Introducing – The New Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Dual Time (Hands-On)
Jaquet Droz revisits its Grande Second Dual Time watch with an azimuthal map of the Earth’s continents viewed from the North Pole. Although the movement and the layout are identical to the previous Grande Seconde Dual Time models, the integration of a map enlivens the scenery and underlines the vocation of this watch as a stylish travelling companion. As always with Jaquet Droz, the aesthetics are elegant and balanced, dominated by the prevailing figure-eight motif of the Grande Seconde collection.
The Grande Seconde is perhaps Jaquet Droz’s most recognisable design, with an outsize second hand and characteristic figure 8 layout that you can spot from across a room. It’s also a versatile design that’s been called into service for a range of complications. But never a chronograph. Until this week’s release of the Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Chronograph. This release isn’t just a single watch, but rather a fully formed collection. There’s a nice limited version, and a brace of steel-cased models, with asymmetrical dials. The dial options on offer are blue, taupe grey and sand-blasted silver. The blue will be — I suspect — the popular choice, but I was quite drawn to the grey: it has a modern, monochromatic look that plays well with the off-centre design and contrasts Jaquet Droz’s typically classic aesthetic. It’s also quite a textural dial, with several layers and a nice contrast between the sandblasted and satin finished sections. The fact that this stylish timer is a monopusher goes a long way to ensuring that the overall package remains elegant. The movement (calibre 26M5R) is made by Blancpain, and exclusive to Jaquet Droz. It’s an interesting layout, with timekeeping on the smaller dial…
Think Glashütte Original and the chances are good that ‘diver’ isn’t a category that immediately springs to mind. The German brand is known for many things – from 3/4 plates to Panorama dates – but undersea adventure isn’t really one of them. That’s not to say that the brand doesn’t have form in the area. Fifty years ago the brand did indeed make a specialist underwater watch, for both military and civilian markets, and now they’ve decided to take the plunge again, with a brace of SeaQ watches. There’s a limited edition piece, and a version that comes in a few different dials with a Panorama date, but today we’re looking at the regular production SeaQ. The Glashütte Original SeaQ is a well-sized, handsome watch that ticks all the right boxes. It’s 39.5mm wide, 12.5mm tall, comes with a nice galvanic black sunray dial, large numerals and hands in a pleasingly vintage style (down to the Super-LumiNova, in a shade that echoes old radium), and a date that fits nicely into the overall equation of the dial. Likewise, the case shape is simple, with a hint of the mid-century skin diver about it in the angles and the style of crown. …
When we set out to write our first Buying Guide, which is now free to access in digital form, we pushed everyone in the team to go as far afield as possible in sourcing watches at all price points, especially at the under $1000 range, where value propositions are harder to find. This would be for print, after all. It had to have real value. It was obviously worth it, because only a couple of boxes of our first edition remain, with issue two going into production any day now. Every time I pick it up, I’m refreshed by brands I don’t see every day on Time+Tide. Baltic. Bamford. Certina. Laco. There’s some genuinely cool things going on with these brands, at a very favourable price. In the first of a series of surprise and delight posts, where we cherry pick some of our favourites from the early pages, we’re delving in to the entry level. To browse the full – and extensive – range of watches from $200 to over $200,000, be sure to visit the digital magazine. Please note all prices are approximate and in Australian dollars. Bamford Mayfair In 2017 the Bamford Watch Department, the kings of…
When we were shown the new Blancpain products at Time to Move, we expected to see Fifty Fathoms and Villeret. We did not expect a pilot’s chronograph. But, oh boy, was the Blancpain Air Command a pleasant surprise. On its face, this 500-piece limited edition is a very handsome heritage-styled number, with a 42.5mm steel case, topped with glass box sapphire and a distinctly Fifty Fathoms-esque rotating bezel, with that lozenge-shaped pip at 12. The handset is particularly elegant, with matchstick-shaped hands in white, filled with an ivory-toned, vintage-look lume. The heritage feel is picked up on the dial, which is a bi-compax flyback, with the same vintage-look luminous Arabic numerals, and a tachymeter scale. The movement is the F388B, a 5Hz movement that is buttery smooth to actuate. The overall historic tone of the piece is finished off with a nicely patina’d calf strap. It might not have been the Blancpain we were expecting, but it’s very, very nice indeed. Blancpain Air Command price Blancpain Air Command, limited to 500 pieces, $24,750 AUD
Last year, Breguet introduced a stunningly simple, surprisingly asymmetrical addition to the Classique family, the Tourbillon Extra-Flat. This year, at Time to Move, they’ve premiered the next chapter. It’s still a Classique Tourbillon, but it’s been dramatically skeletonised. Meet the Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Flat Skeleton 5395. First things first – the fundamentals: 41mm across by a truly slender 7.7mm thick, offered in platinum or rose gold cases. The dial is sapphire, to show off the movement. The hands are (obviously) Breguet. On paper, the 3mm thin movement, designated 581SQ (for squelette, or skeleton), is the same as the existing 581. But in reality it’s a completely different beast, and absolutely beautiful. Firstly, and most obviously, the closed dial is gone, leaving the inner workings of the watch exposed. And those inner workings have been significantly stripped back, with about 50 per cent of the mass of the movement removed, leaving a fine tracery of extensively hand-worked bridges. These bridges are made from a specific red gold alloy that is harder than usual, so as to effectively support the weight of the movement. Not much of that weight is coming from the off-centre tourbillon — the titanium and silicon carriage weighs in…