What Sealed The Deal – Fergus' Cartier Pasha, a weird, wonderful and waterproof oddity
Editor’s note: The Cartier Pasha is a watch surrounded by curiosity. Legend has it that it was commissioned in the 1930s by the Pasha of Marrakesh, who wanted a watch he could take into the water. The design then lay dormant for decades, before it was revived in 1985 by one of the most creative minds the watch industry has ever seen, Gérald Genta. It isn’t a watch you see very often, in part because Cartier no longer produce it, and also because the generously embowed case, Vendome-style lugs and chained crown guard are no longer in white-hot vogue. To arrest some of the blinding spotlight from the onslaught of blue dial steel sports watches that are currently enjoying it, let’s take a closer look at why Fergus decided to pick up one of these unusual Cartier watches. I think I was actually actively seeking out something that had a gold dive bezel, as well as some actual water resistance. I’ve got my Great Grandad’s old Omega Seamaster, which was the first watch I ever owned, and when I got that, I thought: “Well, this is it, I’m never going to need another watch again, this watch is so good.”…
The post What Sealed The Deal – Fergus’ Cartier Pasha, a weird, wonderful and waterproof oddity appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
You may have heard the news that Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson contracted coronavirus while filming the untitled Elvis Presley biopic in Australia; they are both reportedly recovering well, but Elvis fanatics will be champing at the bit for the production to ramp back up. It, like life as we know it, has been postponed. While the film is on hold, fans now have the chance to own one of The King’s personal timepieces – one that has had a torrid, and fairly low-rent ride through various auctions over the years, never achieving a fraction of the value of either, more prized timepieces. Such as this Omega, which was sold by Phillips in 2018, and took the crown for the highest price ever achieved by an Omega at US$1,812,318, an eye-watering amount, and an indication of how far some fans will go to bring a part of musical history into their collections. But this result does not explain the case of a yellow gold Universal Genève owned by Elvis, which has been up for sale at auction no less than four times, and is now for sale again for $34,500 USD plus premiums. Currently being offered by M.S. Rau…
There’s no doubt about it. The latest 47mm professional dive watch from Grand Seiko makes a dramatic first impression, but that shouldn’t overshadow just how remarkable the technical achievements are inside that large and in charge case. The Grand Seiko SLGA001 certainly isn’t for the faint of wrist, measuring in at 46.9mm in diameter and 16mm tall, but the technology powering it is impressive to the highest degree. The new Spring Drive movement is thinner than its predecessor, as well as being more shock resistant thanks to a single-piece central bridge. It boasts a full five days of power reserve as a result of two mainspring barrels. The accuracy has also been improved to ±0.5 seconds per day, an achievement possible thanks to technology borrowed from the 9F quartz movements used by Grand Seiko. The case and bracelet are constructed in hard-wearing titanium, which eliminates what would have been significant weight if the watch was made in the typical steel used in watchmaking, and makes it remarkably more wearable considering its size. This is a watch designed for the professional diver, and ticks just about every box someone who spent their life underwater would want. The Grand Seiko 60th Anniversary Limited…
The dusty shelves of antique stores and less-trafficked avenues of eBay are full of watch brands whose glory days are well behind them. DOXA, who date their history back to 1889, was almost one of those brands. But thankfully, the name persevered, and DOXA is still with us today, and the brand’s future looks bright – almost as bright as their famous orange dials. The history of DOXA is one that’s best told in two chapters. The first is the late 19th century story of a brand that began, like so many, in the Jura Valley – the heartland of Swiss watchmaking. Georges Ducommun quickly built DOXA into a brand with a strong reputation for reliability and innovation, including their eight-day calibre – patented in 1908 – which became widely used in dash-mounted clocks in automobiles and planes. But DOXA’s main moment didn’t come until some years later, in 1967 to be precise. But before we go into the specific details in which the iconic DOXA SUB was born, let’s talk a little about the dive watch more broadly. While watches made to survive the rigours of the underwater environment existed in the early 1900s – the Rolex Oyster case…
Does the name James Robinson look familiar? That might be because James is part of the team here at Time+Tide Watches and he writes quite prodigiously about watches. You might have read his story on Zenith’s new Land Rover collab today, or countless other times before. Well, we thought it was time we put a face to a name. Ladies and gentlemen, meet James! In this episode of Every Watch Tells A Story, James chose to talk about his indefatigable Longines HydroConquest (which he reviewed in detail here), which has been everywhere with him. And unfortunately, very recently that meant going with James from an upright position on a bike to splayed out on the concrete after a spill. The crown seemed to have made direct contact with the tarmac, and it’s been jammed in ever since. But did the movement stop ticking, even after the licking? Nope.
