The detailed design of A. Lange & Söhne
Editor’s note: Some of my favourite stories on Time+Tide are the series we wrote on the design of A. Lange & Söhne’s watches. This first instalment, written by Sandra Lane, explores the German brand’s overall design methodology and approach. Well worth another read. “Money likes silence.” Several years ago, a Russian collector by the name of Nikolai (he prefers not to publish his surname) was telling me why he’s so keen on A. Lange & Söhne, and I was struck by that part of his reply. While he meant it to sum up the ‘stealth’ appeal of Lange’s designs (discreet elegance; the antithesis of vulgarity), it also begged the question: what does make Lange so distinctive? A. Lange & Söhne is not what we think of as a “design brand” (the term suggests something altogether more conspicuous or self-consciously groovy) and yet its design language is not only unmistakable but also an intrinsic part of its being. We live in the Age of Noise: advertising noise, entertainment noise, social media noise – all adding to the general cacophony of daily living. So, given that a Lange watch announces its specialness with a whisper, not a shout, how does it make…
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Editor’s note: It’s not too often you see something genuinely ‘new’ in the watch space — with all the ‘novelties’ on offer. The Longines Conquest V.H.P. GMT Flash Setting, however, is new. The tech inside is user-friendly, smart, and makes for a better watch. And that’s something we can get behind. A few weeks ago I travelled to Rome to check out the Longines Conquest V.H.P. GMT Flash Setting, a GMT unlike any other. And in between the first-look video, horse racing and spectacular rooftop launches, we thought we’d do some sightseeing around Rome and put the V.H.P. GMT through its paces as a travel watch. Now, of all the ‘genres’ of watches, the travel watch is one of the most subjective. There’s no handy ISO standard to hold it against, nor is there a clearly established design tradition. There’s only subjective taste. With that little caveat out of the way, I’d be quite comfortable putting my money where my mouth is and saying that this Longines Conquest V.H.P. GMT Flash Setting is a near-perfect travel watch for the 21st century. Why? Well, first of all, it looks good. It’s stylistically versatile — important if you’re on the road with…
Casio’s G-Shock has a reputation — and a well-deserved one, I might add — for being one of the toughest watches ever made. Way back in 1983, Kikuo Ibe, the man behind the watch, decreed that the watch needed to meet some pretty tough criteria: a 10-year battery life, water resistance of 10 bar, and the ability to survive a 10-metre fall onto a hard surface. In the decades since, the combination of extreme functionality and even more extreme durability has made the G-Shock the go-to choice for people who need a watch that can *really* take a beating. And, of course, this function-before-form aesthetic has led to the watch becoming a style icon in its own right. Fast forward to 2019 and there’s countless versions on offer, from fashion brand collaborations to high-end artisanal offerings and versions with fitness trackers inbuilt. Today, though, we’re looking at a watch that offers a compelling update of the classic. The look is classic G-Shock 5000 (the most classic, and one of the most popular G-Shock configurations), but the case is pure metal. Full metal cases are something pretty new for the traditionally plastic-based G-Shocks, with steel and gold tone models joining the tribe…
Editor’s note: When it was first released back in 2015 (was it four years ago already?!), the IWC Portugieser Annual Calendar was hot. And while there’s been a lot of watches (including many more Portugiesers), the years have not diminished the appeal of this big business watch. The story in a second The headline act in IWC’s 2015 line-up is the Portugieser Annual Calendar, an assured new take on an old favourite. The big question Will people want a watch that’s more than a complete calendar, but not quite a perpetual? IWC have declared 2015 to be the year of the Portugieser, and the star model in the fully revamped (and re-branded) line is the Annual Calendar. The Annual Calendar is a big, beautiful watch featuring the brand’s first ever annual calendar complication, and a brand new in-house movement. This is an impressive watch on many levels, and paradoxically, the greatest thing about it is perhaps the hardest to articulate. The best description I can come up with after wearing it for a week is that the Annual Calendar has a strong personality. Some watches can have all the right stuff, yet still come off cold and calculated. Not so…
Editor’s note: The Omega Seamaster Railmaster is an interesting release from Omega – similar in overall form to the Aqua Terra, but with a decidedly neo-vintage flavour. This watch makes a great daily, with a more youthful vibe. The Omega Seamaster Railmaster was one of the surprise hits of last year’s Basel fair. So it’s vaguely appropriate that as we’re busy speculating what we’ll see Omega release at Baselworld 2018, we look back on one of their hottest from last season. Not that we realised it at the time – the regular production Seamaster Railmaster was more of a slow burn. It’s a deceptively simple piece, lacking the hero status of its limited edition sibling, and somewhat lacking in obvious bells and whistles. Rather than being a weakness, this simplicity is the Railmaster’s greatest strength. Clean, pure design, of the sort that Omega excels at: classic, but with fine details — like the brushed dial and Railmaster text — that reward close inspection. Omega Seamaster Railmaster Price Omega Seamaster Railmaster, from $6675 AUD 
