Hands-on – De Bethune DB25 Starry Varius – Pimp your Constellation

De Bethune’s DB25 Starry Varius is a beautiful tribute to the firmament housed in a smaller, 42mm titanium case with an interesting customisation proposal.  Every watch is a unique, one-off model offering you the possibility of customising the night sky to your heart’s desire. After a somewhat unsettled period for the brand, Pierre Jacques is back as CEO, there is a new private equity investor on board, and master watchmaker and co-founder Denis Flageollet can exercise his creativity in the integrated manufacturing facility the brand has in L’Auberson. And if the DB27 Titan Hawk V2 and the DB25 Starry Varius are any indication of the shape of things to come, De Bethune is well on its way to writing the next successful chapter in its watchmaking saga.

8 years ago

Introducing – The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Automatic & Chronograph Get Black Dials

When introduced back in 2016, the re-designed Overseas was Vacheron Constantin’s answer for the highly coveted market of the luxury sports watch (a market dominated by AP and PP). First launched in blue and silver editions, later followed by warm and original brown versions, there was still one missing colour to make the collection complete. Problem solved for 2018, with the introduction of the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Automatic 4500V and Chronograph 5500V, now with black dials (and even a reversed-panda for the Chrono).

8 years ago

LIST: Andrew’s top 10 watches from Basel in pictures

For a watch lover, Baselworld is the big dance. It is every birthday rolled into one. It is Vegas, it is Christmas, it is a jolt back to childhood, when you would count sleeps before a special day. It’s awesome. And, I think you will be able to quickly establish from the video, we get ever so slightly overstimulated by all the lights, jetlag, cameras and the watch action. In the days leading up to Basel, speculation runs rife about who will release what. Those adept at Photoshop design the watches they’d like to see, and social media, the new hive for the world watch community, escalates into a buzz louder than the engines of the A380 we took to get over there. Did Rolex keep the crown for the most-hyped release? Did the reinvented Bond watch by Omega dazzle or disappoint? What about those challenger brands from Germany and Japan, did they shake the Swiss? Longines – Legend Diver The Legend Diver is not a new watch, but a fully blacked out version, including a black rubber strap molded to look like a ‘Milanese’ style bracelet, is beyond surprising, it’s astonishing. Longines excel every year at heritage reissues, their…

The post LIST: Andrew’s top 10 watches from Basel in pictures appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

8 years ago

WHO TO FOLLOW: @TheKirkland (Jeremy Kirkland of Blamo!)

Editors note: This week’s Who To Follow is the result of a mild obsession Andy and I had with the Blamo! podcast, which, if you’re at all interested in the world of fashion, style and luxury, is jam-packed full of gold moments and on-point insight. Given that we’ve tapped out the first three seasons, we’re pretty happy season four is dropping on May 7. Until then, I’m going to go listen to the Jen Rubio episode on repeat.  Hi Jeremy, for those unfamiliar, who are you and what do you do? My name is Jeremy Kirkland, and I’m the host of the Blamo! Podcast. Tell us about Blamo! Blamo! is a weekly show featuring personalities and individuals in the fashion industry. I’ve been in the fashion and luxury industry for more than 10 years and have been lucky to have made some great friends along the way. Their stories are so inspiring and encouraging, and I wanted to find a platform to share those stories. How do you choose your interviewees? Initially, it started out as friends and colleagues I’ve had along the way. More recently, it’s evolved to feature entrepreneurs, creative directors and other people who are helping shape the…

The post WHO TO FOLLOW: @TheKirkland (Jeremy Kirkland of Blamo!) appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

8 years ago

Buying Guide – 10 Of The Best Tourbillon Watches From Baselworld 2018

The Tourbillon is often presented as the king of complications. Originally invented to combat the negative effect of earth attraction (a.k.a gravity), it remains today an inevitable feature for all high-end brands – as a demonstration of watchmakers’ capabilities to manufacture such small mechanisms. As for each edition of Baselworld, 2018 has brought its share of new Tourbillon watches. We have put together 10 highlights watches, all featuring such a regulating organ (and more).

8 years ago

INTRODUCING: The big bad Hublot Big Bang MP-11 14-Days 3D Carbon

Given how much Hublot unveiled in Geneva back in January, the volume of additional novelties the brand had ready to go for Baselworld 2018 came as a bit of a surprise. Though nearly faced with a little analysis paralysis, given the broad range of models to choose from, getting a closer look at the Big Bang MP-11 14-Days 3D Carbon was a real no-brainer. The melding of the classic Big Bang case with the clever engineering of the Hublot Masterpiece collection is a total win-win, and provided ample motivation to take a closer look. Vital statistics As it says in the name, the big selling feature of the MP-11 is its staggering 14-day power reserve. Cased in what Hublot are calling “3D Carbon”— a variant of carbon fibre woven in a more three-dimensional fashion than conventional carbon fibre — this casing helps offset the additional weight found in the MP-11’s seven series-coupled barrels. Effectively, this multi-barrel configuration is a scaled-down version of what is found in the MP-05 LaFerrari, which uses 11 barrels to achieve a power reserve of 50 days. The trade-off with things like the LaFerrari is you’re then left with a much larger and elaborate case, whereas…

The post INTRODUCING: The big bad Hublot Big Bang MP-11 14-Days 3D Carbon appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

8 years ago

LIST: 6 of the best vintage watch advertisements, according to @adpatina

Editors Note: One of the more interesting Instagram accounts I’ve followed in recent times is @adpatina, dedicated to sourcing (and selling) vintage watch ads. Clearly, I wasn’t alone, as Ad Patina has graduated from Instagram and is now a fully fledged site and store. I thought I’d reach out and get the full story. So, a few DMs and emails later and Nick has given me the scoop (kind of) on collecting vintage watch ads, and his thoughts on the best possible examples … So, how did you get into vintage watch ads? Ah, it all started when I was a teenager in the mid ’90s … I remember taping Rolex ads to my bedroom wall. The ads weren’t vintage, and, oddly, most of the models advertised weren’t ones I wanted to own. They were just random Rolex ads (I even had Lady Datejust ads pinned up). It was less about the actual watch, more about the brand. You see, I aspired to own a Rolex, and having these ads greet me as I entered my room — looming over my head as I did homework, the last thing I saw before falling asleep — served as a reminder and motivation to get good grades, work hard, stay out…

The post LIST: 6 of the best vintage watch advertisements, according to @adpatina appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

8 years ago