VIDEO: There’s more to the Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic True Second than meets the eye
At first glance the Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic True Second seems simple enough, with its round 39.6mm case in satin-brushed steel and uncluttered dial. Closer examination reveals the unmistakable quality, the frosted silver opaline dial, the mirror-polished applied batons and slender hands. The strength of the case and the judicious use of luminous material let you know that the Geophysic isn’t strictly a dress watch. Even when you flip it over and gaze at the excellent finishing and handsomely skeletonised pink gold rotor, you probably won’t spot anything that marks this watch as something truly special. No, you need to see the ticking of the seconds hands to realise that the True Second JLC is referring to is in fact a dead-beat seconds, one of the coolest and stealthiest complications around.
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Editor’s Note: We’re not ashamed to say that pretty much all of us at Time+Tide are on board with the weekly chicanery of one James ‘Jimmy’ McGill in Better Call Saul, now in its third season. The morning after each episode we get a coffee and debrief. One of the bones of contention lately has been Jimmy’s unusual gold watch, which is cushion-cased and appears to have an LED display. Much harder to trace than the gold watches in episode four, which we covered here. If you have any information about Jimmy’s current wrist ride please let us know. WATCHSPOTTING: BETTER CALL SAUL It seems episode 4 of Better Call Saul was designed and written by Vince Gilligan to appear on Time+Tide. Not just because the opening scene of episode four – scripted in full below, sans the twist, which is awesome – revolves around a watch. But also because, for the first time in any Vince Gilligan TV show in living memory, including X Files and Breaking Bad, the episode name-checks Australia. After an unexpected windfall of cash, Goodman does what all discerning gentlemen do when they find themselves flush, he goes to a tailor. When he is asked about the cloth he wants for his…
Ulysse Nardin made their name way back in 1846 making marine chronometres – highly accurate ship’s clocks that were an essential navigational tool in the times before radio and GPS. These days the Le Locle-based brand still makes chronometre-style timepeices, but as a celebration of heritage rather than a practical tool. This isn’t to say that Ulysse Nardin has given up on the sea; far from it, as their new Marine Regatta demonstrates. Developed with the support and input of Artemis Racing – the Swedish sailing team the brand sponsors – the Marine Regatta is, as the name suggests, a regatta timer, one of the more specialised complications in horology. For those of you not familiar with competitive sailing, yachts don’t begin from a standing start, but rather jockey for position and aim to cross the starting line as soon as the starting gun goes off (boats are penalised for crossing early). So in the minutes before the race starts there’s a signal that lets skippers know that a countdown period (typically five to 10 minutes) has begun, and that they should head towards the starting line. Which is where the regatta timer comes in. In the simplest terms a regatta…
Aside from Big Bangs, Hublot is perhaps best known for their prolific, and occasionally surprising, partnerships. One of the most interesting, from a design and technique perspective, is Hublot’s relationship with Italia Independent and their famous frontman – Lapo Elkann. If you pay even the slightest bit of attention to the world of men’s style, you’re probably all too aware of Elkann. If you’re not down on the difference between spritz and sprezzatura, Elkann – grandson of billionaire industrialist and sartorial icon Gianni Agnelli – is a staple of the style and society pages. He’s also the founder and driving force behind Italia Independent, which is best known for producing high-fashion eyewear, but is also a fully-fledged design agency in its own right. It should come as no surprise that Hublot’s Italia Independent collaboration focuses on unusual materials. While we’ve previously seen Texalium-infused timepieces, this time around they’ve opted to play with more traditional textures – the classic cloth of fine tailoring. The full collection consists of six different Classic Fusion watches, each incorporating a different woollen cloth – tartan, Prince-of-Wales check or houndstooth – on the dial and strap. It’s a bold look, but one entirely in keeping with both Hublot’s ‘art of fusion’…
It’s easy to get distracted by the brightest, shiniest watches of Baselworld; the watches that live up to the marketing parlance of ‘novelties’. But sometimes the real winners are the quiet achievers. I suspect Omega’s redesigned Seamaster Aqua Terra 150m will be one of these winners. The AT (as it’s often called) has long been the go-to casual dress Omega, the obvious choice for those looking for an alternative to the storied Speedmaster or the sporty Seamaster. This year that choice just got easier. The dial has been significantly improved, with less busy text, a new horizontal stripe, and a newly positioned date window at six, giving the whole dial really strong vertical balance, which looks great on the wrist. The changes don’t stop there either – the case (in 41mm and 38mm) has been subtly updated, and the crown has been modified to make it slightly more ergonomic. And of course they’re Master Chronometers, powered by mighty METAS-certified calibres. This particular model comes in at $7250.