Exploring the dark side with the Seiko Prospex LX Black editions
In case you’re not familiar with Seiko’s Prospex line, it’s a venerable series of ‘professional specification’ watches that are made with a purpose. It’s a long-running series full of iconic divers with colourful names like the Turtle and the Tuna Can. Baselworld 2019 bore witness to what is perhaps the boldest iteration of the collection yet — the Prospex LX collection. The same sense of purpose is there, but so too is a level of finish that’s uncommon in the Seiko line. Prospex LX is top-tier stuff, with Spring Drive movements and case finishing that we’re far more used to seeing under the Grand Seiko name. With this higher level of execution comes a higher price tag. One that makes sense given the overall quality, but one that Seiko fans are unaccustomed to nonetheless. We already looked at the collection as a whole at Basel, but today we want to drill down into the three blacked-out versions … Seiko Prospex LX SNR031 The ‘safest’ of the trio is this Marine Master-esque diver. The bulk and blackness of the watch is offset by a clean dial layout and a water-ready silicon strap. RRP $8500 AUD Seiko Prospex LX SNR027 In contrast to…
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Brand boutiques are pretty fun spots to visit as a watch lover. Because, choice. And it may surprise you to learn that Tissot very nearly has a boutique for every single day of the year — 361, in fact, including this shiny new example in MidCity Shopping Centre in Pitt Street Mall. It will house by far the largest Tissot collection in Australia, something that was on show to us immediately, when we spotted two lesser-seen models in the first few minutes. You’ll have to watch the video to see what we’re referring to there. Another fact that tends to surprise about Tissot is the sheer volume of watches the brand sells globally. Here’s one to drop at your next dinner party: the Swatch Group brand claim to account for one in every four ‘traditional’ (which we might read to be mechanical) Swiss-made watches sold. But sales are just one part of the equation here. The Sydney Boutique will also house an on-site Watch Technician to support in-store watch repairs. Tissot has not offered a direct customer service offering in Sydney since 2012 — it will specialise in pressure testing watches, battery replacements, link and strap adjustments, performance testing and cleaning. TISSOT Boutique Store,…
Following on from last week’s look at the Top Gun collection, Andrew sets his sights on the heritage-inspired Spitfire collection. This year saw the Spitfire step up its status from an occasional silver-dialled offering to a fully formed collection in its own right. Gone are the silver dials of the past, replaced with either handsome black and steel, or a particularly warm bronze and olive green. The bronze alloy is not the bright bronze that you might expect, and already has a world-worn feel that plays well with the military-inspired olive green dial. The other standout feature of this collection is the fact that it is powered completely by in-house movements. Some of them are quite cool, like the UTC and the Timezoner, whereas others are a little simpler — such as the regular automatic. We found ourselves drawn to two models in particular. IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Spitfire This well-sized 41mm chronograph epitomises everything that’s great about a pilot’s watch, in an exceptionally cool bronze case. The fact that it’s rocking the in-house 69000 calibre only makes it sweeter. IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Spitfire We’ve saved the best (or at least the biggest) till last. This Big…
Fun fact: TAG Heuer is the largest Swiss producer of tourbillons. It’s a statement that if made a decade ago would have emitted oh-so-Swiss snickers of disbelief in the rarefied halls of Baselworld or SIHH. Tourbillons, according to the narrative, are the epitome of hand-crafting — tiny components that take precious hours to intricately assemble. But here we are in 2019, and TAG Heuer has upset the applecart with its CNC-produced tourbillon, which offers the same visceral, whirling coolness at a price that — while still clocking in at five figures — is, what market analysts would say, aggressively competitive. And while the Heuer 02T tourbillon has been around for a while now, the newest darling is the very impressive Nanograph, which serves as a heroic standard-bearer for TAG Heuer’s carbon alternative to silicon technology. Watch on to check out our picks of the current collection. TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre Heuer 02T Pairing black steel and matt ceramic, this TAG Heuer tourbillon offers all the hi-tech you could want, with a pleasingly warm brown calf strap. RRP $22,050 TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre Heuer 02T Carbon If you want even less weight and more futuristic-ness, how about a Heuer 02T clad in…
IWC is famous for their pilot’s watches, and rightfully so — they’re instantly recognisable and a genuinely iconic modern design. And while the design born in the middle of last century was for a very specific purpose — as a navigational tool for aviators — the passing of time has seen the collection grow and evolve. Today, IWC’s pilot’s family consists of four distinct sub-collections: Spitfire, the Saint Exupéry watches, the Classics, and the boldly modern Top Gun selection. Over the next four weeks we’re going to explore each of these groups in detail, kicking off with Top Gun. Top Gun, named for the Naval Air Station school in Miramar, is where IWC’s pilot’s watches look to the future. The collection is heavy on chronographs, with dark, modern aesthetics, and in more high-tech materials than elsewhere in the line-up. Andrew visited the brand’s Melbourne boutique to inspect three models in more detail. IWC Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Top Gun Ceratanium This 44mm watch made a big impression when it was released at SIHH this year. And not just because the double chronograph is a famous complication for IWC, but because of the novel use of Ceratanium, an alloy of titanium and…
Jonathon did not buy this watch — a stylish Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Geographic — instead, he managed to convince his grandfather to relinquish it. It was the first watch Jonathon remembers seeing and noticing that it was a *nice* watch (and honestly, it’s easy to see why). Now, it’s one thing to notice your grandfather’s watch and admire it from afar, but it’s another thing entirely to fully migrate it from his wrist to your own. But as we discovered in the latest instalment of Every Watch Tells a Story, Jonathon’s approach was surprisingly direct. I said to him, “Hey, that’s a nice watch, I don’t see you wearing it that often — I’d be very happy to take it off you and wear it for you. And he was like … sure, if you’ll wear it more, it’s yours.” The coda to the story, though, is that the watch needed a service, and with that came a case polish, which meant that the dings and marks of a life well-lived disappeared, and while Jonathon was initially disheartened at this erasure of identity, in the end he came to the realisation that it’s now his watch, and one he can put…
Today’s entrant into the ‘Every Watch Tells a Story’ hall of fame is Dale. It turns out that Dale has a bit of a thing for pilot’s watches, and for good reason — Dale is a commercial airline pilot. And the pride of his collection is none other than the mighty Breitling Navitimer. In case you’re not across it, the Navitimer (a portmanteau of navigation and timer) is one of those seminal watches that dates back to 1952, and featured a distinctive slide rule bezel, which was used by pre-avionics pilots as a tool, allowing on-the-fly calculations of things like fuel levels and average speed. It’s a pilot’s watch that pilots used to use Of course this isn’t functionality that Dale needs on his wrist for his day job, but it’s an important part of the history of aviation, and undeniably cool. And of all the models on offer, Dale’s 2003 model, with a starburst blue dial, is a real stunner. 
Next up in our rolling cavalcade of ‘Every Watch Tells a Story’ stories is Vince. Now, this one is a bit of a funny one, and not just because the watch in question is the critically acclaimed Joker from Russian watchmaker Konstantin Chaykin. If you’re not familiar with the Joker, it’s a very clever piece of watchmaking, that looks like, well, a Joker. Look closer and you’ll notice that those crazy eyes show hours and minutes, and the lolling red tongue is actually a moonphase. It’s bright, cheery and pretty out of the box for a generally conservative industry. And these are all reasons why Vince fell for the watch, hard. The only problem? It was limited to 99 pieces and they were all gone. He actually made a secret edition with a casino in Russia called Tigre de Cristal So Vince put some calls in to try to track one down. Within minutes he had a call back … but there was something odd about this Joker … 
