MICRO MONDAYS: Meet the LIV P-51, a high-specced titanium pilot's watch at a competitive price
LIV is a brand that cuts to the chase. Bold, chunky watches with action in mind, and the rare ability to come up with distinctly different designs while keeping its own unique identity consistent across its range. While their microbrand-standard Kickstarter business model may be quite common, their collections of watches and value propositions are anything but. One of the latest releases to be successfully crowdfunded raised $764,590USD more than its $30,000 goal, and it’s the tactical, brutish, yet stylish LIV P-51 Pilot’s chronograph in a wide high-grade titanium case. There’s no getting around it. The P-51 is a big, no-nonsense, bombastic pilot’s watch — the most obvious feature being its hulking dimensions of 46mm in diameter and 15.9mm thickness, though the short and straight lugs sloping downwards help increase its wearability. But, chances are, if you’re after an oversized chronograph, you’re not looking for subtlety. The legibility is, of course, perfect, with slightly stocky hands filled with white BGW9 Swiss Super-LumiNova luminous paint, and a bright orange seconds hand, white-tipped to more accurately line it up with the printed seconds track between the applied indices. Legibility is also helped by the crystal covering the dial featuring an anti-reflective coating.…
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A neutron star is tiny, at an average 20km in diameter, but incredibly dense. Its mass is equivalent to 1.5 times our Sun – which has room for more than a million Earths. How does this set the backdrop to a review of the fêted Sinn U50 SDR, the first-ever Sinn with a waiting list? Physics and astronomy is an unusual starting point for a watch review, but stay with me…! Thanks to the generous engineers at Sinn Spezialuhren in Frankfurt, I have had the new Sinn U50 diver comfortably on my wrist for a couple of weeks, and the confusion started the moment I picked it up. Like the neutron star, it is small and rather heavy thanks to the HY 100 submarine steel construction; a compact nugget of a watch. A 40mm diver of mine on a tropic strap is 30 per cent thicker and weighs 90 grams, whereas this is a heavy 130 grams and very slender at 11mm. On its rubber strap it weighs only slightly less than my Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight on its solid steel bracelet, and that’s including the Sinn rubber being cut short to fit my twig-like forearm. In a word, it…
Homage watches within the enthusiast community can be quite a contentious topic at times. Are they rip-offs? Cash cows? Sell-outs? Unoriginal? The reality is opinions can vary, but the true metric or equaliser of any watch to an extent is how they perform on the grey or second-hand market. While the objective of most homage watches is to supply a mass-produced low-cost alternative to widely renowned designs, the Gevril Tribeca has established itself as the textbook example of how to release an homage watch. The watch is so desirable that it now sells at practically three times or more its final retail price of $2900. The last watches sold at retail were in 2018 when Revolution sourced 67 NOS watches that had yet to be assembled from Gevril. A year later, at Christie’s (in an online auction in partnership with The Keystone), one was sold without box and papers for $9375! So, what makes this watch the king of homage? Let’s explore the curious case of the Gevril Tribeca… I know what you are thinking: Zach, it’s a Paul Newman Daytona homage … of course it’s desirable. Upon closer examination, however, this is not the full story. As an example,…
If a watch has become synonymous with the One Watch Collection, a quintessential vintage diver, or the perfect Sub reissue Rolex never released, it’s the Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight. In fact, care of the recent navy blue update, it’s currently as viral as the AD waiting lists are long. Personally, I love vintage tool watches, and especially the quiet bling that a warm touch of gold brings to the party. But can we find alternatives in the same perfect 38-40mm size from another big box brand? Yes, we can — from Seiko, well known for their brilliant vintage reissues, but also for being large. Ergonomically superb they may be, but with the different tastes of the Asian and US markets (in HK the BB58 is being marketed as a ladies’ watch), still predominantly large chunks of 42-44mm steel. This changed with the recent release of the 40.5mm SPB143-147 and SPB149 Vintage Diver Re-creation trio. Still on the chubby side height-wise, but at a third of the price of the Black Bay Fifty-Eight, is the SPB147J the gilt champ? The fighters enter the arena … A duel of cases The comfort prize is won by the Black Bay Fifty-Eight, by simple…
To even the most casual Time+Tide reader, the Rado Captain Cook is likely to be a known quantity. A strong, stainless steel, vintage-inspired design, backed up by a reliable modern movement in a range of sizes … all true, but that’s no longer the extent of it. For the first time, we can now add three Rado Captain Cook bronze references to the collection. Named after the British explorer who achieved the first recorded European contact with the east coast of Australia, the Rado Captain Cook was first produced from 1962 until 1968. This was a legitimate dive watch that capitalised on a golden age of underwater exploration, when scuba diving became popular with the public at large, and watchmakers rushed to put watches on the wrists of this new breed of submerged shopper. The instantly recognisable design was revived in recent years, and the collection has enjoyed strong success as a fresh and eye-catching offering from the brand. The exciting addition of the Rado Captain Cook Bronze marks a tangent within the collection that gives a totally new look and feel to a well-established part of the brand’s stable. The bronze produces an attractively warm tone in the 42mm case,…
Almost two years ago I had the opportunity to acquire a watch that was on my grail list – the Patek Philippe 5066 Aquanaut. The deal Not having an unlimited source of funds to blow on a beautiful watch, the transaction necessitated that I not part with one of my watches, but rather all of the watches in my collection (in addition to a few thousand dollars). Like a fantasy football trade, to get one of the best of the best it meant I needed to let go of some pretty well-known brands and watches to get close to their asking price. The Aquanaut The 5066 really resonates with me for its discreet yet haute design that proudly displays its beautifully finished movement via an exhibition caseback. Being 36mm in diameter, with a less integrated rubber strap that was more flexible for my smaller wrist, it was a watch from Patek Philippe I felt could be a safe daily wearer, especially as the watch was over 100m water resistant (provided one routinely checked and maintained its gaskets). In the moment, to make this deal happen, I was prepared to part with four watches that were the most valuable in my…
By now, you should be familiar with the Rado Captain Cook collection, inspired by a historical Rado reference from the golden age of dive watches. This year, the collection has launched three new references, announcing the Rado Captain Cook bronze for the first time ever. This warmly toned coloured metal complements the already vibrant array of colours that the Captain Cook collection is available in, including these new references produced in green, blue and brown. While Rado are only dipping their toe into bronze as a material, this first collection looks great, and adds a further dynamic element to a collection that is already a winner across collector and enthusiast communities. An interesting note about this particular alloy of bronze is that it is formulated for only mild patina, so it’s going to stay golden, pony boy. Rado Captain Cook bronze price and availability: All three Rado Captain Cook references in bronze have an Australian RRP of $4025, and are available now. Made in partnership with Rado. However, the opinions expressed in this article are our own in accordance with our Editorial Policy.