Hiding in plain sight – 6 sleeper hit watches you might have missed
You don’t always have to look to the usual suspects or pay a hefty price to get a quality watch. There is a wide spectrum of manufacturers in this industry and, with so many releases each year, it can be a bit of a challenge to follow every reference introduced. While the below list of watches are fabricated by well known brands, we wanted to shine a spotlight on some references that may not have received the recognition they deserve. A sleeper hit is effectively something that is not massively hyped, but has a level of quality that demands further exploration. Here are six sleeper hits we included in our Now Buying Guide… Timex x Todd Snyder “Pride” Watch At 34mm, this watch can pretty much be worn by anyone, of any identity. The theme of the watch is literally pride and inclusivity. As I have said before, Todd Snyder and Timex have teamed up to create arguably the best value proposition in rainbow watches. The Pride Watch is a nod to the pride colours derived from artist Gilbert Baker’s Rainbow Flag. The dial aesthetic is is the result of three rotating coloured discs. As the time changes and the discs…
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The tide seems to be shifting in the auction world towards scarcity and craftsmanship, rather than scratched-up provenance and movie-star affiliations. We could see results of this theory already in our story on the latest Antiquorum auction here. In Monaco, the auction darlings of the last five years, steel sports Rolex, did OK, whereas the rarity value of a few references from F.P Journe smashed through the proverbial glass roof of the reserves. Are Philippe Dufour and F.P Journe the new auction stars and have steel sports watches peaked? In this article on industry insider Watchpro, Simon de Burton argues that is an indication that the previous auction scene duopoly of Patek and Rolex is in fact slowly crumbling. Is that a fact, or is it a mere shift in the market towards rare luxury that sets buyers apart from the usual Rolex collector out there? The bigger question should perhaps be whether the bidders are following their personal taste or market trends. A handcrafted case in point was the 2004 F.P Journe Octa Calendrier – that we covered in this story on Antiquorum’s Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces in Monaco – which more than doubled its already high estimate, going under…
Rolex is the biggest watch brand in the world (so long as you don’t count Apple). But while that information might not come as a surprise, Rolex has actually grown its market share in 2020 despite selling an estimated 140,000 fewer watches than the year before (due to factory closures as a result of the pandemic). This is according to a report by Morgan Stanley that stated Rolex has consolidated its lead at the top during the pandemic, increasing its market share to 24.9% in 2020, up from 22% in 2019. What is also remarkable is that Rolex SA, who also owns Tudor, has become the largest watch manufacturing group on the planet by claiming 26.8% of the market, beating Swatch Group who captured 25.2%. This growth in market share was in the face of a drop in turnover of 14% from CHF5.05 billion down to CHF4.42 billion, a fall that was softened by a 5% price increase across their range. In contrast, the latest data from the Federation Horlogère Suisse (FHS) industry body painted a grim picture across the rest of the industry, with a drop in export value of Swiss watches by 21.8% and the number of watches…
I met Paul Newman once. Back in 2001, I spent an hour in his company. Just him and me chatting in a drawing room in Barretstown Castle, Ireland, where he had set up a residential camp for seriously ill children. Sure, he was a little slow on a staircase at that stage but trust me, the man was the most ridiculously cool 76-year-old you could ever hope to meet. We didn’t talk about watches, because I had yet to fall down that rabbit hole. I was wearing a basic Timex Ironman because it told the time and was cheap. Every box ticked. I didn’t even know watches were “a thing”. And I certainly didn’t know Paul Newman’s name was attached to a watch that was a big deal then – and which one day would become the biggest deal of all. Every now and again – especially after auctions such as the recent sale of his ‘Big Red’ ref. 6263 for US$5.5 million – I wonder what he wore on his wrist that day. Was it one of the “ones”? Did I miss a moment with horological history? And I wonder what I would have asked him if I knew…
I have made it no secret that I felt the DOXA SUB 300 Carbon Aqua Lung US Divers watch was snubbed in the Divers prize at the 2020 GPHG awards. I have nothing against Breitling, let me be 100% clear on that fact, but I personally felt that if the vote were left to the watch community then DOXA would have taken home the award. Doxa is known for its dive watches with a winning formula left largely unchanged over the years. The fact that their creations are effectively modern fabrications of designs of yesteryear is a testament to this fact, something only brands like Rolex have been able to do. When you have a good thing going, there is little incentive to switch things up. But when you find a way to bring innovative materials into an already great design, I believe such an achievement should be rewarded – and I believe DOXA did just that with their SUB 300 Carbon diver. The case The flying saucer-like profile of the case is iconic within the watch community and makes for a very wearable watch across wrists of varying sizes. It has a professional diameter of 42mm and thickness of 13.4mm.…
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…
When we talk about what attracts people to watches, you may typically expect the response to be the movement. But when it comes to the larger marketplace, arguably the most important element, aside from case diameter, is the dial. The dial is what catches your eye first. As much as some people jest they would want to wear a watch flipped over on their wrist to be able to see the movement at all times, intriguing dials are the first element you notice – the headline to pull you in and make you want to know the full story. Sport and tool watches are typically associated with plain dials that mean business, but in order to stand out today sometimes you need to spice things up. To begin celebrating the 60th anniversary of the brand, Sinn has introduced a new limited edition diver that presents a more interesting dial without losing the tough and reliable German engineering aesthetic they are known for. The Sinn U1 DS Limited Edition with “Grinding Dial” captures the image of a battle worn hull, its irregular decorative pattern sure to generate inquiry into the diver. The 44mm bead-blasted case is 14.7mm thick, 50.5mm lug to…