Watch Dandy

WHO TO FOLLOW: @jamesbanks

JamesBanks8 Looking for insta-inspo? You’ve come to the right place. NAME: James Banks OCCUPATION: Head of Bespoke Cars at McLaren Special Operations (MSO) bringing to life his clients’ creative visions through custom paint colours and unique designs. HANDLE: @JamesBanksEsq FOLLOWERS: 8.5K LOCATION: London Tell us about your daily watch. It’s a Rotary skeleton watch. I adore skeleton watches and clocks – I guess it’s the engineer in me, having studied Mechanical Engineering at university. Apart from a recent Cartier design for over £500,000, I’ve never seen a watch that I find more aesthetically pleasing. Sadly, it keeps terrible time. I rely on my iPhone for that. I’ve really only started to appreciate watches in the past year or so, having had more interest in clocks historically. My most recent purchase was a Cartier Tank Solo in stainless steel. It’s by no means a flashy watch, but that appeals to me. Also, after visiting Patek Philippe’s exhibition in London with a McLaren customer last summer, I’d love to own a Patek Philippe 5131 or similar one day. Again, the engineer in me very much appreciates the complications that in their watches. I find it truly staggering that so much can be achieved…

The post WHO TO FOLLOW: @jamesbanks appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

VIDEO: 5 Things you probably didn’t know about Ryan Reynolds and his watches

ryan-reynolds-james-bort-piaget-8 You never know who you’re going to bump into in the halls of a watch fair like SIHH. Apart from when you get a tipoff in your schedule that a celebrity will be at a booth at a certain time, and you get there early with your cameraman to make sure you make something happen. Unfortunately in this case the chat was off camera, but the quotes were real. Here are five things you almost certainly (apart from you crazy Ryan and Deadpool fans) didn’t know about Ryan Reynolds on the subject of watches. 5 things you probably didn’t know about Ryan Reynolds and his watches He had a smart watch, but he accidentally smashed it on a wall. Smart watches, says Reynolds, are for “counting calories” and that’s it. He was handed down his grandfather’s watch, which was issued to him as a solder in a World War 2. He says it has a mystical air. He has his daughter’s initials engraved on his watch. His daughter’s name is James Reynolds. He has a criteria for all watches that he buys. They must tick the following boxes: timeless, elegant, functional and flexible. What on earth is SIHH? (The Salon International de la…

The post VIDEO: 5 Things you probably didn’t know about Ryan Reynolds and his watches appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

Hands-On: The Triton Subphotique, A Modern Reissue Of An Unusual Vintage Dive Watch

While in Geneva for the SIHH, I had the opportunity to spend a bit of time with an unexpected divers watch: the re-edition of the famous Triton Spirotechnique. Of course, the name has changed, and the case is slightly bigger than in the original, but this Triton Subphotique gave me a good reason to look into the past of a singular piece, with its characteristic crown at 12 o’clock. And I quickly discovered that back in the early 1960s, the original Triton was engineered as a hardcore diving watch, and manufactured by a famous supplier to the French Army. More astoundingly, it was then priced higher than the Rolex Submariner.

Introducing: The Cartier Panthère De Cartier Collection, Re-Introduced For 2017

Cartier is many things – classic, chic, and cool are just a few words to describe this brand. They have produced an enormous range of watches since their founding in 1847, including the Tank (whose 100th anniversary is coming up in September), the Ballon Bleu, the Santos, Roadster (RIP), and finally the Panthère de Cartier. I didn’t know what to expect this year from Cartier, but was glad to see that they had brought back the Panthère de Cartier collection as a focus for 2017. They have revived this classic collection with great enthusiasm, and in a range of metals and finishes.

Jaeger-LeCoultre and Marc Newson Present Atmos 568 at SIHH 2017

Jaeger-LeCoultre and designer Marc Newson debut their latest collaboration – Atmos 568, Newson’s unique take on the iconic Atmos line.

Just Because: A Unique Pink Gold F.P. Journe Sonnerie Souveraine, With Lapis Lazuli Dial And Eastern Arabic Numerals

The purpose of the SIHH may be to discover new watches that will soon be available to the general public, but one of the pleasures of spending the week in Geneva is meeting collectors who own watches we will likely never see again. Claude Sfeir is one of those collectors, and when he gave us a call to come see “something small,” well we knew it would be anything but. We met Claude in one of Geneva’s oldest hotels, and took a few quick snaps of the watch in question. Turns out, we were right.

Parmigiani Introduces The Bugatti Aérolithe Chronograph

The Bugatti Aérolithe is one of the historical icons of the brand, and perhaps as well the most mysterious car ever. Parmigiani, Bugatti’s watchmaking partner, found in it the inspiration for a new, innovative, flyback chronograph, full of references to this legendary car.

Live from SIHH 2017 – The new Girard-Perregaux Laureato collection ticks all boxes

On the SIHH’s opening day, last Monday, we had a spectacular start of the show with Vacheron Constantin, where we got to see and enjoy the impressive Atelier Cabinotier Celestia, and later that morning we got a nice surprise at Girard-Perregaux. Last year the brand, which is by the way one of the oldest manufactures in the world, launched a renewed Laureato limited edition. This year they further improved the watch on many, small bit very significant details, and now I’m convinced that this is a serious competitor in the field of luxury sports watches, plus it’s in a price range that is only half of its competitors. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Introducing: The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver In A Suite Of New (Bright) Colors

In case you haven’t caught on yet, almost every family of Royal Oaks is getting some kind of revamp this year. The Royal Oak Offshore Diver – like both the Royal Oak Chronograph and Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph – is getting a few new colorways, though, unlike the others, the focus is on bright hues instead of two-tone executions. Here are five new Divers that will feel familiar but look brand new.

Introducing the Longines Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary Limited Edition

Introduced in 1957 as a top of the line model, the Longines Flagship is now 60 years old. To mark the occasion Longines reached into its archives for a late 1950s specimen of the watch, which was then reproduced as the Flagship Heritage – 60th Anniversary 1957-2017. Intriguingly, the historical watch that served as inspiration for […]