Sunday Rewind: Hamiltons Worth Two In Hand
A warbler for every wrist.
Bespoke, baby! You can now build your own custom Bremont Martin-Baker
Watch customisation is now a field you can get into at high and low price points, but it’s still fair to say that going bespoke with a quality watch fit for the Ministry of Defence for example, is generally reserved for the upper echelons of independent watchmaking. And up at a price point where you might be paying six figures for a watch before you can ask for a different dial colour — and only if you are seen as a very good client. Most watch brands flat-out refuse to do it, a practice that has given birth to the aftermarket customisation business (that is, a third-party jeweller or watchmaker will make your desired adjustments once you’ve bought it from the brand), which is polarising to say the least. In that context, it is a welcome surprise to learn about the new customisation service from Bremont, available on their MBII model. Using an online configurator (click here to have a go yourself), you are able to design your own Bremont MBII with different case finishing, case barrels (the flanks of the MBII), dials, casebacks and straps. All in all, there are more than 100 different designs you can create with just…
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Buying Guide – Annual Calendar Chronographs and a Bit of History
The annual calendar is a relatively young ‘complication’ and was first used in a wristwatch by Patek Philippe in 1996. It’s the less complicated sibling of the perpetual calendar and only requires one calendar adjustment every year. Today we’re looking at the ‘less complicated’ combination of a calendar mechanism and a chronograph. So not the esteemed combination of a perpetual calendar and a chronograph, but the combination of an annual calendar and a chronograph and there are actually only a handful combining these two complications.
INTRODUCING: The A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Minute Repeater, the three-quarters of a million dollar watch
It takes an iron will to walk past an A. Lange & Söhne dealer without losing a few minutes of your day. The German masters ensure their collections soar above the competition, bewitching onlookers and dominating wish-lists around the world. If you’re lucky, dead in the centre of the captivating display will be a Zeitwerk Minute Repeater — the ‘digital’ watch that redefined the holy grail of complications. Now, to celebrate five years since its launch, A. Lange & Söhne have created a limited edition of 30 Zeitwerk Minute Repeaters with a striking blue dial and white gold case. If you’re unfamiliar with the idea behind the Zeitwerk family, don’t let the word ‘digital’ fool you. The timepieces are entirely mechanical, however they display the time with easily legible digits instead of hands. The premise is simple, having been perfected by Casio decades ago, but the execution for a machine with no LCD screens or batteries is astonishingly tough. Using a series of rings for the hours and minutes, a specialised constant-force escapement keeps the jumping lightning quick and accurate — even when the mainspring is running low on power. As if redefining mechanical watchmaking wasn’t enough, A. Lange &…
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In defence of obvious watches
I still get lost in the details of the Rolex Submariner that was my first serious watch. The proportions of its features seem divinely inspired, everything ideally sized and placed. Its glossy black dial is startling to look at, somehow bottled essence of the pure void. When I put it on, the oyster bracelet, in that tantalising 904L steel, seems simultaneously both lush jewellery and hardy tool watch. It has been in the ocean, on the ski slopes and in the boardroom. It’s also an obvious watch. You’ve seen it on the wrist of hundreds of people. Some might appreciate its place in watch history. Some may not. It’s at watch meet-ups, private airport lounges, and fakes are at every other holiday market stall. Most laypeople would recognise it before almost any other high-end timepiece. But my message to watch lovers everywhere is simple: don’t be afraid to love obvious watches. Seamasters, Datejusts, Monacos – these, and many others, are classics for a reason. They are aesthetically elevated above lesser watches, many of which fail as mere copies. They have progressed the history of horology, created new categories of watches and remade the landscape of expectation in high-end watchmaking. Obvious…
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Event – Baselworld Schnitzel Dinner and Wondering if it Will Ever Happen Again
Every year, since my second year attending Baselworld, and always on the Saturday halfway during the 10-day fair, there’s the infamous schnitzel dinner. With the current state of Baselworld, Rolex and Patek moving to the Geneva-based fair and leaving behind the Baselworld management, MCH shareholders, exhibiting brands and journalists wondering if we will ever see a next edition of this for-the watch-world so important fair, I’m wondering… Tonight would have been the 10th edition of the Schnitzel Dinner where all the cool independent watchmakers and online journalists gather, to eat schnitzel and fries, and to drink beer, and most importantly, to have a good time. Will there ever be a next edition of Schnitzel Dinner?
Event – Baselworld Schnitzel Dinner And Wondering If It Will Happen Again
Every year, since my second year attending Baselworld, and always on the Saturday halfway during the 10-day fair, there’s the infamous schnitzel dinner. With the current state of Baselworld, Rolex and Patek moving to the Geneva-based fair and leaving behind the Baselworld management, MCH shareholders, exhibiting brands and journalists wondering if we will ever see a next edition of this for-the watch-world so important fair, I’m wondering… Tonight would have been the 10th edition of the Schnitzel Dinner where all the cool independent watchmakers and online journalists gather, to eat schnitzel and fries, and to drink beer, and most importantly, to have a good time. Will there ever be a next edition of Schnitzel Dinner?
Weekend Round-Up: Pasta, Posters, And Petri Dishes
And lessons from an astronaut.
Rewind – What Makes a Dive Watch a Dive Watch?
As one of the most desirable types of watches around, the dive watch concept – which dates back to the mid-1950s – has been explored at great length by almost all the brands of Swiss, Japanese or German watch industry. Although most watch enthusiasts know what a dive watch looks like, the concept goes way […]
11 of the greatest Grand Seikos yet, and why they matter
Editor’s note: It’s not a controversial statement to say that Grand Seiko is the most strident contender brand in the luxury watch market. It has held that title for some time. I’d go as far as to say that it’s been that way pretty much since Time+Tide started in 2014. But the proof is in the timeline of releases, and just how rapidly the brand has evolved, sometimes – when lacking a competitor – in competition with itself. This is something Nick touched on in his most recent review of what he called their best dive watch yet. You have to watch your superlatives with Grand Seiko, as the brand can leave you shamefaced, when it ups the ante shortly after. That said, Cam’s list of 11 of the greatest Grand Seikos ever is still solid nearly two years on. What I like about this story is the substantiation. He includes his rationale for why they matter. Which is likely to be why this remains in our top 10 stories of all time for views. We hope you enjoy this thorough recap of key Grand Seiko models. Just 10 years ago, buying a Grand Seiko meant either having to buy…
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