Asprey Vintage Watch Club in New Bond Street, London, to host Exhibit of Classic Timepieces
Collecting watches is hardly a full-contact sport, but there are perils for hapless buyers. As collectors we are victims of desire: we see pieces out in the wild or here on Monochrome-Watches.com and lust sets in. Getting new models is simple enough; you go directly to the boutiques that line the shopping districts of most major cities. What if your desire takes you beyond the new and pre-owned case into the realm of rare and vintage watches?
Editors note: Back in Basel it didn’t take long for us to realise that GMTs were everywhere. The complication, a boon for frequent flyers, has always been popular, but the sheer volume of new GMTs this year is something else. So, in the midst of the fair, Andy and I took the time to wrap up some of the standouts. It’s worth noting that this is a far from exhaustive list, as it doesn’t include SIHH or some other notable releases (some of which we can’t talk about just yet), but it’s a solid start … It very quickly became apparent — after only a few hours on the ground at Basel 2018 — that GMTs were everywhere, and not just the obvious Pepsi-bezelled, Jubilee-braceleted option from the Big Crown. So Andy and I took some time out from our busy schedules to discuss this phenomena, and some prime examples. So, in addition to the Rolex GMT-Master II, we noted that Patek had doubled down on their Calatrava Travel Time. TAG Heuer added a little more complication to their Carrera Heuer 02, adding a blue and black bezelled GMT into the family. And finally Tudor, not to be outdone, announced their…
Brisbane watch collector Donald has steadily established a name for himself as a prolific vintage watch lover. We dive a little deeper and find out there’s more to the Don than just vintage Rolexes … Hi Donald, what’s your daily watch and why? I really enjoy wearing my Blue WG Submariner on a daily basis. Apart from being a great-looking watch, it also has a substantial weight to it; you know it’s there, which is something I particularly like. It also “flies under the radar” — I believe you need to know something about watches to understand what it really is. With the flat blue dial, blue ceramic insert, and the Glidelock clasp, all these factors add up to being a great daily watch for me. What else is in your collection? Have you got a favourite? My collection consists mainly of Rolex, Omega, Zenith and Tudor, with a mixture of modern and vintage between these brands, with most of the vintage being from the 1970s/80s. I also own a gorgeous Patek Philippe 5726A Nautilus Annual Calendar, which is one of my favourite watches. I have a few favourites in my collection, so I can’t say there is a particular watch…
Last week, Cam — fortified with a strong cup of tea and some crumpets — ran us through eight of the finest watches from British brands. Well, today I’ve had my cold cuts and pumpernickel for breakfast and selected eight of Germany’s most serious timepieces to start you day off right. Now, while Germany might not be the watchmaking powerhouse that their neutral neighbour Switzerland is, they’re no slouches either. The industry is based around two towns: Glashütte, in the east, is the best known, as it’s the oldest centre and home to big names like A. Lange & Söhne, Nomos and (unsurprisingly) Glashütte Original. The other hub is Pforzheim, in the west, home to brands such as Laco and Stowa. And even though it’s a gross oversimplification to make sweeping generalisations about national identity and watchmaking, and on the surface the unbreakable watches of Sinn and the complicated symphonies of Lange bear little resemblance, there are shared values of perfection in purpose that seem to fit in neatly with Germany’s reputation for outstanding production and engineering. I’m not sure where their love of David Hasselhoff fits into this equation, but it’s not something I’m going to mess with. Habring2 Felix Yes,…
