Meet the world’s smallest travel watch winder – the WOLF Rocket
When you think of a watch winder, you typically think of a big and boxy thing that you have to carve out desk or tabletop space for. And, ultimately, these winders are things you do not really ever transport – a strictly at-home solution. WOLF, however, has now developed a portable watch winder that upholds … Continued
The post Meet the world’s smallest travel watch winder – the WOLF Rocket appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
The post Meet the world’s smallest travel watch winder – the WOLF Rocket appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
A watch get-together (GTG) enables like-minded enthusiasts to catch up and gawp at each other’s beloved pieces. This might be your rare chance to try on some beardy guy’s vintage Daytona, admire the enamel dial of a Breguet up close, or merely add your trusty Doxa to a #sexpile that’s worth north of $1.5 million. Yet if you want to be invited back to one of these special events, there are some ground rules we need to address – many of which I have witnessed to my chagrin. So join us in crossing fingers that 2021 delivers many a GTG, but please read this first… Keeping all your watches locked up in the box with viewing “by appointment only…” The phrase: “No, please don’t touch the watches” has been heard over the table at the occasional GTG. Admittedly with COVID and all, we don’t want to touch things without sanitised or gloved hands. But let’s imagine a simpler time when we are cured of this obnoxious pandemic. The raison d’être for any GTG is SHARING my friend, the possibility of touching another person’s watch. That is why we come, so you have to share. It’s all about that friendly dialogue…
Talk about a conversation piece. The loss and eventual return, against all odds, of a F.P Journe Centigraphe S, now worth $100,000 USD, was a tale that made my jaw drop. Particularly given it involved a pimp, a ransom and a desperate chase to be reunited with this watch of a lifetime. The man at the centre of this wild story was my good friend Leonardo, aka @yachtleo, a Boston collector who first shared this story through his private Instagram account. Below, Leonardo gives Time+Tide the whole story. The tale unfolds “Two years ago, one fateful summer day, I was sitting in the relatively empty First Class carriage of an Amtrak Express train going from New York to my Boston home after spending a nice weekend in the Big Apple visiting friends. It wasn’t unusual for me to take this three-hour fast train ride several times a year – it’s faster than flying and drops you off in the middle of Manhattan. “It also wasn’t unusual for me to take my backpack and one or two watches with me on the visit. Wristwatches have long been a source of pleasure for me ever since falling in love with my father’s…
When it comes to being in the middle of nature, surrounded by water, land or sheep, all you need from a watch – durability aside – is the time. Simple and uncomplicated, it’s why the field watch remains the timepiece of choice for casual watch wearers with a sense of adventure. With that in mind, Mike Christensen took the latest Farer Field Watch collection out for some winter waves and fresh air down on England’s Jurassic Coast, to see how it fared. The elements, the seasons, the warmth, the cold, the skies, the terrain, the rain, the snow, the wind, the sun. The browns, the greens, the silvers, the blues, the whites, the yellows. The air, the space, the depths, the hills, the oceans, the woods, the leaves, the wilderness. The touches, the smells, the sights, the noises, the silence, the tastes, the thirst, the hunger, the senses. The rest, the thinking time, the freedom, the serenity. Beyond the realities of parenthood and work, can you tell I am a bit of an outdoorsy person? I was brought up to thrive in the great outdoors – climbing trees, digging holes, exploring woods and jumping into the lakes, rivers and oceans…
The Les Cabinotiers experience in Singapore, which combined lots of quality time in the company of Vacheron Constantin’s Style and Heritage Director, Christian Selmoni, with a stunning tropical plantation style residence as a setting for the big watch reveals, really brought home one of the ‘Holy Trinity’ brand’s key points of difference. It is exclusive to the highest degree. Vacheron Constantin is not increasing production, despite wait lists and shortages for key models Vacheron Constantin embodies the notion of less watches, better watches. Even if they wanted to – and perhaps in the process reduce the wait time for those on the list for blue dial Overseas 3 models! – they are unable to meaningfully exceed their yearly quota of 30-50,000 watches. And they’re cool with that. Several conversations with the Vacheron Constantin team – the CEO and new Managing Director of South-East Asia and Australia were present — reinforced the fact that exclusivity is alive and well here. One might ruefully add, ‘whether Vacheron Constantin like it or not’. The Les Cabinotiers department reflects the essence of Vacheron Constantin On a similar note, the Les Cabinotiers department embodies the notion that haute horology is an exclusive field by its very…
Science is very boring. For most people at least, and Michael Biercuk, who works as a quantum physicist, is far from most people. In fact, the phrase “Only boring people get bored” goes a long way to explaining why (if you follow the syllogism) Michael is deeply interested in a highly technical area that causes the eyes of most to glaze over, because he is also deeply interesting. I met with him at Dubai Watch Week, where he was a speaker at the event, and was fortunate enough to sit down with him and find out about his work as Professor of Quantum Physics and Quantum Technology at the University of Sydney, as well as being the CEO and founder of a quantum technology start-up called Q-CTRL. At the university, Michael is responsible for a research team who build quantum computers. “We build this next generation of computational machine that uses the physics we find inside very small things in order to process information in a totally new way,” he said patiently, clearly having explained his job more than once to people who are better with words than numbers. In a similar vein, his company Q-CTRL “specializes in making quantum…
I recently had the privilege of attending an event with Seiko that focused on their Save the Ocean collection, and the work that can be done with the funds raised. While the event itself was an interesting blend of experience and information, I’ll explain exactly what the Seiko Save the Ocean collection is first. If you’ve ever been in a boutique that carries Seiko, while you were browsing the cabinets packed with their latest releases, you might have noticed a range of dive watches in the Prospex family with gradient blue dials that have an almost metallic quality. If you looked closer again at these blue-to-black fading dials, you would have seen an irregular stripe pattern, which was inspired by the lines that run along the bellies of humpback whales. It is these watches with gradient blue dials that sit within the Seiko Save the Ocean collection, and are made separate from the rest of the Prospex family, as a portion of the sales are donated to ocean conservation efforts around the globe. Aligned with this, Seiko are working with filmmaker Fabien Cousteau as an official Save the Ocean ambassador, who is also none other than the grandson of the…
Dubai Watch Week is in its fourth year, and is hitting a scale that should be making the other watch fairs around the world take notice. In the context of Baselworld being in some of the worst trouble it has experienced in its 100+ year history and SIHH (now called Watches & Wonders in 2020) losing the commitment of some of its largest brands, and both of the fairs changing their dates in an attempt to make them more convenient to attend (though this was cited as the reason for both Seiko and Grand Seiko pulling out of the 2020 fair), Dubai Watch Week is gaining significant traction and attention. But what exactly is Dubai Watch Week? Is it a trade show like Baselworld or SIHH, where new watches are released? And if it isn’t, what’s the point in going, and who is it for? Baselworld and SIHH have always traditionally been trade shows, where brands can meet with their retailers, retailers can place their orders for the year having seen the new watches, and members of the press can attend to offer coverage and commentary on latest releases. They aren’t designed for members of the public (SIHH was an…