Culture Of Time: New York’s Newest Public Clock Is A Triumph
The architect behind Penn Station’s massive new timepiece had never made a major clock before. Here, he tells us how he did it – and reveals what’s on his wrist.
How the Bulgari Octo Finissimo accidentally became the most contemporary watch of modern times
Fast-forward 30 years into the future. You’re being chauffeured by your robot valet in your flying car on a trip to buy another pair of underpants made from laser-beam holograms (you’re not entirely convinced by them, but your cyborg wife thinks they look sexy). But when you glance at the watch on your wrist – yes, you will still be wearing one – what will it look like? Going by the vast bulk of watch releases over the last decade, the answer to that question is probably not that different. Not only does watch design move at a truly glacial pace, but vintage reissues and throwback homages have become ever more prevalent. In fact, if you try to think of a truly contemporary mechanical watch then it’s surprisingly hard. I was reminded of this fact recently speaking to Bani McSpedden, the venerable Watch Editor of The Australian Financial Review. “Nostalgia has been increasingly keeping the traditional watch industry alive,” he pointed out. “If you took away nostalgia, there are not a lot of people making a thoroughly modern product.” Bani conceded that some brands – Rolex and Omega, for example – remain tremendously progressive in terms of their horological engineering…
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HODINKEE Radio: Twenty-Teens Watch Collection Fantasy Draft Winners & Recap
(And a look back at a killer watch from 2017 that you’ve probably forgotten.)
Interview – Julien Tornare, CEO of Zenith, On 2020’s Challenges, Strategy for 2021, CPO and Chronomaster Sport
During the digital version of LVMH Watch Week, Bvlgari, Hublot and Zenith presented some of their novelties for 2021. It was also an opportunity for MONOCHROME to interview Julien Tornare, the CEO of Zenith, to find out how the brand has navigated 2020 and to take a look at the brand’s strategy for 2021. Xavier […]
IN-DEPTH: This Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch is as good as (Sedna) gold
It was way back in 1969 that the first-ever gold Omega Speedmaster rolled off the production line, made for one wrist in particular – that of Richard Nixon. The caseback was engraved to read: RICHARD M. NIXON – PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES – “to mark man’s conquest of space with time, through time, on time”, and was to be a marker of the success that NASA had enjoyed throughout the 1960s. Unsurprisingly, public officials can’t accept gold watches from private companies, and the watch has sat in the Omega Museum ever since, offering a pristine reference for all of the gold Omega Speedmasters that have followed, including the latest Sedna gold Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional Co-Axial Master Chronometer Chronograph 42mm. There have only been a relative handful of gold Speedies produced over the years, including the yellow gold Apollo XI from 1980, the white gold Apollo XI 25th edition released in 1994 and more recently the Moonshine gold Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Limited Edition from 2019. This makes any gold Speedmaster a pretty exciting release, but what makes the 2021 precious metal release particularly enticing is that it is not a limited edition watch (for the first time since…
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Hands-on – The Jacob & Co. Oil Pump Tourbillon Automaton
Trust Jacob & Co. to produce a six-figure gold watch depicting an oil pump. Fitted with two derricks, a system of pipes, an oil gauge and reservoir tank, this miniature recreation of an oil rig is so detailed that it is bound to win over the hearts of die-hard oil tycoons. Moreover, being a Jacob […]
MICRO MONDAYS: New Australian brand John Robert Wristwatches introduces the “dressy tool watch”
Melbourne isn’t known as a hotbed of horological activity. Indeed, Patek Philippe was founded more than a decade earlier than Melbourne was even recognised as a city. But that hasn’t stopped Melbourne watchmaker John Robert Wristwatches announcing their Archetype collection this week that’s inspired by the dress watches of the 1950s and 60s only with a few modern tricks up its sleeve. As the city is twice as close to Antarctica as it is to Geneva, you might think it’d lack the technical chops you’re used to seeing from well-made Swiss or Japanese watches. But the John Robert Wristwatches Archetype collection proves that the tyranny of distance is a challenge that can definitely be overcome. The case The John Robert Wristwatches Archetype collection offers six different references in total, with an automatic movement or a High Accuracy Quartz (HAQ) caliber all featuring the choice of blue, white or charcoal dials. True to their mid-century inspiration, the 316L stainless steel cases measure 38mm in diameter, with a practical 20mm lug width. While not examples of ultra-thin watchmaking, the cases are also kept slender with the automatic references measuring 12.4mm thick, while the HAQ sits just 11.4mm thick. All of the watches…
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INTRODUCING: Enjoy a vicarious travel experience through the IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “Le Petit Prince”
IWC make some incredible watches and are particularly known for their pilot creations with their crisp and highly legible dials. The IWC Timezoner is one such watch with a large case and dial, 24-hour time display and corresponding world timer rotating bezel. The watch, in its standard production configuration, is actually a chronograph – with a 24-hour hand instead of a window. The previous Timezoner without a chronograph complication was a 2019 limited edition, the IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “The Longest Flight”, which had a black dial with fauxtina coloured SuperLuminova® and a 24-hour time display window uniquely tied to and controlled by the ceramic bi-directional bezel. They have now introduced a second and limited entry into the Timezoner collection: the IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “Le Petit Prince”. This watch shares the same diameter and case profile of the “Longest Flight” edition at 46mm in diameter in stainless steel. It’s as large as their iconic Big Pilot watch, but is half a millimetre thinner at 15mm thick. This is kind of surprising when you think about it, as bezels normally result in a thicker timepiece. It has a depth rating of 60 metres and a screw-down crown –…
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INTRODUCING: Enjoy a vicarious travel experience through the IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “Le Petit Prince”
IWC make some incredible watches and are particularly known for their pilot creations with their crisp and highly legible dials. The IWC Timezoner is one such watch with a large case and dial, 24-hour time display and corresponding world timer rotating bezel. The watch, in its standard production configuration, is actually a chronograph – with a 24-hour hand instead of a window. The previous Timezoner without a chronograph complication was a 2019 limited edition, the IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “The Longest Flight”, which had a black dial with fauxtina coloured SuperLuminova® and a 24-hour time display window uniquely tied to and controlled by the ceramic bi-directional bezel. They have now introduced a second and limited entry into the Timezoner collection: the IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “Le Petit Prince”. This watch shares the same diameter and case profile of the “Longest Flight” edition at 46mm in diameter in stainless steel. It’s as large as their iconic Big Pilot watch, but is half a millimetre thinner at 15mm thick. This is kind of surprising when you think about it, as bezels normally result in a thicker timepiece. It has a depth rating of 60 metres and a screw-down crown –…
The post INTRODUCING: Enjoy a vicarious travel experience through the IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “Le Petit Prince” appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
INTRODUCING: Enjoy a vicarious travel experience through the IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “Le Petit Prince”
IWC make some incredible watches and are particularly known for their pilot creations with their crisp and highly legible dials. The IWC Timezoner is one such watch with a large case and dial, 24-hour time display and corresponding world timer rotating bezel. The watch, in its standard production configuration, is actually a chronograph – with a 24-hour hand instead of a window. The previous Timezoner without a chronograph complication was a 2019 limited edition, the IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “The Longest Flight”, which had a black dial with fauxtina coloured SuperLuminova® and a 24-hour time display window uniquely tied to and controlled by the ceramic bi-directional bezel. They have now introduced a second and limited entry into the Timezoner collection: the IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “Le Petit Prince”. This watch shares the same diameter and case profile of the “Longest Flight” edition at 46mm in diameter in stainless steel. It’s as large as their iconic Big Pilot watch, but is half a millimetre thinner at 15mm thick. This is kind of surprising when you think about it, as bezels normally result in a thicker timepiece. It has a depth rating of 60 metres and a screw-down crown –…
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