FRIDAY WIND DOWN: 12th May, 2017 – the e-commerce edition
One of the biggest trends in watches isn’t colour, shape or size, but rather something more prosaic and far more important – finding new ways to sell them. Twenty-two years after eBay was founded, the luxury sector is finally getting serious about selling watches online. So rather than slacking off and sipping exotic cocktails in what’s left of the winter sun, we’re hunkered down in front of our desks, reading financial news, like the nerds we are. What happened Look, we know it’s got nothing to do with e-commerce, but when everyone’s favourite scandi-watch/fashion/lyf-guru Kristian Haagen drops knowledge on vintage watches, we’re all behoved to read it. Plus we love that he looks like he’s cutting some Kraftwerk moves in this pic. What really mattered Cartier has been making waves all over recently, and not just because of the star-studded launch of the Panthère de Cartier in sunny LA. Or even because Jackie Kennedy’s gold Tank (what else would she wear?) is coming up for auction. No, we’re particularly interested in the fact that currently the only place you can buy the Panthère isn’t your local Cartier boutique, but rather Net-a-Porter. Because what’s more luxurious than being able to buy…
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Following on from their somewhat controversial releases at SIHH, Girard-Perregaux has surprised us with not one but two new pieces to add to their already brimming Laureato collection. Originally launched back in 1975, the then cutting-edge, quartz-powered Laureato was designed by an Italian architect who, the story goes, drew his inspiration from the dome of the famous Cathedral in Florence. With its octagonal inner bezel and integrated bracelet, the watch bore more than a passing resemblance to other very recognisable ’70s designs (read AP and Patek). These two new skeletonised pieces seem to be doing their best to shake that association and delve back into the architectural design roots of the Laureato. The 42mm wide, 10.88mm thick Laureato Skeleton is available cased in either stainless steel or 18k pink gold. It sports GP’s own in-house GP01800-0006 skeletonised movement with a 54-hour power reserve and small seconds – a movement most recently seen in last year’s skeletonised 1966 model. Derived from the GP01800, the movement has been upgraded with a variable inertia balance, ensuring greater precision. But the most obvious addition is, well, what’s been left out. The openworked design seems to be well done, and the movement has been galvanised with an…
Editor’s Note: For all that the watch industry speaks about timelessness and classic design, it rides the winds of fad and fashion just like any other consumer-focused business. But that’s not always the case; there are some models that remain impressively unchanged, and pure to their origins. Watches like this simple and sophisticated Grand Seiko Automatic Hi-Beat 36000. The story in a second: Grand Seiko’s limited edition Hi-Beats are hot property, but the regular production SBHG005 is, not to overstate things in any way, a masterpiece of understated excellence. Most high-end watches are instantly recognisable as luxury objects. Your watch makes a statement about who you are and what you value. Rolex says one thing, IWC another. This is, of course, the point. Most people, upon spending thousands of dollars on a watch want you to know you’ve spent thousands of dollars on a watch. And then there’s Grand Seiko. Grand Seiko is the Japanese watchmaker’s premier line, and for years it was quite difficult to get your hands on outside of Japan. This rarity, combined with the line’s often-conservative style and the ubiquity of Seiko’s more accessible offerings meant that the statement you made wearing one was about rejecting the usual…
