The Luxury Sports Watch category is dominated by iconic classics such as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus – two watches that defined the genre back in the 1970s. It is also one of the most successful categories these days, with these two models being almost impossible to find at retailers. […]
With the watchmaking industry’s famed awards ceremony, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève — or as it’s more commonly known, GPHG — fast approaching, we thought we’d mention a few more nominated watches that you should be keeping an eye on. Now, we’ve already covered a host of brilliant timepieces from Bulgari and Zenith that have been nominated, and we’ve also been lucky enough to see the entire 84 nominated pieces in person. But we thought it would also be pertinent to mention three of the best ladies timepieces that have been given the nod from the award ceremony’s expert judges. Louis Vuitton Tambour Spin Time Air Paved Featuring the most modern jumping hours complication in the world, the Louis Vuitton Tambour Spin Time Air stunned the horological community when it was first unveiled a decade ago. This particular Spin Time has been given the full pavé diamond treatment, and when combined with the aforementioned complication, we reckon this exquisite timepiece will be a pretty compelling candidate for the “Ladies Complication” genre. Chanel J12 Calibre 12.1 The Chanel J12 has been a stalwart of the luxury ladies watch genus since its debut back in 1999. However, not wanting the J12…
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Grand Seiko has expanded their offerings of ladies watches with two new additions to their Elegance Collection – the Grand Seiko STGK011 and STGK013. The bezel-less beauties have drawn inspiration from the Japanese watchmaker’s original sans-bezel timepiece, the Grand Seiko 62GS, which was first unveiled in 1967. And, to really dial up the glitz, the new timepieces’ unique tonneau-like cases are adorned with no fewer than 38 diamonds, measuring 0.41 carats in total, lining the flanks of the svelte 30.6mm steel cases. Available in two different dial designs: a shimmering silver dial reminiscent of freshly fallen snow (STGK011) and a deep, purple coloured mother-of-pearl dial (STGK013), known as “Koki-murasaki”, which is said to be a Japanese symbol of status. Both dials are also affixed with two diamonds, which are diagonally stacked upon one another and located at the 12 o’clock position. Capping both of the eye-catching dials is a highly defined, dual-curved sapphire crystal that has been treated to an anti-reflective coating, ensuring superior levels of legibility. In addition, the case backs also utilise sapphire crystal, so owners can appreciate the watches’ mechanical power source, which is finished to exacting standards typical of Grand Seiko. Speaking of the movement, it’s…
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For most of us today, snakes evoke a mixture of fascination and fear – but since Ancient times they have been a mythological symbol for countless cultures and civilisations. Although, in the Christian tradition, a serpent represented the devil in the Garden of Eden, snakes mostly had positive associations. For Native Americans, Mayans and Aztecs, Persians, Chinese, Hindus, Africans and Australian First Nation tribes, they represented, variously, power, wisdom, eternity, fertility, sexual desire, protection, and a direct link to ancestral spirits. Unsurprisingly, then, since humans first adorned their bodies with jewellery, snakes have been a constant motif – the shape of their sinuous bodies being perfectly suited to wrapping around wrists or necks. The Egyptian Pharaohs and Queens (we’ll come back to Cleopatra later) wore serpentine bracelets and adorned their headdresses with a rearing cobra to signify their quasi-divine status. From there, the powerful symbolism of snakes spread to Greece, becoming associated with Asclepius, the God of medicine (a serpent coiled around a rod remains the emblem of physicians to this day), and thence to Rome, where they represented wisdom and everlasting love. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria’s engagement ring – which took the form of an emerald and…
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Editor’s note: I’m a big fan of the Heuer 01 from TAG Heuer. It’s a cool, modern watch that looks great in a whole bunch of executions. And, to my mind, one of the best is this fully black ceramic number. Sporty, stealthy and — dare we say it — sexy. In two short years, TAG Heuer’s Carrera Heuer 01 has gone from a single statement model to a fully fledged sub-collection, with something for everyone. Having said that, this stealthy, slightly smaller 43mm in matt black ceramic might just be the most versatile model yet. The case There are two noteworthy features of the case of the CAR2090: its size and material. First of all, the size. As I’ve said before, the 43mm Heuer 01 models are much friendlier to more wrists than the (frankly, pretty massive) 45mm versions. 43mm is still a large, modern sports case size that doesn’t — especially when coupled with the height required by the integrated chrono movement — lack anything in the wrist appeal department. Secondly, the material. The matt black ceramic case construction (with a stainless steel core and caseback for water resistance) doesn’t just look mean, it also means your watch…
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Stay in bed, ignore the weather forecast, and dig into the internet.
Saturday means our weekly car-related column is live… So yes, this episode will be focused on cars and motorsport, but as we’re also a watch magazine, we’ve decided to mix it with glorious watches too… And what a match it is! This week’s Petrolhead Corner links fearless motorsport, champagne sprays and a “rarely seen on […]
Editor’s note: OK, yes, it seems as though every time you scroll through Instagram these days, it’s highly probable that your feed will be inundated with myriad “rainbow” bejewelled-bezel timepieces. And whether you’re for or against them, there’s no denying it – these bedazzled technicolour flex watches are firmly solidified in the zeitgeist of current watch culture. It’s not just the ubiquitous (if you can call it that) Rolex Daytona Ref. 116595 RBOW either, with several watchmakers jumping on the figurative “coloured ice drop” bandwagon. Hublot, in particular, has been a strong proponent for these types of timepieces, with the Swiss marque producing several vibrant iterations across their various collections. One such watch that really stands out in Hublot’s catalogue is this, the Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Power Reserve 5 Days Sapphire Rainbow. Our man, Felix Scholz, was lucky enough to go hands-on with the near quarter-of-a-million dollar watch late last year, and these were his initial impressions: There are a lot of things I love about Hublot, and I’ve got to say, this watch manages to cram pretty much all of them (barring ceramic) into one awesome, 45mm package. It’s the Big Bang Tourbillon Power Reserve 5 Days Sapphire Rainbow,…
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To the uninitiated, it may come as a surprise to learn that watches can actually do a fair bit more than merely tell you what time it is. In fact, the myriad complications that can currently be housed inside a timepiece are actually a little bit staggering when you stop to think about it. Weekly calendar, annual calendar, perpetual calendar, minute repeater, split-seconds chronograph, moon phase … the list goes on and on. But here’s one thing that I bet even the most astute of watch enthusiasts may not have considered – some watches can save your life, and here are the top three candidates that could conceivably do just that: Apple Watch Series 4 and 5 Hypotheticals aside, the Apple Watch Series 4 and 5, equipped with the “fall detection” feature, have quite literally saved lives. Just last month, for example, a mountain bike rider in Spokane, Washington, had a hard fall and knocked himself unconscious. Through the use of its gyroscopic and accelerometer sensors, the Apple Watch was able to detect the hard impact. And once it had, not only did the smart watch alert his next of kin about the accident and his location, the watch…
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Editor’s note: Watch people love nothing more than popping watches into genres or tropes. And while a lot of the time these categorisations can be a little, how shall we put it — arbitrary — in the case of Breguet’s Classique 7147 we’re pretty comfortable declaring this as a dress watch, and a dress watch in the truest and most classical sense. The Classique 7147 is the definition of a quiet achiever. It’s a simple, sturdy watch that does everything asked of it with style, and it does so with a sense of reserved assurance that only a watch with ‘Breguet’ on the dial can adequately muster. The purpose of this Breguet is to be a dress watch without equal. If you need a black-tie timepiece that speaks to tradition and classical style, without being yet another ho-hum exercise in derivative design, we suggest you make a beeline for the Classique 7147. The case The first thing you need to know about the 7147 is that it’s not a completely new design. Rather, it’s an update of the Classique 5140. From a distance these two timepieces look indistinguishable, but up close the 7147’s new body-work stands out. At 40mm it’s…
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