Live pics and prices of the new aviation-themed Longines Spirit Collection
For some time now, I think we can all agree, Longines has been on a hot streak like few other brands. All of their additions to the fantastic Heritage Collection have ranged from commendable to award-winning fire, and new iterations of the HydroConquest and Master Collections have continued to punch well above their RRP weight. They have also started to push the winged hourglass’ pitch to more urban and on-trend sensibilities, with models like the all-black Legend Diver remixing a heritage model for decidedly modern tastes. The cornerstone of the Swiss watchmaker’s triumphant last few years has been simple – give the people what they want, give it to them for a fair price, and overdeliver in terms of technicality and build quality. To this day, Longines’ timepieces represent value for money that is practically — and you can come at me in the comments if you like — peerless. Now the Saint-Imier outfit has set its sights on creating a range of pilot’s watches like no other … ladies and gents, I give you the Longines Spirit. It may surprise a fair few of you reading this, but Longines’ history of creating instruments and timekeeping devices purpose-built for air travel is extensive.…
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The dial truly is the make or break factor when it comes to a timepiece. Think about human beings in general – we’re largely simple creatures and we’re drawn to pretty things. I mean, just look at the state of the dating world: apps that make you judge a person quite literally on their face value. It’s the exact same in the world of horology. Nobody is swiping right on a watch with a dull ol’ dial. So, we’re singling out the most popular dial types, and listing our favourites, with a few classics thrown in for good measure. First up is a dial design that is a perennial favourite among watchmakers great and small. We are, of course, talking about the sunburst dial. Small note: sunray, sunburst, a well-executed dial by either name looks as sweet – they’re two words for the same thing. Rolex Day-Date 40 Ref.228235 Made to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the iconic Day-Date, Rolex’s Day-Date 40 in solid 18k Everose gold is drop-dead gorgeous. The radially brushed, olive green metallic sunburst dial is stunning and, in combination with its pinkish precious metal, this is the nicest Day-Date 40 that money can buy right now.…
The Seiko Presage collection has long been a popular part of the brand’s lineup thanks to the well-tuned value proposition, and the amount of watch you get for your money. The Seiko SPB161 is another fine example. Featuring a crisp enamel dial and powered by the automatic Seiko caliber 6R27, you are once again gaining access to a complicated model with a hand-fired dial at a great price, especially when compared to enamel dial watches from practically all other brands. Beyond its functionality laid bare, the Seiko SPB161 offers a minimalist design with its two complications, the power reserve indicator and date sub-dial, very restrained in their presentation. This specific design language has been inspired by Japanese designer Riki Watanabe and his distinctive “RIKI STEEL CLOCK” from 1977, a design that was focused on high legibility and something that has been successfully translated here. Both in materials and inspiration, this addition to the Presage collection is a finely blended example of Japanese design expressed through watchmaking. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen enamel dials in this collection; the starkness of the black on the white of this dial makes it stand out. The printed black batons that serve as…
When the price tag of a wristwatch is more akin to a house or a McLaren supercar, there are a certain amount of bells and whistles you want to see. With A. Lange & Söhne’s Zeitwerk Minute Repeater in white gold, there may not be bells, but you can see the aggressively sculpted hammers striking the snaking gongs in an ingeniously simple way. Instead of ringing the hours, quarters, and minutes like a ‘regular’ minute repeater, A. Lange & Söhne replicate the numerically digital time display with a low gong for hours, followed by double strikes for every ten minutes, and then single high gongs for the minutes. Although the Zeitwerk collection has existed for some time now, this limited edition of 30 pieces is a celebration and affirmation of how revolution can still be found in luxury watchmaking. This model was also reviewed in a little more depth here. The second surprise of Lange’s 2020 releases was an adjustment to the controversial Odysseus — their answer to the blue-dialled steel sports watches that have been running away with the ultra-luxury market for decades. It seems that they’ve broken the modern rules and read the comments though, as the new version…
Watch press releases are guilty of purple prose on a daily basis. But you can forgive Zenith a poetic, purple turn of phrase or two here, because what they have brought together in the Defy 21 Ultraviolet – which is the highest frequency colour with a high frequency chronograph, able to measure time to 1/100th of a second. Touché Zenith’s storytelling department. The Defy 21 Ultraviolet is the first standalone Defy 21 with a skeletonised dial paired with closed chronograph counters. The Defy 21 El Primero 50th Anniversary edition is the other option, but it was only available as a box-set with two other watches, Zenith Defy 21 Ultraviolet continues a streak of skeletonisation and innovation This continues the Defy 21’s trailblazing catalogue, which is a counterpoint to the brand’s recent deluge of revival models off the back of the 50th Anniversary of the El Primero movement, which wrapped up just a few weeks back with the Manufacture Edition. Where the heritage collections are alive and very well at Zenith, in that they are increasingly faithful renditions (CEO Julien Tornare saw it fit to re-release the A384 in 1:1 as opposed to previous models which enlarged it for modern tastes),…