Cartier’s presentation at the SIHH in 2013 was for me personally an important one, since the ‘Rotonde Mysterieuse’ was introduced and the ‘Santos Dumont Skeleton’ in pink gold was launched. Two watches that I absolutely adore. Both of them had amazing features like the floating hands of the Rotonde Mysterieuse and the transparant movement of […]
A bit over a year and a half ago, I got to go hands-on with the initial version of the Frederique Constant Horological Smartwatch. I was curious about it, as it was not so much a smartwatch as it was a fitness and sleep tracker hiding in a nice-looking dress watch. At the conclusion of that review, I was wondering how the entry would be received. It must have been considered a success, as a new version was released. Today, we’ll be having a look at what the latest version of the Frederique Constant Horological Smartwatch has on offer.
At this stage in the game, bronze watches aren’t anything new; Panerai, Oris and Tudor have all played a role in pushing the patina-friendly metal mainstream. But until now, bronze has been the playground of tool-like dive watches, serious timepieces licked by salt and spray until a fine verdigris of adventure forms on the rugged case. Well, the latest wonder from Montblanc’s Villeret collection is set to challenge our perceptions of what this ancient metal means to watches. Far from a rough-and-ready diver, the 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter is a superbly refined monopusher chronograph, dripping in old-world charm, replete with historic logo, cathedral-style hands and a dial layout that wouldn’t look out of place on the wrist of a silk-scarf-and-shearling-wearing aviator. The bronze case amplifies all of these details, bathing the whole ensemble in a warm golden glow. The harmony between the case and the champagne dial is particularly pleasing. And while the use of bronze to evoke history isn’t new, Montblanc has smartly avoided concocting a contrived marketing narrative linking this frankly trendy material to some sort of nautical origin story. They’ve simply created a very handsome heritage piece, and clad it in a metal that – visually and culturally…
The post INTRODUCING: Montblanc pioneers refined patina with the 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter in bronze appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
While the casual observer might think there’s no whey a respected watchmaker like H. Moser & Cie. would have the curds produce such a cheesy timepiece, the Swiss Mad Watch is a one-off creation that aims to be provocative proclamation of the brand’s opinion on the slack rules governing the “Swiss Made” appellation, much like […]
First introduced in gold last year, the Slim d’Hermès Quantième Perpétuel is the complicated sibling to the time-only Slim. Like its simpler cousin the perpetual calendar features the custom typography by graphic designer Philippe Apeloig, one of the several details that give it a clean but nuanced look. The new platinum model sticks to the same design, with the only […]
Please read Swiss Mad, not Swiss Made. Recently, the high-end, yet irreverent, watchmaker H. Moser & Cie. reported to us their wish to get rid of the “Swiss Made” inscription on the dial of their watches, as well as the upcoming launch of the most Swiss Watch ever created. Yes, as few might know, “Swiss Made” doesn’t mean 100% made in Switzerland. And this is something Edouard Meylan (the brand’s CEO) sees as a betrayal towards customers. Well, now that we know the announcement, it is time to see what all that noise really means. The answer sits in two watches, including a concept piece, the Swiss Mad Watch, a 100% Swiss Made watch, from Swiss Materials (including a Swiss cheese case and a Swiss cow strap…) and the Venturer Swiss Mad, a more traditional commercial piece, yet 100% Swiss Made too. And if you want to know, yes it is bold, yes it irreverent, yes it is a gimmick, yes it is kind of stupid, but, (oh yes!) it is a superb move to shake up that sleeping industry.
We told you a few weeks ago that H. Moser would be removing the “Swiss Made” label from its watches in 2017 in protest of what it views as lax regulations on the designation that work in favor of companies outsourcing work from the country. At the time, Moser also said it would be releasing “the most Swiss watch ever created” too, showing what real Swiss Made could mean. We knew it would be something interesting, but we could never have predicted this (though Arthur sort of did a while back): a watch with a case made of actual Swiss cheese. I’m not kidding. Not one bit.
This is part 3 of a three-part series about Derek Pratt’s reconstruction of John Harrison’s Longitude Prize-winning H4, which was the world’s first precision marine chronometer. This article was first published in ‘The Horological Journal’ (HJ) in April 2015, who we thank for graciously granting permission to republish on Quill & Pad.
Yes, we have our very first Baselworld pre-release coming to you a few days before SIHH, but trust me it’s a good one. Hermès is unveiling an updated version of the Slim d’Hermès Quantième Perpétuel, this time in platinum with deep blue dial. This one looks like it’s going to be good.
While there seems to be some doubts as to the overall viability (and longevity) of the smart watch segment, that is not stopping brands from rolling out new watches. While the fully-electronic watches (such as the latest Android Wear models recently announced) get most of the attention, there is another type of watch, the so-called “hybrid” smartwatch. We saw this with the Frederique Constant Horological Smart Watch, and it offers a long-life quartz movement (no charging!) along with a bluetooth radio to allow some notifications and the like on your wrist. The most recent announcement for this type of watch brought the Armani Exchange Connected to light.