Watch Dandy

NOTE: We understand that you’ve found a new watch to add to your collection (congratulations!). But rationalising this fact – coupled with the fact that it’ll cost a bucket-load of cash – may not always sit well with the less horologically minded. That’s where we come in … Use The Enabler’s advanced levels of sophistry to validate your latest acquisition. “How have men’s attitudes changed towards their watches in the last 50 years?” This was a question I asked Walter von Känel, the veteran Longines CEO, a few years back. As a hallowed fixture at the brand since 1969, his experience in the industry gave him a rare insight into the watch world’s steady evolution. “It’s simple,” Mr von Känel said. “A watch used to be about telling the time. Now it’s all about status.” Now I’ll come clean here: this wasn’t welcome news to The Enabler. Not when I’m working around the clock, racking my brains to help you justify your latest watch purchase. I wasn’t happy because non-believers already believe that splurging on a watch is decadent and vain. Frankly, they don’t need fresh ammo. That’s why I’m sharing von Känel’s answer with you in the strictest of…

The post The Enabler: How To Justify Buying Another Watch #3 … “It’s A Symbol Of Moral Resistance Against The Spiritual Decay Of Modern Life” appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

Editor’s note: You know what’s really refreshing to see? A watchmaker take a timepiece that was first released 40+ years ago, grab it by its … lugs (?) and bring it into the 21st century. That’s exactly what Girard-Perregaux did when they unveiled the Laureato in black ceramic. Here is a timepiece that, for the most part, retains almost all the styling cues of the original Laureato, but thanks to material innovation, is reborn in this resolutely contemporary design. And, to Girard-Perregaux’s credit, they nailed the execution. It isn’t always easy to master the process of modernising something antiquated, but it’s been well judged, and could be one of GP’s hottest-looking watches right now.  Since its surprise reveal a little over a year ago, the Laureato has become an increasingly significant player in the luxury sports category, thanks to its crowd-pleasing good looks and impressive mechanics. SIHH 2018 showed us that the Laureato is an increasingly important part of GP’s lineup too, as handsome new chronograph variants dominated their latest batch of novelties. But I was particularly taken by this black ceramic-on-rubber offering. Announced late last year, to me this Laureato really lives up to its sporty pedigree, thanks to its hard-wearing…

The post Old dog, new tricks: The Girard-Perregaux Laureato in black ceramic appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

Editor’s note: Justin Mastine-Frost, while being full of energy as a human being, is not what I would describe as ‘excitable’. If you ever want Justin to hype something, he is — in fact — likely to go the other way. So when we brief the mighty JMF, we do not know what we’re going to get. Which is 100 per cent part of his charm, and his personal brand. Therefore, when his copy came in about the Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Collection, it caught everybody’s attention. He was excited, hyped, and making no bones about it. These are words of fire, that — while landing on a positive note — take many prisoners along the way. Take the second sentence of the story: “In this era of overblown, overhyped, and over-exaggerated positioning by brands and their marketing machines filled with a youthful and often naive ‘we are the next big thing!’ mentality, words like unique are thrown around with impunity pretty much every other day.” It’s like the final scene of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with Leo DiCaprio and the flame thrower! I’ll let the magic happen again in this Editor’s pick, one of our favourites from Justin, and a perfect summary of why —…

The post A primer on the Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Collection, and why it gets us so darned excited appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.