VIDEO: Made to be seen – the Moser Pioneer Centre Seconds in Cosmic Green
Regular readers will be unsurprised to learn that we’re card-carrying fans of Moser’s Pioneer line here in the T+T office. Not only does it offer a dressed-down, somewhat less aristocratic option to the Moser family, but it also adds the joy of a steel case. Because while gold is very nice indeed, sometimes you’re happy to ditch the heft and shine in favour of something a little more hard wearing. Now, though, we’re in something of a quandary – blue or green? It was a simpler time when there was but one Pioneer Centre Seconds, with its luscious blue dial. But, with the addition of this Cosmic Green dial, we’re spoiled for choice. The green is somewhat more outré than the blue, and wouldn’t look out of place in the Emerald City. It’s certainly not a watch you’ll miss on the wrist – the large case size, incredible fumé finish and the vibrancy of the green ensure that. The original Pioneer is the slightly more conservative older brother to the funkier, fresher Cosmic Green. So really, at the end of the day it comes down to personal preference and mood. In the time I’ve been writing this, I’ve been trying…
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Where there’s smoke there’s fire. There’s a lot of truth to that saying, especially if we’re talking about H. Moser & Cie’s famous smoky fumé dials — the latest batch of watches they’re attached to are straight up fire. Take, for example, the Venturer Small Seconds XL Purity. The dial-heavy 43mm watch definitely lives up to its XL name, but it’s with those sparse markings in case-matching red gold and the awesome rhodium dial. It’s one of the most beautiful objects we’ve seen in a while. Of course, Moser’s star power went stratospheric a few years ago when they wittily riffed on the Apple Watch with their app-less Alp Watch. It’s since become a staple, and this year sees them add some serious complication in the form of a minute repeater, and (yet another) incredible dial. Other standouts include the smart Endeavour Flying Hours, one of the indie hits of SIHH, as well as the new, cosmic green interpretation of their steel hero, the Pioneer. Moser’s 2018 collection is coming to town next week (Sydney and Melbourne — sorry, other towns), and I can’t wait to have another look at these (very) rare beauties.
Grand Seiko’s limited editions are, in their own way, hype machines. They generate huge buzz and are, in the pretty fanatical world of GS enthusiasts, hotter than the proverbial hot cakes. The SBGR311, unveiled in Basel earlier this year, is no exception. Ostensibly, it’s a celebration of the mighty 9S calibre, but it’s also a pretty compelling celebration of how awesome a brown dial can be. I mean, look at this thing — it’s rich, it’s textural, it’s got a super detailed mosaic pattern on it and it’s got gold highlights. If you had told me pre-Basel that I’d fall madly in love with a brown watch, I would have been too polite to laugh in your face, but there would have been a definite snicker. But now, after seeing this guy in all his warm, chocolatey rich glory, I am down for brown. Grand Seiko SBGR311 Australian pricing and availability Grand Seiko SBGR311, limited to 1300 pieces, $7500
Perhaps it’s just the football, but we’ve got Hublot on the brain at the moment. And while the Referee watch, with its smart interface and snazzy, over the sweatband look — as rocked by FIFA’s refs — is a winner, it’s not the only one in their arsenal. There’s Big Red, which is what I’ve nicknamed the franky epic red ceramic Big Bang, a watch you need to see to really appreciate. But even if you don’t, take it from us that the shade of red is awesome, and awesomely hard to develop. And then there’s a slightly smaller Bang — the 42mm take on the classic Big Bang. These two watches are pretty classic takes on the famous Hublot shape, but there’s also a Spirit of Big Bang that’s seemingly made entirely of sapphire and precious stones, and then there’s the wrist-sized artworks that are the latest Orlinski collabs. All told, Hublot’s 2018 collection is Hublot doing what Hublot does best: material innovation and unbeatable statements.
One of the things I love most in watches is when a brand challenges my preconceptions. That’s exactly what happened in Jaquet Droz’s Basel booth earlier this year. I was surrounded by writing machines, jewelled butterflies, automata of all shapes and sizes (well, not really, but you get my point), and then BAM! I saw the Skelet-One. I mean, sure, technically it’s part of the Grande Seconde family (just like the Tribute), but to my mind it’s aggressive modernity meets classical proportion and peerless finish. A seductive mix, indeed. In and of itself the skeletonisation is very cool, but the real deal-sealer is the sapphire subdial. Not only does it look like the titular seconds hand is floating on air, it allows maximum light into that golden case, to great effect. Minimal dial. Maximum impact. Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Skelet-One Australian Pricing Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Skelet-One, $44,950.
Last week we had a look at the ‘regular’ version of Cartier’s updated Santos, and today the less-is-more Skeleton is under our lens. To be specific, we’re talking about the large steel model (though there’s a pink gold version as well), which comes on the QuickSwitch and SmartLink equipped steel bracelet, replete with those prominent screws — you also get an additional alligator strap, allowing you to change your look should the fancy take you. So far, so standard for the new Santos. But what’s special here is the dial, or lack thereof, as you would expect. The manually wound 9611MC movement has been designed from the ground up as a skeleton movement, a process that means the architecture has been designed for maximum visual impact — the bridges have taken the form of Cartier’s iconic exploding Roman numerals; a pleasing blend of negative space and mechanics. And while the stripped-back style of the skeletonised Santos might not be to all tastes, it’s an important skill in Cartier’s history, and there’s no faulting the execution here. 
Few watches can rival Cartier’s Santos in terms of on-the-wrist recognition and sheer weight of history. The design debuted in 1904 and has remained fundamentally unchanged in form since. But while the new Santos might look familiar, quite a lot has changed. Small changes have been made to the design and ergonomics of the case, resulting in a watch that looks and wears better on the wrist. Bigger changes have been made to the inside, with an in-house movement upgrade and, most excitingly of all, a new QuickSwitch strap change system that allows you to swap your strap quickly and painlessly. This is something I’d be really excited to see rolled out more widely across the Cartier collection. On a related note, there’s a similar functionality for the bracelet, allowing you to add and remove links without tools. These changes on their own are all fairly incremental, but package them up together, on a design as strong as this, and the Santos suddenly becomes a very compelling proposition.
Late last year, one of the more surprising (and contentious) inclusions in my “best watches of 2017” list was the Apple Watch Series 3. For me, the addition of cellular functionality made the already formidable smart watch that much more intimidating — and appealing. So, as you can imagine, I was keen to get my hands on one for review, and just after SIHH a courier dropped one off at my desk. Fast forward to now and I’ve had the grey ceramic Apple Watch Series 3 Edition on my wrist on and off for a few months. Did it live up to the phone-free utopia that I imagined when it was released? Well, obviously watch the video to get the full rundown but, spoiler alert, it turns out I’m just not ready to go iPhone cold turkey, but you could definitely do it, and I suspect that by the time Series 4 rolls around, it will have gotten even easier.
If you look at the last two years, the price of vintage Heuer has rocketed, but so far the uplift has not raised all boats on the modern TAG Heuer and Heuer tide. David Chalmers, founder of Calibre 11, the “home of TAG Heuer and vintage Heuer collectors”, asks the CEO of TAG Heuer, Jean-Claude Biver, why is it so? For those not interested in watching the 90-second response from Mr Biver, the transcript is below. If you look at the last two years, the price of vintage Heuer has rocketed, but I wonder how much benefit has that given to TAG Heuer, because normally you follow the idea of saying vintage Rolex values go up, new Rolex values go up because of the perception around the brand. It seems as though that hasn’t necessarily happened with vintage Heuer and TAG Heuer. “No, it has not happened in the past because there was such a discrepancy between the beautiful, traditional, old TAG Heuer pieces from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. When you are looking at the pieces of now, people would say, ‘Oh, is it the same brand?’ because the past was so much better than the present. Now, with…
Earlier this week we showed you a behind-the-scenes peek at how Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Polaris is put together. Well, we kick it up a notch and have a look at some of the brand’s most complicated — and most beautiful — pieces, find out a little bit about how they’re made, and meet the talented artisans who make them. Central to this story is Christian Laurent, JLC’s master watchmaker, a man with a twinkle in his eye and a clear passion for his work. During my visit, Mr Laurent presented JLC’s high complications, running through the brand’s achievements — innovative watches like the Duomètre and the Gyrotourbillon — which clearly demonstrate Jaeger-LeCoultre’s high-end credentials. Speaking to him later, Mr Laurent expanded on the importance of humans in making those watches: “We don’t make hundreds of pieces; for high complications it’s always very limited numbers — only the human hand is capable of doing these things.”