VIDEO: Bright candy dials meet carbon fibre in the new DOXA SUB 300 Carbon range
Thanks to the vintage looks of its steel case, the DOXA SUB 300 is a cult diver’s watch. But ever since the SUB 300 Aqualung US Divers in carbon fibre came out, its dark presence has haunted the dreams of DOXA fans (in a good way). Sleek and moody, the DOXA SUB 300 Carbon turns up the emphasis on the SUB 300 as a pure diver’s tool, while at the same time underlining the blisteringly fresh dials. If, like me, you fancy the stealthy embrace of carbon fibre, this is very much your ticket. I do warn you though, you will have serious decision issues, as we have six colourful references in the DOXA SUB 300 Carbon collection to choose from. As a whole new sub-category (pun intended) within the DOXA portfolio, the smooth tactility of the high-grade carbon fibre takes the brand to another level. As icing on the candy coloured cake, these babies are COSC-certified, chronometer spec diver’s watches. Professional Part of the rise of DOXA from niche favourite to Instagram star is the Swiss brand’s tight focus on diving watches. That’s why it seems apt to start with the zesty orange of the Professional in the classic DOXA…
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That is if I ever really had one. When it was released in 2018, the Rolex GMT-Master II Pepsi Ref. 126710 BLRO quickly cemented itself at the top of my wish list, grail list, things-I’d-kill-for-to-own list (you get the picture). It remained firmly in the realm of dreams until recently when I decided to bite the bullet and pick up one second-hand. Yes, I paid market premium and all. Cue the laughter of the lucky collectors who were able to pick one up at retail – congrats to you if you fall into this category. The only way I could make it work without living on the street was by completely detonating my entire collection and going all in on the latest iteration of Pepsi. Was it worth it? Well let’s find out. Once I put it on I felt… Relieved more than anything. Relieved that I hadn’t just jettisoned some watches I really loved for something so hyped up. I was torn internally whether to go for it. Andrew warned me off it, telling me it was more blueberry than Pepsi. As someone who has wrist-rolled his way through pretty much every important watch out there his opinion carries a lot…
We all know that pretty much any stainless-steel Rolex sports watch is insanely popular right now. In fact, there’s an unrelenting groundswell of hype around these watches that is undeniable. But do they really deserve it? One of the most prominent watches in the Professional range is the Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 126710 BLRO, which instantly commanded a long waiting list ever since it was first released back at Baselworld 2018. Sure, we know it’s a good watch, but is it actually worth the premium that it demands on the secondary market? With a 40mm stainless-steel case, red and blue Cerachrom bezel and solid-link jubilee bracelet, the Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 126710 BLRO is a watch with a long history behind it. This history began in the middle of the 1950s when Rolex worked with pilots from the Pan-Am airline to develop a functional travel watch. Nearly seven decades later, the Rolex “Pepsi” GMT is still a watch in extremely high demand and its value continues to climb. Housed inside the Oystersteel case is the automatic in-house caliber 3285, which is Rolex’s most sophisticated GMT movement to date. With 70 hours of power reserve, an anti-magnetic Chronergy escapement and a temperature…
When one of your non-watch friends asks how much your watch cost, they’ll probably be shocked or straight up appalled that anyone could spend thousands, never mind tens of thousands of dollars on something that tells the time “just like your phone”. So how do you explain the reason why watches are so horribly expensive? More to the point, how do you justify a hobby that has the potential to be ruinously expensive? The team over at the Wall Street Journal just took a look at three big reasons why watches are so costly and the first two might be a little more comfortable to explain than the third. The materials used in watchmaking are expensive It’s true, for a very long time watches and even pocket watches have been produced using precious metals. The use of precious materials definitely isn’t restricted to the cases of watches with gem-setting on cases and dials, as well as a select group of watchmakers such as Journe even making movements out of gold. Watchmakers are very highly trained, which makes the craftsmanship expensive I remember speaking with Stephen Forsey about why his Greubel Forsey Hand Made 1 had such a price tag of…
Editor’s note: Andrew walked through the door of the Time+Tide office one afternoon in February and looked down at his wrist. “It’s a watch that can wear you if you’re not careful,” he said, gaze still fixed on the Hublot Big Bang Integral King Gold that he was wearing. A strong statement from a man who has spent the last decade or so with an untold number of watches. So why does it have such an impact? After spending a week with the Hublot Big Bang Integral King Gold, Andrew explains what this new design offers in gold. T+T: When did you first see it and what was your first impression? Andrew McUtchen: I first saw it at Dubai Watch Week and was immediately captivated by the reflections on the bracelet and the way that the bracelet locked up with that recognisable case in a way that, to me, reinvented the Big Bang as a design proposition. Why is the Integral such a significant design change for the Big Bang collection? The reason the bracelet is such a big deal is because the Big Bang has been built on a of the “art of fusion” ever since its launch. This…
In 2021, every brand has a luxury stainless-steel sports watch. But when the concept was born in the 1970s, there was less than a handful of brands who made the leap into the brave new world that left precious metal in the past. One of those brands was Vacheron Constantin with the ref. 222 designed by the German watchmaker Jorg Hysek. In 1996, the design had new life breathed into it with the Overseas collection, which stood tall as a luxury sports watch that delivered fine watchmaking for an active lifestyle. Today, the Vacheron Constantin Overseas collection continues to evolve. The current third generation features arguably the most practical luxury steel sports watch yet in terms of functionality, in the form of the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time with black dial. With a 41mm stainless steel case, this watch arrives with three strap choices. Immediately the focus is clear. It’s a watch that you can dress up or down as a collection cornerstone for any enthusiast looking to get maximum mileage out of their watches. From the bezel to the bracelet, there are references to the Maltese cross that forms the Vacheron Constantin emblem with the level of finishing you…
Each of the models in the Rolex Professional series is a tool watch made for a man on a mission. While the Submariner and Sea-Dweller are diving watches, the Rolex Explorer II was originally built in 1971 for speleologists or cave explorers who required a sturdy, functional and highly legible watch while working in almost total darkness. Fortunately, it’s proven to be sufficiently versatile for other pursuits. The Rolex Explorer II Ref. 216570 is the model’s most recent incarnation and, if you know Rolex by their divers, you’ll be surprised by its no-nonsense toughness, instrument-like dial, and crisp black and white hand set. My favourite detail? That would have to be the big orange GMT arrow. The 42mm case is true to its size and, while the black dial version might slim it down a tad, the polar white dial here is intensely legible and perfectly balanced. There’s something alluring about the perfect whiteness of the dial surface which, with its chunky indices framed in black, works so well with the black Mercedes hands. It might all have been a bit too perfect and monochrome had it not been for the zingy EXPLORER II wording and GMT hand that are…
Your first good watch is an important step in your watch collecting journey. It represents your first serious commitment to the hobby and probably the first time you spend an amount of money that most people would consider completely preposterous on a wristwatch. But because of that commitment, inevitably your first good watch will always be a memorable one in your collecting journey and represents the beginning of what is likely to be a headfirst dive into the weird and wonderful world of watch fanaticism. What was my first good watch? It was a choice that was off the beaten path, not because it wasn’t a great watch, but because it was quartz. That’s right, my first good watch was the Grand Seiko SBGN007. Why did I choose this instead of something that might have cost a similar amount, but was more traditional in the fact that it was a mechanical watch? Well, I knew at that point a decent proportion of the watches I’d bought were vintage Seikos, many of which were quartz, so I wasn’t starting from a position of only appreciating mechanical watches from Switzerland. The other reason was that for the cost of the Grand Seiko…