FRIDAY WIND DOWN: How to steal a watch, and how Rolex stole the show (with 1mm)
I swear we didn’t collaborate on it. It was pure and unintended serendipity. The two most popular stories this week on Watchville (an app you should download here if you don’t already have it, if only for the clock to set your watches to!) were titled: ‘How to steal a watch clean off someone’s wrist…’ and ‘How dangerous is it to wear your watches in public?’ The first story was written by our man, Mr Luke Benedictus, who has an incredible knack for getting people to read his stories in their entirety. The second, much more responsible story, was by Quill & Pad. Oh man, did we have a laugh when this dawned on us this afternoon! From there, of course, it’s an endless scroll of new Rolex releases, on account of the fact that the Big Crown went large with an unusually prolific number of releases this week, finally putting to rest the rumour that they were sitting 2020 out. So, to recap, the world this week was interested in theft, staying safe and Submariners. It’s a telling mix. Regarding stories one and two, there is no doubt that the long-term effects of the pandemic are affecting our sense…
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Eric Ku is the kind of watch collector who does it his way. If he sees the bezel of another watch that better matches the case and the dial than the factory one, he’ll source it, and he’ll change it. Granted, though, when he did exactly this with a no-date Rolex Submariner around five years ago, times were different. “Back in the day, parts availability on the secondary market were easier to come by,” he says. When the watch we’re discussing was posted on his Instagram feed (an essential follow – @fumanku), the comments lit up. What? How? When? I had a quick chat to Eric to find out the story of his Rolex ‘Shark’. “I always loved the blue bezel of the white gold Submariner, but I like a no-date Sub, so I decided to get that part and just put it on a no-date Sub. The funny thing is, I don’t believe I’m the only one that did that. Because, when I posted it recently, there were all these people in the comments calling it ‘the shark’. So they had some nickname for this watch, which means somebody had to have done it. I just can’t find other…
If you were to travel back in time and ask a circa 2010 horological enthusiast what some of the big players in the mainstream watchmaking game were, there’s a fair chance that Raymond Weil would get a mention. However, a lot has happened in the subsequent decade that’s followed – it could even be argued that the last 10 years have been the industry’s most transformative, full stop. Loads more eyeballs, lots of new watchmakers and a whole heap more punters. Because of these factors, Raymond Weil just hasn’t got the same recognition it once did. No question about it, you don’t see nearly as many on people’s wrists these days. That’s what happens in an increasingly competitive market. But the brilliant thing about competition is that it has the ability to breed success. As the Roman poet Ovid once said, “A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace.” And in 2020, Raymond Weil is starting to gallop. Their latest effort, the Freelancer Calibre RW1212 in a striking shade of green, proves it, and here’s why. The case Raymond Weil may well be trying to recapture the fanfare of the watch…
Glashütte Original has had a year that few, if anyone, could have ever predicted. They have gone from eye-catching but niche Sixties Editions in lurid colours in 2019 and 2018 to what was declared by many that watched our video earlier in the year to be the best watch released at Virtual Basel – the Sixties Edition with Glacier Blue Dial. The momentum has been further intensified by mainstream dive watch beauties in the new SeaQ divers, in fetching and once again eye-catching combinations of two-tone and even diamonds in a 39.5mm model. It’s all vibrant, and exciting stuff from a brand that may still be considered obscure to many. At this rate, they won’t remain that way. Enjoy this quick recap of the watches that caught everyone’s attention in 2020. For the full-length Basel videos, check out the below! 
