Sunday Rewind: Three Experts Weigh In On The Patek Philippe 5524G Calatrava Pilots Travel Time
A look back at the launch of a stand-out Patek.
INTRODUCING: The Timex Marlin Automatic California brings a Cali dial to a new price point
Great design for a great price. That’s why the Timex Marlin is an understandable darling of the watch community, with clear historical connection to a collection that the brand produced in the 1960s. The Marlin journey was restarted in 2017 when they launched a manually wound silver dial version, with sword hands, an attractive sunburst brushed dial and charmingly elongated numerals at the cardinal points. In the years since, the same basic design has been re-expressed with a number of different dial and case colour variations, but in the closing moments of 2020 we get something totally new – the Timex Marlin Automatic California. As you’d probably guessed from the name, these new dress watches feature California dials, which mean they feature half Arabic numerals and half Roman numerals. California dials would also sometimes feature a triangle marker at 12 o’clock, pointing in the opposite direction to the triangle marker at 12 o’clock often found in mid-century pilot’s watches. Why are they called California dials? It’s a little bit of a mystery, with a few competing theories. The nickname isn’t because a Californian native came up with the design, but instead the most popular theory is that a dial company…
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Buying Guide – MONOCHROME’s Favourite Accessible Watches of 2020
MONOCHROME has always been, since its inception in 2006, a celebration of fine watches. And by that, we mean mechanical watches in general, from high-end brands to creative independent watchmaking or icons of the industry. While we can dream in front of a superb Lange Tourbograph Perpetual or some of the most complex watches of […]
Buying Guide – MONOCHROME’s Favourite Accessible Watches of 2020
MONOCHROME has always been, since its inception in 2006, a celebration of fine watches. And by that, we mean mechanical watches in general, from high-end brands to creative independent watchmaking or icons of the industry. While we can dream in front of a superb Lange Tourbograph Perpetual or some of the most complex watches of […]
Five big issues keeping the Swiss watch industry awake at night
The watch industry can sometimes feel a bit impenetrable. Trying to get beyond the marketing hype and brand noise isn’t always easy. That’s why the Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Study 2020 is worth a look for a truly objective insight into what the hell is really happening on Planet Watch. Conducted between August and September 2020, the study is based on a survey and interviews with 55 senior executives in the watch industry. In addition, 5800 consumers were also surveyed across China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the US (FYI, Deloitte – you really hurt our feelings by missing out Oz). You can read the whole thing here. But it’s very long and a bit dreary at times, if we’re totally honest with you. Selflessly, therefore, Time+Tide have done the dirty work and cherry-picked the key details, so you can find out what the watch world is really worrying about. Gloom abounds From the Second World War to the quartz watch revolution to the gatecrashing efforts of the Apple Watch, the Swiss watch industry has proved famously resilient. But COVID has dented this spirit of defiant optimism. Some 85 per cent…
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Seven of the best 18th birthday gift watches under $2K
Watches are emotional objects. We don’t need them. We want them. And we use them to mark important occasions. Birthdays, graduations, career milestones … you name it, they act as talismans of success and remind us of the moments that are special to us. Speaking to this theme, one of the questions we receive most at Time+Tide HQ goes something along the lines of this: “I want to buy a watch for my child’s 18th birthday, but I don’t know what to get. Can you guys point me in the right direction?” We wanted to tackle that question head on, and offer a few suggestions on the best 18th birthday gift watches — all ringing the till under $2K AU. Let’s get into it. TAG Heuer Formula 1 For Australians, TAG Heuer is a brand that looms large in our collective consciousness. It’s always been one of the most well-known Swiss watchmakers and therefore an obvious go-to for a milestone gift. One of the most popular TAG Heuer references is the Formula 1, loved for its universally wearable 41mm case diameter and its robust build quality. The blue dial has a sunburst finishing that catches the light beautifully, and with…
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HANDS-ON: The H. Moser x MB&F Tourbillon is like a domed space station on an alien moon
When is a wristwatch no longer a wristwatch? This is the question as you hold the H. Moser x MB&F Endeavour Cylindrical Tourbillon because it feels like an otherworldly creation. Have MB&F and H. Moser freed one of the alien pilots from Area 51 – and employed him (it?) in their design department? Is this domed beauty actually from another planet? The mind is thoroughly boggled. One thing is for sure: time is immaterial when you put this on your wrist, and gaze through the impossibly high sapphire dome. The dial, it’s all in the dial Well, there is no point trying to look at the case first, as the incredibly tall dome grabs every tiny fraction of your attention the moment you put on what is, in fact, a very comfortable watch. And then you have to sit yourself down. With the avant-garde vision of MB&F married to H. Moser’s brilliant case design, intricate movement and fumé dial (but fumé not as we know it), this is a marriage made in Haute Horology heaven. The watch is all about the dial, which, with its 19.5mm height, takes on the image (in my furtive imagination at least) of a domed…
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Weekend Round-Up: Quantum Entanglement, Work Clichés, And Home Media
From Russia, with sashimi.
Five people who made watches sexy again…
One of the reasons that watch collecting is so fascinating is its thematic diversity. A timepiece is a wrist-bound intersection for history, culture and the audacity of the human spirit. The only thing is that – whisper it quietly – it’s not always particularly sexy. Eyed from certain angles, the watch world often looks to be rather nerdy, male and not exactly overflowing with nubile beauty. All of which is fine, of course, not everything has to revolve around sex. But the following heart-throbs demonstrate that sex appeal and watches are by no means mutually exclusive. Margot Robbie Thanks you Martin Scorsese for introducing us to the Australian actress in The Wolf Of Wall Street. She’s first glimpsed in a party scene where her voluptuous presence reduces both Leo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill to salivating wrecks. No wonder, Big Short director Adam McKay promptly stuck Robbie naked in a bubble bath when he needed viewers not to fast-forward through the explanation of some very complicated financial terminology. Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for a watch brand to engage the actor’s services, with Richard Mille swooping to partner with Robbie. “I was astonished by the intricacy of the watches,” Robbie…
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The Petrolhead Corner – Some of the Greatest Race Cars… That Never Raced
Throughout every era of racing, some iconic machines have cemented themselves in the collective memories of all us, Petrolheads. But for all cars that garnered fame, whether through overcoming insurmountable odds, or perhaps declassing the rest of the competition, there are those that showed great potential, only to be killed off before they had their […]