RECOMMENDED READING: Why Patek Philippe’s decision to kill their most popular product is a business masterstroke
Many of us, myself included, have the 5711 steel Nautilus cemented onto our watch grail wish-list. Now, the infamous eight year waiting-list you’d have to endure after ordering one is no more. Patek Philippe’s top selling reference is being discontinued, and many a collector on an exclusive AD list will return to square one, with the prices of pre-owned pieces skyrocketing (as covered in our recent story here). At first glance, the decision to abandon the 43-year-old Nautilus 5711 looks seriously counterintuitive, But as Entrepreneur.com explains in this story, the move makes sense if you look at it through the glasses of Patek Philippe CEO Thierry Stern. You’d assume the surging popularity of the 5711 in recent years would be a good thing, right? But as one of the brands in the so-called Holy Trinity of Swiss watchmaking, Patek has a legacy to nurture and that means having more than one sports watch of iconic status. As Jason Feifer writes in the article: “The watch had become so popular that its meaning changed. People were flashing it around Instagram as a sign of wealth. Others were surely buying it just to flip it. And it was distracting attention from the…
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Omega is famous for being the official timekeeper of the Olympics and many other sporting events around the world. Their latest release, the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M America’s Cup Chronograph, is a fitting tribute to the 36th America’s Cup. To celebrate this intense sailing event, Omega decided to do more than dress up an existing reference in new colours. Instead, the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M America’s Cup Chronograph introduces a slew of new upgrades we can only hope make their way onto more models in the catalogue – including new rubber chronograph pushers, chronograph-lock system, and, notably, a quick-release strap system. The 44mm stainless-steel case isn’t the most slim or compact – assuming it shares the same thickness and lug-to-lug measurements of previously released models (17.5mm thick and 52.5mm lug-to-lug). But the action-packed nature of sailing demands a large and highly legible watch – especially when every second counts in a race. While clearly a utility-driven sports watch, this chronograph has a majority satin finish with polished bevels that introduce a hint of elegance to the design. The bezel is made of dial-matching blue ceramic with white enamel inlays for its timing scale. The 300 metre water-resistant case has a…
Floyd Mayweather isn’t a man who wonders where his next meal is coming from. In fact, he’s one of the highest paid athletes of all time. With an undefeated boxing record of 50-0 and some of the biggest pay-per-view fight numbers of all time, he isn’t afraid to show off his wealth, especially when it comes to watches. But it turns out that he’s keen to continue the family tradition, too, after buying his five-week-old grandson his first watch. And what was it? A gold Rolex, of course. What do we mean when we say Floyd Mayweather likes to show off his watch collection? Just head to his Instagram and have a look. He recently picked up a Richard Mille RM-11 that had been completely covered in aftermarket baguette diamonds and is also well known for his Jacob & Co. Billionaire watch that comes with a price tag of $18,000,000. So with that sort of track record, it comes as no surprise that Floyd would think a new heir to the Mayweather fortune needs a watch on his wrist – and quickly. Despite being barely a month old, Mayweather’s grandson Kentrell is now the proud new owner of a Rolex…
Editor’s note: Yesterday, Jeff Stein, the ever-polite world authority on Heuer watches reached out to us to ask if he could use some of our photos in a story he just published, about the TAG Heuer Carrera ‘Dato 45’ HODINKEE Limited Edition. In the email chain that followed, we discussed the edition and we both predicted – accurately – that it would be gone in minutes. We believe it was seven to be exact. His story on the release, which we highly recommend, goes into more detail than is usual, on why Hodinkee get so many of their limited editions so very pitch-perfect. We won’t steal his thunder, please read on and hit the link to enjoy his full article. There is nobody better to turn to then Jeff when it comes TAG Heuer. He is not just an enthusiast of the brand, but a bona-fide historian who may as well have a doctorate in the history of the brand. In his post on OnTheDash, Jeff digs into the details of the new release, but also gives great attention to the original watch the TAG Heuer Carrera ‘Dato 45’ that the HODINKEE Limited Edition pays tribute to. The story goes…
As a 10-year-old boy in the 1980s, when I wasn’t attempting to learn how to moonwalk or riding my trusty BMX, my friends and I shared a collective obsession. We were constantly scheming to try and find ways to watch heinously violent films on VHS tapes. This under-age compulsion to show how grown-up and cool we were, invariably backfired and resulted in low-level trauma – Freddie Krueger alone gave me nightmares for weeks. But an off-shoot of this quest for ultra-violence was that one man loomed extra-large in our collective psyche. In the ’80s, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the biggest action hero on the planet and my introduction to his barrage of blockbusters was Commando (1985). To be fair, this film hasn’t aged particularly well with its ludicrous plot-line, extreme bodycount (Arnie single-handedly kills 81 people) and fairly overt homophobia. But as a 10-year-old I failed to appreciated such nuances. For me, Commando was the Most Exciting Thing I’d Ever Seen. There was once scene in particular that fascinated me. Arnie’s character, John Matrix (which I thought was the coolest name imaginable) rows to an island to rescue his daughter from the evil clutches of a deposed South American dictator. As…