Introducing – Bamford x Black Badger Zenith El Primero Superconductor
London-based Bamford Watch Department, officially authorized to customize watches from brands like Tag Heuer, Zenith and Bvlgari, and Swedish industrial jewellery designer Black Badger have again teamed up for a futuristic Zenith El Primero limited edition. Following up on their limited TAG Heuer Carrera with a coffee dial (also together with Badgerworks), the focus has now shifted to the case. Both the design and materials are as unusual as it gets, using a blend of metals, acid and combined design prowess to create the Bamford Watch Department X Black Badger Zenith El Primero Superconductor.
We recently reported that the Apple watch has gone from strength to strength in the last reporting period, and now outsells the entire Swiss watch industry to the tune of 10 million watches. Smartwatches, as a category however, are not exactly sweeping all before them in 2020. While wearables have seen significant growth over the past several years – largely due to their usefulness to the medical market in addressing spiraling healthcare costs, aging populations, and the burden of chronic disease – smartwatches have not been immune from COVID-19’s crippling effects. Delays in production mean that the number of smartwatch shipments in 2020 will be 9% lower than in 2019. The smartwatch market, has declined since the COVID-19 outbreak, the market is expected to start recovering from 2021 onwards. By contrast, cccording to GlobalData, the wearable tech market was worth nearly $27bn in 2019 and is likely to grow to $64bn by 2024 due to its increased awareness during the pandemic, including tracking disease contact, predict symptoms and monitoring patients. Tina Deng, MSc, Senior Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData comments: “The pandemic greatly increased the awareness of wearable devices as their use cases increased. This has resulted in an increase…
One of the most interesting things about the Coronavirus pandemic is how everyone has had to adapt to the new norm. Social distancing, working from home, Zoom catch-ups and stockpiling booze and toilet paper like it’s gold bullion. All part of a day’s work in 2020. It’s also been fascinating and, for the most part, motivating to see how sports franchises across the globe have dealt with essentially not being able to operate since March. Now, for some disciplines, nothing much could be done – NFL, NBA, MLB, AFL, NRL, EPL … they all had to pack up shop for a fair chunk of the year. But other sports, thanks to the ever-growing popularity of Esports, have been able to not only survive online, but thrive. Motorsport is one such discipline that very quickly adapted to the digital-only era, and it’s been brilliant to see that it’s made the sport, if anything, more accessible and inclusive. What was once a grossly expensive spectacle, reserved for a privileged few, can now be enjoyed by anyone with an internet connection, sim racing set-up and a desire to clip apexes and dive-bomb opponents in breaking zones. That’s why Hublot and Ferrari have teamed…
Being a left-hander ain’t easy. While struggle might be overstating it slightly, there are constant daily reminders to the 10 per cent of the population who are southpaws that we are living in a right-handed world. Using a fountain pen is likely to result in an inky mess, and don’t get me started on scissors. Can openers require a flexibility warmup before use, and the number keys on the right side of a computer keyboard are pretty much useless to us. In recognition of the quotidian frustrations we deal with on a daily basis, today (Thursday the 13th for those who have lost track in lockdown) is International Left Handers Day, and we thought it was the perfect opportunity to take a closer look at the watches designed to be worn on the right wrist, of which there are some absolute classics. 1. Tudor Pelagos LHD This might be the most well-known left-handed watch in the watch community at the moment, and for good reason. It’s a great watch on so many levels. Featuring a 42mm titanium case, 500m of water resistance and Tudor’s own in-house caliber MT5612-LHD, this watch also has some great history behind it. From 1970, Tudor…
Editor’s note: This week, Eric Ku, vintage watch dealer and friend of Time+Tide, posted about five years having passed since the remarkable watch barn find story involving a LeCoultre Deep Sea Alarm. A man by the name of Zach Norris came across an interesting-looking watch at a local Goodwill store, featuring a price tag of $5.99. He bought it in a heartbeat, suspecting it was worth more than the tag suggested, and was delighted to discover its true value. He was flooded with offers for the watch, one of which came from Eric Ku. He agreed to sell the watch to Eric for a cool $35,000. That’s right, nearly 6000 times the price he paid for it. We put a call-out to see if anyone else had their own story of successful thrift shop hunting, and Frank (@SpeedyFett on Instagram) reached out, telling the tale of his vintage Gruen Ocean Chief. Enjoy! I have a barn find story from a couple years ago that is pretty special. I took my family on vacation to Philadelphia for my kids to experience the old historic area. Little did I know that in addition to the Liberty Bell, just around the corner was…