The purpose of this guide is to help people better understand the culture that designs, manufactures, and sells high-end Swiss timepieces – ideally, in the most lighthearted and non-stuffy of ways. I’ve spent the better part of 15 years looking at the Swiss watch industry from the outside, and most of that time actually working directly with it.
If you like pilot’s watches, you need to head to the nearest airshow immediately. Irrespective of whether your eyeline lifts up to the craft in the air, or stays firmly on wrists, an airshow will give you more of a chance to spot aviation related watches than just about any other place. This setting – Avalon airshow, on the outskirts of Geelong – is where I spotted this dashing Patek Philippe 5524G, AKA the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time. It’s a watch that Felix and I hotly debated when it was released a couple of years ago. To recap, the topline quote was this: “The Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time is the watch that’s confusing the most people at Baselworld 2015. While the familiar Patek quality is there, that is pretty much the only thing about this watch people are associating with the name on the dial.” We wondered, not only then, but several times throughout the year, whether it would be worn by real pilots, or by mere earthbound Patek collectors? This question was answered emphatically by the watch’s owner, Sebastian, who is not only a pilot, but who is authorised to fly in formation – and has done so with the Australian…
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In the spectrum of colour, grey is quite the double agent. There it goes, trudging along amid notions of overcast skies, mind-numbing office cubicles, uncertainty. But just as we’re all stifling a yawn at its inherent dowdiness, what’s this we see? There goes grey playing its other hand in a realm populated by wolves and weimaraners, silver foxes with steely gazes, marble and moodiness. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the grey matter we’re interested in – executed perfectly, as it happens, in the anthracite hue of this Girard-Perregaux Cat’s Eye Power Reserve. We’ve talked before about embracing colour at the wrist, but let’s be honest: though this is a world away from your usual black and brown options, it’s a far less daunting leap than anything genuinely bright. Adding to the style quota is the horizontally elliptical case at 37.84mm by 32.84mm, which, combined with the slender grey alligator strap, makes this watch an excellent choice for daintier arms. Sixty-four diamonds stand guard on the bezel, while eight more act as indices on the dial itself, dotted between Arabic numerals at 6, 9 and 12. Meanwhile, the backdrop of two contrasting textures – a smooth crescent hugging a guilloche section – create…
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I’ve been using the Orbita Piccolo single watch winder for almost four months now, and I have to say that I am thrilled with it for a number of reasons. The quality of build, the manageable size, and how quiet it is are successes of the product and its design.
I’m an expat Aussie who has now lived longer out of Australia than in, but in a few years my (Swiss) wife and I are planning on moving from Switzerland to Airlie Beach in North Queensland, Australia. In September 2016, I flew to the region for a week’s worth of face-to-face meetings to help lay the groundwork for our move.
It was a tight schedule, especially as I was sure to be suffering from jetlag, but it was doable. Especially with the Ulysse Nardin Dual Time on my wrist to help keep track of time there and at home.
Jaeger-LeCoultre released a pair of classic inspired timepieces at the latest SIHH. Two entry level watches in the Master Control line, the Master Control Date and the Master Control Chronograph Steel. Both watches are easily distinguished by their characteristic sector dial and hollow hands. Not to mention, the striking sky blue numerals.…
Maker of the legendary G-Shock, Casio has just announced the second generation of its Protrek WSD-F20 Smart Outdoor Watch, a smartwatch built for sports and adventure that’s been tested to U.S. Department of Defence standards for military hardware. The Smart Outdoor Watch was conceived to meet the requirements of MIL-STD-810, a United States military standard thats often […]
I still feel cautious when calling one of the most prominent and successful luxury brands a plucky underdog, but I’ll do it anyway because that is what Bulgari largely remains in the field of watchmaking; and that is also why I enjoyed going hands-on with their latest and greatest thinnest statement-watch if there ever was one, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Skeleton.
Looking to beef up your vintage knowledge? Then your first stop should be Dan Henry’s Instagram page. There, you’ll get a peek into one of the most impressive vintage watch collections, belonging to one of the most knowledgable collectors (and watchmakers) in the world. NAME: Dan Henry OCCUPATION: Collector, founder of online vintage timepiece encyclopaedia Timeline.watch, and of Dan Henry, his own line of watches. HANDLE: @DanHenryCollection FOLLOWERS: 12.9k LOCATION: Sao Paulo How did you first get into watches? I was born collecting everything – seashells, stamps, money, stones, magnets, things that glow in the dark. Then I got a Roskopf pocket watch for my seventh birthday and that started me on collecting watches. Actually, even in my childhood mind, I always saw a connection between magnets, glow-in-the-dark objects and watches. They all work for free – you know, without power. From then on, whenever anyone asked me what I’d like for my birthday, I’d say ‘a watch’, and by the time I was 12, I had more than 15 in my collection. It all went from there. It looks like an enormous collection. What are some of the highlights? I collect all kind of quality timepieces but my big passion is precision –…
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When Jean-Claude Biver created the Hublot Big Bang he not only introduced us to the “Art of Fusion” but in the process also created an icon. Over a decade