HANDS-ON: The Grand Seiko SBGH279 with brushed granite-grey dial is a total smokeshow
Grand Seiko’s growing reputation over the last few years has been because of three main factors — outstanding quality, mind-boggling value for money, and the most refreshingly expressive dials. As such, it’s not often one of these uniquely dialled watches flies under the radar upon release, but that’s exactly what the SBGH279 aims to do. With equal parts smoky handsomeness and restraint, Grand Seiko’s Heritage collection has received a new subtle standout. Instant amazement may not be your initial response to the SBGH279. Its dial hasn’t pioneered any new technologies, nor has it recontextualised time-honoured techniques, or reflected any natural elements. What is does have, simply, is a vertically brushed granite-grey dial, shifting in different lights to have hints of steel blue and even light mocha. The point of the watch is not to bombard you with flair, but to offer a small amount of texture and life, which sets it apart from its black or sunburst-dialled counterparts. While still being able to blend with a wide variety of attires, especially if strap-swapping is your thing, the SBGH279 manages to offer some intrigue when checking the time. Grand Seiko’s chisel-like baton indices and dauphine hands continue the theme of refined…
The post HANDS-ON: The Grand Seiko SBGH279 with brushed granite-grey dial is a total smokeshow appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
There’s a scene in the fifth series of Breaking Bad where Walter White, the high school chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin, is forced to roll a barrel full of money through the desert. Zooming in from a wide shot of the merciless landscape, the camera finds White bent double and panting with exertion. As he continues to wind his way through the arid terrain, he passes a pair of khaki pants lying crumpled in the dust. It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but those pants weren’t dumped there coincidentally. It was subsequently confirmed by the show that they were, in fact, the same trousers that flew off White’s RV van during the pilot episode of Breaking Bad some 59 episodes before. This example of eagle-eyed continuity highlights the almost pathological attention to detail of the show’s creator, Vince Gilligan. “I obsess a great deal more than I should over those details,” Gilligan admitted to GQ. “I sweat the small stuff.” In Gilligan’s creative universe, everything is meticulously plotted to the nth degree and apparently random objects are chockful of subliminal messages. What then can we glean from Walter White’s wristwatch that receives considerable attention during the final series? Initially in the show,…
Montblanc have been building their watch credentials over the last few years under the steady hand of Davide Cerrato, the Managing Director of Watches since 2015. With three distinct collections under his influence — the 1858, Heritage and Star Legacy — Montblanc watches have gone from strength to strength over the last half-decade, with 2020 being a particularly strong collection. Here we break down a few of the highlights from this most recent collection, taking a closer look at how each piece within the collection has developed over the last few years, and how that journey has impacted the watches we see this year. Specifically in the spotlight was the Montblanc 1858 Geosphere, a watch that has seen several different expressions, including in bronze and on Bund straps, but this year, for the first time, we see it with a remarkable gradient blue dial. To top it off, the latest Geosphere is also available on a bi-metal beads-of-rice bracelet that uses both titanium and steel, an unusual combination that blends the robust versatility of titanium with the gleaming heft of steel. The Heritage Automatic in British Racing Green strikes a chord, as though green and yellow gold watches aren’t rare, the…
Phillips’ Geneva Watch Auction XI is just around the corner, and we must say – it is so refreshing to see something in the watch world that’s actually going to happen. No cancellation, no postponement, this auction is going ahead … and it’s got the potential to be quite interesting. Given the precarious state the industry is in, it’s going to be very illuminating to see whether or not the vintage, pre-owned and auction markets have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the auction launching at 2pm CET today, we’ve selected our top seven favourite watches from a range . Lot 65. Rolex Ref.3372 “Bubbleback” – CHF 3000 – 6000 See? This isn’t going to break the bank. In fact, this Rolex “Bubbleback” could well sell for less than an OP39 … and we know what we’d rather have. Just look at how utterly beautiful this timepiece is! Have you ever seen another Rolex like it? Look at the dial … and the handset … and original Oyster bracelet with straight end links. What. A. Thing. OK, sure, its stainless steel case is only 32mm, but with looks this good, do you really care? Lot 112. Omega De…
