracer a military vibe, but without the sense of earnestness you’d get from a comparable watch by the likes of Sinn or Luminox. And if…
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Introduced just last month, the Tudor Pelagos LHD was a surprise, despite the expectant rumours in the weeks before its launch. The Pelagos LHD – that’s short for “Left Hand Drive” – is essentially a souped-up Pelagos, the 500m titanium dive watch that’s the modern counterpart to the retro Black Bay. Notably, the Pelagos LHD dials back the contemporary styling, replacing […]
Basically, what you see here is one of the most innovative – and coolest too – pilot watches on the market. No, it is not fitted with a super-high-end movement neither it has the most spectacular design ever. The point is not here. Certainly, you already heard about the Oris Big Crown ProPilot Altimeter, a watch we already experienced before. This watch actually is the world’s first automatic mechanical timepiece with a built-in mechanical altimeter. Admit that for a pilot watch, that’s quite an interesting feature. A few days ago, the brand introduced a new version, the Oris Altimeter Rega Limited Edition (resulting from a partnership with Rega, Switzerland’s air rescue service) and what’s better than a proper field-test, in the Swiss Alps, to experience the altimeter function.
Christmas is around the corner once again, and as usual many people (us included!) are probably cracking their heads to find suitable gifts for their friends and loved ones. …
Back in 2014, Swatch made waves with the original Sistem51, an innovative and affordable robot-assembled automatic watch. Much like the original Swatch, the Sistem51 was hailed as revolutionary, and touted as radically democratising the Swiss mechanical. While the sub-$200 timepiece was never going to threaten Omega’s market share (for example), it nonetheless featured some impressive technical features – like the single central screw holding the whole affair together, the anti-magnetic construction and 90 hours of power reserve. The initial Sistem51 came in the distinctive jellybean style case of the classic Swatch. Plastic, and fantastic. Earlier this year the Sistem51 got an upgrade to the Irony collection – made from far more durable (and a tad more grown-up) stainless steel. The polished case looks great, and reminds me of Marc Newson’s Biomorphism. The caseback is still clear, showing off the printed movements and peripheral rotor. The best thing though, is the dial. Swatch has released a bunch of new designs, from the fancy (and appropriately named) Tux, through to the very ‘flieger’ stylings of the Arrow. However we opted to check out the vibrant blue dial of the Boreal (which continues the vague astronomical themes of the original release), and the neat…
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Since it started producing its own in-house calibers in 2009, Armin Strom has caught the attention of many and amongst its creations, the “One Week Skeleton” watch that drew praises from many for its great craftsmanship. The company is renowned for its skeletonised watches where its founder Mr. Armin Strom who specialised in the field,…
If you look at watches on a regular basis (we’re guessing you do), it’s easy to get caught up in the cycle of ever-escalating novelties that defines the industry – because let’s forget, for all the talk of savoir-faire and timelessness, this is an industry. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing what creativity and innovation can be packed in a 45mm case, but it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that a watch doesn’t need to have a brand new in-house movement, multiple tourbillons laid out in the shape of a swan or a dial crafted from the tears of a fallen angel to be a beautiful, lustworthy object. …a watch doesn’t need to have a brand new in-house movement, multiple tourbillons laid out in the shape of a swan or a dial crafted from the tears of a fallen angel to be a beautiful, lustworthy object. Take, for example, Hublot’s Classic Fusion Racing Grey. The only thing that’s new about this collection, offered in titanium and King Gold, is the new grey dial. On the scale of things it’s a subtle and smart tweak – warmer than black and less bold than blue, but the result, as you…
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If you look at watches on a regular basis (we’re guessing you do), it’s easy to get caught up in the cycle of ever-escalating novelties that defines the industry – because let’s forget, for all the talk of savoir-faire and timelessness, this is an industry. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing what creativity and innovation can be packed in a 45mm case, but it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that a watch doesn’t need to have a brand new in-house movement, multiple tourbillons laid out in the shape of a swan or a dial crafted from the tears of a fallen angel to be a beautiful, lustworthy object. …a watch doesn’t need to have a brand new in-house movement, multiple tourbillons laid out in the shape of a swan or a dial crafted from the tears of a fallen angel to be a beautiful, lustworthy object. Take, for example, Hublot’s Classic Fusion Racing Grey. The only thing that’s new about this collection, offered in titanium and King Gold, is the new grey dial. On the scale of things it’s a subtle and smart tweak – warmer than black and less bold than blue, but the result, as you…
The post HANDS-ON: An exercise in harmony and contrast – the Hublot Classic Fusion Racing Grey in King Gold appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
The story in a second Baume & Mercier’s Clifton always had a pretty face. Well, that face just got complicated. It’s hardly a secret. We like the Clifton at Time+Tide. It’s a well-balanced collection that walks a fine line between dressy and casual, retro and modern, all while being very well priced. Typically, though, these Baume & Mercier watches tend towards the simpler complications – calendar or moonphase or date – that sort of thing. Today we’re looking at a Clifton that loads all these complications into one watch. In theory it sounds good – more bang for buck, right? But in reality does all this added functionality detract from the simple allure of the Clifton? There’s only one way for us to find out. The dial As is immediately obvious, there’s a fair bit going on here, but the Clifton does a good job of conveying a large amount of information with as little fuss as possible. First of all, the blued hands indicate chronograph functions – central seconds, with minutes and hours at 12 and six respectively. The subdial at 12 also has windows displaying day and month, while the date is displayed via the red tip central hand.…
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