Review – The Sports Watch From Stoic World – Peter Speake-Marin’s Polarizing Reemergence In The Affordable Market

Imagine Enzo Ferrari leaving his company after its reputation was well established, only to reemerge a year later with a new car brand offering affordable, compact sedans. As crazy as that scenario sounds, it’s kind of analogous to the current situation we have with Peter Speake-Marin. It wasn’t long ago that his name was associated with expensive, exclusive and complicated timepieces, featuring in-house movements, tourbillons, minute repeaters and more. Those days are behind Peter, who left the company last year to pursue other interests (inc. The Naked Watchmaker), but he’s suddenly back with a new watch brand, Stoic World. The Sports Watch is one of three in Stoic World’s portfolio of affordable, mainstream watches, having virtually no resemblance to his former collections. Let’s take a closer look at the Sports Watch (and touch on the other two) and see if this new direction is worthy of the Peter Speake-Marin name.

7 years ago

Review – The Sports Watch From Stoic World – Peter Speake-Marin’s Polarising Reemergence In The Affordable Market

Imagine Enzo Ferrari leaving his company after its reputation was well established, only to reemerge a year later with a new car brand offering affordable, compact sedans. As crazy as that scenario sounds, it’s kind of analogous to the current situation we have with Peter Speake-Marin. It wasn’t long ago that his name was associated with expensive, exclusive and complicated timepieces, featuring in-house movements, tourbillons, minute repeaters and more. Those days are behind Peter, who left the company last year to pursue other interests (inc. The Naked Watchmaker), but he’s suddenly back with a new watch brand, Stoic World. The Sports Watch is one of three in Stoic World’s portfolio of affordable, mainstream watches, having virtually no resemblance to his former collections. Let’s take a closer look at the Sports Watch (and touch on the other two) and see if this new direction is worthy of the Peter Speake-Marin name.

7 years ago

Introducing – MING Watch Celebrates its First Anniversary with Two Blue Limited Edition 17.03 (Live Pics)

It’s hard to believe but MING Watches is already celebrating its one-year anniversary. And what a year it’s been. In just 12 months, three models have been introduced: the MING 17.01, which sold out almost immediately, the MING 19.01 with exclusive Schwarz Etienne movement, and the MING 17.03 GMT, which saw the addition of a practical complication. To celebrate this exciting milestone, MING has created two anniversary models: the 17.03 Ultra Blue and 17.03 Blue limited editions. There’s already a waiting list for the Ultra Blue edition and we’re pretty confident in saying that the Blue edition will likely sell out quickly too. Read on for all the details.

7 years ago

Interview – Talking Volvo Ocean Race with Delma Watch Ambassador Nick Moloney

Last month I had the distinct privilege to meet with Nick Moloney. For those who do not know the great names in the world of sailing, like me, here’s a brief resume… Nick sailed around the world three times, is a 15 x world sailing speed record holder, and has competed two times in the America’s Cup (and much more). He was involved in this year’s Volvo Ocean Race as the official Race Ambassador, he’s a Delma Watches ambassador and a great, really great, guy. We sat down with Nick, when the Volvo Ocean Race ended in The Hague, Netherlands, and we talked about sailing, the Volvo Ocean Race, the quest for cleaning the seas and of course watches.

7 years ago

Hands-on – Chopard Mille Miglia 2018 Race Edition: the Symbiotic Relationship between Classic Cars and Watches

Chopard celebrates its 30-year anniversary as the partner and official timekeeper of the Mille Miglia race with two limited edition chronographs designed to bring the spirit of this classic car rally to the wrist. Fitted with COSC-certified movements, both the stainless steel and the two-tone steel and rose gold model of the Mille Miglia 2018 Race Edition are more vintage-inspired than the Mille Miglia GTS Power Control Grigio Speciale watch – also launched at Baselworld 2018. Sporting handsome engine-turned dials to capture the look and feel of a vintage car dashboard, here are two watches that will fuel the fantasies of car/watch fanatics.

7 years ago

Hands-on – Ateliers deMonaco Admiral Chronograph Flyback Prato in Black DLC

In 2011, a small company was founded in the French Alps. That company was Prato Automobiles, and its goal was simple: create a French hypercar. On June 14, 2017, after several years of R&D, testing and countless hours on the track, Prato achieved that goal, unveiling its first model, Orage. To mark this significant milestone, […]

7 years ago

Value Proposition – UNDONE Aqua Dive Watch – An Affordable, Highly Customisable Automatic Watch for Water Enthusiasts

The popularity of microbrands is rapidly spreading as unique mechanical watches are being sold at cutthroat prices. An interesting piece can be had for well under USD 500, but odds are you’ll be getting a Chinese movement and parts that are far removed from Switzerland. That doesn’t mean that many of these watches are bad products, but from both a reliability and collector standpoint, they’re often considered a lower tier. UNDONE is a popular microbrand that specializes in customization to help stand out in the crowd. Colours, cases, dials, hands, straps and even materials can be individually chosen to create a unique timepiece just for you, all for under USD 500. Many of their watches are attractive chronographs but equipped with quartz movements instead of mechanical. Their Aqua series of dive watches, however, have proven Seiko automatics inside and are an excellent value proposition for budding enthusiasts or active divers. Dive watches are among my favourite styles and the level of customization offered by UNDONE is almost overwhelming. Standard editions are also available if you’re happy with their selection of prebuilt models. I have their prebuilt Aqua Silver-Grey unit (with date) that I’ve been wearing for several weeks.

7 years ago

Opinion – Thoughts on the Patek Philippe Nautilus ref.5711 (and why I didn’t buy one)

The segment of luxury sports watches remains an interesting and intriguing category in the world of watches. Since the very first luxury sports watch was introduced in 1972 – the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ref. 5402ST – many brands have tried to enter this segment, most of them without the success they had envisioned. The watch we will be looking at today did succeed, and might just have superseded the immense success of the Royal Oak. I’m talking about the Patek Philippe Nautilus and today we’ll be looking at this extremely popular luxury sports watch.

7 years ago

Introducing – Oris Chronoris Limited Edition

Renowned for its technical, modern and robust-looking watches, Oris started to introduce some vintage-inspired designs in its collections a few years ago, notably with the Divers Sixty Five collection. While the pilot’s watches hark back to the 1940s and the diving pieces play on the 1960s trend, the motorsport collection recreates the spirit of another era, […]

7 years ago

Opinion – A Personal Take on the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Automatic Sandblasted Steel

No need to hide the truth, the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Automatic was one of the highlights of 2017 – if not the most impressive watch (ultra-complicated ones excluded) of the year. Not only it is ultra-thin, but it is also ultra-bold, modernly designed, inspired and innovative. Certainly, some created even thinner (that one) but not with the same stylistic audaciousness. Presented first in titanium, I thought I had found my perfect watch. But that was before Baselworld 2018 and the new Sandblasted Steel version. You think it doesn’t change much? Yes… and no.

7 years ago