The Omega Seamaster is more than a collection. It is an entire family of watches, all inspired by the sea… Nautical, sporty, diver-oriented or even elegant, the Seamaster has been around since 1948 – you can watch at this in-depth video for a complete history of the Seamaster. Among all the watches in the family, […]
All proceeds from the Golden Bear’s yellow gold Day-Date will benefit the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation.
During the “Time To Move” event, which gathered six of the most prestigious brands of the Swatch Group, the star of the show for Breguet was the truly impressive Skeleton version of the Ultra-Thin Automatic Tourbillon. This wasn’t the only novelty and the brand also introduced an evolution of its freshly redesigned Marine collection. This […]
Not everybody can afford the big guns: Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, Lange & Söhne, Breguet … These brands are, for many of us, a little out of reach (unfortunately). But that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate them from afar. Nor does it mean that we can’t find watches within our grasp that offer enough bang for their buck to earn the approval of even the snobbiest of watch snobs (well, okay, maybe not the snobbiest). Not all of the brands on this list of the best budget watch brands look a lot like any of the watches produced by the haute horlogerie houses mentioned above, but that’s not the point. As the modern adage says, “Game recognise game”, and the brands below have really played a blinder in their respective price brackets. Undone Although not everyone’s cup of tea, the refreshing directness of Undone’s operation gets them on this list. This brand excels at taking classic forms and sprucing them up for a contemporary audience, while charging the kind of amount you might expect to pay for a buckle from one of the big Swiss brands. Also – and this is a big plus – Undone doesn’t seem…
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Editor’s note: At SIHH 2017 I had the chance to chat with James Marsden, an IWC ambassador. At that time, I was fairly obsessed with Westworld. I was seeing a fair bit of James Marsden in my living room. Now, it’s happening again. This time, he’s a rich guy with fairly elastic morals in Dead To Me. It’s excellent, and so is he. It reminded me of this story, and how, in a refreshing change of pace from many brand ambassadors, it turns out Marsden’s watch knowledge is A+. Read on for more … One of the last people I saw before I left Australia for SIHH in January was James Marsden. He was on television, in dusty dungarees, with a vest, boots and a cowboy hat. His face was etched with pain. He’d just been shot by Ed Harris. Again. The television show is Westworld, the character is Teddy, and my wife and I remain obsessed with both. We’d binged our way through the first season in a matter of days, and then, a 27-hour flight and a broken night of sleep later, there I was with that very same character (Teddy) in real life. Reassuringly for you, dear reader, my interview questions extend well…
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Increasingly, I’m finding myself drawn to watches that are understated, unassuming expressions of classical perfection. Which goes a long way to explaining why I was so into the Blancpain Villeret Extra Flat. This is an exquisitely simple watch. Two hands, no date and a manually wound movement. A pure expression of classical watchmaking if ever I saw one. It’s also very classic in its proportions – the steel (also offered in gold) case is 40mm across by a svelte 7.4mm thin — truly deserving of that extra flat name. But just because it’s pared back the essentials, that doesn’t mean that Blancpain has sacrificed style or technical know-how. The look is instantly Villeret, with applied, stylised Roman numerals, leaf-shaped hands and that double-stepped bezel. Very Blancpain. The mechanics are impressive too. For all that it’s slender, the manufacture 11A4B doesn’t sacrifice on performance, offering 4 days of wind off two barrels, which allow for a consistent energy pulse, resulting in greater accuracy at low power. In a nod to user-friendliness there’s also a power reserve indicator discreetly displayed on the sapphire caseback. The Blancpain Villeret Extra Flat 6605 doesn’t aim to raise eyebrows in terms of ‘novelty’ factor, but it…
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Ever since the Swatch Group clamped down on the availability of the once ubiquitous ETA movements, the name Sellita has become ever more more prominent in the world of third-party movement supply. But we’re willing to bet you don’t know much about the Sellita itself, beside the fact that their movements are in an awful lot of watches. Which is where this excellent behind-the-scenes look at Sellita from QP fills in the gaps. For example, did you know Sellita was the third-largest Swiss movement manufacture, (just after the Swatch Group and before Rolex), and that they’ve been around since 1950? True facts. What’s also interesting is how Sellita is diversifying their business model, hiring some impressive talent and planning to move outside of their tried and tested area of ‘workhorse’ mechanical movements (like the ETA 2824 clone, the SW200). A fascinating read if you’re interested in what might make your watch tick …
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On Memorial Day Weekend, we wanted to share a most appropriate episode from our popular interview series.
The news broke last summer – Nick Hayek announced that from 2019 onwards, Swatch Group and its brands would no longer be present at Baselworld. As a consequence, the luxury powerhouse decided to organise its own product presentation “Time To Move” for its most luxurious brands: Breguet, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Harry Winston, Jaquet Droz and […]
Editor’s note: Well, if it’s not the coolest, it’s certainly on the shortlist. And while this green and gold LE is a particular fave of ours, any of the 9F GMT movements work well. They’re effortless, and so perfectly proportioned on the wrist. Plus, the work that goes into the quartz is so gosh-darned impressive … Quartz isn’t something that comes across my desk too often, so you know when it does that it’s something special — and this Grand Seiko is definitely something special. There’s a handful of truly exceptional, iconic quartz movements out there, and the 9F is amongst the finest. And now, with the addition of a GMT, the 9F just got that much cooler. So before we get to the watch, let’s talk about what makes the movement so special. This year, the 9F turns 25, and it is — in the best way possible — completely over the top. It’s super accurate (regular versions are within 10 seconds a year, though this specially regulated version is good to within five seconds a year), thanks to the in-house, specially aged quartz crystals to optimise the frequency, and thereby accuracy. There are numerous other smart micro-engineering features, like the…
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