Introducing – Staudt Praeludium Chronograph – Dutch Elegance
2 years ago, a young Dutchman named Yvo Staud jumped into a watchmaking adventure – even though he had a completely different career before that. The first watch he designed and created was named the Praeludium Hand-Wound, an elegant, “Portuguese-like” time-only timepiece, which name refers to classical music (you’ll understand why later). After this inaugural piece and its automatic variant, its now time for Staud to look at another type of function, yet true to the original design of the brand, with the new Staudt Praeludium Chronograph.
Wow, what a whirlwind past month. The Time + Tide team again found themselves in the centre of the madness that is Baselworld. This year the fair might’ve been smaller, but we were there in full force, all nine of us. In between what felt like never-ending appointments, I managed to do some spotting. Here’s what I saw. As I entered the fair, one of the first familiar faces and friends I saw was the mysterious @WatchesOfInstagram. The man behind the well-known watch Instagram account likes to keep a low profile. However, over the course of the fair, we caught up several times and discussed our favourites. It’s always hard to pick a favourite watch, especially during the fair, but for Mr WOI it was the new Nomos Glashütte Autobahn that stole his heart this year. I bumped into Robert Velasquez, otherwise known as @SpanishRob, midway through the fair, and he was wearing none other than his famous Patek Philippe Nautilus with a ‘Tiffany Dial’. Nicknamed the ‘Loved Patek’ (or #TheLovedPatek if you’re on Instagram), Rob is famous for enjoying his Nautilus, and not being scared to wear it. Having last seen his Nautilus back in New York three or so years…
Now, IWC is a brand I’ve always admired from afar, but haven’t had substantial personal experience with until last month. The timing worked out well, and I happened to be in the UK at the time of the Goodwood 76th Members’ Meet — an event I’d been dying to attend. Luckily for me, IWC Schaffhausen is the Official Timing Partner of the Goodwood Members’ Meeting and was kind enough to invite me along. Of course, I couldn’t attend such an event without some form of chronograph — and naturally an IWC. I ended up choosing the IWC Spitfire Chronograph on bracelet for my travels. The meet – Goodwood 76th Members’ Meeting As I arrived at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in Chichester, filled with excitement, I was hit by an icy chill. I was seriously underprepared for the unusually cold March day and was feeling the sort of cold I’d never felt before. Lucky for me, IWC had a strong presence at the meet and hosted guests within their multi-level trackside marquee. It was there I sought refuge from the snow, drank copious cups of coffee, and mingled with other guests. One particular guest, who I bumped into as I was leaving the gents, had taken…
The dust of Baselworld 2018 has finally settled, and while there was a ton of quick news to hammer through, there are certain topics that require a little more digestion. Case in point: the world of small independent watchmaking had a lot on offer this year, both outlandish and understated. Having seen and handled innumerable watches during the duration of the fair, sifting through the archives to come to a decision on who led the pack required both patience and a healthy dose of decompression. Of course, there were some obvious frontrunners from the likes of H. Moser, Angelus, and something truly bonkers from Urwerk; however, there were a healthy number of releases both conservative and outlandish from all over this category. Sarpaneva Moonment Many of us in the industry have had a soft spot for Stepan Sarpaneva’s wild creations, but in 2018 he has upped the game by launching his first ever in-house caliber. The hand-wound caliber is partially exposed beneath Sarpaneva’s trademark cage-style dial, and features a unique interpretation of the brand’s iconic moonphase complication. Using vertically stacked optic fibre, and a solid rotating moonphase disc, the moonphase has a fascinating eclipse-like appearance that changes dramatically depending on…
