Announcing – Discover the future of horology at the AuroChronos Festival in Poland
Great news for our Polish readers (and those close enough to travel there)! Yes, Poland, we know you’re there. And we’re here for you with an announcement you might want to know about. Through the watch-grapevine, we heard the news of the third edition of a watch festival in Poland. And it’s definitely not just another get together of salesmen; it’ll be a nice get-together with some of the finest independent brands and watch lovers.
Following on from last week’s look at the Top Gun collection, Andrew sets his sights on the heritage-inspired Spitfire collection. This year saw the Spitfire step up its status from an occasional silver-dialled offering to a fully formed collection in its own right. Gone are the silver dials of the past, replaced with either handsome black and steel, or a particularly warm bronze and olive green. The bronze alloy is not the bright bronze that you might expect, and already has a world-worn feel that plays well with the military-inspired olive green dial. The other standout feature of this collection is the fact that it is powered completely by in-house movements. Some of them are quite cool, like the UTC and the Timezoner, whereas others are a little simpler — such as the regular automatic. We found ourselves drawn to two models in particular. IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Spitfire This well-sized 41mm chronograph epitomises everything that’s great about a pilot’s watch, in an exceptionally cool bronze case. The fact that it’s rocking the in-house 69000 calibre only makes it sweeter. IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Spitfire We’ve saved the best (or at least the biggest) till last. This Big…
TAG Heuer is a brand that has always sat fondly in the hearts of Australians, with shared values of an active lifestyle spent outdoors. This week we were lucky enough to celebrate the launch of TAG Heuer’s latest novelties, including the Carrera Calibre Heuer 02T Tourbillon Nanograph and the exciting Autavia Isograph. Both releases are significant because of the technology housed in them, which the crowd was fortunate enough to get a very close look at under the guidance of the TAG Heuer Master Watchmaker Shalen Gokoolparsadh. Hosted at TAG Heuer’s flagship boutique in Melbourne, a strong crowd gathered out of the windy weather to share canapés and conversation. Once the champagne flutes were firmly in people’s grasp, Time+Tide Founder Andrew McUtchen addressed the crowd with his best explanation of a rather technical topic. In most social circles, the mention of a tourbillon carriage would cause eyes to glaze over, but not this group. Point by point, Andrew navigated the story of the micromechanical marvel to illustrate how over time the tourbillon travelled from the pocket watch into the modern wristwatch. Aside from the lengths of technical prowess demonstrated in the watches on display, they were also tremendous value offerings…
At Baselworld 2019, Doxa delivered a campaign of shock and awe with the release of a solid gold SUB 200 T.Graph that left Felix in the firm belief that the world was a better place for its existence. Today they have announced another SUB 200 T.Graph limited edition, this time in stainless steel, making it a much more affordable option than the circa AUD $100K the gold piece was asking. What makes the Doxa SUB 200 T.Graph stainless steel limited edition special is the historic Valjoux 7734 chronograph movement that Doxa have used. Stored by Doxa for decades, the brand has fully refurbished these hand-wound movements to working order. Beating at 18,000 vibrations per hour, and offering 45 hours of power reserve, the movement features a date window at 6 o’clock and has two sub-dials, one with running seconds and the other as a 30-minute chronograph counter. The classic Doxa cushion case shape is 43mm in diameter and 15mm tall, making it faithful to the original from 1969. The bright orange dial is another classic example of Doxa design, reportedly easier to read underwater than a black dial. As with the gold version released earlier this year, the dial features…
At first glance, the pairing of a GPS-enabled, solar-powered watch, with a direct lineage to an 800-year-old family tradition in one of Japan’s most culturally important crafts might seem odd, but that’s precisely what we’re looking at with this high-end Casio MRG-G2000GA ‘Gassan’. Before we get to the sword side of things, let’s have a look at the timekeeping side of the equation. The case of this imposing watch is made from titanium, but not just any titanium. We’re talking about recrystallised titanium, which gives the metal a unique surface finish, reminiscent of the tempering of a Japanese blade. Moreover, it’s been treated with an arc ion plating (AIP) process to give it a vivid grape colour which is funky, fresh and unusual. The unorthodox materials don’t end on the case — the bezel is made from Cobarion, a cobalt chrome alloy that’s twice as hard as steel and possesses a platinum-like lustre. I didn’t test the first statement, but the metal has certainly been given the platinum treatment with a sophisticated mix of radial brushing and clean mirror polishing. The dial is a little more de rigueur for a high-end Casio offering, with plenty of digital bells and whistles,…
