FRIDAY WIND DOWN: What, there've been some watches released? I beg your pardon?
Miracle of miracles, it’s a Friday Wind Down that is not another miserable news bulletin about a global pandemic that is coming for our lives and our toilet paper! This week, a brace of new watches were released. And what a sweet thing that is. Normality! The good news continues. We’ve just finished production on a video that was filmed ‘PC’ (Pre-COVID) in January, in Dubai, which also recaps new watches. By the brand on fire, Zenith. So, in other words, it’s a Friday Wind Down, much more like those that have come before it over the years. One of these new releases, in particular, has helped draw people out of a dark place … By being the most lurid, colourful and provocative watch of 2020. It can almost certainly lay claim to being the most lurid, colourful and provocative watch of all time, for the brand that produced it. Breitling have dredged this sparkling, technicolour gem out from amidst their usual more uniform heritage models — it is a faithful rendition of a model from 1957. A fact that many on the ‘Gram remain oblivious to. But hey, what fun would the internet be if commenters were actually well researched? There…
The post FRIDAY WIND DOWN: What, there’ve been some watches released? I beg your pardon? appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
When it rains it drips. And in April 2020, at a time when we need it most – our kingdom for some new watches to write about! – it drips technicolour divers, classic chronos and two absolute blue beauties. Seriously. Like blue dialled watches? Prepare yourself. In a case of simply weird timing, just a couple of days after the news that Rolex, Patek Philippe, Chanel, Tudor and Chopard have all permanently ditched Baselworld, we have witnessed a brace of new 2020 novelties. We’ve picked the great from the good, the rainbows from the duller skies and the blue in the beautiful for this Time+Tide edit. No matter what you think of them, you can’t deny, it’s good to see this cloudburst of creativity in dark times. IWC Portugieser Chronograph Truly an icon of the IWC stable, the Portugieser Chronograph may well be one of the cleanest-looking chronos that money can buy. But there’s always been a gripe with the regular ‘Gieser chrono … it’s relied on movements made by third-party outfits like Valjoux and Sellita. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing; however, when you’re spending five figures on a watch that bears the Schaffhausen firm’s name on the dial,…
With the sell-out success of the Revolution ‘Cover Girl’ Limited Edition, and the astonishing Midnight Collection for women launched in January, Zenith are officially on a hot streak. When I put that to CEO Julien Tornare, just before we started rolling camera, he said something quite unforgettable. “When I took over [at Zenith] two and a half years ago, people were talking about the sleeping beauty. I don’t like to sleep much, so I thought we have to wake this beauty up and do something great. And now it’s starting to pay off in a great way. “Zenith has a long history: 155 years of history. We are also a very authentic brand. Every single watch we produce has a Zenith movement in it. But the heart of what we do has to be to make watches of the 21st Century.” With that goal in mind, you can’t really fault this colourful, characterful trio of new men’s watches. They traverse some ground: a flamboyant watch for the party set, a stealthy, matte execution fit for a Defender and yet more trusty, attractive Pilot watches.  
When the Monta Oceanking arrived one day, I didn’t quite know what to make of it. Luckily, I was able to secure a phone interview with Justin Kraudel, the president of Monta. Mr Kraudel is as enthusiastic about watches as any of us (perhaps more so) and was eager to school me on Monta in general and give me some excellent background on the Oceanking and where it sits in the dive watch arena. Perhaps most interesting was the portion of our chat surrounding Monta’s transactional model, which consists nearly entirely of online sales direct from their website. Total transparency in the purchase process is their first priority, along with direct customer service after the sale. Kraudel’s passion for customer experience came across completely clearly and genuinely as Monta is on a mission not only to conquer new owners but also retain a loyal following. Monta also knows that watch enthusiasts like the details. Because of its size and ability to make quick changes to product offerings and variations, Kraudel says Monta already has followers chasing production dial variations, tracking minor generational changes and creating buzz about limited edition models on the forums. This is the kind of activity that…
