INTERVIEW: British Watchmaking’s brave new dawn
As one British alliance lies wounded from failing to remain in touch with the times, another is going from strength to strength. Indeed, unlike the Royal Family, the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers has time on its side. Late last year, while Britain was coming to terms with the double whammy of another sustained period of lockdown combined with the realisation of the true costs of Brexit and leaving Europe, two men in the watch industry were busy plotting for the future. And when I say “two men in the watch industry”, I mean arguably two of the most prominent names in the UK’s burgeoning horological world – Roger Smith OBE (the legendary independent watchmaker) and Christopher Ward founder Mike France. Their plan was simple and self-propagating: to get British watch brands – big, small, new, old – ticking synonymously, all on a united front. When the news first broke, our fearless top-knotted leader, Andrew, spoke to Smith about the plans for the Alliance, and now four months down the line, our European Editor Mike Christensen (with inferior top-knot capabilities) caught up with Smith’s watchmaking partner-in-crime, Mike France, about the positive reception the Alliance has already garnered, not…
The post INTERVIEW: British Watchmaking’s brave new dawn appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
The Chanel J12 has recently been overhauled by the brand to leverage a more unisex 38mm case size. In addition, its movement is now produced by Kenissi, the joint venture between Tudor, Breitling and Chanel – the latter owning a 20% stake in the movement manufacture. The movement inside the standard J12 today is therefore the same caliber architecture you would find in a Black Bay Fifty-Eight. But the J12 watch has actually utilized an even more prestigious movement in a previous model from 2008. While not explicitly advertised, this watch used a movement supplied by none other than “holy trinity” manufacturer Audemars Piguet – the same caliber found originally in the Royal Oak Offshore and in many other of their Royal Oak watches. Eagle-eyed collectors will have already spotted the caliber in the watches name: Chanel J12 3125 ref. H2918. The use of the 3125 (3120 in Audemars Piguet watches) movement commanded a rather high retail price of over $20,000 USD when it was released. This component of the now discontinued model is the main reason why today many collectors are hunting the rare Chanel J12 3125 on the secondhand market, and why the value-retaining reference is listed for…
It’s 140 years since Seiko founder Kintaro Hattori established his first watchmaking shop in Tokyo. To mark this occasion, the Seiko designers must’ve had a craving for menthol judging by the icy cool aesthetics of the Seiko 140th Anniversary collection. Seiko 5 Sports 140th Anniversary Limited Edition SRPG47K1 Let’s kick off with the most accessible piece, a sharp Seiko 5 Sports. I sincerely feel that we now can count the 5 as the proper heir to the SKX throne with a bewildering array of colourful editions available (like the ones covered in our story here or this mad batch of Anime-infused fun). There are 11,000 of these new pieces available, but I’d still get my skates on, as this is seriously fresh. Despite its 100 metre depth rating, the lack of a screw-in crown makes this more Sports than Diver, but a bulletproof everyday wearer nonetheless. The classic Seiko bright blue diver’s hands pop off the crisp white pattern on a balanced dial that’s one of the cleanest Seiko 5 designs yet. The laser-like lume glow and needle thin blue lollipop seconds hand are sharp finishing touches to a great first mechanical sports watch. You can’t really go wrong with…