HANDS-ON: The TAG Heuer X Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Limited Edition is a red rocket for the wrist
Watch enthusiasts and automotive enthusiasts have a lot in common. It’s not just that the demographics intersect, but there is definitely a link in the appreciation for outstanding feats of engineering. Both can be artistic expressions, with form meeting function, and both can be all-out utilitarian objects with pure performance in mind. The TAG Heuer X Grand Prix de Monaco Historique is a watch that sums up one of the age-old arguments between both watches and cars: old versus new. The dial The Monaco’s classic squares-in-a-circle-in-a-square look is undeniably attractive, and the Coca-Cola style of the white centre-dial and vivid red highlights just feel so satisfying. Though it’s not exactly white. The silver sunburst offers flashes of white and grey, as the sunburst brushing continues to radiate through the outer red sections, offering tones as light as salmon and as dark as oxblood. The red on this watch is a perfect hue, looking neither too saturated nor too flat. The sub-dials are matte in texture, leaving the registers perfectly legible. Although the main hands aren’t very contrasted being steel-on-silver, the minute hand extends out to the applied indices so it’s a bit easier to read at a glance. To top…
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With the arrival of a long awaited, and if we dare say so, well deserved summer, it means dive watch season is here. Dive watches are a staple of any watch collection, known for their robust qualities that make them a suitable wrist companion in almost all environments. Looking for something new to explore the ocean with? Here are the best dive watches of 2020, all under $10,000 AUD. Longines HydroConquest Green The Longines HydroConquest Green on rubber offers a ton of value at a much lower price point. The 300m water resistant steel case is 41mm x 12mm and features a green dial and ceramic bezel. The modified ETA caliber inside the diver has an impressive 65 hours of power reserve. RRP: $2400 AU Oris Carysfort Reef Limited Edition Oris celebrates its latest ocean conservation project with the Carysfort Reef Limited Edition – which involves 30,000 planted corals to date in partnership with the Coral Restoration Foundation in Florida. This 43mm limited edition diver features a GMT function and rich ocean blue dial with nice contrasting orange accents. RRP: $4000 AU Rado Captain Cook Bronze The Rado Captain Cook Bronze comes in multiple configurations, with brown, blue, and green dial/bezel…
Watch designs can be very homogenous at times, with brands capitalizing on iconic silhouettes and forms to elevate their offerings. Grand Seiko, among other manufacturers, never utilizes borrowed design and constantly puts the “novel” in novelties with fresh releases than can be easily spotted from across the room. Through their pillars of design, the brand creates meticulously crafted timepieces that are heavily reflective of Japan, its beauty, and traditions. The new Grand Seiko SBGJ241 is yet another stunning release that incorporates the essence of the brand in a original way. The case The 40mm case is fabricated in stainless steel, built in their 44GS format beloved by collectors and buyers world wide for it’s eye-catching finish combinations and intricate geometries. Whereas their other case styles may opt for a predominantly satin finish, the 44Gs has highly polished and distortion free lug facets with a hint of satin brush as the bracelet meets the case. Even in the renders of the watch, which typically mute the finishing textures more than live photographs, you can see the amazing display of light and shadow contrasts – a foundational pillar for all Grand Seiko designs. Note how the polished shoulder blade like flanks of the…
The Patek Philippe Nautilus ref. 5711 might be your grail of grails, or simply the perfect taste of ’70s glamour. There is a reason so many love the porthole-inspired steel perfection, which – in the present day – is flat out unattainable even with cash to spend. So, that pampering AD appointment with $40-60,000 ready to despatch, the complimentary espresso in a gold-rimmed cup, the satin-gloved handover … Not any time soon. Do we have alternatives? We found five. Piaget Polo S The unusual alternative, the unsung hero, a Piaget that isn’t ultra-thin? Yes, the Polo S will confound and surprise you, and what can we call this shape? This sports watch from the maison of Piaget is as confusing as it is different, but with its indefinable shape and vertically striped dial, a quirky but viable value alternative to the Nautilus. What triggers your synapses is the bright emerald dial, on which the polished pink gold indices pop like crazy. What gets you are similitudes like the horizontal stripes combined with a smooth rehaut minute track. Like the 5711, the back edges of the indices follow the squaround (I’ll copyright that!) inner edge of the bezel. Classic sword hands…
With December around the corner, the end-of-year party season should be kicking off around about now, with Christmas drinks and all manner of other festivities. Alas, with the UK still awaiting its COVID fate, any cocktail parties on Bond Street or Mayfair are on ice for now. Indeed, as lockdown ponders its own timeframe, it’s all a bit bleak for us Brits at the moment. Cue a timely pick-me-up in the form of Ralph Lauren’s ‘Negroni Bear’ Polo Bear limited-edition watch in collaboration with The Rake. When it dropped on my doorstep, it got me feeling fuzzy, furry and celebratory. Because Polo Bear is an icon with a rich history and his sartorial style has become legendary over the past three decades. So, Negroni time, yes please. In fact, I went one step further and dusted off the tux for the occasion – something Mr Ralph Lauren and our good friend at The Rake, Wei Koh, would surely approve of. I also dug out my Polo Bear lookalike from my childhood to share a toast to the party season that might never be this year, because there’s no harm in embracing a bit of silliness once in a while and…
Seiko’s year of living prolifically – while seemingly oblivious to a global crisis – continues afoot. After releasing dozens of watches already this year, to almost unanimous praise from fans and press alike, they have done it once again with the Seiko Prospex SPB185 and SPB187, two watches that look familiar for lots of reasons. Taking inspiration from the historically important Seiko Automatic Diver ref. 6159-7001 from 1968, which was the second dive watch design produced by the brand, this design was reproduced in near facsimile early this year with the Seiko SLA039J1, a watch that celebrated the 55th anniversary of the first Seiko dive watch in 1965. But the look of these two new SPB18X references is updated to be more modern, thanks to a slightly sleeker case profile and new dial and bezel options. The stainless steel cases of both examples measure 42mm in diameter with a 12.5mm thickness, which isn’t petite but is much lighter on the wrist than the similar Seiko SPB077 reference from 2018. The case sides and lugs are angular, a fact that is highlighted by the vertically brushed finishes of these watches, with those lug angles tapering nicely into the stainless steel bracelets.…
Today, TAG Heuer celebrates the 88th birthday of the legendary former CEO and current Honorary Chairman Jack Heuer by re-issuing Jack’s favourite ever Heuer watch, the gold Heuer Carrera 1158CHN. Jack, the great-grandson of Edouard Heuer, was an innovative leader of the famed manufacturer who worked with his family’s company for almost three decades. Two years after he joined the business, in 1960, Jack became one of the youngest leaders of a watch manufacture, at the age of 28. He devoted himself to many projects throughout the years, but his personal favourite to this day is the creation of the Carrera. And, beginning in the 1970s, Jack began a tradition of presenting an 18k gold Heuer Carrera for good luck to Ferrari Formula 1 drivers – legends such as Ronnie Peterson, Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni – during the partnership between Heuer and Ferrari. Engraved with the driver’s name and blood type on the caseback, these Heuer Carrera 1158CHN models have become highly sought-after collector’s items and symbols of the golden age of racing. In his honour, and in recognition of his favourite watch, TAG Heuer introduces the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Jack Heuer Birthday Gold Limited Edition (available for…
It is no secret that quartz has its haters. It was only last week that we were in conversation with Roger Smith, who reminded us that George Daniels himself used to pooh pooh quartz, saying “why would you buy something that did kamikaze every three years?” But others, equally informed within the community, will attest to its worth and place. While quartz does not necessarily have the same sense of tradition and heritage as mechanical watches, it should not be disqualified or discounted as its own art form. Not all quartz is created equal, and brands work very hard to hone the accuracy and reliability of their quartz movements – and even go so far as to elaborately decorate them in a manner similar to their mechanical peers. There is something to be said about a reliable wristwatch you can wear fearlessly. You don’t have to hold back on your golf or tennis swing, nor do you have to worry your watch is displaying the incorrect time. It can be a much more carefree experience, and to say the art of watchmaking is strictly refined to movements ignores the hours spent developing and finishing the cases in which they are…