VIDEO: “We didn’t have it in the museum.” The President of Longines says collector brought GPHG winner to them
It’s the kind of story you could easily gloss over, or embellish, as the president of a large watch company. A collector contacts you with a rare piece. You confirm that it’s original, share the images around the business, get feedback from the heritage team that it might be a good piece to reissue, then conveniently forget — when the accolades roll in — where the story started. That’s not Walter von Känel’s way. He admits in this interview that the Longines’ GPHG Winner of the ‘Revival Watch Prize’ the Avigation BigEye is, indeed, collector, rather than museum-contributed. “What is interesting is that it has been brought to us by a collector,” Mr von Känel explains. “We didn’t have it in the museum. We checked if it was original and then our heritage team convinced me to re-do it, and it was a good decision. I like it.”
The post VIDEO: “We didn’t have it in the museum.” The President of Longines says collector brought GPHG winner to them appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.





Given how synonymous Omega’s Speedmaster is with space in general and the moon in particular, it’s quite easy to forget that the watch was originally designed with motorsports in mind. This year, Omega set out to remind us that the Speedmaster does not always equal Moonwatch, with the Speedmaster Racing Master Chronometer, a big, 44.5mm dual register automatic that honours the spirit of the Speedy, but also spices things up with numerous automotive touches. Starting with the perforated racing strap, with flashes of orange peeking out from between the lining. Then there’s the high-vis orange highlights on the dial, and finally, the roulette-style alternating minute track, which improves legibility (and coolness) by at least 20 per cent. With the Speedmaster Racing, Omega has taken an already winning engine and, once again, fine-tuned it for optimal performance. Omega Speedmaster Racing Master Chronometer Australian pricing Omega Speedmaster Racing Master Chronometer, steel on leather, $11,300
