The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon is a sports watch to get the heart racing
Editor’s note: In 2019 we saw the popularity of existing steel sports watches with blue dials hit fever pitch on the secondary market, as well as a number of brands release their own examples of the watch that everyone wants on their wrist. But what about when a brand produces a watch that doesn’t just tell the time in the same way the other sports watches do? Enter the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon, a sports watch that is in line with the vogue, but with a difference that will get the heart racing of even the most seasoned horological connoisseur. Let’s take another look at one of the most refined sports watches on the market. A tourbillon inside a steel sports watch? On a rubber strap? It’s enough to bring a watch-purist out in a cold sweat. And when such a watch is launched by one of the most venerable companies in the business? Ohhh … But that’s exactly what makes the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon so cool. Yes, cool. Here’s Vacheron Constantin, showing off its haute horlogerie chops in casual, sports-luxe mode. The tourbillon follows a chronograph, a perpetual calendar and a world timer into the Overseas line but…
The post The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon is a sports watch to get the heart racing appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
Louis Cartier has an important place in the history of the Cartier company, not only because he ran the first-ever Paris boutique but because he was responsible for one of the most enigmatic creations the brand released, the Cartier Mystery Clock. The origins of the Mystery Clock are found in 1912, when Louis Cartier began developing the playfully puzzling clocks with his watchmaker Maurice Coüet who, in turn, had studied the designs of the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (who inspired Ehrich Weiss to adopt the stage name Houdini). The result was one of Cartier’s most enduring designs, inspiring a sense of awe and curiosity in all those who laid eyes on the curious clocks, and demonstrating the blend of expertise in both watchmaking and decorative arts that Cartier is so well known for today. The tradition of the Cartier Mystery Clock is alive and well a century later, with modern examples still produced, though in very low numbers. Not long ago, the retailer The Hour Glass published a well-researched and written piece on the topic which you can read here.
One of the key pieces in Bulgari’s recent resurgence, alongside the record-breaking 50+ award-winning Octo Finissimo, the Serpenti Tubogas represents the height of feminine elegance. Note the serpentine Tubogas bracelet that snakes sensuously around the wearer’s wrist. It is offered here in 18k yellow gold with a silver opaline dial. This watch has been generously donated by Bulgari. Merging two of the most iconic symbols of Bulgari design, the Serpenti Tubogas evokes both the shape of a woman and the fluid coils of the serpent. This watch marks a distinctive chapter in the constant evolution of Serpenti. It features a 35mm 18k yellow gold curved case housing a quartz movement, set with brilliant-cut diamonds. Note the 18k yellow gold crown set with a cabochon cut pink rubellite, silver opaline dial with guilloché soleil treatment and hand-applied indexes. It is attached to the wrist with a single spiral 18k yellow gold bracelet. What we like about it Andrew – The Bulgari Serpenti Tubogas is point-blank one of the most elegant feminine statements in watchmaking, and having spent so much time around the model’s designer Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, I feel even more appreciative of the design genius at work. The standout for…
Hodinkee’s extraordinary run of sold-out limited edition models only became more of a water-cooler conversation topic when the 250-run of the Oris Divers Sixy-Five Limited Edition for Hodinkee was released, to be sold out in less than 10 minutes. The team generously offer one of their own brand new archive models of the highly sought Limited Edition to the ‘Watch & Act!’ Auction. Modelled after a design originally created by Oris in 1965, the Divers Sixty-Five model was introduced in 2015 and has become a mainstay of the brand’s heritage collection, offered in a range of sizes, dial designs and bezel materials. The Divers Sixty-Five Limited Edition for Hodinkee pares down the design with a “balance of go-anywhere ability and always-on-your-wrist versatility” as a goal. The real talking points here, apart from the perfectly tuned overall vintage aesthetic — that ‘ghost’ faded grey bezel is just sublime — and the speed at which it was snapped up, is the fact that this is the first Divers Sixty-Five to be manually wound, allowing the case profile to slim down slightly. The Divers Sixty-Five Limited Edition for Hodinkee is fitted on a tapered rivet-style stainless steel bracelet but also comes with…
The personal watch of Adam Clayton, bass player of U2, this Pioneer Centre Seconds is one of only three Pioneer models in existence without a brand name on the dial. It has not been polished and is literally ‘off Adam’s wrist to the auction’ – light scratches and wear marks remain. Adam has been photographed extensively with the watch, including the attached photo shoot in GQ Magazine. This watch has been generously donated by H. Moser & Cie with the blessing of Adam Clayton. The Pioneer is an extremely curious hybrid of a sports watch and a dress watch. The size, 42.8mm, makes it bolder and more suited to Australian tastes than a sub-40mm dress watch. And yet, little else apart from the striking, masculine lines of the case, mark it as anything like the sports oeuvre. The elegant dauphine hands, partially skeletonised, gives a sense of lightness and delicacy. The mirrored, bi-faceted indices, the calligraphic brandmark, the gloss finishing of the rehaut … they are all wonderful, nuanced touches that fit it firmly into the most desirable category of considered dress watches. Oh, and did I mention the dial? A ‘funky blue’ fumé masterpiece that can make a fool…
Unquestionably one of Grand Seiko’s most surprising releases of 2019, the SBGK additions to the Elegance Collection had all the makings of a perfect dress watch. There was just one problem, however — if I’m being really finickity, the dial options that were made available upon release were perhaps slightly out of keeping with that of a quintessential dress watch. Someone in the Japanese watchmaker’s design team clearly had the same feeling, because less than six months after its initial unveiling, we have this — the Grand Seiko Elegance SBGK007. I was borderline ecstatic when this watch was unveiled, and waited with bated breath for the press watch to find its way into the office, eager to find out whether the crisp white dial I’d seen in countless press images was as arresting in person as it was on my Mac screen. And now that I’ve been able to spend some time with this svelte dress watch attached to my wrist, I have to admit it’s a great dress watch … but it’s not exactly what I was expecting. Allow me to explain. The press release for SBGK007, as well as the product description found on Grand Seiko’s own website, characterise…
Continuing their creative collaborative partnership, luxury Japanese streetwear label Bape and Japanese watchmaker Seiko have just unveiled their latest limited edition creation … and we like it. Water resistant to 200 metres, this matt black marvel is, much like their first joint effort, sporting Bape’s quintessential “ABC” camouflage, which has been masterfully applied to the dial, as only to be expected of Seiko. Unlike the previous watch, however, this new timepiece has ditched the vibrant camo green in favour of a much more brooding and low-key black and grey colour palette. The dial also features Lumibrite hour indices and handset, prominent chapter ring and a day-and-date window, which can be found at the three o’clock position. The unique dial is capped with a Hardlex crystal, and the case back shows off an engraving that reads “A BATHING APE LIMITED EDITION”. Powering the limited edition timepiece is Seiko’s tried-and-true Calibre 4R36, a true workhorse of a movement that the Japanese watchmaker utilises in a number of its collections including the new Seiko 5 Sports series and the Prospex range. The self-winding movement features approximately 41 hours of power reserve, 24 jewels, seconds hacking and the aforementioned day-and-date complication. Shrouding the movement,…
