Money to burn: 4 crazy watch accessories for jaded billionaires (don't even bother looking)
As Woody Allen famously said, “Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.” More specifically, it can help you cultivate a magnificent watch collection. But what does the rich man do when he has scratched his horological itch until it’s red-raw? When he’s become jaded with the tedious rigmarole of snapping up grail watches and minute-repeater tourbillions? He starts to focus on his crazy watch accessories instead … The coffee table of horological dreams Pedro Costa is a Colombian designer who believes that size matters. He takes classic watch designs and scales them up into pieces of furniture. His range of coffee tables has included the Patek Philippe Nautilus, Hublot Big Bang Diamonds (which got the seal of approval from Jean-Claude Biver no less), Rolex Daytona and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore among others. Understandably, this supersizing process is extremely labour-intensive. Costa uses machinery to cut and mould the watch case, which contains a hybrid electro-mechanical movement by British clockmaker Sinclair Harding. The rest of the components are finished by hand, with each coffee table taking up to six months to complete. While these unique pieces have been commissioned by brands, Costa also accepts private commissions. The price…
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The Seiko Alpinist series is a beloved staple of enthusiasts on watch forums and Instagram, with its comfortable shape, size and particular Japanese take on a sophisticated field watch with a rich history. Earlier this year, changes came to the lineup, with the Alpinist logo no longer present, and the Prospex X above the historical “Automatic” vintage font logo at 6. I observed the discussions that ensued, and was left with the positives of the excellent 6R35 movement easily tipping the scales on the plus side. This time the new Seiko Alpinist SPB155J and its siblings SPB157J and SPB159J are not simply improved, but rather redesigned from the case up, with the only instantly recognisable feature being the charming Alpinist cathedral hands, ready for a new audience. We are looking at a svelte, perfectly shaped 38mm case with the Alpinist name, yet it takes nothing away from the rich history. I, for one, am excited by these latest models, the SPB155J, SPB157J and SPB159J. How Seiko has managed to completely redesign the Alpinist range in a year with a plethora of new releases frankly boggles the mind, because this is no simple re-hash. Hopefully it will manage the feat of…
Random acts of kindness are all very well. But at Time+Tide, we prefer our gestures of mind-blowing generosity to come in a horological format. From rock stars to comedians and actors to athletes, the moral of this story is simple: work hard, amass your fortune then spread the love by upgrading the wrists of mankind, one watch at a time. Bruno Mars plays Santa In 2019, Bruno Mars revealed on Instagram that he’d given his bandmates a Christmas present to remember. “My boys continue to show the world what time it is,” he wrote in the Instagram caption. “And a band that sings together blings together! #AudeMARS” Each of the eight members of his band, The Hooligans, received an Audemars Piguet Extra-Thin ‘Jumbo’ Royal Oak Ref. 15202 in gold. The full retail price for the watch at the time: US$55,400. As if that wasn’t a nice enough festive gesture, the watches were personalised with specially made custom boxes that read: “Audemars Piguet: Bruno Mars 24K Magic World Tour Edition”. Merry Christmas indeed. Why you really want to be friends with Jay-Z If you’re hip-hop’s first billionaire, standard party invites don’t cut the mustard. So when it came to inviting VIPs…
Editor’s note: How did Hermès not only survive, but manage to thrive after resisting a takeover bid from LVMH? This story tells the tale. And leaves out what might be the best bit for us, as watch lovers. Which is Hermès’ ongoing ascendancy in watchmaking. Who could forget the extraordinary Arceau L’heure de la lune to name just one? In the autumn of 2010 Le Tout-Paris of business braced for the sad, if predictable, end of an era. After 173 years and six generations, Hermès, a purveyor of handbags to bankers and neckties to their husbands, was to become part of LVMH. The champagne-to-evening-gowns mastodon, home to Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, among many others, had disclosed a stake of 17 per cent and rising. Bernard Arnault, LVMH’s boss, with a knack for closing in on companies he admires, had only to pick off a few Hermès’ heirs ready to cash out. Bankers assumed the wolf in cashmere would take mere weeks to gobble up his elegant prey. Fast forward to autumn 2020, and the various descendants of Thierry Hermès not only still control their family’s firm, they have beaten LVMH at its own game. One of their own,…
There are certain projects that draw you in from the minute they commence. When Michael Friedman, the Head of Complications at Audemars Piguet, and his team floated the idea of a round table on Zoom with collector and watch dealer Eric Ku on the subject of a watch I find insanely compelling – the [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph – it took me no time at all to jump. Hell yes, we were in. But before you jump in, may I offer a serving suggestion? Clear your diary for the next hour (and four minutes). Sit somewhere comfortable. Don’t grab a drink, grab the ingredients of your drink, too. The ice, the lot. Because this is as close to Joe Rogan, or a podcast, as we’ve ever gone. It’s all about the incidental conversation as much as it is about the key points. However you consume it, do so as responsibly or as irresponsibly as you like, and enjoy it as much as we did making it. These are the elements I found most unusual, and downright spicy, about the prospect: It would be a long-form project. No time limits. No stage-managed script. Limited editing. “Andrew, we want to tell the story…