VIDEO: Finally…! The Bulgari Octo Finissimo satin-polished steel with blue dial captured in glorious high definition here
The Bulgari Octo Finissimo has seen the update it was waiting for this year, with the announcement in January that it was going to be produced in steel. The months since that announcement have felt both very slow and very fast at the same time, and some may have missed that the Bulgari Octo Finissimo satin-polished steel is now available in both black and blue dial colours, giving fans of the brand the option of dialling up the dress or sport factor. Recently, Time+Tide was fortunate enough to spend some time with the blue dial reference at Geneva Watch Days, where we took the time to soak up what may well be the best new sports watch of 2020, with the heavily faceted case engineered to be water resistant to 100m. The blue dial is certainly the most viable option as a daily wear within the Octo Finissimo range, with the black dial perhaps a more suitable evening companion. Bulgari Octo Finissimo satin-polished steel with blue dial price and availability: The Bulgari Octo Finissimo satin-polished steel with blue dial is $17,800AU and is available from both Bulgari boutiques and authorised dealers across the country. Made in partnership with Bulgari. However,…
The post VIDEO: Finally…! The Bulgari Octo Finissimo satin-polished steel with blue dial captured in glorious high definition here appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
In Scandinavia we have a traditional saying: all good things come in threes. And, boy, does this apply to clocks in 2020. First, the Hodinkee table clock that broke the internet and brutally maimed the comments section, then the futuristic T-Rex from Massena LAB, MB&F and L’Epée. And here comes lucky number three – the Hublot Meca-10 Clock. Hublot’s impressive in-house Meca-10 movement was released four years ago, and this year made its debut in the fabulous tonneau-shaped Spirit of Big Bang, to our micro-mechanical marvelling delight. So, as an answer to your question, no, this is not a small paperweight, but the entire Meca-10 movement made four times larger, measuring 19.6cm by 18.1cm. Despite this enlargement, it fully preserves the 10-day power reserve, and original specifications – including its knock-out skeletonised movement. And, once again, the clock-masters at L’Epée are the go-to collaborators in the venture, solidifying their position alongside JLC as the masters of static timepieces. This comes in two tantalising versions (yes, still talking about a table clock here) — black PVD or satin and polished steel with transparent composite. While Hublot aren’t afraid of providing their wristwatches with large, easy to use crowns, the Hublot Meca-10 Clock…
Looks can be deceiving, and the Seiko Prospex SNR049J proves the point in idiosyncratic style, once again firmly setting the bar for how we perceive a tool watch. This is a deliciously blue faced, limited reference in the LX series, Seiko’s pinnacle of sports and diver’s watches. In 2020 this is a brash and unapologetically large watch, but even at 44.8mm, Seiko are the masters of watch ergonomics, and close to unbeatable for chunky tool watch comfort. Don’t be surprised if this feels like a 41-42mm watch on the wrist, as the familiar muscular sides curve downwards at the lugs, sharpened by exceptional bevels. The reason the weight drops away is a T for titanium: light, strong and seldom finished to this degree outside Japan. The bold, softly finished angles on the large case create a strong visual impact, one that is only superseded by what is surely a knock-out punch to this year’s other Batman wannabes. Yes, this is a classic GMT, where the decisive movement of the sword hands is complemented by a pop of light blue in the second time zone arrow. The dial itself — encircled by the familiar sight of the dark night vs blue day…
The strangest feeling is to be had when you first put on the Bulgari Aluminium time-only — if you actually get it on in the first place. Holding it makes you do a double take and shift it from left to right hand as if to check your own function as a makeshift human set of scales. Yes, this is metal, but we’re not used to light, cool, matt aluminium in a watch case. Then there is a chunky rubber bracelet. Yes, a linked rubber bracelet, in itself a novel concept that surprises in equal amounts. My entire image of Bulgari is changing as I am handling the watch for the first time. An image that in 2020 is one of record-breaking Haute Horlogerie, the unfathomable elegance and thought-provoking feeling of a paper-thin watch with the magic of a tourbillon, somehow at odds with this fresh breath of summer. And I love it. The unbearable lightness – and coolness – of aluminium My first associations are close to the cool technical feel of a Leica camera body when I peruse the details — details that surprise and amuse. First, the surprising nature of its chunky yet light case – an angular…
Watchmaking is a game of microns and millimetres. The movements powering wristwatches are effectively a tiny city of gears and levers, that when blown up to a larger scale, become a chronometric Atlantis waiting to be explored and appreciated. One of the first things people notice when looking at a dial of a watch is whether or not it has a sweeping seconds hands. But as enthusiasts and collectors are aware, not all sweeping hands beat to the same drum. To the naked eye, the differences can be hard to detect, but thanks to the maestro of macro, @horomaribro, today we take a closer look at wristwatch VPH, or vibrations per hour, and what it means for a watch’s aesthetic and performance. Andrew McUtchen: Okay, this is your classic VPH comparison. Tell me about your intention behind this one. @Horomariobro: So here I was just trying to show the various “heartbeat rates” of different watches. Each has its own array of beating, and I’m trying to show how many ticks there are between second hashes. Normally, people would talk about how many beats per hour and stuff like that. With my macro video, I’m trying to convey, “Okay, from the number of…
Editor’s note: Fergus Nash, the writer of this piece, is one of Time+Tide’s newest members of the writing team. Increasingly, I am finding that his point of view – rich with analogy, kaleidoscopic associations and energy – is connecting me with the watches he writes about in new ways. Not just new ways, enriching ways. Consider this piece. One of many OF Tourbillon Chronograph reviews. But I’ll wager it will be the most memorable you will read, if not just for the visual treasure map of imagery that it creates, and leaves glittering in your mind. Every now and again you’ll see an object where the stars have aligned, and everything just looks in its right place. This seems to happen disproportionately often with Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo line, a range of watches that sets out to melt the hearts of design lovers as well as smash the record books of technical achievement. With its perfect proportions, balance of symmetry, colour and weight, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Chronograph Automatic is just the latest triumph in a long, long line. The dial Though there’s no shortage of skeleton dials in the world of ultra-luxury chronographs, there’s something about the Octo Finissimo that…
From the secret lab of William Massena we have come to expect the unexpected. The LAB has a short but exciting history of sharp collaborations with a disruptive edge, exhibiting a wide scope of taste and style. This exciting new model is a case in point, with the last public project being a brilliant vintage bronze version of the T-Rex by MB&F, which was as much art as a static timepiece. This time, Massena has gone into the rich archives of sports chronographs for inspiration to give us the fresh, yet familiar, Massena LAB Uni-Racer. The inspirational basket of vintage chronographs is a large one, and William Massena and his LAB cohorts have spent three years with a focus on Universal, rather than pulling out random elements. This is the elusive Uni-Compax “Big Eye” redefined through a sharp lens, hitting several metaphorical nails on the head in the process. Within a Goldilocks 39mm case sits the lesser-seen vintage perfectionist manual-wind Sellita SW510 M, a no-date caliber with a solid 58 hours of power reserve. With its 50m water resistance, this is no diver; the new Uni-Racer is all about motor racing and urban style with an oh-so perfect vintage air.…
It is fair to argue that the two most popular watch categories that find their way onto the wrists of buyers around the world are dive watches and chronographs. Both have their merits and are classic staples of the watch industry, but what if there was a way to have both? The DOXA SUB 200 C-GRAPH not only presents a diver’s chronograph watch, but also brings forth the beloved spectrum of colour that DOXA has become known for. The case The DOXA SUB 200 C-GRAPH case is made of 316L stainless steel, has a diameter of 45mm and is 17.4mm thick (in part due to its boxed sapphire crystal). The rather short lugs of the watch make it wear much more compact than its 45mm diameter suggests. It features a stainless steel unidirectional rotating bezel with a sapphire insert, providing a tremendous amount of scratch resistance in an attractive smooth and glossy form that really flatters the watch. The chronograph pushers, which traditionally have been a point of vulnerability in dive watches, are protected with gaskets and are quite short – which makes it harder for any accidental activation under the water. The case has a lug width of 20mm, making…
A proven trend within the world of watches is for brands to reinterpret historic models within their archives for modern-day release. Seiko has revived and renewed one of their classic ’70s divers with the new Seiko Prospex SPB183J 55th Anniversary Limited Edition. The case While slightly larger than the original, the Seiko Prospex SPB183J is faithful in almost every other aspect of its design. The 42.7mm stainless steel case has a super-hard coating, making this a great candidate for daily wear. The case is mostly satin finished, with hairline bevels and polish on the outer flanks of the case. Its saucer-like profile makes the watch wear compact for its size (46.6mm lug-to-lug) and, with a thickness of 13.2mm, is only about a 0.5mm taller than a Rolex Submariner. As a reinterpretation of a classic diver, it is not only faithful to the original design, but also to its original purpose and utility with its screw-down crown, diver’s timing bezel, and 200m water-resistant case. The dial The gradient blue dial is displayed beneath a dual-curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating. The blue of the dial is on the darker side in lower lit settings, but when the sun or light…