Is this Tudor Black Bay "Smiley" the next big collector's watch?
Editor’s note: A perennially common question in the horological hemisphere is, “What is the next BIG future collectible timepiece?” It’s a pretty loaded question, and usually one answered with, rather obviously, nothing more than conjecture and anecdotal hypothesis. But, if we’re being honest, the best indicator of the “next big thing” is when there is a constant murmur in the wristwatch community about the same watch, a constant simmering of whispers that keeps on throwing up one model. That model is this, the ETA-powered Tudor Black Bay “Smiley”. Whether it’s the simpler ETA 2824-2 movement, the slimmer case, “Rose of the Tudor” motif on the dial, or a combination of all three, there are many, many people saying this is the next watch to go pop. As a brand, Tudor is a lot like Rocky in that Rolex’s little brother is a plucky fighter come good. Unlike Rocky, Tudor’s releases just get better and better with each passing year. Baselworld 2014 saw two big crowd-pleasing releases from Tudor, and a new range that is understated in the extreme, though still enticing. We’ll talk more about the Ranger and the Style later, but for now let’s focus on the undisputed star of the…
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Martin Scorsese’s latest crime film, The Irishman, is released on Netflix in Australia on November 27. It is based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses, which chronicles the life of Frank Sheeran, a mafia hitman who claims to have killed Jimmy Hoffa, the former president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union. Playing the title character of Sheeran is Robert De Niro, the Oscar-winning actor best known for starring in Casino, Goodfellas, Heat, The Godfather Part II and Raging Bull. Two other Oscar-winning actors play important characters in the film — Al Pacino portrays Jimmy Hoffa, and Joe Pesci plays Russell Bufalino, the head of the Pennsylvania Mafia. We thought it would be a good time to reflect on some of the interesting watches De Niro has worn on screen. De Niro has a fondness for wearing Rolex watches in movies and has done so on two occasions, in addition to a couple of other interesting pieces ranging from vintage to modern. In the 1978 war drama The Deer Hunter he wore a Rolex Sea-Dweller on an Oyster bracelet. You can see it very clearly near the end of the film, when he tries to persuade his friend to…
Has any one watch had more of an immediate effect on its audience than the Omega Seamasters featured in James Bond films? Seriously … almost every single time we talk to anyone about their SMP, invariably 007 is hurled into the equation. It’s got to be one of the smartest pieces of marketing since, well, since Omega handed out their Speedmaster to Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. Anyway, at one point or another, quite a few of the people reading this will have owned an SMP – they are just that iconic. Fewer people, however, have offloaded their Seamaster, only to be stricken by a massive case of buyer’s remorse and promptly bought another. But that’s exactly what Andreas did, and this is his story. What made you choose your watch? When I was in high school, Casino Royale had just come out and I saw the advertisement and thought, “I’m going to buy that watch.” But when I went to the Omega Boutique, they told me that Craig was wearing the new co-axial, not the old SMP, because it was being discontinued. So I said, “Can I get the old one instead?” When did you purchase it? This…