Watch Dandy

Editor’s note: Grand Seiko are known for excellence in most areas of watchmaking, but case finishing and dial execution are up there at the top. The sheer range of dials they have produced over the years boggles the mind, and they aren’t slowing down anytime soon, releasing a host of eye-catching new models in 2019. Included in this recent run of delightful dial design, we got the Grand Seiko SBGR311, with a richly tessellated coco dial that radially spirals away from its centre. It’s a sight to see, so if you haven’t laid eyes on it before, let’s take another look. At the heart of many Grand Seiko watches beats the mighty 9S calibre, which is celebrating its 20th birthday, and the location of the party is Baselworld 2018. There’s a swathe of new offerings on the table, including this deliciously dialled number, the Grand Seiko SBGR311. Vital statistics Excuse me if I rush through the key stats, because, really, I want to talk about that dial. The SBGR311 is 42mm across, steel, with that characteristic mix of exceptional polish and brushed finishes that define Grand Seiko’s Zaratsu-polished cases. From behind there’s the 9S68 (obvs), visible behind a sapphire caseback…

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Welcome back to Great ‘Grams, where I pick my favourite Instagram posts of the last week and, my word, were there some great stories that hit the feed. One of the coolest I saw was from Jason Heaton, a watch writer and scuba diver, who was selling a very special DOXA to raise funds for an even more exciting project he is working on. The watch in question was a titanium DOXA that was made specifically for Fabien Cousteau’s Mission 31 expedition, where he and his team would spend 31 days in an underwater habitat to conduct marine research. Jason was lucky enough to visit the habitat on the first day, and pick up one of the 331 watches that DOXA made for the record-breaking mission. He is parting with it to raise money for a new expedition in search of the lost ships of Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conquistador. It’s an insanely cool watch, with an important provenance, and it’s also helping further underwater discovery. Enjoy! @jasonheaton UPDATE: SOLD! Thanks for all the interest and offers! Doxa Mission 31 Professional. From one historic expedition to funding another. Back in 2014, I had the privilege of diving on Day One…

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I’m rather fortunate in my role here at Time+Tide — I get to wear a lot of different watches. In fact, in 2019 alone I tried on and wore more than 200 different timepieces. Getting to experience this many different watches is a privilege, and while each and every one had both positives and negatives, they all need to be praised just for existing because, after all, technically speaking, wristwatches aren’t exactly essential in 2020. That being said, however, if there was one overriding takeaway from all the timepieces I wore last year, it was this — I hate thick watches. Ugh … OK, maybe hate is too strong a word … perhaps strongly dislike is more appropriate. I also need to qualify a few things first. If a timepiece is thick for a specific reason, like to provide better water resistance, for example, then it gets a pass. In fact, any tool watch that’s on the portly side is OK in my book, as long as the extra girth serves a purpose. And I’m not going to criticise anything that’s more than 10mm thick in some sort of Meryl Streep, Devil Wears Prada-esque venomous spat against all but the slimmest…

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