Watch Dandy

Undone are a brand whose ubiquity on social media is so successful as to be counterproductive. The sheer unavoidability of their ads – once you click on one, which I must have done at some point – trigger in me a sceptical reaction. And it’s not just the persistence of the ads. It’s the price. Surely these watches must be very poor quality given the ask – $500AUD? Seriously? The automatic movements that power them are just about bulletproof: the Seiko Mecha-Quartz Flyback Chrono in their chronographs and the NH35A in the time only. So no issues there. Perhaps, though, the devil is in the tinny cases and unpolished finishing? Whatever the case, beautifully polished and satin-brushed or not, like many, I hovered over the Add to Cart button long enough to forget about Undone. A few Basecamps and Vintage Killys started turning up on Instagram. But then, a writer I know and trust, Gerard Nijenbrinks from the one and only Fratello, wrote a review. Gerard and I go a little way back, and we shared one very memorable night together. I spoke after Gerard at the ‘Night at the Omega Museum’ event, which was a Time+Tide creation, supported by Omega.…

The post MICRO MONDAYS: Undone Watches, featuring their three bestselling models, Vintage Killy, Basecamp Original and Batman Titanium appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

Anyone remember H. Moser & Cie.’s “April Fools” prank from last year? We just revisited it on our Instagram stories. If you missed it, allow me to explain. The @moserwatches Insta post from April 1, 2019, displayed what looked like a brand new model of the Swiss watchmaker’s popular Venturer range. But it was immediately apparent that there was something off about this watch … its handset appeared to be missing, just a deep black Vantablack dial. Look ma, no hands. Moser explained in the caption of the post, “Something new and unprecedented for #MoserMonday: meet the Venturer Concept Vantablack in a 39mm steel case, the first watch to feature a Vantablack dial paired with Vantablack hour and minute hands. Limited to 20 pieces.” Well, that started a joke that started the whole world wanting. The reception to the Instagram post was such that a year later we now bear witness to three completely new models from the watchmaking provocateur that stay almost completely true to that original jape. And best of all, they can be purchased online now, from anywhere in the world.  The first is the Venturer Vantablack Black Hand 39mm in solid 18k white gold. This would…

The post H. Moser & Cie started a joke that started the whole world wanting, now it’s ready for your wrist, for real appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

When it comes to celebrity endorsements, Patrick Swayze’s sixth cousin once removed John Cameron Swayze is simply not modern watch brand ambassador material. A news anchor and game show host during the ’40s and ’50s, Chris Hemsworth he wasn’t. The 1960s, however, was the perfect era for Swayze to take to timepiece advertisements. Whether being caught mid-air by a trained dolphin, or held in the hand of a free-falling diver jumping off the edge of Acapulco’s cliffs in Mexico, Timex watches were the action-bearing beaters of their day. And, in a move that predates similar ‘torture tests’ by over 60 years, here Swayze, with a little help from Satchmo, can be seen to put the brand new Timex 100, entombed in ice, into what appears to be a supercharged blender, sans blades. For good measure, he throws in a few big cubes of ice. G-Shock, eat your heart out. (The action really kicks off at 1:30)   Timex needed clarity and credibility, and that’s where John Cameron Swayze’s authoritative “takes a licking and keeps on ticking” mantra found its mark. Enter, the earliest iterations of the Timex Marlin.   Timex’s reissue of the cult-classic Marlin in 2017 marked the beginning…

The post The pointy end of the Timex revival, a short history of the breakout Marlin collection appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.

Few acronyms in the watch world are as recognisable, or as likely to trigger emotions than the BLNR. Rolex’s steely professional model GMT-Master II Ref.116710BLNR and subsequent Ref.126710BLNR have been unendingly popular ever since the former was unveiled way back in 2013 at Baselworld. What might have seemed like a hype watch has well and truly gone the distance. The origin story goes that Rolex was keen to release their first Cerachrom bezelled “Pepsi” GMT-Master II to market, following on from the all-black variant Ref.116710LN being released in 2007. But the watchmaker was having considerable trouble manufacturing the two-tone ceramic bezel in the renowned red and blue colour scheme. So, what did Rolex do? They went from all-black to all-Bat in Gotham City; a nice transition when you think about it. BLNR (for those who don’t know, BL stands for “Bleu”, and “NR” for Noir) was not exactly a slow burn in terms of critical reception. It blew up immediately. The now iconic colour scheme saw the top half of the Cerachrom bezel coloured in a deep and shimmery black, while the bottom half scored a blue, almost purple tone. The dial would remain largely the same as its all-black brethren, however…

The post Who wore it better: Batman or Batgirl? The cases for and against Gotham’s power couple appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.