Watch Dandy

Last year we collected more than 200 of the best watches in the ultimate watch buying guide, with prices covering everything from $200 to $200,000+. Pulling from that archive, we thought we’d put together the best watches for summer, themed around orange tones. Here are our top six (+1) favourite orange watches from last year. DAN HENRY 1970 AUTOMATIC DIVER Over the course of 30 years, Mr Dan Henry has amassed a collection of more than 1500 watches. And what began as a simple desire to share his passion with others, quickly turned into the beginning of his eponymous microbrand watch company. Taking inspiration from his collection’s most iconic pieces, the 1970 Automatic Diver features a compressor-style case with bidirectional inner bezel and plenty of vintage styling. Ref No. 843181100110, Case size 40mm, Case material Steel, Movement Seiko NH35, Price $250 USD LONGINES CONQUEST V.H.P. GOLD COAST 2018 COMMONWEALTH GAMES As official partner and timekeeper of the XXI Commonwealth Games, Longines launched this very special edition of the Conquest V.H.P. Bearing the event’s colourful logo, as well as the blue koala mascot on the caseback, its textured dial features orange indexes and blue accents on the hands and minute markers.…

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‘Microbrand’ is one of those contentious watch words — a catch-all term encompassing smaller watch brands typically making, marketing and selling watches outside of the traditional industry pathways. It’s a section of the industry that has come a long way in a little time, and these five players are some of the most interesting players in the space right now … Laventure Founded in 2017 by watch industry designer Clément Gaud, Laventure has thus far released two models, the Marine and the Sous-Marine, the latter in both steel and bronze. While the brand has occasionally been criticised for what are perceived to be high prices for a totally new company, the quality of these pieces in the metal is genuinely outstanding. So far, the majority of dials from Laventure have featured a fade, or degradé style (with the lone exception being the solid black dial on the Sous-Marine). It’s an interestingly artisanal choice for watches that are otherwise styled for the rugged adventurer. What it does do is elevate the brand to something more than the sum of its parts. With some exciting plans in the pipeline, good things should be just around the corner for fans of this exceptional…

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The watch auction market has hit serious momentum over the last four or five years, with record-breaking results being produced every season. While a portion of the soaring prices can be attributed to macro factors — such as democratised information on vintage watches through the explosion of sites that cover the topic — this isn’t the whole picture. As we have previously discussed, watches owned by celebrities appreciate in value particularly well, but this doesn’t explain the boom in auction prices for references without significant provenance. As vintage dealer Sean Song discusses, the auction room itself plays a large part in the psychology of pricing, as well as the auctioneer in their ability to build hype around certain pieces. A part of this psychology is the tendency for people to connect high prices with high quality, justifying the value of a certain watch through condition or rarity. It is an interesting read that gives insights into the often opaque world of high-end watch auctions, delving into the motivations of buyers to attempt to explain why some watches have seen triple-digit growth in a very short space of time. You can read The Peculiar Economics of the Vintage Watch Market, Part I here,…

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Editor’s note: The Blancpain Tribute to Fifty Fathoms MIL-SPEC, aside from being a damn good-looking dive watch, serves as a reminder that brands can reissue mid-century military watches without breaking the internet. We thought we’d take a look back at this Blancpain Fifty Fathoms tribute, which tells the story of when watches were specially designed tools that meant the difference between life and death. Blancpain has an excellent history in dive watches, and among the most coveted are the military-issued pieces. In this already hyper-specialised niche, the MIL-SPEC I and MIL-SPEC II watches stand head and shoulders above the rest. These watches were first created in 1957 to meet the very specific needs of the United States Navy. In fact, if you really want to nerd out, we’d highly recommend reading the actual military specification – MIL-W-22176A(SHIPS). The most distinctive feature of this watch is the hemispheric moisture indicator on the bottom half of the dial. It’s this feature that Blancpain has celebrated with the MIL-SPEC, and that lies at the heart of its charm. Before we dive into the current model, let’s first look back at the Tornek-Rayville. Created to meet MIL-SPEC II, this watch is a great example…

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