HANDS-ON: The Girard-Perregaux Laureato Chronograph
Let’s be real here. Ever since we saw the new Laureato last year, we knew the chronograph version was inevitable. After all, what’s a luxury sports watch without the option of the default sports complication? There’s no doubt that this good-looking sporty option is the brand’s commercial focus, so it makes sense that a veritable bevy of chronograph models was released at SIHH 2018. Offered in 38 or 42mm, in steel or pink gold, strap or bracelet, and a range of dials (including a real cool black with blue registers option), there might not quite be something for everyone, but you’re certainly spoiled for choice. I opted to look at what is perhaps the safest/most classic of the combos: 42mm, steel, blue dial on bracelet. Honestly, it’s a winning combination right out of the gate, but it’s the details that make it. Let’s kick off with the dial, the hobnail texture is familiar and looks good. There’s contrast thanks to the circular grain on the chrono registers, as well as the brighter blue hands and indices, which really go full-on electric in the right light. I’m sure the date at four will grind the gears of some reading this, but…
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Editor’s note: It’s getting close to end of financial year here in Australia, a time when, traditionally, watch lovers start counting their fiscal chickens before they’re hatched, and allocating that spend to the less essential things in life … like watches. Now, in a shock twist that I’m sure you’re all pretty familiar with, it turns out significant others don’t *always* see the fiscal sense in dropping serious coin on yet another watch that is, let’s face it, pretty much exactly the same as all the others you own. Andy Green has taken on the dangerous task of evaluating eight common strategies for spousal approval. Be warned though, results may vary. The reality is that watches are luxury goods, so the ‘need’ to buy them rarely occurs. That means, for most, they naturally fall very low (some say too low) on life’s list of priorities, and most definitely do not outrank things like kids, mortgages and school fees. And unless your partner shares your passion, I’d gamble and say they don’t think that your wrist darlings are as important as you think they are. So, the perennially thorny question is: “How do I buy this watch with my partner’s blessing?”…
Of all of Montblanc’s fine timepieces, I’ve had a soft spot for the distinctive Rieussec line, an uncommon take on the common chronograph that draws its inspiration from the daddy of them all, the original chronograph device invented by the eponymous Frenchman, Nicolas Rieussec. The Rieussec has been in the Montblanc family for a while, but to me it’s always occupied a somewhat liminal space, sitting above the more accessible TimeWalkers and their ilk, yet not quite in the same league as the famed Minerva-based chronographs. But that’s not to say that the Montblanc Rieussec isn’t a serious piece of kit, the MB R2000 is a solid movement, modern, with an interesting layout. It boasts a column wheel, vertical clutch and 72-odd hours of power. On top of that it looks darn good, too. That same statement definitely applies to the exterior of the watch as well. Fundamentally, the design of the big 44.8mm (and a good 15mm tall) watch’s dial has been tweaked; the date now has a more balanced, six o’clock position, instantly giving the watch a less cluttered look than previous iterations. But the changes don’t stop there. The heavily textured dial is dominated by the classical…
If you look at the last two years, the price of vintage Heuer has rocketed, but so far the uplift has not raised all boats on the modern TAG Heuer and Heuer tide. David Chalmers, founder of Calibre 11, the “home of TAG Heuer and vintage Heuer collectors”, asks the CEO of TAG Heuer, Jean-Claude Biver, why is it so? For those not interested in watching the 90-second response from Mr Biver, the transcript is below. If you look at the last two years, the price of vintage Heuer has rocketed, but I wonder how much benefit has that given to TAG Heuer, because normally you follow the idea of saying vintage Rolex values go up, new Rolex values go up because of the perception around the brand. It seems as though that hasn’t necessarily happened with vintage Heuer and TAG Heuer. “No, it has not happened in the past because there was such a discrepancy between the beautiful, traditional, old TAG Heuer pieces from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. When you are looking at the pieces of now, people would say, ‘Oh, is it the same brand?’ because the past was so much better than the present. Now, with…