The Petrolhead Corner – Electrifying a classic Rolls Royce, the Lunaz Design Phantom V

We often talk about the similarities between the watch industry and the automotive world. The parallels between the two are pretty obvious; precision engineering, technical development, craftsmanship, and in some cases preservation of heritage. There is one development that is quite cool in cars, but I wish never makes the jump to watches; converting classic […]

5 years ago

Is Rolex trend-chasing with its new colourful range of Oyster Perpetual models? A look back into the brand's colourful past…

The wild profusion of colours in the new Rolex Oyster Perpetual collection caught many by surprise this week. And it immediately had people drawing parallels with the colour suites of other brands. It begs the question, are these new sporty and youthful lacquer dials – in candy pink, turquoise blue, yellow, coral red and green – a blast from Rolex’s past, or something completely new, perhaps inspired by other brands? A Brief History of Rolex Dials and Color Rolex is primarily known as a brand of modesty and incremental change, built upon robust and reliable watches. More often than not, you will typically see Rolex watches in four colors (at least in their steel watches) – Black, White, Silver, and Blue. Their precious metal watches of the past, however, were a bit more adventurous in dial tone and configuration. In 1956 the Rolex Day-Date was released and became one of the brand’s most luxurious and prestigious watches. Just four years after its release, not a long time in Rolex years, they began to experiment with the lineup, introducing dials with diamonds and eastern arabic numerals. Stone dial configurations were brought into the mix as well – fabricated from stones such as Onyx, Jasper,…

The post Is Rolex trend-chasing with its new colourful range of Oyster Perpetual models? A look back into the brand’s colourful past… appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

5 years ago

HANDS-ON: The Seiko SNE566P is the new root beer in town, and it's bigger, bolder and available to buy

Seiko SNE566PSeiko in 2020 is like a bull incensed: never slowing, threatening in intent and thrilling to watch. Amongst the slew of limited editions across all of their ranges, one of the most attention-capturing is the Seiko SNE566P — a professional-grade diving watch in a sumptuous ‘root beer’ colour scheme, and available now only to Australians at a recession-friendly price. As much as Seiko is renowned for having legible dials, this particular reference is up there with the best. The indices are large and filled with Seiko’s proprietary LumiBrite, guaranteeing that you’ll have no trouble reading this watch in the dark. The hands are easily distinguishable between hours and minutes, using a similar hand set as the beloved ‘SKX’ style, albeit with a slightly shorter hour hand. The date window has been given a magnifier, which may not be to everyone’s taste, though it does make it much more legible from a variety of viewing angles. The white printing on the dial is crisp and not too distracting, from the precise minute track around the chapter ring to the Prospex ‘X’ logo and ‘Diver’s 200M’ text proving the watch is up to ISO specifications for a diver’s watch.  As with the SNE435P,…

The post HANDS-ON: The Seiko SNE566P is the new root beer in town, and it’s bigger, bolder and available to buy appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

5 years ago

5 heavy-duty dive watches from a range of price points that don't monster the wrist – all sub-40mm

sub-40mm Technical DiversMany of us are re-evaluating our preferred size of watches, as the trend is ever-increasing (or should that be shrinking?) towards 36-40mm watches for men, with vintage vibes. In my case, it’s a matter of practicality. My wrist is on the slender side and I wear a shirt most days, so a 45mm wrist chunk is not going to work. The increasing range of options is a godsend for many of us.  But have diminishing sizes hit all categories? Let’s say we’re looking for a tough, no-nonsense modern tool watch that can take a beating. In other words, a diver. The editor threw down the gauntlet with the seemingly unattainable goal of a full-on technical 300-metre ISO-spec diver being a key pre-requisite at a size of less than 40mm. The bonus round was to find five without vintage cues or cream-coloured lume. Modern in style, please. Surely this is an impossible quest? Seek and you shall find, I say.  1. Oris Aquis Date – the bestseller  What can we say, the Aquis Date from Oris in Hölstein, Switzerland has been a resounding success, and has transformed into what is now a considerable range. The Aquis has, for many, made Oris…

The post 5 heavy-duty dive watches from a range of price points that don’t monster the wrist – all sub-40mm appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

5 years ago

Introducing – Sinn U1 DE Limited Edition

The 3rd of October is an important date for German citizens, probably the most important day in their recent history. On 3 October 1990, both sides of Germany (GDR and DDR, split since 1949) were reunited following the Fall of the Berlin Wall a year before. As a German watch manufacturer, reunification is important for […]

5 years ago

Video – Jean-Christophe Babin on the 2020 Bvlgari Watches and Geneva Watch Days

Last week, a large part of the MONOCHROME team attended Geneva Watch Days, a self-managed event combining physical and digital presence with a flexible, lighter format. And an important one, since it will be one of the only major watch fairs to be organised this year – the result of the current sanitary situation. Altogether, […]

5 years ago