INTRODUCING: The all black everything Omega Seamaster Diver 300m Black Black
The fan favourite Omega Seamaster Diver 300m is getting more than a facelift in 2021. That’s right, the watch best known for appearing on the wrist of 007 will now be available in full ceramic in the all-new Omega Seamaster Diver 300m Black Black. And that repetition in the name is for emphasis. This watch is very black indeed. The new design keeps the same 43.5mm case size as the other ceramic reference (ref. 210.92.44.20.01.001 on rubber) with 14.47mm thickness, but is slightly larger than the traditional Diver 300m that measures 42mm in diameter. In ceramic, it is a watch you can expect to wear considerably lighter than the typical stainless-steel case construction thanks to the ceramic material, weighing in at 115g or about 20% lighter than in steel. The Omega Master Chronometer Calibre 8806 powering the new ceramic dive watch is consistent with other references within the collection, offering 55 hours of power reserve and magnetic resistance to 15,000 gauss. You might be wondering how you tell the time on a watch that is completely black, but Omega has considered this practicality. The ceramic has been finished variously across the watch, from the case to the dial to the…
The post INTRODUCING: The all black everything Omega Seamaster Diver 300m Black Black appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
Finally, after a five-year hiatus, my inner petrolhead is awakened from its slumber, and by a watch! I will not bore you with my younger days of owning British sports cars from the Triumph GT6 to a Lotus Elan to a lovely series 1 Jaguar XJ6 from 1970 with dark blue leather seats. But one glance at the Bremont Jaguar E-Type 60th Anniversary Chronograph and I’m getting a delicious sense of deja-vu. I can almost smell the petrol and Connolly leather. I’ve got both family and past in the UK, so I do feel a little bit less objective than I should. But come on, how can you not get slightly patriotic about the Brits with their new focus on watchmaking profiled in our stories here. Bremont are well known for their intrinsically British offerings, ultra strong steel cases, and handsome tool watches – an oft-abused term (not by me, surely?), but here it honestly rings true. The Bremont team will this week inaugurate their new factory and showroom and are a big part of bringing watchmaking pride and scale back to the green isles of Great Britain. Here we have two unashamedly proud British chronographs with a large dollop…
I’ve had quite a few microbrands in my personal watchbox. In fact, my first new mechanical watch after a waning vintage obsession was a microbrand. Due to the smaller nature of these businesses, one of the main attractions of buying these watches is the possibility of interacting with the brand owner during the retail process and even developing a relationship of sorts. In addition, there is something cool about the ability of these plucky small manufacturers, many of which are run by one person, to go out alone and stand up to the greats. Alan Tsao of Tsao Baltimore is one of these guys and the 32-year-old founder has now released a brand new model: the Tsao Baltimore Legacy. A small producer like Alan has the agility to feel the pulse of the watch-collecting community and respond fast, releasing models that hit the sweet spot at the right time. Liberated from the bureaucratic rigmarole that working with a large design team involves, he’s able to make quicker decisions and jump on trends while they’re still beginning to crest. If the owner has the right eye for design and colours, there can be a hyper quick turnaround compared to, say, a…
What’s better than one complicated Cartier? Three complicated Cartiers, especially when they arrive in a specially designed marquetery finished and lacquered wooden box. These three pieces that make up the new Cartier Fine Watchmaking Rotonde de Cartier Precious “Icons Set”, which share the two uniting themes of mystery and skeletonisation. But in a world where the brand is best known for their classic designs from the beginning of the 20th century, what does this trio of large platinum watches really offer? Is it a case of complication for its own sake, or do these pieces actually add something to the current catalogue of the French-founded firm? For more than a hundred years, Cartier have played with illusion in their product design, but more specifically in their watch and clockmaking. Cartier Mystery Clocks are some of the most coveted examples of horological handicraft in existence, with 101 different examples offered by Christies in an important sale last year that showed the mind-bending diversity of design. It is this legacy that has inspired these three watches, each of which features a tourbillon at its heart and an element of historical mystery in their design. Astromysterious This is my personal favourite of the…
Dive watches are probably the single most popular watch category and with good reason. They are robust, water resistant and, as dress codes become increasingly casual, can also be worn pretty much anywhere you aren’t expected to wear a bow-tie. The variations within dive watches over the decades are another reason that collectors find them so compelling. Some dive watches have important links to armed forces around the world, which can send enthusiasts into a frenzy of minutia obsession. Likewise the different ways that brands have creatively overcome the challenges of the deep, such as legibility or helium build-up, allow for rich scholarship into the details of such evolutions. But at the core of it, we all just love watches that look great and don’t need to be wrapped in cotton wool as we go about our busy lives. And if we don’t have to spend a fortune, that’s even better. So what are the best affordable dive watches out there right now? We’ve put together a list of 11 different references from a number of different brands that will all ring up the till less than $5k (in watch collecting, everything is relative, especially what is affordable) and represent…
We all know the “Holy Trinity” manufacturers can be called out at times for being on the slower side when it comes to product evolution. To be honest, that’s for a good reason, too. The pursuit towards perfection has to be careful and calculated, and each of the brands have to ensure their watches live up to the name and quality associated with their Maison. This year, however, Audemars Piguet is proving its manufacturing metal – introducing a slew of upgrades to their novelties. The 2021 Royal Oak Offshore Divers received a new movement and interchangeable strap system, and now the Audemars Piguet 2021 Royal Oak Chronographs are pushing the offering further with a first for the lineup: an exhibition caseback proudly displaying the latest generation integrated flyback chronograph caliber 4401 (originally launched inside the Code 11:59). The 41mm cases are all executed in pink gold, its hue boasting the intricate light play that results from their top-class hand finishing. The vertical brushing perfectly extends from the bezel, to the case and, if paired with it, the bracelet. The satin elements shine, whereas the polished elements go dark head on with light. When viewing from an off-angle, however,…
Writing this story has proved to me the growing popularity of olive-green dials. What was meant to be a snappy round-up, quickly snowballed into a two-parter simply because there were far too many great options that we couldn’t bear to leave out. Perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising, either. Olive green, after all, is a colour that’s particularly well-suited for watch dials being at once distinctive but highly wearable, too. Check out the pieces in this second installment as we consider some green-eyed beauties from Patek Philipp, Hublot, TAG Heuer, IWC and Rolex. Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5168G The Grail Grenade – I’m hereby claiming this nickname for Time+Tide (including hashtag rights) for what could be the ultimate slimline sports watch on a rubber strap. Patek Philippe’s olive dial is a calm, greyish green whose delicate grid pattern makes it look like, yes, a hand grenade framed by white gold. A rugged sports watch on rubber is enough of a contradictory reference for Patek Philippe already, but that etched pattern set against the broad bezel with its large expanse of brushed white gold only underlines the sweet juxtaposition. The way those striations in the brushwork play with the mirror polished bevel through…
Audemars Piguet is coming in hot for 2021, and AP is not pulling any punches. It is clear the plan is to usher in a new era of timepieces, and in particular the Audemars Piguet 2021 Royal Oak Offshore collection is home to two brand new innovations: an all new in-house caliber and the first-ever interchangeable strap system. The Royal Oak Offshore is a fan favourite among the collecting community, and it is one of the more commonly spotted wristwatches on famed athletes around the world. It is fair to assume these new watches will have fans of the brand worldwide lining up to reserve one for their wrists and collection. The Audemars Piguet 2021 Royal Oak Offshore Diver / 42 mm Collection Each of the new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Divers are 42mm in diameter and cased in fan-favourite stainless steel. The iconic octagonal case profile takes on its most robust form, with a ceramic screw-down crown shouldered by crown guards securing the watch to depths up to 300 metres. To control the stepped inner bezel timing ring, a second ceramic screw-down crown can be found at the 10′ position. While the toughest form of the Royal Oak,…
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak models are among the most coveted watches in the entire world. Owners of the various references already make other collectors green with envy, but the new 2021 Royal Oak Collection will make onlookers envy the green. Somewhere Conor McGregor’s #NewWatchAlert spidey sense just started tingling, because this new collection of five watches (four of which are limited editions) has definitively locked in green as the color of 2021. While all the watches have green dials, Audemars Piguet has done a great job of offering a wide spectrum of case metals – ranging from lightweight titanium all the way to hefty noble platinum. Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin / 39 mm 15202PT.OO.1240PT.01 The Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin has always had a special place in the hearts and minds of collectors due to the purity of its dimensions and aesthetic. Its design harkens all the way back to the original Royal Oak that Gerald Genta disrupted the industry with in 1972. However, this new model could very well be the end of an era for the Royal Oak Jumbo, as during our call with the AP Social club to discuss the upcoming novelties, Francois-Henry Bennahmias and Michael…
Limited editions of Blancpain divers are hot commodities in today’s marketplace, so when they are announced it’s best to act fast if you’re looking to secure one for your collection. They also have the added benefit of speaking to a wider spectrum of wrists, taking on a smaller 40.3mm case diameter reserved for limited editions. The Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms No Rad Limited Edition is a tribute to the brand’s famed Fifty Fathoms that proudly boasted the fact that it did not use any radioactive compounds to increase the visibility of the diver. Context The Original Fifty Fathoms No Rad was born from the realisation that radioactive compounds such as radium could be very harmful to the health of those who interacted with the material. Many military watches of the era utilised radium and, as the health concerns arose, these organisations were looking for watches that could provide legibility without exposure to dangerous materials. Blancpain, ahead of the curve, introduced the Fifty Fathoms No Rad in the mid 1960s as a clear assurance that no harmful radioactive compounds were used in the watch. According to Blancpain, “In the early 1960s, radium – a radioactive element used in watchmaking for…