VIDEO: The Tudor Heritage Black Bay GMT is a contender for the hottest watch of 2018
Since their dramatic reboot in 2012, Tudor has continually upped the game. From the original Black Bay, to the development of in-house movements, new case materials, and complications like the chronograph, every year brings a new surprise. Based on this track record, I’m always excited to see what Tudor will do next with the Black Bay, not least because of the element of brinkmanship at play. Well, this year Tudor outdid themselves once again with the Heritage Black Bay GMT. It’s a hot watch. Not just because of its obvious good looks — I mean, just look at that bezel — it’s also an extremely high-quality offering, which can be said for all Tudor’s pieces, and it’s also technically impressive, with its brand new ‘true’ GMT. Really, it’s the complete package. Classic style, quality build and a compelling price. What’s not to like? Tudor Heritage Black Bay GMT Australian pricing Tudor Heritage Black Bay GMT, on bracelet, $4670
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If you think of a pilot’s watch, there’s a good chance you’re thinking of a large round watch, with a black dial and bold Arabic numerals. Well, Alpina’s latest, the Startimer Pilot Heritage, ticks none of these boxes, but that doesn’t make it any less of a pilot’s watch. The design of the Startimer Pilot Heritage owes less to the WWII era that’s commonly the reference point for this sort of watch; instead, Alpina has looked to the ’70s for inspiration, and clearly they found it, in an Alpina alarm watch called the Dispomatic. The 42mm tonneau is funky fresh, a wrist-friendly shape that’s not too tall at 12mm. And while the case has an uncommon shape, radially brushed bezel and polished sides, the face matches it step for step. There’s quite a lot going on dial-wise. Offered in black, dark or light blue, and salmon (my personal preference), they all look great, thanks to the sunray finish under the box sapphire crystal. Beyond those basics, the finer details are also super ’70s: faceted hour markers with luminous tips, simple hands and vibrant orange hour hand, with a date window at three (complete with internal date magnifier). And then there’s…
Forget Bond, Bourne and Ethan Hunt, the greatest spy in the history of the silver screen is English, Johnny English. A secret agent of incomparable style, questionable grace and entirely accidental lethality, played to perfection by the thinking man’s action star Rowan Atkinson. In October, English will return to the screen for the third time, in Johnny English Strikes Again, which sees English once again assume the role of England’s last hope (and only available option), called out of retirement to tackle a cyberterrorist threat. Of course, English is decked out with all the spy essentials: the rocket-equipped car (Jag, natch), the suit, and, of course, the watch. And what timepiece is capable of matching English’s demanding standards at the bar and in the field? Well, none other than IWC — in this case the particularly stylish IWC Mark XVIII Edition “Le Petit Prince”, on a steel bracelet. It’s a superb choice: 40mm, with a glorious blue sunburst dial. And while you can fault Johnny English for many things, his choice of watch isn’t one of them. See him in action below …
The story in a second: Tissot’s latest heritage release is another hit. In these days of the never-ending vintage revival, it seems that every brand has to have a heritage collection, regardless of whether they have any actual heritage. That’s not a problem Tissot has to deal with, as the brand dates way back to 1853, a depth of history that’s reflected in the strength of their current heritage lineup. The latest member is this handsome fella, the Tissot Heritage Petite Seconde, a hand-winding hero based on a 1943 design, which is entirely suited to the modern day. The dial There’s an interesting story about this reissue, and it centres on one word on the dial. The Heritage Petite Seconde is a tribute to an antimagnetic watch from 1943. When the watch was originally shown at Baselworld this year it featured a line of text reading ‘antimagnetique’ under the wonderfully retro, sweeping Tissot logo. As you can see, that word is no longer there, likely because, while the watch was antimagnetic 70 or so years ago, technology has moved on, and it wouldn’t be accurate to call the watch antimagnetic by modern standards. And so, now that the watch is…