HANDS-ON: The Longines Record Australian Limited Edition
The Longines Record Collection is an important pillar of the brand today, representing the clean classicism that is embodied by the brand. The Heritage Collection is popular with the vintage enthusiast, just as the Sport Collection is a favourite of the adventurous type, and the Record Collection is designed to be an everyday companion and has a correspondingly universal appeal. The openly spaced and cleanly designed dials, as well as the elegant case designs, make for a watch that can look good in any situation, be it casual or formal. This dynamic nature is seen in the new Longines Record Australian Limited Edition, which takes that collective DNA and expresses it with luxurious flair. The case The stainless steel case of the Longines Record Australian Limited Edition measures a well-balanced 38.5mm in diameter, but wears slightly larger thanks to the generously curved lugs. Housed within the steel case is the Longines caliber L888.4, a relatively slim automatic winding movement that keeps the watch sitting sleekly against your wrist. Boasting a full 62 hours of power reserve, the caliber L888.4 is also COSC certified, showing Longines’ commitment to high performance even within their larger families such as the Record Collection. The…
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One of the most iconic Seiko dive watches of all time is the 6105, a watch that was worn on the wrist of Martin Sheen as he starred as Captain Willard in the blockbuster film Apocalypse Now. This year, Seiko have announced the release of the Seiko SPB151J and Seiko SPB153J, two new references based on the classic 6105. The Seiko SPB151J keeps a closer relationship to the original 6105, with the same matte black dial and wide black bezel that sits proudly above the rest of the case. On the dial of the Seiko SPB151J there are those classic Seiko-style blocky lume-filled hour markers, and a date window at 3 o’clock, with the dial text updated in this reference. In the Seiko SPB153J, the new olive green bezel and dial are a refreshing new addition to the collection. The muted tone of the green keeps it under the radar, as well as invoking a vaguely militaristic impression that might be a nod to Captain Willard in the jungles of Vietnam. Both the Seiko SPB151J and Seiko SPB153J have a couple of nice details that really make you appreciate the effort that has gone into these watches. Both are…
How can a table clock be desirable? My thought process is well on the way to becoming coherent, meaning Sellable To The Wife. She has a background as a buyer in the oil business, so I can’t tell her that the need for a USD$27,000 non-wearable time piece is driven by desire. The title of my presentation (with PowerPoint?): How to justify the purchase of a USD$27,000 table clock with a T-Rex theme. Well, actually, just the skeletonised legs and one eye, but beautifully made … It will be made more difficult by her not knowing what Max Büsser and Friends signifies in my world of horology. Even my 26 years of sales training might not suffice, but I’m doing the pitch anyway. Some of us are stuck in small closets masquerading as home offices, and some of us are back in The Real Office. Let’s be honest, the time of day is there at the corner of the screen, but what if there was a hand-finished piece of art on the desk feeding your creative senses and invoking the history of Earth while at the same time telling the time? This is it. William Massena, the scion of Timezone…
In what could be seen as an appeal to Swiss watch collectors – or perhaps just those who prefer lighter watches – G-Shock decided to take their full-metal GMW-B5000 line to the next level. G-Shock has now introduced titanium into their lineup of square-faced design watches inspired by their historic G-Shock DW-5000C. I’ve owned mine for a month, and have plenty to say about it. Firstly, the case, band, bezel, and caseback of this model are all made of very lightweight titanium, weighing in at 110g in total (with their previous steel models weighing 167g). Producing the Full Metal line in titanium was no easy feat for G-Shock. According to Miho Nishimura of Casio’s Watch Development Department, this was not simply a matter of pouring new material into an existing mould and process. The titanium models required an entirely new mould, as well as its own dedicated assembly line, due to titanium being an unforgiving and difficult material to manufacture. G-Shock, in their pursuit of ultimate robustness, has also upgraded the crystal from mineral glass (used in the stainless steel versions) to a sapphire crystal and treated the titanium with a diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating that protects the watch from…
Often, it is incremental and deliberate design progress — slow to the point that the casual observer might not even notice it — that creates the best products. Tiny changes, layered on one another year after year, are the key to creating an unmistakable visual identity that stands the test of time. It’s a blueprint that is as simple as it is challenging to achieve. For the custodians of a brand to maintain a steadfast faithfulness to a design that might have been born a generation or two before, requires belief as much as it does an understanding that good design will often outlive us all. While good designs will likely have long lives, they all have a foundational period in their youth, and that is where the Bulgari Octo Finissimo is today. The heavily faceted octagonal case of the Finissimo was first seen in 2014 with the release of the world’s thinnest tourbillon. At the time it was a curious watch to make for a brand that was best known as a jewellery firm, but it was the first sign of Bulgari’s unrelenting watchmaking intent. Bulgari followed the thinnest tourbillon record with another Octo Finissimo record in 2016 — the…
Editor’s note: The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II USA-only edition is available now in the Time+Tide marketplace, alongside the Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Original, a vintage-styled diver with some similar muscle. The Ball Watch Company is a brand founded on the principles of practical and robust solutions to timekeeping problems. They were established in the United States in the late 1800s after a series of tragic accidents on the country’s quickly expanding railway networks. There was no standard time that trains ran to, meaning that a deviation of a local train station’s clock could result in a train leaving too early or late, causing an accident. After one head-on collision between two trains in Ohio, Webb C. Ball founded the Ball Watch Company to comply with the newly established “Rail Road Standard” time that aimed to solve the problem. Today, Ball Watch Company continue to make watches in this ethos, prioritising legibility, accuracy and durability. The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II is one such watch that embodies this ethos, built as a practical modern tool watch. The 42mm steel case is built to withstand a lot, be it water intrusion, magnetism or shock. The case is specifically designed to be able…
Legends are made quickly in the microbrand world. In the case of the Halios Seaforth Bronze, news of its popularity could barely keep up with the speed at which it sold out, and while rumours of a second production run have been teased since January, second-hand Seaforths in bronze have been selling for more than their prior RRP. Not to be outshone, the French emerging mainstay Baltic have released their own bronze-cased, 200M, time-only watch, dripping in vintage character and with similarly perfect proportions. While these two watches are by no means clones of each other, no doubt they’ll be fighting over territory on your wrist. The case The dimensions of these two watches both sit in that masculine sweet spot for those who want big impact in a non-overbearing package. The Seaforth’s 40mm diameter and 48mm lug-to-lug should ensure a comfortable fit on smaller than average wrists, and the same goes for the Aquascaphe’s 39mm width and 47mm lug-to-lug. Both measure in at a modest 12mm high, including their domed sapphire crystals, so neither will provide too much of an obstacle to sliding under a cuff, if that’s the kind of environment you’ll be wearing it in. Although the…
Not the zingiest name I’ve come across, I must admit. Is this a statement, an actual watch – or something stolen by an Area 51 engineer from an alien craft? It might be all of the above and, boy, it’s brash and edgy (pun intended). Consider this an ongoing story as much as it is a watch. While everyone is staring goggle-eyed at the bold architectural structure with its bombardment of colours and textures, I will endeavour to explain the mission of this Garbage Watch. Vollebak is at the cutting edge of high-tech fashion, and this is their first watch. In their catalogue you’ll find the Carbon Fibre T Shirt, engineered with 120 metres of carbon fibre and an indestructible graphene-coated jacket. This is no purveyor of sartorial chic in the traditional sense, but part of the future of the garment industry. The Garbage Watch is a collaboration with Re-Made, a holistic recycling project from the design gurus at Wallpaper*, and more than the sum of its recycled parts. The watch will be ready for delivery in 2021 – with a waiting list sign-up initiating a journey through the design, recycling and production process concluding in a major talking point…
The summer watch is a category as important as pilot’s watch or doctor’s watch, but without the historically derived definition that comes from a serious professional context. A loose definition might include a watch that needs to be robust, waterproof and easy to read after five Aperol Spritzes, but it also needs to be fun and communicate a bit of personality. After all, the summer holidays (regardless of the hemisphere you live in) are a time when the workplace persona can be dropped, you can relax into the warmer weather and leave your more conservative timepieces in the safe for a few weeks. Bright colours, uncommon textures and interesting materials are all part of the summer watch playbook, as they aim to complement your board shorts instead of your boardroom suit and tie. For all those reasons, the new TAG Heuer Aquaracer “Tortoise Shell” is one of the most compelling summer watches to hit the market this year. Being born into the Aquaracer family of TAG Heuer makes perfect sense, as the tool watch DNA of the collection nicely matches up with the brief of being a robust and waterproof watch. True to heritage, this latest member of the Aquaracer…
Since 1948, Omega have been perfecting their formula for conquering the sea. What began as a splash-proof dress watch, quickly spiralled into a race for innovation amongst Switzerland’s finest as to who could plunge the deepest depths and still tell the time. The Seamaster line is Omega’s crown jewel in technical achievement and design, with mesmerising good-looks intrinsically linked to having the utmost legibility under the waves. 2017 saw a revamped edition of the Seamaster 300, Omega’s famed 1957 release that has become an all-time classic. Last year saw the Planet Ocean Ultra Deep Professional reach a staggering 10,929m underwater, breaking the world record for a wristwatch in the Mariana Trench. Now, the Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial and the Planet Ocean are engaged in their own battle at the top of Omega’s steel-diver catalogue. The dial As much as the Planet Ocean is undoubtedly a modern beast, its roots aren’t all that detached from the Seamaster 300. The first generation, launched in 2005, took its dial inspiration from the 1960s SM300, reference 165.024. Specifically, it took the same font of Arabic numerals, and used the trapezoid-shaped printed markers to model its applied indices. Its broad-arrow hands are also inspired by…