Habring², a small manufactory in Carinthia influenced the watch market with its introduction of its Jumping Second model back in 2005. This timepiece features a movement that is made entirely in-house, similar movement to the one used in the Felix model.…
This week in London, auction house Philips played host to a special exhibition commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the creation of Chopard’s first in-house movement; the calibre L.U.C 1.96. It was also the perfect setting for the introduction of two new series into Chopard’s L.U.C family; the L.U.C GMT One and the L.U.C Time Traveller One. Today we’re taking a closer look at the latter.
The choice for dive watches is quite literally endless. There are thousands of good, very good, or extremely good dive watches out there. There are also plenty of so-so dive watches, so it is very possible to lose track of what’s what in this popular category. Thus, we feel it is our duty to share some options outside the beaten path of Submariners, Seamasters or Panerais. One of these options is Clerc, a brand dedicated to dive watches with a bold design. Today, we bring you the Clerc Hydroscaph GMT Power Reserve Chronometer, first introduced last year, in one of our extensive reviews, including specs, lots of pictures and of course, our personal thoughts!
Over the last decade Omega has steadily developed new features to improve its watches, ranging from the Co-Axial escapement deep inside the movement to the ceramic case that made its debut on the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon. The Seamaster Planet Ocean Deep Black combines all of those innovations in a single watch, resulting in […]
Even though there’s no doubt that the darlings of A. Lange & Söhne’s lineup are the more contemporarily styled pieces like the Lange One and the Zeitwerk, there’s still a place for deeply traditional design the catalogue of Glashütte’s favourite son – and that’s the 1815 collection. Named for the year of founder Ferdinand A. Lange’s birth, the 1815 family of watches takes as its inspiration early marine chronometres. First developed in the 18th Century, these ship-bound timepieces were extremely accurate, and a vital tool in navigation. And while the design isn’t what we’d associate with tool watches these days, make no mistake, legibility and reliability were the name of the game. It’s logical that Lange, those masters of function and style, adopt this distinctive look as the trademark for their 1815 collection. With the blued sword-style hands, railroad minute track (with the brand’s distinctive triple dot at the cardinal points) and the ornate, Jugendstil numerals the 1815 Up/Down would look just as stylish in 1915 as it does today. For me though, the most charming feature of this watch is the bottom-heavy subdial layout, a sure sign (if any were needed from Lange) that the L051.2 movement definitely…
The post HANDS-ON: Saxony at its most serious – the A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Up/Down appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
When Audemars Piguet first showed the Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie in SIHH this year, the halls were abuzz with collectors and journalists asking each other if they have already heard the sound of the minute repeater. Most reports then was that the sound is very loud, very clear, but perhaps needed a bit more tuning to sound beautiful. Fast…
For returning readers it is a known fact most members of team Monochrome are car-guys to some extent. Obviously, both watchmaking and the automotive industry are intertwined extensively, so when Oris gave us the chance to attend the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Nürburgring race, I jumped on the occasion! 6 hours of the fastest prototypes and road-car-based racers on the planet, blasting around an historical track sounds like a good way to spend a weekend! Oh, and there was a new watch. Quite a cool, special watch, to be handed to the drivers of Audi Sport: the Oris Audi Sport III Limited Edition.
Last Sunday I boarded a plane in Melbourne and made the 8,000-odd kilometre trek to Tokyo. And in the last week I have travelled, by Shinkansen, bus and car a further 1500 or kilometres across Japan. On my wrist every step of the way – from airport lounges to traditional Ryokans – was the Seiko Astron. The Astron is a tremendously important and innovative watch for Seiko – it takes its name from the first quartz wristwatch, developed by the brand in 1969. The orginal Astron was a major milestone, not just in watchmaking, but in the history of electrical engineering. Seiko is hoping that the current Astron, released in 2012 will prove to be just as significant; it is the world’s first GPS solar watch, and aims to be an unfailing, ever-accurate timepiece, no matter how obscure your timezone. There’s no doubt it sounds impressive, but what’s it like on the wrist? My first impression was…Confusion. I’m a mechanical watch kind of guy, and the Astron, for all its appearance as a conventional watch, is a very hi-tech product. At first glance it appears to be a chronograph, but closer inspection reveals that the subdials are actually a second time zone, the…
The post MY WEEK WITH: The Seiko Astron GPS Solar 8X Dual Time in Japan appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
We usually bring you our hands-on analytical reviews on the same day that embargo lifts. But for the MB&F HM8, we were not able to, even though the watches were in Singapore, we did not have access to have our hands-on and photography until the day after. We published the press release details with our impressions when embargo lifted.…
Though the devastatingly cool new steel Daytona is the Rolex chronograph de jour, this year the brand also released new variations of their classic chrono in white and yellow gold. Today, we’re having a look at the reference 116508, in 18 carat yellow gold with a new green dial – a colour combination that no Aussie can resist. The reference 116508 is the same 40mm Oyster case, powered by the calibre 4130, accurate to within -2/+2 a day. Indeed, the only difference between this reference and earlier models is the dial. But what a dial. Yellow gold versions of the Daytona are most commonly seen with black or champagne dials – the green is stunning in its sheen and richness. Of course, green is a special colour for Rolex, but in this instance it’s a green not like the bright tones of the green Submariner or the mossy green of the new Day-Date 40. It’s a rich colour, somewhere between pine trees and British racing green, finished in a starburst technique that at once complements and contrasts with the case – to stunning effect. Of course, it’s a solid-gold Rolex, so it’s not exactly the most unassuming of timepieces. But then again why…
The post HANDS-ON: Everlasting lustre – the Rolex Daytona in yellow gold with green dial (ref. 116508) appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.