Sunday Rewind: Thierry Stern’s Stubborn Stance On Stainless Steel
A stern denial of the genteel appeal of steel.
Three years ago Andrew pulled apart a Hublot tourbillon and here’s what he found out…
Editor’s note: Nearly three years ago, although it seems like a lifetime, Andrew was able to visit the Complications Department of the Hublot Manufacture, and get up close and personal with a Hublot tourbillon. He admitted his terror of the mind-bending complexity involved in assembling the 69 different components that make up the tourbillon cage, and honestly, who wouldn’t have been? It demands at least eight hours of work just on that part of the movement, offering a testament to Hublot’s commitment to traditional and complex watchmaking. This video from 2018 also just clicked over 200k views, so if you haven’t seen it get, give it a watch and get a better understanding of why the tourbillon is such a coveted area of horology. Hublot have made big strides in recent years to establish watchmaking credibility as a counterweight to its heavy-hitting celebrity power. Regular nominations in various GPHG categories – across women’s and men’s watches – have been a meaningful benchmark for progress, and new crowd-pleasers, such as the delightful movement architecture of the Meca-10, have opened up a fresh conversation with watch lovers about what wearing a Hublot actually means in the modern day. To this end, when…
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Video – The Tourbograph Perpetual Honeygold is a True Masterpiece by A. Lange & Söhne
A. Lange & Söhne isn’t known for being lazy when it comes to complications and the execution of its watches. It isn’t one of the most revered watchmakers from Germany without reason. We all know that ALS is capable of manufacturing some of the most complex, desirable watches, which include some superb chronographs. Among the […]
Recommended Reading: Will yet another auction record be broken this weekend? The world’s most complicated wristwatch is up for grabs…
This might be exactly what we need to start 2021 with a BANG, and signal what we all hope is a strong year of growth for both the watch industry and consumer market in general. Auction results are a very important marker of the market temperature, and as WatchPro reminded us, this weekend sees the auction of the thoroughly mind-bending form of the Vacheron Constantin Tour de L’Ile, a vastly complex and equally dazzling micro-engineered piece of horological art. Everything is in place for a new auction record and a flying start to the year. The Vacheron Constantin Tour de L’Ile boasts a frankly incomprehensible 834 components and took 10,000 hours to complete. With two dials – both front and back – and everything from a minute-repeating complication to a tourbillon and equation of perpetual time, this is one of Vacheron Constantin’s ventures into the absolute highest echelons of haute horlogerie. Utterly beguiling, this 18-carat rose-gold wristwatch (if we can even call it that) sold for an original $2.1 million in 2005, and is estimated on the block for around $3 million this weekend. Is this the kick-off we need for a fresh 2021?, I have high hopes. Have…
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Blindsided by brilliance: three Grand Seiko watches from 2020 that we never saw coming
Grand Seiko and their meticulous artistry never cease to amaze me. Each watch has a rich back story with every dial tone, texture, case form and finish carefully selected in order to best convey the brand’s grammar of design. Their relationship with Japanese culture and the nature that surrounds their workshops really shines through in each reference – nothing they produce is ever random. Due to this thoughtful curation of design, the catalogue of Grand Seiko watches announced each year are anything but stale and continue to elevate and evolve the brand’s standing worldwide. Here are three of the most surprising Grand Seiko releases of 2020. 1. The 9SA5 debuting in steel with the Grand Seiko SLGH003 Limited Edition The SLGH003 was an incredibly welcome surprise back in October. The 9SA5 caliber is a new and revolutionary movement designed by Grand Seiko, introducing a full balance bridge, over-coiled hairspring, and most notably: a dual-impulse escapement and free-sprung balance. With the sixth and final chapter of the Grand Seiko 60th Anniversary Limited Editions, I do not think anyone expected yet another limited edition with a gorgeous blue dial – but boy were we all happy when we found out. Previously the…
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The three watches Nick wore most in 2020: Grand Seiko, Seiko and Universal Geneve
In 2020, everything was different. The way we worked. The way we socialised. And even the way we wore watches. If you only ever got your dress watch out of the safe for a black tie event, it’s likely you didn’t touch it at all last year. I heard stories of people who used to wear a watch everyday in the office, who simply stopped wearing them when they started working from home. On the flip-side, I heard of people wearing three or four different watches a day, simply because they could just grab one from their case whenever they liked. It was probably the strangest year of most people’s lives. Personally, I still wore my watches while working from home if, for nothing else, the enjoyment I got out of them and the loose way that putting on a watch can inform your daily routine. But I did notice my habits changing a little. I wore less of a range of watches, gravitating instead to a few staples that I would return to each day. Maybe it was because the range of ways I could spend my time had shrunk so much during the lockdowns, the watches I wore…
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Weekend Round-Up: Stylish Set-Dressing, Madden Strategy, And Parisian Art
The art of expedition.
Watches By Material: Four super-tough watches that use DLC coatings
DLC, or diamond-like carbon, is a great tool for watch manufacturers to leverage. It’s capable of not only changing the aesthetics, but also the durability of a timepiece. To get an idea of how tough DLC is, the material typically measures at 5000-9000HV on the Vickers hardness test. Essentially, this means that DLC is as hard, and possibly even harder, than a diamond. That these coatings can be applied to cases and bracelets therefore results in some serious added benefits for the consumer. To explore DLC further, we have put together a list of four great watches that use DLC coatings. Bamford x Time+Tide GMT2 Yep, I know, shameless self-promotion alert. But let’s be clear: of all the watches on this list, this is the most affordable. What’s more, it was made in collaboration with George Bamford who pretty much made black DLC coatings the hot commodity for modification. With 100 metres of water-resistance, the GMT2 features a 40mm DLC-treated 316L stainless-steel case and a matching DLC-coated steel bracelet (along with a black Cordura Strap with blue stitching). At just 11.7mm thick, the Sellita SW330-1 powered watch will also slide under practically any shirt cuff, it’s all-black look ripe for…
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The Petrolhead Corner – A Collector and His Two Luscious Green Lamborghinis
In collecting, especially watches, the hunt for a specific item can be half the fun. Some people even state that the joy stops when the ownership starts, but this is debatable. Apparently the same can apply in collecting cars, which I can fully understand. Hunting down a specific car, with specific specs can be a […]
As the doors open again, here are 3 watches you can only get in the Sydney Hublot boutique
Sydney’s New Year fireworks were more symbolic than ever this year, hopefully distancing us from so many of 2020’s bleak memories including lockdown and Trump. And what about online shopping? Clicking is easy don’t get me wrong, but go through your watch drawer and do the maths: how many pieces have you actually bought online and how many have turned out to be a slightly different colour or size on your wrist than you imagined? My bet is there’s a fair few. That’s why we still need the reassurance of walking through the front doors of a boutique, having that friendly chat and maybe an espresso, and walking out with what? Something that fits you, suits you and stays with you through a more normal year (knock on wood). With that in mind, we visited the Sydney Hublot boutique that we published a story on last year. In store, you receive that feeling of reassurance that you just don’t get by stroking the mouse or scrolling through the online shopping basket. Here are three Hublot watches we were tempted by, all exclusively available at the King Street boutique. Hublot Classic Fusion Gold Crystal Nothing will prepare you for the deeply…
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