RECOMMENDED READING: How the Rolex Submariner became an icon and inspired legions of copycats
For many, the Rolex Submariner is the watch. The default, the archetype. In some ways the watch has transcended its original function and become a totemic symbol for aspiration, class and cool. It is, after all, the original watch of James Bond. On the other hand, it’s still a superlative tool, designed for the dangerous job of diving, a job it still excels at. The fact that the Sub can balance these two faces has a lot to do with its success. As does its long, sustained production run and the fact that a Submariner from 1954 will look pretty much the same as one from 2019. So, to brush up on the history of what is — arguably — the most significant wristwatch around, we’d suggest a quick peruse of this GQ article.
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If you haven’t heard of Aurel Bacs, that is something that needs to change. While the word influencer has been irreparably ruined by people who use Instagram at the beach, it is one of the most fitting words to describe his impact on the global vintage watch market. The founder of the watch department at Phillips, he still runs the business with his wife Livia Russo under the name Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, responsible for a string of records that places him in a league of his own at the rostrum. As you might expect, given he spends the majority of his waking hours (and probably some of those while sleeping) thinking about vintage watches, he is incredibly passionate about the subject matter, as well as collecting for himself. He tells the story of being 16 years old when he first fell in love with a Patek Philippe, convincing his parents to loan him the money to buy it, which they agreed to if the watch stayed in a safe till the debt was cleared. I don’t know about you, but at 16 I had a few other things on my mind besides old Swiss wristwatches, but…
A decade ago, overtly feminine watches that combined beauty and proper horology were a rare thing indeed. (There are more of them today – although still far from enough.) And when Jaeger-LeCoultre launched the Rendez-Vous collection in 2012 it really struck a chord. Here was a watchmaker taking women seriously, with good mechanical movements, elegant, grown-up designs and a load of refined detail. A little wink in the form of a tiny star on the dial perimeter that can be set to mark an appointment (rendez-vous in French), which gave the collection its name. And a confident, 36mm case diameter. Watches with brains as well as beauty. The line quickly became a pillar of the brand. Although some elaborately beautiful artistic editions and complications have been added over the years, the core of the Rendez-Vous collection hits that aesthetic sweet spot: feminine but not fluffy; decorative but not elaborate; simple yet full of details; great for daily wear and dressy enough for evening. A fine balancing act. And then, this year, Jaeger-LeCoultre went large with diamonds. Literally large. With an extra ring of brilliant-cut stones set around the outside of the bezel. Dazzling Rendez-Vous, it’s called. And dazzle it does.…
In 2019, the President of the United States sends foreign policy updates live to your phone. You can order takeaway from a mountaintop, and toilet seats can perform health checkups. At first, this seems to be a net positive for humanity. However, it has made it incredibly difficult to disconnect from the world around us and slow down, and in an age where my boss can remotely access and dictate my schedule from now until eternity, I take comfort in knowing that there is one place left, from which he cannot steal my time. Wristwatches speak to us from what feels like a bygone era, and counsel us with their old-world wisdom. “Slow down,” my watch advises in a Christopher Walken-like drawl. “Walk. Don’t run. It’s your time.” Whether it’s the graceful sweeping seconds of a mechanical, or the hypnotic tick of a quartz, traditional wristwatches have the ability to yank us from the fast-paced world we live in, and force some perspective onto us. Most nights before bed, I take off my watch, place it by my ear on the pillow, and practice breathing. I often wake up with an imprint of a buckle on my left cheek. Obviously,…
Editor’s note: For Daytona fans, everyone’s all about the Cerachrom bezels these days. And while it’s hard to deny the allure of that super-hard, slick material, I prefer my bezels metal, and preferably precious. Which is why I’m still so into this 2016 release, the Rolex Daytona in white gold with blue dial (ref. 116509). I mean, just check it out … Two thousand and sixteen will surely go down in the annals of watch-lore as the year of the Daytona. Not only did Rolex finally update their stainless steel icon, but they also unveiled two new precious metal versions. We’ve already looked at the oh-so-shiny green and yellow gold version, and today we hold in our hands the slightly more understated white gold option. The main change here is, of course, the dial. The iridescent blue starburst is called, somewhat unimaginatively, ‘blue’ by Rolex. We were hoping for something more romantic, like ‘ocean depths’ or ‘arctic night’. Regardless of what you call it, the dial is a stunner, and the perfect counterpoint to the high shine of the heavy white gold case, especially with the red highlights on the counters and the ‘Daytona’ text. As far as colour combos go,…