Born independent, Combating gravity – 5 Original Tourbillon Watches from “Indie” watchmakers
Changes of positions have a negative influence on the way watches keep time. In 1801, Breguet patented a mechanism to negate the effects of earth attraction. A mobile carriage rotating at slow speed which houses the regulating organ of the watch, with the aim to average out positional errors. If the tourbillon has become more and more common in recent years, it remains an achievement for most watchmakers and the opportunity to demonstrate their skill and creativity.
All this week we’ve been asking people what Panerai means to them, and we couldn’t think of a better way of wrapping it up than hearing from Panerai collector – and a man with an eye for fine design – Michael S. Michael, or Mickey to most, manages to sum up just what makes Panerai great in under a minute. The key features that Panerai initially developed were with naval warfare in mind. They resulted in a watch that is (paradoxically) both under the radar and instantly recognisable. Far from being a trend-driven brand, it’s the fact that the watches have remained so true to this original, entirely functional design that makes Panerai special.
I imagine there’d be some decent perks that would go along with being a bud of The Weeknd. You’d probably get to meet Daft Punk. You probably wouldn’t get to meet Justin Bieber. And maybe he’d pick you up to go bowling in a sweet ride with a panther in his passenger seat. Pretty great perks. But the real value of working with, and befriending Abel Makkonen Tesfaye seems to kick in around birthday time. Just ask French Montana, who received an iced out Patek Philippe Nautilus in November last year from The Weeknd, successfully present-shaming the whole world in the process. Now, it seems the birthday-watch is making its way into the pair’s music, with new French Montana song feat. The Weeknd ‘A Lie’ starring both French’s new Nautilus and a rose gold model on leather on The Weeknd. The song drops lines like “A hundred thousand for the time” and “House on my neck / ‘Nother house on my wristband”. As well as this one, which I’m sure we can all relate to: “My life’s invested in bein’ a f*cking legend.” The moral of the story is, even though it’s Saturday, we all need to get closer to The Weeknd.
Tudor’s BB Chrono has been one of the most talked about movements of the year. It has a formidable set of specs, and the collaboration with Breitling is a bold (and smart) play. But it’s far from Tudor’s first step on the road from ETA to movement autonomy. Here’s what they’ve achieved in a few short years. 2011 – The Advisor Not many people realise the story of Tudor’s movement development goes back as far as 2011 – to the very first watch in the Heritage collection, the Advisor. The Advisor is one of the unsung heroes of the collection, not least because the alarm module was developed in-house — and it’s still one of the smartest of its type. Date, on/off indicator and alarm power reserve are all visible, but the really neat trick is that the alarm sound ends abruptly, rather than fading off slowly. 2015 – The North Flag When they’re not making excellent watches, Tudor are busy building drama and mystery around their watch releases. Never has this been more evident than with the North Flag. Not only was this a completely new watch (when we were expecting another Black Bay), but it was powered by…
