HANDS-ON: This watch means business – the Cartier Santos in yellow gold
If you’re a relative newcomer to the whole world of watches, it’s easy to underestimate just how big Cartier is, and how important their impact on modern watchmaking is. Cartier have carved themselves an unimpeachable place as the evergreen masters of the shaped watch, and the Santos is the watch that started it all. While the origins of the Santos date back to the early 20th century, its primary stylistic association lies not with Belle Époque Europe but rather with Wall Street, circa 1980-something, as the modern Santos was launched (on that oh-so-distinctive bracelet) in 1978. The Santos was a key element in the power dresser’s uniform. The ultimate expression of this power watch has to be the full yellow gold version — the epitome of ’80s opulence, excess and awesomeness, all in a convenient, wrist-sized package. And now that the ’80s is sufficiently distant in our rear-view mirror for heartwarming nostalgia to set in, the Santos is back. It was Cartier’s hero at SIHH, with its new movement, redesigned case and exceptionally user-friendly quick change bracelet and link systems — all upgrades that make a very 2018 watch, even if the looks have barely changed in the last 30-odd years.…
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There’s more to a watch than how it feels and looks on the wrist. Some watches carry a weight greater than what you can measure in grams — they also bear the weight of decades of heritage and sociocultural significance. The Monaco — a true icon of the industry — is one such watch. It’s even more true when that Monaco has a Gulf dial. Those stripes, on that dial, add up to a double hit of Steve McQueen iconography. The watch he wore in Le Mans, emblazoned with the colours of the car he drove, all in one convenient 39mm package. And while this piece of history gives you a good idea as to who this watch is pitched at, it doesn’t quite capture just how much fun it is on the wrist. The Monaco is fun in and of itself, but the popping strap and striped dial take it to the next level, as you can see. TAG Heuer Monaco Gulf 2018 Special Edition Australian pricing and availability TAG Heuer Monaco Gulf 2018 Special Edition, steel on calf, $7650
Enrique Muyshondt is the founder of Muyshondt Enterprises, a company that creates electric torches. He loves simple, vintage, analog things — cars, vinyl, cameras, and, of course, watches. Hi Enrique, tell me about your love affair with watches; do you remember when it started? I had a Timex with Indiglo when I was a kid, which would never come off my wrist — I’m a post-quartz-crisis guy. Over time I had more modern fare, Citizen Eco-Drive watches in particular, and eventually made my way to mechanical watches a few years ago, starting with a Seiko Sumo, and then it all went downhill from there! There’s a particular appeal for me in clean, elegant design that’s prevalent in many modern watch brands, and a specific fascination with a form of engineering taken to its furthest possible form in watches, F1 racing, and a few other fields. What is your daily watch, and why? It varies. Lately, a Mitsukoshi (Panda) Speedmaster, but the polar-dialled Rolex Explorer II, Omega Seamaster 300 (vintage re-issue) and others are also favourites from the larger brands. I’m a particular fan of the work from Halios and Oak & Oscar, in microbrands, as well. What does your collection look…
As the dust settles, we look back at the Baselworld 2018 fair with a more holistic lens. And, as the Time+Tide team saw more than 50 brands between them, we think we’re in a pretty excellent position to pull out a few common themes… Trend 1 – Two-tone First up, two-tone watches. Let me start this by saying — yes, I know two-tone watches have always been a ‘thing’, but lately we feel they’ve picked up momentum (something I put down to the fact that a lot of steel watches are hard to come by!). Tudor Black Bay S&G with champagne dial Tudor spiced up their existing Black Bay S&G model with a ‘champagne’ dial. In person, it’s much closer to gold, especially under natural light. This move from Tudor, a year after the original release of the S&G, shows that they’re backing the two-tone love. Omega Seamaster Diver 300M As part of Omega’s new 300M Diver collection, we saw several bi-metal releases. Omega backed the love for two-tone this year, releasing not one but three variations of the Diver — a Tantalum (Titanium) and Sedna (Gold), Steel and Sedna Gold, and Steel and Yellow Gold. Rolex GMT-Master II in Everose and…
